Tribute To Mozart

It's snowing again! It seems like we get snow at least one day each week. If the weather forecast is accurate we may see a foot of snow. This looks like the perfect opportunity to head off into my studio to work on a project.

The Cricut Quarter Note cartridge has been sitting on my drafting table for a while. I wanted to use the cartridge but never could find a way to incorporate the images into a project until now. Mozart is my favorite composer and I love his music, especially his divertmenti. Since tomorrow (January 27) is Mozart's birthday I decided to do a project that honors him.

I started by printing some sheet music on parchment paper and then soaked it in coffee to age it.
The picture below shows the music printed on parchment and the smaller coffee aged piece on top of it. After the coffee aged piece dried I carefully crumpled it into a ball, unrolled it and repeated the process. Next I made a wash of sienna and dark umber watercolors and lightly painted them over the crumpled sheet music. I repeated this until the parchment was sufficiently aged. Once the piece was completely dry I trimmed the edges of the paper with deckle edge craft scissors and roughed up the edges with a fine grit sanding pad. I highlighted the creases in the paper and the edges with distressing ink. I wanted the music to look very aged, almost as if Mozart while working on the piece could have crumpled it up and thrown it away.


Here's the finished project.




Directions for Tribute to Mozart:

Cricut Quarter Note cartridge
Black, burgundy and cream card stock
Parchment and white paper
Metal Leaf (I used a mix of gold, copper and silver leaf pieces)
Recollections self adhesive gold beads
Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist
Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink
Color Box Gold Pigment Ink
Pearl Ex Gold Powdered Pigment
Small Stenciling Brush and soft paint brush
Sizzix Damask embossing folder and embossing machine
Fine grit sanding pad
Deckle edge craft scissors
Foam Dots
Sienna and dark umber watercolors
Frame


1. Load the Cricut Quarter Note cartridge into the Cricut machine and cut the Violin at 4 inches out of black card stock. Press the Shift and the Violin keys and cut the violin out of cream card stock. Emboss the cream violin using the Sizzix Damask embossing folder. Use the Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink to darken the violin until it becomes a soft light brown color . Glue the distressed cream layer on top of the black violin. Spray lightly with Pearl Glimmer Mist and let it dry. Highlight the raised areas of the violin with the gold pigment ink. Immediately apply the Pearl Ex gold pigment to the areas you just highlighted. Lightly brush off any loose pigment and let the violin dry. Attach the gold beads to the violin's tuning keys. Using the Quarter Note cartridge press the Phrase key and cut The Gift of Music out of black card stock. Press the Shift and Phrase keys and cut the same phrase out of burgundy card stock. Assemble the pieces and lightly spray with Pearl Glimmer Mist. Set aside to dry.

2. Scan a piece of sheet music into the computer and print it on parchment paper with a laser printer (or photo copy the music on parchment paper). Do not print the music on parchment paper with an ink jet printer or the ink will run when you soak the paper in the coffee. Soak the music in coffee until the desired color is achieved. Let the parchment dry completely. Carefully crumple the parchment into a ball and unroll it. Repeat the process until the paper is visibly creased. Make a wash of sienna and dark umber watercolors and lightly paint them over the paper. Repeat the process until the paper is a light amber color. Let the paper dry completely. Cut the edges of the paper with deckle edge craft scissors. Use a fine grit sanding pad to rough up the edges of the paper and distress it. Apply the Tea Dye Distress Ink to the edges of the paper and to the creases in the paper.

3. Print a picture of Mozart on white paper. You can use an inkjet printer. Glue the picture to a piece of black card stock approximately 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches high. With an A2 glue pen apply glue to one edge of the card stock at a time. Apply pieces of metal leaf to the edge of the picture with a small stencil brush. Work the leaf into the glue, brushing away any excess metal leaf. Repeat until all edges of the picture have been framed. Set aside to dry. Cut another piece of black card stock 3 3/4 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches high. Glue the picture of Mozart to the card stock leaving a 1/4 border on all sides.

4. Center the aged sheet music on a piece of parchment card stock and glue in place. Attach foam dots to the back of the Mozart picture, center on the sheet music and press in place.
Center the phrase over the top of the sheet music and glue in place. Attach the violin in the lower right corner of the music with foam dots and press in place. Frame the finished piece.

Poodle Valentine Card

The Cricut Paper Pups cartridge is so cute and versatile. I really like this cartridge and wanted to use it to make another Valentine's Day card for my husband (who has been banned from reading my blog until Valentine's Day is over). Thursday we had a wintery mix (snow and ice) so it was a good day to work on some cards. Like the last two cards I decided to use a French verse for the greeting. Mon amour pour toi est eternal (My love for you is eternal) just seemed to work well with this card.




