My Favorite Layouts...Long Post

 

WARNING!!!  Making of the following layouts will result in "Bulky" Scrapbook Binders.....

I went to a crop a couple of months ago, crops are not really my favorite place to go to get work done because I like to "Social Butterfly" to see what everyone else is working on,.  but I go so my friend can have company.  I started cutting and putting together "Kits" in January so that I didn't have to drag much more than adhesives, bling and a basic tool kit.  Every piece/layer was totally embellished and just had to be attached to the layout.  I took 27 kits to assemble plus 5 or 6 of the 3D projects that I've posted on here earlier.  I got all the 3d projects completed and 18 of the kits put together that day.  I finished the other 9 kits the next day since hubby was out of town.  

Today I am going to show you the Cricut layouts that I put together there and a few that I have put together earlier and posted around here and there.  These layouts are a combination of freebies and purchased designs from Monique Griffith's  blog.  If you are interested in seeing her original designs, click the title and it will take you to the blog  page for that layout on her website.  I'm not selling anything or affiliated in any way, work and life keep me pretty busy and I just don't have time to sit around and guess what size to cut things at.  It's like buying a pattern for clothes...takes all the guess work out of it.

NOTE: she sells directions for cutting and assembling these projects for $5.  There are some posts with free directions for layouts (Home for the Holidays and Music to my Ears have directions posted for cutting sizes on the blog-just click their titles to go there), take a look around.  These are just some of the projects she offers.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

This is the first layout I made using the free directions on the website.  The patterned papers were printed from the Christmas Wish Imagine Cartridge. The cuts are from the Winter Woodland and Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridged.  You might have seen this posted on my old blog or the cricut messageboards.  It was, and still is, my all time favorite layout.

MUSIC TO MY EARS

I will never forget our miniature collie "Naboo" singing along every time my daughter practiced the flute.  (I got  Naboo the week that the Star Wars 1 was released, I had seen trailers for the movie and wanted to name her Jar Jar Binks soooo bad, but my family rebelled...Her official registered name wound up being Queen Amidala of Naboo).  This layout was perfect to record this memory as Naboo has left us.  I still have to finish the journalling in the ticket, one of these days........This layout was done using Mickey & Friends and the Quarter Note Cartridge and is Free also.



SCHOOL DAYS

This layout was done using the A Child's Year Cartridge.  I just love all the details and vintage look to this page.  I substituted flowers from the Artiste cartridge for this layout, Monique made her flowers by hand cutting a spiral design in a circle.  I love the leaves at the bottom of the page, even though they were a pain.  I cut them,  misted them with water and perfect pearls, wadded them up in a paper towel, then opened the paper towel and let the dry, it was a nice day so I took them outside to dry in the sun.....from out of nowhere a quick breeze sprung up and blew them all over my yard,  my dogs thought I was playing a game and were so helpful in picking them up...lol

CRUISIN'

I used the Yummy Imagine Cartridge to print all the background papers.  I couldn't find anything I liked in my stash so I designed the diamond background and teal/black border piece in the Craft room and printed it.  The Diecuts were made using the Nifty Fifties Cartridge.

The old "Merc" in the photo's was our graduation gift to our son in 2002.  That's Dad, Grandpa and family friend "Uncle Harry" taking it for a cruise around the MIS raceway in Brooklyn, Michigan.  The guys really enjoyed that, as soon as I saw this layout I knew I had found the perfect layout for this memory.  The guys haven't said anything about the pink stuff in it, but I think they like it in spite of the pink.

 

The rest of the layouts were ones I worked on at the crop.  sorry for the funkiness in some of the pictures, I couldn't get the lighting to cooperate, of course it would help if I wasn't up in the middle of the night trying to take pictures with a glaring fluorescent light!

 



SPRING INTO ACTION

Used a tan and blue color scheme to make my version of this layout.

 

BEAUTIFUL YOU 

I love this color scheme, when I printed out my daughter's pictures in sepia tone they looked way to yellow so I did some research and found a "Bronzing" action for Photoshop.  It's hard to tell here because the lighting made the pictures look wonky, but that bronze color tone matches the background paper perfectly.

 

BUILT TO PLAY

My grandson is a Lego Maniac, these are pictures from his birthday last year, he got enough money to buy the Millenium Falcon,.  It has more than 1,000 pieces to put it together.  

