Aurora Wings Mid-Challenge Inspiration

Well, it's hard to believe we're moving into the second week in August, but that does mean it's time for mid challenge inspiration for Aurora Wings, with the easy peasy theme of...

I've used some new dies to make a wedding card with the adorable Honeysuckle Sprite.  Doesn't she look like a bride in those sweet pastels with the honeysuckles cascading from her hair like a veil?  She even has a matching bouquet.

Here's a closeup of Honeysuckle Sprite, available HERE on AuroraWings.com and HERE on Etsy.  I've colored her with Copics and carefully fussy cut and popped on the Layered Spellbinders Regular and Decorative Grand Labels One dies. The intricate floral arch is the Garden Arbour die by Tutti that I've adorned with flat back pearls.

Here's a side view of the window box style card.  The decorative gates were cut with the Pretty Piazza die set by Tonic Studios.  Because I didn't want Honeysuckle Sprite to be just floating on air (although I dare say most brides are at this point) I've added a grassy hill from one of the Lawn Cuts die set by Lawn Fawn.  The tiny (unreadable) sticker sentiment says "Best Wishes".  

There are tabs that fit though slits in the back base and larger gate so the card can be folded down to fit in an envie.  However, the added sprays on either side of the arbor make that a bit more difficult in this case.

Now of course you want to see the fabulous work by my Stella sisters, so be sure to stop by the Mid-Month Inspiration post and link up your projects.  Remember you can enter up to three separate times, as long as ALL of them feature Aurora Wings images.

Here's how to keep up with all that's happening at Aurora Wings.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog (current challenge runs through August 18th)

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop 

Aurora Wings FB Group 

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the DL.Art August Linky Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #87 AG, Jo's Scrap Shack FFC #245 AG, The Outlawz Festive Fridays Anniversary/Wedding theme, Crafting by Designs August AG, 613 Avenue Create #212 AG/optional Fantasy, Dragonfly Journeys #124 Flower Power, Hiding in my Craft Room #364 Use 3 colors (green, peachy pink, beige), the Colour Crazy Challenge Week 31 AG, Creative Fingers #150 AG,  the Classic Design Team Open #8 AG, Crafts Galore Encore August AG, Create and Inspire #76 AG, Let's Craft and Create #140 AG/Lots of Layers, World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #7 AG (7/15-8/15), and Crafty Creations AG. 

Outlawz Progressive Freebie and Festive Fridays

Nothing like waiting 'til the end of the month to do the Outlawz June Progressive Freebie Challenge with the gorgeous image provided by Sheepski Designs but it's been a busy month and to be honest, I couldn't decide how to color this beautiful girl, called My Fair Lady.  If I could keep myself from checking out all of the other gorgeous entries, perhaps I could make a decision more quickly, but each day I'd have a new fave and the pressure mounted.  Finally, I looked again at the Outlawz Festive Fridays themes, and Wedding Day caught my eye. But of course!  Doesn't she make a beautiful bride?  Besides, I also just got a gorgeous new die from Jeanine's Art that I thought would showcase her perfectly.  She's colored with Copics, fussy cut and popped with foam and I carefully used a craft knife to make a slit under her hat to attach the sparkly tulle veil.  Her single rose bouquet has a bow of sheer organdy ribbon.  The die cut is mounted on an iridescent ecru base and I cut and embossed the center circle with the same shimmery paper and the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.  Finally I added pearls to each of the embossed flowers on the die and a delicate sticker sentiment.

I'm also adding this to the SheepSki FB Challenge 13, the SheepSki Girlz Rule Blog challenge #3, the DL.Art June Linky Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #60 AG, C.R.A.F.T Add Ribbon and Sparkle, Double "D" Challenges Anything Wedding, Die Cuttin' Divas Wedding or Anniversary, TTRCD Week of June 27, {Pin}spirational #193 Wedding, If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #72 Wedding  and Simon Says Wednesday AG.

Blog Challenge

FB challenge

How do I Love Thee? Dream Wedding Challenge at Aurora Wings

Our new challenge starts today at Aurora Wings with the theme of Dream Wedding.  May certainly is the beginning of a frenzy of wedding activity and we, at Aurora Wings, hope to inspire you to get a head start on creating something beautiful for that special couple in your life.  I've enlarged and modified a center step card using the beautiful Bridal Veil image cut with the largest of Spellbinders Enchanted Labels 28.

