Izbzee

Boo! Halloween card

This rectangle box card was so fun to make.  You can find all the details on The Artistry!  https://www.creativefabrica.com/the-artistry/card-making/make-a-boo-tiful-box-card-for-halloween/

 

2021 Halloween tags

Just a quick note for early this week....  

Today was supposed to be a busy day of paper piecing... didn't quite happen as planned due to the change of weather and a whopper of a migraine!  However, the day wasn't a total loss.  I did get a dozen of these tags done and they'll be perfect for the bags of treats we plan on sharing with the grands for Halloween.  

 

The papers are from Creative Fabrica as is the font.  Shapes are from the SCAL5 Library with the exception of the scalloped circle. That is a Penny Duncan file.  The wave piece was created in SCAL5 using the wave command.  The skycut machine made quick work of all the cuts and the "Trick or Treat" Print 2 Cut was spot on again.  Once all assembled, a quick spritz or two of mica spray added just a quick touch of iridescence to each of the tags. 

Hoping your Halloween crafting is coming along and if you've already moved on to one of the next holidays, keep on crafting!  Enjoy your time and nurture your creative soul!  



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

Halloween Tiered Tray

It's definitely time to trim the tray again.  This time with a Halloween theme.  Lots of great spooky stuff at Creative Fabrica -- and while these are pretty simple items....  they definitely are fun to make.  

You'll find all the details for a few of these items at The Artistry.  

Halloween isn't that far off

And there's always a little hocus pocus going on around here as we get ready for Halloween.  The pumpkins are ripening -- a little more slowly than the norm, but we will harvest a few more before the freeze we're expecting next week.  This week has been peak viewing of the change in color of the leaves on the mountains in the area.  They've been brilliant this year.  Even our peach trees have given us quite the show.  It's time for apple cider, hot chocolate and if the snow arrives as forecast, there'll be some doughnuts too.  

It's been a fun couple of weeks designing and assembling some fun holiday decor this year and I'm so happy that the Skycut and SCAL 5 Pro have made it easy to accomplish.  The first project is a new banner to hang over the fireplace.  It's a featured article this week on The Artistry and I'm excited to share it with you.  


You'll find the creative details and assembly instructions here.  

And I still had a few rosettes left over, so I thought they would make a fun bouquet.  



Hoping you're enjoying some creative time this week and if not, will be able to carve out a bit of time in the near future.  I know that crafting makes my spirits lighter.  Thanks for dropping by.  For more inspiration, feel free to read some of my archived posts here on the blog or hop on over to my page over on The Artistry.  

3 Fall Tags - Tag 2

Oversized and big!  These tags measure nearly 6" x 10.5"!  They're cute and simple and made of paper and vinyl!  




Once again, I chose to use Tag 2 from the SCAL library.  Resize and ungroup to resize the circle.  Since I chose to use 1 1/2 in wide burlap ribbon, the hole is about 1 inch in diameter.  Cut using your cutting machine.  

Choose your font (CK Emily Pen).  Choose your words and using the text tool, type and size as needed to fit within the bounds of the tag, leaving a bit of a margin all the way around the tag.  Using the vinyl setting for your machine, cut, weed and transfer to the tag.  Highlight a shadow using a white gel pen as desired. I also round the bottom corners of the tags for a softer look.  

Add any other embellishments as desired.  

Since these are pretty large and I decided not to embellish, I added them to a 24" diameter grapevine wreath.  Centered under a paper twist tied bow and a few dyed* paper leaves.  

You'll need:  
Kraft paper for tags (12 x 12)
Vinyl
White Gel pen
Leaves (two collections from Creative Fabrica were used you'll find them here and here)
Poetique ink refills
Glass plate
Water
Toothbrush
Freezer paper
Skycut
SCAL5 Pro
Glue gun, glue
Paper twist (deep olive green)
wire
Burlap ribbon
24" grapevine wreath

To dye the leaves: 
Cut the leaves from AC white cardstock.  I used the textured stock.  It adds a look of watercolor paper - but that is purely optional.  Place a couple of drops of the desired ink refills on a glass plate and spritz a bit of water on the plate to spread the color. Lay the leaf cut face down in the color, lift and set aside to dry.  


Use a toothbrush to flick a little extra color if desired.  

Expect to get a little inky during the process if you don't want to wear gloves.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Tag 3 to be posted tomorrow.  

Enjoy some creative time today, or set some aside.  

3 Fall tags - Tag 1

the eCal/Scal FB page is hosting another tag reveal beginning today, September 1.  Only 3 tags -- but they've been incredibly fun to make and create.  

The tag I'm choosing to share today is this one.  

 

 

I love fall and have lots of fun memories of raking leaves into great big piles, helping my dad put them into a wheel barrow and moving them to a bigger pile.  We would play for hours in the piles.  Once all the "play" was done, we would have a bon-fire (the leaves were the fuel), roast marshmallows and make s'mores.  As the cooler weather arrived, warm cider or hot chocolate in mugs and freshly made doughnuts would often great us.  

Supplies needed: 
All digital images are from Creative Fabrica (affiliate links are used and help provide vouchers for participants in the challenges on the Facebook page) 
Harvest Hayrides Apple Cider...  found here.


