Blog Award - Cherry on Top

Earlier in the week Stephanie at Cricutmimi blog spot this me this blog award.  THANKS STEPHANIE!  I have to tell you I had no idea what it was and what to so with it but was very excited that she thought I was worthy of receiving it.  So after a few emails back and forth I finally figured out what I was suppose to do, I think.  I may still not get this right LOL but I am going to try.  Since it took me so long to get this done I also got the Award from Melissa at MelissaMade blog.  Here are the rules:

Here are the rules:

1.Thank the person who sent it to you

Thank you,Stephanie

2. Copy award to your blog

3. List 3 things you love about yourself

A. I am happy with who I am.

B. I love to make cards that I think people enjoy.

C. I love that I am a very upbeat person.

4. Post a picture you love. 

5. Send the award to 5 blogs you love.

 The hardest part is picking just 5.

MelissaMade

CricutCouple

Peggy & Donna

My Sheri's Crafts
Capadia Designs

Thanks to all those that inspire me.................I take horrible pictures but here is a picture on Me, my Mom and my two brothers very rare that we all get together.

Black Currant paper again ----Happy Birthday

This one is similar to the thinking of you card, papers are from the DCWV Black Currant stack, although they look the same they are actually slightly different papers. 

I think this one came out very pretty with the pink glitter.

Let me know what you think.  Which one do you like better?

Thinking of you Black Currant paper

Oh I just fell in love with this paper as soon as I seen it.  Actually we were in Joann's one day and my husband found this stack and said "Hey what about this one" and I said OMG yes!  He is real good at helping me find paper. :)
So I made this card using a couple of the papers in the stack.   I actually made this card to send as an entry into the 2010 World Card Making Contest.  Sure hope I win, the prize is over $600 worth of crafting products.

Using my Gypsy I made the frame for the inside of the card by placing a square from George the size of the card and then placing a rounded corner square in the center so that I would have the rounded cut out for the front of the card and not waste either piece.  I should have thought of this years ago, LOL.  The card itself is 6.5" x 5".  The "Thinking of You" is a Stampin Up stamp from the Elegant Greetings set that I bought years ago. 

Now I have seen several people us Terrifically Tacky tape to put a line of glitter on a card but always forgot to do it, but this time I tried it and it came out great and was so easy to do.  I was worried about not getting it straight but it came out pretty good, I used Martha Stewart glitter.  Also below that pink strip is 4 small circles (they are about 1/3 of inch)I cut using my Cricut and then covered them with the same glitter.  They are not very easy to see in the photo.  The little butterfly I got at the fabric remnant store for $1.99 for a pack of 12.  This card is so so pretty in person with just enough shine to it.  Thanks for looking and as always any comments are appreciated.

And here is the inside, the flower is from George, good old George what would we do without it!

What to do with all that loose ribbon!

I don't know about you but I love ribbon and seem I never have enough or the correct color.  Here in Tucson, Arizona we have a store called SAS which is a fabric remnant store, but they have so so much more then just fabric and their prices are fantastic. Many or actually most of the ribbon is 15 cents a yard, that is 10 yards for $1.50 can't beat that, and they have walls of ribbon to chose from.  Well last week me and my two sister-in-laws went to SAS.  I bought A LOT of ribbon, but...........it is not on spools so it is very hard to store and keep untangled so the following is what I came up with.

First here is my pile of ribbon I bought, I think there is about 15-20 different ribbons and 10 yards of each.  YIKES!

What a mess huh?  Well I knew I had to do something or I would not be able to get the piece out that I wanted to use.  I buy plastic wrap (you know like Saran Wrap) from WalMart, their own brand, well the center tube/roll that the plastic wrap comes on is very heavy and sturdy, so I have been keeping them because I knew some day I would think of something to use them for.  Then I had an "ah ha" moment and thought I could use them to make my own ribbon spools.

First thing I did was use my Cricut to cut circles out of chipboard.  I cut them at 2", 2 1/2", and 2 1/4".  I just set my Expression on auto fill and let it cut out however many would fit on the piece of chipboard.   Here is a picture.........

