The BIG FOUR OH!

Hi Everyone, I hope you are well?
The day has finally arrived, it's my wonderful Sisters Birthday today.. And Yes she is 40 Today...
Like everyone else in the family, I knew her Birthday was coming up, after all it's the same date every year!,d'oh! but as usual, inspiration eluded me until I was forced to sit down and get her card made with only hours to spare!!! Well, it was more like minutes to spare to be honest.. We actually have a fridge magnet at home which states "If it wasn't for the last minute, then nothing would get done!" how true...! She is going away for the weekend, although she does not know this yet" so I had to get her card a Birthday presents to her before she sets off today.. So here is the card I made for her..
I started off by cutting out 40 Roses from my Sweethearts Cricut cartridge. These were cut at 1" Real Dial size on non shedding Glitter card. I used the multi cut function on the Cricut as the card was quite thick!. My initial intention was to use all of the 40 Roses on the card, but in the end I only used a few, but hey, I have plenty prepared for another project!!

I then cut out the same Rose, this time on darker Pink card, using the Blackout Shadow function. This function cuts out the same image but without all the petal layers. The idea being that I can lay the lighter Pink image over the darker image giving a 3D effect.

I sprayed the backs of the lighter Pink Roses with Crafter's Companion Stick & Spray Spray Adhesive. I did this in small batches so as not to let the adhesive dry out by the time I got to the last few. The light Pink images were then laid directly on top of the darker Pink images.

I then cut out a Swirly Frame from the Storybook Cricut cartridge (pg55 in the Storybook Handbook, using the Accent/Frame and Shift functions). This was cut at 8" Real Dial size using the same non shedding Glitter card but this time in Copper...
This shape can be used either way up and just look at the great shapes which were left behind once the image was cut out.

I then cut out the same shape at 8" Real Dial size, this time using the Accent Blackout and Shift functions on Green Mirror card using the multi cut function.

If I was using this cut as a frame it would be layered up like this which I think looks pretty cool..

However, purely by accident, I was just paying around with the green image and it stood up like this, so taking the Copper image I layed it over the top. To me it looked like a Butterfly, so that's what it became! I attached High Tack double sided tape to the top and bottom of the Copper image and laid it directly onto the Green image. The whole image was quite strong and standing it up on it's end was even more effective than having the card on it's side..

I punched out a few Dimensional Butterflies into the same light Pink Glitter card used earlier for the Roses and cut them out so they were all individual.

Then taking some Pinflair Glue I randomly attached the Butterflies and Roses I had made earlier to the Green and Copper image. I know that Butterflies should be a mirror image on both wings but this looked too symmetrical! Artistic licence I say!!!!

A little close up for you to see the whole concept of the card.. And all boxed up ready for Joanne to open up Today..
Happy Birthday Sis, hope you have a great day!!xx
Thanks for checking us out.
See you soon.
Pinnacles..

Pinch Punch...

First Day of the Month... Hi Everyone, hope you are all well.. What a day weather wise it was Today! Well it was here! I hope you had better weather where you are in the world.. I know us Brits are obsessed with the weather and why shouldn't we be..? I'm sure we are the only country in the world that can have all 4 seasons in just one day! Well at least it didn't snow today but it did everything else... geesse!!
Anyway, as it's the 1st of the Month you know what that means Blogland.. Yep that's right Blog Candy!!

And the winner this Month is Becky Bex.. Well done Becky, we'll have your goodies waiting for you next time you are in the shop...
And now for the Winner of the Santa Card..
You may recall the Blog Post on 19th October? You know, the one with the sitting Santa... I was so chuffed with the feed back about this card that when it came back from the publishers I decided to give it away to a lucky blogger who left a comment.. Well, congratulations to Shelly Evetts.. The card will be winging it's way to you very soon..
Also a big well done to Kathy Orta & Samantha Strachan, our new followers winners. Enjoy your prizes ladies.....
So now the Blog Candy is all dealt with shall we get on with some crafting?? OK!!
This weekend saw the start of the new Do Crafts promotion for Nov/Dec'09. Much of the later part of this year has been focused on Christmas, so it is refreshing, for me anyway, to see some new products unrelated to the season.. There is also a return of an old favourite.. the Dimensional Butterfly Punch.. All Pinnacle Crafts Club Members will be aware that this product is now available again, but for those who are not aware of it here it is. These have been flying out of the shop this weekend, lots of customers were tempted just by seeing me playing with the Punch on the counter. So here are the cards I have been making with this great Punch..
I wanted to try something a little bit special to show the Punch off to it's best. OK, it took me a little time and a few sheets of paper to work out all the measurements to get it right, but I hope you'll agree it was time well spent??

First of all I cut out a 5 3/4" circle (real dial size ON) on patterned Blue card stock from my Cricut machine using Sweethearts Cartridge. The image I used was "His Ring" (pg 47 in the Sweethearts handbook) Blackout, shift & Real Dial Size. If you do not have a Cricut Machine, might I suggest using the X Cut Shape Cutter System to cut the circle? I then cut out a second 5 3/4" circle on some Blue Mirror card.
The next few images are just to show you how to line up the punch to get the Butterfly to fit..

Turn your patterned card stock over. On the back you will need to dissect the circle into 8.
To do this accurately I took a separate 5 3/4" circle, folded it in half, opened it and folded it in half again, by doing this will show you where the 2 lines cross, this will be the centre of the circle. I pierced through this centre point and laid this image on top of the back of my patterned card and made a mark with a pencil through this hole to locate the centre point on my patterned card stock.
Then, with a ruler and a pencil I divided the circle into 8 equal sections, passing the lines through this centre point.
Now for the punching.
Take your Butterfly punch and turn it upside down, line up the top 2 holes on each wing with a pencil line. Turn the butterfly punch back over and punch into the card.
Repeat this process on all of the pencil lines. I.E line up each pencil line with the top holes on either side of the Butterfly's wings.

Rub out your pencil lines.

You can lift up the Butterfly wings now if you wish..

So back to the actual card..

I now have my Butterfly's punched out on my pattered card and a 5 3/4" circle of complementary card.

Add Pinflair Glue to the back of the pattered card, oops I know, I forgot to rub out my lines on this one. The reason I say to rub them out is because the Mirror card reflects the underside of the Butterfly wings and therefore these pencil lines can be seen!

Lay one image on top of the other...

I added a few diamante gems, just to give a little bit of BLING!!!

I then took some Grey/Silver card stock and attached a piece of the same patterned blue card I used for the Butterfly's. I punched a border using Martha Stewart Doily Lace.
Finally!, (sorry I know it's a bit of a long post. I should have said grab a cuppa first shouldn't I!), anyway, finally I cut out my "For You" sentiment from the Sweetheart Cartridge and attached it to the card..
I'm really pleased with the result of this card it inspired me to do a couple more.
This time I used my Moroccan Lace Border Punch.

in Black & White

Using my Swiss Cheese Punch.. I LOVE this punch.....!

in White & Black

Again using the Moroccan Lace punch..

this time in Green

I hope this close up shows you the dimension of this punch and that you can see the reflection of the Butterfly's wings in the Mirror card?

So, why not take your dimensional punches a stage further? I've done all the hard stuff so hopefully you won't have to..
Thanks for checking us out. See you soon.
Pinnacles..