BBTB2 Winter Woodland Bunny Challenge and Blog Hop!

Welcome to the first BTTB2 Blog Hop of the New Year. If you've arrived from the fabulously talented Carole's Blog, you're on the right track. This week our challenge was chosen by our dear Design Team Sister Melissa Kirwin. How fun it was to use the adorable bunny from Winter Woodland. I made a shaped card by welding the shadows of the bunny as well as the shadow of the scalloped heart from Sweethearts to the back side.

The layers were popped and I added pom poms for the nose and the tail and one of those cute lidded google eyes from J's.

The first part of the sentiment is spelled out in Alpha Beads, and the rest from the Cuttlebug With Love card making combo. There's a bit of doodling both inside and out. Now for the exciting news. Just leave a comment and you will be eligible to win a $30 gift certificate from Custom Crops chosen by random DH. WOOHOO! (One of these days I'll get the hang of Random Org. LOL) Please come back on Saturday when I will announce the winner. Now HOP (how apropo) to my sweet and inspirational DT sister Sandi's blog to continue the fun. Don't forget we always love to see your take on the week's challenge and thanks for stopping by.

Thank Ewe or Baby Announcement- .Cut File Available

I love all of the new Cricut Seasonal carts and decided to do something quick and simple with the Easter one to show it's versatility. I took the sweet little lamb head and welded it a frame from Storybook to make a quicky shaped card. I used Tear Drop for the sentiment because I think it's a sweet one, but I always have trouble with the regular cut when I'm cutting it small so I just used the shadow and cut it twice and offset. Certainly you can use the font of your choice. To give a little texture to the lamb I embossed it in my Cuttlebug with D'vine Swirls. It would also be cute in a flocked version, don't you think? The free .cut file and instructions are available HERE at Custom Crops. After assembling the card, the papers I chose made me think "baby" so I did another version that could be used as a baby announcement with a different sentiment. Click HERE and scroll down to take a peek. I'm trying hard to get back in the swing of things after being gone a whole 6 DAYS at CHA! Gotta get movin' on my Design Team projects because tomorrow is the monthly BBTB2 Blog Hop so be sure and check back. There will be CANDY!!!

More CHA Pix

No crafting today. My DH and kitties needed some attention. Goliath wouldn't even let me type on the computer without biting my fingers or pawing at my face. LOL The weather was beautiful so Dh and I went to the Wente Golf Course Grill for lunch and it was so warm and sunny we sat outside. Quite a change from the torrential rains we've had. Here are a few of my favorite pix of the booths at CHA. Do you believe this coat? It was at the Tim Holtz Idealogy booth and was made entirely of grunge paper. AMAZING!

I literally drooled over the ribbon at May Arts!


Nilda and I met up at The Scrapping Cottage Booth, one of the sponsors for The Cuttlebug Spot. LOVE their dies!

Shabby chic at the girl's paperie. GORGEOUS!

The trend was definitely vintage, and Graphic 45 had some of the best. Talk about inspiring! Maybe even too much so. I don't know what I want to do first.

But I hope to recover soon from sensory overload and become one Crafty Chica!

I'm HOME!!!!, The Winner, A Quick Card, and CHA Pix

Wow! What a fabulous experience. I can't tell you how much fun and excitement there was at CHA but after 6 days I must say I'm exhausted and glad to be home to my DH and kitties. Thank you Custom Crops for the wonderful experience! You guys are THE BEST! I have to say I went through a bit of a withdrawel not being able to craft (although we did have some fun at the make and takes) so the first thing I did was to make a quick card using a new brand of embossing folder from Crafts-Too available at Custom Crops. They arrived just before I left so it killed me not to have a chance to play. Although I bought them all, I think my favorite is the Leafy Tree.

This card literally took me 5 minutes to make (which was about all I could handle this morning) but I LOVE how it turned out. Premade card, pink mat, gorgeous embossed tree, and puffy conversation heart stickers I got at M's last year. It reminds me of a "Heidi tree." (Meaning Heidi Van Laar whose fresh clean style I admire greatly but can never seem to pull off. She's particularly fond of the tree motif, so what do you think Heidi?)

