Tutorial: Paper Teacups Filled with Flowers...Makes a Cute Mother's Day Gift

I wanted to share these really cute 3D teacups filled with rolled paper flowers.  I made these two at a crop this weekend, and think they are going to make awesome Mother's Day gifts!  I made two styles and will be going over the smaller "Demitasse" type cup first.

The smaller teacup is from the Cricut cartridge "Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2."  I cut it on my (new) Cricut Expression 2 on Craft Room at 7 inches wide.  This gave me a nice size for a cappuccino type cup.  When cut out the flat pieces look like this.

This will give you a handle, cup and bottom of the cup and 2 circles that are used to make the cup stay round and cover up glued seams.  I used the "Floral" pattern from Glitz' "Yours Truly" line for my teacup, I liked the patten and colors for a teacup.

To assemble the cup, glue or tape (I used scor/sookwang tape in 1/4 inch size) the tabs on the edge of the cup and base to round them.  I used the tabs as a guide and tried to match the spacing.  (Note: the piece I used as the base of the cup could be flipped and used as a saucer.)  Depending on the look desired, you cand trim a bit off the base to make it rounder or smaller.  After gluing I bent the tabs down on the bottom of cup and base so they looked like above.

I choose not to glue the handle but just to fold it in half and insert it in the slots.  I had to gently lengthen on of the slots with a small scissors to get the tabs on the handle in.  I then put glue (I used 3in1) on the tabs on the cup and glued the base to the cup. I then inserted the smaller circle into the bottom of the cup and the larger circle into the top of the base and glued them in to cover the tabs and make the cup look rounder and more finished. (you wont actually see these pieces and as you can just see, I glued the one in the bottom of cup in upside down.)

There is a big seam where they meet, I am sure if you are more careful and tidy than me that this seam would be lessened or avoided. I fixed it by gluing a piece of lace trim over the seam.  I also cut 2 more circles out of the same pattern, one at 1.125 inches and one at 1.5. I glued the larger one to the bottom of the base to make sure it had a good flat base to sit on.  The smaller piece I cut slits around the edge and crated tabs. I then bent the tabs and glued it to the top inside of the teacup to create a base for the flowers to sit on.  Again it doesn't have to be super pretty or perfect, it will all be hidden by the adorable rolled flowers. On this cup I inked the edges of the cup with Biscotti color Powdwer Puff chalk because I wanted a antique old world look.

The last step before making the flowers is to add something to give the flowers some body and shape, like a floral "bump it."  Here I used a circle that had cut badly that I turned into a cone.  I cut 2 slits at the top to flatten the point of the cone.  You could also use a half Styrofoam ball, floral foam, tissue or what ever you have on hand that works for the size and shape of your teacup. I added some pop dots under the middle of cone (like 6 or so stacked) to make sure it would hold and stay put.

Now its time for flowers!! This is the fun part to me.  I cut various types of rolled flowers from the Flower Shoppe, Artiste and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges.  I used widths from 4 to 2.5 inches to make smaller flowers.  Now if you don't have a Cricut many of the die manufacturers like Sizzix and Spellbinders make dies for flowers or there are some precut ones by Imaginisce.  Or you cant tear/cut your own spirals to make rolled 3d flowers, I found a bunch of tutorials (like this) when I Googled "spiral flower tutorial."

So I cut out some different sizes and styles of flowers. I used American Crafts' Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic "Pretty Parkway" paper for all the flowers on this teacup.  (I rolled some with the blue on the inside and some with the white on inside.) I also choose to chalk the edges of the spirals for the aged look.

