Seals and Butterflies by the Sea in Monterey - Cricut Valentine

Hey there,

Here's the last of my special limited edition wacky-tho-tasteful valentines for youthful adults.   This one is for my daughter who lives in Monterey, California...or as I call it, paradise.  It was obvious to me that I had to use a darling sea creature for her image.  I picked an otter because Monterey is an otter habitat and my artistically gifted daughter graduated with an Art Degree from UC Monterey...go Otters.  But I found out later  this is apparently a seal.  Whatever.   

Once again, I used the square Lori Whitlock Flip Flap svg card base.  This time I found some cute ocean images to embellish my card.  And since Pacific Grove (near Monterey) is a monarch butterfly habitat, I made sure to include some of these magical creatures flying around the lighthouse on the inner panel.

I had a fabulous time creating these landscapes in Cricut Design Space and I plan to use these card bases for lots of other fun cards.  The possibilities are endless.

Here's what I used:

1. This Lori Whitlock svg file.
2. Cricut Create and Critter Cartridge in Cricut Design Space
3. Lighthouse, wages and fab sentiment image in Cricut Design Space
4. Impression Obsession butterfly dies
5. Tonic Studio Nuvo drops -  black for butterfly accents
6. Cricut writing feature for sentiment
7. Sun die.

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and create something fabulous.Paper Craft Crew

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Crafting by Designs

        Crafty Creations

        Creative Moments

        Little Red Wagon

        Die Cuttin' Divas

        Stinkin' Inkers

Happy to be stuck with you - Cricut Valentine for my favorite guy

👉 There is a certain happiness in being silly and ridiculous.

Hey there,

Yep, I can even come up with an embarrassingly cutesy Valentine for my hubby.  It takes a special talent, and a certain level of immaturity that I hope we all possess when we advance in age. But, honestly, can anyone keep from singing the happy Huey Lewis song when you see this card?  And I am, indeed, blessed to be stuck with a wonderful guy.   I used a rectangle Lori Whilock svg card base to accommodate my extremely  handsome and talented cactus guy. 

     

Originally, I had a brightly colored, multi-layered lizard in the center panel.  I was so proud of my handiwork until I added some black Nuvo drops to his eyes and then accidentally closed the card!!!!  I'm sure that never happens to you.  While cutting the complete card over again. because, of course, I had already glued everything in place, I  found this Southwestern heart in Design Studio.  I like it even better than my original lizard. Kismet.

Here's what I used:

1. This Lori Whilock svg file.
2. Cricut Southwestern cartridge images in Design Studio.
3. Nuvo drops to embellish hat and marakas
4. Cricut writing feature for front sentiment.
5. HA stamp for inside sentiment.
6. Sun die.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create something fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Avenue 613 Challenge

        Allsorts Challenge

        Crafty Calendar Challenge

        My Time to Craft

        Crafting with Friends

        Cut it Up Challenge

    

        

        

Galentine for my besties - Copic colored Art Impressions Image

👉 Life is better when you're laughing.

Hey there,

Quilts, friends, cardmaking, holidays...these are a few of my favorite things!  I thought this adorable Art Impressions image was the perfect way to tell my friends how much I treasure them this Valentines day. These ladies are some of the loveliest, most talented and inspiring women I know and I appreciate any chance I get to thank them for their support and love. Since they know I adore everything quilts, they'll know this card comes from my heart.  

This sentiment is such a clever play on words and, of course, we know it takes a block of friends (kind of like a village) to help us navigate through this "crazy quilt of life."  I was excited to find this bright colored sewing themed DP in my stash to embellish my die cut card base. The background layer dies were included with the set, along with several other fun embellishments that I'll use on another card.  

Here's what I used:

1. This Sizzix 5 x 7 Framelits die set.
2. Art Impressions stamp 
3. Copic Markers
4. Friends die (not sure what brand)
5. Tonic Studio Nuvo drops - Red, Blue
6. Rick rack trim
7. Computer generated inside sentiment.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create something fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Water Cooler Challenges

        Always Fun Challenges
        Crafting From the Heart
        Pammies Inky Pinkies Challenge
        The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge
        Creative With Stamps
        Fab and Funky Challenge
        Just Us Girls

Zebra Valentine in Cricut Design Space - Lori Whitlock Flip Flap svg

👉 Creativity is contagious.  Pass it on.    Albert Einstein

Hey there,

This looks like a cutesy card for a small kiddo, doesn't it?  Well, no...actually, this is a Valentine for my 30-something daughter. My husband and I and our two grown daughters are quite a silly group and I'm pretty sure my daughter will be delighted with this fancy zebra telling her how "fab" she is.  Maybe it's because I don't have grand-kids (meh), but I often send my friends and adult family members cards with fun juvenile-ish images because they are fresh and darling and they make me smile.

