Yellow and Black Card

While perusing my Pinterest files I came accross a card I have long admired and promised myself to make. Following is my version of that card and the products and process used. The card pieces are not actually adhered as I want to experiment with some other embellishments before I make the final version. Also, I want to attempt a video of this card  and, if successful, will post it on Youtube.
The video has been published on Youtube at Hermuchness (if it does not come up try Mary Lou Smelgus). The sound is not so good but the video is OK.

It is difficult to see the sizes in the picture so I will list them separately. The card is an A2 (4.25 x 5.5). the embossed piece is 4.2 x 5.4. The black square is 2" and the yellow square is 1.75".

The first step was to adhere the embossed layer to the folded card base

next was to adhere the yellow sq to the black sq and adhere them to the top right hand side of the card

I die cut the second largest layering die with white paper and ahered that to the center of the squares

next I die cut the butterfly from the Spellbinders set and used a fine tip pen to highlight some of the embossed areas then adhered that to the square

I placed a white 3/8 inch ribbon over a black 5/8 inch ribbon and attached both around the yellow embossed layer. (so obviously I hadn't really attached the yellow layer to the card. This is a good lesson in remembering the correct order for constructing of cards) 

After some thought I decided to change the direction of the butterfly which I obviously couldn't have done if I had really attached that previously. Although I have been known to remove and adjust previously adhered embellishments. Sometimes it has worked out and others not so well.

To complete the card I used the largest layering die and stamped the sentiment and this addition completes this version of the card. 

In the next version I will be using a black and white striped washi tape instead of the ribbon and will use a different sentiment from the same Stampendous stamp set.

July UMC Card Class

With sooo much help from my Cricut we made three complex cards this month. Because I had planned to have two extra projects this month I wanted to pre-cut and prepare as much as possible so that we would have time to complete the cards and have time for the extras. As it turned out we needed to postpone the extra events but, as always, we enjoyed putting the cards together.
                                                 

CARD ONE

I posted earlier about this card but did not want to show it until the class had seen it. This card is important for two reasons. First, I had promised an off the edge card a few months ago and felt I needed to follow through on that. Second, and most gratifying to me, was that I was able to produce the design in Cricut Design Space and mass produce the cards by uploading a photo of the completed prototype and then weld the image so it would cut the outline. YEAH CRICUT !!!

CARD TWO

This card is a design I lifted from Pinterest. Fortunately I had a small butterfly die and was able to reproduce the card pretty much as shown but used a different selection of embossing folders. After manually die cutting the butterflies from the strip I realized I could, again, have saved time by having Cricut make the original cut and then just resize the strips. Lesson learned.

CARD THREE

This card was also copied from a Pinterest post and is my personal favorite. I cut the card layers with the help of my Cricut so it was the easiest of the three cards to complete. It is my favorite because I loved the colors and the weight of the finished card.

Once again, I hope you enjoy seeing our cards.

Cricut Cutting Mat Cleaning

I have been using the Cricut Cutting Machine for several years and have Googled many methods for cleaning the mats. Some have been very elaborate and time consuming and some required the use of toxic sprays. So I wanted to share a method that I found a couple years ago and love because of it's simplicity and effectiveness. I cannot take credit for it but also cannot give credit where it is due as I no-longer remember where I found it. There are only two ingredients and both are useful for other household chores. I use LA's Totally Awesome cleaner, which I think I bought at the Dollar Store and a yellow Happy Face scrubby. I just cleaned two mats in les than five minutes and the mats are clean and the sticky is restored. I hope this is helpful for those new to mat cleaning and those who have not yet found an effective mat cleaning method.
If you also have a favorite method please share in the comments.