Then since that card board tube from the plastic wrap was so thick I had to have my husband cut it for me with his skill saw.   Sanded off the edges a bit to get rid of the rough pieces.

Then using Scotch Quick-Dry glue, I glued the circles onto the tube pieces.  This is great glue if you have never used it.  It has a very strong hold on most everything and drys very very fast.

I had him cut me several different sizes (sent him with a list to his shop) to fit the different widths of ribbon.

Then I just used a small piece of tape to hold the ribbon on the spool and another small piece to keep it from unwinding.  Here is a picture of one of the ribbons wound up, shh don't tell I only got two done so far.  But it will be so much nicer when I finish them, maybe I can do it while I am watching TV.

Pretty cool and what is even better is that when I get them all done I can put them on my ribbon center that my brother-in-law made me to hang on my closet door.

Thanks for looking and sure hope I did not do too many pictures, but wanted all know in case you want to make yourself some.  If you have any other questions or if I left anything out let me know.

Cherry Blossom - Spotlight Card

I saw a card on the Cricut message board where they made a card using a spotlight technique and I just fell in love with how it looked.  Sorry I can't remember who it was to give them credit.  It is a technique where you stamp an image twice and on one of them only color part of it, cut that part out and put it on top of the other stamped image.  It can easily be done with a digital image as well, which is what I used.

You can also color the second image and then cut out just a circle from it and place that on top.  I chose to color just the flower and then place it on top with pop dots and curled up the petals.  This was such a perfect image for this technique that I wish I knew how to put in a link so you could get the image. It was colored using my Prisma color pencils and gamsol.  I believe I found it by Google-ing flower images.

The background paper is from a paper pack that I bought at Costco a long time ago and it is fabric like.  Doesn't not cut well with your Cricut but sure makes a nice background.   The center of the flower is Martha Stewart tiny glass beads, I love these but man they can get all over the place. 

When I first made this card I thought the image was a poppy so that is why there is poppy brads along the right side.  Oops I love poppies so I guess it was just wishful thinking.

Here is a closer picture of the flower.  I so want to do another one of these with another image but keep getting side tracked.  So many neat things to do and not enough time and I have all day to work on my cards LOL!

Thanks for visiting and I just love to read your comments.

Butterfly swirls birthday card

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, and ready for Monday again.  Here is the third card for RAQs Challenge this week, it also fits the Ad Color challenge which was to use pink, green and brown.  The paper made the colors easy for me ths week.  LOL.  The card is 5 x 6 1/2 and the background paper is from K & Company, which is starting to run a close second to DCWV as my favorite paper.

The circle is from Lacey Labels cut at 2 1/2 inches, the butterfly cut at 2 1/2 and the swirls at 4 3/4 are from Elegant Cakes.  Happy birthday is a stamp and heat embossed in pink.   I doodled around the swirls and butterfly with gel pens.  Also pop dotted the butterfly wings to make them stand up a bit.

Even though it looks simple it still took me hours to finish it.  I guess I am just a very slow card maker........

An Asian Card

I made this card a while back but wanted to share it with you.  The special part of this card is the paper, the gold part.  My son-in-law brings me all kinds of special papers, what more could a gal want!  This gold one is my favorite and is so so pretty, it is linen like with a pearl sheen to it.  As you can see it embosses great very crisp and deep.  I used two of the embossing folders from the Asian pack, the lantern cut is from Pagoda.  I really need to get in a explore this cartridge more.

It is a very simple card but I just wanted to show off the beautiful paper.

