"Bean" Thinking of You

Gotta say I'm kinda proud of this one.  One of the things I love about the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is that it gets me trying to use my actual physical stamps.  Here's one with ALL real stamping.  YAY, me! (And thank god for the Misti)

I had this in my mind because of my new bold alphabet die set from Super Sponsor Altenew and the fact that it's getting close to Father's Day.  Although my Daddy's been gone 13 years now, rarely a day goes by without me thinking of him and he sure loved his coffee.  So I kept this masculine, stamping in brown Memento and using kraft grid paper from a Tim Holtz stack that referenced my daddy's mechanical engineering profession.  No computers when he was working.  Drafting was done by hand on.  

I taped the letters together to get an idea of where I wanted to stamp and used the Coffee Beans from the Tim Holtz Fresh Brewed stamps from Stampers Anonymous.  The additional beans are from Super Sponsor Verve's Coffee set (OOOH!  I even MASKED some!) and the sentiment is from Verve's Rise Above set.  After stamping, I cut the letters and popped them up and there ya go.

I'm also entering this in the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #82 AG, Simon Says Monday Masculine Challenge, Simon Says Wednesday Use More than One Stamp, the Outlawz Monday Greetings AG, and Dream Valley Challenges #180 for a Man or Boy.

Happy Father's Day from the Cats

Goliath new exactly what he wanted for a Father's Day card this year. He's been "gifting" Daddy almost daily, although we've closed the cat door at night to cut down on unpleasant "surprises" (see bottom of post HERE if you're interested). The rat banner is done with a MS punch some twine and the Cuttlebug Monogram Seals Emboss Plus folder. He's broadened his hunting skills to include birds (on the DP by Heidi Grace) and of course we can't forget the appetizer mice (also a MS border punch.) Goliath, himself, is from a Sticky note pad by Paper House productions that he swears he modeled for.


I glued him to card stock for strength, cut him out and popped him, along with the hanging rats and monogram seals. Before taking them out of the folder, I colored the letters with gel pens. After removal, I inked the edges.

And inside... the little lizard is a Cottage Cutz Die and I've added lidded goggle eyes. He's still smiling because he has no idea he's dessert. Both cats enjoy chasing and catching lizards but we always thought they must taste nasty since Goliath always let them go. Last time I heard Jezzie's muffled "I've got something for you" meow I was totally surprised when she chomped one right down. EEEWWWW!!! I'm assuming it's an acquired taste, but one she's dying to share with her Daddy. She says it tastes just like chicken, yeah, right!


Of course Jezzie's card is all about her. I made a shaped card with Design Studio using Car Decals. I cut the interior pieces by hiding the contours of the regular Cat2 and cutting them pieces individually in the other papers. Jezzie couldn't decide whether she wanted to be fuzzy or sparkly so I used Sparkly Fluff to cover both bases. Attached to her bow in is a silver charm that says "Special". She's a very skittish and wild thing, but she's Daddy's Little Princess and has just recently allowed him to actually comb her, resulting in far fewer hairballs and quite the fluffy coat. She thinks she's just "boofy" (beautiful) these days and when Daddy bends down and tells her she's his pretty girl she stretches and rolls over to show him her tummy.


So the inside reads "Daddy, I feel like a princess all boofy and new and it's all because of you!" The hearts are RainDots. Oh oh! Jezzie just noticed I forgot the hugs and kisses... better go fix that! I'm entering these cards in the Whimsical Wednesday Father's Day Challenge.

Jezebel's Card to Daddy

Jezebel was really bent out of shape this morning because Mommy spent too much time on challenges this week and not enough time (read NO time) making her a card to give Daddy. (Goliath didn't much care because he had a gift but Jezzie thinks she a gift enough but loves to remind Daddy how precious she is. LOL) I printed out this Purrfect Princess stamp from Pixie Dust Studio and colored her with my Copics. The paper is sort of a joke because Jezebel NEVER comes when she's called. The placement of the kitty and the sentiment came about by accident. I wanted the whole "Here Kitty Kitty" to show, but my room is such a mess that I couldn't find my repositionable tape to tape the mat to run through the printer so I grabbed some used stuff that was stuck to my table. It came unstuck and the "From Your Princess" was printed cockeyed at the bottom of the page. CRAP! I was in a hurry and didn't have any more paper so I decided it sort of looked like where a kid would write and I added the "To Daddy" to the top corner. Then stuck a bow on to fill up the empty space on the side. Not too bad.

Both Goliath and Jezebel are Pixie Bob cats, a breed that supposedly has some bobcat ancestry in their background from barn cats breeding naturally with them in the wild. Goliath is a big old sweetie, but Jezzie still has that wild flight instinct and although she comes around to wake us up every morning and purrs around our ankles, when we reach down to pet her she scoots away. She's definitely a Daddy's girl and cries at the door whenever Daddy leaves (even to go out to get the paper). Only occasionally however, does she come up and sit on Daddy's lap. (Forget Mommy, unless she has tuna fish. ) Lately she's been particularly skittish which upsets Daddy to no end, hence the inside sentiment. She found it very amusing.

