All of this talk about the new Explore machine has made me go back and look at some of my Cricut cartridges that I haven't used for quite some time. I remember when there weren't many cartridges and it was a challenge to find ways to use each cartridge to it's fullest potential. It's funny, I spent a lot of time with the earlier cartridges making full pages of paper lace. Now there are several paper lace cartridges and I am less likely to design with the Cricut shapes.
Baby cards are one type of card that you need from time to time. I went totally cutesy with this card. It is a simple design that could also be made in a much more sophisticated style but if you can't be cutesy with baby things, when can you?
I cut the scalloped circle with a Nestabilities die (don't get me going on the Cricut scalloped circles again!) and chose the girl circle sentiment on page 90.
Here are most of the pieces of the card sitting on my little Scor-Buddy. I have the big Scor-Pal but this little version is perfect for cards and tucks neatly into my worktable. I cut two sections of border to put at the top and bottom of the card (the white shine that you see at the bottom of the card is the reflection off the clear backing for the border before I peeled it off).
I decided that the sentiment looked too stark against the white scallop so I looked around and found some pink shimmer cardstock.
It is a subtle difference, but adding the pink circle between the sentiment and the scallop makes the card look more finished.
The two border strips are cut from the longer pieces so that the top and bottom are a match in bunnies and flowers. The pink card layers is the standard 5 1/4 x 4 inches and it was embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. When you are trying to line up a layer on a white card on a white table it helps a lot to put a darker piece of cardstock on the table so you can see the contrast with the edge and center the layer.
I wanted the scalloped circle to stand up just a bit from the card front so I used three of the thin foams squares on the left instead of the more standard square on the right.
It makes a big difference when you use the thinner foam squares. The shadow line is still created by raising the circle but there is less of a chance that the popped up medallion will snag on another card or project.
I added a pink pearl to the center of the flower that dots the "i" in "Girl" - it looks very pretty with the two types of shimmer cardstock I used for the medallion.
While we are on the subject of babies - remember that there is a baby themed sale on Cricut.com that ends Wednesday, February 26th. You can save 30% on baby themed images - both digital and physical cartridges (this includes some that you might not think of off the top of your head like Pretty Pennants - click HERE to see the sale items).
Cuttlebug folders with a baby theme - once again including some more "generic" folders like Swiss Dots and Seeing Spots are also on sale for 30% off. Click HERE to see the folders on sale. This sale also ends on February 26th.
You can get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $35 by using the code FEBSHIP.
Don't forget, the FREE Scrapinar for February presented by Layout a Day is set for February 25th - that's Tuesday! This month the topic is "Euphoric Ephemera: Adding Bits, Bobbles and Treasures to Your Papercrafting Projects."
These monthly Scrapinars are free and always interesting. If you can't attend live at the scheduled time, there will be a link to see a recording available for a few days after the event. You must be registered to receive the link for the recording - just click HERE to register so you don't miss it!
When I was looking at the New Arrival cartridge, I remembered that there are some great card shapes on the cartridge. I used the card base along time ago to make monogrammed card sets for some of my friends.
You can see that post (from 2009!) HERE. I think it is going to be fun to "rediscover" so many of my cartridges when the Explore gets here. Would you like it if I featured an older cartridge from time to time?
Did you guess what I was adding to the boxes today? I think almost everyone needs a baby card from time to time and I found these adorable borders on sale quite a while ago.
I am happy to be able to share a pink and a blue set for each box.
These boxes are getting pretty full - just a few more days to go.
Here is a closer view inside one of the boxes - I tidied up the ribbons that were unwinding all over inside.
How do you play along in the blog celebration giveaway?
To enter for a chance to win one of the three boxes - see all of the details on the first blog celebration post HERE. Then come back and get your comments in on this post. Remember, if you sign up for the new newsletter (see the box at the top right of the page) I will be choosing one person from the subscribers as a box winner (you don't need to leave a comment here since I can see that list).
Today's question to answer in your comment is:
What type of card do you make most often? I imagine that birthday cards might be the winner since they repeat every year but there are so many other types - wedding, baby, get well, holiday, graduation, well, you get the idea! Please tell me the kind you actually make the most often and the kind that you most enjoy making (maybe they are the same!). Do you have any cardmaking questions that you'd like me to help you with? Put them in the comments, please.