Black & White with a splash of Red

This card is so much prettier in person.  I made this card following one of the Sketches at RAQs Challenge, the extra crediy was to do one card with black & white and a splash of color.  I always think red goes well with black & white, and the red I used is a very deep pearl metallic like red.  Paper and More has some great papers check them out, try their sample packs to see the colors and weigh of the papers.  The white is a also a pearl linen white paper that is very pretty.  The flower and border at the top is cut from Elegant Cakes cartridge.  The border across the top was made using a border from Elegant Cakes that I duplicated flip and welded together using my Gypsy, I think it came out pretty cool and elegant looking.  I added some red bling flowers to the center spaces of the border.  Happy birthday is a Stampin Up stamp that I heat embossed with a detailed white embossing powder.  The card size is 5 by 6 1/2 which I think is a great size for a card.  I did kind of mess up on one part, I put the ribbon across the card and meant to tye a piece of clear thread around where I was going to put the bow so that it looks like it was tied there, but I forgot so the bottom of the ribbon shows under the bow, oops!

Overall I think the card came out great, thanks.

Tan and Tangerine card - New Picture

I made this card for RAQ's Card Challenge on the message board this week.  There is just something about it that is just not right...........hmmm may be just a bit to plain or drab.  The larger tangerine colored circle is cut using Plantin Schoolbook from the DCWV Cafe Mediterranean Stack.  The top smaller circle is cut from vellum that I Cuttlebugged and now I think I should have left it plain.  Funny when I am making a card I always forget to Cuttlebug, then this one I remember to do it and I am not happy with it.  The flower and the Happy Birthday is cut from Elegant Cakes cartridge.  The paper on the flower is glittery but you can't tell in the picture, center is a button.  Not a WOW card but tell me what you think. Thanks

 

What do you think, I added brown ribbon and brown pearls, I think it is better.  What just to bland for me.

 

Paper made from Newspaper Print

Who would ever have thought that newspaper could look so pretty.  This card was made using newspaper.  I took newspaper and glued it thoroughly to a plain piece of white card stock.  After it dried I rubbed my Tim Holtz Distressed ink, "worn lipstick" all over it directly from the ink pad.  I put the piece of prepared card stock on my Cricut cutting mat with the newspaper side down.  This way the blade did not grab the newspaper and rip it while it was cutting.  I cut out the flower 5 times each at slightly smaller size each time.  I then rubbed each flower again with the ink and sprinkle clear sparklie embossing powder on them while they were wet.  I heated them up with my heat tool to set the embossing powder.  I rolled each petal under slightly with the handle end of a paint brush to curl them under.  As I was assembling them, I started with the largest one and set it on a foam pad (like a mouse pad) and pressed hard into the center with the end of a pencil, the eraser end to cause a crevice in the center, added a drop of glue and continued that way with each flower/petal.  After they were all glued together I place a skittle in the center.

I cut another piece of the newspaper card stock and used it for the base of my card.  The saying are stamped and embossed. 

I think it made a very nice sympathy card, but there is so much you can do just using your old newspapers.

Another way to use drywall mesh tape

Another card I made using drywall mesh tape, but this time I didn't use it to take the cuts off the mat, but used it as part of my card.  This is still one of my favorite cards, you know one of those cards that finds a special place in your memory.  I took the mesh tape and inked it by just rubbing my ink pads on it.  Then I stuck it onto the corresponding color card stock and punched out the flowers using a small flower punch, added colored bling to the center of the flowers.  The grass I inked with green ink and then layered several layers but pulled some of the cross threads out and trimmed it to look like grass, hope this makes sense.  LOL   I put all this behind a "window".  I made the window by cutting out the frame from Stretch Your Imagination several times out of chip board (3 I think) and then once from the yellow card stock.  I glued the 3 chipboard frames together, then cut out a piece of the clear plastic that the Cricut cartridges come in and glued that on top of them.  I Cuttlebugged the yellow and placed it on top (oops I embossed it upside down) to make my "window".  I embossed the paper behind the flowers with Birds & Swirls for the back of the frame.  The happy birthday is a rub on that I placed on a plain strip of white paper them used my corner rounder to round the corners.  The floral background paper is from a K & Company stack.  Hope you like this card and try this mesh tape, would love to see what you come up with!

Here is a close up of the flowers.................

