Birthday Card with Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (1)

Today I made a birthday card for my Bunco friend. We have bunco at her house tonight AND it's her birthday.

I wanted something bright and cheery. I was originally going with a flower theme - but I'm new at this and found myself spending WAY too much time looking for ideas.

I settled for a very simple layout instead so I could actually finish it before tonight!

For this card I used the Citronella Designer mat pad by K&Company. The pad is only 4.75 x 6.75 inches. I'm finding I prefer this size for cards as the patterns are usually smaller. The paper is heavier cards stock and is 2-sided and coordinates perfectly together.

I chose the green paper for the background then used the Happy Birthday embossing folder with my Cuttlebug (by Provocraft).

I also used some ribbon that I picked up on clearance at Michaels.

Added the border paper and some ribbon -the printed the sentiment and attached it. Very easy and quick ONCE I decided what to do.

Questions/Problems (I'm very new at this)

1. What's the best way to adhere ribbon?

2. How do I keep the ribbon from fraying?

3. When I embossed the card it seemed to press too hard - and broke through the color of the paper. Not sure if you can see it in the enlarged picture - but there is some white showing through on some of the letters. How do I prevent this?

4. Suggestions on what I could have easily done to the sentiment I attached - it seems a little overly plain to me now.

Comments, help and suggestions are MUCH appreciated. Please click the TWEET button at the top of this page to share this article.

Amazon links to products I used:

My 1st Card with Cricut

A couple of weeks ago I purchased the Cricut Express machine. I have been neglecting my scrap booking/card making hobby since I started running Cobweb Corner full time from home. I hoped that this addition to my scrapping arsenal would jump start me into spending sometime on my paper craft hobbies again. So far I've been right!


<- Click image to view book on Amazon.com
To learn how to use my Cricut and get used the different settings I purchased the book Card Making with Cricut by Tanya Fox and published by Annie's Attic. This is a 47-page paperback book with cards mad using the Cricut machines and cartridges. It uses a wide range of cartridges and since I only own a few (so far) I am limited on the cards I can make directly from the book.

I started with the 4 You star card found on page 33. This card uses the Plantin Schoolbook and Opposites Attract cartridges. You can see my results for yourself.

What I learned:

1.) I used the Shadow feature for the stars. I knew what this was for but liked seeing it used.
2.) I got a good idea of sizes to print. The book tells you exactly what settings to use for each cut - which I LOVE - no trial and error. Until I make a number of cards, sizing will be more of a guessing game for me.
3.) While I was aware of this from my practice cutting sessions, I was reminded that my pressure setting on my Cricut needs to be adjusted when I go from card stock to thinner standard scrapbook paper. I forgot this and ended up with a bent corner on my star.
4.) Following a pattern is a great way to learn. You will never have the exact items they use in the example - so you get to experiment with the items you have on hand. I didn't have any star brads, so I used star stickers, some buttons, and a round brad.

Thank you for letting me share my beginning introduction to my Cricut Express. If you enjoyed the article please 'Tweet' it by using the Tweet button at the top of this page. Comments are welcome!