If you haven't made rolled flowers before, here is my method.  I used a twilling tool or tweezers. (Here I used a locking forceps style tweezers because I forgot my twilling tool when I packed for the crop I was at.) Gripping the small end (outer) end of the spiral in your tool, start winding it or rolling it.  On most flowers the color on the INSIDE will show the most.  once you have the whole thing rolled around (except base/bottom larger center), take it out of tool and loosed flower to get the look you want.  Some people like really tightly wound flowers, I happen to like them a bit looser and unwound. Make what looks good to you.When you get to the end of the spiral you will see there is a large "circle" or other shape that will be the base of the flower. Put some heavy liquid glue or a big glue dot or glubber on it and glue your rolled and shaped bloom to it. You can now shape the petals and flower however you like, I tend to flatten some of the a bit. Voila! A flower.  Now make a whole bunch. :)

After you have a bunch of flowers made, it is time to fill your cup.  I started with the biggest flowers and put them toward the center. I continued too add the flowers from larger to smaller filling in the holes until you couldn't see the inside of the teacup.  To cover the seam I trailed some flowers down the cup like it overflowed.  I did not add any more embellishments to this particular style.

I also made a larger variation with a doily type saucer.  I used Glitz' Cashmere Dame line in Floral for this teacup.  I also embossed the paper to give it a fine bone china look. ( I used Anna Griffin;s Cuttlebug folder in Rosa.)  I wanted this teacup &flowers to have more of a English (Victorian?) high tea look.

I did most of the flowers with the same Cricut cuts, but this time made the a bit larger- like up to 5.5 inches.  I also used several different paper patterns, including Dear Lizzy and Prima.  I did not chalk the edges of the flowers.

For the teacup I used a Sizzix die designed by Brenda Walton with my Big Shot Machine. This cup has a more angled shape with scalloped edges. It gave me almost the same pieces when cut. The circles are smaller, but work basically the same way one one inside and one on bottom of cup. And the tabs on base glued to the side of cup on this version.

 

The Brenda Walton die has a handle that is made if a strip of paper that is rolled in an "S" Shape and glued to cup. I used the seam of the cup as guide to get the handle straight on cup. (as a bonus it hid the seam a bit.)  There is also one additional detail- a teabag label.  I used my tiny attacher and stapled it to some matching bakers twine and  hung it over edge of cup near the handle.  I used a semi blank paper for the tag and wrote my step-mom's initial and my happy mother's day sentiment on it.

After placing the rolled flowers, I filled in the spaces that remained with premade flower from my stash, mostly Prima and Petaloo ones.  I especially liked the small flat blooms for the tiny crevices. (The paper I used had a yellow back and made the inside practically glow.) I also inserted some Prima leaves along edge and between some flowers. After I had the flowers how I wanted them, covered the teacup part with a paper towel and sprayed the flowers only with shimmery Goosebumps texturizer. I then sprinkled Fairy Dust glitter in Sugar Shimmer over it.  This gave it a sugared flower candy look I really like.

For the saucer I cut out a 4 inch and a 6 - 6.5 inch doily on my Cricut using the Teresa Collins Basics digital cartridge for Craft Room.  (For the saucer I used Glitz' Floral from Yours Truly) on the 6 inch one I cut off a "pie piece" from one of the scallops and removed the center circle.  I then glued the edged together to make it slightly rounded.  I glued the 4 inch doily in the center to cover the hole I had cut and make a flat base.  I then glued the teacup in the center. (Ignore the circle under the cup-I originally made a plain circular base ans was scared to detach it.)  I added a couple of flowers that I glittered individually to the saucer to cover the seam.

So those are the two styles of posey filled teacups I made over the weekend.  I am hoping they make make for a nice Mother's Day gift of flowers that will stick around for a while.  What are you doing for Mother's day this year?

Until next time, stay sweet! - L

Materials used:

Dies/Cricut: Sizzix Brenda Walton Teacup die, Cricut Artiste, Art Philosopy, Flower Shoppe, Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2 and Teresa Collins Basics digital
Papers:Glitz: Cashmere Dame Floral & Yours Truly Floral, Dear Lizzy: 5th & Frolic Pretty Parkway
Inks/Glitters/Paints: Qick Quotes Powder Puff Chalk in Biscotti

G45's A Ladies' Diary Birthday Card

This is a birthday card for my Stepmom.  I choose to use Graphic 45 A Ladies' Diary for two reasons.  First, it has all the colors my Stepmom likes-pale pinks, blues, peaches and creamy whites. And second, it is really beautiful paper with great graphic images of turn of the century and twenties fashionable ladies and pastel colored flowers.  I decided to make a card using a tabbed file folder look that some fun tabs and folds.  I started by making a base for the card in Cricut Craft Room. I used the welding feature to merge together the basic card rectangles with tag shaped to make the folder style tabs and the curved window cut out. 

