Dilly Beans Layers (meaning "Pop it Up") Challenge

Oh yeah!  The Dilly Beans Challenge this week was made for me.  Megan asked us to layer and "pop it up".  You know, use "pop dots" (or whatever) to give some dimension.  That's pretty much my FAVE thing to do but, of course, choosing the image was the hard part.  Megan's been a busy gal and there are tons of new images in the SHOP so why not go have a look?  After much debate, I finally decided on #425 3 Penguins.  (Too cute!)  I printed them a bazillion times, colored and fussy cut up a storm.  Because they were sort of floating out there (and the fact that I'd cut the image so close I couldn't find the right size Nestie to frame it), I tore some cardstock and embossed it with Merry Christmas, added some Stickles and there ya go, instant snow.

Second hardest part was deciding on mat paper.  Would you believe I cut 6 of them before deciding on this one?  I wanted to keep the color scheme but didn't want to detract from the images.  What do you think?  The frame was cut with Labels Twenty Three and you'll be seeing a lot more of it when I start using up my rejects.  LOL  Simple embellies, just a fabric covered button and some twine.  Wait 'til you see what my teamies have in store.  Fabulous!  Take a look HERE (in a little bit, I often jump the gun) and please come play along.

I am also entering this in the Dutch Dare #193 Winter Wonderland Challenge,  Pixie Dust Winter Holiday Creations, Crafty Sentiments Red, White, and Green, LEJ Designs Favorite Technique (fussy cutting and popping up), Simons Says Stamp Anything Goes and Sweet Stamps Cold and Snowy.

Smeared and Smudged "Oh! the Horror!" Challenge

Yeah, I know, another creepy one.  Well, ya gotta go where the mojo flows so...what can I say?  On the Smeared and Smudged Forum there are a number of monthly challenges for us Creepmeisters and Oh! the Horror! focuses on Horror flicks.  This month's is "30 Days of Night".  You can pretty much do whatever inspires you from the particular movie but the graphic movie poster (see it HERE) lead me immediately to Banshee by Rick S. Dennis.  I flipped the image and printed it on red card stock, did a teeny bit of shading with Copics and tried to black out the part of the image I didn't want to show with Distress Inks.  You could still sort of see it so I brought out the black gesso which really did the trick.  "30 Days" was cut on my Grand Caliber with a Quikutz alphabet.  The rest was computer generated.  Just couldn't resist a little humor.

Wicked Wednesday Mythical Creatures ATC Challenge

How about this?  I'm actually a couple of hours early for this week's Wicked Wednesday Challenge which is Mythical Creatures.  Had lots of ideas for this one, but the final decision came after tripping over a box filled with Stampotique stamps and reacquainting myself with these cute (but sort of creepy) little elves.  Thought they should be helping Santa so I went with a Christmas theme.  So here are Gog Lin and Gobby Lin (ok, so maybe they're goblins, still mythical, No?) helping with the Christmas candy.  They're colored with Copics,  fussy cut and layered on a Tim Holtz Journaling Ticket.  Fab how that fits like that.

I've added an Philosophy Tag and a teeny candy cane and peppermint.  Took me about a half hour to wrap that mint and tie those teeny bows.  The eyeballs and manual dexterity ain't what it used to be.  LOL  Popped 'em up and called it done.  WooHoo!

I'm also entering this in the ATC's and Cards with Attitude Anything Goes or Fall/Winter Challenge.

The Cuttlebug Spot Feathery Challenge and Altered Alice Challenge Extension

I'm so happy to see The Cuttlebug Spot up and running again with fabulous new additions to their Design Team.  It's been far too long since I've played there so here's a CAS card for their Feathery Challenge.  The embossing is the Goochie Script Cuttlebug folder.  The feather die is Spellbinders.  Feathers from my stash and a Tim Holtz pen nib.

 I also want to let people know that The Altered Alice Gratitude Challenge is extended.  You have until 5:00PM EST to get your projects in for a chance for the fabulous $30 voucher from Nature's Blessings.  Your entry need not even be Alice related, however those that are get 2 chances to win.  Come on, GET BUSY!

Time Stands Still for Smudgy Antics

I'm so loving the challenges at Smudgy Antics and this week's "Time Stands Still" really touched me.  Been working on this one for awhile, smiling all the time, lost in a memory.  I've used Smeared Ink's romantic Dance with Death 2 drawn by my HDH teamie Ike.  LOVE it! The fussy cutting, not so much.  LOL  But I really, really, REALLY wanted the dimension here.

The fab DP is from the DCWV Tattered Time Stack.  Sentiment is computer generated and inked with distress.  The mini gears are from Tim Holtz.  Hopefully you can see the dimension a bit better in this shot.  Just sort of squeaking this one in, but it was a labor of love.

Can you remember that perfect moment when time stood still?  Mine is forever etched in my mind, my heart, my very soul.

Oh, and BTW.

Now's your chance.  Wooho!

