Fabulous Finds Friday — Technique Tuesday, Elizabeth Crafts

Playing catch up today!

Here are some random Fabulous Finds from around the craft world:

Whether you are a card maker, scrapbooker or into pocket journals, Technique Tuesday has a stamp and die to fit your needs. I thought these were cute:

Elizabeth Crafts has some fun holiday dies, including “Pop it Ups” such as this:

Have a great week!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Lollipop Treats

Are these not the cutest things? A little lollipop holder die from My Favorite Things. Oh, how I love this die!

This is a great way to present treats for a sports team, class room, scout troop, etc. The die (which feels a bit pricey at MSRP $31.99) comes with the main piece plus three circles to complete the look. Additional stamp sets offer perfectly sized circle stamps, sayings and borders (which are now on my wish list).

I made a bunch of treats for Halloween (using new paper from Bella Blvd), then started on Christmas ones. I wish I had this die for a baby shower I hosted a few months ago!

Here’s a side view:

I didn’t have the matching stamps so I just used images I had from other companies, such as the “Boo” stamp from Hero Arts.

Have a sweet weekend!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Cue the Cricut

Ok, I caved. I had avoided the electronic die cutter, but then I got the new Cricut Explore™*. And I am loving it.

Here’s what I made right out of the box:

To make this card, I just followed the instructions in the online Design Studio. This card uses a metallic pen (the letter outlines), which comes with the Explore. All the materials I needed came in the Cricut box.

(I won’t bore you with details about the Explore™ — just go to the Cricut website for info and videos. Also, check out what others have to say via Google.)

I am a slow learner when it comes to electronics — it takes me a while to figure out how to work these machines. I found the Explore easy to use — the downside is I think you can only use it with a computer. Also, I think it is helpful to have a space where you can leave it set up.

The best thing, I’ve found, is to play around. Here are my other experiments, done on “opening” day:

I cut out the leaves and then backed the front of the card with blue card stock (paper by Stampin’ Up!)

Then I played around with sizing:

Stickers are cut from Bella Blvd’s autumn collection, then edged with Ranger Distress Vintage Photo ink.

Gee, those leftover piece were just sitting there, mocking me. So I put them to use:

(the darling tag is also from Bella Blvd. The circle of flowers, die-cut layering circle and sentiment are from Technique Tuesday, attached with a 3D Rais’en from Glue Dots.)

Can you stand one more?

As you can see, I have just begun to “explore.”

Thanks for indulging me!

*see disclaimer