 

I cut the base out on cream cardstock and chalked around the whole card with creamy brown. Because the final base is more than 12x 12 it is made of two pieces that I attached at the right side fold.  I did this by extending the paper past the (scored) fold and gluing the overhang to the the back of middle piece like a tab.  For the very front portion with the window I used the Cricut again, to cut the A Ladies' Diary paper to match. In some parts,  I also traced the base and hand cut to fit.

 Once I had the front panel of pattern paper cut, I attached a layer of iridescent blue gauze/tulle so it covered the window area.  I did this with with double sided tape that could multitask.  When I glued the pattern paper to the base it sandwiched the mesh securely between the two pieces of paper. After that I covered the entire card base with A Ladies' Diary pattern paper and began to decorate the card.

For the front, I choose one of the fashionably dressed ladies out of the 12x12 pad.  I really liked the image of this womanin silky blue, because she its on the card well and I can see my Stepmom in the dress. I fussy cut the image about 3/4 of the way around, leaving a portion of the left side near her purse with a staright edge.  I then glued her on top of a piece of vintage lace I had hand colored with Glimmer Mist (Sea Shells)and Fireworks (Pink).  I added some faux pearl halves to the lace and some German Glitter Liner (Holographic) to the centers of the flowers, the necklace, the purse and feathered headpiece on the paper.  I placed the lace and woman on the front so it overlapped the window and portions of the lace and image dangle off the base a little bit. I also added another fussy cut and glittered flower to the folder tab on the edge.

On the inside of the first flap I added a small cameo and some glitter on the tab on the edge.  I used an edge punch on some "wooden" paper to make a zigzag art deco-ish strip I attached along the side of the window (below the layer of A Ladies' Diary paper covering the base.) I then added some of the stamp images and a pink and metal embellishment with a strip of lace behind it.  On the page opposite I hand wrote my Stepmom's name and added some bling (Teresa Collins) to the folder tab at top. I then, fussy cut one some of the roses and added some Distress Glitter and pink rhinestones on the petals. When I attached the flowers I only glued along the left and bottom edge to make a pocket. Using two pieces of the patterned paper glued back to back, I added one of the images from A Ladies' Diary with a group of ladies with umbrellas to make a tag. 

I glued the two clock/button chipboard pieces back to back at the top of the card and then threaded a piece of ribbon through the holes. (If the chip board is too think try pealing a layer or two of the chipboard off the back before attaching. Just remember glue runners do not always like the "peeled" cardboard, but liquid glue works fine.)  On the back of the tag I added a birthday sentiment I printed on vellum with my ink jet printer along with a purple tinted faux pearl and some washi tape (Tim Holtz-Sketchbook) with a vintage writing look.

 

 The center panel folds down to reveal a pretty blue print with a squre of the handwritten text paper from the 8x8 pad of A Ladies' Diary.  On top of this it says Happy Birthday, which was printed on vellum with my ink jet. (the font is Black Adder)  I used Tombow's vellum tape to adhere it with out leaving tape marks. on the "folder" tab at the top I placed large and small faux pearls.  Across the page is more washi tape in both the writing and butterfly patterns of the Sketchbook collection. At the top right I adhered a small chip board tag of roses from A Ladies' Diary with a piece of grey-blue dotted ribbon tied through it.  There is also a Bo Bunny floral cameo embellishment across the washi tape.

The final tab/flap opens to the right and displays the card's "centerfold" of the umbrella holding cover girl of the A Ladies' Diary paper.  She was fussy cut and placed so that the feather in her hat over hung the card base at the top. Distress stickles in pink was added to her umbrella and gloves. There are some smaller stamps cut out and placed around her.  There is also a Prima white washed heart embellishment at the top of the page. Below her are a post card and fussy cut rose from the Diary paper. I added some glitter to the petals with the distress stickles.  I really like how the rose fills the tab at the bottom, i thnk it kind of hides the upside down back of the tab.

