Play Time Layout with the E2

Can you believe it's Saturday already?  Where did this week go???  Well, it's my Saturday as Guest Designer on Everyday Cricut, so if you're coming from there, thanks for stopping by, and feel free to look around the blog here.  You can also leave a comment on today's post for a chance to win a custom-embroidered Gypsy tote bag.  If you haven't been to Everyday Cricut yet, be sure to pop on over there!  Also, I want to give a huge thank you to Emma for being our Guest Designer here yesterday.  Didn't she do an amazing job?  Thanks, Emma!!

Alrighty, who has gotten the new Cricut Expression 2 yet???  I just got mine 2 days ago, and finally took it for a spin today.  Well, I must confess that first I got my super smart hubby to do the update for me, and THEN I dove in.  I actually read through the entire user manual, while trying out each function.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  But I feel pretty comfortable with it now, and really love it.  So today I decided that I'd like to make a project using only the E2 and the carts that are pre-loaded into it.  Here it is.  See below for sizing details...

This single page 12x12 layout was made using mostly papers from Echo Park's "Playground" line (plus a couple of solids from Stampin' Up). I am a HUGE Echo Park fan - their papers are wonderful to design with!  I used the Cricut Essentials cartridge to cut the navy blue "merry-go-round" wheel at 9 1/2".  The orange circle behind it is 10", and the white circle behind that is 10 1/4".  The cut isn't really meant to be a merry-go-round, but I thought it kinda looked like one and went with the paper and theme.  I also cut the arrows from Cricut Essentials, all at 3", including the white shadows.

The "Play Time" title is cut at 3 1/4" from the Just a Note cartridge, and this is the cartridge I was most excited to start playing with.  I think it's just adorable - and it also has THE cutest tri-fold cards on it - can't wait to try those out!!  I like that the "Play Time" title has so many layers and a nice shadow - that really helped me tie in a lot of the colors from the layout.  And of course I added a few buttons for a little extra cuteness.

This bear and slide are also from Just a Note, and it's cut at 4 1/2".  Again, lots of great layers (I'm all about the details!!), and a nice shadow as well.  Since there's so much color going on in this layout, the white shadows really help separate them visually.  I added faux stitching in both white and black, and some little polka dots as well.

I don't use arrows too often (don't know why that is - they're so cool!!), but in this case, I really think they helped give the scene a sense of motion and fun.  Oh, and I used a double layer of pop dots to pop up the navy blue merry-go-round cut to give it extra depth.

The photo mat sizes are as follows: Merry-go-round pattern is 4 1/4" x 6 1/4". Red solid mat is 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". Light blue mat is 5" x 7". All layers are inked with dark blue chalk ink (as are the other Cricut cuts in this project). I tucked the photo mat into the navy merry-go-round wheel, again to just add more depth and to help tie everything together.  Thanks for coming over to play today, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance at this week's blog candy!!!  Enjoy your weekend!