Sweet Treat Thursdays at Cuttlebug Challenge

I am excited to be part of the new "Sweet Treat Thursdays" Design Team at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot.  Two Thursdays each month, the team will be creating with Cricut, Cuttlebug, Your Story, Yudu, Gypsy and Design Studio.  I will also be doing a monthly series on Design Studio on the third Saturday of each month (the first installment posted last Saturday - here is a LINK).

Our challenge this week was to use the "Doodlecharms" Cricut cartridge to create items with a Valentine's theme.  Be sure to hop over to Cuttlebug Challenge to see all of the fantastic projects and visit each designer's blog to get more specific details on how they were created.  Today I will tell you how I made the items for the challenge (I actually made quite a few more "trial projects" that I will share over the next week or so).

These treat holders are simple and quick - particularly if you use the .cut file I made for them.  If you don't have Design Studio you can make a similar holder but it won't have a solid base.

The file is set up with multiple pages to make color preview possible.  Be sure to cut the base from the page marked CUT - this is the only one that is welded!  You will see that I used two stamp edged rectangles to make the base - I wanted the file to be complete using only the Doodlecharms cartridge and there wasn't a plain rectangle or square to be found!

After you cut the base you will need to score it at the five inch and six inch lines, using a Scor-Pal or other scoring tool (or measuring carefully).  This creates the base for the treat holder to stand on.

Here are the pieces of the holder - the file will cut two scalloped hearts and two plain hearts on separate pages.  You do not need to add them both - it is fine to leave the back side in the pretty patterned paper without the extra layers.  The plastic ziplock bag is the size I use for ATCs - 3 x 4 inches and easily purchased at a craft store.  You may find them with the candy items or in the art section.

Here is a side view of the base after scoring and folding.  Double sided heavy patterned paper works well for these.  I used a K & Co. paper from a Valentine stack I bought last year.  I embossed the plain heart layer with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and adhered the heart to the scallop heart and the two of them to the base.

When I add embossed pieces to a project, I apply the adhesive to the base layer to avoid flattening the embossing with a tape runner.

When the layers are put together, stack the plastic bag between the two paper layers and punch through all three using a Cropadile or similar strong punch.

This view shows how the ribbon will be threaded through the holes to keep the candy holder together.  Do this after filling the bag with candy!

Pretty ribbon (this is by Martha Stewart) makes the holders cute.  You can add many more embellishments or keep them clean and simple.  I did add some white pen dots to the "opposite" version of the heart topper.

The file is set up for the 6 x 12 mat.  You can turn a 12 x 12  mat to cut two holders from one piece of paper - just pay attention to the paper orientation if there is a definite direction to the design.

Here is the link to download the file.

Candy Holder with Scalloped Hearts

The next project I made was these paper lanterns.  They should be used with the battery operated tea or votive lights - please don't let them near an open flame!

The file is once again set up for the baby bug but you can cut two by turning your mat - if your paper is directional you will want to lift and turn it so the pattern makes sense.  There will be lots of heart cut outs and you can even use the edge as a border (you'll see that on the card).

I tired a couple of variations - for one I used the packing tape method for adding glitter to the cutout areas.  I put the paper lantern on an old cricut mat and carefully smoothed on two strips of tape.

I left the top hearts as open cutouts.

I flipped the paper so the sticky side of the tape was up and added lots of fine glitter.  There is no way around it - glitter will make a mess so just enjoy the sparkles you find in odd places!

Be careful to brush off all of the excess glitter so it won't interfere with connecting the sides of the lantern.

The glitter will leave the windows fairly transparent which isn't as pretty when the lantern is lit but makes it look more attractive when unlit.

I used vellum to line the second lantern.  I covered all of the openings and since the vellum is translucent but not transparent the effect is much softer.

I rolled the paper with the vellum adhered around the glitter container to "train" it to curve in a circle to form the lantern.  You could also make a separate liner of vellum and slip the heart sleeve over it.

I added Scor-Tape partially under the edge between the heart cutout and the vellum.  You need a very strong adhesive to keep the lantern together.

I peeled off the paper liner and trimmed the vellum next to the tape.  Then I rolled the cylinder and stuck the lantern together.

For the glitter lantern I adhered the 1/4 inch Scor-tape directly to the inside of the lantern, rolled the cylinder and adhered the opposite site with the ends flush.

I removed the liner from the tape and added a strip of matching paper from the offcuts to cover the sticky adhesive on the inside of the lantern.

Here is the download link for the file.

Heart Lantern

I try to use all of the pieces of paper from a design - I hate to waste things!  This was my first idea for a card using some of the remainders.  The border strip is half of the edge that remains from the top cut of the lantern.  There are lots of leftover hearts in three sizes to work with.

I decided to "dress up" the card a bit with some embossing.  I just got the new "Romance" Cuttlebug folders from HSN.  The candy heart folder is a 5 x 7 so I could use it to emboss a full top panel for my A2 card which I then attached flush to the edges.

I added the border, and just three hearts popped up with foam squares.  A few white pen dots give the card a bit more personality.

I hope you enjoy these projects - be sure to check in frequently at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot to see what we are up to.  There are also some great prizes to be won - this month you could win an "Everyday Paper Dolls" or a "Simply Sweet" cartridge.  For details on how to enter, click HERE.