Friday, December 30, 2011

Dilly Beans Shades of Black and Red


Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a week since I blogged. I'm really having a guilt thing going on here. So sorry, but hubby was pretty ecstatic about the whole thing, LOL. The holidays are winding down now though, so I hope things will be back to normal soon. I am pleased to have a fabulous new Dilly Beans Challenge for your viewing pleasure today. Those who visit frequently know that one of my favorite color combos is black and red so you can imagine how excited I was for this challenge. I chose the adorable #184 Flower Girl. Love her hair! (Thinkin' about cutting mine. Whaddaya think?) And don't her beautiful grey eyes just make you wanna melt? She looks like she could use a little sun (as do the leaves, for that matter), but I really took this challenge seriously and only allowed myself black, red and white (that's just me) and I love how it turned out.

I printed her 3 times so I could do some fussy cutting and popping and don'tcha just love the flower button I added to the flower in her hair? I couldn't believe how perfectly it matched the background paper I used which is from an old pack from Target. I used my Nesties Blossom and Circle behind Flower Girl and added some bold polka dot ribbon to the black stripe and called it done. No sentiment because I think it could be used for a variety of occasions. My DT sisters have all done a fabulous job with this challenge, so be sure to check out the Challenge Blog and take a peek. We can't wait to see what you come up with. I'm also entering this in The City Crafter Make the Cut Challenge, the Shopping Our Stash Tie it Up Challenge, The Colour Q Challenge (see pic below), and Simon Says Stamp anything Goes.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas Eve everyone! This is the "Big Day" in our family as we open our 'prises (short for surprises) this evening and have the neighbors over for a little "Christmas Cheer". We still open stockings tomorrow, however, but Christmas Day is much more relaxed and is just my hubby and I since our BFF's are away and we do our traditional Christmas dinner with them after New Years.


As you can see, Santa is at my house (under the grand piano) deciding who gets what so I hope you've all been good little boys and girls. He is the newest addition (last year) to my Santa collection and all of those fabulous vintage toys pack up in that beautiful trunk for storage. At the moment I'm a bit upset because he's one of a kind and for some reason I've misplaced his "credentials" which also lists the artist. Usually these pieces are also signed but I can't seem to find any signature anywhere either. HHHmm... Hopefully our guy at the Mole Hole in Carmel can remedy that for me. I seem to be a "collector" of all sorts of stuff and my Santas are some of my faves. Click HERE for pix of the others. What about you? Do you have a special Christmas collection that you lovingly put out every year? I'd love to say and chat, but I've still got lots (read more decorating) to do, not to mention wrapping gifts and such. Yeah, I know, I said I wanted this to be a "stress free" holiday and here I am rushing around as usual. The difference is, I'm going with the flow. If it gets done, it gets done, if not, well, nobody really knows (or cares) but me. I still better get moving though. LOL I apologize for not visiting you each individually, but know that I'm thinking of all my blogging friends. So here's wishing all of you a magical Christmas and a very healthy, happy New Year. xxD

Friday, December 23, 2011

Dilly Beans 3 Images Challenge



Happy Friday! Can you believe it's the day before Christmas Eve? Yikes! Hope you all are more ready than I am. I apologize for being less than prolific the last couple of months, but hopefully by mid January things will settle down and I'll be back in the groove. Here's wishing all of you a fabulous holiday just in case I don't make it back before. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your friendship and support. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and a very Merry Christmas to you! xxx


We're still crafting up a storm at the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog and this week's challenge is to use 3 images on your card or project. I fell in love with #310 Happy Snowman the minute I saw him with his hands thrown up in the air in pure joy. To me he looks like he is thrilled with winter weather and should be juggling snow balls so I added some wired trim so he could do just that. I also thought Megan's "Joy" (hmm, can't seem to find it in the store but I'm not quite awake yet, LOL) would be the perfect sentiment for my little door hanger. My third stamp is from the Holly Tag and Holly Set. This is a mix of fussy cutting, paper piecing, and coloring with Copics. I particularly love the way his "fur trim" came out. My craft room is such a disaster that I couldn't find my puff pen and started poking around in other drawers. I found a SnowWriter (from perhaps 2 years ago, unopened, the opened one was all dried up) and tried that instead and dusted it with FunFlock so it has dimemson AND is fuzzy. WooHoo! His boots are coated with Glossy Accents and the heart buttons are Alpha Beads.