If you are a scrapbooker - just tell me what sort of pages you make a lot of - these baby borders would be perfect on a page, they are quite long.
I just saw that my Explore order has changed from "processing" to "packaging" - I thought it was going to be stuck on "processing" forever! Fingers are still crossed for arrival on Thursday - and the Design Space will also be available Thursday to start playing even if the machine is late! If you are curious about the Design Space, the new log in page is HERE (there is a countdown display on the page until Thursday, (10 a.m. Mountain Time).
Subscribe to Capadia Designs if you would like to have new posts delivered directly to your email.
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I do some holiday cards (valentine, xmas), bithday cards. But in the last year, I've done just because cards: My son lives in the states and I like to send him cards; so he receives something besides bills in his maibox.
ReplyDeleteI am a 12" x 12" scrabooker. For one of my jobs I'm a mini album maker but I do not decorate them.
Thanks again.
I make holiday cards the most...Valentine, St. Patrick, Easter, etc., then birthday. Wet embossing on vellum and acetate are what I have trouble with.
ReplyDeleteI make many of the 'thinking of you', anniversary, birthday as well as several sympathy cards lately. I also make several Christmas cards and then there are many that I leave blank to be used for any occasion.
ReplyDeleteI also make variety of cards for OWH organization.
Thank you
ColleenB.~Texas
I make more birthday cards than others, and truly enjoy them. I also make a lot of anniversary cards for friends and family; I don't want to wait for the 25th to celebrate an anniversary! What really makes me smile is making "no occasion" cards, to say Happy Fall, or Welcome Spring, etc. Always a nice surprise to receive an unexpected card in the mail (at least the people I send them to say so!) Your boxes are amazing and whoever wins will be truly blessed to receive such a gift. bmarczak68atverizondotnet
ReplyDeleteI would love it if you showed some older cartridges when you can. I have a lot of them forget about what all I have.
ReplyDeleteI make allot of blank cards, no sentiment on front. But then i use fun embellishments for the front. I like to give a "just because" card and that seems to work good for me!
Hello Diane ,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right I make some Birthday cards so they might be the winner of this topic question. But I find that I make a lot of thank you cards as well. Now as for the scrapbook pages I make just general pages of my family and there events. Such as school clubs and there events outside of school. My son is in Boy Scouts so he does a lot with them and my daughter plays the piano so there are a lot of recital pictures that I scrap. Then our family vacations have a lot of pages as well. There is never enough time to scrap them all I am so far behind how will I ever catch up.
Luria
Love the borders. I tend to make more birthday cards than anything. I have lots of friends and family with birthdays in one month. Expecially in March and May.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying seeing all the goodies that you are putting into the boxes. Thanks for the chance to win...
Birthday and thank you cards are the ones I make most, with simple note cards next. I don't like making masculine cards---so end of making neutral cards for them.
ReplyDeleteI seem to make mostly birthday cards, which I enjoy because I can personalize them to the individual. Right now, I'm making lots of "card in a box", using the Splitcoast Stampers tutorial. It's a very different kind of card that my family hasn't seen yet, and lets me use up some leftover patterned paper and make a slight dent in my embellishment stash. (Okay, maybe not a dent at all, but I FEEL like I'm being thrifty using things I've had for a while, lol). Thank you for all you posts - I really enjoy seeing your projects and I get a lot of inspiration from them.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't put a sentiment on my cards until I get ready to send them. That way they can be anything I need at the time. I don't usually keep male cards on hand. Wonder why that is? I would say I use more birthday cards than any other.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the baby card. Really adorable. Yes I like to see older cartridge Projects since I mostly have older cartridges. I mostly make bday cards, but I enjoy making st Patrick's day cards and Easter and valentine cards, pretty much any occasion. So exciting about you receiving the explore....I can't wait to hear your review. I would like to see the scoring work on the explore. Maybe even on a card or box or rosette. Love the baby borders and the boxes are looking awesome! Thanks for all the heads up on the sales too.
