Cutting Cafe Inspiration: Chinese Take Out Box

Hi everyone.  Ever have those little something somethings that you just aren't sure how to wrap?  Things like lip glosses, stickers, eye shadows are hard to wrap, especially at Christmas where things just get lost under the tree.   The Cutting Café has a Chinese take out box cut file that is just perfect for these types of gifts.  Here is one I made as I prepare for the holidays.

I used the Graceful This and That by Echo Park papers that I printed from a file that I got at Jessica Sprague.com.  I made the rose and leaves on my Silhouette and the Chinese Take /Out Box cut file from The Cutting Café.  I hand cut the tag and glued the left over handle to it to give it more umph.  This really turned out cuter than I thought it would.  There are all sorts of ways to decorate these boxes using not only  flowers but, bunches of stacked ribbons, stickers on pop-dots, accordion rosettes, buttons,  etc.  Grab this file for yourself and see what you can dream up.  Have some fun!

Cutting Cafe Inspiration: Fall

I LOVE Fall.  The smells, the trees, the festivals, the foods all bring me back to life after our hot Southern Summers.  This week, I chose my love of the season to create a card for my refrigerator to remind me that cooler weather is near.   The Cutting Café has an Acorn Shaped Card cut file that I used to create the card.

 

I printed the papers from the Cinnamon Project Life  Collection that I got at AC Digitals.  I used the Martha Stewart Leaf Punch to make the leaves that went into the inner circle and used a pop dot to adhere them so they would stand out.  I also pop dotted the ribbon beneath them. I wanted to make it a little more homey, so I tucked lace under the cap.   I used part of one of the sentiments that came with the design for the word Fall and just hand cut the banner.  It has been so long since I hand cut anything I had to laugh.  If I had to take a kindergarten test of using scissors I probably would not pass I am so out of practice...lol.

Regina has a lot of files to celebrate the upcoming season and holidays.  Head over to the Café and see what can inspire you.

Stuck on U Sketches Die Cut Challenge: Stars

Boo!  I am getting really excited about the upcoming Holiday Season.  This week's challenge at Stuck on U Sketches is to make something with stars.  I opted to make this luminary for Halloween. After that holiday I can take off the witch and add pumpkins, then take those off and, make something  for Christmas in the center.  The red on the Rosette is really more of a rusty red. Camera's mixed with Photoshop do funny things to colors.The Graphic 45 paper really will spread across all holidays.  Who knew?  It was in my stash.

I used the Independence Day Luminary cut file from Cricut. I haven't used my Expression 2 in a while, but this design really has some versatility. Besides the luminary, you can use the sides as Scrapbook page backgrounds, the rosette alone was worth the $1.99 I paid for the file.  It cut well and quick.  The witch is from A Child's Year.  Boy, that cartridge really comes in handy when you just need a certain something,

Cutting Cafe Inspiration: All about Boys

This layout is using inspiration for The Cutting Cafe's, All About Boys Printable Stamp set and the Funny Car  card tops for embellishment  The theme for this week is All About Boys. My Grandsons are the very best of  friends and I love capturing that in photos.

 

the base for this paper was made using various Glimmer Mists on White paper to give it texture, while still looking like a white background.  I used Silhouette colors and Photoshop to recolor the Stamps from black to teal and yellow. I matted the pictures in black and grounded it with two ribbon stripes made out of TA Glimmer Mist and seam ribbon I have on a a large spool.  The picture printed funny as my cartridge in the printer is about to die out on me,. But I really liked the effect and how it blended with the art.  The car, Banner and Banner Title are from the Cutting Café Set.  I joined the two rows of ribbon by sewing embroidery floss in parallel lines.

There are a lot of items at the café that are perfect for scrapping pages quickly.  If  I hadn't waited for the ribbon to dry over night, the whole project only took 45 minutes!  Love the Cutting Café! 

Cutting Cafe File: Party Bus

Hello to all.  Hope you have all had a good week.  This weeks inspiration at the Cutting Café, for me, was a party bus.  My Daughter went to a music festival this weekend, which makes me think of hippies and peace signs.  Regina has a Bus Shaped Card file that  fit perfectly for this card that I made to welcome her home.. 



I used patterns that were in my Silhouette. I think the paper is from The Sweetest Thing by Lori Whitlock.  The flower was a Silhouette design.  I imported Regina's Party Bus sentiment into my Silhouette and created the sentiment banner using the Rectangle shape tool and the knife tool for the wavy end. I love the Silhouette Designer Studio version I purchased. It has so many more options than the standard version. I have been a big fan of The Cutting Café for years. Regina's files go together quickly and are just adorable.  Check out the site if you haven't been.  You will be amazed at her variety. Even if you just have a printer you can make her designs.

SOU Die Cut Challenge: Gate

Hello!  This week's die cut Challenge at Stuck on U Sketches is to use a gate.  My niece has wanted to visit our local wineries and I had a friend's son who was playing in a band at one of them. We saw the perfect opportunity to check it out.  She asked a friend to come who brought another friend. We had a great time.

I used Jenny Bowlin's Magpie Papers printed from the set I bought at Jessica Sprague. I just love Jenny's style. It is simple and understated.  I printed two of the patterns and cut one in half, tucking it in at the top and bottom. Voila! I then had a 10" square to go on my dark green background. I also printed a Jenny Bowlin tag I used scrap paper and cut rolled roses out using pinking shears.  I used my roll and crush method, I love how they end up looking like crushed flowers.  The gate and fence were cut using a Silhouette pattern. It had the flowers in the design.  I also used wood icons for the camera and good times sentiment.  The tag was cut from a Maggie Holmes set I got at AC Digitals.  The title is a combination of Cosmo Cricket alphas and the Prima alpha stamp sets I have come to love.  The scrolling was cut using my Sizzix. I am haven't used them in years.  They actually have dust on them in the drawer where I keep them.  We often forget what we have.  The buttons were also from Jenny Bowlin. I punched out the holes and tied some embroidery floss on them.  To add a little more dimension to the page, I edged it in shabby Shutters Distress Ink by Tim Holtz and Heidi Swapp's Color Shine in gold.  I also used a prima mask in the upper right corner and sprayed over it with gold, but it really didn't show up that well over the pattern on the paper.

 

Cutting Cafe: Calendar

Hi all!  The Cutting Café has great files for gifting.   Besides bags, boxes, tags and even ribbons, Regina even has the gifts themselves, such as stationary, a birthday organizer, holiday planning books and this little gem, a desktop calendar printed from Regina's files and the base unit that Regina also offers.  I made this as a Christmas gift for a co-worker. 

I am getting a lot of use out of the Maggie Holmes, printable papers that I bought at AC Digital.com.  I used a dark pink solid background and printed 2 copies. I made two files of the SVG file Regina provides, mirroring each other so I could glue them back to back to make the stand more sturdy. I also made two of the bottom pieces and glued them to either side of chipboard I had cut as well, again to make it more sturdy.  I die cut the framed flower twice and used one as the whole unit, then another where I used the tools in Silhouette Design Studio to cut only the frame. I used pop dots to lift off of the original, which gave the unit more dimension.  To also add dimension, I added the pearls down the side. I punch flowers from another Maggie Holmes paper using Martha Stewart's Hydrangea punch (the small one) and her leaf punch as well.  I tied two lengths of lace to each ring.  I am pretty pleased with the results.  I sure hope my co-worker likes it too.