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Sunday, January 2, 2011

MPS Design Team

Long post alert!!!! Feel free to skip my banter and start reading just below the picture of the card. :)

Happy New Year! I'm am so excited! Robyn over at My Pink Stamper (MPS) is doing a call for her 2011 design team through a challenge. To be considered for the team, you must do a project using your favorite Cricut cartridge and the colors: pink, green, and brown. Those are her favorite colors. I grew up with tons of pink & green (because of my mom's sorority and the only colors we were allowed to decorate the house with), and my favorite neutral to craft with is brown. That's got to be a sign, right?

I'm a novice Cricut user. I got my Cricut Create over two years ago, but didn't use it much until I moved to San Diego because I didn't have the space to keep it out. Trust me, you use it far less when it has to live in the box! I just got my purple Cricut Expression on Black Friday! Love it!  This is a pretty simple card, but there is one slightly complicated part that I'm very proud I've figured out. Those of you with more Cricut experience may think this is easy, but I'm still pinning a feather in my cap!

I made a baby shower invitation with the Wild Card cartridge. I've yet to make a card from the cart, but I'm constantly using the images on it! Totally worth purchasing!!!


Materials list:

  • Wild Card Cricut cartridge (You can find similar images on the "In a Child's Year" cartridge).
    • Duck image: <SaftyPin> icon
    • Umbrella image: <Shower> icon
  • Card stock: Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake (card base), Recollections (Michael's) card stock in pink & green (I don't know exact colors because they aren't listed on the package, but they come in the same pack). 
  • Sizzix Dots embossing folder (can also use Cuttlebug Swiss Dots or any other desired pattern).
  • Cuttlebug, Big Shot, or other die-cutting/embossing machine or dry embossing technique
  • 1/8 in. brown satin brown ribbon 
  • ATG Adhesive
  • Foam dots or dimensional adhesive
  • Punches: Stampin Up! Word Window and Modern Label

Making the Card
  • The card base is cut at a standard A2 size (4.25 x 5.5).
  • The green layer on top is cut at 1/2 inch smaller on each side (3.75 x 5).
  • The duck is cut at 1.5 in. (real dial size turned off) and attached with the dimensional foam adhesive.
  • The umbrella is cut at 6 in. (real dial size turned off) using the center point feature (instructions below).
  • The ribbon is attached using the MPS Cheater Method.
  • The sentiment is printed in brown ink and then cut using the SU! word window punch.

Center Point
Most of the tutorials I've seen use center point to cut a picture or printed journaling into a shape. I'm going to tell you how to position an image using the center point feature so you can strategically position an image and use the negative space of the image (the hole left in the paper after you cut the image) like I did for the umbrella. Using the negative space from the cut out is one of my favorite things to do! I think it's a different and interesting way to use the Cricut.

Please note: You will need a Cricut Expression or a Cricut Create to do this. If you have a gypsy, there are lots of great tutorials on-line about setting up templates, which would let you create this card  very easily without the center point feature, using any Cricut!

For this card, I decided I wanted the umbrella cut in the bottom 3 in. corner of the card, therefore the center of my cutting area was 1.5 in. from the bottom and 1.5 in. from the right side of the card. Here's how I did it:
  1. Place 3.75 x 5 in. card stock in the top right corner of your cutting mat. The 5.5 edge should go along the side of the mat that will be fed into the machine.
  2. Position your blade so it's 1.5 in. from the bottom of your card stock and 1.5 in. from the right. (When I say "bottom & right," this is in reference to how the layer will be placed on the card. If it's helpful for you to use the way it's placed on the mat as the reference for orientation, it would be 1.5 in. from the left and bottom.) This is my center point.
    1. The left/right coordinates on your screen will be 3.5 & 2.25 respectively.
  3. Turn on your center point feature.
  4. Select the image (<shower> icon) and cut! Below is what you get. :)

Trial & Error FYI - You can't use the center point function if the Real Deal Size feature is selected. I'm not sure why, but when I tried it didn't work. That meant I had to do a few test cuts of the umbrella to find the size I wanted it because on the Wild Card cartridge, all elements are cut in proportion to the size of the card. For instance, I instructed you to cut the umbrella at 6 in. Clearly, this is not a 6 in. umbrella. This is the size the umbrella should be to fit a 6 in. card. Hope that makes sense.

Go use your scraps to play around with the center point feature and try using negative space from your cuts. It's great for words...especially if you want to do smaller letters! Leave comments & questions. I promise to respond. :)

6 comments:

Unknown said...

How sweet!

East Shore Lane Designs said...

thank you!

THEBUZYBUG said...

Very Cute! TFS! Come on over to my blog...thebusybug.blogspot.com. I have 2 Cricut Cartridge giveaways going on until Friday! Leave comments for 2 chances to win! Bug Hugs!

Anonymous said...

So cute!!! Thanks for sharing that tip :-) Good luck!!! :-)
-Sam :-)

p.s. I'm a new follower :-)

CarrieAnne said...

I love the umbrella allowing you to peek through to the dry embossing. Great card and thanks for the tip I am not sure I have ever tried that combo of functions, but now I know not to :)

Best of luck in the DT call.

http://theserendipitousscrapper.blogspot.com/

East Shore Lane Designs said...

thanks for all the well wishes...and the new followers! i will definitely visit everyone else's blogs as well. i really want to check out more hops and try out more challenges this year, so i'll be surfing for sure!