Faux Leather Purse

This faux leather purse was cut at 7" with the Cricut using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge ("purse2") and a sheet of dark brown cardstock. I scored the fold lines before doing the faux leather technique b/c it would have been difficult to see the guides once the embossing was done.

After scoring, I rubbed a VersaMark ink pad over the surface of the purse to completely cover the cardstock. Then I sprinkled clear embossing powder over the cardstock, tapping it to removed the excess powder.

Next, I used the edge of my Cricut spatula tool to make wavy, uneven lines both horizontally and vertically through the embossing powder. You could also use a ruler, bone folder, etc. I shook off the excess powder that was lifted when making the lines. Then I used my heat gun to heat emboss the powder until set. Once the faux leather techniqe was complete, I constructed the purse, added adhesive Velcro for the closure, a large silver brad and some leopard ribbon for the handle.

The result is this shiny, leather-looking brown purse! How fun would this be for a gift to hold candy, trinkets, jewelry or even a gift card???

Thanks for looking!  :)

Just Buggin Challenge #11: Into The Wild

Here is my first project as a new DT member for Just Buggin!!!  Challenge #11 is called "Into The Wild": use a Cricut animal die cut on your project.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this polar bear from JOTS and so this was an easy decision for me with the upcoming Christmas holiday! 

Supplies used:

1. Patterned paper and coordinating cardstock: Magic Of The Season Paper Pack (Hobby Lobby)

2. Polar bear die cut (with shadow and layer): Joys of the Season (Cricut)

3. Tag die cut: JOTS (Cricut)

4.  "Peace" (tag) and winter flourish (on bear body): stamps (CTMH)

5. Adhesive rhinestone: craft supply (Hobby Lobby)

6. Glitter glue (Hobby Lobby)

7. Glue pen (to coat stamps): Martha Stewart Crafts

8. Crushed velvet flocking (Doodlebug Designs)

This card was relatively easy to make.  I cut the polar bear, the shadow and the layer (scarf) and adhered them together.  Then I stamped the bear using glue on my stamp instead of ink and added flocking to it and heated with my heat gun...this added some extra detail and dimension.  I stamped "Peace" on the tag, added a rhinestone and adhered it to the scarf.  Then I attached the bear to the card base with foam dots.  To finish, I added bits of sparkle to the background paper with glitter glue.

Hop on over to Just Buggin and check out the other DT examples...there are some really great projects!!!

Thanks for looking!!!  :)

"Autumn" Banner For The Mantle

I have to admit that I have had Cricut Design Studio for about two years and have NEVER used it!!!  So the other night, after watching an infomercial for the new Cricut Gypsy, I decided to play around with it...OMG!  It's AWESOME!!!  So much easier than I anticipated and sooooo many features that help customize your creations.  LOVE IT!!!  So now I don't feel like I need to run out and purchase the Gypsy on the release day!  :)

This banner is a creation that meets the criteria for several current challenges:

1.  SPCC:  Hoppin' Combo (orange, green, light brown, dark brown color combo)

2.  Creative Belli Blog:  Create a fall/halloween themed item

3.  Use It Challenges:  Challenge #27

4.  Practical Scrappers:  Blog Hop Challenge

To make the triangles for this banner, I used the birthday hat image from Doodlecharms.  I resized and stretched the image in DS and then cut them out on dark brown cardstock.  Then I cut the same triangles out of this beautiful Basic Grey paper and adhered them together.  Because the short edge of the triangles were somewhat rounded (that's how the image is cut), I had to use my trimmer to cut the edge into a straight, even line to form a perfect triangle.

Using scraps from the patterned paper, I cut 1/2" strips the same length as the tringle edges, cut them with scallop-edge scissors and glued them on all three sides of the triangles.  Then I inked all edges.  I punched holes in each upper corner and connected the triangles with light brown ribbon.  To make the charms, I cut small leaves from Doodlecharms, inked the edges, and then muted the tops with chalk ink.  Using a needle and thread, I attached them to each bow, allowing them to dangle between the triangles.

To spell "AUTUMN", I used the Storybook cartridge and cut the letter bases out of dark brown cs.  I cut the accent/layer out of medium brown and matted them on the back instead of the front.  Using a flourish stamp covered in liquid glue, I then stamped randomly over each letter.  I sprinkled brown flocking over the glue and shook off the excess.  I heated the flocked images with my embossing gun to set the powder.

For the first and last triangles, I cut leaves from Storybook out of dark brown cs and flocked them as well.  I also cut an acorn out of orange cs (using Doodlecharms) and inked/distressed it.  I added two layered flowers with a brad center and layered the embellishments on the triangle.

To finish, I took the flourish stamp I used to do the flocking, and used dark brown ink to stamp randomly over the triangles around the letters.  It was a somewhat time-consuming project, but I LOVE the results!!!

Thanks so much for looking!!!  :)