Directions for Poodle Valentine Card:

Black, dark pink, pale pink, green and light grey card stock
K & Company Black and White patterned card stock
Cricut Paper Pups cartridge
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Nine; Sizzix or other die cut machine
Pink ribbon with white hearts
Clear stick on rhinestones
Martha Stewart Holidays Paper Rose Embellishments
Martha Stewart Lace Heart border punch, Rose Leaf paper punch and Lace Heart edge punch
Bone folder
Large and small foam dots
Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist
1. Fold a piece of light grey card stock in half lengthwise and crease with a bone folder.

2. Use the Martha Stewart Lace heart edge punch to punch a heart out of dark pink card stock. Next punch a heart border out of the same card stock using the Lace Heart border punch. Save four hearts from the border punch left overs.

3. Place a piece of black and white patterned card stock on top of the Spellbinders large label and cut it with the Sizzix or other die cut machine. Cut a piece of pink and white heart patterned ribbon to fit the lower edge of the label and glue in place. Tie a small bow and glue in the center of the ribbon.

4. Cut a piece of black card stock 4 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches high. Glue the pink lace heart border under the bottom edge of the black card stock. Place foam dots on the back of the label. Center the black and white label on the black card stock and press in place. Glue the four small left over hearts in each corner of the black card stock. Glue the black card stock framed poodle approximately 2 1/2 inches from the top of the card.

5. Using the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge press the solid key and cut a 2 3/4 inch poodle out of pink card stock. Turn off the solid key and cut a poodle out of light grey card stock. Assemble the poodle and spray lightly with Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist. When the poodle is dry color the nose black and fill in the eye area (add eyelashes if desired) with a fine point black marker. Place three small rhinestones around the poodle's neck to make a collar. Put several small foam dots on the underside of the poodle. Attach the poodle to the label just above the ribbon.

6. Center the dark pink lace heart under the pink lace heart border and glue in place.

7. Print Mon amour pour toi est eternal or the Valentine's greeting of your choice on white paper, using Microsoft word and Monotype Corsiva font at 18. Trim the paper to approximately 3 inches wide by 3/4 inches high and glue on to a piece of dark pink card stock. Leave a small border around the white paper. Cut a piece of black card stock slightly larger than the piece of dark pink and glue the previous layers on top of the black. Position the framed greeting at a slight angle across the top left portion of the card.

8. Place two light pink and one dark pink rose in the upper right hand portion of the card, overlapping them slightly. Press in place. Using the green card stock and the Martha Stewart Rose Leaf paper punch, punch out three leaves and glue them under the edges of the roses.

Cheshire Cat Valentine Card

Cricut has just released the Disney Classics cartridge. The cartridge contains several images from Alice In Wonderland including the Cheshire Cat. I received my cartridge yesterday and couldn't wait rip open the box and start working on a project. I just had to incorporate the Cheshire Cat, with his cool smile, into a Valentine's Day card for my husband. I chose Je pense a toi (I'm thinking of you) for the greeting because it just seemed to fit the character and it gave me another opportunity to use my French.



Directions for Cheshire Cat Valentine Card:

Cricut Disney Classics cartridge
Light grey, pale pink, dark pink, black, yellow, dark purple, medium purple, dark green and white card stock
Wilton heart shaped lace doily
Pink dotted sheer ribbon
Recollections pearls
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and embossing machine
Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist
K & Company Valentine Felt Roses
Got Flowers? pink and cream colored flowers
Martha Stewart Lace Heart border punch and Rose Leaf paper punch
Foam backed mouse pad
Dry embossing stylus (ball tip at each end)


1. Fold a piece of light grey card stock in half lengthwise and crease using a bone folder.

2. Cut a piece of medium purple card stock 4 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches high and emboss it using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Lightly sand the embossed surface to highlight the dots.

3. Glue the heart shaped doily 1/2 inch from the right edge of the embossed card stock.

4. Load the Disney Classics cartridge into the Cricut. Place a piece of black card stock on the Cricut mat and cut Cat 2 at 3 inches. Press the shift key and cut the top of the cat's head out of dark purple card stock. Press Layer 1 and cut the tail, ears, paws and mouth out of pale pink card stock. Press the shift and Layer 1 keys and cut the mouth out of white card stock. Cut the eyes out of yellow card stock by pressing Layer 2. Press Layer 2 and shift to cut the stripes out of dark pink card stock. Load pale pink card stock into the Cricut and press Layer 3 to cut the alternating stripes. Assemble the cat.

5. Spray the cat lightly with Glimmer Mist and let it dry. Attach foam dots to the cat and position him to the left edge of the heart.

