Blog Hop Winner Announcement

What a wonderful weekend!!  We had so much fun with the blog hop - did you?  The Cutters Creek Design Team made some unbelievable projects.  I hope you were inspired by one or several of these projects.

So - remember the prize I was giving away??

This is an awesome set of markers - I am jealous!

So, there were a couple of people that commented twice, and one comment that was deleted, so the overall number of people to choose from was 68.



True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 68
Result: 32

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And the winner is...........................

Kim said...
Receiving my Cricut Expression last year for Christmas!! From my HUBBY! I was THRILLED! and a bit SHOCKED!!

Thanks for the chance to win. Have a GREAT Day,

Me-Ma Kim

December 11, 2010 1:06 PM


Congratulations Me-Ma Kim!!  Please send me an e-mail with your contact information, so I can get your prize shipment coordinated.  If I don't hear from Me-Ma Kim within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.

Thanks all for participating!!

Red and Green Blog Hop

Welcome to the Cutters Creek Red and Green Blog Hop! Our wonderful design team members have all created some fun Christmas projects to inspire you! The only requirement for the projects were that they must contain Red and Green. You just saw a fabulous project on Kim B's blog. Your next stop along the hop will be Lori B's blog. If you are just finding our hop please head over to the Cutter's Creek Design Team Blog to start from the beginning. There are 8 inspiring projects for you to check out as well as 8 chances to win a great prize from Cutters Creek!  Please leave me a comment about your most memorable gift - either sent or recieved. One entry per person please!  Comments left up until 11:59pm on Sunday December 12th will be eligible to win. All winners will be selected Monday and posted on each blog so make sure you check back to see if you have won! You will have 48 hours to respond before we choose another winner.  My prize will be a wonderful set of American Crafts Glitter Markers. 

Here is the project that I have created for today's hop.

This was my second card with no image - just a sentiment.  However, I decided to jazz this one up just a n otch and added LOTS and LOTS of BLING.  The base of my card was cut on Bazzill Bling paper in Evergreen.  This paper has a very slight sheen to it to make it sparkle.  I used a piece of Core'dinations Gemstone 12"X12" Cardstock Assortment in a cranberry color - also sparkly, and cut it one inch smaller than the front of my card.  This piece was embossed with the D'Vine Swirls folder in my Cuttlebug. 

The sentiment was cut on my Cricut Expression, using my Gypsy and the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge.  The base was cut with the American Crafts Foil in dark green.  There are LOTS of colors in this pack to choose from - it is a wonderful paper to work with and cuts nicely on the Cricut.  It IS very heavy though, and requires multiple cuts to get it out clean.  The top layer of the sentiment is American Crafts Glitter paper in Mint. 

This sentiment had a pretty flower on it.  Rather than try to hide it, I decided to dress the flower up with some Polar White Flower Soft.  Using the Flower Soft Glue, the product stuck nicely even to the glitter paper!  If you're new to Flower Soft, like me, here's a tip - always rinse out the applicator tip of the flower soft glue after using it.  It took me a while to clean out the dried glue from the applicator before I could use it again!

Finally, I had all the layers ready to put my card together.  I used ribbon from my stash to wrap the embossed cardstock, tying it with a simple knot.  I attached this piece to the base with my Glue Glider Pro.  For the sentiment, I attached the glitter paper to the base using my Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, which works great with small areas!  Since the knot from my ribbon was in the middle, I used Glue Dots Pop-Up Dots to raise the sentiment up over the top of the knot, and jump off the card.

I hope you enjoyed my project...and the rest of the hop!!

*Wish* Card

With the holidays fast approaching, many crafters have holiday cards on their minds! I originally made this card for a card challenge, but didn't get a chance to put it up in time. The challenge was to create a holiday card with words only - no images. With my new Gypsy, there are a bunch of phrases on the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge that were possible to use!

I started with some basic deep blue Bazzill card stock. I wanted to have this be a unique size, so I cut the card to 12x6. I folded the card in half with my Scor Pal to make it a 6x6 card. Next, I cut a piece of lighter blue cardstock one inch smaller on both sides, so that I had a full half inch border around it. Instead of cutting straight lines, I used the antique blade on my Purple Cow paper trimmer to give the edges a little interest. (I LOVE the interchangeable blades on this trimmer - I know I'm going to have fun with it!) I folded the blue paper in half with the Scor Pal as well. To give the light blue cardstock some texture, I ran it through the Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. The texture of the deep blue base and the light blue embossed card were begging for more interest, so I inked the edges of each of these papers, plus portions of the embossing, with a white ink pad. Creative Memories now sells chalking ink, so I gave that a try! The stamp pads are small, which should be easy to work with, but I am not convinced that these are the product for me. I'll have to try the other colors that came with the set before I can make a decision on them :). Before I attached the textured paper to the base, I added a shiny, transparent ribbon with a simple knot to the card.

Next, it was time to cut the words. The shadow of the word 'Wish' was cut on American Crafts silver foil. The top layer of the "Wish" sentiment was cut on light blue American Crafts glitter paper. This AC Glitter paper is THE BOMB! It takes several passes on the Cricut to get the cut clean, but with a little patience, even the most intricate of cuts can be done with this glittery paper - and it doesn't make a mess! The knot of the ribbon makes it slightly more difficult to attach the sentiment, but to get around this, I used 3D Foam corners to make the verbiage the same height.

This is a simple, elegant and EASY card to make for last minute holiday sentiments!

Please leave a comment for me...and if I get 20 comments, I may even send this card to one lucky winner! Make sure to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you!!

Ecstasy Cards - Embellishments

I was lucky enough to get a sample of some really cute bears from Ecstasy Crafts. Typically, these are used by card makers to develop some fast and beautiful card work. Since I am more of a scrapper than a card maker, I thought I would try to use these in a scrap layout instead!



These are incredibly easy to work with. They come on all printed out on a single sheet of glossy paper. The pieces are perforated, and they pop out with very little effort - even the little ones! The edges are perfect - not like some die cuts where you have to trim off the little pieces where they were attached to the main sheet! I used foam dots to 'lift' the various pieces up off of the piece below it. This was like doing a paint-by-number. I started with the base piece, which included the pretty blue snow background, and added each piece sequentially, overlapping as needed. I tried to take a picture from the front so you could see how many layers each bear has.



I used paper I already had in my stash to set up the base layouts. I prefer symmetry in my work, so each side had the same size papers. The two bear paper piecings came on a single sheet that had a lovely matching strip of paper that resembles ribbon. I cut it in half and used each piece to accent the bears. Finally, I used some glitter Prima flowers to add some bling to my page and a simple Merry Christmas cutout to give my page a title.

So if you get a chance - try out the new Ecstasy products for fast, easy and beautiful projects!

Sympathy Card

It's always a sad day when someone passes away...and it's hard to create a card in the heat of all those emotions. I can never come up with an idea that is subtle and sensitive, but still shows some originality and creativity. Then, I got my hands on one of the Cuttlebug Oriental Weave folders, and I knew that it was perfect for just these occasions.



I made my 5 x 7 card base out of some paper I had on hand. I cut a piece of Bazzill card stock a half inch smaller than my card, and ran it through the Cuttlebug. I ran it through several times, just to make sure I had a sharp emboss.


Next, using a simple foam brush, I used my Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in Walnut Stain to darken up the bamboo shoots. I used a Copic marker to color the bamboo leaves.
My sentiment was cut with the Wild Card cartridge. This cartridge has some great sayings, but it can be difficult to size them when using them separate from the cards. I like to use Design Studio, even when just cutting a simple image, because I can make it exactly the size I need, without having to fuss with the settings on my Expression. I mounted the saying with my Sakura Quickie Glue pen on a simple piece of vellum, with a few corners rounded with my Corner Chomper to give it a little style.


The final product is a simple, subtle card that relays my thoughts and still allows me to be a designer.

Graduation Card & Pin

My son is a senior in high school this year, and I was amused by the way they called themselves "SEN10RS", designating the class of 2010. So, I thought I would create a file in Design Studio that imitates that. The font is Base Camp. I emphasized the '10' by making that slightly larger than the other letters, and cutting it in a different color. This portion is not actually adhered to the card. I have attached a tiny safety pin to the back of this piece, so that the kids can wear their 'Sen10rs' like a pin (or a bow tie, as my son says!). I also made a file that has three 'Sen10rs' pieces together, folded in a triangle, which will make a nice centerpiece at the graduation party ;-)! The basic .CUT file for the Sen10rs piece can be found HERE.

The card base is the graduation cap from the Locker Talk cartridge. I figured out what size I wanted for the cap, and then 'copied, welded, flipped and rotated' my copy to the top of the first cap. I overlapped them slightly, so that there is a tiny fold at the top of the card. I cut the tassle in the school color, and the top button of the cap is in gold. The tassle itself is actually a solid cut, but I found that too bland, so I used my scissors to cut 'fringe' into the tassle. My .CUT file can be found HERE.

We have over a dozen seniors, and each of them will get a card and pin at the final band concert in a few weeks. I think the simplicity of this card is what makes it so nice. I will be able to easily create as many as I need, without too much hassle!

Spring Card

Here's an easy card for a lovely spring thought! It was made from a pre-folded card & envelope set, so I didn't have to fuss with envelope sizing.



First, I stamped Lily from Pink Cats Studios - Billy & Lily Sweethearts on my Prism paper with Memento Ink Tuxedo Black, and colored her with Copics. I cut her out really close with Cutterbee scissors...I love how sharp those little scissors are! Next, I used two embossed borders from the Cuttlebug Emboss A2 Border Frills set. The lace-look border was set at the bottom of the card, and I cut around the embossing to show the curved edges on the bottom. I placed the pink floral border slightly above the bottom, and used a fun, decorative ribbon between the two borders. The ribbon is held in place with Scor-Tape. I tucked Lily in to the top of the pink flower border. To show off the lace border, I used a piece of the same pink cardstock on the INSIDE bottom of the card. I highlighted a few of the flowers in the middle pink border using Flower Soft Summer blend and Flower Soft Glue. The pink hydrangea flowers are set in place with Glossy Accents and a Twinkle Jewel. I have discovered that many 'dimensional' items can be 'glued' in place with Glossy Accents - it sets up hard, so that your embellishment won't fall off! Finally, I cut my title phrase with my Cricut and the Lyrical Letters cartridge. The shadow of this font is clean, and easy to cut very small - this one was cut at 3/4".

Cutters Creek Items Used:
Pink Cats Studios - Billy & Lily Sweethearts
Prism Paper
Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers
Cutterbee Scissors
Cuttlebug Emboss A2 Border Frills
Scor-Tape
Flower Soft Summer Blend
Flower Soft Glue
Glossy Accents
Twinkle Jewels
Lyrical Letters Cartridge

Check out this Blog Candy!

I just found this as I was hopping around the blogspace today:

Candy time! We got Candy! AnaryAtelie!


Check out her blog...she has some really CUTE stuff out there! And enter the contest for some great blog candy!!

Friends Word Book

This is a book I cut out for my daughter to give to a few good friends of hers. Word books are a challenge for a lot of people, but once you've get one put together, you will realize that they really aren't that tough - especially if you use a file that has been shared by another designer! There are LOTS of videos available on YouTube - so take a few moments and look at some of those as well.



The file I used for this book was created by Fiona Sewell, who graciously shared her design with me. It was created in Design Studio, using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I have gotten her permission to share this file with all of you, and it is available on my 4Shared account HERE.

I use a thinner chipboard, which cuts nicely with my Cricut Expression, and a really sticky mat, so the chipboard doesn't move during the cuts. I use multi-cut 2 or 3, depending on the intricacy of the cut.

The first cuts I do are the chipboard - so go thru ALL the letter pages once in chipboard. Then, I do the paper topping/backing for each letter. I like to use double sided paper for my letters - because I know that the front and back will coordinate nicely. This way, I can cut the letter once on the page, then take out my mat, rotate it 180 degrees, and put it in for the second letter. By doing this, I don't have to worry about 'flipping' my paper upside down to get the backing letter to cut right on the patterned paper. So - if you don't use double sided paper - remember to flip your paper upside down to cut the backing part of the letter. Finally, I use a solid paper to cut the individual letters, so that the letters stand out on top of the patterned paper.

Some people like to 'ink' the edges of the book so that the chipboard doesn't look 'unfinished'. This is a personal decision...not just if you want to ink, but also when to ink. For some books, I ink before I adhere my paper - so that the patterns of the paper are not distressed. For this book, I inked AFTER I adhered the paper - which distresses the paper a bit, and gives it a pretty, finished look.

Once everything is cut, it's time to start adhering the book together. My favorite adhesive for this job is Zip Dry! It doesn't dry too fast, so you have time to adjust the paper on the chipboard perfectly. It does not bubble, and dries clear, so even if you get some oozing out, it doesn't show up! The solid letters can be adhered with Zip Dry, or any other adhesive, like the Glue Glider Pro. For this book, I distressed the solid letters ever so slightly, to match with the other distressing done on the edges, and the pattered papers.

Since this is a gift, we didn't have the pictures that will be added to the book, so we just added some journaling boxes and embellishments randomly thru the book. That way, the recipient can add pictures wherever they would like, and there are already decorative touches added, to dress the book up.

I used my Crop-a-Dile II to punch the holes in each page, and used O-rings to bind the book. I could have used my Bind-It-All, but this was a gift for a teenage girl, and I wasn't sure how thick the book would end up, so O-rings were safer! My daughter decorated the O-rings with pretty ribbons, just to give the rings a little flair.

So - don't be afraid - go ahead and try it. If you're nervous about the 'flipping' of letters, try it out first on paper that you don't like - everyone has some of that in their stash! Practice a few times, to make sure you get the concepts...then you can go ahead and do the real thing with prettier paper!

Good luck & happy scrapping!

The following items can be purchased from Cutters Creek:
Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge
Design Studio
Zip Dry Adhesive
Ranger Walnut Distress Ink

Easter Bling - Scrapbook Layout

I was one of the guilty one's...I was waiting on the edge of my seat for Cutters Creek to get the American Crafts glitter paper in stock. As soon as Kim posted the Spring pack, I was online placing that order! When it came, I was AMAZED! This paper is so pretty, so glittery, and so sturdy! It just screamed 'little girls' and I have twin godchildren in Kindergarten that I'm pretty sure will get some very pretty dresses to take pictures in! So, I created a simple, pre-made layout that my niece will be able to quickly add two photos to, and add to her scrapbook!

If you are a member of the Cutter's Creek Yahoo! group, you have probably seen the messages coming through discussing the best settings to use to cut this paper with your Cricut. Start with the following:
Pressure: High
Blade Depth: 6
Multi-Cut: 2
...and be prepared to ADJUST these settings for your Cricut. I had to do multi-cut 3, and still had a few areas that needed cleaned up, however, I probably need to change my blade as it is rather well-used. Intricate cuts, such as the grass on the bottom of my layout, will also require some help from a razor blade, to finish some of the cuts and clean up the edges. Simple shapes, like the egg SVG's, cut cleanly and quickly! I did have one boo-boo, where I put my paper on the mat in the wrong direction (I hate when that happens) - but rather than throw away the bad cut, I placed an egg on the 'edge' and made it look like it belonged there!

Adhering this paper to your layouts does not require any special adhesive. I tried several, to see what had the best success, but there was no single adhesive method that worked better than another. I love Glossy Accents, and turn to that as a regular adhesive when I've failed with other adhesives. I used that for the words "Happy Easter" - and did get some paper buckling under one of the corners...but other than that, all my favorite adhesives worked just fine!

I can't wait to see their pictures pasted in these sheets!


Visit Cutters Creek for all of your crafting needs!

Cartridges Used:
Storybook (Happy Easter)
Locker Talk (Flowers)
Zooballoo (Grass)

SCAL - Egg SVG - bottom (Thanks to Diane from Capadia Designs, see her blog here: http://capadiadesigns.blogspot.com/2010/03/scalloped-easter-egg-card-more-details.html)

Adhesives - Glossy Accents, Glue Glider Pro
Twinkle Jewels (flower centers)

Rockin' Birthday Card

I didn't have a specific subject in mind for this card. I received a new cartridge from my best gal pal (Thanks Karen!) for my birthday, and I just HAD to try it out! I am now the proud owner of the Cricut Disney Hannah Montana cartridge!

For all of you who think that this cartridge is only for "tweens" - think again! There are only one or two keys that are specific to Hannah Montana. This cartridge has four awesome fonts - two with shadow features, some great musical shapes, a music staff end-cap feature, and pretty butterflies and hearts!

I used the "Daddy's Girl" feature for my main font, font shadow, music notes and guitar, and the "Rock Star" feature for the word "ROCKIN". I ran all of my letters through my Xyron, as I believe that is the easiest way to adhere small fonts. I used a Sakura Glue Pen to adhere the dot to my 'i' and the handle of the guitar. The Sakura pen lets you put adhesive exactly where you need it, which is important for small, intricate parts!

In order to make the word "ROCKIN" really stand out, I covered it in Glossy Accents. I liked the effect so much, that I made the entire face of the guitar glossy as well. The music notes are glitzed up with Stickles 'Star Dust'.

This card is geared towards a girl, with the colors of pink and black, but you could easily change it to a boy by changing all the pink accents to blue or green.

So - all of you girly girls out there - take another look at the Disney Hannah Montana cartridge...I think you'll find a tiara in just your size ;-)

Guest Designer - The Character Cafe

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to win the Blog Hop with the Character Cafe. I had so much fun bouncing around their design team - seeing all the cute new images they have for February. I was able to pick out four really cute digi-stamps - and I cannot wait to start creating with them!

What made it even more special to me, was when Kendra and Kelly asked me to be a Guest Designer for their "Feature Friday"! ME? Really? What an honor! I was happy to take part in their challenge this week - to create a monochromatic card. I had lots of fun coloring with my Copics...and forcing myself to use some goodies from my 'stash'!



