Lady Lenore Layout ~ Fantabulous Cricut Crawl

I discovered Fantabulous Cricut yesterday. This week, they are hosting a Fantabulous Cricut Crawl. You can read all the details here.  Basically, the challenge is to follow links to different blogs, each one having a different element to incorporate into your project. There were eleven elements total, and I was able to use 10 of them. It was quite a challenge!


I decided to do a layout. I am much more of a card maker than a scrapbooker, and was quite out of my comfort zone on this one, but for over a year now I’ve really wanted to make a page for my daughter, using photos taken as she performed in her school play, “The Worst High School Play in the World”. In a nutshell, the play is about a prince that gets kidnapped as a baby and left in the forest. He is raised by a family of squirrels (that’s why I have squirrels on the page), but is eventually discovered by a monk. When returned to civilization, he meets “one with small feet” (aka a woman) and falls in love. In the end, the crown is returned to him and everybody (except the villain) lives happily ever after. It was a great play and the kids all did a super job. It was a far cry from the worst high school play in the world.

The first stop in the crawl was Angi's blog. Angi gave detailed instructions on how to make an accordion flower, and challenged us to use one in our project. Oh boy! I’d never made an accordion flower. I was able to understand the directions, but my first attempt ended up to be much larger than I liked and looked ridiculous on my layout. I ended up cutting my strip at ¾ inches and was much happier with the results. I even used my new Itty Bitty Bits punch for the tiny scallop circle in the middle.

Next, it was off to Brenda's blog.  Brenda challenged us to create a journal box with our Cricut. I used Stretch Your Imagination for this one. I’ve had this cartridge in my craft closet for well over a year – still in its plastic packaging!! I welded together two boxes with ticket corners and added a swirl to match the one in the title for my page. I computer generated my journaling as I am far too hard on myself with respect to my penmanship. As I don’t scrapbook much at all, this was new for me as well.  (Ugh - I just noticed an error!)

I was then taken to Candace's blog.  Well, there we were encouraged to do some embossing on a Cricut cut. Everybody knows how much I love my Cuttlebug, so this was a pleasure for me to do! I embossed my tree trunks and “leaves”, the squirrels’ tails, the acorn tops and the lettering for my title.

On Lori's blog, we were challenged to use a die cut negative. I did this for the swirl next to the title as well as the swirl in my journal box. I used the swirl from the title in the corner of the photo, under my accordion flower.

Nana challenged us to use a Gypsy. I don’t have Gypsy, but I do have Design Studio. I used it for my entire project! I welded the title shadow, adjusted image sizes, and simply lay things out to cut. However, Nana did note that if we didn’t have a Gypsy we could incorporate a swirl into our project. As previously mentioned, I have a swirl by my title, one in my journal box and another in the corner of the photo.

It was then on to Penny's blog. (I found Fantabulous through Penny. She’s got some great creations with plays on words. I love that!) Penny challenged us to use a shadow. I’ve got quite a few on my layout! Most elements contain a shadow. I always like to add shadows to my work, so this was a challenge with my name written all over it!

Robin encouraged us to use Cricut markers – or another sort of pen. I never knew that gel pens could be used with the Cricut until I read her blog! I need to look for the special mini gel pen holder in order to use them. Thanks for the information, Robin! I have had my markers for ages, and this was only the second time I’ve ever pulled them out. I used a Cricut marker to add another frame inside my journal box. I also outlined the swirl of the journal box before cutting. It’s difficult to see in the photo (see the journal box photo above), but it adds an extra bit of contrast.

Next, it was off to Sammye Jo's blog. Sammye Jo challenged us to use inking or drawing on our die cuts. I inked the title, the squirrels, acorns, trees, apples, and grass. I also drew the squirrels noses and whiskers and added some gel pen to the apples.

I am afraid to say that I drew a blank at Sharon's blog. Sharon gave a wonderful tutorial on glass etching. I just didn’t know how to fit it into this project. I’ve never tried glass etching before, but Sharon makes it sound so easy. Perhaps I will give it a go another time. I know where to find the instructions now! I’m sorry, Sharon, that yours was the only element I did not use....

Next, it was off to Tammy's blog. Tammy challenged us to do some paper piecing. This is an easy task with the Cricut! I did paper piecing for the trees, the squirrels, the acorns and the apples. Those apples were a challenge with their tiny little stems!!

Finally, I was at the last blog – Valerie’s Crafty Go Lucky blog. Valerie challenged us to incorporate a food element on our project. Initially, I just had the acorns (food for squirrels at least!), but the trees needed more than just the embossing I had done. I added some apples and it seemed to be just the right touch!

Thanks, ladies, for your encouragement and challenges. This was just what I needed to make a layout. I was far out of my comfort zone, but ended up thoroughly enjoying the process. My daughter is delighted with the end result too! This was a “fantabulous” way to spend my day off.