Macabre Monday Simply Sinister

It's another Macabre Monday and this week our challenge is Simply Sinister sponsored by none other than Simply Betty Stamps. I cannot tell you how much I love the wide range of stamps Betty has. And have you checked out the FABULOUS new releases? I had such a hard time choosing which to use. I settled on Fez from the new Spooky Hallow digis. Because the card had to be "simple" (a real challenge for me) I thought he blended well with the Basic Grey DP for the background and not much else would be needed. I did use the MS spiderweb border punch and an acrylic sentiment from Cloud 9. Then I just HAD to include a Glo Skull by our own Creepy Glowbug (also available at Simply Betty Stamps). Be sure to check out the offering of my Sinister Sisters and stay tuned for more of cards using more of the fabulous stamps from Simply Betty Stamps.

Spooky Crayon Box

Happy Saturday! Did you think I forgot you? Well, I've been crafting my little fingers to the bone with an especially large BBTB2 project for next week (besides all my other DT gigs) so I haven't been able to participate in many other challenges. I did get a whole bunch of new stuff via post (including my Imagine which I haven't had time to test out yet) and decided to try a quicky for you this morning. The crayon box from TBB&M was already cut. Changed my mind at the last minute for that BBTB2 project. Decided to finish it with my new Tim Holtz Raven and Scaredy Cat die and Paper Rosette Die from Sizzix. They both work in the Cuttlebug. Cool, huh?

I've always loved these flowers but all that scoring was a PITA! Now it's a snap! I cut the raven twice for a bit of a shadow and wet embossed him with Utee. (Lovin' that stuff!)

Spooky is done with my new Cuttlebug Emboss Plus Postage Stamp alphabet. I grunged it up with Black Soot and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I did find that it's a good idea to poke out the teeny hole between the letters BEFORE you cut them apart. Really hard to get them off if not. the big crystal swirl is Prima. The added fibers were from my stash just to finish it off.

Sorry for the rushed post. We're off to a music festival in Sonoma today. Dig the lineup. Pretty vintage just like me! LOL

Bah!Humbug! Across the Miles and PTW 3rd Birthday Celebration

This week's Bah! Humbug! Challenge is Across the Miles. I thought long and hard about this and finally asked myself who covers more miles than Santa? A great opportunity to use my Disney Santa's Coming Cuttlebug die for the very first time. (Check out that clearance price!) You know, I think Mickey's okay, but after this I think I'm a FAN! This went together so fast and I think it's pretty darn cute, don't you? The mat is embossed with the Limited Edition Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder and I used a silver gel pen to enhance the flakes. I cut Santa twice to give him a bit of a shadow effect and have him stand out more from the big ole full moon I cut with my Nesties out of holographic paper. I would have preferred a Merry Christmas sentiment, but I didn't have any silver peelies small enough. Oh well!

Here's a close up to see how the holographic paper sparkles. This morning I also did a fun blog hop for Papertake Weekly's 3rd birthday celebration. To join in and be eligible for the fab prizes you must participate in the challenge this week which is choose ANY of the challenges from the last 3 years. WooHoo! I chose the Dec 8, 2009 challenge which was Red and Green must not be seen. No red or green here. Be sure to check out the challenges on both of these fabulous blogs. There's a whole lot of inspiration going on!

Tiddly Inks ATC Challenge

This week at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog we're thinking SMALL! 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches to be exact. Yup, it's ATC (artist trading card) time. I've only made one ATC in my life but this was so much fun I'm thinking I'll be doing more very soon! I used Catgirl, because that be me! A bit challenging to color at this size but she came out okay. The colors were inspired by the DP from the DCWV Pets matstack. Love the colors and it has a bit of sparkle too. Wasn't sure how to embellish so I wound a bit of twine from The Twinery into a ball and draped it around Catgirl and the heart brad by Recollections from M's. "kitty Love" is a rub-on from Melissa Francis. I think it turned out pretty cute. Now go have a look at the fabby things the rest of the Tiddly Inkers have done HERE. These go together in a snap, too, so there's no reason not to play along. If you haven't any Tiddly Inks stamps, what are you waiting for? There's an adorable freebie available HERE on PCP group and there are LOADS of new things at the Tiddly Inks Shop so be sure to check them out.