Hang with me here guys, I'll get to the giveaway winner of the My Pink Stamper Volume1 DVD but I'm dying to show some more pix. Day one at CHA we literally RAN to the Tim Holtz booth before it as mobbed. We did a gorgeous jewery make and take and took pix of hundreds of projects and new product. Besides all of the cool hardware and stuff I was most impressed with his new embossing folders coming out from Sizzix. Even if Tim's style is not your own, I guarantee you'll want to take a look at these (Of course I can't find my pix but just had to mention it.) Here's Natalie, Miranda, Tim and I. And of course one of just the two of us. On Wednesday morning Natalie and Miranda did the most AMAZING video with him. I can't wait to have a link when it's posted. Tim was just so personable and interesting. When I had him autograph his catalog I jokingly said "And make sure you write 'to Donna with Love' " and I couldn't believe it. HE DID!

The videos were fun and I was able to do a few without totally embarrassing myself (or should I wait to say that AFTER they're posted.) LOL We were quite upset to find out later on Tuesday that we'd lost audio on 5 of them, including my longest one with Kent Chesley, CEO of gcd studios and one of their AMAZING designers, Melody Ross (click on her name to find out more about Melody from Moxie Fab World). I follow their blog and couldn't wait to see their beautiful things in person. Fortunately they were still available on Wednesday and we JUST caught Melody before she rushed off to catch a plane. We were so busy doing the videas I forgot to take stills at their amazing booth but be sure to click on the links I have in this paragraph to see it all.

In some ways that little mishap was a blessing, because we were able to keep Cody (the videographer) and extra half day and do almost all of the videos we'd hoped for. I have to thank him for making making me feel so at ease, (and promising to photoshop the wrinkles, dark circles and bags under my eyes). Isn't he just a cutey!?

I was so excited to be able to do the Spellbinders video, ESPECIALLY because it was with Kazan Clark. I'm sure you know Kazan because she is not only on the Spellbinder's design team, but hosts the fabulously successful challenge blog 2S4U along with her friend Laura Davis. Both ladies were also my design team sisters on BBTB until their schedules became too crazy and we miss them terribly. It was so much fun interviewing someone I felt I already knew. Again, you'll need to stay tuned for the link, but here's a pic of the two of us. She's such a doll and I can't wait to get my hands on the new limited edition products as well as new Nesties, Pendants, Borders and Labels! Start saving ladies!

And now, what you've been waiting for! The winner of My Pink Stamper Cricut Fun DVD (chosen by random DH) is # 47 (please note that one comment had been deleted so I didn't count that one.)

"Tee"

who wrote "All very exciting. I so hope I am the winner, would love her DVD. Thanks!"

CONGRATULATIONS Tee! Please email me at dlmundinger(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Thank you all who participated and thank you Robyn for so generously donating a copy. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of Volume 1, they are available at Custom Crops along with a preorder for Volume 2 and her great new clear stamps Everyday Occasions and Simply Sweet Occasions. That's all for now. xxD

Bah! HUmbug Challenge #3- Glitter

Those of you who love Christmas MUST stop by the New Challenge Blog Bah! Humbug! Not only will you get a jump on your cards for NEXT Christmas, but you'll also have a chance to use all of the great stuff you bought or have stashed that you didn't have time for during the holidays. WooHoo! This week the challenge is to use GLITTER. This card was a tough one to get on film, because not only do I have glitter, but I used my Christmas release Cuttlebug embossing folder on mirror cardstock. YIKES! The green mat on this card is glitter cardstock and I used the same glitter card stock to punch the pine needles. The pine cone is Tim Holtz Distress Stickles and I've also used Icicle Stickles on the embossed snowflakes. Because I didn't think they showed up enough, I also sprinkled Doodlebug Chunky glitter on them while they were still wet . The large glitter snowflakes were Jolee stickers. To add dimention to the cardinal, I took a small piece of red mirror card stock and embossed that and then cut it out and popped it.

