BBTB2 Ice Cream Cone Challenge

Happy Monday!  It's time for another BBTB2 challenge, chosen by our sweet and wonderful Penny.  She has chosen an ice cream cone from any cart.  My double dipper is from the Sweet Treats cartridge.  Ummm...yeah, I know this one's a bit different for me.  I rarely add a digi stamp to a Cricut card (especially for BBTB2) but I just couldn't help it.  I'll tell ya why later.  So it is a shaped card with a frame from Accent Essentials welded to the side to put my sassy little chickie on.  She's called Troublemaker by KennyK.  HeeHee! (one of my faves!)  The cone and the mint chip ice cream layer were embossed with my Cuttlebug using Diamond Plate and D'Vine Swirls and inked a bit.  I'd planned to heat emboss the chocolate topping with clear embossing powder but I was in a real hurry to prolong my birthday experience and take off for the Double Barrel Wine Bar for some music, tapas and wine.  (WooHoo!)

Ok, so here's where the inspiration came in.  I'd been listening to the radio this week and heard Light You Up by Shawn Mullins and when it came to this line I KNEW I HAD to use it!  (Bummer, I tried to embed the video but it embedded in a whole different post that I couldn't figure out to edit.  Still having some issues with this new format.  Is it just me?)  The top scoop opens to reveal the lyric and tucks behind the frame to keep it closed.

The whole card opens too, but I just couldn't manage to finish the inside after an afternoon of sun, wine and song.  (Don't look too closely at the coloring either.  LOL)  Lots of fab inspiration at BBTB2 and we're so excited to announce the newest members for our Design Team.

Birthday Pix

I'm a little bummed because I shouldn't be here today.  We had reservations at a new hotel, Inn at the Presidio in SF, for my birthday but they called to alert us about major construction in the area with loud noise, road closures, and expected snarled traffic so we opted out. 

 The birthday girl stylin' in the new dress.  Holds you in like firm young muscles.  LOL

Booty call?

Still had a fabulous dinner at Farallon, though.  Probably my fave of all of the Pat Kuleto designed restaurants.  Just came in off the windy street.  How come men never tell you your hair is screwed up before they take a pic?



OOOOh, a candle on my dessert (chocolate, of course!)

Had the five course tasting menu with the wine pairings.  (Not to mention a half bottle of Chassagne Montrechet to start)  For some reason they decided we needed a cheese course too, (not on the menu).  Guess the sommelier wanted us to taste a couple more Pinot's.

No wonder we're smiling!

Birthday wishes and hugs from the guy at the next table.  It was his birthday too.  Thanks to all for making my birthday memorable.  Loved hearing from you.  xxD



 



Dilly Beans Pastel Challenge and (it's my birthday! shhh...)

 It's Friday (yea!) AND my Birthday (double yea!!) so it's time for another Dilly Beans Challenge.  This week we're using pastels.  So soft and pretty, don'tcha think?  The DP's are Heidi Grace and I've used one of the new Amalia images, #398 Amalia's Daisy Crown.  The sentiment is a Basic Grey rub on.

I flipped the image and paper pieced her dress and some of the flowers so I'm entering it in this week's Delightful's Paper Piecing Challenge.  The rest is colored with Copics.   I think she's about the sweetest thing EVER!  (And BTW, she comes with wings too, if you'd prefer).  The mat is Nesties Labels 20 inked a bit with Spun Sugar Distress.

The fabulous sketch is the current Deconstructed Sketch #49.  LOVE how it allowed me to use all the different papers I wanted.  Thanks Jen for coming up with this just in time to use it on this card, or it still probably wouldn't be done.  LOL  Obviously I'll be adding this to the challenge there, as well and The Southern Girls Get Your Girly On Challenge, and Crafty Creations That's What Little Girls are Made of.

Be sure to check out the fabulous work by the rest of the DT and also the Dilly Beans Shop where Megan has a sale going on through April 30th.  Buy 3 and get one FREE!  Now it's time to go bask in Birthday glory so I'll see y'all later!

Wicked Wednesday You Are My Sunshine Challenge

I always pop over to Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge first thing to find out the challenge for the week.  I don't always get to play along, but ATC's are so much fun and can be quick because of their size, so I always hope I get a chance.  Well this week, I had to immediately jump right in with my idea, although I've a million other things I should be doing, because I couldn't stop giggling.  The challenge?  You are my Sunshine.  Ah well, I guess I'm still in my 70's mode.  LOL  I've been singing the John Denver hit all day and I couldn't help but use the Caterpillar on Mushroom and Sun from The Octopode Factory.

The digi's were fussy cut and colored with Copics.  Background DP is Imaginesce.  The grass is an MS punch outlined in black and the song lyrics are computer generated. Portions were popped and there ya go.  Don't worry, he never inhaled.

