My Faves From 2009!

New Year's Eve is special for us because it's my Dear Husband's birthday! Imagine the whole world celebrating with you! LOL Makes for difficulty making reservations at times, but we're spending the night back in Sausalito at Cavello Point where we spent our Anniversary. WooHoo! I want to wish everyone all good things in the New Year. I look forward to continue being inspired and encouraged by all of you. Your friendship has meant so much to me. I've decided to do what my fabulously talented friend and DT sister Enfys did on her blog and take a walk down memory lane and pick my fave projects from each month in 2009 so without further ado...

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Wags 'n Whiskers Punches and Die Cuts Challenge

I'll be the first to admit I'm NOT done with Christmas so I was so happy when my package arrived with some ADORABLE Wags 'n Whiskers stamps from Stamp and Create. My gloriously talented and dear friend Sharon is on the DT over there and she introduced me to the stamps through a fabulous blog hop for their new release. Well I was smitten. Not only because these girls and boys have the sweetest faces EVER, but they are often with KITTIES!!!!!!! (or puppies, but KITTIES!!!!!) One of my resolutions is to stamp more and learn to use my Copics so I decided to join in on the current challenge at Wags 'n Whiskers to use punches or die cuts with your image. Yea! another opportunity to use my MS holly punch. Although this challenge runs through Jan 7, it started BEFORE Christmas and I was just DYING to color Sweet Danni and Bella.

Just LOOK at their faces! Tooo cute! Sorry, AGAIN I didn't take pics of the Copics I used, but because my table was such a diasastrous mess I thought I might lose one if I didn't put them pack in their rack. The DP is from my favorite K&Co Christmas Cheer stack along with that cool tree from the DCWV Holiday Collection Christmas stack which I wouldn't have known what to do with until this idea came along. The frame is cut with my Nesties Petite Ovals Large and the sentiment with Petite Scalloped Ovals Small which was perfect for the peelie sentiment I colored green with permanent markers. the star on the tree top is from a K&Co chipboard assortment that coordinates with the DP.

I did do a bit of popping and love the look of Danni and Bella cut out and standing in front of the tree. I rarely make A2 cards but I'm really pleased with how this one came out and can't wait to color some more of these adorable stamps.

Dream Big - .cut file available

Hi guys, did you miss me? Just relaxing a bit with my hubby for a change. Here's a card I did for one of my BFF's son who turned 16 recently. He had visions of getting a car which I think we ALL knew wasn't happening so this was my little tease. Of course I made it in manly colors but think it would also be pretty cute in girly colors as well. And wouldn't it REALLY be cool if someone was actually GETTING a car? This shaped card uses the the car from Graphically Speaking as the back and the key from Locker Talk along with the sentiment (also from GS) for the front. The free .cut file and full instructions are available HERE at Custom Crops.

Inside I used the Cuttlebug Birthday Wishes Card Making combo for the sentiment. As I said in the article, I did doodle a bit around the car windows, etc. after seeing this pic but I didn't have time to take another because we were late for the party. I've got a few more b-day cards to make (including Dh's on New Year's Eve) but I really haven't quite gotten over Christmas yet. Does anyone else feel that way?

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I took a few days off to enjoy time with DH and we've been playing alot of dominoes. Isn't that funny? He complained that although we're in the same house most of the time, I'm in the craft room and he's practicing piano and when we finally sit down together it's often in front of the tv so that's really not "together". I said that I'd love to play games but he isn't particulary thrilled with them, but he used to play dominoes with his grandpa as a kid so Santa brought me dominoes. I'd never played but it's easy, fun, and quite addictive. WooHoo!

You Better Not Pout!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We had a lovely day in Carmel yesterday. That town is so magical, especially during the holidays! Believe it or not, I DID finish a card before we left but it's been in the works for at least a week. One of my New Year's resolutions to to stamp and practice coloring with my Copics more and although this stamp is digital, called Two Jill by Mo Manning when I saw that adorable face I just HAD to do a Christmas card. Of course I forgot to take pix of the marker colors but I did find that I was more successful on shading using a monochromatic palette on her outfit.

