Sunday, July 29, 2012

Perfect "E"scape.


Hello, hello! Welcome back to another project for MCCR. As you can see, the letter of the day is "E." I chose to make a layout. I really enjoy the beach, so I knew I had to scrap what is (to me) a perfect "e"scape. I hope you enjoy my project, and please let me know what you think! :)

First, I layered some "texture" onto my sand by sponging with Memento rich cocoa ink, and Versamark just to give it some depth. That wasn't enough for me, so I watered down some light brown acrylic paint, so it was a thinner consistency, and I splattered it onto my sand. 


Next, I picked a bunch of papers that were different shades/patterns of blue. I cut them randomly, pieced them together, glued them down, then roughed up the edges to look more realistic like true waves.


Then I moved on to my title. I cut the word "perfect" using Plantin Schoolbook (Roly Poly) at 0.972. Once I got the letters sized appropriately, I welded them together so they would cut as one word, and not single letters. I repeated the process with the word "Escape" using the font from the Birthday Cakes cart. I cut "escape" at 1.958. I then added some faux stitching to the title using a white gel pen.

I wanted some sort of leaf accent for the title, so I found three leaves from the Home Accents cartridge, arranged them how I wanted, and then welded it to "escape." Here is a look at how I laid it out using CCR.


The leaves were cut at 2.514.


The yellow and blue flower is a chipboard embellishment.


Then, to make beach "grass" I found another flower I liked that resembled whimsical grass like you'd find on the beach. Using Home Accents, I cut the "grass" which is really a flower at 1.667, and 1.264 to get different sizes.


To make the wooden poles, I just cut a strip of brown cardstock and added "weathering" to it using my scoring board to give it a sort of random wood grain effect. Very simple, just make varying lengths of score lines all over. I then roughed up the edges using a pair of scissors, sanded the entire piece just a bit, and crumpled it up. I wanted it to look like weathered wood, not brand new posts. I attached some twine to it, and adhered it to the layout using foam tape.

I felt like the layout needed another little detail, so I found some castles on the Birthday Cakes cartridge, and cut them out in kraft cardstock at 1 inch, 1.222, and 1.389. I sponged them with the same rich cocoa ink I used on the sand. 

The beach ball is a sticker I backed with cardstock, cut out, then adhered using foam tape.

Here is my finished layout:




To see more projects like this, please visit mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Monday: CCR Carts; 3D Lanterns, and Playground Equipment



Welcome back to another Design Team project for My Cricut Craft Room! This week I chose to make a project with Cricut Craft Room (CCR) carts. For today's project, I used 3D Lanterns, and Playground Equipment. I also used Birthday Cakes and Cricut Sampler.

To get started, I cut four separate lantern pieces (stained glass pattern) at 10 inches. I cut two pieces in a light yellow card stock, and the other two pieces in white card stock. I adhered them together in an alternating pattern. White, yellow, white, yellow. I did this to give the "lantern" some interest. I backed each panel with vellum, so that you could not see through to the other side through the cut image. You could certainly stop here if you just wanted to use the lantern as a lantern. I wanted to take my project a step further to show you you don't have to use a cut at face value. Don't be afraid to step outside of the box and make something unique. What's the worst that could happen?




I began to brainstorm the idea of a mobile for a nursery, child's room, etc. You could hang this over a crib, or just in the corner of a bedroom or playroom as a decoration. In any case, please be mindful of where you put it, so little hands can't pull it down. It is meant to be a decoration, not a toy. :)

I moved on to cutting all the various animals and shapes that I wanted to hang on my mobile. You don't have to do animals, you could do almost anything. I wanted mine to be unisex, so I stuck to neutral colors. I think a  princess themed mobile would be really cute for a girl, or maybe a dinosaur theme for a boy. The possibilities really are endless.







Cuts are as follows:


  • Duck - CCR Basics
    • 2.22w, 2.208h
    • Water: Cricut Sampler; 2.639w, 1.208h


  • Monkey - Birthday Cakes
    • Shadow - 2.792w, 2.569h
    • Layer 1 - 3.472w, 2.417h
    • Layer 2 - 2.663w, 2.417h
  • Giraffe - Birthday Cakes
    • Shadow - 2.764w, 3.056h
    • Layer - 2.625w, 2.903h
  • Horse - Playground Equipment
    • Shadow - 3.728w, 2.875h
    • Layer 1 - 3.083w, 2.681h
    • Layer 2 - 2.653w, 2.194h
After all your pieces are cut and assembled, all that's left to do is attach them. I used some jute to attach mine to the lattern, but I think in hindsight it would be easier to use ribbon or twine.



