Tagelope

is what I am coining this creation of mine. It can be used as a Tag with pockets or as envelope combined gift card holder combined greeting card holder. Did that leave you dizzy.
I got a package of Glue Foil from http://www.streutertechnologies.com/gluefoiladhesive.html. Seeing my interest and mention in the MB and where to find it would you believe that this got noticed and I was asked if I would like to test it out and share my experience. I said yes if I could be a honest critic. And they said of course - no strings attached. Well I said yes and got the package last weekend. So here is my first experiment with it. The glue foil itself cut like butter. Have to use a new mat but no need of using even multicut feature. I left the remaining on the mat as though it comes of the mat easily enough and you can brayer it - I would not . So I have a dedicated a mat for it as I don't want to waste any piece and want to use it all before removing from the mat. Gypsy and CDS will sure come very handy.
I got 1 sheet 81/2 x 11  each of these colors - gold,silver,copper,blue,green,black and red. This one is the gold. I love the copper,silver ,gold and black and see uses for that in the next few days. But the red, blue and green - maybe flowers. But when it hits the stores I will definitely buy the copper,gold and silver and sometimes the black. It is all silver on the back - so when you emboss you can sand it to get the silver to show through (I think- as this will be my next trial). BTW they are not my sponsors. They just sent me a trial. And those who know me know that I am unbiased and like to call it as it is. This material needs to be glued on with heat so you have to press it in preferably by iron. I tried the hot gun but you have to use something like a rub on stick then to press hold it and gently press it in on the paper as it is metal and gets hot LOL. I preferred the iron on method. It sticks to frame and even cloth (some cloth needs to be stabilized). yep - I asked about cloth. You know me and the way my brain works. So I had to ask questions didn't I? My first one was -   What's the wear and tear on the blades. Ha ha. Poor guy would have thought  immediately. Oh Oh why did I commit myself and why did I pick her. ..
They have not tested and neither am I going to test 100's and 100's of cuts LOL for I am sure that it will lessen by only 10 or 15 cuts less than cutting regular paper as the material is not that thick. A chipboard will wear the blade almost equally or more because of all the fibers being dragged through. More chance of the blade breaking there than this. So wear and tear - after seeing it cut - not a major concern I guess.
You can check all the details in the website. And without much adieu here are the pictures and project details. File is on the blog. Do not cut page 4 and if you are using glue foil as the glue foil is one sided do not turn/flip images on page 3 for paper savings. I did that LOL and had to modify the design as I wanted the smaller pocket facing on the left and the larger on the right - or atleast that was how my sketch and how the file will be. But a lesson learnt. So The file shows the pocket the opposite way . Don't go by the picture
The glue foil responds so beautifully to embossing. You can stamp on reverse side (which is not sticky until you iron - so a major advantage) and emboss or use cuttlebug etc. as long as you don't have a heavy iron and it doesn't get flattened while ironing on to paper or any material. make sure you do not have steam setting and set the heat to nylon or silk - that itself does the job. cricut speed low - as I am using the gypsy (intricate cuts with this product - not tested  - will try that on the blue paper - ha ha as I don't want to waste the others), single cut, pressure high to max. Blade depth 6 ( I always keep it at that and my mat except for the new one for foil which I got for the swarm ;) is still the same.). Paper used - pattern paper is DCWV -  Taj Mahal. Lovely papers. Made for these foil. All dressed up and Mariposa will be a good choice too.

Walking Barefoot..

on the freshly sprung grass in spring time.....

What a wonderful feeling and some of my family members had this pleasure forcibly thrust upon them when I raided their shoe closet - :) for this episode of Tuesday Treats.

It wasn't that bad ...as I just raided their shoe polish , and left them with their shoes. The laces - thought it would be better all around just buying them ..

What did I need all this for??

For one of my purse this week

from Tags Boxes, Bags and More Cartridge - pg 118 button 37 on the overlay.   

Now I did do more than one and a look at all three 

I was cleaning my brown shoes when I thought why not try a Faux leather technique? I am afraid my mind gets only so creative - no feathers and no shakers. Give me metal and power tools LOL. Ok - maybe I concede to a little beads, some bling , maybe a tiny bit of ribbons and of course more tools like heat gun, stamping. After all I am a girl - well when you hear my teenage son say it - a woman...old woman... sigh. How can I make him understand that the female of the species are all forever sixteen???

