Hey y'all, I'm ready for Spring!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about you???  My youngest step-daughter's birthday is tomorrow and for her birthday I wanted to give her a little taste of Spring.  She too is a cancer survivor and like me ever since she went through her treatments she just stays cold, so what could be more appropriate?  We are taking her out to lunch tomorrow and that is when we will give her the card...I sure hope she likes it!

Just recently I purchased an Elizabeth Craft Designs die set called "Curvy Leaves" and right about that time I came across a card by Pam Sparks that really caught my eye.  I think I was on Pinterest, but I can't remember for sure.  At any rate, she used a Memory Box die on it that was a leafy frame, called "Massa Leaf Frame" and it got me to thinking that I could cut some of my "Curvy Leaves" and scan them and make me my own leaf frame die.  I also thought why not make it the exact size of the leaves on my new die and then cut some die cuts and place on top of the cut file I made in my cutter software.....so that is exactly what I did!  Here is a link to Pam Sparks card that I cased....scroll down to the green one!  I added a lattice to my frame.  I used several Memory Box dies, including the Finn Butterfly, which was WAY too big for my card, so I scanned it, downsized it and cut it with my cutter to fit my card.  The pretty flowers were made using my Memory Box "Fabulous Phlox" dies that I've had for quite a while, but I think this may be either the first or second time I've used them...but I'm liking the look and will be using them a lot more!!!  I inked the edges of the flowers using "Crushed Olive" distress ink.  The enamel dots were made by me using cardstock, ultra thick embossing power and my heat gun.  I also used a little "Clear" Wink of Stella...seems like I just can't make a card these days without using some of it...LOL  Well, here is the card I made.

And here are several close-up photos.  One thing I want to point out is my little ladybugs!!!  I can't remember where I saw this, but you can make ladybugs out of red liquid pearls.  I used some black Stickles to make the heads and then used a black Sharpie to put the line down the body and the little black dots.  Aren't they adorable!!!  

I modeled my "Happy Birthday" after the Memory Box one using the "Crazy Girlz Blond BTN" font.  I made a base and then another layer with the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" cut separate and I used some of my Elizabeth Craft Designs Double Sided Adhesive to add some of their "Cool Diamond" Silk Microfine Glitter to the letters....love that stuff, they feel just like velvet!!!

For the inside of the card I used some more of my die cut leaves and "inlaid" them to make the border across the bottom.  I really like that look!  In this case, I "blocked" the personal message to Janice....for her eyes only!

For my "signature label" on the back of the card I used a Spellbinders die.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek and please hurry back!!!

Finished Card Size:  5.5" Square

Supplies List

Papers:  Recollections 110 lb. "Ivory" and 65 lb. Colored Cardstock, DCWV "Black Glitter Paper" (butterfly body), Canson "Kiwi Iridescent"

Ink:  Tsukineko "VersaMarkWatermark"

Tools:  Pazzles "Inspiration Vue", Silhouette "Cameo",  "Milwaukee" Heat Gun, Sizzix "Big Shot"
Accessories:   "Clear" Wink of Stella Brush Tip Marker, Memory Box "Finn Butterfly" & "Fabulous Phlox"  Dies,  Spellbinders "Ironworks Accents" Die, Recollections Pearls, Elizabeth Craft Designs "Cool Diamond" Silk Microfine Glitter, "Clear Double Sided adhesive" and "Curvy Leaves" Die, Suze Weinberg "Uttra Thick Embossing Enamel", Ranger "Ruby Red Liquid Pearls"  & "Black Diamond" Stickles

Pazzles "Inspiration Vue" Review & Free File Giveaway!!!

Ok y'all.......some of you know that I just recently purchased the Pazzles Vue machine and it arrived here on the 9th and as soon as I received it, I started doing test cuts, so today I going to post my results!  First off, here is a photo of my new Vue!

 I call that my "Cutter Station" as I keep my Silhouette Cameo (the one that has the gorgeous black and white cover to match the decor of my craft room, that my friend Tammy made and gifted to me...love it!!!) on the upper shelf and then my new Vue on the bottom shelf.  Tammy is in the process of making me a cover for the Vue right now.