BBTB2 Bumblebee or Ladybug Challenge

This week at BBTB2 our sweet and lovely Krista has chosen either a bee or ladybug from any cartridge.  My first thought was to do an elegant card with one of the gorgeous bees available on Sentimentals or Art Nouveau but then something hit me.  Maybe it was the fact that I've recently been talking about my 40th (cough cough) high school reunion later this year, but I started thinking of punny "bee" sayings and...  Besides, although the 70's was a very important decade for me, but I'd never even used my Groovy Times cart.  I created the shaped card in DS, starting with the second shadow.  (I know, hard to imagine I skipped the opportunity to add a layer, but the card was getting too big for efficient use of paper.  Did I actually SAY that?  Must have been the Earth Day influence from yesterday.)  At first, because of the sentiment, I planned on using a hive cut, but I figured the peace sign was a lot more fun (and quite frankly, I was afraid some of you might not get it if I didn't reference the 70's in some way).

Then on to dressing my bee from Give a Hoot.  First I wanted his mouth to be bigger so I hid the contours of his face on one bee and then hid all of the contours BUT the mouth and moved it into place to cut. I popped the body layer and added some hand drawn teeth underneath. I had the perfect brad glasses and added beads for his eyes.  His hair and jacket came from PDDU.  I'd Googled Austin Powers and realized his groovy jacket was velvet so I flocked the vest from (? not sure which character) and added the lapels from the magician's jacket.  I really wanted to use that one, but the sleeves just weren't looking right with his multiple legs. Bummer!  I again referenced the 70's by embossing his wings with the Paisley Cuttlebug folder.  I'm particularly fond of the trim of his shirt.  He's mounted on an action wobble so he can Bugaloo the night away.  HeeHee!

The fun bright DP is from an old DCWV stack and the ladybug brad is Basic Grey.  The sentiment is computer generated and printed on a word bubble from Paper Pups.  I'm telling you, I had a ball making this card and it looks like the rest of the team enjoyed this challenge as much as I did so be sure to check out BBTB2.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!  

Thanks to all of you who answered our BBTB2 DT call.  Your response was fabulous and a bit overwhelming, making the decision a very tough one.  Carole and I will be notifying our choices by email this week and the new additions to the team will make their debut during the May 8th challenge.

I'm also entering this in the Scrap it With a Song 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy) challenge.   (WOW!  Takes me back!)   I'm thinkin' you can't get much more "GROOVY" than this!  LOL

Macabre Monday Eye Can See You Challenge

I'm gonna apologize in advance for this one.  My Altered Alice project from yesterday and the BBTB2 project that posts later today did me in this week so I had to rely on my meager digi skills for this week's Eye Can See You challenge at Haunted Design House.  I found both the "scary eye" pic and the fab "free flying devil" wallpaper images on the net and with a little cropping and pasting, this is what I came up with.  The sentiment is obviously computer generated too.  I'm particularly fond of the burning eyelashes so I added some adhesive gems to enhance them further and called it done.  Be sure to check out the rest of the Minions' fabulous work and Creepy Glo's post on Wednesday (and possibly the Mistress herself will be playing along again this week).  And we sure want to see some dark, Gothic or Halloween themed project from YOU as well, so see you there.

Week 4 Chapter 14 The Altered Alice Splendidly Dressed Challenge

"After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!'"-- Chapter 2; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Welcome to week 4 of The Altered Alice Spendidly Dressed Challenge.  April has arrived, which (in the northern hemisphere) brings thoughts of wearing your Sunday springtime best and perhaps donning an Easter bonnet! So we at The Altered Alice want to you to show us your Sunday best; ruffles, ribbons, lace, frills; however you want to interpret the challenge. My Week 2 Project was Easter oriented, but this week I was heavily influenced by our quote and decided to make a fan like the White Rabbit may have carried. I've used my Cricut and the Sentimentals cartridge to cut the pieces for the fan. The cut is actually a hand mirror, but I've stretched it using DS to elongate the shape, embossed the cream pieces with my Cuttlebug 5x7 Sentimentals Cricut Companion folder and fastened them together at the base with a pretty pearl brad.

The design team is so excited about showing off the brand new Wonderland Perfectly Clear™ Stamps from our sponsor, Stampendous (Website / Blog). This Alice is all dressed up from her shining shoes to the top of her hat, not to mention her frilly parasol! We will have THREE winners this month, and they will each receive the same Wonderland stamp set the design team is using! You can read more about this amazing company HERE.

All of the characters are from the fabulous Stampendous set.  They were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and Alice was colored minimally with Copics.  Each figure was fussy cut and popped near the base.

