Zebra Get Well Card

Here's the second card in the Get Well series. This one is for my friend Cindy who is about to have major surgery. I wish her well and hope that this card brightens her day.

I had so much fun making this card. I cut out the zebra and the card evolved from there. The zebra's scarf was inspired by the old movies with the actresses who rode in convertibles with scarves flowing in the wind. I added the crystal bracelet just to give her extra dimension. Although this was meant to be a get well card, this design could be used for any occasion.






Zebra Get Well Directions:

1. Using a computer greeting card program, generate a get well sentiment and verse and print it on parchment card stock.

2. Cut a piece of green patterned paper approximately 2 3/4 inches by 5 1/2 inches. Glue to bottom of the card.

3. Cut a piece of light blue card stock approximately 4 1/4 inches by 5 1/2 inches. Emboss using Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder. Glue card stock to card above the green patterned paper.

4. Using Cricut Paisley cartridge cut a 3 inch zebra out of black card stock. Load white card stock into the Cricut and press the shift key and zebra to cut the stripes and muzzle. Glue the stripes and muzzle on the black zebra. Using pink card stock cut a 3 inch car. Glue the car over the black card stock car. Cut a small flower out of purple and the center out of green card stock.

5. Cut a slightly curved strip out of coarse sand paper to resemble a road. Glue the road on the green patterned paper.

6. Make small dots close together with Alene's Tacky Glue and sprinkle Flower Soft on top of the glue. Lightly press down on the flower soft and shake off the excess. After the glue dries apply glue on top of the Flower Soft and sprinkle with a fine glitter. Shake off the excess and let it dry.

7. Use flower shaped brads as hub caps on the wheels of the car. Tie a piece of sheer ribbon around the zebra's neck to resemble a scarf. Glue three small clear stones to the zebra's wrist for the bracelet. Attach the zebra and car to the card using Zots raised glue dots.

8. Draw a tree trunk and cut it out of brown card stock. Using the button function on the Cricut keypad cut a 2 inch flower shaped button out of purple card stock. Glue flower shaped button behind the the tree trunk. Glue small flowers randomly around the top of the tree. Glue pearls to the center of the flowers. Attach to the card using raised glue dots.

9. Using the button feature and the shift key cut a 2 inch circle out of yellow card stock. Cut 1/4 inch strips of yellow card stock and glue to the yellow circle to resemble the sun's rays. Spray the sun with Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist. Attach sun to the top right of the blue sky using raised glue dots.

10. Punch a butterfly out of pink card stock using Martha Stewart's butterfly punch. Apply opal glitter glue to the butterfly and sprinkle clear micro beads over the entire surface. Shake off the excess beads and let the glue dry. Make antennae out of black card stock. Glue butterfly to the top of the card near the tree. Attach antennae to the butterfly with glue.

Get Well Cards

The weather in the Washington area has been beautiful and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Cherry Blossoms. If you are ever in the Washington, DC area in the spring time you should try to see the Cherry Blossoms, you won't be disappointed.

Over the next few weeks I have friends and family members who will be having major surgery so I have stopped work on my Mozart project to make a few get well cards. I will be posting the cards and the directions here over the next week.

My husband's Aunt Pat is the first to have surgery. She is such a wonderful person and I have come to think of her as our Aunt Pat. This is the card that I made for her.






Directions for Snail Card:

1. Using parchment color card stock and a computer greeting card program print a get well sentiment and verse.

2. Cut a piece of light blue card stock approximately 6 1/2 inches by 4 inches. Emboss using Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder.

3. Cut a piece of green patterned paper approximately 2 1/2 inches by 4 inches and glue to the bottom of the blue card stock.

4. Using the Paisley Cricut cartridge cut a 2 inch snail out of yellow card stock. Cut the cheeks and flower center out of pink card stock, the snail shell out of light green card stock and the flower out of purple card stock. Using the shift key cut another 2 inch snail out of black card stock. Remove the eyes and glue on the yellow snail. Glue the green shell, purple flower and pink cheeks and flower center on snail.

5. Using a narrow strip of 4 inch wide light green card stock make random cuts to resemble grass blades. Glue grass under the edge of the green patterned paper.

