O.M.G.!!!!!!!!!.............

 Look what the lovely postie delivered today! Such service too. I ordered this brand new cart on Wednesday morning and it came this morning! Crafts U Love have already sold out of this cart but are getting some new stock in next week. I love this cart already. The boxes are amazing! They cut like a dream and fit together perfectly. Now this cart is different in that it includes score lines (in the shift boxes in the handbook. The grey line drawings are score lines) so no more fiddling with rulers and bone folders. A new scoring blade is available but I tried it without ('cos I haven't got one!) and it worked great! All you do is drop your pressure to minimum (2-3 bars) and blade depth 2, and the blade 'kiss cuts' the cardstock enough to create beautifully crisp score lines. I'm sure that the scoring blade would be better but I COULDN'T WAIT!!!!!

 You can see the grey line drawings in the picture above along with some other lovely features on the cart. There is a tag on each page, either a card or envelope, a phrase/shadow and the same phrase in a fine script designed to be used with Cricut pens (which will be available soon) although you can use Kri-Kit pens from Scrappy Go Lucky. I think that this cart is WAY better than the original one and the boxes are amazing. You get:
4 x Gable boxes of differing designs     1 x Daisy Fold Top Box
1 x Pyramid Tea Bag Box                     1 x Lipstick Box
1 x Tea Bag Wrap                                 1 x Dog House
1 x 3D Teacup                                       1 x Shirt shaped Box
1 x 3D Coffee Cup                                1 x Onsie shaped box
1 x Recipe Box                                      2 x Christmas Bauble shaped Boxes
1 x Milk Carton                                     1 x Snowflake topped Box
1 x Candy Box                                      1 x Easter Basket
2 x Cupcake Boxes                               1 x Vintage Mailbox (American Style)
2 x Pillow Boxes                                   1 x Pumpkin shaped Bag
2 x Treat Bag (small and large)             2 x Takeout Boxes
1 x Trapezoid Box                                 1 Bride Box (Dress)
1 x Groom Box (Tux)                            1 x Chair shaped Place Setting Box
1 x Square Box with Lid                        1 x Octagonal Box with Lid
1 x Cracker                                             1 x Round Topped Chest (Like a Pirate chest)
1 x Cone Box                                          3 x Flap Topped Boxes
1 x Playing Card Box                             1 x Mini Pizza Box
1 x French Fries Box                              2 x CD Gift Boxes
2 x Business Card Boxes
Hell's Bells, People! 49 boxes! Where do you start?!! What a content. There is so much on this cart that it's hard to decide what to make first.....

...so I made three to start with - the Easter Basket, Recipe Card Holder and Daisy Top Box. Aren't they amazing?!!! And what's more you get a second booklet that shows you how to put them together! I made these on a 12 x 12 mat with Fit To Page and they came out a  really decent size. Now for the most amazing thing- you can make these boxes in one piece (great for the Expression) or even better - in two pieces which is great for the Original and Create. You'll get bigger and better boxes on the smaller machines than was possible with the original T,B,B & M cart!
This cart is an absolute MUST especially if you make wedding invitations etc. You can produce some lovely favour/gift boxes but it's great for everday use too!
I would recommend that you get this cart. It's SOOOO worth it!
TTFN and have a great weekend!
Heather xxx

Here comes the bride.......

 One evening as I was hopping through some Cricut videos on Youtube I saw this bride on a card and I loved what the lady who had made it did with it. I'd seen this cut on the Wrap It Up cart but it didn't do it for me because the colours in the handbook are so yuk, but when I saw the one on Youtube I decided to give it a go and this was the result! The papers are Pink Petticoat downloads printed onto pearlised paper because I didn't have the paper that I wanted (if you believe that you'll believe anything! I've got a veritable craft shop FULL of paper in my garage!) Anywho, the card base is a C5 Z-fold with a shaped panel on the front. The bride was cut from pearlised cardstock, and the dress was embossed with a beautiful, delicate embossing folder. The headdress was created with teeny pearl flower-shaped sequins and the bouquet was embellished with punched flowers with pearl centres. The panel was decorated with sheer ribbon, a sheer ribbon rose, pearl spray and a smattering of pearls.

The inside of the card holds another shaped panel, the 'Here comes the Bride' sentiment and some punched flowers and leaves.

Carts used:

Sheped panels- Elegant Edges

Bride- Wrap It Up!

Here Comes The Bride- Sweethearts

Thanks for dropping by today!

Heather xxx

From the heart.......

 I know that Valentine's Day has been and gone but I've still got a few more romantic cards to show you. This square Z-fold card was made with the lovely Tilda Flowergarden papers. I used a lovely Regency stripe on the back of the card and a full blown rose paper for the front. I added a standard panel to the front with a punched ribbon-trimmed border. The frame for the cameo was cut from white textured cardstock backed with deep rose pink. The cameo was cut from spotted pink paper and backed with some aqua glittercard. Pearls were adhered around the edge of the oval with a heart shaped pearl at the centre bottom. A satin bow, deep pink small Prima rose and punched leaves (made with a fab Nellie Snellen punch/emboss system) completes the front of the card.