Not nearly as accomplished as so many of my fabulous blogging friends, but at least I didn't have to toss it. LOL There are tons of great tuts out there but I've looked at so many that I'm sorry I don't have links. I do know that I used my dear friend Sharon's tut for the skin and hair. Her coloring is SOOO fantastic. Thank you so much girly! You can check her's out HERE. I also spent alot of time looking at the beautiful Christmas card my friend Barb sent me. I so loved this card when I saw it on her blog that I went out and ordered the stamp. Wow was I surprised when this gorgeous card came in the mail! Her Blog is so inspirational and I had it in my hot little had. WooHoo! Thanks so sooo much Barb.

My poor Cricky has been so lonesome because I really haven't had time to sit down and do any designing like I normally do but I did manage to get in a couple of cuts from Christmas Cheer in the mix. The papers are from the 6x6 pad of BasicGrey's Eskimo Kisses. The packages are cut from that stack and the bows are cut in white and colored with my Copics. The cute stickers are from my stash and weren't in the package so I have no idea. I'm pretty sure I got them on clearance when a LSS went out of business. Bummer! That's really been happening alot and I mourn the independent retailer who just can't compete with the M's and J's. So often you could find more unique products there.

These stickers had quite a bit of dimension so other than that I think I only popped the presents. The LO is a bit wonky, but I thought it fit the whimical presents and that stubborn look on Jill's face. So the rest of the day I must play catch up. We actually celebrate on Christmas Eve so I've got my work cut out for me! Some of the gifts may just spend all of 5 minutes in their wrapping. LOL To all of my dear cyber friends, I wish you a magical Christmas and a New Year full of health and happiness! Big Hugs! D

Peggy Loves Vintage Candy Cane Santa

Well 2 more days and it's Christmas! We spent Sunday in the city and I ran around all day yesterday so no, I'm STILL not done with decorating but I see the end in sight. I can't totally give up all of my crafting time though so again I turned to the fabulous Santa Cut Outs 1 from Peggy Loves Vintage that I won on sweet DeeDee's blog. I really can't thank you enough for these images DeeDee! I'm still able to get in my crafting fix amongst all of the other Christmas preparations and the cards turn out so cute! (If I do say so myself) This time the paper isn't even Christmas. It's from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line but the bright retro colors were perfect for this Santa, don't you think? I punched the bottom with an EKSuccess punch from last year and the gingerbread men show through to the little brown dotted paper from Me&MyBig Ideas. Doesn't it all look like a 50's kitchen? The sentiment is embroidered twill ribbon from M's that I adhered to card stock using Terrifically Tacky Tape and trimmed the edges. That made it stiff enough to pop using sticky strips. I really love how that turned out, especially with the bow behind it.

I used my nesties rectangles to cut the window and frame and again the frame is popped using 1/8th inch strips while the Santa is popped with 1/16th inch. Just a few adhesive pearls on the corners of the frame and it was done! Now it's back to the ladder for me because DH wants to run down to Carmel tomorrow and I don't have the heart to say no. If stuff doesn't get done, it just doesn't get done. I'm just not gonna stress it this year. Spending time together is really what it's all about.

Finally, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe -.cut file available

So sorry this has taken so long. The file took while to clean up and originally hadn't planned to share it because it was such a mess but Custom Crops liked the design and I had so many requests that here it is. I didn't take pics while assembling but more pix, the instructions and Free .cut file are HERE. At least with the .cut file there's still time to make this for your Sweetie. Hope everyone is all ready with their Christmas preparations (unlike me LOL). OOh, I just read the post and I sound sort of crabby. I'm not, just harried. Better get moving. TTYL

More Peggy Loves Vintage

We interrupt my mad rush to complete my Christmas preparations to bring you an update: cards sent- 0, presents wrapped-0, rooms left to decorate-4...YIKES!!!! However I did manage a new card and fun Christmas pin thanks to Peggy Loves Vintage. I hadn't crafted in 3 days and was going through withdrawels so I went back to the wonderful Santa Cut Outs 1 digital collage set that I won on my sweet friend DeeDee's BLOG and went to work,'

I so loved how my Cuttlebug Spot card came out this week that I used a similar design. This time I used the Season's Greetings folder for the entire embossed mat and used the MS holly border punch. The Be Jolly sentiment is a K&Co embellishment. My Nesties long rectangles were perfect to cut the mat exactly where I wanted it.

