BBTB Non-Traditional Christmas Contest

This is my entry into the current contest over at Bitten By The Bug. We were to do a Christmas card using non- traditional colors. My color inspiration came from a box of frosted citrus colored primas that happened to have two peachy snowflakes included. I used Design Studio to weld a square from Plantin Schoolbook to the shadow feature of the deer and snowflake from Christmas Solutions and another snowflake from Accent Essentials. I used Provo Craft peach cardstock (the 12x24" size because the design was so long). I placed it near the bottom of the mat so as not to cut the entire deer and trimmed what hung down even with the card back. I cut it again in shadow without the card back in silver mirror board, then 3 more times on regular in copper. All layers were popped. (Honestly, I need to buy stock in that company!) The snowflakes were also cut out of peach glitter paper from Best Occasions. The deer body was cuttled with divine swirls and the antlers embellished with silver adhesive beads. I went kind of wild with ribbon but I couldn't restrain myself. LOL On the inside I covered another square of the peach cardstock with creamsicle tulle for a little more texture and trimmed it with a silver peel off border sent to me by my friend B-bug. The Merry Christmas is a peel off from Stampendous. Finally, I added the original prima peach snowflakes that I stickled a little more with copper. It just dawned on me that this also fills the bill for this week's challenge at Hallmark Scrapbook which was to use any snowflake cut. Yahoo! Better go post there too. MAJOR UPDATE: I WON FIRST PLACE!

BBTB Challenge SYI turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Wow, this one is just under the wire. This week's challenge on Bitten By The Bug is to use the turkey from Stretch Your Imagination. I've had this card in my head for awhile and finally decided the best way to do it was to use the turkey head from Animal Kingdom for the front and use the fat little turkey from SYI on the inside. It's kind of a goofy card so I stuck with kind of cartoony colors. The printed paper is from the DCWV Fall paper stack. The animal sounds are also from Animal Kingdom, the word bubbles from Paper Pups, and Happy Thanksgiving is from Wild Card. I added a few google eyes, primas, and skittles, and the small adhesive letters are from J's. Fortunately this one is being hand delivered to my neighbors next door. Hope your holiday is wonderful! Hugs, Donna

Holly Hallmark Scrapbook Challenge

Last week's challenge (see I'm already falling behind with the holiday crunch!) was to use either the holly or poinsettia from the Joys of the Season cartridge. I immediately thought of one of my favorite carols from George Winston's December CD "The Holly and the Ivy." Love the rich colors of these papers. The dot is BoBunny, the greens are K&Company and the gold metallic is Best Occasions. Lots of cartridges got a workout on this one. The holly of course is from Joys of the Season, the & is from Plantin Schoolbook, the flourish is from Home Accents, and I made the ivy leaves in design studio using 5 of the leaves from Accent Essentials. I also welded the letters from Storybook for the word Holly. I love it when I can use a bunch of carts in a design. Sort of justifies the 26 I have (and my motto "more is never enough" LOL) Most cuts were shadow and regular and pop dots were used liberally. Ivy was spelled out using the tiny adhesive gems from M's, and larger ones were used on the holly berries. Tiny gold ones accent "Holly" and the ribbon is from my LSS.

In case I don't make it back tomorrow, here's wishing you and your loved ones a blessed and bountiful Thanksgiving! Hugs, Donna

Give Thanks MCPT card

Thought I'd really better get my rear in gear if I was going to send out any Thanksgiving cards. I don't have much experience stamping but have recently bought a huge number of stamps including this beautiful one by Inkadinkado so I decided today would be a great day to practice my MCPT. I stamped the image on cream cardstock using brown Stazon and colored with my prismas and used mineral spirits to blend. I matted it with paper from K&Company designer mat pad and gold metallic paper from Best Occasions. The fibers I framed it with are Adornaments, the gold peel off leaves and acorns are Stampendous. The sentiments are rub ons from me & my Big Ideas. The "give thanks" circle is popped for dimension. The inside mat is also from K&Co. adorned with the scraps from the front and more peel offs.

BBTB Challenge-SYI tree

The challenge this week over at Bitten by the Bug is to use the bare tree from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. It worked out perfectly for the stairstep card I was dying to make. I cut the tree twice and scored one in sort of a V to allow me to glue it to the second one. This made it more 3D and allowed me (or should I say the birdies) to decorate it with garlands strung with beads and alpha letters. I used a snow writer for the dimensional snow, a MS punch for the birds and the larger snowflakes, a fiskars punch for the small snowflakes, and Animal Kingdom for the squirrel. I also used a MS double scallop punch on corrigated paper for the snowy hills and Debbie Mumm Holiday Stack paper for the background.

I've been Tagged!