Dilly Beans Anything Goes

Happy Black Friday!  Is everyone out shopping?  Not me, Can't deal with the crowds, although I seem to be scoring online.  LOL  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Our plans feel through so it was quiet, but nice.  We've got an easy one for you at Dilly Beans, this week, ANYTHING GOES.  WooHoo, although for me it was a tough decision.  I'm lovin' the new little boy images at the SHOP, so I finally went with #505 Warm Winter Wishes Noah Framed.  Colored his face with Copics and paper pieced the rest.  Added some Flower Soft to his furry hat and instead of the glue, adhered it with my Xyron.  Seemed to work fine.

The snowflakes are Spellbinders and the little snowball wire is from M's I think.  The little balls helped pop the matted image.  Oh yeah, there's a lttle button and some epoxy snowflakes there as well.  My post is a bit late as I was informed I'd exceeded my Google storage or whatever, but all fixed now.  Dilly Beans is running a bit late as well, but be sure to check back and come play along.

I'm also entering this in Fussy and Fancy Feeling Blue, Deep Ocean Challenge Pastel Colors, the Ladybugs Craft Ink TLT Snowflakes Challenge, and Going Grey with Scrap-Creations Winter challenge.

My Heartfelt Thanks and Sad Farewell

I think this may be one of the hardest posts, I've ever written.  After much soul searching and and deliberation, Carole and I have decided to step down from administrating  BBTB2. Carole is staying on, but I will be leaving the design team, as well.  We are thrilled that Susan is taking over the reins and continuing the tradition of Cricut inspiration that Regina began in 2007.  A huge thanks to her for her vision, inspiration, guidance and friendship and to Heather for keeping the blog alive with BBTB2.  There is no doubt in my mind that Susan will make a fabulous team leader and I wish her the best of everything.  A huge thank you too, to the designers, both past and present, who have been so generous with their support, inspiration, friendship and love.  I promise to keep in touch.

I'm looking forward to a little more balance in my life and pursuing some of the things that have been on the back burner since my full immersion into paper crafting. And as for crafting, I hope to have the time to dabble in some mediums and styles I haven't had a chance to explore. This certainly isn't a good bye to my Cricut projects, however.  I fully intend to keep designing and sharing with my  blogging friends as much as possible so I hope you don't give up on me.  I truly appreciate your visits.   xxD 

P.S. This is a pic of a design I did for Custom Crops  back in 2009.  If you're interested in the instructions and free .cut file click HERE.

The Altered Alice Week 3, CHAPTER 21: Gratitude

'You ought to return thanks in a neat speech,' the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice as she spoke. . . .In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while she made her speech: the two Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that they nearly lifted her up into the air:'I rise to return thanks--' Alice began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got hold of the edge of the table, and managed to pull herself down again.-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass

The US Thanksgiving holiday is this month, and many people are dedicating the month to a spirit of gratitude; after all there is nothing like counting your blessings to make you realize how many blessings there are! Our theme this month is GRATITUDE, and you can interpret that any way you like as long as you explain it in your post. Enter by Friday, Nov. 23; all entries are welcome but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances instead of one. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post to have additional chances at the prize, which is quite wonderful!

The theme ties in nicely with this month's sponsor, Nature's Blessings, who has offered a $30 shopping spree to the randomly chosen winner! Nature's Blessings stamps were the beginning of Lynne's love affair with Alice in Wonderland stamping, as they have beautiful rubber versions of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. Without Nature's Blessings, The Altered Alice might not exist! In their words:

As avid readers and bibliophiles, we fell in love with the beautiful line drawings in the books in our family library. Our antiquarian stamps are a collection of our favorite images. If your tastes range from the classically elegant to the quirky and fun, then we make stamps for you! We also offer a variety of original art: be sure to visit John Wagner's page of Calligraphy and Art Lettering, and Laura Ann's pages of stamps for holidays and special occasions.
 

My offering is the Thanksgiving Menu from Wonderland. I've used a 12x12 page of double sided DP from K&Co. folded in thirds with a coordinating band.

The fancy initial was cut on my Cricut from the Tie the Knot cartridge.  the epoxy letters came from JoAnn's and I've embellished further with adhesive beads.

 

Inside is the special menu, complete with illustrations using the fabulous stamps from Nature's Blessing.  I was particularly impressed with the quality of these rubber stamps.  Although the designs are from the original Tenniel illustrations, and therefor quite intricate, I was thrilled that they stamped perfectly on the first try.

So what's a holiday without a specialty cocktail?  Alice (Drink Me) looks a bit apprehensive, but I must say, these are delish!

Our first course is Lobster Bisque to whet the appetite.  Is Lobster 3 primping for the party, or the pot?

And for the main event, roast turkey with all the trimmings.  Looks like the Mad Tea Party items have made way for the big bird (free clipart turkey from the net printed, cut and glued to the scene).  Alice is going for a wing, I see.

And for dessert?  Alice has switched out her plum cakeYUMBO!  The background was stamped with leaves from an ancient Martha Stewart set.  All else is computer generated.