Oh, and BTW, I was a bit late at posting my BBTB2 card this week so please scroll down if you missed it because I really got a kick out of this one.

BBTB2 Reader's Choice Graphically Speaking Pointing Hand

This week on BBTB2 it's another Reader's Choice from Graphically Speaking. To tell you the truth, I wasn't even aware of the pointing hand, but how much fun it this? Looked immediately to me like a warning from Santa (Okay, I've always got Christmas on the brain). He's making a list, and you better be good...or not. LOL I welded the sentiment done in Plantin Schoolbook Roly Poly (a personal fave) welded to the list from Christmas Cheer using DS. The list is computer generated. I welded a cuff from George (and made it fuzzy with Flower Soft) and used scraps from my velvet paper for Santa's suit.

The fun part here is that the hand moves back and forth...see? It's the same mechanism I used in my Let Freedom Ring card for Custom Crops awhile back so if you're interested click HERE. So tell me, are you naughty or nice?

The pretty poinsettias and leaves are from Prima and the whole shebang is mounted on an easel card. The remainder of the sentiment is also welded using the Roly Poly feature from Plantin Schoolbook. Because there is no shadow, the words are a bit offset and you can see the layers of dimension in this photo. Now be sure and take a minute to see the fun interpretations HERE by my fabulous Design Team Sisters and why not come and play along?

The Cuttlebug Spot Power of Women Challenge

Welcome back, Cuttlebug Spot! I'm happy to say I'm a returning member of the Design Team and looking forward to working with a fabulous group of new sisters and brother, yup, we got a crafty man, Woohoo! (along with my old buddies, Lillie and Julie). In celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month we were asked to Think Pink. I have several friends who have battled this horrible disease and a few who have sadly lost. I made this card because I think of all of them often with hope, faith and love. The beautiful frame is the Lace Door Emboss Plus Cuttlebug folder and I used both the outer frame and cut out for the background. The Pink ribbon is cut on my Cricut from the Stand and Salute cartridge, embossed with the ever favorite Swiss Dots. The sentiment is computer generated.

The gorgeous butterflies were cut right in my Cuttlebug using a die from The Scrapping Cottage. A bit of popping for dimension and there you have it. Please join me in welcoming the new team and be sure to visit The Cuttlebug Spot to get acquainted and view the fabulous inspiration there.

Macabre Monday Dastardy Delicious Digis

It's our favorite month at Haunted Design House and our Macabre Monday challenge this week is Dastardly Delicious Digis sponsored by Delicious Doodles. I've already told you how I'm IN LOVE with the fabulous Loves Faded Memory Digi Stamp that has inspired me in previous challenges so here it is in all it's glory. I've printed it 4 times and fussy cut the image over and over to create the dimension I crave. (No hon, that skull is mine, notice all the teeth?) It's so beautifully rendered that the only color I added was to the beautiful rose ( with Copics).

I hadn't the foresight to add a computer sentiment so I managed to cut "Forever" with the Sweethearts cartridge on my Cricut. Sooooo delicate... Matted with the MS Gothic Arch Punch Around the Page. The DP is DCWV La Crema stack with gorgeous flocking. Then laced with ribbon and an added charm. (Reminds me of some lingerie) Romantic...no?

Please visit Haunted Design House for more visual stimulation and check out Delicious Doodles for even more inspiration ( they're not ALL Macabre). There's also a fabulous gargoyle that's TOO DIE FOR! (It was a toss up for me, but true love won out.) xx

Stampotique Vintage Challenge

I told you I'd be back with a card. Too bad it almost took me all day. This is actually my 3rd attempt at the Stampotique "Vintage" challenge at the Stampotique Designer's blog. I know, I know, more "retro" than "vintage" but attempts 1 and 2 didn't pan out so I decided to go with my original idea.

Meet Karin by my FAVE Daniel Torrente. Tell me she doesn't look like a (deranged) Domestic Goddess. The papers just happen to be Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess. She's got a tiny metal knife in her hand by Darice and the red metal adhesive hearts by Colorbok. Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier that her dress is paper pieced using Melissa Frances Kitschy Kitchen paper. (Draw the details? I wish!)

The sentiment (borrowed from AnneTaintor) is computer generated except for my handy dandy Alpha Beads. I hope everyone is enjoying World Card Making Day.

Blog Hop Winner and Happy World Card Making Day!