Well... coming to the purse

Here's how I "dun" it.

Well hope you enjoyed the little bit of comic relief there.

Getting serious

For the brown bag - I took a length of brown book covering paper roll and cut it about 3- 4 inches more than 12 x 24 so making that  16 x 28. You can do this technique with a brown shopping bag too, but as I didn't have any I stuck to this. 

I took the paper and crumpled it.

Now before the next step - I had to make a decision. I knew that because of the crumpling and the air pockets formed it will not cut right in the cricut as the blade will skip over the pockets. So I decided to glue this down to another paper. This would also stabilize the paper as the brown paper is a little thin.  I decided to use the same brown paper . You can cut this paper also 2 inches more than 12 x 24 in case you make a mistake but with this technique it will not matter and as I have a creatopia I just passed it through that. Atg gun will work fine but with that you might want to have the paper wider and longer. Here take care to stick the shiny sides together for 2 reasons

1) polish will take better on the dull (not shiny side)

2) shiny side will not stick on the cricut mat.

so glue the shiny sides together

  

and apply brown (or black) liquid shoe polish.If using the other grab a sponge. I found the liquid easier. You can of course use regular ink but I liked this better for how apt the usage of shoe polish for leather.

wow - look at that - my hands and paper - a perfect camouflage.

So after applying polish which I did on both sides - front and back and allowing it to dry I cut the paper out.

Now a brief look at  my G file.

This is page 1 of my file

I have used the black out feature of pg 118 & welded another shape from pg 112 - a pocket folder or library pocket as I wanted a strap like closure.

 I also used the same shape (blackout) for forming pockets in the purse. I delinked the width and height i.e turned the golden chain off (white) and rotated it to check with the template in previous page. I didn't want the closure to overlap in some places and I did not want the side pockets to be more than the ... ha ha sides.

I then cut page 1 and 2 and scored & glued using ATG gun and little bit of zip dry glue

This has 10 score marks. It needs gluing with ATG or red tape on the outsides except for a couple of spots which can be optionally glue (in the insides). (When you weld sometimes the score marks goes away depending on the purse)

I of course wanted to add the pockets  and the beads which I did before gluing down the sides. I also used opaque markers - Souffle 3d  markers to draw stitch lines & this too before gluing as it is easier to work when it is flat. For the beading I was able to slightly peel apart the layers a little and hide the back of the work which was a huge advantage. I used thin metal wire which went inside a needle. I then later stuck the layers closed with zip dry glue.

 I found it easier to first fold in the half circles and then the glued small tab and then the larger side over it all.

Here's an inside view of the purse and also the handle I made with beads & shoe lace (yep - but you can use the leather strip for this). I attached the round wooden bead to the purse with a handle strap(cut by hand) and brads. Added velcro  for the closure and the bag was done. After finishing sprayed a coat of clear glossy sealer.

The second purse

 can be made with two -  12 x 12 sheets taking care to overlap at the bottom and adjusting the file (page 3) by moving it to the appropriate point point before changing mat size to 12 x 12. I used another 12 x 24 sheet and attached the pattern paper as it was thin. For the window I have used a shape form storybook and made the frame on page 4 (by increasing the image , then delinking the golden chain and adjusting the height and width to form a frame)Here's the file view

I stamped a piece of vellum , colored it and stuck it behind the purse window and added a frame in the front. Some half pearl stickers just peeled and glued and a button with shank cut off and added with glue dots and for the handle - just a bead garland - which my son gave me for Fat Tuesday. I cut it and punched a hole in the sides slipped the beads in and taped it.The metal jewelery glue came in very handy.

Pattern Paper used for both this and the next purse is from Deja' Views Home collection.

I used the file on page 1 and the buckle on page 4 (image on the left) for this purse

I cut the buckle with chipboard, versamarked it completely, applied silver embossing powder and when it was still hot and wet stamped it with a medallion stamp I had  to give it texture. IFor the handle I just took a chain and slipped beads and glued it with Alene metal jewellery glue to keep them in place and attached it to the purse with brads. The purse looked kind of empty  so to embellish I just took strip of black cardstock - used fiskar plates called braid (I call it plait LOL) and then cuttlebugged it (sandwich is - A plate, fiskar plate,the cardstock which needs embossing,  2 embossing rubber mats (or rubber gaskets) and B plate. Then inked with silver ink and glued it in the edges. To the handle I stuck some chain and also glued a silver button (again with shank cut off)

Here are the 3 videos. You can also watch it from the youtube channel - TheBugBytes

 

The gypsy file is available in the file section. Hope you liked the simple project...and get to walk barefoot wherever you are if the weather permits ....

