Cricut Tuesdays with the McSmitty Girl

Greetings Everyone and Happy Tuesday!

March is 'birthday mania' in my household and when it seems I have accomplished a card; another props up! Just the other day I was talking with my Husband mentioning to him that all the cards are finished and ready for delivery. Then he declared, 'Oh, by the way... I need a birthday card for the 20th!'


As much I was eager to start another layout, I thought 'Another card, oh geez...' Then I realized that my Husband enjoys my work and furthermore is proud to give one of my cards out to a colleague. That just warmed my heart. So the theme this week (as it maybe obvious by now) is cards - birthday cards.


All of these cards are simple and quick to make. The instructions are described in the same manner. I promise. So here we go...


My dear friend will have celebrated her birthday by the time the post is live (Happy Belated to you, BugnBooDesigns girlie!). This card and envelope was made entirely from the Cricut cartridge Beyond Birthdays.

As usual I made the envelope (using the 'rectenvl' shape) first using the Fit to Page mode. Next I made the corresponding card (using the 'rectcard' shape) to match the envelope size. That card was cut at 6" to fit into the envelope. For the greeting 'Happy Birthday' I used the following creative features all cut at 3" - shadow blackout, shadow (yes those are 2 separate creative features) and the usual image. For dimension I embossed the greeting cut but only the usual set cut image.


Lastly for the sentiment 'My Friend', I only used 2 creative features - shadow and the usual set image all cut at 0.75" Nested and glued the matching cuts together and adhered them onto the card. Lastly, rhinestone embellishments added that special touch to finish off the card. What you do not see is the inside which was backed with a piece of cardstock (used as my note card) which was adhered to with eyelets then a ribbon was tied across the top of note card.

*Cardstock: Paper: G.C.D. Studios, Embellishments: Flower and rhinestone - Kasiercraft, Eyelets - Making Memories, Embossing Machine: Sizzix
The second card was made for a darling girl who had turned 2 over this past weekend (see what I mean by 'birthday mania')! This card was made using the Cricut cartridge Celebrations. This is a fun cartridge to use and certainly my go to for kid related celebrations. Using the envelope image, this was cut using the Fit to Page mode (the Cricut calculated the cut to be at 4-1/2"). Then using the 'squcard' image, the card was cut to fit into the above envelope.

I wanted to use as much pink as possible so my cardstock of choice was the Bazzill Swiss Dots in 'Blissful' from the Blissful Trio pack. The cardstock was trimmed to be the base for the focal point of the card. That focal point I chose was the number 2. This was cut using the standard '2' image (no creative feature used) at 2-1/2". To add some punch I cut the matching layer (i.e. the '2-s' image), nested and glued the pieces together.

Next was the tag shape. For this image I used the Cricut cartridge Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. The image I chose was the 'circle-h' shape using the 'mirror-window' creative feature. This cut was done at 1". Afterwards, I scored, folded and glued the tag together then punched a hole for my ribbon accent.

Next I wrote my greeting and the girl's name and dotted the inside window tag for some whimsy. To complete this tag I tied my ribbon and linked the tag to the number 2 together. Together these images were adhered to the card using pop-up sticky squares.

*Paper: G.C.D. Studios, Additional Cardstock: Bazzill Bling, Marker: Sharpie, Pop-Up Sticky Squares

The last card was created for my Husband's colleague.

Using the Cricut cartridge Walk In My Garden the envelope, card and flower image were all created. First, the envelope was created using the Fit to Page mode after choosing the envelope-2 shape. After the envelope was prepped for the corresponding card; it was cut using the card-2 shape at 4-1/2".

For the front of this card I chose the daffodil image using the 'card' creative feature. To ensure this cut and the remaining layers were to be nested properly; all cuts were made at 4-1/2". Next I cut the layers for the flowers using the 'card-2' creative feature but in shift mode. For some added whimsy I embossed the inner flower part prior to assembling the flower together onto the card front.

Next I adhered the cut from using the 'card' creative feature onto the card front then nested and glued the flower parts onto that last creative feature cut. To finish off the card, I stamped a greeting on the front and the sentiment 'Happy Birthday' on the inside.

A quick tip with this cartridge: When layering images on its own or onto a corrdinating card like shown in this project; keep your size dial at the same height. That way all your cuts will fit onto one another proportionally. No need to make any calculations or guesses here.

It's that simple, easy and we're done!


Another quick tip: To maximize time when creating a card and corrdinating envelope, choose a cartridge that has both images and use that one cartridge!

The guess work work is taken out for you and there is no need to 'hot or cold swap' (i.e. switching out cartridges while your machine is still on or off). If you have a cartridge that has greetings and sentiments along with card and envelope images all on one cartridge... Well then you are completely set and ready to go!

Before I end this post I want to encourage you to visit me at the Posh Designs Interactive Community Site. It's FREE (and who does not love the word 'free'?)!

Become a member today and take a look at my page, 'The McSmitty Girl'. There you can see more of my Cricut creations which are all tagged by cartridge. Check out the gallery feature to see what's there. Many of the projects I have created are not posted here. Come over and say Hi; I'd love to hear from you! While you are there, enter your creations in the Posh Designs Monthly Contest - you can win a fun shopping spree.

For more details, please visit us at the Posh Designs Interactive Community site. Until next week... Happy Crafting!