Dimensional Art - 3D hedgehog cards on the Cricut Explore

When I was away last week I saw on a Facebook group there was a new cartridge in the Cricut subscription and on checking it out on my iPad I was so excited to see a hedgehog design!

The cartridge is called Dimensional Paper Art and can be found by searching the cartridges on design space. 

There is a wide range of designs from feathers and flowers to dinosaurs and hedgehogs. Some cuts are just the designs but there are also projects such as cards with envelopes.

I decided to make the hedgehog card with the 2 curled up hedgehogs. I have a selection of square envelopes so went into layers and deleted the envelope so I just had the card and made it 5 inches high to fit my chosen envelope. Due to this size I could cut 2 on a 12x12 sheet so that's what I did. Inside it has a cute sentiment of 'sending hedgehugs'. 

I cut the main card base out of a purple bazzill basics cardstock which was strange enough to stand nicely as a card blank.

I then cut the hedgehog design from Centura Pearl Snow White cardstock. It all went fine until the second design was cutting and then I kept having Bluetooth problems so decided to try another design for the 2nd card. 

My second design was the hedgehog with the flowers so I attached this to a circle the same size as the circle on the other hedgehog design (4.6 inches) and cut this out of thin card to see how it came out. 

I much prefer the double hedgehog design as the flowers pop out more and they might get caught going in and out the envelope whereas the hedgehog spikes are only small. To push the spikes up I used a pokey tool and pushed from the back. This took ages but gives a lovely finish.

I lightly brushed a sponge with Tattered Rose distress ink over the double hedgehog design so it just caught the edge of the spikes and I also put this round the outside of the circle. 

I glued the designs onto the cards ensuring I only glued around the outside. 

I like how these turned out and will be trying out some more designs in this cartridge soon (when I've solved the Bluetooth issue)

Pottery Painting at Center Parcs

I've just returned from 4 nights away at Longleat Center Parcs with my Mum, Dad and sister. This was my first time at a Center Parcs resort and I booked for my sister and I to do pottery painting. It cost £5 each for 90 minutes studio time and you then pay extra for the item you want to paint. We weren't sure what was on offer to paint before going but having searched reviews online I saw plant pots mentioned so had an idea that's what I'd go for since we needed a nice pot for the rose by husband brought me for our anniversary.

We arrived at 11am for our slot. No one really noticed us waiting at the desk at first but a lady walked by and asked if she could help, I said we had a booking for 11am and she said she was busy but would be back (we felt a bit like we were in the way and not really welcomed.) The lady came back, asked if we had been before and advised us that all the items we could paint were on the shelves and prices were on the samples, the take a seat and the to call someone over. I was a bit confused so asked if we then told them what we wanted to paint and she said no we just picked it up and took it (if only she had explained that bit originally!)

There was a wide range of items to choose from including mugs, bowls, ornaments like princesses (very much like Belle from Beauty & the Beast), words such as dream, money boxes and bowls. I went for the plant pot and my sister chose a dog bowl with feet. Prices weren't on them all but in the end we chose what we wanted rather than worrying about the prices as we would rather have something we would use. It turned out my pot was £15 and Laura's dog bowl was £20 which I think was quite pricey! 

We sat down and a lovely lady called Sue came over (so glad it was her rather than the first lady we met.) She explained that the paint came out pale but after glazing they darkened and there were lizards on the wall showing the different between the unvarnished and varnished colours. We also had a tile on our table with the finished colours. She explained we needed to do a few coats to get good coverage and also pointed out the tools available like masking tape and stamps. I did try making tape but it wouldn't stick to my pot so ended going freehand instead.

The paint dried quickly between coats so we didn't get too messy although one paint tube had dried up so the lid flew off as we squeezed it! Whoops!

When we finished we were told to bring the items up to pay for them (it was tricky trying to carry a damp plant pot while in a wheelchair and the lady (same one who we met as we arrived) didn't offer to help but luckily the 'taxi/security' man who came to pick us up helped which was very kind. She also said we didn't have our names on them so wrote our villa number on the base.

We were told the items would be ready in 24 hours for collection so my Dad kindly went back and got them for us. 

We're really happy how they turned out. My plant pot matches the colour scheme in our living room perfectly.

I would do this again but it would be helpful to know what items are available before going so you can plan your design etc or know how much you will be spending.