How fun! I've been tagged by the talented Heidi Van Laar. I'm really enjoying all of the friends I'm making since owning my Cricut and starting this blog and seeing their wonderful creations and sharing their lives. Thanks for thinking of me. It's taken me awhile to get all of the rules down since I'm so new to blogging but here goes. Okay, I'm having technical difficulties pasting the "I've been tagged" thingey with the rules to my blog. (I told you I was new and practically computer illiterate.) I've been trying for half an hour and need some breakfast I'll be back. I'd hate for my friends not to be able to participate. The rest I managed to do although I haven't officially notified my buddies since they can't proceed until I get this done. Ahhhh, sweet success! No excuses now.

1) I NEVER go barefoot. I can barely deal with sandals when it's 100 degrees because my toes are always froze (like in the Diana Krall song and the name of my blog). I must be the only person alive who has to wear layers of socks in my slippers (even in my Uggs) even in the summer.

2) I was a natural blonde for 49 years until I took the plunge and went red. Thank heaven my husband loves it (like getting a brand new wife without the alimony LOL) 'cause I don't think I'll ever go back. (Sorry Jane and Becky.)

3) I've never been fond of my first name because it doesn't have any cute nickname. I've come to terms with it, but growing up I was called "Kelly" by a high school boyfriend, and "Sam" by a college roommate.

4) I think pizza should be considered a food group.

5) My shoe collection rivals Imelda's.

6) I have tons of crafting ideas running around in my head but have the hardest time starting a project. It's like I need all of my ducks lined up in a row before I can do a thing (just like my Dad and just the opposite of my husband.) This is something I'd really like to change because sometimes I just can't get to it and a great idea goes to waste.

7) I know this probably sounds bad but a fave motto of mine is "More is never enough". I try not to apply it to everything in life (like eating although I'd like to: see #4 LOL) but I can't help myself when it comes to making cards. I'm addicted to embellies.

Okay, hopefully not TMI. Now on to #4. I'm gonna choose a mix of old and new friends and I hope they find it as fun as I did. I apologize if you've been tagged before or you think it's a pain but I've had a ball and I can't wait to get the dirt on you all. Hee Hee. This means you:
Lillie
Julie
Lana
Shelly
Barb
Mayflower
Margie

Now I'm off to give them the good news. Well, let's hope I can figure out rule #1 so I CAN let them know.

White, black and Red Christmas Tree

I needed to relax after the rocking horse card so I pulled out my Cuttlebug Christmas tree folder and did another quick one. The base card is premade by DCWV, then silver mirror board, Black glossy cardstock and white glitter stock from the DCWV matstack framed with a thin peel off border. (What would I do without you Jen? xx) I love how you can change the look of it dramatically with the ornaments you add. The acrylic stickers are from the $ bin at M's. The gems and star is also from M's but not the scrapbooking section. Just happened upon them. (Lucky me!) Ribbon from J's et Voila!

Rocking Horse Hallmark Scrapbook Challenge

Did you ever have a card that conspired against you? Well let me tell you this one was it! I won't bore you with all of the details, but it came THIS CLOSE to ending up in the circular file at least a dozen times. It turned out okay, but let me tell you that there were no intentions of the tree being filled with the Martha Stewart branch punch. The base was welded in Design Studio using a rectangle from Plantin Schoolbook and the shadow versions of the tree, and rocking horse from Joys of the Season, the teddy bear from Christmas solutions and another rectangle from PS to represent a present. (Sorry the inside is posted first but originally I hadn't taken a pic with the card open and when added I it to the post there it went and honestly, I'm too tired to change it. LOL) It all fell apart when I cut the regular versions of the same images and the tree (or 3/4 of it due to the welding) looked funky. I cut off the curly cue side branches but that looked worse. I tried another paper, again, yuck. I really liked the base paper pattern so I thought maybe it would be okay just leaving it as sort of a patterned background but when I finished embellishing the rocking horse and bear the tree looked ridiculous. Nothing left to do but start punching, and punching, and punching. My arthritis started kicking in so it is not nearly as full as some of the beauties on the Cricut message board but it will have to do. The star of this show was supposed to be the rocking horse after all. He did get a floss mane and tail and an embellished saddle and bridle. The lovely peel off corners are from my friend B-bug on the Cricut message board and the sentiment is a rub on which should have been matted and popped but I was ready to let this one go. Me and my big ideas! LOL I'm just happy to have completed another challenge! Bummer, even the pictures aren't great because I was losing the natural light, and I took them twice. Update! I decided to enter this card in Kiki's vintage Christmas challenge and I won! Yahoo!