But I didn't stop there. I was so inspired by Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas Day 4 where he used the memory frames that I had to go and buy some. This is a 1x3 inch and I shrunk my Santa Cut Outs to approximately the right size, added ribbbon, retro tinsel, a charm, metal heart and sentiment from my stash. The adage pin it hangs from says appropriately "vintage". It reminds me of the Christmas pins my Auntie Florence used to wear on her coat during the holidays. Of course it could be hung on the tree as well.

Again, there's just enough dimension on the card to add interest. That's the beauty of these Peggy Loves Vintage images. I can make a beautiful professional looking card or project that really evokes fond memories in no time. I'm having so much FUN with them!

Spellbinder's 3D Christmas Ornaments

I so love my Nesties for SOOO many reasons, but this is one of my favorite projects yet. These ornaments were inspired by the 3D Valentines my Daddy used to make for my teachers but I thought I'd used the Nested Pine Trees to do some Christmas ornaments. I did both a rustic and elegant version. Soo much fun! the instructions are available on Custom Crops HERE. Hope everyone is all ready for Christmas. I'm still working on my decorating since my cold had me down. Sorry for such a short post but I've got to GET BUSY! I'm only about 1/3rd of the way done. xxD

Snowman Snow Globe -.cut file available

Well I finally managed to get this card made. It's been on my mind since last year. Instead of the shaped card I had planned, due to technical difficulties he ended up as an easel. Still cute, though. I'm a big fan of Terrifically Tacky Tape and always save the packaging. Yea me for more recycling! That's what his tummy is made from and it's a blizzard in there. LOL The snowman is from Doodlecharms and he's a biggie, almost 7 inches square but I think it's worth it for the "cute" factor. The sentiment is from Winter Woodland. I've used it quite a bit. I seem to be a bit obsessed with snow these days. Anyway, full instructions, more pix and the .Cut file is available HERE on Custom Crops. Hope to see you there.

The Cuttlebug Spot Meets Peggy Loves Vintage

This week there's no excuse not to play along with The Cuttlebug Spot. All you have to do is make a Christmas card using some type of embossing. I've bought so many new Christmas folders this year I've lost count so I looked over the ones I hadn't yet opened and came across these hanging ornaments (I'm pretty sure from the HSN release). They were perfect for the ADORABLE Peggy Loves Vintage Santa Cut-Outs 1 image I WON as blog candy from the sweet and talented Miss DeeDee! Thank you so much DeeDee! You know how I love Peggy Loves Vintage and this downloadable set is one I didn't have. This sweet Santa went perfectly with the ornaments folder and also gave me a chance to break out my MS ornaments border punch. WooHoo! the sentiment is cut form the 2009 Cuttlebug release called Season's Greetings. The matting, gorgeous image, punch, and embossing were really simple, but added up to one quite professional looking card if I do say so myself. LOL I'm gonna make multiples of this to send for sure.

I cut a rectangle out of the embossed mat with my Nesties long rectangles and popped it using 1/8th inch foam tape. The image is also popped within the frame using 1/16th inch dimensionals. I really like how the popping enhances the ornament border. This is our last challenge for the year for The Cuttlebug Spot so be sure to stop by to view the lovely creations by my DT sisters. We all wish you a wondrous Holiday Season! xxD

All Creatures Great and Small

Happy Monday everyone! I don't even want to think how close we are to Christmas because I'm sooo far behind. This however, is our final BBTB challenge for the year but we'll be back bright and early in January. The cut this week is the branch from Winter Woodland that I turned into antlers. The deer head is from Doodlecharms which was embossed with the D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder. All the birds are cut from the Winter Woodlands cartridge as well. I had a different design in mind, but while blog hopping I came across the current challenge at Moxie Fab World called All Creatures Great and Small. I just loved the theme so I kept the birds, but decided to transform the branch to include a "great" creature as well.