The inside of the card holds an embossed, matted square with the sentiment, cut from aqua glittercard adhered flat. Some small punched hearts and a smattering of hearts complete the card.

                                                                       Carts used:
                                                         Cameo and frame- Victorian Romance
                                                         From the heart sentiment- Wild Card
                                                             Thanks for dropping by today!
                                                                      Heather xxx
                                                  

Mon Amour......

 Here's another Valentine for you! This one was a very simple make and I think that with the omission of the ribbon you could give this to a guy.
The card base is a square z-fold card and the paper is from my stash (sorry, don't know who made it!) I matted the red paper onto black and added a panel with heart shaped edges to the front of the card. I embossed a piece of white cardstock with love words trimmed it to fit the panel, added ribbon and a bow, matted it onto red card and adhered it with foam pads. The 'pierrot' image was cut from red and black cardstock. I paper-pieced the collar and socks, glittered the heart with red Stickles then adhered the image to the panel with foam pads. A trio of punched hearts completes the front of the card.

The inside of the card was adorned with a smaller panel, this time embossed with hearts. The sentiment was cut from red glittercard shadowed with black cardstock. A single punched heart completes the card.

Carts used:

'Pierrot'- Victorian Romance

Front and inside panels- Elegant Edges

Mon Amour- Sentimentals

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

Kissy, kissy!.......

 Hope you're all having a great weekend. I've another Valentine card for you today! I love this kissing couple image. It's actually cut as two separate images, then you have to put them lip-to-lip (as it were!) Like yesterday's card I cut the blackout image, rather than an outline, to create a silhouette. The card base is a C5 Z-fold and the papers are Pink Petticoat papers printed onto pearlescent paper. I used a script paper for inside the card, and a damask print and heart print for the front and panel. The paper on the panel was punched along the bottom edge with a MS heart border punch. I then cut a beautiful heart from red mirri and adhered it to the panel with foam pads. The couple were cut from black Gemstones cardstock and adhered with foam pads over the heart. The trio of teeny-weeny hearts were punched from red mirri with the MS border punch( it's the waste) and adhered flat. The front of the card was finished with a bow, rose and trio of punched hearts.

The inside of the card was decorated with another ribbon-trimmed panel holding a damask paper heart with scalloped shadow. 'Love' was cut from red mirri and adhered across the heart. Punched mirri hearts complete the card.

Cart used:

All cuts- Victorian Romance

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx

Be my Valentine........

Well, it's almost that time of year again- crikey it doesn't seem that long ago we were showing Christmas cards!- Valentine's Day! The new Victorian  Romance cart is ideal for this occasion. There are some beautiful cuts on it and this is just about my favourite. It could also be used to make a wedding card. This card is so simple and elegant with just two cuts, the couple and the sentiment. The card base is a C5 covered with red mirri card. A slightly smaller panel with a punched edge and wrapped with wide sheer red ribbon was adhered to the front of the card with foam tape. The couple in the heart was cut from black mirri with an embossed red heart adhered behind. It was adhered to the card front with foam pads. The sentiment was cut from red mirri and adhered flat. A bow, red rose and three small punched hearts completes the card.

Carts used:

Couple in heart/heart- Victorian Romance

Be my Valentine- Phrases

I'll be back tomorrow with another Valentine!

TTFN

Heather xxx

5th Birthday rosette.........

 I don't know about you, but I go through phases where I'll try something new or different, then do it to death! I did exactly that with rosettes. Now, there is a Cricut cart that features Rosettes and Ribbons, and it cuts the rosettes and marks the pleats for you, but to be honest they are so easy to make without paying out for a new cart. For this one I made a 2 1/2" diameter rosette using two pieces of 12 x 1 3/4" strips of paper, scored at 1cm intervals, adhered together at the short ends, folded along the score lines then joined into a ring and squashed flat to make a rosette. I added a circle of cardstock to the top of the rosette and weighted it down until the rosette was well and truly secured. I then added a scalloped edged circle cut from pink cardstock with a white birthday word embossed circle on the top. The '5' was cut from pink glitter cardstock and adhered to the embossed circle with foam pads. The rosette was adhered to a square card decorated with Me To You papers and a punched, ribbon trimmed border. 'Birthday Girl' was cut from more pink glitter card and adhered below the border with foam pads. A large bloom and some paper leaves completes the front of the card.

You can see from this photo the depth of the pleats. This card would need a large letter stamp if you posted it because it's more than 5mm deep. I put large letter stamps on all my posted cards, then I can be sure that they reach their destination.

Carts used:

Scalloped circle- Lacy Labels

Circle- George

5- Quarter Note

Birthday Girl- Life's A Party

Thanks for dropping by!

Heather xxx