How I Got My Craft Groove Back | Toronto Teacher Mom

How I Got My Craft Groove Back

Monday, July 17, 2017

Create a Critter Squirrel Birthday Card

Over the past couple of years, my passion for creating paper crafts has seen a drastic decline. There are many factors that have played a role in this; a lack of free time, general fatigue, a messy craft space in the cold, damp basement, and an addiction to binge watching my favourite shows an absence of inspiration. It wasn't until I jumped on board the Amazon Prime wagon that things changed. The new Cricut Explore Air 2 was on sale during Prime Day for nearly half the price. And Cricut machines are rarely sold at such a discount. It was like Fate's way of saying it was meant to be. I've been wanting a new Cricut for so many years because I wanted to try their design software to create my own designs and also streamline the cutting process. Plus, the Explore Air 2 has a dual carriage so I can write and cut, or score and cut in a single step. And you know what? I've worked really hard on maintaining a successful blog, I deserve to treat myself every once in a while. Am I right?

Cricut Animal Kingdom Dog Birthday Card - square

Once my new Cricut arrived, it was like I got my craft groove back. It didn't take long to get used the Cricut Design Space software and I've already figured out how to get all layers to cut on a single mat so I don't have to unload and reload it for each layer. My first craft was the Create a Critter squirrel birthday card (seen above) that I made for my nephew's third birthday. My second was a birthday card for my daughter who turned 12 yesterday. She loves dogs so I found a cut one on my Animal Kingdom cartridge and used some fancy s.e.i. design paper for the mat. I also embossed using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. Of course, I needed some inspiration for the layout so I turned to Freshly Made Sketches. I rarely make square cards, mainly because I don't have any square envelopes, but I absolutely love how it turned out. Then, last night, my daughter and I designed our own bookmark with a horse and personalized it with her friend's name who will be celebrating her birthday soon. It was so fun!

I am determined to keep up with my little hobby and, as such, am in the process of relocating my craft supplies to our office. I know having a quiet space with good lighting and a place to sit will make a huge difference. I can't wait to finish purging the rest of the office and linking up the dozens of Cricut cartridges to my online account. In the meantime, I hope to update my craft blog over at Diana's Designs with my newest crafts.

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7 COMMENTS

  1. Fabulous cards! Those critters are too cute and you've put them together beautifully. Thanks so much for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches.

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    1. Thanks so much, Karren! And thanks for the sketch inspiration!

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  2. Love the birthday cards you made & glad you got your crafting groove back! You are very creative!

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  3. Those are so cute! I really need to get back into crafting, used to do a lot of it but got away from it. (Judy Cowan)

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  4. I totally love the cards,my daughter has a Cricut and makes some making items !

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  5. Beautiful cards, I'll have to take a peek over at your craft blog Diana's Designs. I didn't know that you had one, not that I'm a crafty person myself though.

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  6. Those are very cute cards. Sometimes we just need a break for those creative juices to come back.

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