Birthday Card using Cricut Pagoda

The slew of fall Birthdays continues. This card is for my Husband's Grandmother and he even helped make it! We settled on this multi-fold card that features a panda holding a gift with the Kanji word/symbol for "celebrate" on the front. This card is perfect for his Grandmother who loves Asian decor -- she even has bamboo stenciled on her walls!

Project Details:
Cartridge: Pagoda, Create A Critter (For bow on present only)
Card Size: 4.5" x 6" when folded in half. Started with a 12" x 4.5" rectangle.
Panda: Pagoda Cartridge, page 36, cut at 2.75". I used foam squares to pop him off the card. *Remember to just stick the squares on half his body since the other side hangs over the edge of the card.
Bamboo: Pagoda, page 48, cut at 4".
Building: Pagoda, page 60, cut at 2.75". We used blue vellum behind the windows and openings on the building to jazz is up a little.
Giftbox: This is the present the panda is holding and it's semi-custom. From Pagoda, I cut out the Kanji word "Celebrate" at .75". You can find this on page 27, using the [shift key] +[ Kanji word key]. I put a piece of shiny light purple paper behind the kanji cut out and used this same paper to cut out a bow for the gift box. The bow is from the Create A Critter cartridge, pg 27, accessory + shift, cut at 1".
Misc: Stamped "Happy Birthday" in chocolate brown.

Birthday Card For A Young Lady (using Create A Critter)

So many Birthdays over the next few months! I decided to get a head start on card making so I wouldn't have to run to the store and buy a less personal one at the last minute. This card I made for my niece. I remembered from one of her previous visits where I let her play with the Cricut that she really liked pink. So I started with that as my base color. Then I thought...what would a young girl like? And I came up with a cute little dog.  All of these shapes came from the Create A Critter Cartridge.

Project Details:
Cartridge: Create A Critter
Card Size: 4.5" x 6"
Dog: Page 34, Terrier. Cut at 2". I didn't cut the very first layer that colors his eyes and ears. Instead I used scraps of pinks and a blue to color those features. I also put foam squares under the dog to pop him off the card.
Presents: Page 27, Bear accessory. I cut these in different sizes ranging from .75" - 2". I didn't end up using all of the ones I cut. The striped gift is 2".
Sentiment: Page 27, phrase for bear. I believe I cut this out at 1.75". Don't forget the dot for the "I" when you pull this off your mat!
Misc: Embellished with a strip of satiny black ribbon. Another idea for the card would to be to put a little party  hat on the dog.

Knit Skirt - Kwik Sew 3513

This was my first knit skirt. It's in a color that I call "superman blue". =)   I like that it has a fold over yoga style waistband. Arg! I didn't straighten the waistband before my Husband took the photo. oh well, you at least get the idea.

I used Kwik Sew pattern 3513, View B with a few alterations...

1- Shortened the pattern since I'm around 5'2" or so.
2- I also had to take in the waistband. Not sure if it is because my fabric had more than the recommended stretch or what. But I took in the waist a total of about 5.5 inches.  I just stretched it more to connect it to the skirt body so no alterations to the skirt body at the waist.

Other notes.
Sewed this with a Serger but hemmed it with my regular machine. I used a double needle for knits for the hem. A double needle makes two nice lines on the front and a zig-zag on the back and stretches.  It does require two spools of thread on top of your machine though, so I had to consult my manual on how to properly thread. I also set my stitch length to 3 to have a little bit longer stitch.

Overall, I like the look and it is soft and breezy.

Birthday Bag

I'm a member of Sweetwater's Label Crew. That means I get a project pattern with cute coordinating iron on labels once a month. One of the months was this Birthday Bag. I ordered their fabric kit (very reasonably priced... $6?) from their Etsy site so I could put it all together. I wouldn't have needed the kit if I had enough of their Sunkissed Fabric but I just have a few yards of a few different prints and one charm pack that I can't part with. =)  The project labels coordinate with their current fabric lines as you can see from the Birthday label on the bag tag.  I still have three more birthday tags left and each are different.

I started the bag late last night and finished it up this afternoon. I did a few things different from the pattern... I added lightweight interfacing to the handles and I added a covered peltex bottom insert to help the bag stand up.

Kitty Cat Get Well Card (using Cricut Create a Critter & Paisly Cartridge)

My Aunt loves cats, so I made  her a special get well card. It's inspired by the cute cat tag I saw on Made By MoMo's blog where she used the glasses from the Paisley cartridge on the cat from the Create A Critter cartridge.

Froggy Valentine Card (using Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge)

I just got my first Cricut machine from my Husband. (I blame my Mother-in-law, Trish, for getting me addicted to paper crafts this Christmas!) Anyhow, she came for a visit and we had some fun making cards. I'm in a real pink & red mood so I thought Valentine cards would be fun. I usually don't get into that holiday or really celebrate it, but with the blah winter colors I needed the brightness of these lovely colors. After searching the web for inspiration,  I found this great froggy card on http://www.cricutholiday.com/ -- Here is a direct link to their Valentine Froggy card.

The inspiration card used the Paisley cartridge, but I instead made this card with the Create A Critter cartridge as it contains a frog I find cuter as well as a lily pad. 

Other notes:
Trish put the words together for the front using her Gypsy; I used her Martha Stewart heart edge/border punch on the front; I used a Valentine stamp on the inside of the card with brown ink.

Fishy Card (using Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge)

I just got my first Cricut this week and I have been playing around with it. I decided to make a fish card for my Grandfather with the Create a Critter cartridge.