Cards

I've been distracted with my Cricut. So much so that my sewing machine is getting a little dusty. I feel bad for my sewing machine, but I'm having so much fun with all the cool things the cricut can do. Maybe I should sit them together. Then they could hang out and look all crafty and useful. Or maybe I should just grow fifteen more arms so I could use them at the same time.
Anyway, I've been playing with the Paisley Cartridge a lot. LOVE the mushrooms and owls and cherries, but I really love the Card Feature. I've not made a lot of cards, but now I don't have an excuse since I finally figured out how to use this feature. It's not a traditional side opening card (or top-folding, for that matter) But it's a nifty little back opening kind of card that has a cut out in the front as a window.

This has puzzled me since I first went through the booklet that came with the cartridge. After all it's called a "card" so surely it must be able to be used as a "card", right? I found this link that helped explain a fun way to make this little card really work. And then this one that had something shaky shaky in the cut out section. SO I had to give it a go!

Using some bugle beads for the shaky shaky part and the queen's crown cutout card from Paisley I managed this for a special little birthday girl.

Taking advantage of the way this card closes, I did everything I could to the window part, then used the back as the new "front" and had the message of the card inside it. It took a while for me to figure out how to make sense of getting our message into the card but I think it came out well.

I know she'll love the shaky shaky part, and I'm sure that her mom will put it up before she reverse-engineers it to get the beads out!

Speaking of cards, OH MY GOODNESS, I have to try this now.

I love this so much I can't stand it! That tree is brilliant! I know I've seen a fence on one of my cartridges - maybe it's Paperdoll Dress UP. So all I need is the stamp, some polka dotted paper, a leaf punch, that Martha Stewart Deep punch and some thick thread! Or maybe I'll just win her giveaway!