Easter Celebration - Sweet Treats Thursday at Cuttlebug Challenge

Today is Sweet Treat Thursday on the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot and the team has been busy creating a variety of projects for Easter.  Be sure to "hop" on over to see all of the inspiration and visit the individual designers blogs to get all of the details.  I made a couple of table favors and a card to share with you today.

The first project couldn't be simpler.  I cut some bunnies from vinyl and adhered them to tiny treat buckets filled with jelly beans for the children.  You could also add their names in vinyl.

I found these sets of three white buckets which are meant to be wedding favors at my local dollar store - three for $1 so this project won't break the bank!  There was also some white ribbon and a set of tags in the package (I saved the ribbon - the tags were not attractive with large perforations for punching and I recycled them).

The bunnies I used are from the Easter cartridge - they have a nice detailed shape.

There is a standing bunny and a sitting bunny - if you enter them at the same size they will not be in proportion to one another so you need to make the sitting bunnies smaller.

If you enter a group of bunnies all in the same box you can quickly copy and paste them, then flip the entire set so half of the bunnies will face each direction.  Then you can move the groups into position to conserve the amount of vinyl needed to cut them.

When I cut vinyl I set my speed and pressure at medium (3) and my blade depth at 4 to "kiss cut" the vinyl - cutting the vinyl but not the backing layer.  This makes them much easier to remove from the backing.

I added some Easter grass and jellybeans to the bucket and tied a ribbon on the handle.  The cute little butterfly from Creative Charms makes a nice finishing touch.

I made a more elegant pillow box for the adults.  The pillow box is on the Easter cartridge and a very handy cut to have available.  Pillow boxes are nice for favors or small gifts and can be simple (just tied with a ribbon bow) or elaborately decorated.

 The pillow box on the Easter cartridge has a bunny cut out on one side.  You can use "hide selected contour" to eliminate this cut.  I also hide the "tick marks" that indicate the side folds.  If you hide more than one line it will stay hidden when the file is closed and reopened.  I do not hide the large curved lines that make the pillow box ends fold properly because they are quite difficult to score freehand.

This screen shot shows how I set up all of the pieces to cut at the same time on one 6 x 12 mat.  (click on the image to see a larger view).  You can set up two boxes on a 12 x 12 mat by turning the mat and loading it a second time.  The sizes of the papers needed are noted on the tab.  Taking the time to do this when you make the file is a great time saver if you want to repeat the project - all the thinking is already done!

I welded two lace border sections together to create a strip of lace for the edges of the box.  I put some extras on the mat - they can be used a trim on a card.  I did have a few issues with paper shifting - I think it is time for a new mat!  Sometimes you need to add a bit of masking tape to help hold a small piece of cardstock in position - particularly with specialty cardstocks.

The hook tool in the Cricut tool kit is great for poking out the holes in the scallops.  If I make this box again, I will probably use "hide selected contour" to eliminate the holes at this tiny size.

I couldn't imagine why my "Happy Easter" cut turned out like this and then I realized that there was a piece missing.

It turned out to be stuck to my blade!  If you suddenly have a bad cut it is always a good idea to take out your blade housing and check for debris.  Sometimes it is a buildup of paper dust and sometimes it is a big piece like this!

I finally got a good cut - this is cut at 1 3/8 inches and it is very delicate so take care when removing it from the mat.

I scored the box on the two long sides and adhered the lace strips to the top and bottom of one side of the box.  I used Scor-Tape to hold the box together - it is quick, neat and strong.

I decided that the lace looked too plain so I added some pearls to the center of each flower.  I used the smallest size in this set of graduated jewels from Creative Charms.

Here is a close view of the pearls.  I used the Core'dinations gemstone cardstock for all of the pieces - it has such a pretty shine and looks very elegant.

My last item was this Fabergé inspired card.  I used the same lace border from the Easter cartridge and welded four sections together on top of one another to create the card topper.

Meg left a comment a few days ago reminding me of one of the tricks I always used to show people when they were matting photos with the Creative Memories cutting system.  Since only the edge will show, you can cut another shape out of the center and save that paper for another project.  I used my trimmer to cut the center out of the bottom layer (you could also set up this cut in Design Studio but there would be some waste around the edges). 

Then I applied the frame to my card and added the pink and green layers.

The plain card is very pretty in the gemstone cardstock, however...

...adding the pearls makes this a much fancier card!  I would be careful to package this in a bubble envelope if I was sending it through the mail.

I hope you are getting lots of great ideas for Easter - it is so much to work with the bright Spring colors after a long winter!

Pillow Box

Fabergé Card Topper