STAMPEDE 

Originally designed for the Cricut Stampede, I changed the title to use for my grandson's pony birthday party...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

I changed this layout around quite a bit.  Swapped out a lamp post for the signpost called for in the directions, still need to put a wreath on it though.  The light colored paper at the bottom was supposed to be at the top, didn't even notice it until I had the "hill" by the door glued down-no way to fix it so it was put together with an up-side-down background.

TOY STORY

My grandson loves to play with that cork gun "Uncle Harry" bought him at Cabelas.  For this particular play session Connor, Dad and Papa all donned hats of some sort and had weapons, there we so many cute pictures that I wanted to include so I designed a mini flip book on the right page using zutter 4x6 photo pages.

 I trimmed the pictures down to size then trimmed the photo pages.  Next I tied ribbons in the rectangular openings to cover the binding holes.

When this page is inserted in the album, I have cut out an opening in the page protecrtor so that the album pages can be viewed without taking the page out of the protector...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

All Background Papers were printed using the Yummy Imagine Cartridge.  I Changed this up a bit because the layout would have been over busy if I used all the items called for in the directions.

GO WILD 

My grandson's 2nd visit to a zoo, this time with his daddy...

SPRING 

These photo's were taken for my Photography class for various techniques. 

 

MONSTERS INC 

The Monsters, Inc. movie helped my grandson get over his fears about monsters under the bed and such.  He now knows that only the "Tickle" monster lives at Grandma's, all the other monsters are scared of our big dog.

SPLASH 

The bottom background page was preprinted cardstock I bought at the fall crop in September. It fit perfectly with the theme and colors that were chosen for making this layout.

 

EXPLORE 

Grandson's first visit to the zoo with Grandma & Papa.  I love these pictures.  This was such a special day, it was the first time we took him on an outing.

***********

 

Love At First Sight



This layout is one I did at the crop and can share here because it has a Cricut cut on it.  The original came from the Close to my Heart Spring Summer 2013 catalog pg. 49.  I used some left over pieces of the Later Sk8r paper packages I had used to make his baseball and basketball layouts from.  I searched for the word Love and created at 1st sight with various fonts then manipulated the files in the Craft Room to weld together.  Since there wasn't a shadow for the words I had created, I used a trick Monique taught me about cutting a set in the color you want your shadow and offsetting them to create the appearance of a shadow.



It was Love at 1st Sight when Connor got to see his gift for his 2nd birthday (to stay at grandma's-mom & nana don't like dogs).  Grandma thinks all kids should have a pet to teach them kindness and responsibility and that is what he asked for as his gift. This is Snoopy the Rat Terrier who was only 3 weeks old when she traveled from Kentucky to Michigan to become Connor's best friend.  They have both grown over the last 6 years, Snoopy still loves Connor, but  wants to sleep after an hour of playing.  We got a big German Shepherd also that Connor can lay on  and play tug with, they both follow him around when he visits then stare out the window waiting for him to return when he leaves.  They are so adorable together.

Well, that's not all of them, but that's all I can share here.  I'll work on posting more on my blog over the next few months, so be sure to visit and subscribe to see what else I've come up with.  My crafting is expanding in a different direction that can't be shared here.  I've become obsessed with the Mixed Media Canvas stuff and have gotten quite a few "non" Cricut toys to play with.   I still use Cricuts, but am working with my other toys more because I've just been dabbling, but I really need to spend some time playing with it and learning to design my own projects.  

Unfortunately, next month's posting will be my final regular posting.  You're welcome to stop by my blog and see some of the new things I'm doing and learning.  I'll send postings to Deb occasionally when they are appropriate for this forum because I've got to many Cricut's just to let them sit idle. 

Freda
canncreatedesigns.blogspot.com

Happy Campers!

Greetings all!

This is Michele from Scrap-n-Dance.blogspot.com. :)

I have a two page layout today, that I designed as a kit for some friends of mine. It's summer time, and some of us like to CAMP!  The simple patterns of Simple Stories' "Take a Hike" line of papers were an excellent background for the pages. And of course I found plenty of Cricut images to cut! I used my Gypsy to design the layout so all the images of sized on my gypsy, but you can always cut them at the nearest 1/4 inch!

"Happy Campers" is from Outdoor Man, and cut at 2.70 inches.
The sleeping bag is also from Outdoor Man and cut at 1.5 inches.
The camp fire is from Outdoor Man and cut at 2.5 inches.
The tent is from Camp Out and cut at 3.5 inches.