6. Attach snail just under the edge of the grass using raised glue dots.

7. Using Making Memories Blossoms & Buttons Flutter glue green felt leaves on green patterned paper. Sew a button in the center of a pink felt flower and attach the flower over the leaves using raised glue dots. Sew a button over the center of a patterned paper flower and use raised glue dots to attach to the upper left corner of the card. Glue a small piece of pink ribbon across the bottom left corner of the card.

8. Make a small bow out of pink satin ribbon and glue to the upper right of the card. Make a pink butterfly out of card stock and embellish with glitter glue and pearls. Glue the butterfly slightly below the bow. I drew the butterfly free hand and cut the body out of a strip of black card stock. I cut two narrow strips of black card stock and rolled the edges to create antennae. You could use a pre-made butterfly or use a craft punch to make one.

Quilling

I'm always looking for ways to expand my craft repertoire. Recently I while I was looking through my copy of Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts I came across a section on quilling. Quilling is surprising easy and only requires a few materials (quilling paper and a slotted quilling tool). It's perfect for adding decorative touches to framed art and cards.

My daughter Brittany's favorite poem is Langston Hughes' Hold Fast to Dreams. She has always dreamed of going to Germany and last August she finally got the opportunity to work and study over there. In October she became very ill and had to have an operation. She began to question why she wanted to go to Germany at all. I reminded her of the poem and encouraged her to hold fast to her dreams. Now that she's feeling better and things are going well, I decided to frame the poem and give it to her. I printed the poem on parchment paper and added quilling to enhance it.


(Click on picture for a larger view)


Here are the directions for the project.

1. Type the poem into Microsoft Word using the Gigi font and print onto parchment paper.

2. Using the Cricut Winter Woodland cartridge set the dial to 1 1/2 inches and cut Bird 3 out of white card stock. Using the blackout feature cut Bird 3 out of antique gold metallic card stock. Distress the edges of the birds feathers, tail and beak tea dye Distress Ink. Glue the white bird on top of the gold bird.

3. Cut six pieces of lavender quilling paper in 6 inch lengths. Slide one end of the paper into the slotted quilling tool. Roll the paper into a tight circle. Remove the paper from the quilling tool and let it rest on the work surface. The circle will begin to uncoil slightly. Don't worry, this is normal. Put a dot of glue on the end of the paper and press into place. Do this five more times. Pinch the coil between your fingers to make a marquis shape.*

4. Cut nine pieces of lavender paper and four pieces of pink paper into 3 inch lengths. Repeat the process in Step 3 to make a marquis shape.

5. Cut one 3 inch piece of yellow quilling paper and roll into a tight coil. Place a dot of glue on the end of the paper and remove from the quilling tool.

6. Cut ten 3 inch pieces of green quilling paper. Make eight marquis shape. Fold the remaining two pieces in half and lightly crease. Roll a circle at each end of the paper.

7. Cut two 3 inch pieces of green quilling paper. Curl each piece using the blade of a pair of scissors (similar to curling ribbon).

8. Cut eight 6 inch pieces of green quilling paper fold the paper in half and roll the ends into circles. Do not glue the ends. Using your fingers shape the ends into loose curls. Glue the paper together near the fold to form vine shapes.

Assembly:

Arrange the large lavender marquis shapes around the yellow circle and glue into place. Arrange vines on either side of the flower. Glue the small pink and lavender marquis shapes around the vine to resemble flower buds. Glue small green marquis shapes around buds to resemble leaves. Use the two small rolled pieces to accent the top of the buds on the hanging vines. Embellish the buds with pearls.

Glue the bird below the vine and above the title of the poem.

Arrange five small lavender marquis shapes into a flower and add a pearl in the center. Glue the flower at the bottom of the page. Glue a vine shape on each side of the flower.

*For basic quilling instructions can be found on Martha Stewart.com or in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts.

Recycled Materials

Well it looks like we escaped the five inches of snow we were supposed to get. I was so happy to wake up and see the sun shining brightly. I'm definitely ready for spring.

It seems like every one is concerned these days with being green and recycling. Recycling is not a new concept to artists and crafters. We have always been ahead of the trend when it comes to reusing materials. We often did to help keep the cost of a project under control.

A couple of years ago I ordered some French Martini glasses. When I opened the box I found the glasses wrapped in an unusual paper rather than the traditional bubble wrap. There was a note in the box asking me to recycle the paper. I couldn't bring myself to put it in the recycling bin so I kept it for use in a future project.