I also really like the subtle blends of pinks and yellow in the coloring. That is why I have been using the distress style glitter as opposed to regular glitter, I think the slight iridescent shine from the mica enhances the colors better than a sparkly flashy glitter would.

 On the last page there is a small scallop-edged envelope cut with the Cricut on the rose and clock paper from the 8x8 pad. It is matted on some of the blue striped pattern paper.  The edged of the envelope are curled back and both inked in brown and lined on the edge with champagne colored German Glitter Liner from Splash of Color (Viva Decor). There is also a grey cameo on the envelope.  Inside the envelope in another tag. it has the blue-grey polka dot ribbon at  the top. I made the tag by gluing two pieces of the pattern paper back back and adding an image of the beautiful ladies to one side.  On the other side I added a piece of vellum, it is blank so I can write something and sign the card.

I really enjoyed making this card and am thrilled with how vintage it looks.  I hope my stepmom loves it as much as I do.

Materials used:
Cricut Cartridges: Artiste, Holiday Tags and More, Craftroom Basics
Papers: Graphic 45 A Ladies' Diary (12x12, 8x8 & chipboard tags), cream colored cardstock , thin vellum, wood paper
Inks/Glitter/Paints: Colorbox chalks (Creamy brown & Chestnut roan), Ranger Stickles (Distress pink), Splash of Color (Viva Decor) German Glitter Liner (Hologram & Champagne), Tattered Angels Glimmer mist (crushed shells & wisteria?), Tsukineko Fireworks (angel pink)
Other: Teresa Collins bling, Prima heart embellishment, Tim Holtz Washi tape (Sketchbook), Bo Bunny embellishments, Fab Scraps embellishments, ribbon, vintage lace, blue tulle, pink rhinestones and faux pearls

Tis the Season to Be Jolly....

More Crafty Christmas-ness form me.  This time I wanted to show off my gift tags and wrapping.  When I was in high school and just after my first attempt at college I worked retail. And the thing I took away from working the holidays in a mall (other then feet that still hurt) is wanting to wrap a present so it looks like it's from a TV show or a store display.

This year I had a lot of help from my handy dandy Cricut.  I recently purchased the Creative Memories "Holiday Tags & More" cartridge and the digital 3D bows package for my Craft Room. (Some time I will have to talk about what a great tool Cricut's Craft Room really is.)  And I used these combined with some of this years beautiful holiday pattern paper to finish off my gift wrapping perfectly.

 First off the gift tags.  I picked 3 or 4 of my favorite tags off the "Holiday Tags" cart and set them up to cut out all the layers on different pattern papers I thought co-ordinated. I then glued them together in various combinations.  Since I did a snowflake theme this year I choose tags and paper that reflected that.  Here you can see them on my desk drying after I added some glitter glue in sparkling shades from Viva and Stickles.

For my wrapping paper I found this gorgeous hand printed on recycled cotton  paper at the Container Store. (OMG they always have the best papers!) It has these concentric circles with a glitter circle in the center. I also have some snowflake and Cjhristmas tree prints in golds and blues.I used the 3D bows in my craft room to make theses cute little bows from card stock and pattern paper. There are 4 basic bow shapes, the single bow, the double bow, a long loopy strip bow and the "rosette" type bow that looks sort of like the ones you would buy in a bag with a square of sticky stapled to the bottom. (You will need brads to assemble the last 2 types.) Each type then has some different styles of edges and layers, like scallops or lacy.  I used alot of the single bow with either a single scallop edge or straight.  I thought they looked clean and pretty. Like the cream and gold card stock one above.

Here you can see a few of my wrapped gifts all ready for giving. As you can see I tried all the different bow shapes out.  I try to mix up my wrapping a bit, with some ribbons and traditional bows as well as adding Cricut cut snowflakes.

 

Here is an example of a "rosette" type bow.  I thought they were really cute all tiny like this one on a jewelry box.  But make sure to get a brad with a long "stem" when you assemble it. (And isn't the candy cane pattern on it so sweet?)