Here's a closeup of the gorgeous Bridal Veil image. She's colored with Copics with a bit of additional shading from Prismacolor pencils.  Aurora Wings has so many gorgeous images that would be perfect for wedding cards, both traditional and non.  

I used excerpts from Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  It was the inspiration for my design and I envision it a Bride's card to her Groom on their wedding day.  I've used two of Mitzi's floral images, Rose Corner Frame and Roses Corner 2 as embellishments throughout the design.  They are also available as a set HERE with a single rose stem image included.

I've flipped the corners in my printing program for the other side. and popped them all with dimensional foam.  The sentiments we printed on Champagne Royal Metallics by Wausau and cut with Spellbinders Scalloped Labels One.  I've embossed the side mats with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder for additional texture.

What you can't really see in the top picture is the hidden tag pocket behind the main image.  Here is the tag pulled out from the pocket. Got a bit of a giggle because when I first posted this on the DT page, Mitzi said she didn't see this one coming, but she should have.  LOL

Perhaps some are a bit horrified by this image being used for a wedding card, but the final words of the poem and this image gave me the inspiration for the entire project. I've cut and matted the image like the first, using the same die but added a bit of distressing around the edges of the mat behind with the edge of my scissors.  There is tulle behind the Roses Corner2 which shows from the front wnen the tag is tucked into it's pocket and serves as the pull.

I find Ghost Bride hauntingly beautiful, don't you?  Even in death, I'll bet her love would still see her as the same gorgeous girl he married.  What could be more romantic than love eternal?  I get all misty just thinking about it.

So here's the card from the side.  I followed the basic instructions for a center step card, but enlarged the size by starting with a 10x12" piece of card stock. allowing the center portion to be 5x7" (and I actually cut it at 7" between the side portions) with each side section being 2 1/2" wide.  I've scored the sides at 1", 2", 6" (which gave a little extra "shelf" on which I've popped the roses on top) and 7".  I also made a separate 5x7" "pocket" with a 1/8th" depth that is attached by a flap to the center section and swings free to help stabilize the card in the upright position.  This whole design involved a lot of trial and error to accommodate the images that I'd already colored an cut.  I'm not going to tell you how many pieces of card stock went into the bin, however.  LOL

Wait 'til you see the gorgeous creations by my teamies!  Be sure to check out the AW Challenge Blog for additional inspiration.  I promise you'll be glad you did. 

Here are all the links you need:

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the Open Minded Crafting Fun Weddings/Anniversaries, Crafting From the Heart ATG, A Gem of a Challenge More Than One Fold,  Allsorts No Squares Allowed, Left of Center Distress It (the pull out tag is distressed along one of the mats or LOC ), and the Art Impressions Lovely Ladies challenge.

New Challenge at The East Wind-Ribbons

WOW, this year is going fast!  It's already the first of July and we have a new Challenge at The East Wind Challenge Blog.  The DT is using the fabulous July Freebie, Belle of the Ball, that you can receive when you sign up for the newsletter (right side of challenge blog) and our new theme is

 USE RIBBON

 

 

I've made this gorgeous gal a bride to also remind you that our current FB Contest is Wedded Bliss.  Join our FB page to enter that challenge which runs through July 17th.  She's colored with Copics and I've added a tulle veil wound with ribbon and a gorgeous rose to her fabulous hair.  The DP is from the DCWV Luxury Stack and I've framed the image and done the sentiment with peel offs. Be sure to visit the Challenge Blog to see the lovely work my DT sisters have done with this gorgeous new image. 

I"m entering this in the Craft Your Passion Ribbons Challenge,  Simon Says Wednesday ATG, 613 Avenue Create ATG, the Order of Opus Gluei All Tied Up, Speedy Fox and Friends Use Mesh (I'm thinking tulle is a form of mesh), Hiding in my Craft Room Wedding Themed and the Outlawz Monday Greeting Card ATG.