Not a shaped card this time, the cuts were too delicate, but I'm still happy with it. I kept the color scheme simple using my fave creme and black paper from K&Co for the background. Unusual perhaps for Christmas, but the red makes it pop. (Just can't resist those adhesive beads.) The deer's crown of branches (thank you Martha Stewart) is a welcoming nest for the birdies. Peace seemed the appropriate sentiment and was cut from Joys of the Season.

Here's a dimensional shot. Not quite as detailed as usual but I've been fighting a cold and this was the best I could do. All in all I'm quite pleased and I thank my BBTB DT sister Heather (who chose this week's challenge but unfortunately is experiencing some computer problems) AND Moxie Fab World for the inspiration. Please be sure to visit BBTB to see the fabulous contributions from the rest of the Design Team. We'd love to see your take on the challenge and we wish you all a magical Christmas and a fabulous New Year.

Reindeer Poop

There's a cute new set over at The Cutting Cafe that has me chuckling! Check out this hilarious bag topper poem called "Reindeer Poop"! Certainly if you have kids of a certain age this will be a big hit, but I think it's just perfect for just about ANYONE with a sense of humor. Because it's a downloadable printable stamp you can have this set in no time and the best part is it's only $1.25! The poem is on the other side of the topper on my bag but there are 2 of these fun toppers on one page so this second one is awaiting my attention. There is also the option of printing the poem or topper alone. This project gave me a chance to do a little coloring on my reindeer topper image from the Christmas Topper set from Digital Delights by Louby Lou as well. This set comes with 4 adorable topper images ( a Santa, Elf, Snowman and of course the Reindeer) and can be purchased in black and white OR in a colored version. I'm still practicing with my Copics but he was really easy to color.

I printed out the bag topper and cut it by hand, but if you have a Pazzles machine you can cut it with that as easy as pie. The bag topper is the perfect size for the new 5 x 7 Cuttlebug folders so I embossed with the new large format snowflakes and cut a small scalloped circle with my Nesties and a snowflake from Create a Flake 2 to mat my reindeer.

Here's a closeup of the "Reindeer Poop" poem. Isn't it just the cutest! I've got loads of people who would get a real kick out of this and I'll bet you do too! Perfect for packaging those chocolate truffles, don't you think?

Blogaversary and 400 Follower Blog Candy WINNER!!

Now the moment you all have been waiting for... the winner of my blogaversary candy is # 59

Lindsay

who wrote : "congrats on your blogoversary! What a huge accomplishment! I am a loyal follower and love reading the blog and seeing the wonderful creations. Thank you!" December 7, 2009 7:32 AM

Congrats Lindsay!!!!! Please email me at dlmundinger (at)yahoo(dot)com with your addy and I'll get it right out to you. Thank you to all who participated.

Merry Christmouse

This adorable little (or should I say BIG) Santa mouse is a Cottage Cutz die from one the fabulous Christmas releases at The Scrapping Cottage. I really love the detail of these dies and the fact that they work right in my Cuttlebug. They are definitely big enough to use on layouts as well so they are very versatile. He comes as two 4 x 4 dies for all of his parts. I cut him in white card stock, colored the parts with my Copics and used Flower Soft on the fur of his outfit and also for the snow beneath his boots. I embossed the background with a new Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder which is in limited supply at Custom Crops. The front sentiment is a Circle Christmas Printable Stamp from The Cutting Cafe. Regina has loads of options for quick Christmas gifts, cards, and tags and you don't have to wait for shipping with these digi's. There's also some fabulous new stuff for Valentine's day if you want to get a head start.

There's a view of the dimension. These dies really come to life if you pop some of the layers, don't you think? And don't forget, this is the LAST DAY to comment on my BLOGAVERSARY CANDY so if you haven't already click HERE.

Snow Friends

Oh I just love snowmen! For some reason I just can't get enough of them this year so I created an accordian card/decoration for Custom Crops using my 2 favorites from the Snow Friends cartridge. I welded them hand in hand and made them double thick so they would stand nice and sturdily and finished them both back and front. They require a 12x24 inch mat to cut but they were loads of fun to do. For full intructions, more pix and the FREE .cut file click HERE.

