Favorite cards for 2009

Enfys of Going Buggy suggested that we do our favorite cards for 2009, so here are mine. I actually only started doing cards with the Cricut in January. Prior to this I used software, and thought I did a good job, but I've since found this more challenging, and therefore more fulfilling. As you will see, I've grown considerably from my first card to the one for December. I hope you enjoy what you see and will leave a comment. I would love to see what you've done also. Enfys' friend, Kath's cards are here.

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January
February
March


April

May

June

July

August
September

October

November

December

Red Rose Anniversary Card

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This is card number five of the nine I've done and am working on. This is one of those cards that just sort of came to me. As well as giving this card for a friend's anniversary I'm entering it on the challenges at http://www.polkadoodles.blogspot.com/ and http://www.foreverfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.com/ and http://www.creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/ . The challenges were anything goes. I love the new images Polka Doodles is featuring, and plan to try some at a later date, but I wanted to use this for now. I used Cricut DS to cut the scalloped and plain ovals from SB and PS, the bottom white one I ran through cuttlebug. I'm not sure what all of the papers are, but the vintage red and white is making memories. The corners are die cuts from cuttlebug; and the roses are by Lily Boo Too, colored with prismacolors and gamsol.

TFL,

dj1952

Snowman says Happy Anniversary

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This is another of the anniversary cards I've done for friends for this month. It also fits into two challenges: Penny Black Challenge: http://www.pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ (which called for the use of red, gold and one Penny Black stamp & C4C Challenge: http://www.crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/ (which called for a snowman or anything snow related.)

This guy didn't take too much coloring with my prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I used the Wild Card cart, red ribbon, red rhinestones and one of the clear stickles. There is a large snowflake inside the card for the message to my friend.

TFL,

dj1952

Love Birds

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This is one of nine anniversary cards I'm making for my friends. I guess December was a very busy month. I'm entering this in The Play Date Cafe challenge, which was to use the colors, red, bright pink and lime green. These are some of my favorite colors, so this was not too difficult. The birds are by Lily Boo Too. I'm also entering this in the challenge at Moving Along with the Times, who had a sketch to follow.

I used my prismacolor pencils with gamsol to blend on the birds, various cardstock and one of the new Martha Stewart border punches. I used the new Pagoda cart to do the flowers.

Thanks for looking,

dj1952

Melody in Red

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This card and the one below were done following the sketch at
http://www.sketchandstashchallenge.blogspot.com/. We were to use our newest item or anything from our stash on the card. I used a new digi-stamp that I found at: http://www.pollycraftdesigns.blogspot.com/ for this one and a Precious Moments digi-stamp for the one below. This lovely lady's name is Melody. I loved the fact that I would be able to use several colors in her dress.

I've been looking at the way the talented ladies on the design teams do their coloring and shading, and I'm trying to improve on the way I do so. Mine was done with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I found this sweet paper in a small pack in some of my paper searches so it was easy to pick out the colors for her dress, the "ribbons" are from a cordinating paper. I used the MS hydrangea punches for the flowers with pearls in the center. I haven't figured out who to send it to yet, or for what, so my sentiment is missing, but I will be cutting it with my Cricut.

TFL,

dj1952

Anniversary Easel Card

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This is another card I did along the same lines as the one above. I love the Precious Moment children, and this is one that I had colored a while back. I was able to find paper to go quite well with it, though. I really like purple and orange together so I was pleased with how the colors turned out together. The ribbon is actually a combination of two separate ribbons. The flowers are silk flowers that I took apart from M's and embellished with the jewels. The sentiment "Happy Anniversary" is cut from Sweethearts in two colors. I used a glitter pen to do my doodling.

TFL,

dj1952

Play Date Cafe Challenge #5

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This is for the challenge going on over at Play Date Cafe: http://www.theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/ The colors for this challenge were purple, silver, light blue and white. I've used all of these colors in this card, however, it's a little hard to see when you first look at the card. The silver is the shiny ribbon and a metallic silver gel pen that I used to outline the flourish and dots on the heart and butterflies. The flourish and heart are from HD with the butterflies from SB, welded together in CDS. The purple paper in the background is embossed with the Cuttlebug persian folder. The border and the flowers are some of the new MS stamps. The verbage is from the Sweetheart cart. And I added some bling to the flowers.

This will also be used as one of the challenges on the Cricut MB for RAQ. Hope you've enjoyed the card. I still don't know how to add a blinky, so I've posted PDCC's address here. My one question is when you click on a blinky and copy the code, and then click on html editor, does it go at the bottom of what's already on there, or what? I really want to post this correctly, but I don't want to mess up my blog either.

TFL,

dj1952

Caterpillar to a butterfly

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This is the latest card I've been working on. Now that I have my blog up and running, I will have more time to make cards again. This is for a challenge over at Lily Boo Too. The card's requirement was for it to be purple.

