Fantabulous Butterfly Gatefold

Hi all! This week at Fantabulous Cricut we were asked to make projects that were zoo/animal themed. At first I was deciding between a unicorn and dinosaur shaped card and how to make a "different" shaped card, then inspiration hit and I came up with this shaped butterfly gatefold card! Don't worry, I filmed my very first tutorial if you have any questions as to how I did it. ;) Lookie:






Tutorial: If I leave out a detail or you have a question please feel free to contact me. This is my first tutorial so please be a gentle with me. :)

First you will need to cut your pieces. I used two shadow cuts as my base layers for the card and then all of the regular cuts and layers. This butterfly was cut at 5.14 but could just as easily be cut at 5.25.



Next you will adhere a shadow and base cut together.


Then cut the two layers in half.


I freehand trimmed the inner part. If you look at the finished piece you will see that I trimmed the inner part quite a bit.


Score the second shadow piece approximately 1/2 inch in. I just lined up the cut to where the outer two scallops on the wings were going to be scored. I then folded the crease *backwards* so that my gatefold will open properly.


Adhere the two pieces together. Put glue only on the small part of the wings that are folded back.

Layer the body in the middle and trim the wings more if needed. Add the rest of the layers and decorate as desired. Easy peasy! :)





I hope I was clear in my instructions. I really enjoyed thinking outside of the box and am looking at cuts a little differently now. :)

Supplies:

Cartridge: Once Upon a Princess-Butterfly
Cardstock: Stampin' Up-Pretty in Pink, Green Galore, Gable Green, Whisper White
Pattern Paper: Unknown-purchased at J's by the single sheet.
Misc: Stickles-Stardust, Judikins Diamond Glaze, flower stamen? from Hobby Lobby, Scrappy Glue


Have a great day!

~Angji

Scraps Only Challenge #44

This weeks challenge was to use polka dots. Which is great for me because I love love love polka dots! I ended up making 32 of these cute cards. Go me!




Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the Journey ;)

~Angji

Christmas In July

Hola friends! This week's Challenge Me Monday at Fantabulous Cricut is Christmas In July. This is officially the earliest I've ever made a Christmas card! I decided to combine two different fancy folds, the folded paper frame and easel card. I really love how it turned out! Lookie:




Beautiful is it not? ;-) This card was easy and time consuming at the same time. The easy part was cutting all of the pieces. The hard part was inking everything and waiting for the stickles and pearl pen to dry. Yes, I'm crazy and apply my pearl pen directly to my projects! It's not hard to do and I really don't like doing them ahead of time and trying to put them on later. They are just too small to mess with. You can remove them before they are completely dry if you change your mind. The little scoop tool that comes in the cricut tool kit works wonderfully for this.

Supplies:
Gypsy for planning and cutting
Cartridges:
Mini Monograms: scallop square
Christmas: ice skate
Joys of the Season: joy and bookplate layer with loops trimmed off
Ink: Antique Linen & Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Paper: Basic Grey-Wassail?
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!-Always Artichoke, White Mica paper from Michaels on clearance a couple of years ago
Stickles: Antique Linen & Rock Candy Distress Stickles
Other: Viva Decor Pearl Pen-Ice White, foam tape, red tacky tape, ink blending tool, atg 714

Thank you for visiting! I hope you are inspired to make your own Christmas in July project and will share it with us on Fantabulous Cricut!

~Angji

French Manor Exploration

Hello! On the Cricut Circle messageboard we had a weekend challenge to use our first Circle exclusive cartridge, French Manor. This is the first time I've gotten to play with this cart as I had to wait until it was added to our gypsy libraries. I'm just too spoiled to use my Expression with out it. I used two cuts that caught my eye as I flipped through the handbook, the peacock and lattice/top note label. I'm not sure if I'm loving the combination of the two cuts but I think it's growing on me. What do you think?






I can't decide what card I like better. Green or white? What I do know is that I love my Black Viva Decor Pearl Pen! Thanks for visiting!

~Angji

Cards For Soldiers

Hi everyone! I finally got some envelopes (only 3000 of them!) and am ready to mail off a box of cards for our troops. So after putting cards in envelopes, the finally tally is 377 cards. Well, that isn't anything to be ashamed of, but I must satisfy my OCD leaning and make it an even 400. Because that's how I roll yo! Now we know what I will be working on tomorrow or tonight. On top of my next mini album for Cricut Mini Albums and my next project for Fantabulous Cricut. It's good to be busy. ;) Here is a picture of my 377 cards on my craft table. They are in stacks of 20 and the bottom left corner stack is my short one. Have a great day everyone!

Blog Awards

Hi everyone! A quick post today to add a couple of blog awards from Melissa at MelissaMade2.
She kindly gave me two sweet awards with directions to pass them on to 10 blogs. So here goes in no particular order:

1. Pam at The Bug Bytes-for always being a wonderful resource on her blog and on the Cricut MB. She also was the first person to accept me on to a design team. Thanks for the wonderful opportunity Pam!

2. Elizabeth at 217 Creations-I love her distressed and inked style. Even if I don't emulate it much, I do like to see what she's up to.

3. Mylene at Simply Mylene-I just discovered her through my design team work at Fantabulous Cricut. I love her clean and simple lines and use of color. It calls to my clean and simple style. Besides, she has BAZINGA on the bottom of her blog. How could I not include a fellow TBBT fan?

