Monday, October 7, 2013

Monochromatic Wedding Card

This is the wedding card I made for Billy (Michael) and Jasmine to go with their mini album. I wanted to create a fairly monochromatic and elegant looking card in silvers and whites. The sentiment (silver embossed) and its background are both popped up on foam mounting tape in two levels (hard to see in the photo below). I used Viva Decor 3D Stamp Paint (Silver) with a mask to create the background. It is slightly raised against the card and sparkles like glitter. I also used it to paint the flower center and leaves but mixed it with Viva Decor Inka Gold (Silver) for a slightly warmer tone. The flower is from Petaloo.


Below is a close up showing more of the dimension. The decorative swirl was done using a Sizzix die, Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes. I cut it out of chip board and painted it with Viva Decor Inka Gold (Silver). I added a few rhinestones, some half pearls, a silver bow, and a dove charm to finish off the card.


Thursday, October 3, 2013

Wedding Album Using Cricut Mini Books Cartridge

I made this album for friends Billy (Michael) and Jasmine who got married this summer. This was my first mini album using the Cricut Mini Books cartridge. I've made paper bag mini albums in the past but this one was basically from scratch. I did modify the cover so I could use chipboard between the inside and outside cover papers. I cut the chipboard into 3 pieces, with a small gutter between for folding (order: front cover/gutter/spine/gutter/back cover).

I bound the book using binder rings from the local office supply store. To hid some of the metal and give it some flair, I tied different types of ribbons around each. I cut their names out using vinyl and my Cricut with Cricut Craft Room so I could weld the letters together. Much of the decorations were done using my Sizzix Big Shot Pro machine and various dies. Many of my dies have coordinating stamps. For example, the heart on the cover was made using Stephanie Bernard's Hearts2diefor stamp set (love their products!) and the coordinating Sizzix Framelits Hearts #2.


Inside the album I tried to match up photo mats (to hold 4x6 photos) with journaling blocks. The photos and some journaling blocks will slide under the corner decorative elements (they are not glued down where the photo would go). The bottom ticket is from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous, CMS100 Odds And Ends (sorry their website is not well organized; click the link with set 100 to find it), and cut using the matching Sizzix ticket strip die (note: I cut the tickets first then stamped). I love this calendar ticket!


The tag below was cut with a Tim Holtz Sizzix die. I just used a white pen to go around the edges for a faux stitched look. The dress, jacket, and hat (further below) are Jolee's Boutique stickers. The flower is from Petaloo. I painted it with some Viva Decor 3D Stamp Paint for sparkle.


The below image just shows what's below the mat and tag. The dress and jacket stickers are on the front side of an envelope (you'll see the other side next).


The key was cut with a Sizzix mini key die, painted with Viva Decor Inka Gold rub, then sanded and inked with Distress ink. The tag was cut using my Cricket and the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge, then stamped with the coordinating stamp.


The tags on the baker's twine are by Taylored Expressions (another favorite stamp/die maker). The top left heart was made the same as the one on the cover; I believe the bottom right heart was done on my Cricut using a Close to My Heart (CTMH) cartridge and matching stamp set (not sure if it is from Art Philosophy or Artiste). The CTMH Cricut cartridges are probably my favorites of all the Cricut cartridges. They are jam packed full of goodies. I also love how their high quality stamps perfectly coordinate with the cartridges.


The below image is the same as the above except the tags have been pulled out from behind the corner embellishments. I don't remember where I bought the post card stamp or the journaling lines stamp.


By the way, the pull-out mats are double sided (you can see one flipped over in the video at the bottom of this post). The note page below was created using the Sizzix Tim Holtz On the Edge Die, Torn Notebook (yet another favorite!). The flourish was cut using the Sizzix Elegant Flourishes Die.


I put a decoration (hand cut from the same paper as the pocket) across the back of the pocket so that the tag would not get hooked on it when put back in.


I cut the bridal couple image using the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. The negative was so cool that I included it inside their card.


This is the last photograph; be sure to check out the video to see the couple last pages. The bracket tag was another CTMH stamp/cartridge combo. The Just Married title was cut using the Cricut Tie the Knot cartridge. I cut it in black and offset the top cuts to give them a shadow and make it more sturdy. You can see the clear mylar sheet over a chalkboard page (chalkboard paper by Die Cuts with a View, DCWV). I stamped the sentiment and cake in white with StazOn ink.


Below is a video "mini tour" of the album. It's a bit over the top; I was playing around with iMovie. Unfortunately I didn't think about recording a video until the last minute (just before packaging up the album for shipping) so I quickly shot it with my iPhone - holding the phone in one hand and tuning pages with the other (not an easy thing to do!). The optics on the phone lens (really, not the best) made my arm look huge.