Cupcake Birthday Card

Today is my sisters birthday and this is the card I made for her.

I used the Cricut Explore for the design, using the cupcake design from the Classically Modern Cards cartridge.

I used papers from the Cherry on Top range from Stampin Up. 

I edited the design a bit to have a patterned background. To save paper I cut the cupcake case out of the background (as it would be covered over)

I used my xyron to make the layers of the cake adhesive. This was so much easier than using glue! 

Next I used an Emboss It pen in my Cricut Explore with my sentiment, then covered it in Stampin Up heat and stick embossing powder, followed by Stampin Up glitter 

This was my first time trying this and I'm pretty pleased but would used a larger font next time just so it's a bit clearer 

I did also make a matching envelope with Stampin Up envelope paper but I can't find the photo! Whoops (I did make the card 3 weeks ago but held off posting this in case my sister saw it) I really like their envelope paper as one side is plain and the other is patterned and they're 12 X 12 size so perfect to use with the Cricut Explore

And here are the birthday cupcakes I baked her, cherry bakewell cupcakes (and they were mega yummy!)

Envelope glue

I've been making a few envelopes recently, mainly where I've made a card and I've not had an envelope to match (or the cards quite 3D and I've needed a deeper envelope). When I've made envelopes for myself I've used either glue, a tape runner or double sided tape, however when making cards for others I want them to look professional. 

I was looking at getting some envelope glue and was advised you can make it yourself with gelatine, I brought gelatine (6 or 7 months ago) and just haven't got round to making it. While buying some craft items recently I saw the envelope glue so decided to finally give in and buy some. 

I made my envelope on my Crafts Companion Ultimate Pro. 

I used Collall tacky glue for the three permanent flaps. 

I then went to use the envelope glue and it wouldn't come out and saw it said to push it down, I did this but kind of too hard....

I spreaded it out, however due to the moisture from the glue puddle it made the envelope a bit wet and crinkly 

Once dry, I licked it (it tasted fine by the way) to remoisen and stick the envelope flap down.

It held well however the edges did curl up a bit so I think I need to practice a bit more. 

Xyron Sticker Maker

Last week I conveniently got struck down with a cold just as the Bank Holiday started so spent the majority of the weekend dosed up and watching craft videos on YouTube. I saw that someone used a Xyron machine for applying their embellishments made with the Cricut Explore and I've been looking for a simply way to stick intricate cuts for my Christmas cards (as I don't want my embellishments falling off!) I recently tried using the Zig 2 way glue pen, which is ok but it's time consuming and isn't the strongest hold.

After looking at the Xyron options I was a bit worried that the 5 inch machine would be a bit bulky and wasn't sure how well the Xyrons would work, but found a disposable version that does up to 3 inch wide items and 20 ft work of stickiness which sounded perfect to try out.

This was £10.99 from Craft U Love (the cheapest I could find unless I was willing to wait for one to ship from America).

Below is what the unit looked like once I took it out the package.

I decided to try a really intricate item first which was an embellishment from the Ornamental Iron 2 Cricut cartridge. I've used this a lot recently and it's a pain the try and glue.

When it comes out you have to rub it to ensure the glue sticks to the item, and that any excess glue gets stuck to the top sheets so you don't get spiderweb type bits of glue.

If there are any bits of stray glue you can just dab them with the top sheet

Here it is, a perfectly glued embellishment and it stuck perfectly.

I also tried using the xyron to glitter some shapes I had and that worked well too.

Finally I tested it with ribbon.

This worked really well too, although it was hard to peal them off the backing sheet, but the ribbon remained flexible and with the see through ribbon you couldn't even see the glue.

Overall I'm really please with the Xyron and I'll see how I get on with just the 3 inch version as it takes up little space, and I love that it's disposable so I don't need to worry about what cartridges to get or if they ever stop supplying them. I also prefer not having the handle (which other models have). As I like it so much I've purchased one through Amazon from an American company for £6.99 which will be here next month (so I have a spare when I run out).