Christmas is... and a Blog Award

I've been in the mood to use some of the MANY new things I've been purchasing lately but haven't gotten around to playing with. Here I made another simple card using one of the new larger format Cuttlebug folders, my new MS holly border punch, some new WIRED ribbon from M's (those cool swirls will STAY swirled!) and The Christmas Long Border from The Cutting Cafe. Really quick and simple but I love how it came out.

Inside I've used another of the many Christmas Card Inside Greetings, also from The Cutting Cafe. These are a life saver for me and you'll be seeing plenty more in the future. I'm so happy that I now have my Printmaster program so I can change the color of these printable stamps. Regina has full instructions HERE for working with the stamps if you're interested. Instructions for resizing and the like too.

I also want to thank my dear friend Leah for this very special blog award. Her friendship means the world to me. Love ya Sweetie! Because I'm feeling really thankful for all you the friend I've met through this wonderful hobby I want to pass it on to each and every one of you. Feel free to copy it and paste it to your blog and say it's from me. I truly appreciate your inspiration and support.

A Contemporary Christmas Card from The Cutting Cafe

So this one is a little different for me. I was inspired by the little ribbon trio I got at M's last week. The color combo just sings to me and I thought a contemporary card might be in order. I browsed through my Cutting Cafe files and came across the Christmas Long Phrases printable stamp set. There are 6 different phrases included in this set, but the "May you holiday season be all wrapped up in cheer" was perfect for what I had in mind.

I printed the phrase out twice in the colors to match my ribbons and wove them together to look like a wrapped present. The background is embossed with the new Tartan Cuttlebug folder. Then all I needed was a big bow.

Regina must have read my mind this year when she came up with the Christmas Card Inside Greetings. I rarely finish the inside when I'm making a card and then have to scramble to come up with something when I want to send it. NO MORE! In fact there are so many different sentiments in this set that I've finished the last 3 cards both inside and out! YEA!!!!!! There's a variety of different fonts and styles so this is a MUST HAVE! Also don't forget! You have until midnight PST to download the Christmas Daily set ABSOLUTELY FREE. Regina has had such an overwhelming response to this generous offer that she even has a link where you can download it YOURSELF. NO WAITING! Click HERE before it's gone!

The Cuttlebug Spot Turkey Challenge

As soon as I found out we were doing a turkey challenge for the Cuttlebug Spot I thought I was set. I had the most adorable image that Aprile from the Cricut message board had sent me last year for the MCPT challenge and planned on using that. Boy has it been a LONG time since I pulled out my pencils but I was up for it. Well, the coloring went okay, but then I went to cut him out to add more interest and I just couldn't make it all come together. Back to the drawing board. Next I cut a turkey out of patterened cardstock, cut off most of his tail feathers and went to add some embossed ones but that didn't look right either. Now what!? It was getting later and later! Then I went to my Cuttlebug stuff and saw the new Persia cardmaking combo which I had yet to use. Could I turn that peacock into a turkey? You betcha! I trimmed off his head and feet, cut a body out with my petite scalloped Nesties circle and used the leaves also from that die for feathers. I thought some of the other cool cuts could be turned into a wing and more fancy feathers and hand cut a waddle. So there you go.

The feathers are embossed with the Herringbone folder and I used the new Tartan for the background. The embossed frame is also from the Persia set. Of course I snuck in some Swiss Dots and the wing is embossed with one of the folders from the butterfly set. I finished it off with some adhesive beads and a peel off from Stampendous. WooHoo! There are loads of fun stuff from my DT sisters so be sure and check out their wonderful projects HERE. We have the week off next week so if I don't see you before, have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Hugs, D

Mystery Box Project Revealed

Here it is, what you've been waiting for. Finally the Custom Crops Mystery Box project that keep me sooo busy last week is posted and ready to reveal. My project is a recipe box and recipe card holder. It all started with a papier mache gabled house that I got at my LSS.

Here are the box contents: Jillibean Soup Kraft paper (almost missed that), German glass glitter, Mini gel pen holder and pens for the Cricut, Sizzix embossing folders, Shrink film, plastic utensils and a box of Kix Swirls cereal. the gel pen holder and utensils gave me the basic idea for my project and enjoyed the challenge of using all of the objects.

See if you can spot where they all were used.

