Lollypop, Lollypop, Oh Lolly Lolly Lolly

Had another crop with some of the Divas last month. Actually, for this small group, we call ourselves the Jammers because we love to crop and can just spend the day in our jammies.

Anyway, our plans included the celebration of Angie's birthday, but we were the ones surprised. haha We're not sure who had their days mixed up, but Angie's family made plans for the same weekend which included family photos. So .... However, we did enjoy her birthday cake and strawberries! We even took pictures of us enjoying it and texted to her. Yes, we can be evil but all in fun.

Her absence gave me time to make her birthday card. Yes, always behind. I did have her gift card ready but hadn't had/taken the time to make the card. I had it in Design Studio, just not cut.

Remember that Angie is the one with the new grandson, Eli, and her and her husband's grandparent names are Lolly and Pop? So, naturally, her card HAD to be (wait for it) ...



a lollypop. (Yes, I know it should be lollipop, but she's Lolly.)


Pull on the stick and you have the card


with the gift card attached.

Of course, it had to be a fairly large lollipop for the gift card to fit inside. There are several cartridges with a lollipop, but this one was from Mickey & Friends.


I used the base of the lollipop element to get the size for the stick but just cut circles since I needed the stick to be attached to the card and not the sucker. I used George and Basic Shapes for the circles, stick and card elements and used Mickey and Friends just for the swirl layer of the lollipop. I cut out additional "sticks" and just glued them all together to make it stronger.

I think it turned out pretty cute. I probably should have added Stickles, but too late now. Happy Belated Birthday, Angie! (She received her card last weekend when Rose Mary got hers.)

Lollipop Gift Card


Later,
Jill

Crown Gift Card

Back in August, we celebrated Angie and Rose Mary's birthdays. Yes, I am rather behind sharing with you. Sorry. Anyway, here's Rose Mary's card.


This test cut shows it a little better. There's one base cut with tic marks to make folding easier.


Then one crown to layer and bling up.


I stamped Happy Birthday with a CTMH stamp, outlined the crown with Stickles and added gems. Just perfect for our Glitter Queen.

Because of the size of the crown, this one has to be cut on an Expression. However, it is set up to use either George or Plantin along with Happily Ever After.

Crown Gift Card

Maybe you have a little princess in need of a gift? :o)

Jill

Coffee Anyone?

This is a gift card I made back in March but wanted to do some revisions to get it ready for you. And I wanted Sherry's OK to post it.

A small group of us get together when we can, and we were late celebrating Kay's birthday because "when we can" hadn't happened in a while. So we celebrated both Kay and Dawn's birthday at the same time, and I was in charge. haha As usual, I had waited until the last minute to get it all together and was trying to make cards and pack for Ferncliff at the same time.

Kay's gift was a gift card to Starbucks and needed an appropriate holder. I remembered Sherry's from our gift card swap (http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=3592445 - post #67) and emailed her requesting the file. Once received, I realized that I didn't have any acetate and no time to get any, so I proceeded to revise her file to work for me. See Sherry's blog here.

I was very pleased with the outcome. More importantly, Kay loved it!


The base of the card is a blackout coffee mug flipped for the back and a coffee mug for the front. I used 2-sided paper so that the inside of the cup and the back both looked nice. Be careful how you glue the pieces together so that the card can slide in and out.

I needed the steam and the coffee to be attached in order to use them to pull the card out of the holder. And we know how I like to have an additional card to fold over for the sentiment or what have you. Between the steam, the coffee and 2 cards, it was longer than the mat. Since I didn't want the steam to be the same color as the coffee anyway, I chose to cut the top of the steam off. I then cut a front and a back (flipped) steam in white to lay over the attached steam and cover up the missing part.

That's the only way it works on the Baby Bug. I've done another file for the Expression and included 2 different pages for the card. One will cut the top off as explained; the other is laid out diagonally and will cut the whole thing. You'll only need to cut one or the other.

You can place your paper so that the swirl cuts in a different color.


George was used for the cards and Plantin Schoolbook for the flowers. You can substitute as needed.

Dawn's card was much quicker as I decided on Debbie's cell phone gift card holder (http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=3592445 - post #51). She received a Hobby Lobby gift card but had just gotten a new Blackberry, so I thought it was appropriate.


I think they both turned out pretty cute!

Cut file for Expression

Cut file for Baby Bug

Latte,
Jill

Odds and Ends

I finally took the time to scan the Monkey'n Around page title. The scan is so much better than the picture!


Did you check out what Carol did with my baby bottle gift card holder? Absolutely darling! I may have to rethink the shower gift for my cousin's daughter. lol

I've been working on several projects this weekend but haven't stopped to cut them yet. I hope to get some samples cut this week so that I can share them with you.

Have a great week,
Jill

Thanks, Capadia!

Diane has come to our rescue once again. She found a work around for the Hide Contour problem that I have been having. See her post here for explanation.

She was kind enough to fix the Class of 2009 Mesh, and I was able to fix the Baby Bottle Gift Card files. I have replaced all of the file links with the new ones here and in the previous posts.

Class of 2009 Mesh
Baby Bottle Gift Card
Baby Bottle Gift Card w/ George
Baby Bottle Gift Card w/ Plantin

Thanks, Diane!