Here are some cards that I made using recycled materials. The white card uses the packing material as a background for the heart and the gold card uses ribbon that was recycled (came wrapped around a lounging set).


Love Card Directions:

Fold a sheet of white card stock in half lengthwise and emboss using the embossing folder of your choice. I used Sizzix Damask and medallions.

Cut a two inch heart out of patterned paper using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge. Using the same cartridge set the dial to one inch and cut the word love out of pink card stock. Set the dial size to 1 1/2 inches and cut two flourishes out of blue paper.

Cut a rectangle out of recycled paper. Center the paper on the card and apply with raised glue dots. Attach heart to paper using raised glue dots. Apply pink glitter around the outer edges of the heart. Attach a pink bow to the top of the heart and glue small pearl to the center of the bow.

Glue flourishes along the side and bottom of the recycled paper. Attach flowers to the flourish using small brads. Attach glittered flowers to the top of the flourish.

Glue the word love at an angle across the top of the card. Apply a small butterfly at the top left of the card. I used Flora Doodles butterflies.


Je t'aime Card Directions:

Fold a piece of white card stock in half lengthwise. Cut a piece of gold card stock 8 inches long x 2 1/2 inches wide. Cut a piece of light gold patterned paper 8 inches x 2 1/2 inches. Glue paper and card stock to card. Cut a piece of 1/2 inch wide gold ribbon to 9 1/2 inches. Glue ribbon over the center seam where the two papers meet.

Cut a piece of bronze metallic card stock 6 1/2 inches x 4 1/2 inches. Cut a piece of patterned patterned 6 x 4 inches. Glue patterned paper over bronze card stock.

Cut a piece of black card stock approximately 3 inches x 1 7/8 inches. Stamp a face image onto a piece white card stock. Color the image using color pencils. Spray the image with Tattered Angles pearl Glimmer Mist. After the image dries trim it fit onto the black card stock. Glue the image to the card stock. Glue the black card stock onto the patterned paper.

Stamp Je t'aime at angle across the left top of the patterned paper.

Attach the bronze card stock to the card using foam dots.

Using a fleur de lys craft punch, punch two fleur de lys out of gold card stock. Cover the fleur de lys with gold glitter glue and glue opposite corners of the bronze card stock.

Make a small bow out of the gold ribbon and attach to the top of the card using a raised glue dot.

History As Art

I love history especially 18th century French History and I am always looking for ways to incorporate history into my art work. Since I've always been intrigued with Marie Antoinette I decided to do a project devoted the much maligned Queen of France.

I simply don't have the studio space to keep all of my finished projects so I often give them away. I would rather send the finished work off to someone who will display it rather than box it up and store it in my basement. My daughter Brittany asked her friend Mitch if he would like my Marie Antoinette project? Mitch is also intrigued with Marie Antoinette and knows even more about her than I do. He is such a fan of Marie Antoinette that he volunteered to take it sight unseen. I have enjoyed working on this project. Now that I'm finished I am going to miss Marie but I did promise to send this to Mitch and he is patiently waiting to receive it.




Here are the directions for the Marie Antoinette project:

Print a picture of Marie Antoinette on glossy photo paper. Mine was wallet size (2 1/2 by 3 1/2).

Cut a mat out of card stock 1/4 inch larger (on all sides) than the picture.

Cut a piece of white card stock 4 inches by 5 1/2 inches. Emboss the card stock using the embossing folder of your choice. I used Sizzix damask and medallions.

Cut another mat out of the same color card stock as the first mat making it 1/4 inch larger on all sides than the embossed white card stock.

Cut a piece of patterned paper 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches.

Using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge cut a 1 inch crown out of white card stock. Cover the card stock with glue and sprinkle gold micro beads over it. Shake off the excess and let it dry.

Using a small fleur de lys paper punch and gold textured paper punch four fleur de lys. Glue a small pearl in the center of each fleur de lys.

Glue the photo to the smaller mat. Then glue this to the embossed card stock. Glue this to the last mat. Attach the matted picture to the patterned paper using dimensional glue dots.

Glue the fleur de lys in the corners of the embossed mat. Make a small bow with purple ribbon and glue it to the top of the embossed mat, centering in between the fleur de lys.