Today is my last day at CHA. I so apologize that I haven't had time to visit your blogs and leave comments but I certainly hope to catch up tomorrow. The experience has been AMAZING! Filming was interesting yesterday. Natalie and Miranda from Custom Crops are pros at it all, but I managed to do a few that I hope aren't too bad. Because of technical difficulties on a few of them, we'll be back this morning hoping to try again. Keep your fingers crossed. I've gotta go. and finish packing. I'm uncontrollably excited this morning because we have a before hours meeting with TIM HOLTZ! Color me STAR STRUCK! OMG!!!!!!!!

The Cuttlebug Spot Black and Silver Color Challenge

This week at The Cuttlebug Spot is a color challenge featuring black and silver. I used my Star Nestablilites in a variety of papers. The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Stars folder using glossy black cardstock and the stars themselves with The Chriawesome is a metalstmas Stars limited edition folder, available at Custom Crops, my favorite Swiss Dots, and the smallest one with the background folder again. (How convenient it was the perfect size!) "Awesome" is adhesive metal from M's.

Here's the dimensional view. I was very pleased with how easily the Nesties cut the glitter paper.

Inside is another glitter star with the sentiment printed on acetate and attached using a frame so the adhesive wouldn't show. I thought this could be used for a number of occasions, like graduation or a job promotion. I'll file it away in my male card drawer which is usuallypretty empty. Be sure to stop by The Cuttlebug Spot to see the great designs from my teammates.

We're still at CHA and today is going to be a busy day. The Custom Crops videographer is here and we'll be filming at a number of booths to bring you the latest and greatest. I'll be sure to give you links when they are available on UTube. In the meantime, say a prayer I don't totally make a fool out of myself. Never done any filming before...YIKES! Fortunately if I'm a total bust, Natalie and Miranda, the pros from Custom Crops can rescue me. Sorry no links, no time, but I'll add them later. Gotta go!

BBTB2 Sweetheart Love Stamp Challenge and Wow What a Party at CHA

Holy moley, I've lost track of the days! Day 1 of CHA was AMAZING but I'll get to that later (if I manage to stay awake). This week on BTTB2 the lovely and talented Marina has chosen the Love Stamp from Sweethearts. Fortunately I was inspired in time to complete the challenge before my trip. This traditional card was layered with the heart window cut through all of the front layers to reveal a sneak peak of the couple inside. The colors were inspired by our first BBTB2 contest of using purple on your Valentine. The stamp layer was embossed with one of the new HSN Cuttlebug folders and the"sweetheart" was cut from, oh oh, I'm having a senior moment. Was it Sweethearts too? I don't think so but I'm WAY too tired to look it up...sorry!

Inside reveals the full couple and the computer generated sentiment"You swept me off my feet" printed on a heart cut with my Nestabilities. I thought this would also be cute for an anniversary.

Here's the dimensional view. It's WAy past my bed time (for the third night in a row) and honestly I'd LOVE to amputate my feet at this point! BUT...

The ProvoCraft party tonight was sooo amazing! I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the "cake walk" participants along with Nilda (WooHoo Cuttlebug Spot!) and unlucky enough to be the first one out but to my surprise, because of that, I received an extra gift besides the gorgeous Williams Sonoma cake gift basket in honor of the launch of Cricut Cake; a 2 cartridge gift of the Christmas/Noel and Designers Calendar. AND as if that wasn't enough, EVERYBODY was a winner. WE ALL received the Sweet Treats cartridge (which I did NOT have yet) and yes, you guessed it A CRICUT CAKE MACHINE!!!!!!!!! OMG! Thank you Provo Craft, and DOUBLE, TRIPLE, QUADRUPLE thanks to Custom Crops for inviting me to come along to CHA! You guys are THE BEST (and WAY too much FUN)! Tomorrow we'll be visiting even MORE exciting new products at CHA. Pinch me, I must be dreaming! Night night.

More Fun After Hours

Only time for a quick post because the real fun starts today. It is the first day the retailers get a glimpse at all of the new products and I'm soooo excited! Last night I had the pleasure to meet loads of friends from the Cricut mb at a dinner at Bubba Gumps and I was happy to be sitting with my dear friend SandyE and meet Glenda for the first time. Glenda had invited Jim Colby, VP of Product Development for Provo Craft and he was so much fun to sit next to. We gave him an earful, especially about cartridge development. Of course you know I'm a cat lover so that was first on my list. Also, it seems that they are ignoring little boys so that was also a request. We wrapped Jim in paper and wrote our hostage demands on it and he just laughed and went along but he DID text his Art Director to let her know, so let's count the weeks until we see results, heh? Can't wait to meet Nilda today. Gotta go!