For the RAQ challenge over on the Cricut MB this was the layout they wanted. The Butterfly is from HD, the sentiment is from WC, the caterpillars from SYI. The corners are dies from Cuttlebug and the border is from MS, which a dear friend suggested that I add to the card. Thank you (you know who you are!). LOL!

TFL,

dj

Anniversary Card for my Daughter & Son (in-law)

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The sentiment on the front of the card and here is something I came up with on my own. It's what I think many people feel about quilts. And since beauty and health don't last forever, I would hope this is how we would feel about our mate as the years go by.

I actually made this card the end of September, but I've not posted it yet. I made it for my daughter and son (in-law) for their 9^th anniversary. My daughter really likes quilts, and this is supposed to look like a bargello quilt. I'm not real pleased with it because I feel that I made the strips a little too large. I didn't use Cricut, but did use Cuttlebug to emboss some of the paper. I like to add scriptures to the back of my cards, and have done so for over 20 years. I try to pick ones that work with the occasion. And I thought this was very appropriate.

A Card for Comfort

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This is my latest creation. It was for a dear friend who lost his wife of 50 years. Since Polka Doodles challenge was for a card for a male this past week, I thought I would enter it there also. However, I had my days mixed up, and didn't meet their deadline. Oh well, there will continue to be challenges; giving comfort to our friends is the most important thing. The stamp was from Heartfelt Creations, that I colored with Prismacolor pencils and then used Gamsol to shade and blend the colors. The frames were cut from Storybook and then topped with three brads. The sentiment was a stamp that was cut out, glued to another paper and cut out again before being glued down.

What's Up

I did this for Play Date Cafe Challenge. It called for fall colors. So I thought of trees and leaves. Since owls are popular I cut one twice from SB and glued together. The portion of tree (from SYI) that is shown was accented with gel pens and prismacolors to look more realistic. The leaves from WC were inked.

Visiting Neighbors

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This card was for a challenge at Lily-Boo-Too blogspot. The instructions were to follow the sketch for that week. This seemed easy enough even for me. I really like the papers I used for this card, they were papers I got on sale at M's. The stamp of the little birds is a digital stamp from Lily-Boo's. It was colored with the Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I added a couple of fussy-cut flowers and some doodling. This was a fun card to put together.

Anniversary for Dear Friends

 

I like the simplicity of black and white on cards, and this card was inspired by a member on the Cricut MB. I felt that the red made the card "pop", so I cut the bird from Home Décor and used it on the front and inside of the card. The branch with the flowers is from the same cartridge. The white background paper has been embossed using the Cuttlebug. The sentiment and flourish inside the card are stamps.

37th Anniversary Card for My Husband

This is the first card I've ever made for my husband in 37 years of marriage, even though I've been making cards for more than 20 years. I guess I never thought I could make one as nice as I could buy. However, I thought about it and realized that even a plain or simple card would mean more when it's made to express the way we feel. So here is the card to my Knight in Shining Armor. Physically and mentally he has protected me from any dragon that has come our way. The card began with the paper from DCWV "Once Upon a Time". With that in mind, I used Storybook to make the sentiment on the front and inside left page of the card. On the inside right I used Sweethearts. The sentiment in the circle on the front is made with the font "Bard". Of course, the card had to be dressed up with inking and ribbon, etc. The quote on the back from "Time in a Bottle" has been one of my favorites for years. I figure he will now expect me to make his cards, so I guess I need to start thinking about the one for next year. LOL!

Finally, my card for baby shower

Now that I'm through with the baby invitations and favors for my friend's baby shower, I've had time to get my card done. I wanted to do a tri-shutter card so I could use several baby elements. I, of course, used the NA cart. I love giraffes, so I thought that would be my largest animal. (You might remember I did an elephant for the invitations.) I love, love, love my CDS now. It's so nice to only have to cut out the elements you want in one color, instead of having to cut them all out two or three times to get all the little pieces in different colors. (Sorry - if you don't have Cricut Design Studio you may not know what I mean.)

The card is cut at 6-1/2", and then there's enough out of the 12x12" paper to do a smaller one.

Flowers in the Field

This is a card that a friend asked me to do. She had admired my cards, and wanted me to do one to give to a friend. She wanted something bright and cheerful. So I did one with some of the elements I had done in a previous card. I added the fence to this one. The tulips and other flowers are from WIMG and the grass is from PS. I stamped the birds and the tree limbs, and then added to them with markers and gel pens. The butterflies and dragonfly are punches.

Baby Shower Invitations

These are the first invitations that I've made with my Cricut. It was a bit of a challenge making 50; they definitely took much more time than ones I've done using computer software. But there was a wonderful sense of accomplishment. It took me several days to design, pick out paper, cut my items, ink and then put everything together. The elephant is from NA. The elements used were the elephant's body, head, parts and shadows. The head was pop-dotted and then decorated with gel pens and googly eyes. The information and sentiments inside and on the back were computer generated.