Happy world Card Making Day to all of my Bloggie friends! I like to think of us all spending the day doing something that we love. I don't have a card yet to post today because, although I've been a busy girl, I've been working on next week's DT stuff so I don't spend my Sunday in a panic like usually do. I will try to have at least a little sumpin' sumpin' for later though because I do indeed intend to make cards today so please stop back by.

In the meantime I decided to not leave you all in suspense over last month's BBB2 Blog hop so without further ado.... Oh, wait a minute. I must say I did delete 2 posts that were accidentally repeated so the final number was 84, not 86. NOW, without further ado

the winner of the $30 gift voucher from Custom Crops is .........

IRW DANA, WOOHOO! who wrote

Congratulations Dana!

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

Flashback Friday 3.0 - First Challenge Card

Thanks to my dear friend Smita, I found a fun challenge on the fabulously creative Amy Tsuruta's Blog. Flashback Friday let's you take a walk down memory lane and the previous winner get's to pick the next challenge. I was happy to see that another blogging buddy (and cat lover), Rose was GD and had chosen the challenge so I just HAD to play along. (Besides, the work was already done, WooHoo!) Rose asked for our very first challenge card. I KNEW mine had been for the original BBTB challenge blog because it was the reason I made a blog in the first place. I SOOOO admired the DT and wanted to be just like them when I grew up. :D Although I had been inspred by a few of the previous BBTB challenges, this was the first one I actually did on time and posted to their blog: the car cut from Mickey and friends from November 12, 2008. My dear friend Leah loaned me the cartridge so I could play along (and to this day I still don't own it!). Notice I've been doing my shape cards a LONG time and I'm still taking my pix on the same tablecloth on my washer/dryer in the laundry room. LOL If you're interested in my original post with details you can find it HERE.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge 37 - Stars

I fully intended to be a bit quicker with my Bah!Humbug! card this week, but when DH suggested a road trip yesterday to Carmel, I just couldn't say no. It's been mighty hot the last few days here and we were looking forward to cooling off a bit down there but no...........! Gorgeous, but still PLENTY hot. So here I am playing catch up as usual. The challenge is Stars. The star on my card was cut from Very Merry Tags with the tag and hole contours hidden in Cricut Design Studio. I then made mats using my Labels 13 Nesties.

The embossing behind the star is Tim Holtz Swirls folder and the top mat is the limited edition Christmas Stars Cuttlebug folder I got from Custom Crops. The peelie sentiment is silver, so to tie it in I added a silver peelie border to the outside the gold mat and silver adhesive beads to the star and corners. The mats and star are popped for dimension and that's about it.

About 4:30 yesterday we went down to the Carmel beach as the clouds started to roll in. Ahh, cool at last! Wish I were still there. It's deathly hot again!

Tiddly Inks Diamond Glaze or Crackle Challenge

Happy Tuesday! This week at Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog it's all about crackle or shine. I don't mess too much with that stuff so this really was a challenge for me. I guess I'm too impatient waiting for stuff to dry, although it might help if I didn't procrastinate. LOL I really wanted to try to do something different. After several failed attempts with crackle and a weird cracked glass episode on mirror board, I did the kind of experimentation that my friend Margie does. (She'll try ANYTHING. LOL Especially when...oh never mind. Luv ya girl!) So what is that crackly icy looking stuff over Snowman Sid? Believe it or not, it's several (4 maybe?) coats of Utee on a thick piece of clear vinyl from Short Cuts (no longer in business, bummer). I started with a rectangle a bit longer than I needed (didn't want to melt it to my fingers) and coated it with embossing ink, covered it with Utee and gave it a shot with my heat gun. I was a little tentative thinking it would just melt into a big mess, but the vinyl held up. WooHoo. I repeated the process over and over, trying to get it all smooth, but the edges stayed a bit bumpy and I eventually decided it looked like crusty ice and went with it. I punched holes in the piece and attached it to Snowman Sid and the mat with Doodlebug Sugar Coated brads through punched snowflakes. The rest is pretty obvious.

Now if you'd like to play along but don't want to mess with all of this, Christy has a super crackle paper freebie HERE or on our PCP group page. Be sure to check out the fun examples by the rest of the Tiddly Inkers and stay tuned for The SALE and new mini release OCT 1 at the Tiddly Inks Shop (fun new stuff happening).