The first day, I ran some test cuts using some 65# Recollections cardstock...it is one of my favorite cardstocks to use with my cutters as in my opinion it cuts like butter!  The "Happy Birthday" is very tiny and I designed a mat to go underneath it.  I placed the quarter in the photo so that you could tell how tiny some of the test cuts were.  For the test, I set the blade at 2, pressure at 24  and speed at 4 and did one pass.  Since the "Happy Birthday" is SO intricate, I slowed the speed down to 1 and did 2 passes.  Here is the photo of that test.

The nest day I did my second batch of test cuts.  The largest heart frame was cut using some DCWV Shimmers cardstock and it too cut like butter!!! I found that image online, I think it was a free embroidery image, and I made a png out of it in Photoshop CS3, opened it in the InVue software and made me a cutting file....there is the outer frame (purple) and then an inner decorative piece (pink) and it is very intricate!  The 5" border is a file that I downloaded from the Pazzles Craft Room and downsized it to 5" and look how good it cut!!!  Someone was saying that they have trouble cutting the black Recollections 65# cardstock....but it cut perfect with the blade at 2, pressure 24 and 1 pass.

 This next test cut was done on paper versus cardstock.  When you cut paper you need to use an older mat that is not so sticky and I would recommend cutting a piece of paper a little bigger than the image so that if it sticks to your mat really bad, you have not wasted an entire sheet of designer paper!  I used a piece of paper from the Recollections "Black & White Paper Pad...the little chick image is less and 2.25" tall!

 One thing I want to mention here is that I am a "2 cutter person".  I also own the Silhouette Cameo and I did own the Sizzix eClips but sold it to my neighbor when I bought my Pazzles "Inspiration Vue", so I will be using my Vue and my Cameo and I feel like I have the best of both worlds!!!  I decided to do some comparisons between the two cutters and as you can see by my photo, you can hardly tell the difference!!!  For the comparison I wanted an intricate design, so I used one of my Sue Wilson die images, which I scanned and turned into a cut file.  The oval that I used was designed by me.  I noted the media that I used in red on the photo...and here it is!

 Y'all, at this point I want to address doing "double cuts/2 passes/cutting twice" or whatever you want to call it.  To me doing double cuts insures that I get a good smooth cut and that is what I like!!!  Here are close-ups of the "frame" test cuts I did.  For the Cameo, I set my blade at 2, Pressure at 33 and do a double cut......for the Vue I set my blade at 2, pressure at 24, speed at 3 and did 2 passes.  So, as you can see from the photos, by doing the double cuts I got good clean, crisp, smooth cuts!!!

For my next test cuts, I got even more stoked that I already was over my new Vue!!!  Look at the cuts I got using the Recollections 110# cardstock that I normally only use for my card bases...it is HEAVY cardstock like the Gina K Pure Luxury 120# and look at how intricate these cuts are!!!  The black rose overly (from the Pazzles Craft Room) is only 5.25", which gives you an idea of how small the "congrats" is!!!  All of the black cuts were done on the 110# and the blue "congrats" was cut on 65#.  I am SO impressed...........now Michael's needs to stock some more colors of the 110# as right now they only have it in White, Ivory and Black!!!

I ran another test cut last night for a friend who has some Tina Fitch's files and wanted to see how the Vue handled them.  The pink cuts are on 65# Recollections and the black cuts are on 110# Recollections..............did fantastic!!!

So, my final verdict of the Pazzles "Inspiration Vue" is that it is a fantastic cutter and I would highly recommend it.  I will add, if you ONLY cut the thinner media, like the 65# cardstock. then the Silhouette Cameo will do the job...........but why not go for the Vue and be able to cut all of the different media!!!  I have not tested any of it yet, but I will in the near future and as I do I will post the results here on my blog!

Now, for the free file of the Garden Trellis cut file that I made and used on my last card project.

You can find the free download here and I've included the following formats, so I hope this covers everyone:

.jpd, .pvg, .studio, .studio3, svg & wpc

Enjoy and thank you for stopping by..............check back real soon because there is more to come, including more free cut files!!!