WOYWW - 118

Before I show you what's on my workdesk, I want to brag about my oldest younger sister (there are 4 of us!). She is amazing, smart, funny, compassionate AND she makes stunning things with paper (and she quilts like a dream too). But after months of people saying she should start a blog, she finally did!! Paper, Craft, and Scissors. Needless to say, I'm tickled pink to be her big sister :D.

I was too tired last night to put away my Paper Layerz embellishments left over from my earlier post. I use this box that once held spools of thread to hold embellishments while I get to the project or figure out what I'm going to do with them lol. These don't go bad, some of them go back to September 2009. And sometimes when I'm stumped for an idea, I just start pulling them out and I find I'm usually not stumped for long :D.

After I got them all in the box, I saw that I'd forgotten to put away the bookmark blanks I'd cut from some Papertrey Ink Kraft cardstock scraps, using the Papertrey Ink bookmark die. And inspiration struck. So I made a bookmark for myself :D.  The background stamps are from PTI Background Basics: Woodgrain stamp set (Tea Dye Distress Ink). The "Let me Save Your Spot" sentiment is from PTI All Booked Up stamp set (Memento Black Tuxedo Ink). The cord is some cotton twine from the hardware store with two of the small Owl die cuts from the August Club Ruby Designers kit glued back to back. And the bead is one that I made (did I mention I'm a craftoholic?!?) in the one lampworking glass I've been able to take. Then I untwisted the ends to make a faux tassel.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW business, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workdesk and join in the fun :D.

One Cut, Two Cards

Today is my day to be the guest designer at The Bug Bytes :D.  I love using PaperLayerz by Megan Elizabeth with my Cricut (it cuts like butter!).  I made these two cards with one cut. The first one is the "offical" cut (the snowflake using the silhouette feature on the Damask Decor cartridge).

The second cart is made from what was left on the mat, framed by a mat made from what was left on the paper. Stickles were used on both :D. And the card bases are made from Stampers Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. 

There are nine 4 inch squares on one side of Paper Layerz and a full sheet of a complementary color on the other. This is one of my favorites, All Stressed Out.

But if you have an E2, the best way to line the cuts up with the colors is to use the Gypsy. I made a 4 inch grid on the first layer (which is visible all the time) and then hide all the other layers so there is no confusion about what cut is going where. It is a good idea though to triple check the paper and the Gypsy are facing the same direction.

After the cuts are made, carefully lift the paper off the mat and set it aside, it still has use, which I'll show you in a minute. The cuts I'm working with today are the Silhouette Feature on Damask Decor. These are cut at less than 4 inches. I forgot to change my cutting blade, but they still turned out pretty well.

The silhouette cut is on the right, on the left is what was left over after the silhouette cut was carefully removed (sometimes it helps to use a paper piercer to make sure small pieces stay on the Cricut mat. I cut a mat from what was left on the paper and put it on the Cricut mat.

I took a piece of co-coordinating paper and cut it about the size of the mat, then I put glue on the paper left on the Cricut mat and set the co-coordinating paper face down on top of the glue. Wait a little while and then carefully remove everything from the Cricut mat. You want to have an idea of the backing papers before you start cutting because you don't want to leave the "leftovers" on the Cricut mat too long (the mat adhesive starts to stick more).

Here are all 6 cuts and their leftovers made useful, and all at under 4 inches each :D.  Two cards down, ten to go lol.