6. Use the Martha Stewart Lace Heart border punch and pale pink card stock to make a heart border. Glue the border to the bottom edge of the embossed card stock. Attach the Recollections pearls to each corner of the embossed card stock.

7. Apply foam dots to the back of the embossed card stock. Position the piece 2 inches from the bottom edge of the card.

8. Type the Valentine greeting of your choice in Microsoft Word using the Minya Nouvelle font at 18 and print it out. Cut a tag out of dark purple card stock and glue the greeting to it. Glue the hearts left over from the punched border to the top and the bottom of the tag. Tie a small piece of pink dotted sheer ribbon to the end of the tag. Tuck the end of the tag under the embossed card stock and glue in place. Glue three small hearts left over from the heart border next to the cat's head.

9. Punch six leaves out of green card stock using the Martha Stewart Rose Leaf paper punch. Lightly fold each leaf in half lengthwise. Turn a foam mouse pad upside down to expose the foam backing. Place a leaf on the mouse pad and use a stylus to lightly press veins into the leaf.

10. Attach a felt rose to the bottom center of the card. Arrange the off white and pink flowers around the bottom of the card, alternating pink and off white. Glue the flowers in place. Glue the leaves under the edge of the flowers. Attach a Recollections pearl in the center of the flowers.

Un Autre Chapeau

Another hat! Lately I've been knitting a lot of hats. They can be knitted quickly which is a good thing because it's so cold and windy here. My husband doesn't understand why I would rather knit a hat than go to the store and buy one. As anyone who knits will attest, it's not about the hat per se but about the knitting itself (the challenge of the pattern, the texture of the yarn). There's one more reason to knit the hat myself-cute, hand knit wool hats just aren't available in local stores.


This hat is the Cabled Hat from Classic Elite Yarns Uptown pattern collection. I chose Ironstone's Harmony instead of the yarn recommended by the pattern because I loved the color and the softness of the wool. The pattern was easy to follow but I do suggest reading through it before you begin knitting. This is the first time that I had knit an I-cord edging but the directions were clearly written so I had no problem. The hat knit up very quickly (2 evenings from start to finish) on size 11 needles. It fits well, is warm and looks really cute on.

FYI: Mozart was the only one in my house willing to model the hat for a picture.

Knitted Beret

I love hats, especially berets. They are classic, easy to wear and warm. However it's really difficult to find a knitted beret that looks good and fits properly. They tend to be limp and slouchy (not a very flattering look). I searched several stores in my area for a knitted wool beret but was unable to find one. It looks like I am going to have to knit the hat myself. That's the great thing about being a knitter, you don't have to let the buyers for the stores dictate styles and colors to you. After a quick trip to the yarn store I found the hat pattern and the wool.

The pattern is Laurel from Made in Brooklyn by Jared Flood for Classic Elite Yarns.* The yarn is Ella Rae Classic Wool in a Merlot color. The entire hat was knit in the round on Denise needles. It was fun to knit and worked up quickly.

If you decide to knit this pattern there are some things that you should know. There are mistakes in the printed pattern. I suggest checking the Classic Elite website for the errata. My pattern book was published in November 2009 and it still contains mistakes.

Follow the chart closely, it's correct. For instance, at Round 32 the pattern instructs you to move 2 stitches from the left hand needle to the right hand needle and replace the marker while the chart shows you moving one stitch. Following the written pattern will cause the cables to be off. The same is true for Round 34 ( move 2 stitches instead of one stitch). Again the chart shows the correct placement of the stitches.

Make a full gauge swatch, especially if you are substituting yarns. The woman at the yarn shop also used the Ella Rae Classic Wool for her hat. She warned me that the hat once knitted is very large and that she used almost 2 skeins of wool. I had to knit on size 6 instead of size 7 needles to get the correct gauge. As a result I only used one skein of wool and my finished hat appears to be the same size as the model in the book.

Blocking is necessary if you want the hat to look like the one pictured in the book. I used a 10 inch plate (as suggested in the book) to block my hat.

My hat fits well, looks good and is very warm. Best of all it's able to block the icy wind. I plan to knit another in navy blue.

* This as well as Jared Flood's other patterns can be downloaded from Ravellry.

Paper Pups Valentine Card

As I was putting away my Christmas decorations I realized that Valentine's Day is only a month away. I need to start my projects now in order to have them finished by the holiday.

Brittany gave me the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge for Christmas. I absolutely love this cartridge and wanted to use it to make a Valentine's card for my husband. Since I'm learning to speak French I decided to use a French phrase rather than a traditional Valentine's Day phrase. I typed Mon coeur t'appartient (My heart belongs to you) in Microsoft Word and printed it out on white paper.