I treated the images sort of like I do Cricut cuts for layering purposes. They were printed on kraft paper first and I fussy cut them with a border that would show. They were printed again on either DP (these were all from the DCWV Homemade Christmas stack) or white card stock and colored, fussy cut, glued or popped accordingly. Originally I planned on making a card, but this week's Whimsicle Wednesday Home for the Holidays challenge called for a home decor project so I used my Nesties Grand Lables Four to make the hanger instead.There's more fabulous inspiration on the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog so go take a look and if you have a moment to yourself this next week, come play along.




And WOW! Craving Dilly Beans?




Need a last minute Christmas gift (for yourself maybe) or perhaps something to do with the Christmas $$ you received? Check out the fabulous deals in THE STORE now through December 31st.


Monday, December 19, 2011

Wrap it Up Candle Challenge



This week our challenge at BBTB2 was chosen by our sweet sis Karen in honor of her Daddy's birthday. She chose the candle on the Wrap it Up Cartridge which is one I must say I hadn't touched yet. WooHoo! First I'd like to wish Karen's Dad a very happy birthday and then remind you that you can participate in our challenges using the candle from any cartridge and as long as you enter a new creation and link it to BBTB2, you're good to go. We know it's a busy time of year, and really appreciate your efforts to play along. I started out with 5 of the candles in a row (at 5 ") and welded a scalloped circle from Sweet Treats that I'd stretched into an oval in DS behind them all so I'd have a place to put a sentiment inside where it wouldn't show from the front. That, of course is welded to a rounded rectangle from George to make my card base. I cut it in black, but then had a hard time choosing papers for the inside mat because there really wasn't all that much of it showing from the front. I finally found a card suit print from Stampin'UP that was small enough and continued with that theme.


Here it is open, a shaped front, no surprise there. The smaller scallop, in red, is embossed with a folder from the Sizzix Hello Kitty Spring set (thank goodness I wrote that one on the folder, LOL). The candles were cut in black first, then in Saffron (from Stampin'Up) and gold foil for the flames. I used the larger Cuttlebug Polka Dots on the candles.


"Make a Wish" is also from Sweet Treats and I'm pretty sure I cut the layers at 2". The DP with the poker chips was also part of that Stampin'UP set (now retired, I think). The cute little acrylic cards were from my LSS. So now I've got a b-day card for our poker playing friend almost all set. (His birthday is in July, let's just hope I don't forget where I put it before then) Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful holiday season. I know we've all got lots to do and I truly appreciate you taking the time to visit. Looks like we have a bit of an abbreviated team this week but the participants we do have are definitely worth seeing so stop on by BBTB2 and leave some Christmas cheer. Now I'm off to get boofy at the hair salon. See ya later!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Dilly Beans Santa Baby


The days are just flying by, aren't they? You ready? I'm not even close. But the Dilly Beans Designers have been hard at work with our new Santa Baby Challenge. Megan has so many adorable Santas and helpers at the Dilly Beans Shop I had a hard time choosing but finally decided on #311 Santa and added #176 Mittens (printed twice, once flipped and fussy cut individually) so he could hold #293 Three Presents. Obviously, someone has been very very GOOD! (That would be ME, LOL I can dream, can't I?) I colored with Copics to match the DP from the Jingle Bells stack by Recollections. The whole thing looks a bit busy, but hey, it's a busy time of year. Santa's beard and moustache were glittered and embossed with Swiss Dots in my Cuttlebug not only for some bling and texture, but because I also planned on entering it in The Cuttlebug Spot Santa Baby challenge this week, as well.

