Macabre Monday #55 Elegantly Evil

Okay, so we're back to some scarier stuff at Haunted Design House with a new challlenge, Elegantly Evil. Heaven forbid we lose some of our darker participants with all of the creepy cuteness (not that I don't love that too) that's been flooding the blog so I've chose to go DARK with this one. I don't know why elegant to me means a chandelier, but it does. I had already done probably the most Elegant Evil Halloween card EVER (in my mind) and I was THIS CLOSE to just using that but I thought better. Here I used a chandelier from French Manor (first time using that EXPENSIVE cart) to create a little scene.

A bit hard to read those word stickers from Making Memories, but let me help you here.

This pic is an actual scanned tintype of one of David's relatives. (Tell me he doesn't look like he'd be capable of this.) LOL The fab frame is from Happy Hauntings.

A working noose. (Good knot to know)

Cool chair, also from French Manor, with some fabulously elegant tassel trim I got as a thank you from Kellie Winnell when I was Guest Designer from the last Lil Lolitas release at Tickled Pink Stamps. (Eat your heart out, she doesn't ship this stuff internationally. Lucky Aussies!)

So I hope you're inspired to take a look at the rest of the Macabre Minions fabulous work and play along this week at Haunted Design House. And for those of you left standing and in search of a slightly less DARK rendition of the theme I decided to repost a shaped card I did for Custom Crops last year. Those of you with a Cricut Expression can download the free .cut file and read the full article HERE.

Not Just for Mother's Day Doily Card and Free .Cut File

I really love the feminine lacy feel of doilies and when I spotted one on the Mother's Day 2010 Seasonal Cartridge I knew I wanted to make a shaped card, however there was no shadow...GRRR. Fortunately the pattern was even enough to enlarge it slightly and by hiding the selected contours of ALL of the detail I was able to make this card. Once the work was done, the card goes together in a snap and I think the base would be great for a number of different things. I put the Happy Mother's Day sentiment on the front so it could be sent to anyone you'd like to send those wishes to. I kept the embellies simple, but you could really go to town if you wish. If you like, the FREE .cut file and instructions can be found HERE on the Custom Crops site. Just a quickie post, because I'm celebrating my birthday with my neighbor today (I'm all for prolonging the birthday experience as long as I can. LOL) and we're out to lunch and shopping. Woohoo!

Jubilee Layout (Yes, you read that right!) for Custom Crops- .Cut File Available

Don't faint, but I actually made a layout. Of course I couldn't find the picture I had in mind to put in it, but it's a layout nonetheless. Those of you who know me know I have NEVER done a layout in my life. But this was a challenge from Custom Crops so I just couldn't refuse. (It does hopefully excuse the quality, though, I hope. LOL) Anyway, besides it having to be a layout, it also was to feature the Jubilee cartridge. (Another one of those I thought I needed and have NEVER used.) I didn't go all creative because, quite frankly, it's the houses that I bought this cart for so I focussed on them. I hope you can tell that the huge mat in the background is a house with a porch. (My dear friend Leah, who's the QUEEN of layouts, didn't immediately get that so it sort of made me nervous.) I planned to put a 4 x 6 picture of our house the day we moved in on this but as I said, I couldn't find it. Thought this "Welcome Home" theme could work for a number of different Homecomings though; new baby, returning soldier, you get the picture. Only the big cloud from Create a Critter (which I thought could be used for journaling) and the grass and rectangular mat from Plantin Schoolbook were not cut from Jubilee. The DPs are from Heidi Grace and I added a few Prima flowers and texture with my cuttlebug Spots and Dots and Swiss Dots folders. The article and .cut file are available HERE on the Custom Crops site. Now I'll happily return to my comfort zone (much to everyone's relief! LOL)

Very Merry Tags for Spring -.cut file available

The DT at Custom Crops was given a challenge this week to use Very Merry Tags for a Spring/Easter project. I really love the bird tag and thought it would be perfect for a Springy card. The color scheme is inspired by the pretty colors in ths Basic Grey paper from the Kioshi line. (I'm really partial to plaids and checks). I used Calligraphy Collection for the word "Spring" and welded the letters in DS. The shadow for the tag is done with Plantin Schoolbook wince there are no shadows on the cart. It's really quite simple but I do love the way it turned out. I think I may make 3 more for the other Seasons and perhaps frame them as wall art. There are many more pix and a free .cut file available HERE. Sorry for the short post but we're planning a road trip to go look for garden urns and I've got to get moving. Looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day!