There are lots more pix and an explanation of how it all came together HERE. All of the participating designers did a fabulous job and I'm sure we are all looking forward to the next time. And if you'd like to be included as a guest designer and receive your very own Mystery Box Challenge, be sure to email Custom Crops for the chance. The address is at the top of the Mystery challenge page.

Christmas Daily from the Cutting Cafe -Free for a limited time!

Oh wow! Regina has a fabulous new set called Christmas Daily that she is offering for FREE through November 19th! If you're unfamiliar with the concept (as I was) Regina has a link on the site to give you ideas. Doesn't that sound like FUN! 89 images that you can use to make your own Christmas Daily album, or use as you please for cards or layouts! After that time the price goes up to $12.99 so HURRY! This is Regina's way of saying thank you to all of her friends of the Cafe site! THANK YOU REGINA! Click HERE to view and download this fabulous set, but HURRY!

O Holy Night- .Cut File Available

Okay, I know it's Monday so where is BBTB? I'm so sorry to say I dropped the ball this week. My dear DT sister DeeDee came up with a really fun but challenging cut but the Mystery Box Challenge for Custom Crops took 3 solid days of work plus several additional days of shopping for more stuff and my mojo was totally drained. Obviously this was not a problem for most of the team so be sure to pop by BBTB and see the marvelously creative things they came up with. So where is the Mystery Box? Hopefully to be posted later this week along with The Cuttlebug Spot. Poor Nilda is down with the flu. Check back later for our turkey challenge. Fortunately I do have a new design for Custom Crops using the new When It's Cold Outside cartridge. I was blown away by this gorgeous creche and set about making a shaped card that resembles an ornament and could sit on a mantle. I welded the title using Blackletter and enhanced the star using Joys of the Season. The base is made from shaped from Plantin Schoolbook. The FREE cut file and full instructions are available HERE.

BINGO! - .Cut File Available

Bingo cards seem to be all the rage so I decided to use Design Studio to make some of my own. I did several versions, a regular one and some with different headers for holiday time. The FREE .cut files are available HERE at Custom Crops.

I made the generic Bingo card into a card. Thought it would be great for a male birthday or to celebrate some other important day.

These are some of the holiday ones. In the article I explain how they could be used for a Christmas countdown for the whole family. There are plenty of different headers (including WISH, BELIEVE, and even HUMBUG) that could also be used for different occasions.

If you're really careful, you can use the negative cuts to make even MORE Bingo cards! I turned this one into a tag. I really had fun with these. What do you think, Lillie? (She's the BINGO QUEEN!)

Give Thanks- .Cut file available

I decided this year not to just skip by Thanksgiving and go directly to Christmas so I designed this card for Custom Crops. I intend to send it to my cousin who lives in Michigan. When DH was still in grad school we spent many a Thanksgiving there in Lansing. We talk far too infrequently and she really enjoys my cards (when I get my butt in gar and send them ). It's a shaped front card using Opposites Attract, Doodlecharms and Plantin Schoolbook. I really love the look of the mixed fonts on OA and wonder why I don't use it more often. Also really love Fall colors and beautiful warm plaids. Was happy how the herringbone texture looks on the word "Thanks".

Big surprise there's lots of dimension, inking, and of course adhesive beads but I was happy to find it still fit in a business size envie. Full instructions and the FREE cut file is available HERE. I sure hope everyone is enjoying these projects. It takes loads of time to clean up my .cut files and take extra pix and write the article. Unfortunately we don't get any feedback from that site unless you leave a comment. I REALLY appreciate the extra effort those of you have made to leave a comment there. Thanks sooooo much!

Let's Get Fruity with The Cuttlebug Spot

This week at The Cuttlebug Spot we're getting fruity, or should I say our projects must all have some kind of fruit on them. Well, this challenge project comes with ANOTHER little story. LOL Skip this part if you're bored. Since the beginning of the year crafting has taken over my life and my daily exercise has been cut down to...well, shall we say non-existant? Needless to say this has not been great for the figure and the jeans are getting mighty tight. Therefor, I have resumed my healthy eating plan and added at least a bit of activity other than loading the Cricut and cranking the Cuttlebug in hopes of being able to fit comfortably into my winter clothes. If starvation isn't bad enough, I've been on the wagon since last Monday (that being a WEEK ago, not yesterday) so the ONLY fruits I could think about were WINE GRAPES. LOL I made this tag using my 3 smallest oval Nesties which I glued and popped to a hand cut triangle. I used an old cartridge package for the leaves. First I dropped in some alcohol inks and let them dry. Then I cut it with my Cuttlebug Leaf die and embossed. (Had to run it back and forth a few times and sort of punch it out, but eventually it worked.) I backed them with some cardstock leaves for a bit more color.