Now don't forget that you have only two more days to comment for the chance to win my BLOG CANDY. Click HERE, scroll down, or click on the pic on my sidebar and don't forget to come back on Friday to see who WINS!

The Cuttlebug Spot For You

This week at The Cuttlebug Spot it's all about the packaging; gift boxes, bags, card holders, you name it, we've got it and we'd love to see yours too. I was excited about this challenge beccause I'd been dying to alter one of the pretty clear paint cans from my local LSS, especially because of the new larger format Cuttlebug folders which were the perfect size for this project. I think this snowflake one came from HSN and I used acetate in 2 pieces and taped them at the sides and bottom with Terrifically Tacky Tape and added some snowbally (how do you like that word? LOL) trim.

I wish I'd thought a bit more about how this would photograph because it really is much prettier IRL. You can see the embossing a bit better here but I honestly stuffed the can with all sorts of stuff trying to get a better shot to no avail.

The lid is done with my Nesties petite scalloped circle and the embossing in Coredinations whitewash is the embossing folder only from the Snowflake cut and emboss set.

I then cut the same snowfake twice and embossed and then embossed the "ForYou" ornament and cut the sentiment by hand and adhered it to the flake. I used a silver metallic gel pen in the sentiment. The ribbons and fiber on the handle took the most time on this whole project and all in all I'm pleased with it even though the pix don't do it justice. Now hurry on over to The Cuttlebug Spot to see the great inspiration from my Design Team Sisters. Happy wrapping!

BBTB Joys of the Season Ribbon Frame

Woo Hoo! Thanks you Enfys for picking such a great cut this week for BBTB! I've had this idea in mind for awhile for my Christmas card for DH and Enfys picked the PERFECT cut so I was able to finish it BEFORE Christmas Eve for a change. LOL BTW, I can't imagine that you don't already know En and her FABULOUS creations, but in case you don't, click HERE to view her blog and prepare to be amazed! I stretched the frame a bit in order to make it the shape I needed and welded the shadow cuts along with the banner from Wedding solutions to form a shaped card.

OMG! I interrupt this blog post to bring you an unbelieveable development! It just got light enough to look out the window and what did I see on the neighbor's roof???? SNOW!!!!!!!! That's right, the big white stuff, not only on the roof but on the lawn as well! Hey Margie, you got nothin' on us here in CA. LOL I was so excited I flung open the front door and took this pic, worried that it might melt immediately. The pic stinks, I was WAY to excited to set the camera appropriately, but you get the idea. How sweet of the neighbors to have their trees lit for me. Then the phone rings (it's 7:00 am mind you) and it's my dear friend Leah who lives about 5 blocks away, and we're screaming like little kids about it all. She's rushing to get her kids bundled up so she can get some pix to scrap. Okay, I've calmed down a bit and will proceed with the BBTB post. :D

I left the front of the frame open so you can see the lovey dovey couple inside. I used adhesive pearls for the mistletoe berries. I was a little worried the card wouldn't stand up on those little ribbon ends but WooHoo, it does! The sentiments are computer generated.

On the inside I substituted little punched hearts for the berries. I was thrilled that my 6x6 pad of Basic Grey Wassail paper had the perfect print in just the right tiny scale for the background. The couple silhouette is from the Sweethearts cartridge. I cut the ponytail off to make it her look a little more like me. :D

I must say it was a PITA to pop this frame due to the tiny cuts but I was afraid if I didn't DH would be disappointed. (Yeah, right, do you want to take bets on whether or not he'll actually notice? LOL) Well let's say I would have been disappointed that I didn't take as much time to make a very special card because I love him soooo MUCH!!!! Oh dear, I'm getting all teary eyed and sentimental here. Must be the SNOW!!!!! Be sure to stop by BBTB and check out the fab projects from my DT sisters and if you haven't already, leave a comment one post down to enter my Blog candy giveaway! Now I've got to go out and take a pic of snow on the windshield of DH's truck and wake him up so he doesn't miss this!