Yeehaw!

I made this card for my dad's birthday using the Slice design card: Happy Trails.  I really like it because the images are grown-up instead of cutesy.

I inked the edges of the cowboy and horse and the pattern paper with ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye in Pumpkin Patch.

The fence is actually called the Halloween Iron Fence Deep Edge Punch.  I cut the webs and ravens to disassociate it from Halloween and ended up with a broken down fence in need of repairs perfect for the distressed look I was going for.

I added a "lasso" made of twine to go around the "yeehaw" sentiment.  I added a shadow and popped out the image and there it is:  a birthday card made for the any cowboy in your life :)

Pretty in Pink Monogram Card

This is a monogram card I made for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop which is featuring monograms. This is the first time I have participated so I am pretty excited to see how this works out.

For the monogram and frame, I broke out my Slice and the Grandama's Attic desgin card.

The sentiment and accents are from the Simply Jane stamp collection by Papertrey Ink.  The card and the tag are made with Sweet Blush cardstock also from Papertrey Ink.

The monogram, frame and map cardstock are from Promise Me by SEI.  I inked the edges of the map cardstock with Mix'd Media Inx in Chiffon which cooridinated pretty well with the Sweet Blush cardstock

Creative Chemistry 101, Day 10

Today I worked with distress stickles.  I have had a set of distress stickles for a long time but I didn't know how to use them.  Well, Tim Holtz did a great video on how to use them and now I know how! :)

I Used:

- Shabby French stamp set, Stampers Anonymous

- Worn Lipstick Distress Stickles, Ranger

- Broken China Distress Stain, Ranger

- Victorian Velvet Distress Ink Pad, Ranger

- Iced Spruce Distress Ink Pad, Ranger

- Evergreen Bough Distress Ink Pad, Ranger

- Antique Linen Distress Ink Pad, Ranger

- Shell, Slice Machine, Making Memories

- Under the Sea, Slice Design Card



This stuff really sparkles!



Another view





A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets. ~ Gloria Stuart







Sweet Baby Card

I made this card for a colleague who is going to have a much awaited baby.  It came together pretty quickly with the Slice.  It is marketed for fabrics but cuts paper really well, too.   I was inspired by a card by Nichol Magouirk.  I liked idea of the stamp of the stroller in the circle frame but I don't have that stamp so I used the stroller image from the Baby Slice Design Card.


I Used:
- Making Memories Slice Design Card Applique Basics for the circles
- Making Memories Slice Design Card Baby for the stroller
- Papertrey Ink Mega Mixed Messages - Sweet Baby sentiment
- Martha Stewart Edge Punch Stars


I used the little leftover stars and used them on the wheels of the stroller.

A baby is a bit of star dust blown from the hand of God.

- Unknown

Slice Elite Review

I jumped on the Slice bandwagon because everything was so CHEAP (a favorite word when the budget is tight).   I tested it out and this little baby can run!

The Pros: 
I have to say that it cuts really well. I used light and medium cardstock and there were no problems. (I haven't tried heavy cardstock, yet.) It is small and portable. You can use it without a powercord. Because they cut mostly silouettes, it cuts fast. But to be fair, even the words are cut pretty fast, too.  If you are in hurry, this will do it no time at all. It was also really easy to use.

I used the Vintage Findings design card to make the beautiful butterfly on my card. The silhouettes on the design cards are beautifully done and are a nice addition to the Cricut cartridges I have. For example, I have Old West by Provocraft. Great images and they are layered so they have a lot of dimension. I now have Happy Trails by Making Memories. The cuts are just silhouettes but they look more sophisicated. So, to me, they a more grown-up kind of feel. Here is what I mean:

Example of the people from Old West, Provocarft

Examples of the people from Happy Trails, Making Memories

Here is a frame using the branco rider, star, and alphabet:

From the Slice Inspiration Card that comes with the design card, Making Memories

It looks great to me!  I also feel that I have more options to make more "manly" cards now, too.

The newer design cards now have shadow and mirror features which give you more options.

Another plus: I used the Paris Apartment Applique design card to make the tea pot in my card. So it can make layered cuts. The Applique desgin cards are really for the Slice Fabrique marketed for sewing but worked quite nicely with my card :)

The downside of the Slice:

It can only cut to 4 inches with the regular slice cards. If you use the shadow feature, it will only cut to 3.5 in.  So that is even smaller.

BUT: The layered images can get bigger if you use the Applique design cards. The teapot was cut at 2 in but with all the layered pieces it measures at 2.75 by 3.75 in. The Applique design cards come with a booklet detailing all that infomation so you tell how big the image will be. So it can get a little complicated when you add the layers.

If you want the layered look, the Applique design cards are really expensive.  They can be about $35 to $45.  You get a lot less images in an Applique design card than you would in a Cricut Cartridge.

Another downside is that you can only cut one piece at a time. Whereas, with the Cricut, if you need 5 flowers, it cuts it all at once.  So mass producing can be a pain.

Bottom line:

I think the Slice is a nice addition to my craftroom. I can take it to crops - it weighs about 2 pounds.  It won't replace my Cricut but I am glad I have other options at a reasonable price.