poor Chester.....I'm at it again!

*This is a duplicate post - original post can be found at Tuesday Treats*

Hi Everyone!!!  Myamagoo here with my take on page 126 of Tags, Bags, Boxes and More.

I've never used this cut before and wasn't really sure what to do with it.  

Then one day in the mail not that long ago - I received a package from our very own SASSYLADY.

Once I opened the package and saw all the colourful feathers in there I KNEW what I was going to do with them :)

I started with designing the cake box using the blackout feature so I would only have score marks (to help guide me on where to fold).  For this project I thought I would keep the project to a 12x12 mat....however you could easily expand this and make it much larger for whatever you need.

Here is the cake box after all scoring and folding has been done.

Next I cut out patterned paper to dress up the cake box a bit.

Then I adhered those pieces to my cake box and drew lines with a white pen to mimc stitching (sadly I don't own a sewing machine).  Then used a pushpin to add some holes to try and make it look more realistic.  Not sure if I accomplished that or not :)

Next it was time to add my favourite red WACKY TACKY TAPE ~ this is the best tape to put boxes together with (in my opinion) as I don't own an ATG gun.

Once the tape was peeled off and I put the box together it was time to do something with the top of the box.  I know that normally people tend to make this cut look just like a piece of cake, but I really wanted to use those feathers that Chester donated (Sassylady I'm calling the SPCA on you - he needs those feathers - look at the vest he has to wear now!).

I digress, I wanted to make a nest and decided to make my own.  I used a branch from the cartridge that started it all (Straight from the Nest) and welded it together to make my nest.

This branch comes with leaves to fit by using the shift feature and voila! Perfect leaves for the branches.  I cut everything out all at one time - so convenient ~ JUST make sure you place your mat in the right DIRECTION....don't ask....lets just say I used more paper than I needed to because I wasn't paying attention lol!

Next I wanted to run the leaves through my cuttlebug - and you got it - I used Swiss Dots again  :) :)

After gluing all the leaves onto the branches, I started adding pop dots to my branches to add some height to the nest that is going to sit on top.

Once I had layered all 4 welded branches onto the top of the box, I got out poor Chester's feathers and slid them in underneath and in between openings in the branches.  Don't they make a lovely home for those Cadbury mini eggs??  (those eggs didn't last long after the photo shoot! yummy!_

Just a couple more pics of Chester's feathers ~ isn't he and SASSYLADY so kind? :) :) :)

Thanks for joining us today at Tuesday Treats (and Thursday too!).  Be sure to come back THIS THURSDAY to be dazzled by our favorite layout design genius SASSYLADY!!!

Gypsy File will be available on my BLOG for downloading - it is a 3 page file and uses Gypsy wanderings for the pieces on the sides of the box, as well as branches from Straight from the Nest.

Gypsy file available for download HERE

I am a MAC user and unable to provide a DS version.

Crafty Gift Saturday!!

Oh how fun today is!!! Crafty Gift Saturday :) As much as I love using my Cricut to make cards, I LOVE altering items and doing things a little differently :) Todays project is no exception ~ we get our hands a little sticky with this one!!

I decided I wanted to dress up a bottle of wine to give to a girlfriend for Valentines Day ~ but I didn't want to just plop it in a wine bag this time - I wanted to change things up a bit. So I decided to literally gift wrap the bottle LOL!

I got out some hemp twine (you can buy it at Walmart for 5.97 cdn so it would be cheaper in the U.S.), Wacky Tacky Tape, my Mod Podge ( I grabbed the gloss and the glitter kind) a foam brush and a nice ribbon. I also chose a wine bottle that had a beautiful silouhette.I started at the bottom of the bottle and using my Wacky Tacky Tape (I used this a lot this week LOL!!) I glued my starting point down and started to wrap around the base of the bottle. My original plan was to wrap the entire bottle and then cover it in the Podge....but as I was wrapping, the twine wasn't sitting flat on top of each other and I was getting holes showing the green bottle underneath - yuck. So I took the Wacky Tape and ran it down the length of the bottle 5 times, then as I wrapped around the bottle the twine had something to keep it in place.I wanted to break up the twine a bit on the bottle so I added ribbon near the bottom...yep laid down some wacky tape first to hold it in place and wrapped the ribbon around. Then I just started wrapping again above the ribbon, working your way all the way up the neck and I added another piece of ribbon at the top.Then I decided I wanted to add more bling and attached some really cool ribbon I bought at wallmart in the fabric department (the lady just cuts it off the spool).Once I had it all wrapped I wanted to seal it to make sure the twine would not move, and to seal the bottom of the bottle so it wouldn't start unravelling there. I chose to use the Glitter Mod Podge (big surprise LOL!!) to dress it up but the regular gloss would have been just as nice.I'm not sure if you can see the glitter, but it's there and it's really pretty - as you turn it the light catches the glitter and it shimmers :)Next I wanted to hang all sorts of Valentine themed cuts off the bottle. Most of these aren't even tags - you can just cut out any image from whichever cartridge you like - STORYBOOK has some great scalloped cuts, Lyrical Letters, Home Decor, Home Accents - OH! Hello Kitty would be cute too! So just select whatever cuts you prefer and keep them under 3". To attach ribbon you could punch a hole and thread it through - really easy :) I think it's the ribbon and the layering of all the tags that makes it look so festive. How I did my cuts was to put all my images on 1 page on my Gypsy - Don't forget I'm using Gypsy Wanderings and Wild Card as my only 2 cartridges this week (and Gypsy Wanderings ONLY works on my Gypsy). I welded a few circles to some images to make rings to loop my ribbon through. I placed all my paper on my sheet and only had to cut 1 time. Once I cut out all my images I put them together and dressed them up a bit.
I also got out some craft wire and threaded beads onto it, wrapped the edges closed and shaped it into a heart.
I plan on making some of these wrapped bottles for myself and sticking a tapered candle into the top. How cool would that look with wax dripping down it like they have in those little cafe's in Paris? (without the v-day tags of course lol). You could bring these outside in the summer and place them around your patio....the uses for these could be endless :) I hope you had fun with my crafty gift Saturday!