ReplyDeleteMostly I make general/hello cards for the many relatives in assisted living or nursing homes. Lately, I'm doing lots of baby pages since my two sons just had a son of their own - so two grandbabbies to scrap. With the advent of digital cameras, that means hundreds of pictures a month - all to cute not to use!
ReplyDeleteUsually I'm making holiday cards, with a few birthday's thrown in. The one card I seem to have creative issue with is sympathy card. How do you keep it looking classy and in good taste?
ReplyDeleteMy main cards are birthday and the hardest for me are the men and teenagers cards. I do many kids cards, of all ages, several in same family, so need different ideas. Toss up between women and kids.
ReplyDeleteI remember when you posted those monogram card!
ReplyDeleteI make Birhtday/Thinking of you cards the most...they are about equal in the numbers. I do not do so much die machine cutting with my cricut but I do use metal dies more now. They just seem easier and quicker. I am also tending to lean more toward stamping and coloring images for my focal piece. I just really enjoy coloring.
Valeire
I Occationally make birthday cards, but I am mostly a straight scrapbooker. I like to make books of my travels.
ReplyDeleteI usually make birthday cards most often, followed by thank you or general friendship cards. I tend to make scrapbook pages most often. My pages are about our family life--sports, horses and school events seem to be the major focus of most of the pages since those are the events my kids are into these days.
ReplyDeleteI like to make Valentines! Do lots of Christmas Cards too. Of course I do Birthdays. I like the idea of making some basic cards ahead of time and adding the sentiment and embellishments when needed. I might have to work on that.
ReplyDeleteI am currently working on a baby boy scrapbook for a friend. I have more trouble with creating when it comes to boys. I can do girly, but sometimes I find it hard to decorate and embellish for a boy. I am getting better.
Love the card you made!
Marilyn
mrtooke@yahoo.com
Birthday and thank you cards mostly. My favorite is recycling Christmas cards.
ReplyDeleteBirthday cards, followed by holiday cards would be the ones I make the most. Thank you so much for reposting the monogram card - I remember doing some when you first posted it and it was a nice reminder of a really classy card. I scrapbook for my family - all their activities keep me very busy. I'd love to see some of the older cartridges re-visited. Since I got my Silhouette Cameo I have to admit I haven't used my Cricut very much and I have a large investment in cartridges! Cheryl G in Maine
ReplyDeleteI mostly make card kits for Operation Write Home card making events. Themes are thank you, missing you, love, birthday, general. So I look for ideas that are easy to duplicate and easy for volunteers to put together. Cards for military to send to their kids would be great. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI love to make Christmas cards but seem to make alot of thank u cards. I just love the creating part the best. I start with a tiny thought, not even an idea yet, then start putting things together. I amaze myself st times.LOL. I also scrapbook alot. Especially Christmas, Halloween and birthdays. I have 10 grandchildren and hope to keep records for them to pass on to their families and so on. U r a grest inspiration. Thank u.
ReplyDeleteI make mini baby books for newborns, mothers can put all of their baby's info in them and and making my fingers cramped from crossing them to Win oneese boxes are getting very interesting and making my fingers cramped from being crossed to Win one!!! Thanks for the chance.....
ReplyDeleteI make birthday cards the most, but I make cards for every occasion cards holiday, anniversary, get well, just because holiday. They are all different once in awhile I will make one that I have already made if I know that person hasn't seen it. The boxes are looking good!
ReplyDeleteRoxanna
roxxscott at g mail dot com
I mostly make Birthday cards, however, I also enjoy making Christmas gift tags, which are like mini Christmas cards, right? I love using scraps to get these done. Makes me feel very eco-craft-friendly :). All my scrapbooking pages are chronological family pages. I basically document our lives together through my scrapbooking and journaling.
ReplyDeleteCute card. Your boxes are getting pretty full.
ReplyDeletemarilyn2222 @ hotmail dot com
follower
Mostly I make cards without sentiments on them so that friends ca n use them for whatever they want and if I want to use them I can add a sentiment later. Thanks for the chance!!
ReplyDeleteBirthday for sure! As far as scrapbooking - I do all the family stuff, especially vacations
ReplyDeleteI like most of us, I make mostly BD cards but my fav are the anniversary or valentine cards for my hubby. After almost 50 years, I have to really think what I am going to do to come up with something different and manly.