Another Panoramic Egg - .Cut file available

I so enjoyed making my panoramic egg for the Peggy Loves Vintage contest that I decided to make one ALL CRICUT for Custom Crops. It's all done with the Easter Cartridge with just the small circle cut outs around the scalloped part of the egg done with Plantin Schoolbook. The Designer paper is DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl, and I want to point out that both the 12x12 stack AND the matstack are used. I like that the smaller stacks scale down the prints for your smaller cuts. The background in the egg cut out, the bunny, and the grass are all cut from the mat stack, while the outer egg pattern on the front and the inside mat are from the 12x12.

As usual, loads of dimension and the FREE .cut file and complete instructions are available HERE on the Custom Crops site.

The inside sentiment is also from the Easter 2010 cart and I added tiny adhesive gems to enhance the cut. As you can see, this inside mat is the same as the dotted paper behind the bunny on the front, just a different scale. Love that! Don't forget that you have until April 2nd to enter the Peggy Loves Vintage contest for a wonderful prize. Click HERE to get the freebie image and all of the details.

Tea for 2 - .Cut File Available

The Alice craze has gotten me VERY into tea parties lately, so I thought I'd do this tea related card for Custom Crops using the new Once Upon a Princess cartridge. Originally I was gonna pass on this cart, but upon further investigation I found it's not only good for your girly princess related stuff, but it has some great sentiments as well. For once I actually designed a card using ONLY one cart. Amazing!

It's pretty straight forward and the full instructions and FREE .cut file is available HERE. As in all of my cards, they can be assembled with out dimension as well, but you know me, I've never met a pop dot I didn't like. LOL If YOU like it, I sure would appreciated a comment on the CC site so they know you guys are lovin' the articles. The paper here is from Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess and I LOVE IT, don't you? Anyway. The week is getting away from me and I haven't been able to craft as much as I'd like what with my hair appt. on Wed. , lunch out with DH, and today a Scrapbook Expo. WooHoo! I'm afraid I'll be missing out on a few of the challenges I'd hoped to do and I haven't even begun my DT stuff for next week. Wish me luck as I hope to be in major debt by the end of the day.

Dare to be Sassy Color Challenge and Blog Hop Winner

Had a great time at Alice in Wonderland yesterday. I have to say though, that I would have liked more of the Wonderland characters and less of the Red Queen's Army. Definitely not enough Depp and I think my faves (besides the Red Queen) were the Cheshire Cat and Absolom the Caterpillar. Anybody else see it? Would love to hear your thoughts. I definitely will be seeking out Alice challenges wherever I can find them, so let me know if you come across any. I did this one for Sassy Studios Designs Dare to be Sassy Thursday using their Sassy Studios Little Mad Hatter and Sassyland Sentiment digi stamps. You can buy them HERE. It's a color challenge using green, black, hot pink and orange so of course, with that pic for inspiration, I just HAD to! He's colored with Copics and cut out with Nesties. The paper is K&Co. Portobello Road. I purposely made the mats all wonky, popped them up and added some adhesive beads.

And now the moment you've been waiting for. The winner of the $30.00 gift certificate from Custom Crops is #31. CONGRATULATIONS HELEN!

Helen said...
Great card-Thanks for sharing!

Please email me at dlmundinger (at) yahoo (dot) com to arrange for your prize.

Thank you all so much for participating in the hop and thank you Custom Crops for your generous donation. P.S. GREAT sale going on there 'til tonight with UNBELIEVABLE prices on Cricut carts (and not just old ones, would you believe Forever Young at $27.00!?!)