Recreating punches

I am going to the Houston swarm and our wonderful organizers had some very nice and fun sharing ideas. We can volunteer to bring a punched paper (preferably from traditional punches)  to the swarm - identical and 5 per person which since we have about 40 is 200. yep. Well I wanted to do it and the only one I had was the tonic cupcake one. One problem. This punch is a border punch and to take it to the swarm I had to punch it inside a circle. Oh la la - now that make it punching 400 times. I started doing it and almost to the end ,thought to myself, "why was I doing this?". I had to first punch the cupcake and then use the circle to punch  for the other way around didn't work out and so had to do some measuring (though the tonic attachment made it easy). I liked the look for if we layer this on a darker color it looks so great. You can pop dart this onto a ribbon or lace in your card/layout for embellishment. I thought there should be a better was to do this - (after finishing all the 200 by the way - LOL)
and so got out my G and here is the result - left circle - punch , right circle - gypsy creation

Now not only can I resize it to have it bigger if I want too - I can just add any shape in  place of a circle - maybe a scalloped circle or the pretty labels in storybook and accent essential.. It will also be easy to cut another circle like a mat for this.
I have just used GF and GW for this. Yep the curves are 3's, c's and the lines are the thin slant and dashes. The candle flame - GW leaf shadow (I think). Just play around and you can recreate most anything. So next time when you are in a store just sneak out your cell and take a picture and come home and recreate.The gypsy file is in the files section for download called cupcake punch

Tuesday Treats Project - Feb 9th - TBBM Pg. 117 - button 36

This week it's my turn at Tuesday Treats.
 My project today is the box/bag from cartridge TBBM - pg 117 which is button 36 on the keypad overlay - blackout creative feature (I have used the word box throughout in the video so please forgive me. Guess I was so impressed with Mya's box that the word just stuck.). I have gone with the color scheme of pink/rose. I felt I needed all the help in making this look feminine - the tomboy that I am - so used plenty of weapons in the arsenal - bling, ribbons, colors, flowers, pearls buttons, stamps, ink & paint. Guess I just spared the glitter and embossing powder ;). And since it's going to be valentine , what's a more ideal setting than shells & pearls, chocolates ; china & crystal (I'm a teetotaller - so no wine for me ).



I had to struggle and literally go on a warpath with my computer to get the video edited and loaded. I was about to settle on just the photo story/instructions in case I could not make it to the finish line, but since I was able to make it through I decided to leave the original post as it is and just add the videos.
I should mention that my build on the G is 0160. Each build does change and has different functions so what is possible in one may not be the same in another. And to top it - G world is so wacky that each G responds differently.
Here's Part 1

Here's Part 2

Here's Part3

You can always watch from my youtube channel thebugbytes in case you have a problem watching from here.
Now for the story...well.... instructions
Ok - So here we go.
Materials used for the bags(I have given for all 3 so fine tune to what you need and if I have left out some ....just add them :))
1. Cricut E
2. Gypsy & the cord and all the rest of the paraphernalia like mat, cords etc
4. Score pal or any scorer will do
4. Pattern Papers - 12 x 12 (if you want to resize then 81/2 x 11 can also be used)
5. Scissors - thin sharp ones
6. Adhesives - Red tape - or whacky tape; zip dry or 2 way zig markers; pop dots or dimenionals - both mini and the big ones; glue dots
7. Inkjet transperency for the window bag only
8. Bling - adhesive pearls in different sizes and also rhinestones - (I have used pink ones here)
9. Twine or lanyard or crochet thread for the string for the tag
10. Inks ( for the stitches to show clearly I did use versamark fine black ink)
11. Paint - Watercolor - (or acrylic if you work pretty fast) Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Yellow Medium or Deep
12. Watercolor brush (& of course some water ;) )
13. Ribbons and buttons(I have used - a ladybug button, a heart shaped one for the tag and another which looks like a perfume for the 1st bag
14. Reinforcement label - in case you want to do the bag without handle
15. Acrylic block and some clear stitch stamps in case you want to add a border around the window.
Now..
I have loaded a gypsy file (and also the stain glass window gif file but under the misc. section)
Just a caution for the G file before I begin. Page 5 has 2 images (which are grouped together so you need to tap just once) which are from love struck cartridge. If you do not have the cartridge please delete the images and save the file before cutting. I have given a workaround for those not having the cartridge. It needs a little bit of assembly. Pages from page 7 starting with "Do not cut" are just instructions so please do not cut them.
For cardstock - I usually set my blade depth at 6, pressure on the higher side - high or max and speed low as the G tends to speed up the cricut.
Pattern Papers used (for all 3 bags): (I got these at Hobby Lobby and the bling, buttons and the ribbon for the handle from there too)