I am all excited to start giving out my gifts now that they are wrapped and ready!
Hope your Christmas in Merry and Bright and that your New Year's is Rockin'!!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!! with a card

Today is Father's Day and I thought I would share the card I made my Dad.  As I have said in previous posts, I find making a masculine card a bit harder that one for a girl.  But I do like how this card came out.  I used my Cricut and my new favorite paper stack, K & Co.'s Designer paper.

I started with the Star Card from the Wild Card Cricut Cartridge. I used a rectangle from Craft Room Basics to weld another panel at the bottom of the card that would flip down when the star was opened. I think if you look at the pictures you will see what I mean.  I used the purple polka dot paper for the card base and added the star outline in a teal blue plain card stock.  I then added the "Dear Old Dad" sentiment from the holiday Craft Room digital cartridge Father's Day-Dear Old Dad. I only used the text portion and not the shadow or stars.  I cut it out in a line green and a pattern paper and layered just the "old" portion over the green in the pattern. (I will look up the name of the paper and list at bottom.) I then used my liquid pearls in a teal color to outline the star on top of the border and my Martha Stewart glitter pen in green to highlight the text.

On the panel behind the star I added a background from the Paper Lace cartridge on the lace1 button of "Flower 2"; I re-sized it a little to make sure it fit on the added panel.  I then traced over the swirly bits with a glitter liner in iridescent. (I used the striped white and grey Designer paper for the lace.) On the back of the star I added a couple of different sizes of stars in the green and teal card stock . I used the star from the cards border and deleted one of the cuts in the hide contour feature. I decorated the teal star with an outline of holographic glitter liner and the green one with sunny yellow perfect pearls.

On the inside of the card I added the Happy Father's Day text from the digital Craft Room download " Father;s Day-Dear Old Dad."  This time I did add the shadow and the diamond/star layers. I used the same teal/bright green color combination.  I put a heavy layer of the iridescent glitter on the diamond shapes to really make them sparkle.  I also cut out 2 slightly larger sets of the diamonds and added them in the corners.I put in one more of the stars- a border stlye one to the fold in the card. And I also added a shadow panel of the lace I used on middle of card to the inside of the added panel to have somewhere to write a note to my dad.I decorated this with the teal Liquid Pearls.

Ok so by now you have probably noticed the weird spay marks in the corners.  I kinda screwed up when i was finishing up the card. I had gone out shopping and found a color of Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in a limited edition Halloween color I had been dying to try. Its called Afraid of the Dark and its like a purpley color with green glitter. And I thought it would match the card well but I was too excited and didn't test it so i sprayed too much and it came out clumpy looking and warped the paper. If I had taken my time and done it right it would have looked really cool, but I didn't and I am unhappy with how it came out. Oh well, the card as a whole looks cute and I was happy with it. 

So there it is my Dad's card.. I sent him a book and some sugar free chocolate too.  What did you do for Father's Day? Did you make a card or gift, I would love to see your projects too.

XXOO
L

Product List:

• Cricut Cartridges: Craft Room Basics, Craft Room Father's Day-Dear Old Dad, Wild Card and Paper lace
• Paper: K and Company-Primary Designer Paper, sei-Field Notes and Mike's card stock
• Paints/Inks: Ranger Liquid Pearls-Peacock, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Afraid of the Dark, Viva Glitter Liner-Iridescent and Viva Pearl Pen - Sunny Yellow

Another card!

This is a card I made for Will to send to his Nana.  I wanted to do some thing cute and bright and fun, but sorta simple.   I decided to use plain card stock in yellows, pinks and oranges with a light blue background.  For the design I turned to my handy and helpful Cricut machine.  The main cartridge I used was the Everyday Pop Up Cards.  On the front I used the "Just a Note" Bird card.  I layered 2 sizes of the card to give it some interest and depth.  I also added a second wing directly on top of the first and only glued it at the base so it had some three dimensionality. I also added the three flowers from the Teapot card and used the notes that cut out of the "O" in note to further decorate the front.