As this is week 3, you have inspiration from the previous 2 weeks at The Altered Alice as well.  Be sure to scroll down to view the wonderful offerings from my DT Sisters.  We so look forward to to seeing your interpretation of our gratitude theme! Enter your projects in the Linky list by November 23, and PLEASE include your name or blog name in the TITLE of the post so Lynne can more easily give credit to the winner and honorable mentions.

Also note that ALL forms of projects are welcome, as long as they fit the theme.  You needn't alter something, cards are perfectly fine.  Again, your submissions don't even have to be Alice related.  However, those who submit projects with a Wonderland theme get two entries in the draw.

 

Dilly Beans Thankful Challenge

'Tis the season we reflect on the things we are thankful for and at Dilly Beans it is no different.  Our challenge this week is Thanks.  I've used the sweet Mimi & Sara's Pumpkins Framed.  My original plan was to pop the pumpkins but I liked the way the coloring came out so much on this version, I just left it flat.  I've been adding a bit of texture to the hair after coloring with Copics using my sadly neglected Prismacolor pencils and kinda loving that too.  The image is mounted on a Nesties Labels One embossed with the Tim Holtz Burlap folder and sanded.  The sentiment is a combo of 2 ancient rub ons from my stash.  The leaves were punched and hand scored and I made my cute little acorns from card candy.  I'm finally practicing a bit with liquid pearls instead of my adhesive beads, but every time I squeeze, I hold my breath. LOL  Please visit the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog for tons of inspiration and come play along.

I'm also entering this in the DL Art Thankful Thursday Thanksgiving challenge, The Pixie Dust Studio Thanksgiving or Thank You Challenge, Simon Says Stamp Thanksgiving/Thank You, My Sheri Crafts Give Thanks Challenge,and the Digital Tuesday Thankfulness Challenge.

WARNING: Contains Adult Content that may be OFFENSIVE to some viewers) Smudgy Antics Twisted Sister Challenge

Fair WARNING!!!!!!!  I'm not KIDDING!!!!!! 

This post contains offensive material on all kinds of levels.

I was even going so far as to post it on another blog so as not to horrify my readers, but I'm sucking it up, putting on my BIG GIRL

panties and proclaiming loudly that I'm 

 

 

 

Aren't you proud of me Jenn, Glo, Tori and the rest of you guys?  I did, however, take precautions that this would not show up on anyone's sidebar by predating it.  You're welcome.  You still have a chance to look away, though....  okay, just don't go sending me nasty emails now, ya hear?

This week's Smudgy Antics Challenge is "Twisted Sister".  Just how twisted can I go?  Well, obviously pretty twisted.  In my defense, we watch a crapload of shows on serial killers and nasty forensic stuff so...yes, t.v. does rot the mind.

Originally this was going to be a Thanksgiving card inspired by the Smeared Ink sentiment from the Serial Killer Santa set.  This ought to give you a pretty fair indication of what's coming.  Scared yet?   Well, you SHOULD BE! 

You can still bail.  Honestly, I wouldn't mind.

 

 

 

Okay, you asked for it.

 

 

 

Don't say I didn't warn you!

 

 

 

Funny how that Femdom set keeps popping up. She's available as a single, too.  The bloody knife is borrowed from the net.  The color scheme (not to mention the candy cane noose) just screamed Creepmas so I ditched the Thanksgiving theme.

and inside...

 

While on my morning walk the other day I saw a discarded fast food bag on the side of the road with "Eat like you mean it" on it.  It tickled me, and was perfect for this card so...  Hell, I ALWAYS eat like I mean it, but if you know anything about Ed Gein, you'll understand the rest of the sentiment.  The candy cane border is an EK Success punch and the lovely blood spatter is from the Inky Dreams Rubber set from Smeared Ink.  Oh and BTW, Smeared Ink is reissuing some of their old rubber sets as well as introducing new ones for their new Rubber Club.  For details click HERE.

Wicked Wednesday Snails or Stripes

 For Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge.  Late again!  The challenge is Snails or Stripes.  Image is Octopode Factory.  So sorry!  I seem not to be able to get my act together (still!)

Dilly Beans For the Boys Challenge

This week at Dilly Beans we're asking for anything boyish.  Megan has some adorable new images in the SHOP that make it easy to do those often challenging cards for boys.  I've chosen #499 Noah.  My card inspired by a young man who tragically lost his life.  His name was Forest and he had a big heart.  He suffered pain and abuse until he was welcomed into the home of a loving family but when he left those loving arms to return to his original home, his life was taken, way too soon.  We can only pray he has found eternal peace.

Please join us at Dilly Beans this week and make a card or project for a special boy.
I'm also entering this in the Sparkle and Glitter with Rick St Dennis Rememberance Challenge, the DYSU Leaves and Trees challenge, Cards for Men Anything Goes and the LEJ Designs Die Cuts or Punches Challenge.