April 28, 2011

Pillow/Cushion covers

Here’s another of my sewing projects. These were quite easy to stitch. The harder part of cutting the cloth along straight lines. I’m yet to figure out what’s the best way to cut straight lines. Even though my lines were crooked, with some hacks I got the covers to fit the cushions perfectly. The cushions are 24” X 24” – yes they’re big and nice and fluffy!

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I used fabric from Central Park by Kate Spain and I did buy it from the link I’ve provided. I ‘ve found that they’ve reasonable prices and free shipping above $35! No they didn’t pay me for it but I’m really happy with them so thought I would pass on the recommendation in case you were looking for an online fabric store.

I followed the instructions given here. In short:

  1. Cut 24” X 24” fabric for the front.
  2. Cut 24” X 29” fabric for the back. Cut it in half so that you’ve 2 pieces of 24” X 14.5” each. Finish one long edge of each piece.
  3. Pin the two pieces to the front piece, right sides together and stitch all around.

I don’t think my instructions are for a beginner; I’m myself one Smile. So it’s better to watch the video. However I did the change the size. The video mentioned to have the front piece (L+1) X (L+1) where L is the side of your cushion. I found that making the front L X L led to a more snug fit and hence a more fluffy pillow. Similarly for the back the shorter side is L instead of L+1.

April 23, 2011

Baby Onesie cards

Another shape card. I love designing these cards! Since I’ve received Cricut I can hardly make a card without using Cricut – it has really unleashed my creativity. No longer do I think within the boundaries of the stamp sets I own. If I don’t have an image then I try to create it using Cricut, SCAL and Inkscape. And that adds all the more to the fun. To see your very own creation – something that’s your own right from the conception.

Soon I’m going to do a review of Cricut and SCAL. Considering how much I use them I think it only makes sense that I share my knowledge.

Coming back to the card.

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I cut the file so that the card size is about 4.25 X 5 inches. I use Papertrey CS which is quite thick for Cricut. So for simple cuts like above I set the blade at 2, pressure at 3 and speed at 3; and set multi-cut to 2. The colored cardstock was cut using another layer. Stamped the image in versamark and embossed it with white embossing powder. Added a strip of white CS at the bottom along with two white buttons. For the pink onesie, I cut the frills using a scalloped scissors and added them to the card.

Aren’t these the cutest?!?!

You can download the SVG file from here. The file is for personal use only. Please do not sell the file.

  • Stamps: Inkadinkado Baby animals
  • Paper: Papertrey white, Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst
  • Others: Buttons, White embossing powder, Cricut, SCAL, Heart gun.

April 22, 2011

Another one for Tuesday Trigger

I made another card for this week’s tuesday trigger. I simply love the combination of colors in the trigger and couldn’t stop myself. Though I like my previous card more than this. There’s something missing in this card and I can’t seem to point that out. If you can do let me know. I keep thinking that maybe embossing the clock in black instead of white would’ve looked better; but I wanted to give the card a soft look and white seemed to be right for it.

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I embossed the card base using Divine Swirls embossing folder. Then added a strip of Berry Sorbet CS. Stamped the image on Lemon Tart CS using Versamark. Embossed it with white embossing powder. Stamped the sentiment using Brilliance – I love that ink!! It’s so dark and rich! And the pad is so juicy!

  • Stamp: Hero Arts Cuckoo
  • Paper: Papertrey Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart
  • Others: White embossing powder, Brilliance black, Versamark, Divine Swirls embossing folder.

April 21, 2011

Tuesday Trigger–Crepe bouquet

This week’s tuesday trigger inspired me to use the colors as well as flowers.

This card is also inspired by Lisa’s card – it is so cheerful!! And that’s what I wanted – a bright cheerful card to brighten up someone’s day.

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The flowers and the grass were cut using Cricut and SCAL. The flower image comes with SCAL, while the grass I found online. I cut a stencil for the cloud – again an image that comes with SCAL. Using this stencil I sponged the cloud in Sky Blue ink. I dotted the stems with a black pen. For the leaves, I hand drew an outline and cut out the stencil. Then sponged the leaves in Fresh Green and added a touch of Green ink. The sentiment is printed using computer. I printed it out on copier paper first and then taped the grass border to the copier paper and printed again. Someday I’ll buy the Grafix rub-on transfer paper and then I don’t have to print twice! Till then this seems to be working out well! I attached buttons to the flower centers. Can you believe it this card does not use any stamp?!?!?

  • Paper: Papertrey Berry Sorbet, Simply Chartreuse. White
  • Others: buttons. Versacolor inks, black pen, Cricut, SCAL, sponge

April 20, 2011

Wedding gown shaped cards

Quite sometime back I’d seen some wedding favor boxes shaped like the wedding gown. So one day I decided I wanted to make cards in that shape. I designed the card in SCAL and was very happy with how it turned out.

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I cut the file such that the card size would be approximately 4 X 5.25" inches. Embossed the skirt part of the gown using Divine Swirls embossing folder. Tied a ribbon at the waist and accented it with a adhesive backed pearl. Easy peasy, isn’t it?!?!

You can download the SVG file or if you want to cut it by hand here’s a PDF file. You can cut two of these cards from a single A4 sheet using the PDF file. These files are for personal use only. Please do not sell the files.

  • Paper: Papertrey White and Hibiscus burst
  • Others: Cricut, SCAL, Ribbon from Michaels, Adhesive backed pearl, Cuttlebug Divine Swirls embossing folder.

