Thursday, December 24, 2015

3d Frame Card Deer

Hi out there!!! I'm here to show you what I did with Lori's 3d Frame Card Deer cut file! I had a blast making this. I needed something quick and darling so I could get a thank you note out. Lori to the rescue! I'm up on the Lori Whitlock blog as a guest designer today! Check it out HERE.

I bought the deer version of this card because I love deer but also because it has a ton of things you can add/subtract/move around. You'll see that my card doesn't use half of the parts that you receive with the cut file! I love that I have so much more to play with!

I really wanted to keep it simple. I grabbed Lori's A Story of Christmas and went to work. The woodgrain in this collection is scrumptious and I wanted to get that in there and highlight it. So when I went to put the frame layer over the edges, I decided to leave it alone instead. It's it pretty!?

I also loved her "believe" sentiment and the whimsy it brought out in me. It just makes me want to stand in the middle of a snow flurry! But alas, I am in California where 55 is a "freezing" day. Snow flurries will have to be left to the imagination. I reinforced the believe in the back by putting foam dots one on top of another until it reached the hight of the frame. This gave the sentiment a lot of stability.

Did you see that darling snowman on the stickers page? I had to use him. I added some black stickles for his buttons as well as his hat and added an enamel dot to the holly. Done and darling.

Lastly, I cut out two snowflakes using the dies that coordinate with this collection. I saved the centers of them (the stars) and put those around as well. I added some stickles to the little stars to give them some shine.

That's it! Easy peasy! I attached it to an A2 card base, cut out an envelope box (that comes with the cut file!!!), tied some twine around it and I was ready to roll! Grab this 3d Frame Card Deer cut file and make it yours! You'll love it!


Recipe:

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Friday, December 18, 2015

3d Frame Decor Christmas Tree


Hello all you Lori Whitlock fans!!! I'm here today to share with you how much FUN I had making this home decor project! If you love to layer, this is for you!!! I'm up on the Lori Whitlock blog as a guest designer and I would LOVE it if you popped over and left a comment over there if you love this project! :) 

I fell in love with this 3d Frame Decor Christmas Tree (HERE is the link to Lori's Shop)(HERE is the link in the Silhouette shop) right away. I had to have it. I cut out all the parts using some Doodlebug Designs paper. Since the layers are color coordinated it was super easy to put together.

Now comes the fun part - layering and decorating! I stitched around the edge of the cream layer. I wasn't going to because, well, I am not the best "stitcher", but I just went really really slowly and I think it turned out really nicely! Don't be afraid to try it. The worst that will happen is you have to cut a new piece. Tip: start at the bottom as you are going to cover it up with presents anyway! ;)

I used various layers of foam adhesive and even stacked the foam adhesive dots on top of one another to get the amount of layering I wanted.

I added some stickles to the star, bows, and presents. Something about Christmas makes me want to sparkle EVERYTHING! ;)

Next I added some sprinkles (sparkle enamel dots) to the tree and the presents. I attached my sentiment directly to the bottom of the box. 

I grabbed a little gingerbread man doodlepop and a heart sticker as well as a mini paper clip and added them to the bottom.

I finished it off with some holly enamel shapes and voila! Adorable home decor piece. I love that it stands up on it's own and folds flat for storage. This one is going to be one of my favorite things to put up every year and the fact that I made it from scratch only makes it more special.

So if you have been wanting to try some home decor for the holidays and are being just a little shy, grab the 3d Frame Decor Christmas Tree cut file and give it a whirl! I promise you will be so happy with the result and how easy Lori's files make it!


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Sunday, December 6, 2015

Doodlebug 2016, baby watch announcement, and Cricut vs. Cameo!

I am SOOOO thrilled to announce that I will be back on the Doodlebug Design Team for 2016!! I had the honor of being on their DT in 2014 and it was an amazing experience with amazing product!!! I love the company, how it is run, and of course their designs the most. I am looking forward to inspiring you. I looked around this holiday season and my only decorations that I have in my house are all doodlebug. Time to get crafty, friends!