CHA and a Giveaway!

WooHoo! I made it! Wasn't sure I was going to since the "Grapevine" was closed due to the terrible weather we are having so I had to book a flight instead. I'm here at CHA with the gals from Custom Crops and we're at the Super Show now. They are helping Robyn (My Pink Stamper) with her booth these couple of days at the consumer Super Show until the REAL fun begins on Sunday. Here's a pic of Robyn doing a drawing for one of her Cricut Fun Volume 1 DVD's. (I'm sure you also recognize Natalie and Miranda from the Custom Crops videos as well. She also has just launched a new line of tiny clear stamp sentiments and a Volume 2 DVD is available for pre-order on Custom Crops. It just so happens that I also have one (Cricut Fun Volume 1) to give away as well to one lucky viewer and thought I'd save it until today in honor of CHA. Just leave me a comment and I will announce the winner on Thursday (when I'm back home). I certainly hope to bring you sneak peeks of new products and will have my BBTB2 and The Cuttlebug Spot cards as usual on Monday and Tuesday so stop back by.

I'm a DeSignin' Diva!

WooHoo, I was so excited to get my Stampin'Up order today from my dear friend Lillie. Besides the free corner punch I got for the Saleabration, I'm the first official member of her DeSignin' Diva's Rewards Club. Read all about Lillie's fabulous program HERE. Just a couple more orders and I'll get MORE free stuff. You can't beat that. Thanks Lillie!

Bah! Humbug! Challenge 2

This week the gals at Bah!Humbug! asked us to use our new or nearly new stash of stuff so I felt compelled to attempt something with the new Copic air brush system and compressor Santa brought. (Don't laugh Sandi, (she's the PRO at this!) I know you can barely see the airbrushing, and I KNOW you can't see the Perfect Pearls I put on and sealed with hairspray, but hey, it's a start. LOL) It took me over a year ro try my BIA so I'm doing way better here. I used one of my bazillion new Cuttlebug folders. The stamp is also new, purchased after Christmas from Whiff of Joy called Uru and Candycane that I got ON SALE from Stamp and Create and the paper is also some of my new SEI Winter Song, ALSO purchased AFTER Christmas. See why I love this new challenge Blog so much! LOL the snowflakes are Jolee and the peelie was sent from a friend from the Cricut mb. Not sure if it was B-bug or Izzy but thank you again. Sorry for the short post. I'm scramblin' to finish my DT cards and get ready for my trip to CHA. I'm leaving Friday morning...EARLY!

BBTB2 Doodlecharms Snowman Challenge

Well, here we go. I finally managed to finish my BTB2 challenge this week, chosen by my sweet and talented Design Team sister Krista, despite the setbacks, so without further ado... I made a shaped card using the scalloped heart also from Doodlecharms and punched holes around the second layer and popped it. "Snow" is from Winter Woodland and "love" from Beyond Birthdays. The shadows of the 2 snow people were welded and then I cut a blackout and then a top layer. I ran the top layers through my Xyron, right side down, and covered them in Flower Soft. This gave quite a bit more texture than just flock.

Here's the dimensional view. Embellishing was fun with the little snowflakes from Jolee, clear adhesive letters from J's (for "in") adhered to punched dots, yummy velvet ric rac from May Arts and adhesive metal hearts by Colorbok, also from J's. the snow lady's lidded eyes are from Darice and found in the kiddie section of J's. Be sure to visit BBTB2 to see the wide array of fabulous takes on this fun challenge. and don't forget to play along and maybe enter the current CONTEST as well. See you there.

The Cuttlebug Spot "10" Challenge and the WINNER!