The squares across the top were hand cut from the sheet of paper that was all squares of camp and park signs. After cutting them I glued them to squares of brown cardstock to mat them. They fit perfectly across the top.

Thanks for stopping to visit and happy cricuting!

Designed by Michele Donner-Ramsey
Cricut Info and Supplies Used:
Machines used: Cricut Expression, Gypsy
Cartridges used:  Outdoor Man, Camp Out
Other Supplies:  Simple Stories Take a Hike papers, Cardstock, adhesive

Swimming By to Say Hi!

Hi Everyone!

Susie Craft Happy here with a fishy hello card to share with you.

I used Cricut's Create A Critter cartridge for my image, cutting it at 3".  I also used papers from DCWV's Fiesta Forever stack.  For the sand I used Paper Studio Kraft cardstock.

I thought this stamp from Joy's Life Pun in the Sun stamp set was perfect for my little fishy hello card. 

I hope you enjoyed my card today and will come back tomorrow for more Cricut inspiration.

Susie

Cricut Info & Supplies Used

Designed By:  Susie Craft Happy

Machine:  Cricut Expression, Gypsy

Cricut Cartridge:  Create A Critter

Other Supplies Used:

Stamps: Joy's Life - Pun in the Sun

Paper: DCWV, Paper Studio, Papertrey Ink

Embellishments:  The Twinery, Buttons-my stash

3-D Lantern

Hello everyone! This is Angie from Angie's Paper Passion with a 3-D lantern from Cricut Exclusives, 3-D Lanterns. I absolutely love making these and they'd also be great for decorating for parties! After I made the last one, my little granddaughter wanted one for her room in her favorite color - purple.

Here's what I made for her:

I added a handle made of cardstock and strips of vellum. 

And of course she had to have bling on it!

I decided to try cutting out the rolled flowers out of vellum instead of cardstock and I really like how they turned out! These flowers were cut out with the Artiste cart at 2.5" and 2". Just remember to change your settings (pressure, blade depth, & speed) on your machine when cutting something as thin as vellum.

She turns on the little light under her lantern every night before going to sleep and thinks about her Grandma!

(OK, I just added that last part myself but I'm pretty sure she 

really does thinks about me every night!)

Thanks for visiting - I hope you like today's project!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Angie

Cricut Info & Supplies Used:

Designed By: Angela Cromwell

Cricut Machines Used: Expression

Project Type: 3-D, Home Decor, Party

Cricut Cartridges Used:  Artiste, CCR Exclusive 3-D Lanterns

Supplies Used: Cardstock, Vellum, Rhinestones

June & Weddings

They just seem to go together like hand and glove!
This is Meg from PeacockPaperie

Here is a wine tag that I made featuring the bride and groom from Sweet Hearts.
The tag shape I cut from CTMH Art Philosophy.
Patterned papers are Simple Stories Vintage Bliss

Happy Anniversary card

Hello everyone and happy Saturday!  This is Erika from www.EKittyscraps.blogspot.com.  I wanted to share with you the card I made for my Stepson's 1st Anniversary which is today.  The wedding colors were champagne and red so I used these colors in my card.

I actually cut this card from the Sweethearts cartridge at 5 inches using the card function key with the shift key on.  This card is located on page 70.  The cricut machine cut out the words "Happy Anniversary" from the card  so I used red paper that I glued onto the inside of the card.  (See below). 

 I cut the "1st" at one inch from the Artiste cartridge and glued to the front of the card.  I cut out the champagne glasses at 1.50 inches also on p. 70 of the Sweethearts cartridge.  Next I used my punch for the red heart and added silver bling. 

I added champagne flutes on the inside of the card and printed out my verse for the card on silver 8.5" cardstock.  I did originally print on vellum but liked the silver cardstock better. 

Here is the finished card with an added surprise-Graycie Kitty decided to pose with her pink tongue sticking out!  Lol!

What I liked about the Sweetheart cartridge is that it is so versatile for weddings, anniversaries or love themed projects.  This cartridge contains card, tag and envelope functions on every page in the booklet so you can make several projects in a short amount of time.  There are also many other cartridges with the card feature so you can stock up on cards.  Thanks for stopping by and have a good month!

