September 100 Cartridge Blog Hop - Day 1

 Welcome to 

the

My Cricut Craft Room

100 Cartridge

Blog Hop

September 1 & 2

If you are arriving from Robin 's Blog, then you are on the right track.
If you need to start from the beginning, please head over to
My Cricut Craft Room.

I am sharing a project today that has step by step
instructions and pictures.
I need to warn you though, it is picture heavy.
I felt is would be helpful to share the steps and pictures along the way.

Please bare with me, since I think you will gain some
valuable insight if you should
want to recreate a similar project.
I had a few mishaps and blunders
that I share with you along the way.
Let my mistakes be a lesson to you on what
you could avoid when making your projects.
! ! ! L O L ! ! !

Step 1:  Unpack Kit and disassemble conjoined pieces.
The kit is from Kaisercraft and includes a total
of 7 pieces (2 roof peeks, 1 large house frame, 1 circle, 1 name plate,
and 2 rectangles to create your flower box)

Step 2:  Sand any rough edges or "hills"  with sandpaper or a sanding file

until the edges are smooth.  I used an exacto knife and rough grid sandpaper.
That seemed to work quite well.

Step 3: Gather your supplies to have on hand and 

to be sure you will have matching patterns

and embellishments to you liking.

The cartridges I am using for my project today
are Jasmine, Jubilee, and Playtime.

My papers are from Simple Stories - Fabulous Collection

and embellishments  are from Fancy Pants Collection - Off to School.

The strips are adhesive backed strips that my MIL 

brought me as a crafty gift one day. 
I also anticipated using the Core'dinations strips you see in the picture
but they didn't quite work in the Cricut (LOL).

Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Barn Door
My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Washi Tape
(variety of colors and patterns)
Adhesives
Scotch ATG, Xyron Mega Runner, and Glu Glider Pro
Zip Dry Glue

Step 4: Trace an outline of the largest piece of the birdhouse, but

be sure to give yourself about 1/8" of space to sand the edges of the paper
to meet the edges of the birdhouse cleanly once it is applied.
I used a ruler for tracing (as shown in the picture).

You will also notice that I angled Part A into one corner of the card stock

rather than right in the middle.  The reason for this is explained in Step 6.

Step 5: There were 3 small holes to be able to place the hooks on the
finished birdhouse.  I simply placed some corsage pins to mark the holes
before applying my adhesive to the layer of paper on the front.

Step 6: Erica is always coming up with spectacular tips and tricks.
This next one was HER IDEA!
I cut slits (like pieces of pie) and folded them over
to the back side of the birdhouse.  I then applied some
adhesive to keep them adhered.

Step 7: Trace the scalloped roof frame using a matching design paper.
I used the back side of the same card stock I used for the birdhouse.

This will help eliminate scraps and help to keep your design cohesive.
I did keep close to the scalloped edge

but cut a little wider then my pencil markings again
for the purpose of sanding it down once it was
adhered together.

Step 8:  Ink edges with your preferred ink/stain/paint and

allow to dry (this can be done before or after applying your paper
depending on the result you are looking for).
I used Antique Linen at first, but later switched to Vintage Photo for
a more dramatic effect.

Step 9: For the top layer of the roof (to go above the scalloped piece), I chose to
apply some Green/Blue Chevron Washi Tape - Indie Chic by My Mind's Eye
rather than paper.
Here are the finished roof pieces together.

Step 10:  I applied the three finished pieces together and began to work
on the circle entrance way piece.
I used the same Indie Chic c Washi tape for the top circle.

 I applied Washi on the inside and outside then I made slits
to fold it over.  I tried to keep
it from having any seems.
TRIED being the key word in the last sentence LOL!

 
Step 11: For the inside of the

entrance way, I applied a pink Washi Tape (Indie Chic also).

I cut slits again to be folded over to the backside
AMAZING TIP ERICA!
THANKS!

 Step 12: I now took time to make my cuts from the Cricut Cartridges I mentioned above.
I did end up changing out a few of the cuts towards the end of my project.
I just wasn't happy with the ovals on the flags.
I will explain in a moment, what changes I made.
The swirl shape was cut using the Playtime Cartridge at 2" on all 4 layers.
The flags were cut from the Jubilee Cartridge at 2".
The ovals were cut from the Jasmine Cartridge at 1".

I think the ovals and flags were "too busy" to
give me the ultimate look I wanted.
On top of that, The ABC on the flags aren't very visible.

Step 13: For the flower box, I decided to
use my adhesive back strips in a chocolate brown color.
I just flipped them over and traced the two
pieces that would be the flower box.
Then, easy peesy, peeled off the backing and applied.
I added some Vintage Photo Ink to all the showing edges.

Step 14: I decided to cut my swirl into two pieces and
use them on the outer edges of the "name plate"

  
Step 15:  This is where you see it all together
(Silly me, forgot to take pictures while I created the
new flags and covered the name plate...LOL)

The flags were cut in 2 layers using the flip feature for 3 of the 6 cuts.
I was also able to use the first flags, shown earlier, as a center piece for extra
sturdiness and a more chunky design.
The yellow paper is Core'dinations Sunflower Yellow card stock.
I added some Websters Pages alpha stickers (a, b, and c) from the  
little storytellers collection 
to each of the three flags 

Step 16: I traced the outline of my "name plate" and applied some flower print
design paper from Simple Stories.
For the center of it, I applied a fun chalkboard sticker that
just so happened to be an exact shape match...BONUS!!!
I added a few chipboard alpha stickers to
tie the School Theme together more.

Step 17:  I also used the asterisk symbol from the Jasmine Cartridge
since they looked like a star.  The 6 of them were cut
on cream card stock at 1" to be placed on the scalloped portion
of the flower box.
Then I added some bling pearls in the centers.
You can also see that before applying the hooks to the finished
birdhouse, I added small flowers and a pencil sticker
from the Fancy Pants - Off to School Collection.

Now, be sure not to miss what Erica (Hop Stop #10 today)
has created with her
wonderful Bird House,
Adorable Papers,
and some fun NEW Cricut Cartridge Cuts.
A little Birdie told me, 
that this will be part of a kit she will be offering 
for purchase
at her store, Erica's Craft Room!

Now it is time to Hop over to Jen L's Blog as the next stop!

If you get lost along the way,
please follow this lineup for Day 1 of the Hop!

Also be sure to head over to  My Cricut Craft Room tomorrow for Day 2.

1. MCCR

 2. Kathy
3. Heather
4. Miranda
5. LB
6. Amy 
7. Claire
8. Shelley
9. Jenn Lorist
10. Erica's Projects
11. Angie
12. Cathy
13. Tammy
14 Samantha
15. Nadja
16. Lisa Carrier
17. Robin
18. Jessica S
19. Jen L
20. Blog Candy 

Keep Crafting 

:O) 

Jessica