Fun with Cricut Markers

I was asked to do an article on Cricut Markers by the folks at Custom Crops. I did a couple of simple cards including recreating the very first marker card from my first attempt. (the snowflakes). These certainly aren't rocket science, but I do like the effect and love how they bring out the details in many of the Cricut cuts. They really are simple to use but there are a few things you MUST drum into your brain to use them successfully. LOL

Certainly you can use the markers without Design Studio, but by playing with them a bit more I discovered some distinct advantages and also the ability to design some coloring pages or cards that would be lots of fun for a child. Because I didn't include any .cut files it is listed under Cricut, not Design Studio. The direct link is HERE. I'd love you to take a look at the article and leave a comment if you have the chance. I know it's a pain to sign in to do that but it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #6

I'm so excited! One of the reasons I started this blog was to be able to participate in all of the wonderful card challenges on the web. This is my first official challenge entry for The Cuttlebug Spot. This week's challenge was to use a Christmas embossing folder and a border punch so I chose the Snowflakes (and also Swiss Dots) and the new Martha Stewart stars border punch. They look like snowflakes to me so...anyway. Everything is backed by silver mirror cardstock. Brrr...is from Graphically Speaking outlined with the Cricut markers before cutting at 1 1/2. It is accented with silver adhesive pearls from M's and a Jolee's dimensional snowflake. My little snowman has a shaker tummy filled with some beads and both silver and white offcuts from the border punch. He's from Doodlecharms cut twice on shadow (I cut his arms off of the blue layer) and once on blackout (also off with the arms). I added a circular cutout with Design studio to his tummy just large enough for half of the packaging from some brads to fit through and make the shaker. Then gave him a ribbon scarf and a jingle bell for good measure. There was lots of pop dotting going on so I included some pix of the dimension. Major update: I WON THE CHALLENGE! Yahoo!

Snowflakes

I'm trying to do all of these posts chronologically from the earliest cards I made to the present and I almost forgot this one. I don't know why I was thinking about Christmas in July (probably because it was over 100 degrees outside) but here it is. It was my first attempt using the Cricut markers for outlining before cutting and I love the way it turned out. I used a pretty shimmer ice blue cardstock and cuttled it with Swiss dots. The snowflakes were cut from Accent Essentials and stickled for a little bling. I added a darker blue strip I had run through my crimper, a sheer bow, and a wine charm with alpha beads for a sentiment. Cooled me right off.

Monkey Princess

Here's a birthday card I made for a little girl who loves princesses and monkeys. Since I don't have any of the Disney Cricut cartridges I decided to make a monkey princess. She is cut and outlined with the Cricut markers from Zooballoo and I thought she'd be cute hanging from a big #5 that I cuttled with the Happy birthday folder. I added google eyes, a mini pompon nose, a crown brad, a little skirt made from a deconstructed silk flower. Happy Birthday is also cut from Zooballoo and the #5 and Princess is from Plantin Schoolbook. The dotted crown is from Celebrations and the paper is the DCWV Glitter stack. Love the little pink metallic hearts from J's too.