Various part of the pressies are popped and I've added some glittered chipboard by K&Co to the bows and pom pom to Santa's hat. "Jolly Santa" are acrylic from Cloud9. Now go have a look at the fab inspiration from my teamies at the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog and don't forget, you can still grab the adorable freebie Snowman Family and join in that challenge through the 19th, as well. And don't forget the fab sale at the Dilly Beans Shop, now through Dec. 26th. Buy 3 single digis and get one free. WooHoo!

Monday, December 12, 2011

BBTB2 Winter Frolic Tag


Yea! We're back with a new fabulous challenge at BBTB2. Our dear DT sister Lori has chosen any of the tags from the Winter Frolic cartridge (or any tag if you haven't that one). I chose a pretty shape (the one with the heart cut out on page 70 which I promptly hid the contour of in DS) and cut the shadow and patterned topper at 6". I was going for a vintage feel using paper from y fave older K&Co. Christmas Cheer stack and thought some embossing might be in order. I chose a love scrolly folder from the Heritage Companion Embossing set. although the folder is 5x7", it still wasn't large enough to emboss the entire tag base so I had to do it half and half in my Grand Caliber. The gold layer is the top tag layer increased to 6 3/8". There are so many cute phrases on Winter Frolic that I had a hard time choosing.g.

"All Spruced Up" caught my eye thinkin' I could use the tag as sort of a clue to one of the Christmas gifts for my hubby. You know, reminding me that this box has some spiffy new clothes in it. We don't use tags very often at our house because the gifts under the tree are for each other. I'm usually wrapping those for others at the last minute and they're had delivered or sent so there's really no need. I like to wrap mine sort of according to what's in the box so I can remember what's what. DH just writes them all down in a notebook so he can dole the out appropriately. LOL Anyway, the branches are cut with a Tim Holtz Festive Greenery Die to which I added some vintage tinsel and the ornaments are K&Co stickers that went with the Christmas Cheer DP. I sorta felt like I was cheating, but hey, I'm really running behind on everything (as usual) so...


Although I had great intentions on doing a different project for the Whimsical Wednesday Layer It challenge, I'm afraid this one will have to do because I'm running out of time there. And I can't resist entering Cindy's Scraptastic Monday Challenge which calls for a card, tag or ornament that includes a Christmas ball on it and some bling! I'm hoping you haven't forgotten about us at BBTB2 and have a chance to play along with our challenge. Remember, you have 2 weeks in which to complete it and be sure to stop over to BBTB2 and check out the fab inspiration from my DT sisters.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Dilly Beans Twisted Christmas



It's time for another Dilly Beans Challenge and this week it's a fun one, Twisted Christmas. HeeHee! Now the theme is open to interpretation, but also being a Macabre Minion at HDH, missing my dark and twisted sisters while we're on break, I had to go a teeny bit creepy. Besides, this is pretty much how I'm feeling at this stage of the game. How about you? The image is called #275 Framed Disturbed Snowman (ya think?) but there are lots of creepy cute images in the SHOP. And actually, you can play along with any image, as long as it fits the theme, so why don'tcha? The DP is Making Memories. I don't know about you, but counting down the days 'til Christmas totally freaks me out. As if I don't already know how freakin' behind I am.