Of course I had to fancy up my card to impress my mature recipient, so I took advantage of a Lori Whitlock Flip Flap Card svg.  I love these flappy cards because there are tons of options for adding pictures and sentiments.  I would normally have left the panel on the inside of this card blank for a note, but I couldn't resist adding this with little tree with the hearts on the truck that I found in Cricut Design Space.  All of the images here were "free"with my monthly subscription to Cricut Design Space.  All the layers for the card were included in the Lori Whitlock svg file.

Here's what I used:

1.  This Lori Whitlock file.
2. Create a Creature Cartridge in Cricut Design Space for zebra.
3. Writing function in Design Space for sentiments - it's easy...try it!
4. Tree, grass and fab sentiment - miscellaneous Design Space files.
5. Tiny flowers - Impression Obsession die.  Sun die (don't know the brand)
6. Assorted card stock
7. Dot embossing folder for tree.
8. Small rhinestone for Zebra's flower.

I had a delightful time making similar cards for my other daughter and husband.   I'll be posting them soon.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and creative something fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        2 Crafty Critter Crazies

        Animal Friends Challenge

        Creative Moments

        Make My Monday

        Scrapy Land
        Crafty Gals Corner

Altenew Peony Bouquet Flip Cards

I adore these Tonic Studio Flip Flop die sets when I need to make something special and don't have much time.  I got a little panicky last night when I realized I needed to make two birthday cards and a sympathy card for today.  

                                         

I stamped these lavender flowers with Tim Holtz distress Ink.  The layers on these Altenew Peony Bouquet stamps are pretty easy to line up in my Misti if I just pick a few spots to concentrate on.

I'm into stripes lately, both in my quilt borders and cards.  They just seem to coordinate with everything.  This beautiful gold and white striped Stampin' Up vellum called to me from my stash.

I used two different Tonic Flip Flop dies, an oval and a rectangle.  The die cut sets include a large die to cut the flip flop card (over 5 x 7) which can be sized to different dimensions and several layering dies for the shape area. There's a sentiment die for the center, but I chose to pop up my peonies for my focal point and put my sentiment on the back.  I dug out my Marvy stamp pads from a hundred years ago and now I remember why I love them so much.  The pinks and reds stamped very evenly and I am happy with the bright, vivid colors. Good thing I have the reinkers because I think I'll be using them a lot for my layered stamps.

The little swirls around the flowers were the scraps from the die cut frame.  Glad I didn't throw them away!  I added a pretty sparkly gold bow to my side panel and some sequins to match the flowers and I'm almost done.

I use tons of die cut sentiments because I can put them anywhere on the card, even over stamped images, and I don't have to worry about ink smudges.  This "Prayers" image is from Hero Arts and it has several stamp phrases to go with it.  And, of course, I messed up stamping the "sending hugs" phrase, so I just stamped it again on another piece of paper and popped it up over my boo boo. I'm a boo boo guru. 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Adding my card to these challenges:

Crafty Creations

Dream Valley

The Card Concept

Really Reasonable Ribbon

Make My Monday
Aurora Wings

Gorjuss Girl Meets Tonic Flip Flop

Interactive cards make me happy.  If there's something to flip, pull or pop up, it's got my attention. I find most of the dies for flip cards are for  4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (A2)  cards.  That's why I love this  larger Tonic Flip Flop Die Set which I can use in my Big Shot Pro machine. It's made in England and creates a humongous card but with a little simple paper engineering I was able to trim it down to this 5" x 7" (A7) card.  I think it fits my little Gorjuss Girl nicely.

The die cut set has two additional decorative elements for the oval along with this beautiful sentiment.

I stamped my little lady with Memento black ink and colored her with copic markers. I used white glitter paper in the background and added some shiny silver metallic flowers and a silver bow for even more glitz.  I like things sparkly.  How about you?

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy