DIY Gold Foil Embellishments - No special tools needed!!

I have been so in love with anything embellished with gold foil. Have you seen the new Minc machine?? Love it! But it comes with a pretty steep price tag. So I set out to create a similar look for a lot less money. During the holidays, I created a ton of projects using this technique. Now I am getting ready to work on some Valentine's crafts so I thought I would share this with all of you. This is what you can make with this technique:

You can add gold foil to your projects using any shape you want! Use your punches, die cutting machine, or even plain double-sided tape to make foil stripes. Best of all, it's super easy and inexpensive. To add foil to your projects, you will need double-sided adhesive sheets and gold leaf metal:

I got the leaf sheets at Hobby Lobby but both items are available on Amazon:

The first things you will need to do are to cut a shape out of the adhesive sheet. I used my Cricut Explore for this heart but I have also used my Silhouette Cameo, punches, and Sizzix Big Shot. 

Here is my design cut out of the adhesive sheet:

All you have to do is peel the backing away from the adhesive and adhere the shape to your project.

Use a bone folder to make sure it is really adhered well.

Peel the paper away to expose the adhesive.

With the shiny side up, carefully place the gold leaf sheet over your image. The leaf is very delicate. You may want to practice applying it once before working on your actual project. Once you get the hang of it though, it is really simple.

When you have the leaf positioned, gently rub it with your finger. The excess leaf will flake away and you will be left with a shiny gold embellishment.

Continue to rub the foil once it is adhered. This will create a super smooth finish for your foil.

This is what the finished project looks like. I hope you love this technique as much as I do. Please let me know if you try it out! Stay tuned for another foil technique coming soon!

Here is a video outlining this process:

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Birthday card using Cricut Explore

I wanted to make a birthday card that is trendy, girlie, and colorful. I used the Cricut Explore to cut all of the pieces. In Design Space, I created the background by manipulating a chevron design from the Boho Graphics Iron On cartridge and used the feather from the Southwest cartridge. The Happy Birthday label was written by the Explore. I am very pleased with the results and continue to be thrilled by the cuts made by the Explore. I feel as though the Explore and Design Space help me to complete projects more quickly. They are so easy to use that my time is spent more on planning, than on execution. The machine is no longer what slows me down. I LOVE this!

The Design Space file I used to create this card is HERE. It has been my experience that you need to save shared files before you can cut them. Simply go the file, save it your library, load your paper, and  cut! :)

St. Patrick's Day Bear Card

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! This was the card I made using my Cricut Explore. I made several of these to send out. I love this little bear's outfit. He is looking pretty handsome for the festivities! The bear is cut from the Teddy Bear Parade cartridge and the shamrock in the background is from Designer's Calendar. The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts.

Enjoy your day!

 

Write + cut on the Cricut Explore

I created this super quick card using my Cricut Explore and the write + cut feature. I love that this little machine can actually WRITE my sentiment on the inside of a card! I used an American Crafts Slick Writer in the pen holder and it was super easy to set my Explore to write and cut in one pass! The cupcake is from Simply Charmed and the cardstock is Recollections.

You can see how I did it here:

I am in LOVE... again!!!

After experiencing a bunch of different emotions, ranging from doubt and worry to total excitement, I am happy to report that I am in love... with the Cricut Explore!

This baby has met, and even exceeded, my high hopes for this new machine. Yes, I had my doubts, as I'm sure many people did. I have been a Cricut user since 2008 and have had my share of ups and downs with the brand. I started with the original Cricut and upgraded to the Expression a short while later. I also have a Gypsy and the good old Imagine... we won't go there right now. Somwhere along the way, I kind of fell out of love with Cricut in general. I had accumulated quite a collection of cartridges, but as technology improved and I started to see what other brands could do, I just sort of lost interest. I eventually picked up a Silhouette Cameo, which I still like very much and use frequently. However, there has still always been this slight longing to go back to my Cricut but I just haven't because it seemed rather tedious to use, compared to the Cameo. So my Cricut machines sat, untouched, for quite some time. I would occasionally glance at them but really have not used them in a long time. At some point, I believe I may have even told my husband that I would never give Provo Craft another dime because the Silhouette Cameo seemed to fulfill most of my needs, except... it's not a Cricut! I love the designs on the Provo Craft cartridges and really wanted to love my Cricut machines. 

Fast forward to the end of January. I was checking my email one morning and saw a message from HSN announcing the debut of a brand new Cricut machine to be launched on February 12. It peaked some interest, but really not much excitement. I thought I might check it out sometime, but surely I would never buy another Cricut machine so I didn't have to watch the HSN premier! Over the next few days, I started to see random bits of information about this new machine pop up over the internet. I figured what the heck, it can't hurt to read about it. The more I read, the more I became interested. A completely rebuilt machine, brand spanking new web-based interface, dual housing for a blade plus marker or scoring tool, cut your own SVGs, hmmm... could this be what I've always been hoping my Cricut would someday be? Well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to watch it on HSN. They have a good return policy so even if the machine turns out to be really lame, I could always send it back. So I watched. It  didn't take long before my fingers were adding it to my cart and it was on it's way. When it finally arrived, the Explore was as beautiful in person as it was on tv. But the true test was in the cutting. This little machine had some BIG promises to make good on. Boy, did it deliver!

This doily, cut at 4 inches, is BEAUTIFUL! All of the points are perfect, no tears on even the thinnest of pieces, and every tiny piece was cut through... I didn't have to rip a single section off of this cut! I would never have attempted a cut like this with my Expression. Then there are the whiskers... Do you see how perfectly these whiskers cut? And don't get me started on his little mouth... You can see it to the right of his head. The space between the dots on the mat is 1/4" and his mouth is even smaller than that! 

The Design Space application is by no means perfect but I am hoping that it will continue to improve and it will only get better. These first few days that I spent with my Cricut Explore were heavenly. Stay tuned for more on the Cricut Explore and Design Space. I'm working on a bunch of projects right now! We'll see if the newness of being in love again wears off or if this machine is truly everything I hope it will be!

Memory Card Book SVG File

This is a recent project I worked on. It is super quick and fun - you could make several of these in a short amount of time. I'm calling it a Memory Card Book. It serves as a handmade greeting card and a mini book! Perfect for those times when you want something just a little more special than a greeting card. The front is embellished just like any greeting card and the inside is filled with sentiments and pictures. This would be a great gift for Mother's Day, graduations, Father's Day, birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's Day - just perfect for any occasion! The SVG file is available in my Etsy shop or Meylah shop.

For more information, check out this video:

Flaunt It Fridays May 27

This week's challenge is to use any cut from the Robotz cartridge. I don't have that one so I used this cute little guy from Wrap It Up. It's a standing photo holder. The middle - where his body is - pulls out into a mini accordion album to hold some pictures.

Flaunt It Fridays May 13

Happy Friday the 13th!! You should have arrived here from Carley's blog. If not, click here to start at the beginning of the hop. :)  It's blog hop week over at Flaunt It Fridays! In honor of Friday the 13th, we are flaunting the Happy Hauntings cartidge. The challenge is to use the cut that says "Friday the 13th" on page 54. I couldn't bring myself to do a Halloween or spooky project so, I made this card:

For our second project, we could use any cut from the cartridge. I used the 3-D frame cut (without the spiderweb portion on the top) using cereal boxes. Again, it's not spooky or Halloween themed, but here it is:

Now remember, our grand prize this month is sponsored by scrapbuck.com - a $20 gift certificate!! All you have to do to be eligible to win is to enter our challenge - the more challenges you enter, the more chances you will have to win!

In honor of Friday the 13th and all things spooky and scary, I will be giving away this stamp set - all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post - would love it if you were a follower as well. :) The winner will be picked on Tuesday, May 17. Now you're off to Deborah's blog! Thanks again and enjoy the hop!

Here is the hop order in case you get lost along the way:

1. Flaunt It Friday's http://www.flauntitfridays.blogspot.com/

2. Sandra http://www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com/

3. Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com/

4. Lisa P. http://www.crop-and-create.blogspot.com/

5. Corri http://www.buglvr.blogspot.com/

6. Monica http://simplycricutting.blogspot.com/

7. Celeste http://ccscards.blogspot.com/

8. Carley http://www.the-real-icarley.blogspot.com/

9. Laurel http://www.blog.littlepeaceofmyheart.com/

10. Deborah www.bugjuiced.blogspot.com

11. Lisa N. http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com

12. Mel http://scrappymel.blogspot.com/

13. Yolonda http://www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com/

14. Jess http://myscrapdiary-jess.blogspot.com/

15. Brynn http://flairandfrillscreativity.blogspot.com/

Flaunt it Fridays - May 6

This week's challenge is to flaunt the castle from the Wrap It Up cartridge on page 24 of the handbook. I decided to make mine into a sandcastle - the sentiment inside says "wishing you an out-sand-ing day!"

Our May Sponsor is Scrapbuck.com They will be giving away a $20 Gift Certificate to their store! To be entered to win, all you have to do is to enter the Flaunt it Fridays challenges. The more challenges you play along with, the more chances you will have to win!

Flaunt it Fridays - April 22

This week we are flaunting any cut from the Cindy Loo cartridge! I decided to make a gift box. The box is from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. The birdhouse and the bird are from Cindy Loo. Be sure to stop by the Flaunt it Fridays blog to play along! :)

Flaunt it Fridays April 1

This week's challenge was to use the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge and flaunt the bird with the mustache and sunglasses on page 36 of the handbook. I had no idea what I was going to do with this cut! The sentiment came to mind before the design of the card. So since I wanted to words to stand out, I decided to print them out on a curve.  :)  Be sure to stop by the Flaunt it Fridays blog to see all the awesome projects for this week and to play along!

Flaunt It Fridays March 18

It's blog hop week at Flaunt it Fridays! You should have arrived here from Jenny K's blog. If not, click here to start at the beginning. Don't forget about this week's prize - a stamp set from Peachy Keen! To enter, you must leave a comment on the FIF blog and then at every stop on the hop. You won't be disappointed - these ladies all have awesome projects to share with you this week!

The cartridge we are flaunting this week is Birthday Bash. For our first project, we are to use the bunny with the present on page 27 of the handbook. Our other project could use any cut from the cartridge - I used a bunch of them!! :)

Here is my bunny tag. I used the bunny on the front and his present on the back. The present swivels on a brad to hide your note!

My next project is a mini album. The paper collection, I guess, was intended to represent birthday celebrations. But, I thought I would like to celebrate everything in this mini album. The pages are the banners cut from the Birthday Bash cartridge, minus the holes. The title is also cut from the same cartridge. Inside are different banners that read "celebrate life", "celebrate love", and "celebrate family". These small banners are cut from the Country Life cartridge.

Now you are off to Corri's blog. Enjoy the rest of the hop and thanks for stopping by!

Here is the full lineup in case you get lost along the way:
1. Flaunt It Friday's http://www.flauntitfridays.blogspot.com/

2. Sandra http://365daysofcricut.blogspot.com/
3. Lisa http://www.crop-and-create.blogspot.com//
4. Sheandra http://www.lawyersscraptoo.blogspot.com/
5. Pam http://simply-pam.blogspot.com/
6. Stacey http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/
7. Glenda http://glendascards.blogspot.com/
8. Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com/
9. Amanda http://www.myscrappinobsession.com/
10. Celeste http://ccscards.blogspot.com/
11. Carley http://www.the-real-icarley.blogspot.com/
12. Jenny K http://kozfam5.blogspot.com/
13. Laurel http://www.blog.littlepeaceofmyheart.com/
14. Corri http://www.buglvr.blogspot.com/
15. Monica http://simplycricutting.blogspot.com/





Flaunt it Fridays March 4

This week we are flaunting any cut from the Twinkle Toes cartridge. I don't have that cartridge so I am using the owl from Create a Critter. I cut her out on my Imagine, using the Blossom pattern cartridge. The Imagine makes it so easy to cut all of the pieces with different patterns - I love it! :) Be sure to stop by the FIF blog and check out the projects from all the other awesome ladies!!

Flaunt It Fridays February 18

It's been a while since I've done a FIF project! But, I'm back this week with a tag. The cut this week is the model1 cut from the Forever Young Cartridge which, I don't have so I used the cut on page 65 from the Heritage cartridge instead. These silhouette images always make me think of a cameo. So, I thought I would try making a faux cameo but I wanted it to be really dimensional and actually look like a cameo. With a little Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) and some ink, this is what I came up with.

I explain how I made my faux cameo in this video:

Flaunt it Fridays January 28

This week we are flaunting a cut from the Paper Pups cartridge. The cut can be found on page 104 with the border function on. To create this card, I used my Gypsy to hide the interior cuts and then weld the dog and cat to the top of a rectangle. I cut the dog and cat  again in the dark brown, with all of the lines visible. I kept the color to a minimum as I wanted to make a non-girlie looking card.

Be sure to stop by the Flaunt it Fridays blog to see what the other talented ladies have created and to play along with us on this challenge.

Fluant it Fridays Skull Project

This week's Flaunt it Fridays challenge is to use the skull from Mini Monsters in a non-Halloween project. I don't have that cartridge so I used the skull from Life is a Beach.

I created a stencil using freezer paper and painted the image onto my t-shirt using fabric paint. You can see how I did this in the video below:

Flaunt it Fridays Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Flaunt it Fridays Hello Kitty blog hop!! You should have arrived from Cheryl's blog - if not, click here to start at the beginning. For this week's challenge we were asked to flaunt the Hello Kitty with Airplane on Page 65 from the Hello Kitty Greetings Cart. So, for my challenge project, I decided to do a mini album. I cut the pages using the shadow function and used just the airplane portion of the cut. I then created the tags out of another Hello Kitty cut so the could slide into the pocket created by the airplane. :)

For my second project, I used the heart with the wings cut from page 51. I used the card function and the layers. I wanted to do this project using non-traditional Hello Kitty colors. :)

Check out this video for more info on my projects:

You must leave a comment on everyone's blog to have a chance to win the Grand Prize Giveaway which is the Love Always stamp set sponsored by Pink By Design. The grand prize will be on Sandra's blog! You will have all weekend to complete the hop and we will draw the winner sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

Thank You so much for taking the time to hop with us for the Flaunt It Friday's Hello Kitty Blog hop we can't wait to see how you "Flaunt" your Hello Kitty this week at Flaunt it Fridays . Your NEXT STOP is Elsa.

Should you get lost along the way, please go back to the Flaunt it Fridays blog for the complete hop listing. :)