The label is a Nesties Label 4 with a bit of inking with Distress inks. I thought this would be cute packaging when I bring wine to a dinner party. I'm afraid I'm gonna be whining for at least as couple more days. No wine for me until Friday when we go to a special Winemaker's dinner at a local winery. Trust me, I'm counting the days! :D My Design Team sisters just rocked this challenge so why don't you go have a look HERE and of course we'd love to see what you're going to create.

Snow Bird

This week at BBTB my dear and fabulously talented friend Carole hosted the challenge and chose the little bird from the Storybook cartridge. For some reason this cut made me think of the old Anne Murray song "Snowbird". Back in the very early 70's (before I knew him) my DH hitch hiked from Michigan to Vancouver Island, built a log cabin on Wreck Beach and lived off the land for 9 months. (How we ever got together beats me. My idea of camping is when room service is late. LOL) I've heard lots of stories about his experiences including how often this song was playing on the radio when someone picked him up. He has fond memories of his time there, and we have even traveled to the area and found the site where his cabin had been although it had long since washed away with the tides. I made this card for him.

This view shows the shaped front a bit better. The snowflakes are from Accent Essentials, Winter Woodland and When It's Cold Outside. The two smaller ones show through the front from the inside. The branch. the word "Snow" and the shaped back are also from Winter Woodland and the word "Bird" is from Opposites Attract. All is welded using Design Studio. I am not a gypsy convert yet and probably won't be in the near future. Besides some of the capabilities issues which I know they're hard at work fixing, the screen is just too small for my poor old eyeballs. LOL I'm not sure you can tell, but the snowflakes are all glittered using my Xyron and the bird is embossed with D'vine swirls.

Oops! I guess Carole was thinking Spring when she chose this cut. that's the beuty of these challenges. They are open to so many beautiful interpretations. In any case this was loads of fun. You must stop by Bitten By The Bug to see the beautiful examples from my Design Team Sisters. Then why not have a go at it yourself? BTW, BBTB is also hosting another CONTEST sponsored by Dream Designs by Iralamija (one of my favorite places to shop). There's still time!

ANOTHER Mystery Box and Weekend Swarm pix

Sorry no cards today. I've been busy creating, but of course I have to wait to post. I sure wish I could get caught up enough to do some things just for the heck of it (I say that every week LOL) but as usual I'm running behind. I was very excited to find another Mystery Box from Custom Crops on my doorstep. Obviously Jezzie is too. I can't reveal the contents yet, but if you remember our last Mystery Box challenge, there are 7 items, both craft and non-craft, and we must use all of the items in some way in our project. Stay tuned. If you missed my last Mystery box challenge project click HERE.

I thought it also would be fun to post the pix from our weekend SWARM the weekend of Oct. 24th. A neighbor of Leah's parents was kind enough to let us use her second home in Discovery Bay so off we went. We had a ball...one big slumber party! Here we are hard at work.

Lakisha gave Sandy, Jen and I a BIA demo.

Cody was more interested in his two thumbs. LOL

Happy hour on the back deck.

Happy Mom and her sweet boy! Thanks so much Leah for setting this all up and to Colleen for generously donating her home.

Vintage Christmas Card with Woven Background- Free .cut file available

I couldn't resist doing another Christmas card with A Child's Year. The adorable vintage images really speak to me, and although I know Scherenschnitte (papercutting, actually "scissor cuts") originated in Germany, it reminds me of my Swedish background, especially when done in red and white. I did a bit of welding of the image to a frame from Storybook. The holly accents are also from A Child's Year. I thought the simple design might look pretty against a woven background which I then embossed with D'vine Swirls in my Cuttlebug. Unfortunately this picture really doesn't show the detail. For more views and a full tutorial on weaving the background please click HERE. There is also a free .cut file available for those who are interested also on the Custom Crops site.