Page 1(from my gypsy file) is used to cut the bag 1 shown below

and page 3 has some options to decorate/embellish this bag. I have used the tag on the top left from this page (page 3). I deleted all the rest of the images in that page and cut the page/mat remembering not to save the file as I do not want the file to change
I inked the tag edge. I opened the tag - added some strips from the left over papers to give a iris fold effect (after inking them too) and then glued it shut. Also I blinged it and then pop darted this piece to the bag. Added some embellishments. I used even the heart shape left over from the window and the 2 pieces inside the handles to make the tags . No wasting paper.
I made this bag from Page 2.

I cut a square out of the ink jet transperency print out of the gif file and then glued it on to the back. I used a stitches clear stamp to ink around the outside of the window as it is so easy to see where to stamp and can also be molded/shaped on the acrylic block to follow the curves before inking and stamping. Then added some bling and ribbon. Tied a bow on the ribbon and then glued it on near the handles with glue dot. The black inking brings out the black in the stain glass and also rhythms with the doodling on the pattern paper.
This is finally the 3rd bag from page 4 which I assembled again in the video and for which the following photos/instructions are for.

This bag is bigger than the rest by playing around in the G by switching to a bigger mat size, resizing and then switching back so that the handle gets cut off and we still use 12 x 12 mat ( you can always use just the 12 x 24 mat and cricut never know. (I always load on both sides - of course keeping in mind which side goes in the cricut and turning the mat first one way and loading paper and then the other and loading the paper)
Ok now to the nitty gritty.
Load the mat carefully paying attention to which side goes in. Here it is more important that I be extra careful, as I have used striped pattern paper and I want the stripes to go up and down and not sideways. Nothing wrong the other way but I like it vertical as that makes the bag seem taller and elegant and gives a light airy look while sideways makes it more grounded and heavy which was not the emotion I was going for with this box/bag.

I then cut away the extra bit of handle. The paper has some score marks. So align and score (4 score lines ) on the back of the paper (not the pattern side). But I felt the bag opened too wide like a gator's mouth. Didn't want that so I added an extra score - very light pressure on the front patterned side of the paper this time so that the bag could fold in.

I added red tape glue (or wacky tacky tape or bacon tape as some call it - ha ha) to the 2 sides and the aligned and glued them. It's better to use this tape or atg gun for bags else they tend to fall apart if the glue is not strong enough

For decorations I used the flowers on page 3 lower right quadrant. I have actually used 6 sets of flowers for front and back but just 2 sizes and the 3rd smaller size. I painted them with watercolor paint after wetting them and then left them to dry (You can also use chalk. Inking was too harsh for me as I was going for the soft effect and LOL I'm a watercolor painter after all and that would obviously be my medium of choice).


Then after it dried I gave them dimensions by twisting/folding them around a paper piercer or quilling needle.


Then I applied glue and stacked the 2 layers (did not use the 3rd) - staggering it & then added a half pearl at it's center.


After this done I took the bag back aligned the sides together and punched a hole with cropadile. And reinforced the holes with round reinforcement label got from office store or even walmart.