In celebration of 2010, this week at The Cuttlebug Spot we were challenged to use the word or number "10" on our project. My sweet DH has been such a dear lately that I immediately thought of him and made this little book "10 Things I Love About You" which I hope to finish by Valentine's Day. Now that I've finally figured out my BIA you may just see a TON of projects using that little gadget. LOL WAAAYYY fun! I sorta of wish the Cuttlebug Numbers folder were a little bigger because I've just about covered it up with all of the other stuff, but I used Coredinations Whitewash card stock and sanded and attempted to distress the edges a bit. The "10" and "U" are Precut Grungeboard shapes that I painted with acrylic paint. The "10" is embossed with Swiss Dots, but the "U" was already textured so I just colored the dots with my Copics and slapped on anther coat of paint to try and mute it a bit but those dots came right back through.

I cut the word "love" out twice of adhesive backed fun foam using the Cuttlebug Love Language Card-Making Combo. (Wow, that cuts like buddah! COOL!) I trimmed one of the words and stacked them so "love" would lay flat over the popped "U". The hearts were cut with my Nesties using Little Sizzles Textures Handmade Paper that I got at Custom Crops. My dear friend Margie uses it frequently and I LOVE the look. I even embossed the larger heart with the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks folder which squishes some of the texture, but still was a cool effect.

Here are some dimensional shots. The rest of the words were spelled out in Alpha Beads, the doily is from Target, and my project wouldn't be complete without some adhesive beads from M's. LOL Now I bet some of you are wondering where my BBTB2 project is, right? Well I had a really busy week getting ready for company so I left it for Sunday (who am I kidding, I almost ALWAYS leave it for Sunday) but yesterday I had quite a reaction to the rich food I served Saturday night (I've been being SOOOO good since the new year and I think my stomach was in SHOCK!) so was unable to complete it. I will be trying to catch up today and hopefully post it tomorrow.

My DT sisters came up with fabulous projects this week so be sure to stop over by clicking HERE and don't forget a random participant in this week's challenge will receive a $20 gift certificate to Custom Crops.

And now for the WINNER of The Cutting Cafe 2010 Calendar set and Journaling Lines Background Stamps is (chosen by random by DH who never knows why I'm always asking him to "pick a number").....

LUCKY # 7 FLOWERDISCO!

Congrats flowerdisco! Please email me at dlmundinger (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll send those sets right out to you.

2010 Calendar Set Giveaway from The Cutting Cafe

WooHoo Regina! I'm so excited to have made my very first Bind It All project using the 2010 Calendar Printable Stamp Set from The Cutting Cafe. (So is DH since he gave it to me LAST Christmas...oops!) I was so inspired by the adorable ones made by my DT sisters Carole and Lillie that I had to make one myself. This set has the months in 3 sizes in both circles and squares and the medium size squares were the perfect size to do an easel AND incorporate my BIA. I used some of my fave K&Co and DCWV La Crema papers and butterflies from my MS punches.

On the back of each month is a place for writing down important dates or reminders. I used the Journaling Lines Background Stamps also from The Cutting Cafe which was a really handy way to go. A mini pen fit in the BIA rings...how convenient. Now the fabulous news is you can win BOTH of these fabulous printable stamp sets by leaving a comment for me and I will draw a lucky winner on Monday. Not only that, many of my DT sisters also have stamp giveaways so be sure to click HERE to visit them too for MORE chances to WIN!

Stamp Something Challenge

Don't faint, I know 2 posts in one day is not something I do on a regular basis, but I'm trying to follow my New Year's Craft Resolutions of Stamping more AND participating in more of the fab challenges that are out there so here goes. I noticed on the Wags 'n Whiskers blog that they are sponsoring the challenge at Stamp Something this week. It is a sketch challenge (which generally makes me run and hide LOL) but this sketch looked like something I could manage so I decided to try it. I was dying to use some of my new SEI paper so I colored my stamp (oh LOOK! it's a Wags 'n Whiskers Stamp called Zoe's and Gemma's Snow Fun, wink wink, although it didn't HAVE to be) with my Copics and this is what I came up with. Have to post now so I don't miss the deadline like I did on the previous post.

A New Challenge Blog- Bah! Humbug!