Jill

Up Up and Away

Last gift card holder. This one doesn't conform to the guidelines for the swap, but it is one that has actually already been given away. Because of the size, it can only be cut on the Expression. I used George and Basic Shapes along with New Arrival, but you could revise for Plantin Schoolbook (explained later).

Our friend Katie is adopting, and I needed something for her shower. I didn't want to go real babyish since he will be 20 months old. I decided the airplane on New Arrival would be really cute if only it would work. It turned out perfect! I did it in our company colors and used his birth date for the tail number. Not only that, he's coming from China, so he'll be coming home on an airplane.

Cut one Plane in your main color. Don't worry when it cuts off the top wing. We don't need that one. Cut two of the Plane Solid in whatever color you want to show through the windows. This will also cut off the top wing.

Check your Parts page before cutting to make sure everything is still hidden that needs to be hidden. You need the bottom wing, tail wing and propeller in one image. The other image should have the top wing welded to two rounded rectangles. Check out Narelle's blog if you need help with the Hide Contour feature. And cut the Parts in your accent color.

You may want to cut the full plane out to help you align the wing in the correct place (May want... tab).

Go ahead and attach your gift card to the middle section of the card (glue dots work great), add your message on the bottom section and fold. Glue your two solid planes together making sure that you do not glue where the card goes in. Watch where the bottom of the card will go because it is a tight fit and you don't want to close it up. Glue the detailed plane on top, add wings and propeller, insert card and add tail number if desired. I was running late and used my label maker for the tail number.

My card looks different in the photo as I have redesigned it since then. Also, I used George to make the card because I prefer the rounded corners. However, you could replace those two George pieces with a rectangle from Plantin Schoolbook if you don't have George.

Yes, Katie LOVED it! And we can't wait to meet Luke!

Airplane Gift Card

Happy flying,
Jill

Welcome Baby

I actually started this one before the rattle but got stuck and had to come back to it. Once again, it can be cut on any of the machines. It's come down to 3 files; it was just easier. One is for George and Basic Shapes, the other for Plantin Schoolbook and the third has all of the pages for both. They also use New Arrival.

Cut the bottle in your main color. It will cut the nipple and ring from the bottle itself. Cut two bases in the color you want to show through the slits of the bottle. The base will also cut off the nipple and ring. All you need is the bottle.

Click on the card page and look carefully. How many nipples do you see? If you see two, use the Hide Contour feature to hide the left one. For some reason, the hide is not staying when I save the file. To be on the safe side, make sure the right ring and its slits are still hidden too. If you need help with this feature, visit Narelle at Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Studio.

Cut the card in the color you want for the nipple.

Click on the Neck page, make sure the nipple is hidden and cut the ring.

OK, assembly time! Glue the two bases together ONLY along the edges and NOT at the top. Make sure the bottom part of the card will fit between the two bases. Glue the bottle onto the base (including at the top). Layer the ring onto the card. Attach your gift card to the middle section of the card (glue dots work great for this), write your message on the lower section, fold and insert between the two bases. Embellish as desired. All done!

(Note 2/15/09--Hide Contour problem has been resolved and files should be problem free.)

Baby Bottle Gift Card
Baby Bottle w/ George
Baby Bottle w/ Plantin

Jill

Shake Rattle and Roll

Ok, let's back up about 18 years. This holder is for a new baby. Again, it was designed to be cut on any of the bugs with your choice of base in either George and Basic Shapes or Plantin Schoolbook. The other cartridge needed is New Arrival.

There are actually two versions of this one. If you click on the picture for a larger view, you should be able to tell that the inside of the circle at the bottom of the rattle and the left loop of the bow are cut out in this sample. Thinking some people might not want those cut, I covered that space up best I was able on the other version.

Again, you only need to cut your base and the Cut Page. The layer for the rattle embellishments is designed for two versions--a squiggly line or the flowers--and a small bow. I didn't need the bow and wanted this one for a girl, so I hid the parts that I did not need to cut. If you are not familiar with the Hide Contour feature, you might want to go visit Narelle's blog, Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Studio. (She has some other great tips too.)

Before giving this card, I would bling it up with some glitz in the center of the flowers and probably some Stickles glitter on parts of the bow.

Rattle gift card holder Version 1 - No holes (at least VERY small)

Rattle gift card holder Version 2 - With holes

Enjoy,

Jill

Congratulations Graduate!

CarlaSchenk from the Cricut message board issued an invitation to join a swap for gift card holders. How could I resist with all of the great designs people were sharing at that time. I didn't want to miss all of the fun. (http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=3592445)

The way time flies these days, I realized that graduation would be here before we knew it and decided to start there. This is the card I came up with.

This can be cut on any of the bugs using either Plantin Schoolbook or George and Basic Shapes along with Base Camp and Locker Talk. I would do it in their school colors if known and pop-dot the cap. I also inked the edges for a little more color on this one.

Click HERE for the cut file. Although there are several pages to the file, there are only two that you will need to cut: whichever base you want to use and the Cut Page with the layers.

Good luck to all of the 2009 graduates in your life.

More holders to come....

Jill