April 18, 2011

Here comes cuckoo again

Yes I’ve been having a lot of fun with the Hero Arts Cuckoo set. The images in the set are big enough to be the focal images which suits my CAS style!

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This card took me less than 15 minutes to make but hours to design! I think I spent almost half an hour thinking what shape should I cut the Summer Sunrise CS. Once I’d finalized all the details, it was a breeze! I cut the Summer Sunrise CS on my circuit using a SVG file that I got from here. Stamped the image in Brilliance black. Accented the clock dial with Glossy Accents. Curved the sentiment and stamped it in Brilliance Black.

  • Stamps: Hero Arts Cuckoo
  • Paper: Papertrey Summer Sunrise, Terracotta Tile
  • Others: Cricut, SCAL, Glossy Accents.

April 14, 2011

WMS #42

I love WMS sketch challenges!! Somehow their sketches always manage to motivate me! Here’s the sketch for this week’s challenge.

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This time I must say I’ve my own interpretation of the sketch. I always look at the sketch when the challenge is posted and then make the card based on what I remember of the sketch or how it inspired me.

I’d to make a wedding card for a relative and Indian weddings are all about bright colors and glitter (in the form of rhinestones, sequins or the more expensive diamond and gold). So that was my second inspiration for this card.

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I stamped the round frames from Inkadinkado stamps in Bamboo and Dark green inks. Then I (masked and) stamped the flower from Jolies Fleurs. Colored the flowers using prismacolor pencils and OMS. It was after a long long time that I was coloring a card Smile. Glued a rhinestone on the centers of the flowers. Cut the label using Cricut and SCAL. Stamped the sentiment from Flourished Words in Tuxedo black. Outlined the frames with Diamond stickles. Here’s a better view of the bling:

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  • Paper: PTI white and Orange zest
  • Stamps: Inkadinkado Rounded Frames Clear stamp set, Lizzie Anne Designs Jolies Fleurs, Flourishes Flourished Words
  • Others: Rhinestone, Diamond stickles, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Cricut, SCAL.

April 7, 2011

WMS sketch challenge #41

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The WMS sketch challenge came up at just the right time! It had been on my mind to make some thank you note cards but I couldn’t figure out how exactly I wanted to make them. There were so many different ideas hovering in my mind. The challenge helped me narrow down and I was very happy with the turn out Smile

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The card base was created using an SVG file. You can download the file here. I cut it at a width of 4”. The cut card base is 4” X 7” and the final card is 4” X 3.5”. It was not easy to cut the card base in Cricut due to intricate design so I would suggest you try it once or twice before the final run. I stamped the butterfly on the card base as well as colored CS. I used a cardstock 3 X 3 to mask the image and then sponged the edges with ink. Cut out the butterfly on the colored CS and popped it up using foam dots. Stamped the sentiment. Accented the edges with liquid pearls.

  • Paper: PTI White, Simply Chartreuse, Plum Pudding, Orange Zest
  • Stamps: Inkadinkado Birds
  • Others: Versamark inks, Liquid pearls, Cricut, SCAL, Foam dots

If you download the SVG file, please do not sell the SVG file.

April 2, 2011

Tuesday Trigger–Farm Fresh

When I looked at this week’s trigger I wanted to make a white card with outlined images in orange and blue (no surprises there!). So I thought very hard about which images to pick but somehow the stamps I had didn’t seem right for what I wanted to do. After much thought I decided to take a risk and picked the small clock from the Hero Arts Cuckoo set. I then stamped a border of orange and blue clocks; but I wasn’t too happy with the result. Instead I took a strip of Spring Rain CS and stamped a border of clocks in black. Now I wanted to pop one of the clocks not just with dimensionals but also with color. This clock which seems to have it’s alarm on supports the “it’s time to” part of the sentiment. Earlier I wanted to put the sentiment inside to create more emphasis on the alarming clock but the outside looked too bare without it.

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All the images and sentiment are from Hero Arts Cuckoo stamp set. I love that the set has enough matching sentiments. To stamp the clocks in a straight line, I used a sheet of paper and for every clock I made sure that one of the two knobs on the top of the clock aligned with that paper. The focal image is covered in glossy accents. Yes it looks like I’m on a roll with glossy accents SmileThe lines around the focal image are hand drawn.

  • Stamps: Hero Arts Cuckoo
  • Paper: Papertrey Ink White, Spring Rain, Orange Zest
  • Others: Brilliance Ink, Black pen, Glossy accents, dimensionals.

April 1, 2011

Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

I love cuckoo clocks and so I’d to have this stamp set from Hero Arts. However I realized that it hadn’t been much loved since I bought it. So here’s a card with it. I picked the color combination from kuler.com. For some reason it doesn’t seem to be working right now so I can’t link to the exact color combination. I was looking for a “manly” combination and this fit the bill – not too dull, not too bright. Plus I got to use Ocean Tides CS which I rarely use.

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The background is made of different clock stamps from the same set. The border was cut using Cricut and SCAL – not the best job I’ve done. The main image is stamped in Brilliance ink and hand cut. The clock on the main image is covered with glossy accents.

  • PTI: Ocean tides, Summer Sunrise, Vintage Cream.
  • Stamps: Hero Arts Cuckoo
  • Others: Versamark, Glossy Accents, Cricut, SCAL