Oh So Charming at The Cuttlebug Spot

Continuing our month of embellies, The Cuttlebug Spot is featuring charms this week. I was really pretty excited about this one because I knew immediately what charm I wanted to use. I got these cherries in the clearance at M's awhile back for a buck and they had originally been $19.00. Apparently to go on a bracelet with a clip on clip so it's removable on my card. I figured I'd FINALLY get to use my Spellbinders Cherry Pickin Frame so I had that cut, embossed and colored with gel pens very early on. I'd just gotten new Cricut blades, too so I decided to cut the sentiment from Just Because Cards on my Cricut at 1 1/4", a size I wouldn't normally attempt for a delicate cut like this but it cut like butter and I was on a roll (or so I thought). I pretty much thought I was WAY ahead so I put my card aside to work on some of my other DT things and picked this back up yesterday figuring it would be a snap. Not so much!

Here's where things got tricky. You might want to pause here and get a cup of coffee or glass of wine, depending on what time of day it is in your neck of the woods because I'm gonna ramble again, or you can just skip it all, look at the pix (there are more than usual) and of course leave me a comment (hopefully) and go about your merry way. This card took FOREVER (all day and into the early evening, actually), even though I had all of the major stuff done. It's because I put so darn many self imposed rules and restrictions on my DT cards. I take my DT positions VERY seriously. I try to do each in a style that suits the particular challenge blog be it Cricut, or stamping, or vintage, or macabre or CUTTLEBUG, so you're not gonna see a Cricut card or stamped card with a teeny bit of embossing thrown in as an afterthought because I really want to showcase the Cuttlebug and perhaps show you a different technique, new goody or whatever. Now that's just me. Basically, the challenges are good as long as you use your Cuttlebug somewhere, but I challenge MYSELF with this (and hopefully encourage you to explore your Cuttlebug capabilities a bit more in the process). So I didn't just want to slap this stuff on a card and call it done. I wanted to incorporate more folders, a new card fold, you know, something different but was stumped.

I wanted to use, in particular, a folder from the Cuttlebug Preserves Cricut Companion set because it had cherries on it and also something that looked like a basket (finally decided on the Sizzix Plaid folder from one of their Basic Grey Christmas sets, both on SALE at Custom Crops) but that cherry frame was pretty BIG. I got it in my mind to do one of those sort of petal cards (a square in the middle with half circles at each side that fold up sequentially). Not really sure if I explained that right, but I did designed and cut one on my Cricut and embossed every other one with the 2 folders I mentioned but them couldn't decide what to do with the frame. Put it inside? Obviously this was a no go, because I ended up cutting off 2 of the flaps that WERE embossed with the Preserves folder to stick on version 2 and this is what was left. Hopefully I can use it for something else in the near future.

So on to a regular gate fold card but the thing wouldn't stay closed so I made a band and stuck the frame on that and took this pic but I didn't like this either. the band hid too much of the embossing and was a pain to slide off so I tried again...

ripped the ribbon off, taped it to card stock the same width and attached the frame again. Better, but with the band off the card was so darn plain... so I abandoned the band idea completely. (I do love that cherry ribbon though)

Ripping that frame was pretty difficult but I managed so here's how the final version opens. The colored part of the frame is popped on one side of the gate fold (reinforced with a second frame glued to the back for strength) the the sentiment side is attached directly to the other. Conveniently, when the 2 sides intertwine, the card stays closed. WooHoo! So you see, many times my designs turn out nothing like I originally planned, often take 5 times longer than anticipated, and drive me to drink at the end of the day. I wonder if any of you STILL want to get inside my head while I'm crafting. Bet not. LOL Now go have a peek at my my fabulous teamies have done with this challenge and why not try a hand at it yourself?