Take out coffee cup found here


Autumn Plaid Papers found here


Printer
Skycut C24 cutter/plotter
SCAL5 Pro
Ribbon (stash)
White (Neenah 110 lb)
Black, Pumpkin, Gray, Kraft (FSJ, Bazill, Crate Paper)
Pumpkin Bread Ink (FSJ)
ScorTape
Foam tape

Open SCAL and select Tag 2 from the library.  Size to 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall.  You'll need to ungroup and resize the circle near the top of the tag and center.  

Open the quote bundle and select the quote, size as needed.  Make sure the image is set to print + cut print.  The SVG was colored using the Gradient feature and 4 colors using the radial feature.  You can play with the sliders to get the best effect.  

Create your Spiced Cider image.  Don't have a cent sign, create your own using a lower case "c" and a lower case "l" in separate text boxes and overlap the l onto the c.  Center in the circle.  If you have trouble creating the text, refer to the SCAL user manual for best results.  Set all the lettering to print + cut print.  Highlight the circle, select Effects < Contour Cut (Shadow Layer) and leave at the default setting.  

The plaid border at the bottom of the tag is a separate horizontal rectangle and is filled with one of the digital papers in the pack.  It was pretty close to the ribbon I had on hand, so I used it. 

Drag and drop the Cup onto the mat.  DO NOT UNGROUP yet.  Highlight and select Effects < Contour Cut (Shadow Layer).  Create a shadow that is .30.  Select blackout.  Click ok.  Now, you can ungroup the cup and separate the pieces for cutting.  Fill the middle band with the same plaid you used for the rectangle.  Be sure to set it to print + cut print.  

Print all printables.  Cut all pieces.  Ink if desired for a little more dimension and texture.  Assemble the cup.  Place foam dots on the back and place on the tag as shown below.  Adhere the spiced cider circle to the shadow circle.  Foam dots were also added to the back of the shadow of the spiced cider circle.  Add your ribbon and secure as desired.  A staple was used in this example.  



Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you'll check out all the tags being shared this week on the Facebook page and elsewhere.  Set aside some creative time this week.  Enjoy the flow and nurture your heart along the way.  

 

busy, busy, busy

but I can't share  most of it yet!  LOL  

That's really the most difficult part about writing and creating for others.  

What I can share are a couple of quick cards.  One of the big bonuses of using SCAL 5 Pro is being able to import files created in Make The Cut (MTC) and cutting them with the Skycut.  Easy, easy!  

I found a fun Concertina card on Pinterest and it was the inspiration for this card:

We had so much fun looking through the photos to find the perfect shots to celebrate her 14th.  Designer paper is from FSJ, vinyl from Expressions Vinyl in rose gold and used SCAL5 Pro to fill each of those photo squares perfectly and do the print + cut spot on!  

We made cooling scarves for the homeless and we'll be making a few more in the next week or so.  Some of those pieces of fabric in the stash are coming in handy and it felt really good to get the sewing machine out and stitch for a few hours.  

Learning lots of new things about pop ups, construction and mechanisms.  Hoping to play with those a little more in the days to come.  Excited about the prospects of fulfilling a dream and lifelong goal.  

Create One-of-a-Kind Backgrounds with Layering Stencils - Creative Fabrica

via www.creativefabrica.com

I'm in love with this stencil. Hope you'll enjoy the results of using it too!

Flamingos!

The layered templates have been making the rounds around here again.  So happy to have found this one on Creative Fabrico the other day.  

Cutting the pieces was easy for the most part.  There are a couple of areas where the joining is very small - however, it was easy to fix and isn't visible.  

Using AC cardstock in white still provides shading when the lights are on.  

Once the cutting is done, assembly is very easy.  Straws were made of folded scraps of cardstock and keep the layers about 1/4 of an inch apart, establishing a depth of perception.  




Adding a 1/4 inch between the layers does require a deep shadow box type of frame.  Gessoed, painted pieces of chipboard create the frame and corner tabs to hold everything in place.  




The Flamingo Tropical 3D ShadowBox Template can be found at CreativeFabrica.com
( links to assembly video and making your own shadow box are included with the file)
Skycut plotter/cutter C 24
SCAL 5 Pro
AC cardstock white
Glue
White paint
Foam brushes
Matte Gesso
pop up dots (optional)
20 LED light strand of fairy lights

It's been a productive week...

or at least a productive couple of days!  Birthdays for this month are creeping up and so it was a mad dash to get a few done. A mix of digital and hybrid.  Love all the fun that can be created using the SCAL 5 Pro software and a few fun files and dies from favorite vendors.  

Using the Gradient feature in SCAL 5 Pro, you can create a full rainbow of color and fill the text with lots of fun!  Moving the individual sliders you can play with the color movement as well until you're satisfied with the shift. 

Purely digital and so much fun.  

Let the Skycut plotter/cutter do the cutting of a chunky font and you create the background on the card base using distress inks and blending tools.  Embellish with a single cupcake (digi is from Creative Fabrica) colored with pencils are markers of your choice.  Add a little glaze to the cherry for some shine.  

Digi image from Creative Fabrica (watercolor collection).  Print 2 cut using SCAL5 Pro to set up.  Once the image is printed, use a Spellbinders' border die.  Round the corners of the back edge and add a bit of additional color to the edge with a strip of paper in a complimentary color.  

 

 Hoping you will be able to spend some time in your creative space this week.  Enjoy every moment of it.  Happy Crafting!