Crafting with Dragonflies Wedding Challenge

There was a fab Blog Hop at Crafting with Dragonflies last week with loads of fun prizes, culminating in a Wedding Card Challenge.  Each DT member told a special story about their wedding and showed pix and there was a riddle to solve...such fun!  I wasn't sure I'd make it for the challenge, but WooHoo!  Here it is, just under the gun.  The beautiful image is from ADFD called Forever Begins Here.  (Yikes, getting kinda misty!) It's colored with Copics and fussy cut.  The fame was cut with my Nesties, embossed with a Cuttlebug Folder and popped for dimension.  The sentiment is computer generated.  This is my second post of the day, (scroll down for the other) and I've still got another card to finish for Smudgefest so come back in a few.  Yikes!  Better get a move on!

I'm also entering this in 613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with an Optional Sentiment and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge.

The Cuttlebug Spot Opens the Gates

Our challenges all month at The Cuttlebug Spot are highlighting unique card folds and this week we're opening the gates with gate fold cards. I wanted to try something a bit different by making my gate fold card look like a gate so I used my Spellbinders lattice border (the one that cuts on only one side) to cut and emboss the top of the gate as well as the front pieces that open. I started with a piece of white card stock that was 6x11" and scored it to make a gatefold. Then I cut down the scores to where I wanted the top of the front of the card to end and then cut it across. Then I used the border along the top back and turned the card over and aligned the die at the fold of each side and ran it through the Cuttlebug again. (Again, hope this makes sense. I haven't really had time to do a tutorial, sorry) Then I cut blue mats and white mats which I embossed. The front panels are embossed with Swiss Dots, and the inner panels with Formal Squares.

The top of the inside mat is embossed with the Cuttlebug border folder from the Organic Flourish set. I scored a line and then embossed the remainder with Swiss Dots. The ribbon which is woven through the lattice on the front and holds the card closed is captured by the inside mats. Of course I added a few adhesive pearls and some butterflies punched with MS punches for embellishement. I haven't finished the inside because I'm not sure of the occasion. Wedding or anniversary, perhaps? Well, there are lots more fabulous gate fold cards at The Cuttlebug Spot so why not check them out and have a go yourself?

Peggy Loves Vintage and a Freebie

I was craving vintage so where better to find it than Peggy Loves Vintage printable images. I pulled out the Scottish CD Volume 1 and besides all of the adorable little Scottie dogs I fell in love with this romantic couple (and the little doggie's pretty darn cute, too). I'm low on anniversary cards in my stash and thought this would make a lovely one, or perhaps for a wedding so I chose a Best Wishes peel-off sentiment. WooHoo, double duty! The coordinating papers are from Making Memories. I trimmed the image with some more peelie borders, added some adhesive beads and some gorgeous tassel trim (thanks Kellie) and had a beautiful card in minutes.

But I couldn't stop there. Peggy has acquired her very first "official" vintage Halloween card and she's sharing it with ALL of us! Isn't She a Sweetheart? This little ghostie is up for grabs at the Peggy Loves Vintage Blog. I saved it to my computer, printed him out, cut a mat with my Labels Nine Nesties and some cool goo from the border of a Creative Imaginations page. The little tag letters Rebecca Sower Nostalgiques for Sticko (from M's). A few beads and some Halloween ribbon and I was two for two. So be sure to browse around the Peggy Loves Vintage Blog for more fun freebies and be sure to visit the STORE to preview the new CD's. She also has some deals going on just in time for the holidays. Remember, those CD's are available in FTP format as well if you just can't wait for the mail and there are downloadable Greeting Card Cut-Outs for a quick vintage fix. Enjoy!

My FIRST Tiddly Inks Card as a Guest Designer and Papertake Weekly Challenge.

WooHoo! I'm over the moon because a dream has come true! You all know I've been doing the Tiddly Inks Challenge since I discovered those ADORABLE digi images. Well here I am, along with my dear friend Nancy, as a Guest Designer. Pinch me (No don't, I'd hate to wake up and find it isn't true.) LOL Well this week the theme is Windows, create a card or project with a window that either opens or you can see the image through. I had a tough time choosing among all of the fabulous images available at the Tiddly Inks Shop. I finally decided on the Happy Couple from the Gothic Cute images (these are definitely some of my FAVES!) They were colored with Copics and cut out with my Nesties Labels Eleven on the inside of the card.