Autumn Leaves Christmas Tree

I was so excited to receive my Cuttlebug Christmas tree folder as the prize for the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #6 that I had to jump right in a make a card. Thank you so much Nilda! I spent yesterday afternoon with my girlfriend at an art and wine event at one of the local wineries. It was absolutely beautiful weather and I was inspired by the gorgeous autumn colors of the leaves so I decided to decorate my tree with some of the pretty metallic leaf brads I got at Michaels. I thought they looked pretty with the copper embossing. I matted it in gold, added some adhesive beads, an organdy bow and some gorgeous corner peel offs and sentiment from my Cricut message board friend B-bug. I think they added the perfect touch. Thank you Jen!

The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #7

I made this thank you card for a friend for taking me to a fall floral design class. This weeks challenge at The Cuttlebug Spot was to emboss a cut so I decided to play along. I love the way the Cuttlebug enhances a cut, be it a punch, or one done on my Expression. The inspiration for the design came from a wire wheelbarrow I fill with gourds and flowers each fall. It is in the shape of a pumpkin so I welded 3 circles (pulled into ovals) from Plantin Schoolbook to the wheelbarrow from A Walk in my Garden using design studio and the shadow feature. I then cut each oval again and cuttled them with Swiss dots and popped them for dimension. There happens to be a great tutorial over on Hallmark Ladybugs for making these pumpkins. Click here to view. I also have a large leaf punch made by Punch Bunch which I used several times and cuttled with tiny mosaic. I love this folder not only because of the scale of the embossing, but it looks great from either side for variety. The smaller maple leaves are from a bag I got at the local craft store from Allstate floral and craft. The berry branch cut is from the new Christmas solutions on shadow and several times on regular in different colors to add dimension. Glossy accents were added to the berries. Corners are from Jasmin (thanks Jenny!), little branches are from the Martha Stewart punch and mini skittles, gold adhesive beads, a fiber from Adornaments and a Stampendous peel off were added. The dot paper is BoBunny, and the plaid is from ...(hmmm, well I'm gonna have to tell you later because I can't find the little pad in all of this mess! LOL) Because the inside was kinda dark to write on I added a square of peach from Provocraft and decorated it with trimmings from the front and a few more leaves etc, a la Jeannie Phillips whose beautiful creations inspire me daily. Click HERE to view the other great creations submitted for this challenge.

BBTB Challenge- Mickey Car

I'm very excited to have completed a BBTB challenge ON TIME. This is the first I am actually submitting and hope to do many more. Regina's challenges are so much fun and the work of her design team is awe inspiring. This week it was to use one of the cars from the Mickey and Friends cartridge. My Cricut message board friend Leah (BeeCherryLady) was kind enough to let me borrow her cart so I could participate. (xx to you Leah!) First I must say kudos to all of you who regularly use the Disney cartridges. They are challenging to say the least but well worth it if you can stick with it. I decided to make a shaped card so I welded it in design studio using a 4" cut. I planned to make it very whimsical and envisioned something really candy colored with the stripes and dots I chose (My Mind's Eye and BoBunny respectively), but when the layers didn't pop against a red background and I switched to dark green, it took on a whole different character. I did the tires and grill with the DCWV metallic stack and the chrome with mirrored cardstock. Adding the dimension was also a bit of a challenge but where there's a will there's a way and I never met a pop dot I didn't like. The wreath is from Joys of the Season at 1 1/2" (with a few MS branch punches and ruby gemstones for good measure), the tree is from the new Christmas solutions cartridge (shadow and reg cut at 3" and tweaked with DS), and the license plate is a Christmas brad from M's. I had to laugh when I showed the finished product to my DH (who knew I had worked on it for a FULL day and a half). Of course he said it was cute, but when he saw the license plate he said "Too bad you can't change the lettering on it to fit the perspective of the car". Yikes! And I thought I was a perfectionist. LOL Click HERE to see all of the wonderful creations submitted for this challenge.

Thank you, thank you I'm so Excited!

I am thrilled to have received 2 blog awards. The Kreativ Blogger Award is from a brand new friend Barb and again from my Cricut message board friend Lana. Lana also nominated me for the I Love Your Blog Award. I can't tell you how much this means to me coming from such talented and creative ladies and how special it is to make friends through such a rewarding hobby. Be sure to visit Barb's blog and Lana's blog to view their amazing work. Also a big TY to Barb (and Lillie) who walked me through the posting of the awards. (I finally did it!) I cannot begin to choose among the wonderful ladies who inspire me daily and have helped me immensely so I pass these on to all of you (you know who you are!) Major hugz! xxD

Hallmark Scrapbook Challenge

This week the challenge at Hallmark Scrapbook is to use the Santa hat from Joys of the Season, Paper Dolls, or Pooh and Friends. I chose to do a shaped card using JOTS. To create the card I welded the hats using Cricut design studio, then cut them twice on regular in my new K & Company Christmas Cheer and DCWV Metallic paper. I cut the pompon and cuff from the metallic hat, cuttled them using divine swirls and inked them with platinum pigment ink. All layers are popped. Then I cut the poinsettias from the new Christmas Solutions cart in shadow, regular and the flowers only using the first layer of flowers with prima poinsettias studded with gold adhesive beads. Again I popped for dimension and added a prima leaf and some organdy ribbon. Now if I can just figure out how to post the picture at Hallmark I'd be all set.