I have included the G file for the tags on my blog, as well as every project this week - just go to DESIGN~CREATE~INSPIRE.

Sadly......today is my last day as Miss January on Holidays with the Cricut..... I am so glum! It was unbelievable to spend an entire week with such a wonderful group of people. Each and every one of you who took the time to comment on my projects ~ THANK YOU. I mean that from the bottom of my heart, I have read every single one. For someone who is shy, sharing my work was very nerve wracking....but everyone's supportive and kind comments kept encouraging me everyday!

Thank you so much Joy, Melanie and Tammy ~ to be able to post on your blog all week has been such an honour ~ you ladies have a lot of work on your shoulders and I now fully grasp just how much you all put into this WONDERFUL BLOG!

You girls are fantastic - your readers/followers are amazing and I had so much fun - I hope I made you all proud as Miss January, take care and big hugs to you all from Canada :)

Holidays with the Cricut - Fancy Card Friday!!

Happy Fancy Card Friday Everyone!!! I think this has to be my favourite day!!! I had so much fun designing this card and really went all out - I included so many fun ideas on this card :) The inspiration for this card came from a song that was on the radio while I was in my craft room. Any time I look at this card now, that song immediately comes to mind :) I have had this song in my head far too long LOL!!! I went with Fancy paper, fancy welding and fancy embellishments, what a fun card to make. Let me explain how to do it......

This card is fancy and has many details.....for those of you who are interested in making something similar I have included detailed instructions. Those of you who would just rather look at the eye candy.....I took lots of pictures ;)

Start with a fancy piece of cardstock cut so it will be a 6x6 square when folded over. Next get out your paper trimmer and cut out a smaller piece of silver paper to use as your card liner for the inside.

On my Gypsy I started with a triangle from Gypsy Wanderings and sized it to 3.94W x 1.98H. Next I selected a heart from GW and sized that to 0.51W x 0.49H, I copied this heart for a total of 10 little hearts and placed them around the right side of the triangle. This will leave room for me to fold the left corner to the top point of the triangle.Once I had the hearts placed around the triangle I grouped everything together and welded it. I then copied the triangle 7 more times. I placed my images on the mat, placed my paper to match and cut.You could definitely use double sided paper for this, but the other side of my red glitter paper was pink and it didn't go with my black and white colour scheme. So I cut out plain white triangles so I could stamp hearts on them. This way when the corner is folded over you will see the cute little stamping instead of plain white.Glue the white cutouts to the back of the red glitter paper. Once you have them glued together take your left corner (the one without the hearts welded to it) and fold it to touch the top point of your triangle. Once you have your tips lined up, use a cropadile or hole punch to punch thru all the cardstock. Repeat for the other three triangles.
Once you have folded these over take a brad and feed it through all of the holes. This will hold the pinwheels together and keep your folds from coming undone :)

Next I needed some buttons to cover up my very small brad. It just wasn't proportionate to the size of the pinwheel. I didn't want to cut out a circle to cover it either. The problem was: I didn't have any red, black or silver buttons! Actually all I have are a big bag of white ones I bought from Walmart. No problem......I made my own custom colours :) Can you keep a secret? I'll show you how (if you don't know this trick already).
Grab your versamark pad that you keep for 'grubby' stamping (or just one that is dirty). Take the front of your button and squish is down really well.Take a pair of wire wrappers for jewellery (can be found at the dollar store) or a pair of tweezers and using the holes of the button pick it up and dip it in the embossing powder.
Turn your embossing tool on and while holding the button with your pliers melt the powder. Once it has melted you can immediately put it back into the powder for another coat. Be very careful when you remove the button it will be HOT and pliable. And here it is all nice and shiny....and a pic of the back so you know I didn't sub it with a 'store bought model' lol!
I also needed a silver button...what's a girl to do? Make one :). Then I just grabbed some embroidery floss and fed it through the button holes and tied a bow. Set this aside as we will need to make our pinwheel stick.

I took a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 plain white paper and starting at a corner I rolled it up REALLY tight. I glued it shut and cut a corner off to make a point.
I felt like the stick was VERY plain and I didn't want to stamp it. I got out my wacky tack tape which will hold just about anything down. I got out a small tray and dumped a huge amount of black seed beads into it. I wrapped my tape around my stick in a spiral, and rolled the stick in the beads. I used my fingers to fill in some holes and then got out my glossy accents and coated the beads in it. (Similar to the ZIP dry glue method for the pearls from yesterday).I let this stick dry over night and laid another strip of wacky tape onto the card, removed the backing and placed my stick on the strip.
Next I was ready to place my pinwheel over top of the stick. So I got out my large pop dots and attached one to the back of my pinwheel, and one to the back of my buttons and placed it on my card.
Once I had my pinwheel in place all I needed to do was cut out my letters. I used the font from Wild Card, which I had welded together slightly to make it easier to remove and glue down. To make them stand out more on the front of the card I added pop dots to the back and accented each word with a little heart. Adhere your message on the inside and feel free to use as many little hearts as you like :)

Oh you guys are just so awesome to have made it through all that :) Now just sit back, relax and enjoy the pics :) Feel free to zoom in for a closer look ~ just click on the image :)








Well folks....only one more day left :(

I hope you come back tomorrow for CRAFTY GIFT SATURDAY!!! This is another project that can be made by both CRICUT and GYPSY users :) :)