Friday, February 25, 2011

Imagine More!

I quite love the name of the Imagine More cartridge, cause I think it represents everything that we try to do as crafters, mother's, wives etc... Imagine More! Yes??

This in another project that we had on our set at the last TSC airing. It's from the Imagine More cartridge. Can you tell that I like to do dimensional projects?!

'Butterfly Notes' made with the Imagine More cartridge!!

Project: “Butterfly Notes”
Designed by:  Heather Lancaster

Materials:
Cricut Imagine
Cricut cartridges: Imagine More
White Cardstock
6.5” x 11.25” Wooden Base
Cuttlebug
Cuttlebug Daisy Quilling Set
Paint; cream, dark brown
Paint brush
Assorted Ribbon
Brown Ink
Foam Dots
Paper clip/holder
Finishing nail
Adhesive

INSTRUCTIONS 
1      Paint the base cream with brown edging and allow to completely dry.
2      Paint the paper clip holder and allow to dry.
3      Print pink, green and brown papers using Imagine and cut quilling strips with Cuttlebug. Follow quilling instructions to make 2 large flowers and 2 small flowers. Use brown ink and paint to add detail to the flowers. Set aside.
4      With Imagine Cartridge, select green ‘smile’ note paper and edit to print just the green background. Print and cut at 10.5”. Ink the edges of the frame and adhere to the wooden base.
5      Select note paper from same image design and edit to cut just the note paper at 7”. I printed out several sheets onto printer paper!
6      Select ‘Spread Your Wings’ frame and edit to print and cut just the butterfly. Cut 3 butterflies at 1.5” and 1 butterfly at 2.5”. Ink edges in brown. Butterflies will be attached to frame with a foam dot under one wing on each butterfly.
7      Select ‘Notes’ frame and edit to print and cut just the NOTES title at 1.25”. Ink edges and adhere to frame with extra deep foam dots.

   ASSEMBLY TIPS:
   ·      Ensure placement of embellishments does not interfere with access of note paper.
   ·      Attach paper clip to wooden base by hanging it from a finishing nail. This will allow replacement of papers easily.
   ·      Place ‘Notes’ title so that it hides the finishing nail. Use layered foam dots to create the height needed so that the title sits above the nail holding the paper clip
   ·      Attach ribbons by tying them onto the paper clip and gluing them in place amongst the flowers and butterflies.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Cricut Imagine 'Toasty Clock'

Toasty Clock using Cricut Imagine Kate's Kitchen Cartridge
This little clock truly made me warm inside as I print and cut the artwork using my Imagine. I cut my first clock too large, and my 12 year old quickly confiscated it to adorn 'her space'! I think my favorite thing about the Kate's Kitchen cartridge is how vibrant the colors are!

Printable vinyl makes the perfect flexible sticker! 
It is extremely easy to pop the face off of a clock, which sounds slightly aggressive, but of course no harm came to any clocks used in this project! You can find an inexpensive clock and turn it into a masterpiece in no time at all! (slight pun intended this time!)

For more pictures of Cricut Imagine projects that were on our set at The Shopping Channel, please visit my Facebook page!

Project: “Toasty Clock”
Designed by: Heather Lancaster

Materials:
Cricut Imagine
Cricut cartridges: Kate’s Kitchen, Simply Sweet
White Cardstock
Cricut Printable Vinyl
Clock (appx 12 x12 overall size)
Yellow, Red & Teal Ink
Adhesive

Instructions
1      After disassembling clock so that you can place a new face under the glass, measure the inside diameter of the clock. (mine was 8.8”) Select a circle from the preloaded Imagine shapes and edit it to the size of your clock. Fill with Dark Green Teal background from Kate’s Kitchen, Print & Cut. Adhere in place after inking edges.
2      Select the Scallop Circle from the preprogrammed Cricut Imagine Shapes. Edit size to .5” smaller than your original circle, and fill with Red pattern from Kate’s Kitchen. Ink edges and glue in place.
3      Select toaster image, with layers feature. After deleting all but the toaster, edit to 4”. Print & Cut. Ink edges & glue in place.
4      Using the same Toaster image, delete all but the ‘Toast’ layers. Edit size to 1.5”, then print and cut 2 ‘toast’. Ink edges and adhere to clock arms.
5      Select numbers from Simply Sweet Cartridge. Edit size to 1.4” and fill color with Yellow patterned paper from Kate’s Kitchen. Print & Cut. Ink edges and glue in place.
6      Reassemble clock.
7      Select 2:3 ratio rectangle from preloaded Cricut Imagine Shapes. Edit fill color with same Teal background as you used for the clock face. Proceed to print screen and select ‘Fit to Page’ feature. Print & Cut onto a sheet of Cricut Printable Vinyl.
8      Repeat step 7, printing the other half of your vinyl with the Red pattern.
9      Using a slide cutter, cut thin strips of vinyl to decorate the sides of your clock with. As you peel back the paper and stick these into place, gently stretch the vinyl to fit the curved edge. 