I printed him twice so I could fussy cut the bags under his eyes and pop them and I've popped alternating letters of the sentiment as well as the image panel. The black snowflake is Cuttlebug and the black icicles are courtesy of Martha Stewart. They're a good thing. The cool letters are Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Postage Alphabet. I really love these folders but I don't think they caught on. My DT sisters have some hilarious examples for they're take on the challenge so pop on over to the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog and have a look. Oh, and BTW, our special kick-off Snowman Family Challenge is still going on through Dec 19th so you might want to pop over, grab the FREEBIE (WOOHOO!) and play along for the fab prizes. Now, hopefully Cindy and the gang won't have a heart attack, but I'm also entering this is this week's Scraptastic Monday challenge #5 which calls for a snowman(check) or snowflake(check) with a winter wonderland theme (well, icicles?, you decide, LOL). Maybe I can do another, but I'm not counting on it considering how things are going.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Bah!Humbug!, Scraptastic Monday, and Whimsical Wednesday, WooHoo!


I can't believe it's the very last Bah! Humbug! challenge of the year. I want to thank Ann, Max and the monthly Guest Designers for the fabulous inspiration they've given me these long months. The final challenge is Cute Christmas Critters and I don't think you can get any cuter than this sweet little Christmas Penguin from Cindy's Scraptastic Designs. Better yet, I was able to enter it in the Scraptastic Monday Challenge #4 which calls for no red, green, or gold. In case you're unfamiliar with the Scraptastic Monday challenges, there's a new challenge once a week but you have 2 weeks to complete the challenge. You may use anything you like (your Cricut, rubber stamps, or digi's) as long as you follow the theme, but of course I wanted to use one of Cindy's own. For this challenge, you even get an adorable free digi for entering (showcased by Cindy's talented daughter Tiffany among the DT examples) so I know you all want to check it out and enter.

Seriously, who could resist that face? I printed him twice and colored him with Copics, then fussy cut him out along with his beak, wings (or are they called flippers?) and light strand from the second image and popped him into a Nesties Beaded Circle. The glitter snowflakes are a McGill punch and I've also added some glitter icicles punched with a MS border punch. Oh oh, I see a bit of chartreuse has snuck onto the ribbon. EEK! Quickly avert your eyes, or if I must, I'll gladly rip it off to qualify for that fabulous digi.

Here's the dimension shot. Notice the pretty bling on the light strand and snowflake centers? That's for the current Whimsical Wednesday Winter Fun Challenge that just started today and asks that you use something sparkly. I think I've got it covered with the that and the glitter snowflakes and icicles, don't you? I'm also entering this in the ABC Christmas Challenge (Y is for Yippee! Anything Goes).

Monday, December 5, 2011

Wicked Wednesday Black and White Challenge


Have you played along with Wicked Wednesday yet? ATC's are so much fun and go really fast so I was able to sneak this in this morning between my workout and shower. We're on the way to the city (SF) to see My Week with Marilyn and do a little Christmas shopping. WooHoo! The challenge this week is Black and White. Ah well, okay, how about black and off white? Can you work with me Jenn? I have to admit I found this little birdie already cut and raring to go and he just begged to be used and he was off white, so... He's cut from the Home Decor Cricut cart. I popped him on a branch I punched with my new MS deep edge, added some corners, beads, and some musical note brads and there ya go.

So where is BBTB2? Well, the team has another little break this week. Sorry about that. I'll try to do something more with my Cricut this week for your viewing pleasure (but don't hold me to that, it is the holidays, after all and I made that deal with hubby...) In the meantime, if you didn't see my Altered Alice post from yesterday, scroll down to see a bit more Cricut goodness. Catch ya later. I'm off to get boofy.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Lewis Christmas Carroll to All



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Altered Alice! This month we bring you our holiday wishes, and we invite you to send your holiday greetings to The Altered Alice. You have until Friday, Dec. 23 to enter. The winner post will either be a little early or late, as the last Sunday of the month falls on Christmas day!


To celebrate the season, we bring you The Lewis Carroll Memorial Window at Daniell Chapel in England. Notice the left panel where Lewis Carroll and Alice kneel to pay homage to the newly born Christ in this wonderful Nativity scene! Our quote this month is actually contained within the window. The window was designed by the stained glass artist Geoffrey Webb, a must-see for anyone that loves Wonderland. A wonderful Christmas poem by Lewis Carroll is shown in the center three bottom panels, which include characters from Wonderland - the White Rabbit, Dodo, the Caterpillar, Mad Hatter, and more!