On the inside I did the popup from the Flowerbox card.  I find some of the popups hard to understand because ther e is not much instruction with the cartridge, so I followed the way it was done on Crafting with Katie's site.I made the flower box in colors in its flat form and attached it to the pop out instead of trying to stick the individual flowers in the slots. That was so much help. Thanks Katie!!  Above the flower box i added clouds and a smiling sun from the Create a Critter cartridge. (Will suggested the sun) and added a small bird from the Picturesque cartridge (Robin).  The clouds are the only place I used a pattern paper- they are in the striped white and grey from the K and Company (Primary) Designer's Paper. (I should have gotten 2 of theses, I love the subtle monochrome patterns. So useful on cricut designs.)

I think the card came out adorable and happy.  what do you think?  Have any of you tried the pop up cards on the Cricut?  I would love to see how some of the other cards work and look.  Thanks for reading! XXOO

Product List:

• Cricut cartridges: Everyday Pop Up Cards, Create a Critter and Picturesque
• Paper: Michael's cardstock and K & Co. Designer Paper

Two More Cards

I thought I would share two other cards I have made this February.

First is a Valentine's Days card I made for my Dad and Stepmom. They have a really beautiful koi pond so when I saw the koi fish on the Cricut Art Nouveau cartridge I thought it would be perfect.  I made two kissing koi on the cover.  I think it came out pretty cute and I like how the patterned paper made the fish look. I used the Cricut Craft Room to weld the shadow layer and lay out the card. (Full product list at end)

The card base id from 3 Birds Life's a Party cartridge and the fish and background shape are from Art Nouveau. I added some ruffled hart shapes from Victorian Romance.  I used different patterned papers and made the fish colors reverse to compliment each other.  I added some glitter on the fins to give it that shiny wet look. I also added some liquid pearls and iridescent glitter to the hearts.

I repeated the background shape from Art Nouveau inside and added hearts from Plantian Schoolbook.  I hand wrote my message and added a couple more glitter hearts.  I put liquid pearls in bisque around as a border.

The second card is a birthday card for my Dad.  I always find it hard to design a card for a guy.  So much of the art and decorations I find lean toward the girly or are a steam punk theme (which doesnt suit my dad.)  So I searched through all the Cricut options I have and decided I really liked the idea of the argyle pattern on the Wild Card cartridge.  I decided to add an owl from Create a Critter on top of the pattern. I thought it was cute and worked for a dad card.

The background is cut on the Cricut from the Wild Card cartridge.  It is two layers with diamonds cut out over the base card, but creates a cool effect. I used some pattern papers for the owl to make it a bit quirky and less plain. "DAD" is in a font off Opposites Attract. For some reason the Cricut wouldn't cut through the hole in the "A" properly (the glitter paper from Michael's was super thick) so I put a heart "scrap" on top of it.  I didn't really add much extra decorations, just black marker on some of the edges.

I used the diamonds that were cut out of the argyle pattern on front to make a pattern inside.  I added liquid pearls in bronze where the diamonds met and on the top/bottom tips. The happy birthday is from the Life's a Party Cartridge.

So I am pretty happy with the cards.  They aren't overly bling-y, but I think they look nice and my Dad and Stepmom will enjoy them. I hope you do too.

Products:
Koi Valentine:

• Cricut Cartridges: Art Nouveau, Life's a Party, Plantain Schoolbook and Opposites Attract.
• Paper: Michael's Cardstock, Teresa Collins-Fabrications,DCWV-Tradewinds, Recollections-Animal Kingdom
• Paint/Inks: Liquid Pearl-Bisque, Studio Glitter (from the dollar bin at Mike's)

Birthday Card:

• Cricut Cartridges: 3 Birds, Life's a Party, Create a Critter
• Paper Mike's Cardstock, Kaiser Craft-Chanteuse, DCWV-Tradewinds, Recollections-Animal Kingdom, Glitter Cardstock from Mike's and the star paper is from Joanne's I don't know the brand.
• Paint/Inks: Liquid Pearla- Bisque & Bronze.