I then threaded the ribbon through and taped it on the inside of the bag so that the knotted ends do not peep out or move too much and tear the bag - it's paper after all :)


Finally I used 2 pattern papers - a pink one for the top half of page 6 and a musical one for the blackout part on the bottom and then cut away.
I glued the 3 pieces from page 6 top ( or you can use just the single piece from page 5 if you have the love struck cartridge) to resemble the heart from love struck. Blinged with some small half pearls.


pop darted with mini pop darts to give dimension


and glued it to the black out (lower image in the G file) cutting of another pattern paper ( I used a nice musical paper for this.


I then turned the piece back and added some more bigger pop darts


and glued this on to the bag. Added 3 flowers to each side of the bag with glue dots. ie 2 each to cover the handles reinforcement tab and then one at the bottom. I also added a cute lady bug button I got from Hobby Lobby with a glue dot after cutting off it's shank. Now the bag is ready to be filled with some candies or favors. I just need to add one of the tags and then gift it to someone special.
Hope you enjoyed the show and also made a bag right along with me. Do mail us pictures of your follow along projects so that we can add them to the gallery.
Tune in next week to more treats from Sassy Lady.

Cylindrical Castle pop up card

Here is a cylindrical pop up card which I made a week ago. The cylindrical pop up idea itself is not mine but from a general template I had read in a book about basic pop up cards and also I came across  this in a website http://www.stampohmania.com/pages/howto/cylindrical.html  by Kathy Berger. She is precise in her measurement -  while I just rough estimate things to suit to my needs and I have used the Gypsy to do all the cutting work.
I just decided that the cylinder will be ideal for a castle and adapted the design to suit.
One other type of pop up is box type which is generally used.
A beautiful website link  for pop up cards is http://extremecards.blogspot.com/ .
There are also some books which can be got from amazon including Sandi Genovese's (DIY) book.
 I had posted this card on MB without the instructions. But I have loaded the file and posted the pictures with instruction  now. The file can be downloaded from the navbar - gypsy files and cut file under DS files (I design with gypsy so I do not cut the DS files).
A note here - though the card does use lots of cartridges - the main cartridges are just George and Plantin.  The rest are just for embellishments.

Page 1 in the gypsy file has 2 cards. You can cut one or two depending on your choice. I have used one for the front and one for the inside which is white.

Page 3 is the envelope. page 4 is the embellishment for the front

Page 2 is the pop up portion.

Note: DS cut file has the pages named and  not in the same order as the gypsy file - 1st page in DS is the pop up part, 2nd page is the card base 3rd page is the front embellishment and 4th the envelope.

Again it has 2 similar shapes - these are the pop up shapes - one at the top left which I cut in white and one to the lower right. I made it so so that the window can show white inside and I can paste the princess on top - sliding her in (after coloring her) - between the two pieces and also adjusting her so that the bars does not go smack up her face. I pasted the window bars on top  of the  cream and brown pattern paper. I cut the man out (after coloring him) from the sweethearts cartridge and threw out the poor girl :) as I wanted a princess.

At first stick the patter paper on the white - starting only from left. Adjust the princess before gluing the rest of the paper down - after dry fitting the window bars on top. once you are sure glue it down completely and then the bar too. Score in the left scoremark and in the small rectangle in the right.

Try out the whole thing before actually gluing it down. That way you will get an idea where to glue the roof too and you can move the pop up depending on your preference.

Take the card and open it. (I have taken the white card) . About an inch away from the center score line on the right glue the flaps of the pop up portion as shown. (As I mentioned - glue it after the first trial only)

Then slide the small rectangle through the gap/hole

And depending on how much of a curve/roundness to the cylinder you want pull the small flap and stick it to the left side of the card - maybe   from 1/2 an inch to 1 inch to the left.

Decorate and embellish as you want. I  have added my prince and also a path with puddle - (for a touch of  blue to help the composition) and some green grasses and pasted the small pink hearts. To the lower left I attached a chipboard sentiment - "I am stuck on you"

For the card front:

I  attached a ribbon and pasted the pink pattern paper card cut out from page 1 in the gypsy file to the front of the white card (which has the pop up inside)

I cut out a shell from another pattern paper and then using an embossing stylus gave it shape to resemble an actual shell and attached a sentiment - "Love is Life"  inside it . It was actually "Love this Life" but I colored in the "th" to make it "Love is Life". To the left I cut out the LUV (I think this was from tie the knot - cartridge) from brown pattern paper - same one as the roof and stuck a pink heart and a rhinestone in the center of the heart and I was done.