Our own Sue Roddis visited this window and is sharing the closeups on The Altered Alice so be sure to visit to view all of the glorious details and read the lovely verse.


My project is a teapot snowglobe easel card featuring the Alice characters taking their Christmas tea in a Wonderland of snow. The stamp is from our past sponsor Indigo Blu from the Alice II set. I've cut the teapot on my Cricut using the Ashlyn's alphabet cartridge with a circular cut out to fit my "globe" from George. The image is popped and I've added snowflakes from Jolee's as well as mica flake glitter to create a Winter Wonderland.



The globe itself is leftover packaging material from Terrifically Tacky Tape. I encourage you this holiday season to look at your trimmings and wrap and repurpose, recycle and reuse whenever possible.


The sentiment is computer generated and the banner is mounted, layered and popped on Nesties Labels Eleven which serves as a "stop" for my Easel. I've also used my Cuttlebug to cut and emboss a silver snowflake to which I've added a beaded one from JoLee's.



Our prize this month is a $40.00 gift certificate to Custom Crops, the premier online retailer for crafters of all kinds. From Accuquilt to Zva Creative, adhesives to vinyl and everything in between, Custom Crops offers a huge selection of the products you've been looking for at competive prices with fast, friendly customer service.

We look forward to seeing your holiday greetings at The Altered Alice, so send us a Christmas Card! If it features Wonderland, you will have two chances at the randomly awarded prize instead of one. Multiple entries are fine, but each must be on a separate post. Please visit each week to see fabulous inspiration from all of our team and click HERE to view the lovely creations by my sisters Tracy and Retta this week.

I'm also entering this in the Cuttlebug Spot "Leftovers" Challenge this week. Besides the leftover packaging, the DP is scraps from the SEI Winter Song Stack.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Dilly Beans Stripes Challenge



It's our first official Dilly Beans Friday Challenge and it's an easy one. Use STRIPES, any way you want to. I decided to take a little break from Christmas and use the first Dilly Beans image I ever saw (or bought) on my teamie Jenn's blog. I immediately fell in love with #197 Framed Bumblebee Girlie , isn't she just bee-u-tiful?) and was blown away with the cute and quirky Dilly Beans designs. She's colored with Copics with a bit of gel pen detail and I used skittles at the end of her antennae. The bottom portion of her wings is layered and curled and attached only near her body so they would have a bit of dimension. The color scheme is simple using the sort of retro flowers DP from an old pack from Target and a fun yellow stripe by Heidi Grace. The little hive is a metal "quicklet" from the Eyelet Outlet I've attached over a Prima flower with a Queen&Co bee brad. Now go "bee" inspired by the rest of the DT and we'd love it if you'd play along. BTW, there's still time to grab the freebie HERE for our 3 week kick-off challenge too so we hope to see you there too. (Lots of prizes!) I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Tiddly Inks New Release and SALE!



I've been missing my Tiddly Inks and Inkers so much since retiring from the team the end of October and was thrilled to see the fabulous new release Christy cooked up (or should I say sketched up) after spending time with her adorable niece the past weekend. I had such a hard time choosing which of these darling "Little Somethings" to use first, but this "Little So and So" really stole my heart. I had a fun time paper piecing him and shading him with Copics and I finally got to use some of my DCWV Safari Kids Stack. You can view the rest of the group and fabby samples on Christy's Blog HERE. And WOOHOO! Check out the Cyber Thursday code (SOMETHING) for a whopping 30%off any order at the Tiddly Inks Shop.

I was excited to use Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #145 for my card for this is the first time playing along with this challenge. And I'm also entering it in the Shopping Our Stash Digi Images and/or Sentiments Challenge. (BTW, that cute little digi saying is TI too) Happy shopping!