The card that started it all

So I figured I would start by talking about the project that inspired this blog.  I have a friend I had been making some simple Cricut cards for. First was stuff directly off the cartridges. Next I started using the Cricut Craftroom and welding. And during this time I started looking at some fantastic steam punk projects. (Particularly Carrie's designs mini album and Xannero1's custom mini) So I was inspired and decided to make a stream punk valentine's day card for my friend.  I showed it to my wonderful friend Rosie, who scraps with me, and she said I should take photos and blog it.  I kind of blew the idea off and just mailed it.  But then after I sent it I changed my mind.  My friend kindly took some photos of it for me. So here they are. (Full list of products used at end)

On the front I used the balloon from Cricut's Victorian Romance and behind it is an acetate heart from Teresa Collin's Timeless collection that was fussy cut and painted on both sides with Tim Holtz's crackle paint in rock candy.  I thought the see through aspect looked pretty cool.

On the front I used Tim Holtz paper from the Kraft Resist 12x12 pad.  I added one of his keyholes and some of his gears.  I also used brads with screw tops by Recollections and gears cut from the Cricut on both paper and shrinky dinks. The W charm is also by T.H. and the turtle was from the jewelry section of Michaell's. And I used Ranger's Liquid Pearl in Bisque on the joints of the balloon framework. The frame work is also popped up slightly with foam tape.

For the first pages I used a time/clock theme. I fussy cut some clocks and again used paper and shrinky dinks from Cricut. The paper on the right is from Graphic 45's Proper Gentleman collection and is one of my faves. The clock in the center was fussy cut from Creative Imaginations Rock Star paper. And I used a few more of the Timeless clock faces.

The center pages I themed around keys and locks.  The background paper is another beautiful Graphic 45 paper from the Le Romantique collection.  I cut some keys from the Cricut, Sophisticated and Victorian Romance cartridges. The gold key and butterfly is fussy cut from the Tradewinds pad by DCWV. The top has a border created from gears off the Indie Art cartridge I welded together in Craftroom with more of the screw-brads. I used another keyhole by T.H.  The gear paper on the heart is from the Tattered Times pad by DCWV.  On all the pages I hand wrote quotes pertaining to friendship on distressed paper.

On the last of the inside pages I used a small greenish brown checked paper by Kaiser Craft. and Cricut cut some more gears. Rosie helped me distress a lot of them and I think the big gear in silver she did is really awesome.  I used it to make a tag pocket.  The big fussy cut gear on the left is also from Tattered Times as is the background of gears.

This shows the last page with the tag pulled out. I stuck a short note and gift inside the envelope tag which was made with paper from the T.H. Kraft Resist pad and the top of the Creative Imaginations Rock Star paper I fussy cut the watch on the first inside page. The ticket I wrote "pull" on is also from Tattered Times.  I bound the card with necklace twine and tied gears from T.H. and the jewelry section of Mike's to it to create the tassel.

And finally the back of the card.  It has a clock and gears fussy cut from Tattered Times with a top hat from G45's Romantique collection.  I also added a T.H. gear to the hat.

 So that is the card that inspired my scrapbooking/craft blog. I really had fun making it and think the result came out pretty nice. Please let me know if you have any questions about what I did or whee I bought any items.

Product List:

•  Cricut Cartridges: Victorian Romance, Indie Art, Rock Princes, Paisley, Wrap it Up, Wild Cards and Craftroom Basics
• Paper: Graphic 45-Proper Gentleman, G45-Le Romantique, Teressa Collins-Timeless, DCWV-Tradewinds, DCWV-Tattered Times, Tim Holtz-Kraft Resist, My Mind's Eye-Everyday Fun, Kaiser Craft-Chanteuse and Creative Imaginations/Marah Johnson-Rock Star Ready 2 Rock.(All 12x12)
• Accessories: Tim Holtz- Gears, Keyholes & Alphabet Tokens, Shrinky Dinks, Reflections-Screw Brads, and some pieces from the jewelry section of Michael's
• Inks/Paints: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Cinder, TA Glimmer Glaze-Cowboy, T.H. Distress Inks-Walnut Stain, Black Soot & Fired Brick, T.H.-Crackle Paint in Rock Candy, Ranger Perfect Pearl Mists-Heirloom Gold & Perfect Pearl and Ranger Liquid Pearls in Bisque.