A Better Day and More Cuttlebug Double Embossing

Well today was a better day and I did actually finish a project (none of the ones I NEED to get done, but hey!) Still need to take pix so that post will be another day. Instead here's another example of that fun double embossing technique we did for The Cuttlebug Spot this week. If you missed Nilda's fabulous video on this technique, click HERE. This time I actually used 2 different folders before I did the embossing with the Nestie. The first was the Happy Birthday folder from the Crafts-Too company, available HERE at Custom Crops. That folder embossed the bottom half of the mat and the center sentiment. Then I took Swiss Dots and placed it on the blank top half and used my cut out chipboard (see the VIDEO) to emboss that portion only so as not to flatten the previous embossing. I then used the negative cut out piece and my scalloped square Nestie to complete the double embossing. The popped cupcake is from the set that came with my Cuttlebug and I embossed in white, pink, and plaid and cut the pieces out by hand and glued them together. The border punch is MS and I cut a second border so I could cut out some pink cupcake tops for added color.

I'm trying to finish my cards inside and out these days, so I added a computer generated sentiment and cut it out with my Nesties Labels Four. Gotta love that one! (Might have been nice to take a straight pic, though. LOL) Don't forget we have a new sponsor at The Cuttlebug Spot so pop on over and leave a comment for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate from Simon Says Stamp! You gotta try this technique, too! I LOVE it!

Kiss Me Puzzle- Free .Cut File Available

Here's a little project I did for Custom Crops. This fun puzzle could be used as a card, party favor, or even a learning tool (with a different illustration, perhaps). The puzzle pieces are from My Community with an illustration from the Sweethearts cartridge and Plantin Schoolbook drawn with my Cricut markers. In order to draw on the puzzle with the Cricut I needed to move the pieces together using Design Studio. Then I fit a picture to the pieces which I drew first, then cut the puzzle pieces in both card stock and chip board and assembled. For the complete instructions and free .cut file click HERE. Once the puzzle is assembled, you have the option of coloring it yourself as I did, or giving the puzzle with a set of markers. I even added a bit of bling and googly eyes for interest. Once you've downloaded the puzzle file it is easy to create additional puzzles with any picture you choose. This project was a little different for me, but it was a fun one to do. Be sure to stop by Custom Crops to check out the videos we did from CHA as well as the fabulous projects created by Natalie and Miranda. The Tim Holtz video is especially cool with very interesting questions and answers. Don't miss it!

The Cuttlebug Spot 3M Paper Challenge

This week was free rein at The Cuttlebug Spot, meaning any theme as long as we used some of the 3M Post-it Craft Paper from this week's sponsor. In celebration of the gorgeous vintage things I saw at CHA, I chose to do a vintage Valentine. The border punch by EK Success, the gorgeous Cottage Cutz doily die from The Scrapping Cottage and the gold Ornamental Iron Cuttlebug border behind the cherub medallion were all done in the adhesive paper. The background mat is from the DCWV Luxury stack, embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile Texture folder and the ivory heart was both cut and embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile Hearts combo set. The gold key is from the Spellbinder's Timeless Heritage dies. In addition I used a Melissa Francis keyhole brushed with Perfect Pearls, velvet rick rack from May Arts, and some cocoa colored adhesive pearls to balance the design. Alot going on I know, but I was going for a Victorian look which was all about loads of adornment. (My kinda style, hee hee)

The cherub medallion is a vintage image I downloaded from Dover Publications which I printd 4 times and cut with my Nesties Petite Scalloped Oval for the base, and Petite Ovals for the 3 remaining layers and popped them on top of each other to get the dimensional look. I first saw this technique on Sherry Cheever's Blog during a Spellbinder's blog hop. My image was quite small so I wasn't able to do as many layers as she did, but I still love the look.

Here's the dimensional shot. Be sure to stop by The Cuttlebug Spot to view all of the fabulous projects by the other designers and be aware that the rules have changed. Although we would LOVE to see you participate in the challenges, it is not necessary to be eligible for a prize. Just leave a comment and you could be a winner. P.S. in case you didn't see yesterday's post, be sure to check it out. The BBTB2 Blog Hop will be going on until at least Friday and there's candy to be had. I'll be drawing a name Sat. morning for a $30 gift Certificate to Custom Crops. WooHoo!

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!!!

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

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!

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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!