Cricut Imagine 'Fly' project

Cricut Imagine débuted at The Shopping Channel on Feb 14th!
What an excellent package and price that we had to offer on The Shopping Channel! I am shocked that we didn't sell out, but imagine (no pun intended) that this bundle will need to be re-stocked very very soon!

The projects that we had on our set were gorgeous, and I truly wish that I could post instructions for everyone of them! Unfortunately, I only have instructions for the ones I did. There is a fabulous team of several designers that work hard to provide projects for the television sets at The Shopping Channel, HSN and Ideal World. I know that Provo Craft is working hard to provide more instructions and projects, so stay tuned and I will happily provide links as soon as they are available to me :)

Luckily for me, I do get to play with the product and design a few of the projects! The following project is done all out of material, I really enjoy the texture of this canvas and while I wouldn't throw this in the washing machine, it's longevity is not a problem when it's hanging on my wall. 

I'll try to remember to take pictures as I go the next time that I am crafting! For more pictures of our set and gorgeous Imagine projects, please visit my Facebook page

Dimensional 12x12 Canvas made with Cricut Imagine
Project: “Fly”
Designed by: Heather Lancaster


Materials:
Cricut Imagine
Cricut cartridges: JT (Imagine)
Gypsy & Gypsy Font
Printable Canvas
Black Cotton
Ultrahold Heat’n’Bond
12x12 Blank Canvas (Framed)
Paint; teal, black
Paint brush
Ribbon
Black Ink
Decorative Self Adhesive Jewels (Prima Say It in Pearls)
Adhesive

Instructions

1      Paint the framed canvas teal, and once completely dry,  use a paint brush to add black detail to the edges of the frame
2      Iron Ultrahold Heat’n’bond to the back of all canvas and cotton pieces. This will ensure the best cut with Cricut as well as provide adhesive on each piece for final attachment to your canvas frame. Be sure to use a new mat as well, so that your fabric is held securely in place while cutting.
3      With JT Cartridge inserted in Cricut Imagine, select the scalloped circle from the Pre-loaded Imagine shapes and fill with the JT checkered teal pattern. Select ‘Fit to Page’, then print and cut. Use black ink to gently highlight the edges of the scallop.
4      Select 2 Scallop Borders from the JT Imagine Cartridge, then select ‘Fit to Page’. Print and cut borders, inking the edges in the same way as you did with the scalloped circle.
5      Select ‘Fly’ from the JT Imagine Cartridge and edit size to 6.25 inches. Print and Cut.
6      Using Gypsy and Gypsy Font, create the phrase as shown on the final project, with letter height set at 2”. Merge the letters of each word. I also cut each sentence as a separate file so that the Gypsy processed the words at it’s fastest rate.
7      Iron all pieces onto the canvas and finish with glittered ribbon and self adhesive jewel/pearl embellishments.


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Cricut Imagine & Yudu Cardshop on The Shopping Channel!

Cricut Imagine
The excitement is building as I prepare to take both Cricut Imagine AND Yudu Cardshop to The Shopping Channel! We will be on air on February 14th at 2pm and 10pm EST with both products, and I PROMISE you don't want to miss this!

Tune in to see why everyone is so excited about Cricut Imagine... I know that I won't be able to show everything that Imagine can do, but I do promise to give you a really good feel for the product and tell you why I love it so much! The clock project (click here for complete instructions) below is one that I just finished using the Kate's Kitchen Imagine cartridge. It is SO yummy! You will see the clock helping to decorate our Cricut Imagine set... it makes me happy to work when I get to play with such inspiration products! 

Toasty Clock made with Cricut Imagine

Makes ME feel all warm and toasty, how about you? 

Or maybe you are a Yudu fan? The new Cardshop silkscreening system offers you the amazing results of Yudu in a SUPER fast and SUPER easy format!

Yudu Cardshop
Come visit me at my new Facebook Fan Page and 'like' so that you can stay tuned for more giveaways, contests and Cricut news!

Martha Stewart Cake
AND...if all of that isn't exciting enough, then be sure to stay tuned in and view our Martha Stewart Cake airing at The Shopping Channel . If you haven't seen it yet, Cricut Cake is the perfect way to take all of your scrapbooking skills and make them edible! This excellent Martha Stewart Cake value is set to air on February 15th at 3pm and 9pm EST.