Supplies Used:

Cricut Expression Machine

Sweethearts Cartridge

Artiste Cartridge

Gold, silver and red cardstock

heart punch

silver bling

Humorous Card with Original Caption

Hello again to all the wonderful inspiration seekers, who come to CricutFANatics to get a  creative mojo blast.  It's Melody, aka Kauaimelody on the Cricut Messageboards and Cricut Melody on my blog, and I hope you are up for a little chuckle today. 

Here is a Sneak Peek 

Before I show you the card, I made, a little back story. When I lived in Illinois, I contributed to a small annual publication called the Lee Centenniel, which promoted community events. I was the sole cartoonist, and  so loved trying to come up with funny captions .  Last week , I thought about how much I missed doing that and wondered if I could still come up with one.  So I decided to challenge myself , and create one for all of you, and put it on a simple card.

So today's blog is about prodding you to  writing something on your card that is completely original and funny.  OK, so maybe you will be the only one who thinks it is funny, and if that is the case, just keep it for yourself for kicks and giggles when you need a little boost. 

And now for my caption:

And the image that goes with it:

 So to help you answer the question that the caption poses, a close up for you.  If you are of a delicate nature, and find a lady cow's udders in a lavender sparkly bikini offensive, please advert your eyes, and scroll quickly  past it.  :) I admit to having a silly bone in case you are wondering abut my sense of humor.

I used the Imagine More cartridge for the cow and cut the bikini out of wired ribbon.  It had a nice silver border, and I used this to "keep the bikini up" so there was no wardrobe malfunction.

I was going to design it on Cricut Craftroom, (Half circle, four cut elongated ovals) but decided to trace the cow and freehand it instead.  I made little rosettes out of narrow folded  ribbon. This is an A2 card and the backgrounds are paint cards I had left over from a project.  Very easy to do.

I typed the caption at 16 and 18, wrapped the card in sheer ribbon , a bow and another rosette. I made it very simple as I wanted the caption to stand out the most.

Hope you did get a little chuckle out of this and will try a caption card yourself.  If you have any questions, you can post in the comments and I will answer there, or you can email me at cricutmelody@hotmail.com.  It is so much fun creating for you and I am looking forward to July 7 for a very special share.

Joyful Crafting Always,

Melody



Designer:  Melody

Machines:  Cricut Imagine

Materials:  cardstock ribbon, paint cards,  handmade flowers.
                   ATG, glue gun

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy League MVP

Hello, fellow crafters!  Today I have a Father's Day card featuring Total Sports from Creative Memories.  I love how easy this cartirdge is to use and it is perfect for a sports lover's Father's Day card.  That description fits my husband, Tom, to a tee. Tom loves baseball with a passion.  I used navy blue, white and red as the main colors because the Yankees are his favorite team. GO YANKEES!  However, you can substitute the colors to show support for your favorite guy's team :)

The baseball glove (3 in.) and the baseball (5 in.) are icons from page 61 . The font is so much fun.  It is perfect for a lot of different sports and has the same look as the Varsity Letter cartridge.  I cut out the M (p. 59), V (p. 42), and P (p. 56) at 1.75 in.  The letters are popped up to make them stand out more. The ticket diecut is from Art Philosophy, p. 64.  I cut that at 2.25 in.  I was going to add a baseball bat.  When I was positioning all the pieces before I glued them down, though, it looked like overkill so I scratched that idea.  The "Daddy League" sentiment is hand written.  (My printer went on strike!)  The star is from a Sizzix die.

All in all I had a lot of fun with this cartridge and can't wait see more projects done with it.  I hope you have a great week!

Cricut Info & Supplies Used:

Design by: Lori Sjogren

Cricut Used:  Cricut Create

Cricut Cartridges: Total Sports, Art Philosophy

Other Supplies Used: Cardstock from Co'ordinations, & Papertrey Ink, Staple red gel pen, Sizzix Stars Die, Numbers stamp from 7 Gypsies, pop dots

A Wish Came True

Hello. Cindy here from Scrap-obsessed. I have a quick layout today that I made using a couple of older cartridges. I took this picture of my grand-daughter a couple of weeks ago and knew I had to highlight it in a scrapbook page.

The title was made using the Storybook cartridge cut at 3". The shape under the title was also cut from the Storybook cartridge at 4". The dandelion was made using the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridge at 3 1/2".  All of the papers are from Close to my Heart.

I hope you like the layout. Don't forget to get out your older cartridges and put them to use.