I created a shaped window card in Cricut Design Studio from the Happily Ever After cart. Instead of the "valence" I trimmed a doily but wanted a bit of extra shimmer underneath. Because it was part of the main image cut I used an embossing pen and heat and stick powder just on the area under the valence, heated it up, and sprinkled on some fine MS clear glitter. It was just Serendipity (my new favorite word) that the embossing pen that goes on blue STAYED blue to match my card stock. I wound ribbon through the layer of the open window and attached little doves at the top from an MS punch.

The window is popped as is yet another of the Fanciful Labels from the Cuttlebug Emboss Plus folders. The sentiment is a peelie and of course I used a number of silver adhesive beads from M's to dress it up. I'm also entering this card in the Papertake Weekly Challenge which is Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue. Thanks Nancy for turning me on to this one! (How Serendipidous! :D ) Now hurry on over to the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog to feast your eyes on the fab creations by the Tiddly Inkers. Thank you so much Christy for this wonderful opportunity!

The Cuttlebug Spot 2x2 Challenge

Where's my BBTB2 card? Well, I haven't done it yet due to all of the party preparations but perhaps will have one tomorrow. In the meantime, I DID complete my Cuttlebug Spot card which this week is to use 2x2 folders or dies. I have LOADS of them yet I rarely think to use them so I enjoyed this challenge immensely. My card is very simple using the 4 folders from the Cuttlebug Formal Squares set. I cut them with my Nesties and backed them with Nestie Scalloped Squares. They are arranged on a mat embossed with Swiss Dots and the sentiment is from a Sizzix wedding set cut with my Nesties Petite Regular and Scalloped Ovals and popped. Went together really quick but I thought this would make a great wedding or anniversary card. Now go and take a look at the fab cards created by my DT sisters and why not have a go at it yourself? There's a $20 gift certificate to Custom Crops up for grabs.

Lil Lolita Boutique Challenge 2

I can't believe I did it AGAIN! I missed the Lil Lolita Boutique #2 challenge deadline here too! Why didn't I post when I got back from the city last night (too tired!). I could KICK myself! ( I just need a secretary to keep me on track with the deadlines and the time zones although this one is in Australia, soo...) Either that or the linky thingy is on the blinky again. Anyway, this was an inspiration challenge using the photo above and I'm afraid I took it very literally. The cake is done in multiple layers using the Wildcard cartridge and I embossed with the new Tim Holtz Swirls folder. The flowers are wedding confetti and prima and of course brown and pink adhesive pearls. The paper is iridescent by Recollections.

I turned Ivy into a bride masking the apron on her dress and stamping it several times to give her a layered skirt. she's colored with Copics and I added a tulle veil and popped her hat. fun challenge, just wish I hadn't missed it. (Can't wait 'til the next one, I should start on it today! LOL)

The Burtonesque Dolls Challenge #4 and Tiddly Inks #6

I am so excited that the challenge at The Burtonesque Dolls this week is An Affair to Remember, inspired by the fab movie Corpse Bride. I was all set to use The Happy Couple from Tiddly Inks to do this challenge but then I saw Gossmere and fell in LOVE! Don't get me wrong, both images are just adorable but Gossmere just spoke to me and I thought it would be easy to Bring on the Bling (the Tiddly Inks challenge this week) so that's what I did.

I started with irridescent DCWV Luxury Stack paper and masked a moon and inked with Black Soot and Shabby Shutters. The trees are a Cottage Cutz die from The Scrapping Cottage and the Bridal Arch is a Labels 10 Nestie with the MS Spiderweb border punch attached. The edges are blinged up with Perfect Pearls and of course adhesive gems. The tombstone is a Cuttlebug cut and emboss set.

Just look at Gossmere's sweet face! I added a tattered veil and gems to her headpiece and sprayed her with adhesive and sprinkles her with very fine MS glitter but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that to show up in the pic...bummer.

The flowers are Primas and that cool stuff she's standing on is a sprinkling of Metallic Mica Flakes by US Art Quest. I just love the shimmer and the color was just perfect for this card. I just used some clear tacky glue and sprinkled it on.