ReplyDeleteI scrapbook chronological so scrap all the special days along with the interesting things that happen in our life. Most of my albums are of my grandson and our animals. We used to travel in our motor home alot so have those pages too. My favorites are ones that are of different things, like rescuing a bird, heavy rainstorm, mowing the lawn in the rain, redoing my scraproom, etc. We are also a family of racers so have lots of those pictures. First hubby, then sons and now grandson.
I do make mostly birthday cards, but I also make a lot of generic cards that could be used for a few different occasions--thank you, get well, birthday, etc. Baby cards are awfully fun to make--you can dress them up or dress them down as the mood hits you. Those little baby trims that you added to the boxes today are sure cute.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the cards a create are Birthday cards but I also do cards for holidays!
ReplyDeleteMy Explore changed to "packaging" too...maybe we'll get them the same time!! I enjoy looking at older cartridge projects..can't wait to see what the images look like in Design Space. Most common cards for me are holiday, thank you and birthday. I make a calendar for each family, and like to mess around with special projects!
ReplyDeleteI mostly make birthday cards but make cards twice a month with friends and we make different ones each time to have some on hold! I like making birthday cards because I like making them special for the recipient! I like putting their favorite color and flower or character into the card so I usually don't make the same birthday card twice!
ReplyDeleteI make mostly Thank you and Thinking of you cards but I think children's Birthday cards are the most fun. I can make them colorful and fun and kids are not usually as critical is something isn't exactly perfect !
ReplyDeleteAnna N.
ann2236 at juno dot com
Diane
ReplyDeleteLet me just say that the borders are the cutest! I just finished a baby card yesterday for a friend. Lots of my friends kids are having kids now, so I am busy with cards and gifts! I usually make birthday cards but also a lot of anniversary cards too. My favorites are the ones I do for kids, a bit goofy and fun. I love the surprise card w ith pop ups and confetti. I just bought the new Pop Up Card Studio from Make the Cut and it does some awesome stuff! My future cards are going to be breathtaking!
I make the most birthday cards, followed by anniversary cards. I just learned how to use the negative image of numbers for all the grandkids' birthday cards. I'd love it if you would feature an older cartridge once a week. I never feel that I use my cartridges well.
ReplyDeleteCassie
I use birthday cards the most, but always seem to need sympathy cards as well. Thank you for the chance to win one of your super looking boxes.
ReplyDeleteI make birthday cards mostly, but I also seem to make a lot of sympathy cards, too. I'd like you to show more ideas for masculine cards.
ReplyDeleteNice baby card, Diane! I mostly make birthday cards, although I just finished making a "bon voyage" card for a couple who are soon headed to Hawaii. Life Is A Beach came in real handy for that card!
ReplyDeleteSweet baby card. Please do use the old cartridges. I have many that I haven't used in so long. I make lots of cards. I do think birthday wins. I am a scrapper and have 6 scrapbooks in the process. It seems that there is always a card or two that need to be made. Today I'm putting in the mail 6 cards. 2 Miss you 3 encouragement, 1 Thank you.
ReplyDeleteToday I will be making a baby card. We don't know the sex yet. So I have to look in my baby paper file to figure out the colors. I have been having a problem with my craft room this week. When I weld the image goes real light and doesn't cut. I've been using craft room since it first came out. Any ideas???
Thank you
Linda in Stanwood
Hands down, it's birthday cards. The last couple of years I've had to make quite a few sympathy cards. (not my favorite) I can make them pretty, but it's so hard to put a sentiment.
ReplyDeleteI mostly make birthday cards and thank you cards. I hand make a birthday card for each person in my office every year. I love using my spellbinders for my cards, but also use stamped images colored with copics. Once in a while I will create a card using a cricut cartridge of a shape from my Silhouette library. It all depends on how much time I have and if my creative juices are flowing!
ReplyDeleteI mainly scrapbook. I do like to go to Stamp Camp at my Stampin Up dealers house. She makes beautiful cards. If I do cards on my own they are usually Birthday cards or missing you.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy making birthday cards the best and make those the most. I belong to a birthday dinner club so I get a kick out of making a special card for the individual club members. Yes, I would enjoy seeing you do a review of past cartridges once in a while. I just had my first great-grandchild so if I win one of your boxes I will get a use out of the pink borders.