Directions For Paper Pups Valentine Card:

Cricut Paper Pups cartridge
Prima Flowers-Spring Assortment
Cuttlbug Swiss Dots embossing folder and embossing machine
White, dark grey, light grey, pale pink and medium pink and scraps of green and pink patterned card stock
Sheer white ribbon
Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace Deep Edge Punch and Rose Leaf punch
White Lace trim
Green Ink
Coffee

1. Fold a piece of 8 1/2 by 11 inch card stock in half lengthwise.

2. Using the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge press the birthday dog and black out keys. Cut the dog at 2 inches out of white card stock. Press the birthday dog key and cut the outline of the dog out of light grey card stock. Press the shift key and the love dog key and cut the hearts out of medium pink card stock. Assemble the dog.

3. Punch a strip of eyelet lace out of white card stock (the length of the card stock) using the Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace punch.

4. Dip the eyelet lace card stock in coffee to age it. I saved the coffee grounds from my morning coffee and poured boiling water over them to make the coffee for this project. I poured the coffee in a shallow baking pan and soaked the card stock for 10 minutes. I carefully removed the wet card stock and laid it on a paper towel to dry. I repeated the process (3 times) until the card stock had an aged look. Let the card stock dry thoroughly.

5. Place a piece of pale pink card stock in the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and emboss it. Cut the card stock to 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches high. Lightly sand the surface to highlight the dots. Attach the dog to the card stock using foam dots. Glue the hearts above the dog's head.

6. Cut a piece of dark grey card stock 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches high. Cut a piece of medium pink card stock 4 inches wide by 5 inches high. Rotate the grey card stock to the left and glue on top of the medium pink card stock. Attach the pale pink card stock to the grey card stock with foam dots.

7. After the eyelet lace card stock dries glue it to the center of the white card stock card. Center the framed dog image on the card and glue it over the eyelet lace.

8. Using Microsoft Word and the Casalon 540 font at 18, type Mon coeur t'apparient and print it out on white paper. Trim the greeting to 2 1/4 inches wide by 3/4 inch high. Cut a piece of pink patterned card stock 2 1/2 inches wide by 1 1/4 inches high. Center the greeting on the pink patterned card stock and glue it in place. Place the greeting in the upper left hand side of the card and angle it so the right edge of the patterned card stock rests on the eyelet lace. Glue in place.

9. Tie a small bow with the sheer white ribbon. Glue the bow to the top left corner of the pink patterned card stock.

10. Punch two rose leaves out of green card stock, using the Martha Stewart Rose Leaf paper punch. Ink the edges of each leaf to give it some dimension. Glue a pink Prima Flowers Rose to the eyelet lace near the bottom of the card. Glue the rose leaves just under the rose.

11. Cut a piece of lace the length of the card. Tuck the lace under the front of the card so that only the edge of the lace shows. Glue in place.

Hello Kitty Thinking of You Card

I often like to make cards to let someone know that I am thinking of them. Finding a cheerful card among the other mail tends to brighten the recipient's day, especially when Hello Kitty is on the front of the card.





Directions for Hello Kitty Thinking of You Card:

DCWV Textured Cards Winter Box of Cards-blue card
Purple patterned paper; scrap of peach patterned paper
Sizzix Hello Kitty Sitting Sizzlet die
White and black card stock
Small oval craft punch
Got Flowers? Iced pink flowers
Bo Bunny brads
Flower Soft heather blend
Sheer white ribbon
Small button and a piece of hemp or string
Yellow marker

1. Using the Sizzix Hello Kitty Sizzlet die cut Kitty out of white and black card stock. Cut her out of the scrap of peach paper. Assemble Hello Kitty using the peach cut outs for the dress and bow and the black cut outs for the eyes, shoes and whiskers. Color Kitty's nose with a yellow marker. Attach a small pink flower to the center of Kitty's bow with a brad. The brad will then become the flower's center.

2. Cut the purple patterned paper approximately 3 1/2 inches wide by 5 inches high. Center the purple patterned paper on the blue card leaving 1/4 inch border on all sides. Glue the purple paper in place.

3. Print A Little Hello From Both of Us on card stock using Microsoft Word. Center the greeting in the oval of the craft punch and punch out. Use blue chalk or distress ink around the edges of the oval to highlight it.

4. Glue Hello Kitty near the bottom right hand side of the card leaving room for flower placement. Glue Flower Soft at the bottom of the card in front of Kitty's feet and behind her.

5. Glue the oval with the greeting near the top left portion of the card.

6. Tie a small bow out of the sheer white ribbon and glue to the top of the oval. Thread a piece of colored hemp or string through a small button and tie a knot. Trim the ends of the string if necessary. Glue the button to the center of the bow.