Using Drywall Mesh Tape in making Cards

A year or so ago I read about using Drywall Mesh Tape to remove things from you Cricut mat keeping them in order and evenly spaced.  Here is a LINK Clever Someday where you can read more about it.  It is very reasonable to purchase at any home center or hardware store.  It comes in rolls or sheets.

OK, here is what I did with it.  Below is a picture of a frame I cut out from Stretch Your Imagine and attached to a card base.  The one on the left is the actual frame cut and the one on the right is the negative cut that I lifted off the mat using the drywall mesh tape. 

Here is a picture of the drywall mesh tape that I used.  It is re-positionable and will not damage or rub off on your cardstock.  I picked up all the negative cuts off the mat using the mesh tape, then flipped it over and put my Zig glue on it then placed it on my card base, rubbed it a little let it dry for a few seconds them peeled off the mesh tape and the pieces stuck to the card base. 

Try this technique, it works great.  I have also picked up things like a "Happy Birthday" cut and then stored it still stuck to the mesh tape, that way it all stays together and doesn't get bent. 

You Rock Card

This is a fun card.  I cut the guitar and "you rock" from Stamping cartridge.  I cut very very thin strips of the silver paper to use as the guitar strings and Cuttlebugged the the back silver and the corners with the Argyle folder.  The corners are from Jasmine, about the only thing I use this cartridge for, may have to pull it out and look at it again.  The guitar front I used a Fiskars texture plate for the pattern.

The interesting part of this card is that the background paper is a Kleenex box that I thought was too useful for the trash.  Fits well here.   Now watch those kleenex boxes for future use.

A pink version for a girl

"Lil Sprout" Stamped Image

Just found out recently that my grandson is going to have a baby, well not him but his girlfriend.  It was a shock to us all, but as time goes on you begin to get excited about that little one coming.  So that is what inspired me to make this card, not sure I will even use it for them but it gave me the inspiration that I had to make some kind of baby card.

The card is 5 x 7 and the colors are very light yellow and lilac.  Hard to get colors to photo correctly.  The stamp is a "Stamps Happen" called Sweet Pea that I have had for many years.  I colored it using my Prisma pencils and Gamsol or Odorless Mineral Spirits.  I had stamped the image on Paper Tempress Heavenly White paper which is fantastic for this technique of coloring click HERE if you want to check it out.   After I colored it I added yellow/gold stickles to the center of the little flowers and the swirl on Lil Sprout which is cut from Straight from the Nest at about 2 3/4 inches. The little ladybug I added Glossy Accents to.  The background lilac paper is embossed by hand using my Martha Stewart score board scoring at every quarter inch. 

Now the ribbon along the bottom.  I added yellow ribbon across the bottom but also wanted to had some lilac ribbon, well it did not look to good just on top of each other or together.  So I thought I would try and twist it.  I had this "great idea" that I would wrap it around a pen and hair spray it to try and hold the shape (well after all it works on my hair), when I took it off it was only slightly twirled. Below is a picture of that attempt LOL.   So I placed it on the card and twirled it my self and stuck each twirl down with a glue dot.  Looks OK Huh?

Anyways a fun card to make, enjoy!

Here that genius idea I had......ha ha ha

Create a Critter ladybug

I made this card a while back for my Great-Granddaughters 3rd birthday.  It was my first card using Create a Critter and I just love this cartridge.  This card is a 5 x 5 square card, the green circle frame is pop dotted for dimension.  The papers are from DCWV Nana's Kids stack, perfect for "Nana Donna" to give one of her grandkids LOL. 

Happy Birthday - Tulips

I love tulips, although the season has passed.  Way too hot in Arizona for tulips right now.  The tulips are Jolee stickers.

Just a simple card, but love the color combination, it fits into the Ad Color Challenge this week on the Cricut message board.  I chalked the tulipps to give them some dimension.  Doing a vertical sentiment is always a challenge for me.  Not sure I am real happy with how this one looks:(!  Using my Gypsy I welded letters from Gypsy Font vertically, I off set them slightly back and forth to connect them.  I thought it might be a little hard to read but my hubby assured me it was ok.  Let me know what you think?