Two with Tiddly!

Father's Day is really a tough time for me. I will always be a Daddy's Girl but I lost him 5 years ago to Alzheimer's. When I saw this adorable image at Tiddly Inks (called apppropriately "Daddy's Girl") I HAD to have her. I think I cried the whole time I was making this card but I really love how it turned out. (I'm not doing that good a job holding back the tears while typing either so if I'm messing up, sorry.)

After cutting her out with my Nesties I finally decided on an easel card so the sentiment will always be visible. The papers are from Miss Elizabeth's and unfortunately I don't know who did the plaid, which I picked out first, as it inspired the entire color scheme.

The letters for Daddy are stamped with an old set from Stamp Craft and cut out. She's done with a combo of paper piecing and coloring with my Copics, with the hat, tie and shoes colored again and popped.

The sentiment is computer generated and is how I will always feel. I love you Daddy and miss you very much! This is my second entry in the Cards for Men Father's Day Challenge, my first for the One for the Boys Cupcake Crafts Challenge, and it's been way too long since I've entered a challenge at A Crafty Little Place, #34 also One for the Boys.

On a lighter note, on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog this week the challenge is Bleep, Bleep Boys and Their Robots. I got both the adorable images FREE from the Tiddly Inks PCP Group. WooHoo! Roboto came already colored in the freebie but he is available for purchase uncolored along with tons more adorable robots and other cute boy stuff Here. The free pressie was not colored so I printed it a couple of times and used my Papertrey Ink Distressed Stripes Clear Stamps I got from my dear friend Leah for my birthday to do the wrapping and then colored and cut and popped the bow. I love the fact that you can resize digis so I made the present large enough to turn into a shaped card and then just folded some cardstock, traced around the image with a bit of a shadow, and hand cut it with scissors. The little paper clip letters came from JoAnn's. The letters seemed to easily be popped off the clips (I found this out quite by accident, LOL) so I glued the o and r under the f on the first clip with glossy accents. I thought the square letters tied in perfectly.

The entire present was popped on the card base as was the ribbon on top of the colored pressie. Roboto was popped a bit higher and his shoes and one of the balloons were cut out and popped as well. LOVE that dimension! I love these challenges so much! If you've never worked with digis before and are unfamiliar with Tiddly Inks, this is a perfect challenge to get your feet wet since the images are available FREE for this one just by joining the Tiddly Inks PCP group. In fact every Tues there's something FREE being offered there so what are you waiting for?

BBTB2 Reader's Choice - Camp Out Curved Fish

Happy Monday (are people really happy about Monday?) I actually am because that means I've completed my DT projects for the week and can RELAX (or just play with whatever I want to). I must say the projects for this week were a bit of a challenge. On BBTB2 we have a Reader's Choice from Camp Out using the big cruved fish. Guy cards, EEEK! and no fishermen in this house. Actually, I shouldn't be complaining about this one because I've wanted to do this cut ever since I saw it because of the movie "Big Fish" with Albert Finney. I cried like a baby (in the theater, no less) watching it because parts really reminded me of my Daddy who used to tell stories. Anyway, enough of that.

I made a shaped front card using Design Studio with the fish (obviously) and Mickey font welded to a rounded rectangle from George. The hook is from SpongeBob. (yeah, I know, I can't believe I have that cart either, let's just say it was a deal I couldn't refuse and it certainly came in handy here. LOL)

I used matte mettalic paper for the fish and tried to make him look (semi) real by coloring him with Distress Inks and embossing the scales with the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder and scoring the fins and tail with my MS scoring board (I LOVE this board because it has score lines every 8th inch, WOOHOO!) The words were cut with the greenish woodgrained paper from the DCWV Green Stack and embossed with the new Tim Holtz Woodgrain folder (definitely a new FAVE you'll see more of that tomorrow.)

Okay, so I had the design, but I was STUCK as far as background paper went. Fortunately I was on the phone with my good friend Lillie complaining I didn't have any paper that looked like water. Not only did she suggest the light blue foil that she knew I had, but also the Cuttlebug border folder to emboss it like waves. THANK YOU LILLIE!!!! Without you this card probably never would have been finished and the colors so totally worked I was THRILLED! Lots of popping here. The fish was actually 4 layers (if your count the shadow base. At first I was going to leave the letters flush with their shadow but popping every other one made it SOOOO much more interesting. I didn't finish the inside because I really don't have anyone to send this to at the moment, but if I ever do I will cut a blackout version of the fish for the inside and print my sentiment on that. It won't show from the front then when the card is closed. Now if you haven't already, go check out the fabulous creations by my BBTB2 DT sisters and remember you can play along with ANY fish cut from ANY cartridge if you don't happen to have Camp Out. We love to see your stuff!