ReplyDeleteI make lots of birthday cards,thank you, valentines, Easter, Halloween, a few anniversary cards, and last year made Christmas cards. Always need inspiration for male birthday cards. Love to see older cartridges, they are still useful and we all paid good money for them so I'd feel great to use them some more.
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, love the card!!! I make lots of Birthday cards, but mostly I make blank ones and when I use them I tailor the greeting or sentiments when I use them. Thanks for sharing! Tina
ReplyDeleteVery cute card, and I would love it if you would feature an older cartridge from time to time. Since I make 85-90 Christmas cards each year, that is my most prolific kind of card. This year I am forcing myself to make 4 or 5 of them each month so that it's not such a big job right before Christmas. So far, so good - I made 5 cards in January and 5 in February! My favorite kind of card to make is Halloween cards. I love to be as creative as I can and make them interactive, if possible. I only make about 20 of them, but I have lots of fun doing it!
ReplyDeleteYep, birthday cards hands down! And my favorite to make too!
ReplyDeleteKris in Alaska
funamom at yahoo dot com
I tend to make thank you cards the most - birthday cards is a close second.....
ReplyDeleteI really like to make bday cards. We have a big family and so lots of ages to make cards for. I get lots of experience in different styles and it makes it really fun for me! I also like making Christmas cards, but haven't found it to be worth my time because they often don't get sent out.
ReplyDeleteOne question I have is about adhesive for small lines. I have always used CM tape runners and nothing else. Not that I'm doing smaller cuts on paper, I need something that's more adaptable to my size of cuts....different smaller sizes. Thanks for any input!
I do more birthday cards than the others but enjoy cards of all types. Please do review some of the older cartridges. We do forget what we have don't we. I do use mycutsearch quite often to find shapes I want. I like to see what others do with them as sometimes it is had to picture all the cuts put together.
ReplyDeleteI do mostly birthday and Christmas cards. And over the last year, I have done way too many sympathy cards. I give each of the ladies in my Bible Study group a selection of 10 cards as a Christmas gift and they prefer birthday cards. So, I make a lot of birthday cards. But scrapbooking my 3 grandchildren (soon to be 5) is still what I do most.
ReplyDeleteI think the majority of my cards have always been Christmas, birthday and then lots of general note cards. I began my adventure with the introduction of stamping. I wasn't going to get into scrapbooking, I said that for years and then the bug bit me, when I least expected it! I love to scrapbook. I've done two weddings for my daughter's friends, favors for the weddings, etc. I really love doing it all. The most joy I have to say is, yep going back to scrapbooking, capture those memories and documenting the events.
ReplyDeleteI'm anxious to hear your impression of the Explore and the new Design Room from Provo Craft.
I enjoy making birthday and Christmas cards. I do have a difficult time making cards for males because I always want to add some type of bling. I enjoy making Christmas cards because I make each one different. I am ready for your review of the new Cricut Explore.
ReplyDeleteI'm more a scrapper than card maker but most of my cards are event themed - birthday, baby, anniversary, etc..
ReplyDeleteI make "Thank You" cards more than the others. Next would be birthday cards. My favourite kind of card to make is for my family. I like to go all out for those cards.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say holiday cards. I have had so much fun this past year making Halloween cards that I thought were so cool, and Christmas cards that I loved, but my favorite was my husbands card in a box valentines it got rave reviews and it is my husbands favorite so far.
ReplyDeleteI love the baby girl card the borders are so cute. I make mostly birthday cards. I also make thank you, get well, sympathy, love you and any others for special occasions. Also I make Christmas cards. I do scrapbook. I do ones for any remolding we do . I do more of a page for a special occasion and then I purchase the scrapbook frames to put the page in.
ReplyDeleteWell lately, it seems that I have been making an awful lot of sympathy cards. These are the cards that I like to make the least. Otherwise, it would be holiday cards. I usually make my Christmas cards each year so that's a lot of cards. I enjoy making any type a card for my kids. They sometimes roll their eyes at them but they enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteBecause I make cards for Operation Write Home I make a lot of love you and miss you cards. For my family it is mostly Birthday cards.