Glue the crown to the patterned paper above the picture. Add small pearls to embellish the crown.

Trim the stems of three calla lilies and use one of the trimmed off pieces to wire the lilies together. Use a dimensional glue dot to attach the lilies to the of the embossed mat. Tie a bow with sheer white ribbon and use dimensional glue dots to attach the bow to the lilies.

Thank You Card

It's finally stopped snowing and we have a temporary reprieve. Monday we are supposed to get some more snow. This last storm was so bad that the snow plows were ordered off of the roads because it was too dangerous for them to be out. Until the roads are able to be plowed we are all stuck at home. That's fine with me. I view this as an opportunity to head into my studio and start working on my projects. There's good in everything, you just have to look for it.

This is a card that I made for my husband's co-worker.






Poodle Thank You Card:

Using the Sizzix poodle die cut one white, one grey and one pink poodle out of card stock.

Assemble the poodle using pink for the feet and the collar and grey for the face and legs. Use a black marker to color the eyes, nose and to draw a mouth. Using narrow pink ribbon tie a small bow and attach it to the poodle's tail. Use opal glitter glue to highlight the poodle's feet and collar.

Using the Cuttlebug thank you embossing folder emboss a piece of pink card stock. Lightly sand the embossing to highlight it. Attach the poodle to the embossed card stock using foam dots.

Using the Sizzix and the Hello Kitty decorative flower strip cut flowers using pink and green card stock. Cut off the flowers from the pink card stock and glue them over the matching green flowers. Glue small golden beads to the flower centers. Highlight the edges of the flowers with opal glitter glue.

Fold a piece of ivory 8 1/2 by 11 inch card stock in half and crease using a bone folder.

Glue the flowers along the edge of the card stock.

Cut a piece of brown card stock to frame the pink card stock. I made mine 1/4 inch larger on all sides. Glue the embossed thank you to the brown card stock. Attach the brown card stock to the card using foam dots.

Tie a small bow using brown and pink dotted ribbon and glue it to the top of the card above the embossed thank you.

Using the Cricut George cartridge cut a 1 inch Thanks out of brown cardstock. Attach it under the embossed thank you.

Anniversary Card

Wow! I can't believe it. In less than a week the Washington metropolitan area is being pelted with snow again. We finally were able to dig ourselves out on Sunday after receiving three feet of snow and now so far we have received another two feet with no end in sight. Oh well there is nothing that I can do about it so I'm going to spend some time working on my craft projects.

I'm still infatuated with my Cricut and wanted to use the beautiful shapes from the Home Decor cartridge to make an Anniversary card for my husband. I cut out all of the shapes that I wanted to use and then stared at them for quite a while trying to make them work on a card. After much rearranging and what-if... here is the finished result.

Here are the instructions for the Anniversary Card:

Using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge cut two 2 inch swirls out of bright pink card stock.

Using light orange card stock cut one 1 inch butterfly.

Cut four 1 inch flowers- one pink, one bright blue and two med. purple out of card stock. Next cut three double leaves and two single leaves using green card stock. Cut 4 flower centers using yellow card stock.

Cut a 2 inch heart out of bright pink card stock using the Cricut Doodle Charms cartridge.

Cut the word love out of bright pink card stock.

Computer generate and print Happy Anniversary on the front and slightly to the left on white card stock.

Fold the card stock in half and emboss using the embossing folder of your choice. I used Sizzix medallions, frames and damask. Place the embossing folder side ways below the printed Happy Anniversary and emboss. Then move the folder down slightly next to the previous embossing and emboss again.

Glue the scrolls along the edge of the card. Cover the flowers with glittering glue and sprinkle with micro beads to match the flower colors. Let them dry completely. Glue the yellow centers on the flowers. Glue the flowers on the scrolls and glue the leaves underneath the edges of the flowers.

Emboss the heart with a dotted embossing folder and sand the heart to highlight the dots. Attach the heart to the card using foam dots. Attach a bow to the top of the heart.

Apply glue to the word love and cover with Martha Stewart pink flocking powder. Let it dry completely and then glue it to the card above the heart.

Apply chalk and opal glitter glue to the edges of the butterfly for highlights. When dry, glue the butterfly to the top of the card.