Thank You Cards with Create a Critter

I needed to make some thank you cards for a few special friends that have been a huge help in my life lately, so I decided to make some simple ones using Create-A-Critter.  Everywhere I go, people rave that Create-A-Critter is their favorite cartridge, and I can see why!

 

I don't wanna toot my own horn here, but...

oh who am I kidding?

Is that brown and purple terrier card not the CUTEST??!!??!!  I want to make about 75 more of that card and give it to everyone I know.  Sorry poodle card, I love you too...

Here's what I used to make these cards:

• Create a Critter Cartridge (Terrier and Poodle)
• DCWV Naturals Cardstock Stack (Terrier card base)
• DCWV Basic Cardstock Stack (Poodle card base and mat)
• Core'dinations Gemstone Stack (Terrier mat, Poodle hair)
• Core'dinations Foundations (Terrier)
• EK Success scallop border punch
• Cuttlebug Folders (I used Spots and Dots and Swiss Dots)
• Sentiments from Hero Arts Everyday Sayings
• Ribbon from JoAnns dollar bin
• Glue Dots pop up dots

The dogs are both cut at 3 3/4" and are both on A2 sized cards.

See that Yorkie's fancy little collar? I blinged that out using my new, had-to-have-it hotfix tool:

Note that it is NOT an iRock.  I wanted one (mostly because it would match my super sweet pink ATG there on the right), but I was hearing stories about how it would only work once, wasn't heating correctly, etc. etc.  I saw this $10.99 Jolee's one at JoAnns and snagged it.  I've only used it once, but it worked perfectly for me!  Maybe one day I'll give the infamous iRock a chance.  My Jolee tool can't last forever.  I DO love bling ;)

Monogram Black and White Cookies

This is one of my favorite recent Cricut Cake creations.  Damask is totally trending in the wedding world right now, and how great would these cookies be for wedding favors, or even a bridal shower?

 Here's my recipe for how I made them.  I apologize for not having step-by-step pictures, I made these before this blog was born.  I'll be better next time, I promise :)

Damask Monogram Cookies

• No-Fail Sugar Cookie Recipe (can be found here)
• Black and white Fondant (I used Fondarific)
• Something to use as "glue" (you can use anything from corn syrup, vanilla extract, or even water)
• Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art Cartridge  

 ...can I pause for a moment and just say how OBSESSED I am with this cartridge??

If you haven't picked up Marthas carts at HSN, do it NOW.  Run.  Do not walk.  They are the BEST carts for the Cricut Cake.  Everything cuts BEAUTIFULLY.

OK, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The first thing I did was prepare the cookie dough on my mats.  Yep, you heard me right.  I CUT THE COOKIE DOUGH with the Cricut.  This is a little more complicated then it seems.  Your cookie dough has to be pretty much frozen solid or you WILL NOT be able to cut anything.  It will just tear and smear around the mat and make you pull your hair out.

Not that I know that from personal experience or anything...

I prep my mat with shortening, put a glob of cookie dough on the mat, and cover it with a piece of wax paper.  Then I take my rolling pin and go to town.  Take note: your cookies will have to be pretty thin to cut on the cricut.  

After rolling out the dough, I throw the mats in the freezer and freeze them.  This doesn't take long, so while the dough is freezing I set up my Cricut Cake.

I cut the scalloped circles at 3", and the damask cookies at 3.5", using the Autofill feature.  Each image would cut 9 times on a 12x12" mat.  After I cut them, I froze them AGAIN, to make removal easier.  The frozen cuts slid right off onto a cookie sheet.

While my cookies were baking, I cut my fondant, using the Flourish Frame and Damask image and the shadow on the cart at the same size as the cookies.  "Glue" together with whatever you use, and VOILA!

Trust me, they taste as good as they look :)

Stay tuned!  I have more goodies coming soon!

WELCOME to my blog!

Welcome to my VERY first post on The Crafty Kitchen!  My name is Kristin, and I can't wait to share my loves and creations with you.  I should start out by saying I LOVE to create things.  I started baking and decorating cakes, cupcakes and cookies a few years ago, and it soon became almost an obsession.  A few months ago I bought a handy dandy little machine called the Cricut Cake.

Beautiful, right?  ;)

I immediately fell in love with this machine.  Suddenly I had MILLIONS of cuts for my creations right at my fingertips.  Once I was on the Cricut bandwagon, I was hooked.  I started seeing all of the crafts people were making with their Cricut Expressions, and I wanted to try it.  Now I can't stop creating!

I created this blog to share my yummy creations with you.  Hopefully I can expand this blog and eventually do fun giveaways and projects.  I'm also going to try to make some informative Cricut Cake videos for all of you Cricut fans out there.

Thanks for coming on my creative journey!