Balloon Cards

I painted some balloons with watercolor.  I chose my Watercolor Wonder Crayons from Stampin Up to match the card stock I am using. 

I did draw a slight image to follow in pencil on heavy white card stock.  

I chose Always Artichoke green, More Mustard yellow and Bravo Burgundy with Cherry Cobbler red for the balloons.  

I added strings with a black permanent marker once the piece was completely dry and pressed flat.  I signed the art as well. 

I added a length of Bravo Burgundy grosgrain ribbon across the bottom o the card with ends taped to the back.  

I added a Modern Label punchie color printed greeting with a More Mustard offset to match the card base in the same color.  This was adhered with 3D foam tape.

Another balloon card.  I chose Old Olive, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy and Real Red card stock for the balloons.  

I cut them out of scraps of cardstock with my Create Cricut electronic cutting machine using the Create a Critter cartridge.   I cut them at 3", 2.75" and 2.5" inches.  I tied black thread onto them for strings.  I added white highlight spots on each of them with a white opaque marker.

Added a piece of sky designer paper which I warmed up with some warm yellow chalk pastel applied with a stipple brush and adhered to the front of an Old Olive 5x7 card base.  I then assembled the balloon bouquet with the ones farther back adhered to the sky paper, then the next ones with 1 layer of 3D foam tape then the small red one in front with 2 layers of 3D foam tape.   This adds depth to the composition.

I taped all the string to a central spot.

I added a ripped color printed greeting over the strings with 3D foam tape.

Cricut Projects - How do I manage the information?

Cool tool! I've started tracking my projects where I use the Cricut. When I start, I will generally cut the image in several different sizes in a 6x12 piece of plain bond paper so I can see which orientation the measure is applied to as well as what size will work for my project. I place a check mark in my cartridge book which indicates I've used this image so when I am browsing my book later I'm reminded. I also place an arrow on the image that indicates which direction the measurement is applied. For the branch the first one I cut I used 5.5" because I wanted the branch to go across the card. Well, I ended up with a 5.5 tall branch which was 10" long! I'lll have to save that one for my scrapbooking. I have started a tracking sheet that indicates the image, the cartridge with page number the project and notes about how many I cut, size of paper, etc. This allows me not to start over from scratch every time.

What you do to manage your Cricut projects? Leave me a comment with your insight into the process.

Scrapbook Layout - Winter 2008

You will see that I was successful in cutting a few things with my Cricut Create. It printed some things I wanted and several I didn't expect. It's another tool I need to learn how to use. It is good.
I had a 4 page layout of winter pics I took in March and April 2008. I enjoy being near the river valley and the white snow is a nice contrast to those evergreen trees! I wanted the pages to be quite neutral so I chose a blue grey cardstock and this one has grey mats for the pics. Each page had it's own accent color.

Cricut Create Machine

I joined my sisters as a Cricut owner. I chose the Create machine which cuts 6x12 inches with a few of the new features. I have not had much chance to try it out yet. I have the Graphically Speaking & Storybook cartridges. It will add another option for my card making and card club.