ReplyDeleteHoliday family, teacher, and bday cards for me. I'd like to see some of the older cartridges.
ReplyDeleteBig family means lots of cards & birthday cards are always in high demand almost every month. Holidays are busy like Halloween, valentines, Easter & Christmas. My favorite any cards I make for grand kids
ReplyDeleteI make cards for every holiday. My grandkids love getting them. Of course I also make birthday cards.
ReplyDeleteIf I make a card, I don't usually send it, as it is done to learn a technique or to practice one! I am a scrapbooker and I spend a lot of time on Travel, grandson and holiday pictures. I love to have interactive elements on my pages.
ReplyDeleteThe card type I make the most is birthday cards, but the one I enjoy making the most is Christmas cards. I usually have so many ideas for Christmas cards that I can't get them all made! I've been teaching a card-making class at a local retirement community, and that has forced me to come up with lots of different kinds of cards, which is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE those borders ~ so cute!
My Explore is still in packaging, too, and I was just told by HSN that I probably won't get it tomorrow. Boo hop! Was hoping to be able to play this weekend! Oh well, guess I'll just have to patient and play with something else!
I'm in a card swap with different theme's each month. I love making baby cards, even though I don't have many chances to make them.
ReplyDeleteI'd love it if you would feature some of the older cartridges from time to time. I have a lot of the older cartridges and have forgotten what's on most of them.
ReplyDeleteI make almost as many "thinking of you" cards as birthday cards. But I also make anniversary, sympathy, get well, etc. Birthday cards for the grandchildren are the most fun since I get to be a child again in designing them. I also love making really beautiful "thinking of you" type cards to let people know we really care.
I make mostly sympathy cards or thank you cards.
ReplyDeleteI make lots of birthday cards and seasonal cards such as Christmas and Valentines.
ReplyDeleteI make birthday and baby cards the most! Of course, I enjoy making them the most also!! I don't do many scrapbooking layouts, but make a lot of cards and gift tags to go with my quilting gifts. Question: do you finish off the inside of your cards and, if so, how elaborate do you get with them?
ReplyDeleteI'm really not a big card maker, although I would like to be. I do try to make all my Christmas cards every year though, and I sneak in a few birthday or anniversary cards during the year. My free time is mostly spent scrapbooking, usually my annual albums or a special vacation album.
ReplyDeleteI make birthday cards the most by far, but am hoping to start making Miss You cards for Operation Write Home over the next year. I enjoy making Thinking of You cards the most because they mean the most to the recipients. I try to tailor them to the person, but its hard to get them in the mail when they need them most. I'm trying to make some in advance to have in my stash so they can get them within a day or two. I love to scrapbook, but don't have a favorite kind of page. I work in spurts... 10 school pages, then several years of Halloween, then jump to sports themes. I guess I'm a little ADD when it comes to crafting! I haven't done any baby pages for my son, and he's 12. We took more video than pics, so I need to extract still shots from the tapes. Also, i feel like there is so much (internal) pressure to make those pages great because he is my only child. Guess they will be good practice for the pages I hope to do about grandkids... in another 10-20 years, at least! LOL
ReplyDeleteI make alot of birthday cards because people recruit me to make them for them to distribute - if that made sense. I don't necessarily think I enjoy asking any kind of card over any other, but I find that the condolences cards I make are the most beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI make a lot a birthday cards.
ReplyDeleteBirthday cards would be the Winner but if you put it in perspective with Christmas cards.. I am thinking I make way more Christmas cards in a year than birthday cards since I make them in big batches. I also make Christmas cards for the local Women's shelter so they have cards to give their friends and family. Oh course I should get a move on to make a batch of all occasion cards so I have them to give anytime so I am not making the cards at the last minute. LOL Great inspiring questions and blog!!
ReplyDeleteI make most of my cards blank, then they can work for more occations.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Jenn
I am a FB follower
ReplyDeleteHugs, Jenn Zeeb
I make a lot of birthday, baby and thinking of you cards.
ReplyDelete