elegant card set

hi all!

so i anyone else thinking about new year's resolutions?  i rarely make any but this year is different - i actually have a number of them.  they are more like goals for the year i guess.  maybe some of both. i have been exercising regularly and want to continue - which for me is huge because i am so NOT a fan nor have i ever done it :P  i was more active once upon a time but not an exerciser for the sake of exercising.  however i am determined to put a stop to the weight gain if the last several years!  i have been doing weights with hubby downstairs in his gym and while i don't like the actual working out it IS nicer doing it all together.  pezza goes down their too and has some baby weights - she is hysterical down there.  she has been going in the weight room with daddy since she was very small and she is quite comfortable in there.  bubba comes too and hangs out with us.  i also want to learn to do more on my computer with photoshop, in design and my wacom tablet.  we have soe family financial goals too that we will continue to work towards (which means continuing to watch my spending - BLECH!)

of course i will continue to make it a priority to spend time in my studio!  today i wanted to show y'all a set of cards and tags i made for my MIL - i was very pleased with how they turned out:

hopefully she was too!

It's so easy to put one of these together - I started with the Damask Decor Cricut Cartridge - i have been itching to try some of the cards and tags on it and had not had time.

Next I picked out a 6"x6" paper pad i wanted to use.  I gathered some solid cardstock to match the colors in the paper pad and this way i knew all of my items would coordinate nicely with each other.

For the first 2 cards i chose the card creative feature.  This cuts out a beautiful card front in any size you want.  I knew i would be matting mine so i cut them at a slightly smaller size.  i could also cut out the card base but since these were both just plain rectangles i did not do that with the cricut - it would have wasted paper.  but there are shape cards on the cartridge too.

Next I made one using the main shape and it's layers.  every shape on this cartridge is gorgeous and they make incredible embellishments!

this last card uses the silhouette creative feature and is also very striking.  I wanted these cards to be clean & simple without any bulky embellishments so all i did was ink all of my edges and then i added a few glittered skittles or pezabling accents.

the cartridge also has a tag feature which i used for these.  the best part - see the two tags with the blue die cuts - that is one cut - i used the positive AND the negative of the cut to create 2 tags!

i packaged them up in a clear box - i purchased a big stack of these years ago from clear bags i think.  i tied the box with the same ribbon i used on the tags.

i am really anxious to make some more of these - i loved playing with the shapes as well as mixing and matching all the coordinating elements.  who knows maybe i can sell them on etsy!