Jeweled Cards

(Here I go again - another "enabling" post... Please skip today's entry if you are trying to save your money!)

Earlier this month I told you that I got a new cartridge and gave a "sneak peak" at the cut I made using the new cartridge. I cleverly (or carelessly) forgot to mention the name of the cartridge. It was one I had been wanting for a while, but I waited until I could get it at an excellent sale price. Other projects and posts took up my time for a couple of weeks but here, at long last, is the information and one of the files I have made with this cartridge.



The cartridge (in case you haven't figured it out yet) is the Solution cartridge "Blackletter." It is primarily a font cartridge and I wanted it for the Gothic look of the letters - they will be great for Halloween projects. However, the items I was keenly interested in were the "extras" in the bottom row.



There are frames & shields & crosses & banners, but the ones that intrigued me the most were some intricate designs with a maze or Celtic look - I knew that these images could be repeated to make beautiful cards, borders and page layouts.

My first test cut (done on the Expression) was not entirely successful. If you look at the photo below you can see that the cut is misaligned and the silhouetted circles get more and more off center along the width of the cut. I had a similar problem over a year ago, when I did my first "big" Design Studio file and had problems with the silhouetted shapes on the George cartridge. I still have this problem on occasion. (The earlier cut was a large doily - here is a LINK to the old post - I recently moved the file from Mediafire due to issues people have had with downloads from that site).




I don't know why this shifting happens sometimes, but I checked my blade (looking for any bits of stuck paper) and the mat, then turned the Cricut off and on again and tried the cut for a second time.



This time the cut was balanced and looked like the image on my computer screen. However, on this test cut I used very heavyweight cardstock which caused some problems in the intricate details of the cut.



Today, I finally had a chance to try the cuts again - I used a nice medium weight cardstock and made sure that my blade was sharp and the paper was well stuck to the mat. Both of the designs cut perfectly.



I was able to lift the cuts from the mat easily and many of the offcuts stayed on the mat or were dislodged enough by the removal proces that they were easy to clean from the cuts.



It is a good idea to bend the mat back a bit as you lift the cut, to avoid curling the paper. Lift it slowly and carefully to minimize the amount of clean-up that will be needed.



Above and below you can see the two plain cuts adhered to white card bases - 6 x 6 and A2.



I love blue and white - particularly this aqua shade of blue, but I couldn't leave the cards so plain - they needed a bit of bling!



I used these gems from a large craft store (ACMoore or Michael's) - they come in a variety of sizes and are quite inexpensive.



I also used some smaller gems that I "harvested" from this pre-made phrase. I found these in the clearance bin so I got a lot of tiny gems for very little money. I have read that some people buy "nail gems" for their cards. I don't have any of these (since I don't have fingernails that will hold them!) but I am thinking about ordering some online. If you have trouble keeping the adhesive on the tiny gems, just use a glue pen to dot adhesive in the spot where you will be placing the gem. I use my Creative Memories Precision Point adhesive, it is very strong and easy to work with.



Here is the A2 card after I added the gems. You could also use dots of Stickles glitter glue for a similar look. I made a pattern with the shades of color of gems placed on the design intersections.



Above is the 6 x 6 card.



It is difficult to get a photograph to accurately show the sparkle of this simple pattern. These cards are very elegant and would be suitable for any special occasion. Below are a few more photos to try to show you the sparkle!







The A2 card can be used horizontally or vertically - it looks pretty either way.



Different color combinations will give some totally different looks. I am doing another sample in red and black. I have several more variations of these designs and I will try to post some of them tomorrow.

Celtic card toppers