More Previews to share

This must be some kind of a record - I have posted something on my blog everyday this year but today I am posting for the third time in one day! I mentioned earlier that I had used Stand and Salute on a layout with no red, white or blue, and here it is. The suitcase cut has a border function connecting three suitcases in a row. I cut the suitcase in a light tan and the border in a dark brown to mimic the look of an old fashioned suitcase.



The title is actually from the Jubilee cartridge - I hope to have a review of this cartridge ready for posting tomorrow. I think the tall skinny letters are very attractive and I liked this prewelded title. I cut the blackout version of the shadow for this title.



The suitcase frames have tiny holes that did not cut very well for me - I was using textured, white core cardstock (which tends to be tricky when cutting very small details) and the larger center holes were fine, but the smaller ones on either side were causing some frustration when I tried to cleanly remove the tiny circles. I decided they would look better as "rivets" and used my gunmetal color Stickles glitter glue to create tiny dots - since they are raised up they do look more like a real suitcase. I inked the handles in a darker shade of brown and bent them back a bit for dimension.

I was thinking of this layout for a move and I thought you could add words or photos in the suitcases. I would put "moving to college" in the three suitcases but I am waiting for a Design Studio update so I can weld my words in the Jubilee font!



If you are a regular reader of my blog you know I hate to waste anything and love to find ways to use up the "offcuts." The pieces that are cut out of the suitcase frames are actually easy to reuse - they look like small mats that have had their corners cut with a "ticket corner" punch.



Just for fun, I put two of them on the front of a pale yellow A2 card and added a triple layered flower on each mat. They flowers are held together with a small pale green brad and I added orange Stickles to the centers



I did a few more trial cuts from Stand and Salute in the traditional colors. The US map as a flag is fun to put together and would make a great journaling box on a layout - just write on the lines! The star frame also works for journaling and could also be used for place cards for a patriotic party or labels for dishes at a potluck.



Since I normally do all of my Cricut cuts using the Design Studio software(even if I am not altering the image in any way), in order to preview three of the cartridges, I have had to relearn how to use the buttons on the machine ! Here you can see a little "blooper." I navigated the blade to the top of an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper and did a few cuts. When I went on to cut "Liberty," I realized that I had neglected to press "set paper size" and so my blade went to the top of the mat as if I had a 12 x 12 piece of paper. I ended up with the "L" in "Liberty" being partially missing but, once again, I didn't want to waste it and I actually like the look with the word starting "off the page" so I went ahead and cut the shadow in white and trimmed it to match.



I cut out a quick title from Simply Sweet - the first phrase that came to mind was "Girly Girl" (I think that has to do with another project I am working on and will share soon!). I realized after I cut it that I didn't have any photos that would fit - two full grown sons in our family - so I'll need to dig out some photos of my nieces! I like this font more and more as I work with it - it has a very playful, simple and clear style.



Finally, I don't want to neglect Home Decor - this is a solutions cartridge with only two creative feature keys but it is full of wonderful images and word art. It also is already available in Design Studio so I quickly did this little adaptation of the word art "Adore" by putting it inside one of the decorative frames.