4. Rhonda at Scrap Happens-We are DT members on Cricut Mini Albums and her minis are just great!

5. Leinad at Scrap Stickle Pop- I really enjoy her layouts and the way she incorporates Cricut cuts on them.

6. Linda K at My Quilling Nest- Her talent and patience are just amazing! Seriously, Wow!

7. Emma at Cricut In Kansas - She is just getting started out in crafting but I love her creative style and use of everyday items.

8. Saundra and Julia at Luv Scrapping Together -Both of these ladies do fantastic work. All the inking and lovely papers make me smile.

9. Steph at Loves To Create Cards- I am always blown away by the detail in her cards. The fact that she cuts everything in white and inks it impresses me every time.

10. Last but not least is Kate at Small Bits of Paper- She is another lady that I work with on the Fantabulous Cricut DT and her work is just FAB. Seriously, check out her lemonade stand card this week!

I could list many many more blogs that I love and deserve awards. Please check out these blogs and if you like, show them some love. Thank you Melissa!

Sweet Swing Top Ice Cream Card

Hi everyone! This week at Fantabulous Cricut we were asked to make a "cool treat" shaped card. Naturally I turned to Sweet Treats and had several options to choose from but eventually chose this cute ice cream cone. To shake things up a bit, I decided to make a different kind of shaped card and used the swing top idea as my card base. I also challenged myself to use more pattern paper since I tend to cut out straight card stock and embellish it from there. So I riffled through my stash of pattern paper and came upon my little 6x6 stack of SU! paper called Welcome Neighbor that just had to be used. All of the cuts except the hot fudge and base card stock are from the Welcome Neighbor stack. Even though I laid out my cuts on my Gypsy, everything was cut out at 5 1/2. My Gypsy just makes things easier to plan and cut all at once. Have I mentioned that I love my Gypsy lately? ;) So, without more blathering, here is my card:



Totally cute isn't it? I think this could be a very cute card for birthdays or even get well if some one is in the hospital and can only eat ice cream?

Supplies:

Sweet Treats: Cone cut at 5 1/2-still loving my Gypsy!
Paper and Card stock: Stampin' Up
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink
Stickles: Green and Stardust
Other: Crystal Effects, brad, Scor-pal, black pen, Tim Holtz inking tool

Thank you for stopping in today. I appreciate every comment I receive! Please visit all of the other Fantabulous Cricut ladies and leave some comment love.

~Angji

ETA: I have gotten a lot of questions on how I made the chocolate look so real both here on my blog and on the cricut messageboard. I used Judykins Diamond Glaze (which I don't really like. It keeps bubbling on me.) and then a second coat of Stampin' Up's Crystal Effects to try and cover up the bubbles that the Diamond Glaze left. I think one of the reason's why it looks so real is that I got lucky taking the picture. I put my camera on a tripod and hold a second Ott light over the camera and project. I just move my light around until I'm happy with the photo. I hope this helps and thanks everyone for taking the time to visit me!

Just Beachy Tri-fold Birthday

Hi everyone! For my Gyptian project at The Bug Bytes, I made my very first tri-fold card. It was very easy to do and I think it's stinking cute! I am giving this to my "mom" at my job. She takes care of everyone and don't make her mad! Lol Her birthday is tomorrow and I think she will love this card. On to the photos!



Here is my G and my paper placed on my mat. This is a fairly easy card. Nothing too fancy to cut out. I used Life is a Beach and Wild Card.
And here is the finished card!



So, do you think my office "mom" will like her card? I'm hoping she will!

Thank you for visiting today! Until next time, keep on rocking your Gypsies!

~Angji

Fantabulous Cricut Debut!

Hi everyone! This is my first week in my post as a DT for Fantabulous Cricut. Our challenge was to use orange and a creepy crawlie critter. First I needed a little mojo kickstart and found a cute sketch from SCS to use. Then as I was looking for a cute creepy crawlie, I came upon this adorable little alien on Everyday Paper Dolls, whom I just had to use. I used my Gypsy to make a second layer by using the new Hide Contour feature. Once I cut it out and had it all together I was inspired to use some googlie eyes. Then of course I went overboard and added them to his belly. You know how it is when you are in the grip of the creative flow right? But I think it's just so stinking adorable! Lookie:




I know, right, Stinking Adorable!?! This is by far my favorite boy card I've ever made. Now to find a lucky little boy to give it to. Thanks for stopping by today!

~Angji

Favorite Photos Mini Album

Hi everyone! Here is my second project for Cricut Mini Albums. I'm still struggling with designs but it was easier this time. Which is exactly why I wanted to be part of this blog, to stretch my creative horizons! It's doing that, let me tell you! Anyway, here is what I made. Lookie:









I know this looks simple. And it is, to a point. I used 4 cartridges on it!

Jasmine-photo corners
Cindy Loo-Scallop border, welded and sized
Stretch Your Imagination-Scallop Frame, sized with aspect ratio off
Ashlyn's Alphabet-Font, welded
My Gypsy!

I also used my cuttlebug and Asian themed folder. I probably went a little crazy with the Viva Decor Pearl Pen, but I love pearls and it's my album! Lol And the next time I want to wind ribbon in a frame, I'm going to cut one that already has holes in it! YKWIM??? ;-)

Have a great day!

~A