I hope you liked today's project, and please don't be afraid to think outside of the box with your cuts! If you have any questions, please let me know. Remember to subscribe so you can keep up with new projects as they're added! :)

If you'd like you see more projects like this, please visit http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Scrapbook Friday with My Cricut Craft Room


Hello, everyone and welcome to my first ever Design Team project for My Cricut Craft Room! I am super excited to share projects alongside my fabulous DT sisters. This week's theme at MCCR was all about Water! What could be more fitting for these ridiculous summer temperatures than to make a Waterpark layout!? Perfect, right?

I don't know about you, but my all-time favorite thing about waterparks are either the lazy river, or the wave pool. This is my take on a lazy river. Hope you enjoy! :)


To make this layout, I cut the body of water by hand, because I wanted a more free form shape. If you wanted to, you could absolutely use your Cricut for the water. I then began to work on the rays of the sun. I simply cut every other diagonal line out to form "rays" shown in the above collage. I then assembled my palm trees, which I cut at three inches using Cricut Craft Room design software. I got the palm trees from the Cricut Cakes Birthday Cakes Cartridge. I then moved on to the slide, which I got from the Playground Equipment Cartridge on CCR. The slide was cut at two inches. I added some silver glitter glue to the slide to catch the sunlight, like real water would. The clouds are from Spring Holiday Cards, and they were cut at one inch.

Here is my finished layout:


Specifics:

Papers: American Crafts - Grey - The Goods Bouquet - 12x12, K and Company - Light Blue Stripe - 11.5x11.5

Cartridges Used: Spring Holiday Cards, Stand and Salute, Plantin Schoolbook, Chore Chart, Birthday Cakes.

Ink: Indian Corn Blue from CTMH.

If you like what you see, please feel free to follow my blog to keep up with all my projects as they're added.


To see more projects like this from my DT sisters, please visit http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Wall art using Cricut's Word Collage Cartridge

This one is pretty simple. I made this using the Word Collage cartridge. :)

Home Sweet Home Beachy card

I don't know about you guys, but the beach is one of my absolute FAVORITE places to be. I saw a card similar to this on OWH, but I had to put my own little spin on it. :) I think it turned out super cute!

Timmy's Robot Card

I created this card for a little boy who needs a pick me up. I won't go into detail about why, as that's not my place, BUT I wanted to share my creation with you. I hope he likes his cute little robot as much as I do.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Vertical Name Banner

I based this banner off of one I made my mom for Mother's Day. My friend "oohed" and "ahhed" over this banner, so I decided I would make one for her for her birthday.

Carts used:
Craft Room Basics
Flower Shoppe
Birthday Cakes
Home Accents



Here is the banner I made my mom for Mother's Day. I essentially used the same carts.



Please feel free to leave questions and/or comments. If you like what you see, please subscribe for updates of new projects. :)

Monday, July 9, 2012

Welcome Home Soldier


I saw this cute suitcase shape in the S&S manual, and I knew
it would make an adorable shaped card. You can make one, too!

Things Needed:
Stand and Salute Cricut Cartridge
Cricut Craft Room or other design software (optional, but it sure makes things easier)
Brown and Kraft cardstock
Red, White, and Blue paper/cardstock
Adhesive/dimensionals
Any other embellishments you might want to add

Cuts:
Brown suitcase layer (suitcase-s) is cut at 3.597 (w) and 4.694 (h.)
Kraft suitcase is welded together to make a side folding card - 9.208 (w) and 3.972 (h.) *SEE IMAGE BELOW*
Stars (3 of them) - 1.194 (w) and 1.125 (h)
Welcome Home Soldier shadow - 3.764 (w) and 2.542 (h)
Welcome Home Soldier layer - 3.5 (w) and 2.431 (h.)

Screenshot of how I welded the two shapes together in
Cricut Craft Room to form a shaped card.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!