The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #6

I'm so excited! One of the reasons I started this blog was to be able to participate in all of the wonderful card challenges on the web. This is my first official challenge entry for The Cuttlebug Spot. This week's challenge was to use a Christmas embossing folder and a border punch so I chose the Snowflakes (and also Swiss Dots) and the new Martha Stewart stars border punch. They look like snowflakes to me so...anyway. Everything is backed by silver mirror cardstock. Brrr...is from Graphically Speaking outlined with the Cricut markers before cutting at 1 1/2. It is accented with silver adhesive pearls from M's and a Jolee's dimensional snowflake. My little snowman has a shaker tummy filled with some beads and both silver and white offcuts from the border punch. He's from Doodlecharms cut twice on shadow (I cut his arms off of the blue layer) and once on blackout (also off with the arms). I added a circular cutout with Design studio to his tummy just large enough for half of the packaging from some brads to fit through and make the shaker. Then gave him a ribbon scarf and a jingle bell for good measure. There was lots of pop dotting going on so I included some pix of the dimension. Major update: I WON THE CHALLENGE! Yahoo!

Snowy Village

I love the Snowy Village Cuttlebug folder but have had a hard time using it on a card. When I saw this sort of dark pewtery colored mirror cardstock I thought it looked like the night sky so I tried it with the embossing folder and was quite pleased with the results. Of course I stickled it to bring out the detail. I actually thought the color had blue undertones but when I tried matting it it actually was more purple. I had some new lavender glitter paper from an assorted pad from Best Occasions from WalMart that complimented the color quite well. The snowflake is from the CB emboss/die combo with an added dimensional sticker from Jolee in the center and some adhesive gems. Another smaller sticker was added at the bottom along with a peel off sentiment from Stampendous. The only bad thing about this mirror board is how difficult it is to photograph. The snowflake and mat are silver, not gold as they appear in the first pic.

A 5 Minute Card using Recycled Materials.

I don't know about you, but every day my mailbox is stuffed with catalogs and advertisements. Some of these things have such amazing graphics that I feel it's a same to toss them in the recycling bin. I've made it a personal challenge to start using some of these in my cardmaking. This one came in a packet of advertising postcards from Macy's. While most of the images were photos of models, I thought this black and white silhouette was really striking and was the perfect size to use on a card. All I had to do was mat it, slap it on a premade black card and cover the small amount of print with primas and adhesive pearls. Voila! Quite a chic notecard or a sentiment could be added inside. Wish I could do all my cards this fast.

Feliz Dia de los Muertos! (Happy Day of the Dead)

In Mexico and other Latin American countries Nov 2 (All Souls Day) is a joyous celebration honoring deceased relatives and welcoming them back to earth. Graves are decorated and families picnic at the site. Altars are erected in the homes complete with pictures, mementos and favorite foods of those being honored as well as folk art skeletons dressed and enjoying everyday tasks. I have been fascinated with this holiday since Jr. High School when my Spanish teacher Mrs. Parizek passed out recipes for Pan de los Muertos (bread of the dead) and we partied in class. Since then I have collected some of the folk art figures and other ceramics and erect my own "ofrenda" in my dining room hutch with mementos of those who still live in my heart. I made this card to celebrate the day using the Indie art cartridge and design studio. The hat was a combination of a scalloped and regular circles stretched with DS and cuttled with the tiny mosaic folder. I added a colorful bow and lots of primas and skittles for decoration. If you are interested in learning more about how the holiday is celebrated in Mexico click HERE.

Congratulations friends!

I am so happy to have met such talented friends on the Cricut message board. My friend Lana has made the design team for Regina's Cutting Designs and is celebrating by giving away some fabulous blog candy. Be sure to check it out HERE. JulieH has just won 2nd place in Regina's Christmas bauble challenge at Bitten By the Bug! It was her first entry in a contest and she's a winner! View her fabulous design HERE. Both these lovely ladies are from across the pond. Please join me in showering them with best wishes and congratulations!

I'm a good witch

Well, no card making for me yesterday. Had to finish up my decorating or I would have had some very disappointed trick or treaters. The pic is a little dark but we had to turn off the flash to get the spooky effect. I LOVE HALLOWEEN! (And dressing up too!)