Here's the dimensional view. I'll tell you I had a ball building this creepy cute scene. Be sure to stop by The Burtonesque Dolls to check out the fabulous creations by the DT using fab images from Busy Beauties. By playing along you have a chance to win some of those fab images. I was last week's lucky winner. WooHoo! And if you love Tiddly Inks as much as I do, go have a play at the Tiddly Inkers challenge blog too.

Caardvarks Wedding Card Challenge

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day has been full of love. I thought I'd sneak this quick wedding card in for the Caardvarks challenge. I love the sophisticated color combo of ivory and taupe and I think the clean and simple design is quite elegant. Now off to Valentine's dinner. WooHoo!

Card recipe:

Card size: 5 x 6 1/4

Card Stock: Recollections and Prima Marketing

Embossing folders: Cuttlebug Flourish Frame Provo Craft, Wedding Set #2 Sizzix

Flowers: Bride's magazine table confetti embossed ivory shimmer

Adhesive pearls: Recollections

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!

Sweethearts "Love" Card -.cut file available

Here's another simple one I did for Custom Crops using the new Sweethearts cartridge. I thought it would be nice to do something quick and really versatile when you're in a pinch but still want something special. Because it was so quick, I was even able to trick it out 3 ways. Full instructions and the free .cut file are available HERE. This first bold version I could see as a Valentine or Anniversary card for your special guy. No sissy stuff for the He Man. LOL But there is some embossing (even on the black) which I'm not sure you can see in the pic.

Next I decorated it for a baby using sweet gingham, some Alpha Beads and a little pacifier tied to the "L". Totally different look.

And finally an elegant wedding or anniversary card using metallic and irridescent card stock and "wedding confetti" and LOADS of gold adhesive beads. I suppose if you were really in a hurry you might want to doodle those. I hope you find this helpful next time you're in a pinch. P.S. If you haven't already commented on the BBTB Blog Hop post theres still time. I'll announce the winner tomorrow morning. Click HERE.

A Berry Sweet Couple-.cut file available and BBTB Blog Hop Candy Winner

I was inspired by some chocolate covered strawberries to make this wedding card for a "Berry Sweet Couple". I know you've seen those yummy strawberries that were dipped to look like they're in tuxedos. Well this welded shaped card is a couple, and the bride is dipped in swirled white chocolate. This design is exclusive to Custom Crops and the full instructions and .cut file are available HERE.

I also thought they would make fun individual thank you's or note cards so I've included in the .cut file for that option as well as a non-dipped variety as shown above. These were fun and easy to make so I hope you like them and will try some yourself. As always, comments are always appreciated.

Also the winner of my BBTB Blog Hop candy is 4kids4! Congrats Sharon and thank you all for participating. Hope you all have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend. xxD

First Card with my New Cuttlebug Folders

I'll admit it, I just couldn't wait! When I saw that HSN was offering the brand new, not yet released Cuttlebug folders I just HAD to get them. Worse yet, I HAD to have them NOW! so I paid almost as much to ship them as I did to buy them and of course next day wasn't REALLY next day because it was over the weekend. Then wouldn't you know I must have been the absolute LAST stop on the UPS driver's route because they didn't arrive until almost 7:00p.m. Seriously, I was pulling my hair out! LOL I was still feeling rather romantic from my BBTB card so I chose the gorgeous swirly frame and found that the "Together Forever" sentiment from the Sizzix Wedding Set #2 just about fit in the opening. I cuttled the card front itself with Swiss Dots, then used an iridescent mat, the regular white card stock for the frame, and the iridescent again for the sentiment. The flowers are "wedding confetti" that I found in the wedding section of Michaels and I added a few adhesive pearls. Wow was this easy!

Tuesday I was lucky enough to snag Leah (BeeCherryLady on the Cricut message board) and baby Cody away from her family to come over and craft. A whole girly day, seems like it had been forever. Here's a pic of Mom and baby. Isn't he the sweetest!? I just wanted to eat him up with a spoon.

He was such a good boy, but I don't think he thought much of this card. (What do men know LOL) BTW, Leah just started a blog and hasn't really posted much (except adorable pix of her kids) but why don't you bop on over there and say "Hi" and give her a little encouragement. Just click HERE.