Thanks with a Cherry on Top

Here a pretty bright, busy and colorful card.  I had bought a package of K & Company stickers that were all fruits, so when I saw this paper it matched perfect.   The center cherries is a sticker from that package.

This is one of the sketches from RAQ Challenge on the Cricut message board this week.  The "thank you" was cut with a Cuttlebug die cut.  I cut the green loop frame out of glitter paper at 3 inch square from A Child's Year cartridge. This is such a great versatile cartridge, if you don't have it check it out.

The cherry boarder across the bottom is from Lyrical Letters, that I welded in Design Studio, then I put Glossy Accents on the cherries.

Well let me know what you think, is it too busy? 

Thinking of You..........Marine card

I can't believe it, I started and finished a card in one day!  That may not sound like a big deal, but for me it is.  Even though this card looks simple they never are for me.  I look through my paper and choose my colors, then I cut and the size isn't right or I don't like the colors together after all.  Anyways this card I only had to cut out the label part twice :)  The labels are cut at about 2 1/2 " from  Lacey Labels, then reduced each one slightly and stacked them.  The Marine emblem and the stars are stickers.  "Thinking of You" is cut from Calligraphy Collection at 3" with a shadow.  You can't tell but the sentiment and the middle label is shimmery gold paper.  I had found the camouflage ribbon a while back and thought it was perfect for this card.

This card is for my son-in-law to send his nephew while he is in boot camp in the Marines.  My SIL is very good at keeping in touch and letting him know that he is thinking about him.  I am pleased with the way it turned out, what do you think?  Thanks for stopping by.

A Little Birdie told me........

I love my Straight From The Nest cartridge. there are so many cute images on it and oh so many corners with shadows.  I traded my French Manor for it since I did not really care for French Manor and someone was willing to trade for SFTN which I have been drooling over for a long time.

Anyways, the Birdies are cut using the border feature at about 3 1/2 inches.  The "A little birdie told me... was cut at 2 1/2 inches.   The background paper is from a pack that I bought at Big Lots.  I cut the yellow rectangle from glitter yellow and embossed it using a the checked Cuttlebug folder.  All the papers are glittery but doesn't show up too well in the picture.  The little birdies I put a little light green flower soft along the lower edge of the party hat and then used Diamond Stickles on the rest of the hat.  Then I added googlie eyes on the birds. So blingy in person. as always I did not finish the inside as I wait on that part till I know who I will use it for, but it will say something like "it was your birthday".  I hope you like it as it was a very fun card to make.

Thanks - Purple & Green

This is one of those cards that look so much better in person.  The background paper is so pretty and glittery I feel bad that I covered up most of it.  Both the background and the purple polka dotted paper is from DCWV Flower Shower stack that I got on clearance at Joann's for $4.25 what a bargain for a 12 x 12 stack!  The card is 6 1/2 x 5.  I cut the purple polka dot part to about 5 x 4 then stamped and heat embossed my flower image.  I cut it into 6 squares and evenly pop dot mounted them on a piece of green paper.  Stamped and embossed "thanks" in the bottom corner.  Thinking maybe that blank left hand corner might need something??? I think it came out pretty.

Rope Frame Male Card

Sometimes it is difficult to make male cards, so this week the Ad Color Challenge on the Cricut message board was to use rust, white and chocolate.  The perfect combination for a guy card.  I used a sketch from RAQ Card challenge for the design.  The rope frame is cut from Old West at about 2 1/2 inches and then inked the "rope" cuts, inking adds so much texture or realism to cuts.  Then using my Gypsy I added the dragonfly from Camp Out and placed it in the frame so I knew what size I wanted to cut it to fill the frame.  It ended up being cut at 2 inches.  I added some dots using a brown colored glitter pen he is also mounted with pop dots.  The plaid paper was from an outdoor pack of paper that I had.  Added the Happy Birthday cut from Stamping with a chocolate shadow.  I placed a piece of brown jute and kind of tied a loop knot.  I wanted to keep it male so I stayed away from a bow.  Hope you enjoy this card.