For this card, I used my Scor Pal to fold a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock in half. I then cut TWO frames - one at 5 1/2 x 11 in a contrasting color, and the second at 5 1/4 x 10 3/4 in the metallic paper. I cut out the centers of the frames using my paper trimmer (requires a steady hand!). To add a little texture, I scored a line in the center of the metallic frame using my Scor-Pal again. The frames are attached with pop-up squares to give it extra dimension.

My image is "The Serenade". I colored him with Copics, and then used some Stickles and Spica Glitter Pen to bling him up a little! Using my Creative Memories Cutting System, I cut him out using the Oval cutter, and then cut another contrasting oval with the next size cutting blade. A piece of coordinating ribbon is attached using Scor-Tape - awesome stuff, by the way...and the image is layered on top of that.

The flower is layered using Heidi Swapp and Creative Memories flowers. The butterflies are also Heidi Swapp. I then added a few Twinkle Jewels from Cutter's Creek to give a little extra "BLING" to the card.

Hope you enjoy my card...and check out the other designer's cards at The Character Cafe Blog.

Dueling Dragons Layout

For this project, I wanted to highlight some of the neat things that can be done with the Cricut Expression and Design Studio. This is a two page layout that I created based on a Page Maps layout. I love to use Page Maps to develop my pages - it gives me a great starting off point and I can adjust as I need to based on the number of pictures I have! This layout is based on the January 2008 Page Maps.

This layout calls for a coordinated set of papers and embellishments...but I didn't have anything in my crafty arsenal that really felt like it fit...and I knew I wanted to use my stash rather than go out and buy more stuff. Because my layout is of my son on a roller coaster, I knew I wanted something 'swirly' so I turned to my Storybook cartridge to find the perfect accents. Once I found the main embellishment (Accent Frame Swirl), I decided to play around with Design Studio, and I created a butterfly using the corner swirl from that same key, plus an oval from George! The title "Deuling Dragons" is also cut from the Storybook cartridge.


These pictures are pretty busy...so I didn't want to use a highly patterned paper, but I wanted it to match like the layout showed. I remembered that I have the markers that go in the Cricut blade housing, and got a great idea to make MY OWN patterned paper. I used the same Accent Frame Swirl that I had already cut, and added it several times to my page, arranging them throughout a 12x12 page, flipping and turning along the way. Instead of the blade, I put a marker in the housing, and DREW the pattern rather than cut it. (NOTE: this design takes a LONG TIME to draw...so be patient!) The end result was a custom patterned paper and coordinating accents to make my layout shine! I included the .cut files so you can see how I did it. A sample full sheet photo in white is shown here, so you can get an idea of what the full page looks like.



All these items can be purchased from Cutters Creek:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Design Studio
Cricut Color Inks - Primary (ON SALE NOW 50% OFF!)
Storybook Cartridge
Glue Glider Pro

Butterfly File

Swirl Background File

My *NEW* Favorite Ink

I have to say...I have never really paid attention when people start chatting on the groups and boards about various types of stamping inks/inkpads. Really...I thought...Ink is Ink...what difference does it make? Wow, was I ever wrong!

I recently became the owner of a single, black Memento Ink pad...to go along with my Copic markers and Prism papers. Today, I was stamping a bunch of images to send to a pal as a gift...something that I tend to put off as a 'chore' because it is so tedious. You know the drill...clean up your space...pull out the stamps...the ink...the paper...the cleaners...the paper towels...all that preparation!! Then...STAMP...clean...dry...STAMP...clean...dry... UGH!! But you know what? Doing it with the Memento Ink was AMAZING! The stamps came out so neatly...and then one single stamp on a wet paper towel and POOF! - the stamp was clean! This ink goes on SO WELL that most of the ink lands on the paper and doesn't leave much behind on the stamp to clean off!

All these items can be purchased at my favorite online store: http://www.cutterscreek.com - go check out all the stamps and accessories Kim has to offer!!

Keeping Up...

You know...saying you're going to make a blog...and actually DOING it...are two really different things!

I was given the honor, back in December, of joining the Cutter's Creek Design Team. It forces me to be much more creative during the month - which is a good thing. It also requires me to actually take pictures of my creations, so they can be posted on the design team blog! But alas...I haven't been posting them here. I promise to try to get better at that!

One of the really NICE things about blogging, is that you can share some other really great blog addresses with all of your followers! Here's a new one for you to look at today: http://scrappinstyle.blogspot.com/ She is giving away some really nice BLOG CANDY...which I think is an awesome way to thank those that care to leave comments and post messages! Hmm...I think I need to give away some blog candy soon too - to remind me to do more blogging! :)

Happy Crafting!