Baby Shower Table Decoration

This lady is from the NA cartridge. She has been cut at approximately 11-1/2". She's been cut out two or three times using light cardboard from the back of some of the paper packs I bought. Then of course, I did her clothes, hair, etc. I used ribbon on her hat and dress and then bling on her neck, arm and handbag. I made her in CDS, which made it so nice to be able to cut out her hair, dress, slacks and other items from just the designer paper I wanted. I made a stand for the back, so she would stand up on the table. If I do her again for someone else, I would want to make one for each table. She was on her own on the cake table.

Favors for a Baby Shower

Here are my first, but definitely not last, sour cream favors. I couldn't believe how easy they were. I saw a video a few weeks ago, but can't remember who it was by, it wasn't the one by Dawn. This lady used Zig two-way glue instead of super tacky tape. She said this worked better for her, and I could see the sense of that. However, the Zig glue didn't quite hold them together as well as I wanted, so I used some K&Company, Quick Dry Craft Glue (which is a thick white glue) and that worked beautifully.

I also didn't glue the three sides in the beginning as the tutorial suggested. I glued the short ends together to make the tubes. Then, when I was ready I used a tooth pick to apply the glue, to one end, crimp; add the candy; and then again on the other end and crimp closed. After they were dry I added the circle tags to each one, which were computer generated. I also changed the size somewhat from what is on the tutorial; when using 12"x12" paper. Most of the tutorials call for 4-1/4"x5-1/5" paper, which is great for 8-1/2"x11" paper, but I feel it is wasteful for 12"x12" paper; so I cut them at 4"x6" and got six instead of just four, and there was no wasted paper and they don't look that much smaller.

Sympathy – Bird Call 2

It seems that I've had way too many sympathy cards to do this year. It never gets any easier. The only thing I keep in mind is that hopefully I'm giving a moment of comfort to the recipient. At the time I'm sure they aren't really even thinking about cards. It's later when things have settled down that the person finds the time to look over the cards and that's when we can only hope and pray that we've said just what they need to hear at the right time. We also must put ourselves in the other person's shoes, even if we haven't lost a loved one, because as sure as the sun comes up, one day we will be the ones on the receiving end.

This card has no Cricut images, but I did use the Cuttlebug folder "Bird Call". This time I took my Prismacolor pencils and colored the embossed scene. I also used the Gamsol mineral spirits with them so I could blend and shade. I hope you enjoy looking at the card, and that it may be something you'd like to use in the future.

Thank You - ACY

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I have a friend that is always doing things for me when it’s not necessarily convenient. So I figured it was time I did a thank you card for her. I know that she likes or at least used to like pinks, so I thought this would be simple but nice. I used ACY for the “girl”. I say it that way, because it was actually a boy that I added a couple of other cuts to (fire from a campfire, etc.) to make a ponytail and make a little girl. That’s another thing I like about CDS; you can combine items together to make almost anything your imagination can come up with. (As long as they will weld together and not be too delicate.) The pink paper was actually a “card” I made from WC and then just cut off the back. The butterfly was cut out of the pink and I used the negative space and the cut-out to have two more butterflies. Then I did a little inking, matting and “stitching” to finish things off.

Sympathy Card

This card was for my dh's boss. His mother had been ill for a number of years. He and his wife would make several trips to visit with her. I met her about 35 years ago. She lived in NJ in a large old home that has many of its original doors, knobs and wavy glass. It's a shame that so many young people don't want to preserve some of the things from the past. Of course, things weren't as energy efficient as they are now, but there sure were some lovely items. I've got to work on my craft/sewing room soon, and I think it would be wonderful to have some old doors to make desks or tables out of.

The card is similar to what I saw another member do. I've always thought the sanding of white core paper was a nice affect, so this is my first attempt at it. I wanted to use more masculine colors and I think these were just right. I didn't want to put any "bling" on the card, but it needed something else, so I cut out three buttons from some embossed cardstock. The card was finished off with a few very crooked lines around the card. (I know, you're not supposed to expose your mistakes, but I know these jump out off the card.) Lol.

Animal Print Card

This card was one of two requested by one of my dd's. She had two friends she wanted to show her appreciation to. This one she requested with animal print because the friend uses it in her home. Wouldn't you know that I could find none in our small town? We do have a M's, but they're not as large as they are in some cities. I finally thought to see if anyone had any tissue paper, and this is what I found. Of course, I never thought that since it was so thin that I'd have to glue sheets together. I finally used vellum tape and that seemed to work. The zebra is one from a set of wild animals I got at M's for $2. So I cut him out two or three times, and pop-dotted him. It seems like I'm not through until I've inked the paper and added a little bling and doodling.

Tall Flourish Card

This was the second card I did for my daughter to give to a friend. It's one I did for the Okie's challenge also. It was a sketch of a tall card with a flourish or flower vine. I used the large flourish in HD and then welded the butterfly with the trailing flourish from SB in CDS. This was the first time that I had actually used it to weld items together from different carts. It was so easy to do that I'm looking forward to doing more work with Design studio.