Prickly Pear Cactus Flower

My second favorite thing to do besides making cards is taking pictures, especially of flowers.  I made this card using a picture of a Prickly Pear Cactus flower.  I took this picture out the window of our truck coming into our driveway.  Our driveway is lined with prickly pears.  It is only part of the picture and it is pop dotted for dimension.  When I printed the picture it only printed a corner or it, but I liked it so I decided to use that part of the picture.  The peach and chocolate paper are shimmery paper that I got from Paper and More click there to get some.  There are very pretty and come in a couple different weights, the "Thinking of You: is cut from that same paper.  Thinking of you is from Gypsy Wanderings cut at about 2 3/4 inches with a shadow.  I really like adding a shadow to my sentiments as I think it makes them stand out.  I also added a brown pearl to the center of the flower which is the "o" in of.  And guess what I made a card without using any DCWV paper!!!

Black and Silver with Mulberry Paper

Another card from RAQ Challenge, you will find that most of my cards are from there.  I am getting to the point where it is hard to make a card without a sketch to follow.  But I truly believe that participating in this challenge my cards have improved and evolved, if you ever get stuck or need a push give it a try.  It takes me an hour to pick out my papers alone, can you imagine how long it would take me to make a card if I had to figure out the layout also, :o!

The card is 6  x  5 1/2 and I covered the base with a very pretty shimmery silver paper then scribbled or should I say doodled around the edges so that it would show after I added the black paper.  The black is Mulberry paper, I tear it buy using a paint brush with water and then just paint where I want it to tear, then you pull it apart you get that real feathery edge.   The strips of paper are from DCWV Glitter stack, except for the plain glossy silver one which I wish I would have embossed with the Cuttlebug.  The Celebrate is cut from Gypsy Wanderings and is about 3" long.  Thanks for looking and leaving a comment

Card using i-top Brad Maker

This was a fun card and pretty simple to make.  The background paper is from DCWV Natural Stack, this is such a pretty stack,  It is one of those stacks that you hate to use it "because you might run out", I find myself doing that somethings.  Then I have to give myself a talking to and tell myself now come on you bought it to use it.  LOL

The card is a 5 inch square card, kind of hard to see the edges because of the background that I used.  The scalloped squares are cut at 1 1/2 inches and cut from Sentimentals.  They were tags and had a small circle at the top but I "hid" it in Design Studio so that part would not cut out.  The black piece on the bottom I embossed with my Cuttlebug and the design kind of matches the paper design.  The top 3 circles are brads I made using i-top brad maker and the matching paper.  I love this thing but often forget to use it, I think it worked perfect here.  In case some did not know this but there is a cut on Accent Essentials that is the same cut as buying the i-top punches, it saves you money because then you don't have to buy them.  I find that it works best if I spray the paper lightly with water, that way they form around the brad better and leave a smoother finish. Hope you like it.

Sympathy Card - Blue & Yellow

This card I made for my husband to give to a friend of his from high school that lost his wife to cancer this last week.  The paper is from DCWV "Cafe Mediterranean" stack, what a beautiful stack of paper.  You will find that I am a big fan of DCWV.  It has a very soft look to it that I thought was appropriate.  Not much Cricut just the scalloped edge from Accent Essentials that I had to adjust to fit.  This was also a sketch from RAQ Challenge last week.  I added the yellow pearls and some stamped yellow swirls to match.  "One day at a time" is a stamp.  I added some of the same paper to the inside and stamped the sentiment.  Hope you like it.

And here is a picture of the inside

Simply Tomatoes!

This is a pretty simple card.  The card size is 5 1/2  x  5 1/2.  I covered the base of the card with dark red paper and cut an ivory piece 5 x 5 and cuttlebugged it.  The folder I used was part of the Asian Bundle called Oriental Weave. The leaves are a stamp that I colored using the MCPT (Prisma pencils & Gamsol) on that same ivory paper.  It is some "laid" (whatever that is) paper that I ordered from Paper and More.  They have some beautiful papers and there service and shipping is fantastic.  Try some of there sample packs, you won't be dissapointed.  Then I stitched along the top with some jute cord, suppose to be 5 stitches but I goofed OOPS!  The tomatoes are Martha Stewart stickers I got at Big Lots for a $1 a pack.  Anyway that is about it, like I said it is a simple card.