You probably wont see much from me for a little while. I am due next week with our third baby girl! So I'll need a little postpartum recovery time. But I have a bunch of pent-up craft energy just waiting to be let loose!!! :) 


I also just got a Cricut Explore Air... well, it arrives tomorrow. :)  Of course I have my Silhouette Cameo too. I'll be using both side by side and would love to answer any questions you have on them. 

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Sunday, November 8, 2015

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Thanksgiving/Harvest Party Bottle Tag



Hi Echo Park Fans!!! I just cannot say enough great things about The Story of Fall. I LOVE this collection. From the foxes to the hedgehog and the bright blue mixed in; this collection has knocked it out of the park for fall. 

I wanted to make something festive to bring to a party. I made a wine tag file for you to copy it! (see below for the link). This fits white bottles really well (with the tapered neck). It also fits reds but with a bit of an angle at the top. I resized the middle hole to 2” if you do not want the tapered look.


Then I scored the tag at 3.5”.


Next I die cut “grateful”, the fox, and the background label piece. Then I punched a hole in the corner and added a brad to the background label piece.


Then I wrapped some twine around the fox and tied a bow. I added a jewel brad to embellish it a little. Every fox needs some bling! :) 


Now just embellish. I added chipboard photo corners in the top right and bottom left corners. I added some foam dimensional tape to the back of the “FUN” ephemera and put it in the corner. Then I added some chipboard leaves around the “It’s Fall Y’all” sentiment. 


I finished it off by adding a border sticker on top of the “FUN” sentiment and finished it off with a big bow at the top. 


I added a lot of dimension on this as I knew it wasn’t going in the mail. I love dimension! Don’t be afraid to layer layer layer!


So the next time you are headed to a party and want to dress up a bottle of apple cider or even a liter soda bottle make a tag for it! :) 


Supplies:

Silhouette Tag File (I don't know how to load it here so feel free to email me to get it! CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com)

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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Candy Cane House

Hi! I'm up on the Echo Park Paper blog today with a super fun candy cane house to decorate your house with this holiday season! I cannot help it. I think it is totally darling. I hope you enjoy it too and there are so many great embellishments in this collection that make decorating this house feel like decorating a gingerbread house!


Here are all the pieces cut out according to the cut file instructions - see! It’s not that bad! 


Next I worked on the front and went a little crazy with the snow effect… but I had fun! I put it on the bottom and under the windows.


Okay… and then I added some more to the edges of the roof… and as many other places as possible. :)


After that I realized that I wanted to work some of the washi tape in and add a little extra detail to the top of the house.

Time to embellish!!! On the adhesive chipboard sheet you will find these awesome 3-d snowflakes. They felt like gumdrops to me!


I also found this awesome polar bear (and the tree on the other side) on the adhesive chipboard sheet! How cute is he!?!


Just a view from the top. :)


Okay, maybe I got a little carried away with these GORGEOUS enamel dots but I think they totally made the “details” of the project. I felt like my candy cane house became a little swiss chalet!


And here it is all completed. My little girls are VERY excited about this candy cane house. And I love the way the red looks against the blue for contrast. Very frosty! :) I hope this inspires you to create a little home decor for your house this season. This would also make a really cute teachers’ gift!


Supplies:


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Friday, October 30, 2015

Christmas Countdown Board


“Sim-ply haaaa-ving a wonderful Christmas time.” :) Hello Echo Park fans!!! I am here with a little Christmas countdown inspiration! I really wanted my girls to get jazzed about Christmas now that they are a little over 3 and 20 months as well as their new baby sister who is due right before Christmas! So I thought this would be a fun thing to do every morning with them as well as their advent calendars (yes, multiple. many. I love advent calendars.) I loved EVERYTHING about this The Story of Christmas collection from the wood grain backgrounds to the Rudolph's to the poinsettias and everything in between. 

I ordered the backing board off of Amazon for about $9 (primed). I really wanted the rough wood edge so I knew what look I was going for. I then cut strips of patterned paper into different widths ranging from 1/4” to 3/4” and 11” long. Next I arranged them how I wanted them and mod-podged them all down and set aside to dry.


I die cut a piece of dry erase vinyl using The Story of Christmas Designer Label #5 Die Set


Here comes the die cutting… Die cut the Rudolph, snowflakes, “Christmas”, poinsettia, and Christmas tree. Whew! :) I love embellishments.


I then added a garland sticker to the top left side. I loved it and just had to get it into my home decor so I could see it all the time! How cute are those stars!?!


I grabbed both trees off of the “Element Stickers” page and put them down to create my little forest that Rudolph is in. Given my busy background, I wanted to create layers and dimension without adding a lot of other patterns. So this helps the eye to focus. 


I added foam dimensional tape to Rudolph and glued Christmas to the front. Time to add the alpha stickers!


Next I ran my poinsettia through my sticker maker to get it sticky on the front. Glitter time! What is it about Christmas projects that just makes me want to add glitter to EVERYTHING!!? I love glitter. Then I thought… why not glitter ALL the things? So I ran the snowflakes and the poinsettia leaves through the sticker maker too and glittered them! 


Punch a hole in the center of the poinsettia and add your brad. You can use the included die if you like that better. I just wanted to get this gorgeous brad on my creation.


After all that I wanted to glitter my “Christmas” too. Stickles to the rescue! 


I added some white dots with a gel pen, some stickers here and there, and called it good! 


Lastly, put two eyelet screws in the top of the project and hang it on your child’s door or someplace in the house where they can have fun looking at it all the time and changing it every day with you!



Supplies:
Xyron 2.5” Sticker Maker
Wood Panel
Mod-podge 
Glitter in red, green, and silver
Gel Pen
Eyelet screws

Ribbon

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

New PDF!

Hello Echo Park fans!!! I have a new PDF downloadable project up and ready for your inspiration! It's FREE and I would love to see what you do with it! I made this for my husband for our anniversary. :)

You can go download it HERE. It comes with complete instructions and supply list!



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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

ABC Flip Book using Teacher's Pet


Hello everyone! This is Courtney Lee from Courts Crafts here with an alphabet project using the brand new collection Teacher’s Pet!!! Were you the teacher’s pet? I admit it… I totally was. 

I was SO inspired by this sheet of alphabet paper! Emmaline is about to turn 3 and she is working on her alphabet. I thought - what better way to teach her? She LOVES flipping through this and we now have a “letter of the day” that we are working on. We flip to the letter in the morning and I try to think of ways to incorporate it into our day! If your kids are too old for this project, it would also make a great baby shower gift! 


It was a little hard to choose my “favorites” out of the 26 letters to show you but here are eight of them. I only used the stickers and dies that came with the collection to do my whole alphabet. It was amazing how much fun it was to find the different picture representations for words that started with the current letters.



P is for paper clip, paper airplane, and penguin. I also wanted her to find the letters in the words so I incorporated them as well. If you look on the “F” page you can see that once she gets more advanced I wanted her to know that “4” and “5” also start with “F”. 


I grabbed the crayon die from the Create Art Die Set to add to the “C” page. When she got to it she immediately yelled in delight, “C is for crayon!!!” It was kind of darling. I used the alphas to create some words like, “ruler” and I worked in background shapes like the school house for “S”.


Okay, okay, so I could just just stop there. Here is a 9th. “L” is for “Lion”, “Lunch box”, and “Lunch”. I had such a great time creating this project that I hope all three of my children will enjoy when it comes time to learn their alphabets. Who knows! It may even become a family heirloom that brings them all fond memories of family time together. One can hope. :) 


Thank you for spending time with me today Echo Park fans! Pick up this Teachers Pet collection. It’s quite darling. DEFINITELY check out the bookmark paper. I simply cut them apart and added names and laminated them as is. My girls are LOVING putting the in their books!


Supplies:
Ribbon (I used May Arts Ribbon)
Eyelets
Rings
Hole Punch
Washi Tape

Photo Stand

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