My first step card and a second grandchild for a friend ;- )

     Today's card is my very first step card. I made it for my friend's son and daughter-in law. They just had a new baby girl ;- ) This is their second child and her big brother is very excited too! I've known my friend since second grade and she is the Godmother of my son, so I thought I do something a little extra for her granddaughter. I used an SVG freebie file from Cheryl First at Cafexpressions and Sure Cuts A Lot to cut the base of the card and the trim around the steps on my Expression.  She no longer offers it free, but has it for $1.50 and you can find it here. Her original also has stars and a rocking horse that I didn't use.

      I used my Cricut Imagine to print and cut the scene with the lamb (printed and cut in layers) from the Nursery Tales cartridge. I popped up most of the layers. I also  printed the paper I used for the base from that same cartridge on the Imagine, before cutting it with the Expression and Sure Cuts A Lot. (I only cut it at the size of 6 inches by 9 inches, not a full size sheet, because that was all I'd need.) The paper used for the edging on the steps is from Nursery Tales as well. That's one of the nice things about the Imagine. You can print the coordinating paper you need to go with the images you are using.

     The sentiment is from Hallmark Cards and was given to me by my neighbor. I thought it went well with the card. The rose is by Prima. Now I'd like your help. Do you like the turtle here? Here's a larger one from the lamb scene. I'm having trouble deciding (probably the slight headache I have), so I can use your opinion. Let, me know what you think. He's only attached with re-positional adhesive, so I can take him off ;- ) It could be his size or that I changed the ink cartridge and he's darker than the lamb.

     So there you go. My first step card ;- ) Have a great early weekend. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Finishing in the past and beginning the new.

     Well, I have a couple of things to cover today. Who'd of thought ;- ) First, you'll recognize this card. It was made for my sister-in-law and the progressive challenge at Crafter's Digital Art Center. You'll find the info on it here.

     However, at the time I hadn't finished the inside.  I thought you'd like it. I found an image by googling woman screaming and vintage.  If you can't find it and are interested, drop me a line and I'll send it to you. I only used a part of it and I used a black gel pen to make a frame. The font is a freebie called Greenfuz and the line element is from Print Shop.

Kind of a fun surprise ;- )

     The next card is for some friends, who have been trying, unsuccessfully for a number of years, to have a baby. Recently, they were out of town at a family wedding when they got a call that they needed to get to the hospital immediately, there was a baby waiting for them. The attended the wedding and drove through the night and are happily, now a family ;- ) This is the card I made for them. I used my Cricut Imagine and the Nursery Tales cart to make the background paper and the layered images. However, I used my Gypsy to make the shaped card from a shape from the Storybook cart with my Expression. I then cut the same shape using the paper I had made with the Imagine, on the Expression 1/4 smaller, to use as the background paper.  (Got all that ? Good! or are you yelling Equipment Overload!) I used glitter pen on the dragonfly wings and gel pens on the frog and grasses. What are the chances of sticking you hand in wet gel pen? In my case 100% I added Martha Stewart Brown Flockingto the cattail and wiggle eyes to the frog, as well. The sentiment is my own. The font is SNF Classy Charm from Scrap N Fonts cut with oval nestabilities.

You can sort of see the details. Will be getting my camera back soon, thankfully.

     In order to do the sentiment, I printed a coordinating 3 in. by 3 in. square of pattern paper. I attached that to a piece of printer paper. Before running it through, I did a test run, to make sure I knew where my sentiment would print and which way to put the paper in. Now, I accept no liability for your printer, if you try this ;- ) I try not to let my husband know that I'm doing this >.< I set it up so it would print in the upper corner and taped the paper in the upper corner so the tape was on the back (securely.)

      I cut a second shape for the inside and using the same SNF Classy Charm font, on plain printer paper,  I added the inside sentiment. I also used DB Frilly Words from Lettering Delights to add the words near the center and the element in the center is from Print Shop. I embellished it with more layer images from the Imagine Nursery Tales cart. On this card, I've obscured the name to protect the innocent ;- )

    

     I also always sign the back of my cards with a matching ink and on some I also add an embellishment.

     I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at the beginning of the cards I'm making for the college students. Do you know what Cricut cartridge I'm using? I'm working on the Gypsy to move the multiple images around to save paper.

     Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me. It means so much to me ;- ) Hope your week is filled with creative time, new inspirations, and blessings. Please take a moment to leave a comment. Thanks!

Quick note for a friend

     Well, my friends have been busy taking care of me. Two lunches out, in two days and a check up phone call from another. I almost didn't get this card done for one of them, who changed jobs, kind of, by switching as the librarian of an associated parochial school, since they closed her school this year (not the same one that I made the birthday card for). Now instead of a 5 min. commute, she has a 45 min. commute for the part-time job. So, this was a big decision and change for her (as well as the school being larger, so she has more classes). I wanted to send her a card of support. In between having lunch with her one day and lunch with a neighbor the next, I quickly put together, today's card.

I used my  Cricut Imagine and the Imagine More cart to print and cut all the images. The bird and it's wing are pop dotted. I used all of the layers on the front and added gel and glitter pens to the images to add some extra texture. I used my Fisker's cutter to trim the edge with the scallop decorative blade going back and forth to get a different edge. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and  is stamped in Chipped Sapphire by Ranger.

   The inside, is the first 2 layers from the same image as the front and I left it basically plain, to write my message. On the bottom, I stamped a bird from Hero Arts and a Bible verse from Clear Dollar Stamps, both in Chipped Sapphire.

     What could I have done differently? I should have made the notes on the front larger. I had meant to, but the first one started out small and tentative and then I was stuck >.< I wanted a bit more glitter and sparkle, but my gel pen colors matched better.  Maybe, some other glittery embellishment added on. On the inside, I thought about coloring the bird and I may still, when I write the note.

Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me. Please, say hi, so that I know you were here. Exercise your creative muscle today!

Star Baby and reception freebies, shown as promised!

     Let's start with the card, because I haven't posted one in awhile. Today's card is for my neighbor's newborn granddaughter. Her, (the baby), name is Stella, hence the theme of the card. I used the Imagine and Nursery Tales again, because I want to get as much use out of such a baby oriented cart, when I can, being the mother of a 20 year old son in college ;- ) All of the paper and images are from this cart, except for the shooting star, which is from Everyday Paper Dolls, accessories 2, shifted. It's the accessory for the astronaut. The paper for the star is from Core'dinations Couture line. I colored the star with a Copic marker and added detail with the Starlight Glitter pen. All the images were popped up with pop dots. The sentiment is from Clear Stamps Greetings and was embossed with gold metallic embossing powder. The rose is Prima.

     The papers on the inside are also from the Imagine Nursery Tales cart. The sentiment was done digitally, however the images were stamped. The star, under the word "star", was with Studio g pigment chalk ink and a stamp from Northwoods  and the ones on the bottom are with Mementos Angel Pink dye ink and an un-named stamp, that I got from a friend. The fonts are LD farfetched, (from Learning Delights)  Wizzard (free on the internet) and Storybook (also free on the internet - try Urban fonts). The blue paper was stamped with a stamp by The Stamping Bug and embossed with Kaleidoscope embossing powder. (The last names have been obscured in iPhoto to protect the innocent - ha, ha!)

     What would I have done differently? Well, there is the usual, stamp straighter, on the inside ;- ) Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out. The Imagine, didn't do a very good job cutting the the stripped part on the front and I could have made it do that again. I had re-calibrated it just the other day, so I don't know what it problem was. Maybe the heat and humidity.

     With the Prima flower on the front, I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion to make and envelobox for the card. That's an envelope that has some depth to it. It still isn't quite deep enough but it's better.

     Here are the gifts in the goodie bags that  50 people received at the Splitcoaststampers "Cupcakes and Cocktails" at CHA.

Susan and I both got the same color of Flower Soft, but we got different stamps from Taylored Expressions.

Our stamps were different from Unity Stamps.

These were the same for both of us.

This was also the same.

This was the same.

This was a special stamp from Splitcoast themselves ;- ) Who dusts?

     I thought these were wonderful, generous gifts. Thanks so much to the sponsors! The cupcakes were great too. There were door prizes, but we were not the lucky ones. Now I said I'd share our return home story. Since we left from the hotel, instead of the convention center, we entered the parking garage a different way. In the morning we'd taken the pedestrian walkway to the convention center which was on the floor where we parked our car - color green. We got to the elevators, level G color red, get on and there is no color green. I said let's go up 1 floor, because we weren't up very high. We go up and there isn't a green there either. We walk to the edge to look for the walkway and see it below us, huh? Fortunately, I said we should walk down, instead of taking the elevator. There is a floor in-between, where the elevator doesn't go. Then we start to look for our car - D1. we can find Ramp D and Ramp C but no just D. God must have been guiding me, because I get another idea to go up and around and Ramp D is part of the interleave that makes parking garages work, which I've never understood, but knew must be cool. Once on the road we had no more troubles. She and I do go and pick up my son from college with no trouble, handling all of the mess of the downtown Chicago expressways. Somedays you have it and somedays you don't ;- )

     Thanks for dropping by a spending some time with me. Please, take a moment more, if you have it and leave a comment, so I have something to read from you. I'd love to know that you were here. Have a blessed Sunday!

It's a heat wave.

     Sorry, I should have had this posted on Monday, but it's been way too hot to touch a computer. I called friends, watered flowers and  read a book instead ;- ) I finally relented, late last night and put the air conditioning on, so we could sleep. The poor puppy was very thankful, being a Norwegian Elkhound and all.

     Todays card is for a little boy who is turning 2. I used the Imagine and Nursery Tails to make this one. I used the image from Nursery Tales in layers, changing the first layer from pink print to green print, since it was for a boy and popped up the layers. I added gel pen details and Diamond Glaze to add more interest. I also added a mat layer, using the rectangles (8 1/2:11 ratio) from the images resident on the machine and filled it with a pattern from the Nursery Tales cart. Sentiment is from Hero Arts.

  Click to enlarge

     The inside sentiment was created digitally using Print Shop. The font is SNF Jester Play from Scrap n Fonts. You can find them here if you are interested. The number 2 was cut 2x at 2 inches from the Birthday Bash cart. One time I filled it with yellow on the Imagine and one time with the pattern I used on the background mat. I stacked and popped them, inking the edges to cover the white.  I added the birds I had left from the front (I had cut and 2 sets of birds and clouds).

     What would I have done differently? I might have worked more on details on the front, but again it was  (and is) HOT and I was afraid I wouldn't do a very neat job. I felt that the image looked a bit flat, that's why I added the gel pen details, that I did and might have added more. I also needed it to dry, so that I could mail it the next morning. If it were for a girl, I definitely would have added more glittery bling ;- )

     Well, I hope if you are in this heat too, that you are enjoying refreshing drinks and staying cool. I plan on enjoying the air conditioning at the CHA SuperShow later in the week, since this heat wave is expected to last past the weekend. I know it won' be the same as in the past, but I hope to have some fun anyway. Maybe the movie theater too. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment, it will make me feel cooler ;- )

Birthday Honey Pop card.

     Well, there was some struggle involved with this card and I'm not sure I'm really totally happy with it, but I'm out of time. Maybe part of it was due to the headaches, or the heat or my having been gone from the "drawing board" for so long, but this did not come together easy.  I planned on using a Penny Black stamp of a bunny in a flower pot of pansies. Many of you know the one I mean. Well, I have no art training, so coloring that would take me a lot of time, which I was now running low on, so I decided instead to use the Inky Antics set Cupcake Birdie which goes with there Honey Pop honeycomb papers (you will see them inside of the card if you don't know them.) I still needed to decide the layout for the front of the card and papers were a stumper until I decided to use this element from the Cricut Imagine cart Better Together.

     This bow is one of the Icons. Now soon you will be saying (as soon as you see the card), but Debbie, I don't see this element on the card. Aha, just one of the many twists and turns of this card. So, since I was going to use this element, I decided to use the papers from the Better Together cart. Suddenly, my Imagine turned against me and declared my ink carts were missing, not low, missing. After arguing with it, reseating the carts, disconnecting the power (that will teach it to argue with me) and reloading the software (including an update), it seems the stubborn machine still couldn't find what was obviously there! No time to deal with customer service,  I changed the ink carts and will look into it more later. Have you had this problem? Please leave me a comment.

     With sanity restored, (it's mine is gone) I came up with this. I'd give you cut sizes, but my way  wasn't the efficient way to make this, if you hadn't guessed that already. More changes were made. The bow was replaced with the flower which is from Creative Charms, (love this). I added clear glitter gel pen accents to the flower centers on the background paper. The front I do like.

     Now the inside... The example from the company, just shows it on the main card stock, so I wasn't sure how well it would work if I glued paper through the center (would it close right? be too stiff? etc.) and didn't have time for experiments, so just went with that. I find that a bit plain though. I cut the bird and the main cherry from watercolor paper, after coloring with watercolor pencils. The stamped cherries are colored with red sharpies (liked the bright red) and green glitter gel pens. The sentiment, which comes with the set, is embossed with clear embossing powder.

     So there you go, a crazy odyssey of creative (I guess that's what it is) misadventures. Is that redundant? Well, it's late. So, I think the inside needs work, but I'm happy with the front. Always room for improvement ;- )

     Oh! meant to mention that Enfys has Blog Candy on her blog here!!! Check it out ;- )

     Thanks for making it this far, if you have. Please leave me a note. I love to hear from you. Have a Blessed  and safe 4th here in the States and a wonderful weekend elsewhere. Wave your flag with pride!

Little girl card with Imagine

     Well, here is the card I promised. Finally, I get to do a card for a girl, with pink and everything ;- ) I decided to go with Nursery Tales. It came with my Imagine and has very cute images. I don't have a lot of use for them because, I don't make many cards for little ones, so I wanted to take advantage of this chance. (Wow, that was a long sentence.) I realize with some creativity, I can come up with things for others from this cartridge, but sometimes, it's just nice to get to use things without too much switching around.

     The font is from Storybook and uses the pattern from the Nursery Tales Imagine cart. The Imagine did a nice job cutting such a thin font. The number 4 is from Birthday Bash, because I wanted a boxier font there. I split the Imagine image into layers and popped things up and added  glitter gel pen to add sparkle. The scalloped circle shape is one of the pre-loaded shapes that comes on the Imagine. I used Judi-kins Diamond Glaze on the mushroom caps, unfortunately one cracked :- (

Click on photos to see them larger.

     I tried something new on the inside. I did the message digitally using Imprint MT Shadow. To get it to print on the mat that the Imagine printed, I printed it first on regular printer paper and had the Imagine just cut the mat without printing to make sure the printing would fit. Then, I used a repositionable tape runner to attach the Imagine printed and cut piece to a piece of printer paper in the place where it printed the sentiment the last time. Knowing which way to put the paper in your printer is essential. Put the paper in the printer and print it again and it should print on the card stock. I made some extra layers from the image I used on the front to embellish the inside and sparkled them as well.

     What would I do differently? Well, I had meant to round the corners, but forgot until after I had put the layers on the front. I think that would be a much nicer look. I should have placed the word turning straight >.<  I was thinking that a rosette might look nice under the 4, but then I really would have had to get the word turning straight >.<  Good things 4 y.o. aren't that critical. What do you think?

     Thanks for stopping by today. Please leave a comment if you have time. It's wonderful knowing you were here. Have a blessed rest of the week and may your days be inspired!

     

Happy Anniversary!

     Sorry, I've been a bit awol, but I've been working on cheat sheets for my SVG files. That can be very time consuming. Today I did the updates to my Gypsy and my Imagine. I didn't have the problems some people reported, except the time I did the Imagine, it stayed on the "Restarting Imagine" screen forever without doing anything. For awhile, I even worked on the card for today with the Imagine and finally at one point, it told me it was done with the upgrade. Go figure.  The card today, I'm sure you guessed is an anniversary card. I used the Imagine cartridge, Better Together. I was inspired by a number of images and put them together for this card and came up with the inside sentiment. All cuts and paper are from the cart.

     The stamp on the front is from Inkadinkadoo and the sentiment inside was added digitally after printing the paper on the Imagine. This was a new accomplishment for me, since I only printed the pattern, the size I needed it. I got it placed right on the spot, the second try. Woo Hooo! There is glitter and gel pen on the front, but it didn't show up well, in the photos and I used layers and pop-dots.

     What would I do different? I think a frame, around the tan patterned mat, on the front would look nice. Maybe in a darker brown. I'd inked it with a light color, but maybe a darker color would look better. Otherwise, I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out.

     I was able to purchase Cosmo Cricket Glubers at Archivers today, but haven't had time to play with them, as usual. Hopefully, soon. I want to try to make the daffodils, that Penny Duncan showed on her blog first. Click here to see her tutorial. They say spring, to me and I need spring!

     Thanks for stopping by today and sharing a few moments with me. I love to get your comments, and to know you were here. Have a wonder-filled day!

Imagine card for 2 year old boy

     Well, I thought I wouldn't get today's card finished, phew ;- ) Right in the middle of it, DH and I had to finish up the taxes, in order to finish the forms for next years college financial aid. At least this time DH, started out in my guest chair and I was able to do two things at once, but about 1/2 way through, he took over my desk and that caused card making to grind to a halt. We eventually finished the taxes, but then the cranky printer needed some coaxing to print out the inside sentiment, before I could call the card finished and take it's lovely photo.
     Here are the directions for today's card. I used the Imagine and Nursery Tales. The background is one of the patterns from the cart, cut in a 5 1/4 inch square, that I then  cut to to 5 1/4 X 4 on the paper cutter (I sure wish Provo Craft had realized that this was an important ratio and included it).  I used the bunny on the mushroom image cut in layers at 4 1/2 inches.  I cut a Nursery Tales pattern circle at 1 inch and one at .8 inches, as well as a number "2" from the Birthday Blast cart that I filled with the pattern from Nursery Tales that I used in the background paper, cutting it at .8 inches.  I added 1/16 in. high dimensionals to the second layer of mushrooms and the number "2." I used 1/8 in. high dimensionals to the bunny and the flower.  I added the butterfly from the layer of the bunny image and attached to the number "2." I also cut out a sentiment from Birthday Bash, which was on page 25, (the main image is a birthday cake) and was the shifted sentiment on that page. I filled it with a light green color from Nursery Tales. I used glitter pens to add accents, as well as adding Judi Kins Diamond Glaze, on the large mushroom and Perfect Pearls on most of the images to give them some sparkle (hard to see in the photos, but very nice in person). I used Martha Stewart brown flocking on the cattail.

 This photo kind of shows the Perfect Pearls. Click on photos for a larger view.

This photo shows a close-up of some of the details.

     The inside, is matted with the dark patten, cut on the Imagine at 5 1/4 square inches and recut to 5/14 X 4 inches and a light green pattern cut on the Imagine at 5 inches square and recut to 5 x 3 3/4 inches (both from Nursery Tales). I made a digital sentiment in PrintShop, using the font SNF Jester Curls and cut it to 4 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches, adding images of the bunny, flower and butterfly all cut at 4 inches relative.

     What would I do different? I should have rounded the corners, at least the two, right ones. I don't like how the pens looked on the flower and I should have just added the Perfect Pearls and used a Viva Decor Pearl Pen for the center or a gem. Well, I'm glad you were able to stop by and am always excited when you leave comments. Thanks for sharing your valuable time with me. Have a great week!

Another Card, Link to Free Fonts and Photos

 
     Here is the card I made today for my Youth Director's use. This one was made to be more general. She could still use it as a Thank-you card or she could use it for a teen for encouragement or even graduation or anytime for encouragement of a volunteer. I used the Imagine for this card with the Imagine More cart. Keeping it quick and easy, I cut it with without layers at 2 1/2 inches, also cutting 3 butterflies from the layer option on relative size at the same time. The background papers on the outside and inside were both made with the same cart using the background patterns and the built-in shapes on the Imagine. I used the square, because unfortunately the Imagine doesn't have a rectangle  with an A2 aspect ratio ;- ( This makes absolutely no sense to me. It seems like one of the most logical shapes to include for matting. So I use the square and over-cut picking in this case, 5 1/2 inches since that is the longer side that I needed. I cut it to fit the A2 card which would be 5 1/2 by 4 1/2. I curled the wing of one of the butterflies and attached it to the front to give dimension. I added a bit of bling by going over the butterfly with Gelly Roll  Clear Star marker. This so one of may favorite ways to add sparkle without the mess of glitter or trying to match glitter marker colors. It's a clear glitter maker that just adds a bit a sparkle. It's not easy to see it the photo though. I just did the dots and traced around the details on the butterfly. I also used a White Signo pen to go over the stitching on the oval to make it stand out. I almost hate to say that I used Viva Decor Pearl Pearl Pen to add the dots below the butterfly, because I didn't do a very neat job and this is a very good product, which makes great pearl dots. I need to practice more and not rush, like I did here. I had a strip of coordinating paper from another pattern from the Imagine More cart, left from another project, that I added to the top of the inside. I stamped this with a sentiment from Clear Dollar Stamps, Church Chatter sentiments. Next I added the other two butterflies to finish it off. What I would have changed? I probably would have made the image on the front larger, maybe 3 inches to better fill the front of the card. 4 cards down. Next I should work on some masculine ones because we do have male volunteers.

     I also picked up some free fonts from scrapnfonts.com today. They had 15 new free fonts available, if you had signed up for a free account. If you sign up no, you also get 3 free fonts for signing up. That's a total of 18 free fonts for newcomers. They have lots of great fonts that work for both Windows and Mac. Many of the fonts would be great with the Cricut if you have SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot, which is a third party program that lets you cut any font on your Cricut (it will cut it, but all fonts aren't practical based on the thickness of cuts and details of the cuts).  Even if you don't have SCAL, these fonts are great for use in cards and on scrapbook pages. Scrapnfonts puts out a newsletter with ideas, add new fonts often and regularly has great sales, so check them out. I use their fonts inside my cards and on flyers that I make for the Youth Bulletin board all of the time.

     Today, I'm going to leave with a few photos. I was out the other day getting the mail and I took my camera. Sharyn Sowell, check out her blog here, has helped me see more things in the little details. Though when I checked out her blog today she was noticing the big picture ;- ) So I try to catch details as well as patterns and textures in my photos, not just the usual photos I use to get. So, let me share some with you and maybe you will find some inspiration in them too.

 This is the snow on my back deck. I know jealous aren't you. Here in the midwest and my deck isn't covered enough to keep the boards from making a pattern. Can't say I'm complaining. I just liked the pattern it made.

 This is the birch by my house. Love the texture both in the summer and winter. Below is a close-up.

And lastly, I love the texture and depth of this photo. Also the greys in the background. Don't miss the beauty all around you as you rush through your day.

First card of the New Year

     Ok, here is the card from yesterday. I had decided I wanted to do a shaped card and liked this postage stamp one from Cricut's Birthday Bash cart. It was one that I had chosen on my Gypsy when we took my son back to school. I had decided to make it 5x5. First problem, no 5x5 envelope. There was no square envelope on the cart, so I figured I'd use my Ultimate Crafter's Companion. Find info Here. DH insisted I get one at CHA in Chicago after he saw it demonstrated. Isn't he supportive ;- ) Second problem, there are directions for a 6x6 and a 4x4 envelope. Did I mention these were suppose to be quick cards? There is I line between those to make the 6x6 and the 4x4 envelopes so I decide to see if it will make the right size envelope. Through a bit of trial and error, I find that if you use a square of cardstock 8 1/16ths you will get an envelope 5 1/8. Perfect for a 5in square card. Easy peasy!
     As I mentioned yesterday, these cards I'm making are for our Church Youth Director to give to volunteers and teens as she needs them. I decided to go with the snail image that Birthday Bash uses with the stamp card base (snail mail) and to make it a thank-you card. I cut the snail and all it's layers at 2 inches. I then decided that although his face cut out well, I'd draw it on, rather than glue my fingers, or run it through the Zyron. The snail was made with misc. scraps from my scrap box and the background paper was from the Imagine More cart from the Cricut Imagine that I left over from another project. My snail is a snail and does leave a trail, ewww, with Viva Decor glitter liner. The "Thanks" is from Gypsy Wanderings on the Gypsy (also pre-compiled on the college trip) cut at 2 3/4 inches. The flower gems are from Kaiser scrapbook. The sentiment on the inside is from Church Chatter by Clear Dollar Stamps. I love these stamps for this type of cards and use them often.
     Now, there are some things I would have done differently about this easy card. I wouldn't have colored in the antenna on the snail (Statlightz Glitter Gel Pen). I just dont like the look, but sometimes what's done is done, move on. I also should have inked everything, esp. the card base. I thought of this after everything was put together, but I've learned from experience that if I do it at the end, I probably won't like it or will mess it up and then I've ruined the whole card. So I left it. I also question the color of those gems,  but I like them, so not sure. The snail should be placed farther to the right.

     So, today I was going to make it easier (wasn't that what I said about yesterdays' card)? I picked the Bird on the Branch image from the Imagine More cart on the Cricut Imagine. I cut in layers to glue it on an A2 blank. However, (were you ready for a however), the rectangle isn't A2. I trimmed off  the right and left sides to make it mat on the A2 blank (we're just going brut force today - EASY). Then layered the rest of the pieces and pop-dot the bird. The "Thanks" came from Cricut's Lyrical Letters cart filled with a pattern from Imagine More on the Imagine. On the inside, I printed just the bottom layer of the same image as the front and cut it down and also printed the bird on real dial size of 1 inch (bird only). The sentiment is also from Church Chatter by Clear Dollar Stamps. I placed the bird on an oval cut by the Imagine from it's installed shapes because otherwise the bird blended in.
     I also started another card, which I will finish and show next time. These aren't great cards, but my goal with these are to be relatively fast. See I've added a modifier now. But I do want them to have some level of detail or texture.  Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading my babbling.