This is a pretty cool technique.  May years ago I bought this blue moldable form.  I had my husband make me a large wooden block like the ones on your rubber stamps and I mounted a piece of the blue foam on it.   What you do is heat it up with your heating tool and then press your stamp into it while it is still hot, it won't harm your rubber stamp, but I have not tried it yet with the clear stamps but I don't think it would be a problem.  Your image is then embedded into the foam in reverse, any image would work as long as they are not words.  This particular image is from an older Stampin Up set and I thought the details came out great.  After I got the image in the foam I rubbed my inkpad over it till it was all colored, then turn it over and stamped it.  The ink does not go down into the crevices so that part it left uninked.  What is really cool is that all you do it reheat the blue foam and the image comes out and you can use it over and over again!  Here is a link  the "blue stuff" as I call it  click here

I mounted the image on a piece of white card stock that I inked and used a corner punch to slip the corners under.  The rust paper and ribbons is also from Stampin Up.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Crumpled Flower Card

If you know me you know that I love making flowers.  These are called crumpled flowers and they are so so easy to make.  You really can't mess them up.  I cut out a bunch of scalloped circles (can't remember which cartridge) is varying sizes.  I think the larger flowers have 5 layers, you can add as many as you want.  The scalloped circles were cut out of white paper, a lighter weight paper works better for these, then I sprayed them with Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels.  Spray them till they are good and wet, then crumpled them up into a ball.  Then carefully uncrumple them they will tear if you aren't careful.   Then stack them starting with the large one and build up down to the smaller size.  You can put a dot of glue to hold each layer or you can put them together with a brad in the center.  If I don't use a brad I add a skittle to the center, you can add whatever you like or nothing.  As I put them together I crumple and arrange the paper the way I like it.  Then I spray them again lightly, when they dry the get nice and firm.

Sorry on to the rest of the card.  The pink frame is from Sentimentals, and the white paper is very pretty pearlized paper and is embossed with a Quikutz folder.  Inside the frame is a background stamp.  The frame is pop dotted for dimension.  The card is 5 1/2  x 5 1/2 square.  Lately I like making square cards.

Marine Graduation Card

Just adding some of my past cards to my blog.
My son-in-law that is in the Air Force has a nephew that joined the Marines and my SIL asked me to make a card for when he graduates boot camp.  The label (behind the Marine emblem) I cut twice once, from the red and then a other a bit larger out of gold for a shadow.  The label was cut from Sentimental and then with my Gypsy I added very small rectangles at the top to cut holes to put the ribbon through.  The swirly stars are from Home Accents.  The stars at the top and the bottom of the label are buttons and the Marine emblem is a sticker, I bought at Hobby Lobby.

Lazy Days of Summer

I am pretty proud of this card, I think it came out so cute.  The image is a House Mouse Happy Hopper, it was sent to me by Aprile over at the MCPT Challenge on the Cricut message board.  MCPT stands for "Magic Color Pencil Technique" which is coloring with Prismacolor or any wax based pencil.  Then you use orderless minerals spirits to blend it.  The results you get using this technique are great, if you haven't tried it give it a shot I am sure you will like it.  After I colored it I put Glossy Accents on the inter tube to give it dimension.  I glued a small piece of jute/rope from the inter tube to the duck.  I enjoy adding those special dimensional things to my cards.

The waves I made on acetate paper that I colored with Ranger alcohol inks, stream and silver I believe.  Then I cut the piece of acetate with one of the waves cut on Life's a Beach cartridge.   The lifeguard chair and the sentiment is also cut from Life's a Beach at about 4 inches.  The entire card is 5 x 6 1/2.
I hope you enjoy this card