Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Creative Critterz Imaginations Blog Post-Frogs



Hi everyone!  It's Merilee here with my take on this week's cute frog theme at the Creative Critterz Imaginations blog.  My grandson's birthday is coming up in March, so I thought I'd get a head start and create a card for him.  I decided to do an easel card so he could stand it up in his bedroom and look at it whenever he likes.
For this card, I used the Nursery Tails Art Cartridge.  I just loved the frog on this cartridge.  All of the patterned papers are from this cartridge, as well.  I printed and cut the backgrounds and then cut each layer out, as well.  Here are all of the cuts that I used:
Some of these images were extras and didn't make it on the final card, but I'll use them on the envelope, as well as for a gift tag.
The card base was made from two pieces of cardstock; the first cut at 4-3/4 by 9 and the second cut at 4-3/4 by 4-3/4.  Fold the longest piece in half to create a mountain fold and score the edges.  Then fold one of those sections in half again, this time creating a valley fold.  Adhere the 4-3/4 square to the folded section and you've got the base for the easel card.  If you'd like to view a Youtube tutorial for this card, it is available on the Splitcoast Stampers website here.  My card base dimensions are cut slightly different than the tutorial suggests.  You may choose dimensions to suit your needs.
The background is layered atop the patterned paper and is popped up with foam tape.  Then each subsequent layer is added over top with pop dots. 
The cute little frog is attached with an Action Wobble.  He wobbles back and forth as if he's going to hop right off the page!  I added green wiggle eyes for even more movement.
 
For the inside of the card, I cut the square with rounded corners using the basic shapes loaded on my Cricut Imagine.  I then flood-filled the square with one of the background prints from the Bonus Content on the cartridge.  
The trim along the bottom of this card is from the selection of Icons.  I chose the striped trim, flood-filled it with a solid blue and set the size at 2.0.  I then chose the same trim again, kept the striped pattern, but changed the size to 1.5.  It reminds me of rickrack.
Before layering these trims, I added the green print grosgrain ribbon from the Martha Stewart Create collection.  I couldn't believe how well it coordinated with the patterns on this cartridge!  Then the blue trim is adhered to the card with ScorTape, but the striped trim is popped up with foam tape in order to create the "stop" to catch the card front when it is open and create the easel effect.  I then added a blue button from my stash, threaded with two-tone twine from Stampin Up.  Just for fun, one more little frog is sitting above the button.  :o)
This was a fun and easy card to create with my Cricut Imagine.  Although the Nursery Tails cartridge is primarily for babies, so many of the darling images and elements can be used in other ways--this is only one of many examples.  I hope this inspires you to think outside the box and find other uses for your Nursery Tails cartridge.


Thank you for joining me today and I hope to see you again soon!


Merilee

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