I'm also participating a few other challenges with this card. Cards for Men has a Father's Day theme, and also in a new (to me) challenge blog called Rosie-D's that I found through Lyn's blog. The challenges start every other Sunday and the current theme is something blue with the option of fish or fishing. THAT WORKS! The cool thing about this blog is you can create ANYTHING you want that fits the theme so there are lots of fun things other than just cards or layouts to see. Thanks Lyn for turning me on to another fab challenge blog.

Caution Men Cooking .Cut File Available

I had this card in my mind since way before Father's Day but it took awhile to get it together, and the idea grew and grew. It was designed exclusively for Custom Crops and the .cut file and article with detailed instructions are available HERE. The card is held closed with a band that is supposed to resemble Caution tape. I don't know about you, but I really stand back whenever DH decides to act as Grillmeister. LOL

I thought it would make a cute Father's Day or B-Day card for the man in your life, or even a Barbeque or Cook-Off invitation (as long as you're not inviting a ton of people. LOL)

I'm afraid I used a ton of carts on this design and I apologize. This seems to bug some people when I'm sharing the .cut file, but as I said, the idea grew and grew, so the list came to George, Indie Art, Zooballoo, Mickey Font, Plantin Schoolbook, and Joys of the Season. YIKES! I just couldn't stop until I designed a cute inside as well with a hot mitt that opens for the sentiment.

I'd love it if you'd go to Custom Crops and take a look and if you could leave a comment there so much the better! Oh, BTW, my Forever card is also available HERE for download. WooHoo! You can see all of my designs on the Custom Crops site by clicking on my Design Team blinkie on the sidebar. Thanks for stopping by! xxD

The Cuttlebug Spot Meets The Cutting Cafe

This week At The Cuttlebug Spot we were asked to do a Father's Day card. Bummer! I had done one for the color challenge a few week's back and was plumb out of ideas. In fact I'd done quite a few Father's Day cards and I REALLY REALLY was out of ideas. Then WOOHOO! I came across this fun shirt and tie downloadable template from The Cutting Cafe. Problem solved. So easy and quick. Of course I added quite a bit of Cuttlebug texture. Houndstooth on the collar and pocket, Argyle on the tie and Distressed Stripes to the shirt itself. (Thought it would make it look like seersucker but decided it just looked like a poor ironing job so I flattened that a bit. LOL)

I cut the circle sentiment out with my Nesties (also a part of the downloadable design and there's a birthday sentiment too) and added my own little touch by cutting a tie bar out of foil card stock with my Spellbinders Shapeabilities Charms and Rod die (it's the rod trimmed down a bit) and a couple of collar buttons. I really think it turned out cute so if you're still hunting for Father's Day ideas you should rush right over to The Cutting Cafe. There's also a darling tie shaped card and envelopes for both as part of the set and because they're downloadable you don't have to wait for any shipping. Father's Day solutions just a few clicks away, printable as templates or for you lucky SCAL or Pazzles users you can let your machine do the work for you. For more inspiration stop by The Cuttlebug Spot and check out the amazing cards done by my Design Team sisters and we'd love to see YOUR Father's Day projects so come and play along with us.

King of our Castle -Cut File Available

I really had a ball making this castle card and I've updated it to include a "Dad" with a crown attachment and a little crest above the door. The crown and crest are from Indy and "Dad" is from Storybook. I had quite a few requests when I did a castle with my die cut Boo as a knight and this is the same base card as that one. I think the castle lends itself to all sorts of things and could be great for a male or female card but in this case it's all male. Instructions and the cut file are available on the Custom Crops site so click HERE to go immediately there.

Also included in the .cut file is the inside sentiment "You're King of our Castle" which I think works for both Father's Day or a birthday and there are detailed directions for the dimension. Hope you enjoy, your comments are greatly appreciated.

#1 Dad Cut File Available

Bet everyone was wondering why there are so few Cricut posts lately, huh? Well I've been working on Design Team stuff for Custom Crops and can't post them here until they are posted there. The difference in these designs is that the .cut files are available for FREE on the Custom Crops site. This means I've cleaned them up enough for human consumption instead of a leaving them a mish mash in Design Studio and have detailed instructions on how to put them together. LOL This one gave me the opportunity to use my Sports Mania cartridge (that I hadn't even opened) and Plantin Schoolbook. Please click HERE to go directly to the article and cut file if you're interested and I would so appreciate you leaving a comment there if you like this design (I secretly think we're being graded. LOL)

I decided since Father's Day is coming up I'd do a few Dad cards although it's really hard for me since losing my sweet Daddy to Alzheimer's several years ago. (Crap I'm getting all teary eyed just typing this) He was and always will be my inspiration; a brilliant, talented, creative man and the reason I have loved crafting since a very early age. He was the #1 Dad of all time.

Father's Day

Okay, so you can see how much I was lovin' these pop-ups. I made this for my kitties to give to their daddy for Father's Day. Back in June Paper Pups was the only cartridge I owned that had any kitty images on it so I went with what I had and just cut the dogs out of the picture. I used more of the great cardstock from the DCWV Pet Matstack. The words "You're Purrfect Daddy" were welded from Plantin Schoolbook with design studio.