I was visiting my friend Barb's BLOG and came across her post today about a new Christmas challenge blog called Bah! Humbug! WooHoo, this blogs for me! I love Christmas year 'round but coming up to the holiday I NEVER have time to do all I want. I get so motivated AFTER Christmas and then start to feel a bit silly. I bought TONS of Christmas stuff AFTER Christmas that I was dying to use so here's my first Challenge card (for the first challenge) at Bah Humbug which was recycling an old Christmas card, wrapping, etc. I knew what I wanted to use, I just had to find it because this challenge only lasts 'til noon Mt. time TODAY! Yikes! I never get cards done in an hour or two but I was determined! Found the card, (it must be a laser cut, gorgeous, huh?) cut it with my Nesties, used some of my NEW SEI Winter Song Paper, embossed the sentiment with my Cuttlebug and Voila! I'm so excited about this new blog and sure hope I can keep up the challenges. Thanks Barb! and thanks Bah! Humbug! Bummer, I may have misinterpreted the deadline which may be the UK time in which case I've missed it. I posted it anyway and hope to be ON TIME in the future when at all possible.

It's Plain to See Girlfriend's B-day card -.Cut File Available

Here's a girly B-day card I made for my good friend and neighbor. It was inspired by a card I saw on the Cricut mb over a year ago and I sure wish I remembered who made it. I'm pretty sure she was from "across the pond" and she used actual reading glasses and made a box for the card. I even bought reading glasses to duplicate her card and never got around to it (besides I can't find the glasses. LOL) so when I found this pair on the new Paisely cartridge I was elated! We're at that age when "readers" are a must and she's quite the fashionista as well so I thought she'd get a kick out of a flamboyant pair in zebra print (I sketched and colored the print with permanent markers) with a hot pink chain and rhinestones. (We'd never be caught DEAD with them around our neck! LOL) The welded sentimment is from Beyond Birthdays. It's available as a free .cut file with detailed instructions, including how to curl that ribbon, at Custom Crops so if you're interested click HERE.

For some reason I forgot to take a dimensional shot before I sent my article to Custom Crops, but since I still have the card, here it is.

Inside I did a computer generated sentiment and layered on another pair of glasses. I'm pretty sure with the color scheme and zebra print she'll get a real kick out of it. Hope you do too, and if you have a chance, I'd love it if you could leave a comment at CC too. Thanks so much! xxD

Let's Party with The Cuttlebug Spot!

This week at The Cuttlebug Spot it's all about party favors! WooHoo, I just received my new Tie the Knot Cricut Cartridge and I couldn't wait to try the bride and groom boxes. I cut them at large as the 12 x 12 mat would let me which was 11 1/14" for the bride and 10 3/4" for the groom. I did have to snip a smidge at two of the tips on the groom's box to get that size and I did do it in DS to get the absolute MAX possible so I'm not sure if you just used "fit to page" what size you'd actually get. The cool thing about these boxes is they don't need to be taped so if you were going to make multiples you wouldn't have to assemble them until needed.

The bride's dress was fairly easy to emboss with the Roses limited edition Cuttlebug folder I got from Custom Crops. The folder didn't make it all the way to the bottom of the dress but I was happy to use my virgin MS double loop border punch to add some color to the bottom. There is a separate cut on the cart to line the front of the dress. The ribbon holds the dress together at the waist. I can imagine using this dress for other girly parties as well. (Sweet 16? Quincinera?Princess?)

The groom's box was another story. I really wanted some texture and may have had an easier time had I chosen a different folder because of the directional stripes on the Herringbone folder, but I ended up cutting the box twice and dissecting one of them in order to emboss the parts that would be showing correctly. Guess I wouldn't be doing that if I were doing hundreds, but maybe for a rehearsal dinner... I just scored the shirt with my ScorPal and added adhesive bead buttons. I really love how it turned out.

The side view shows about how much "filling room" you have for each. The bride's box is about 4 1/2 " tall, about 4" wide at the bottom, and about 2" deep. The groom's box measures about 4" tall and across the top, 3" at the bottom, and about 1 3/4 " deep. My DT sisters have come up with some fabulous projects this week so why not have a look HERE. And if you came and party with us you have the opportunity to win a girft certificate from The Craft Barn so get crafting!