Inside each oval I've popped a medallion from the new Nesties Floral Ovals set.  The heart was stamped with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I masked the "Sorry, I'm late" sentiment with tape in order to stamp it in two lines rather than one.

The lacy border atop each segment is also cut with the Nesties Floral Ovals set.

Here's the dimensional shot.  Although originally the fan folded up, once I began adding the figures I thought it better to adhere them together in the open position.  Because April is a 5 week month, there are 4 whole weeks of inspiration posts on The Altered Alice and we've been lucky enough to also display gorgeous work from the Stampendous Design Team as well, so I'm sure you don't want to miss a thing.  And remember, there will be 3 WINNERS of this fabulous Stampendous stamps so get your project in by April 27th to be eligible for the prize.  

Wicked Wednesday Earth Day challenge

This week at the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge they're celebrating Earth Day.  It just so happened that I had my Give a Hoot Cricut cartridge out which had lots of cuts that were perfect for the challenge.  Love the Earth in the shape of a heart, layered on DP from the DCWV Green Stack.  Red ribbon bow.  Enough said.  Help celebrate Earth Day tomorrow by joining the challenge.  There is fabulous eye candy from the team both HERE and HERE.  Enjoy your weekend!

Spring is in the Air

This week at the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog our challenge was to create a Spring card.  Well I must say it's warmed up considerably here and the flowers are coming out in full force.  My garden background is #345 Daisy Border, stretched a bit in my Printmaster program, colored with Copics and added some faux stitching.  The Spring border punch is MS.  The added butterflies are also MS.

The adorable hedgies are #362 Crinkles Daisy Framed and #364 Crinkles hearts Framed, mounted and popped on Nesties Scalloped Squares. The sentiment is from Megan's #374 flowers and love.  There's loads of inspiration from the rest of the DT so be sure to visit the Challenge Blog and have a look.  We so enjoy seeing your take on the challenges as well. 

I'm also entering this in the following challenges:
 Crafter's Cafe Spring with Pastel Colors Challenge
iCopic Spring Colors Challenge #78
Lollipop Crafts Spring Fling Challenge
Papertake Weekly A Stitch in Time Challenge

BBTB2 Birthday Balloon Challenge

Did you miss us last week? Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter break, and I certainly hope you had a chance to stop by BBTB2 and get all the deets for our current DT call. There's still time, so if you missed it check it out HERE. But this week it's time for a new challenge. Our fabulously talented DT sister Jeri chose a birthday challenge with BALLOONS! What's a party without balloons, eh? And these may be from any Cricut cart so we hope you have a ball with this one. I'm afraid I interpreted this a bit differently than my teamies, but I've always had a thing for hot air balloons and the fact that I don't think I've ever used my Summer in Paris cart sealed the deal. When I started designing this in DS I had full intention of using the intricate swirly top cut for the balloons and was afraid to go too small so this ended up being really too big for a card (sorry Jeri!) so I made it into a birthday door hanger. None of the cuts (except "It's your day" from Celebrations) had shadows which would be a problem for the design I had in mind, so I made my own. The clouds from Create a Critter worked ok with a little fussing with an 1/8" smaller cut. The balloon shadows, however, were built with welded shapes from George. These were all welded in DS and then the fun began.
After cutting the swirly layers I decided the whole thing looked just too busy with the 3 balloons so I went back to the drawing board and decided embossing was the ticket. I trimmed the ropes from the colored cuts and also a section so I could emboss and pop the baskets separately. Each basket is done with a Stampin'Up folder. The deep orange is embossed with the Daisy Pattern European edition Cuttlebug folder, the tangerine with the Sizzix Bow Strings, and the bright yellow with Happy Birthday from ??? (hmm, have to look that one up, I'm having a senior moment). The cloud embossing was already in the Dotted Swiss paper by Bazzill.

Embellies included Prima flowers, a banner cut from the Carousel Cart and a liberal sprinkling of adhesive pearls.

I have to say, the layering took on a mind of it's own. I really wanted to create real depth and since it isn't a card...well...I guess I got sort of carried away. (I kinda have to say I love it, though. LOL) The rest of the DT has fabulously inspiring projects so pop on over to BBTB2 and have a look see. We're excited to see what you some up with as well, just be sure to follow the rules, stated at the top of the blog and have fun!

I'm also entering this in the My Craft Spot Make it Pop Challenge, and Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Goes.

Macabre Monday Pirate's Booty

This week for Macabre Monday at HDH It's a call for Pirate's Booty. Create a dark, Gothic or Halloween based art piece with a pirate's theme. Our sponsor this week is our very own Minion Teri from Delicious Doodles and I've used several of her fab pirate digis to create my easel card. The background is Treasure Map inked heavily with Distress. Then I've cropped, minimized and merged Skull and Crossbones2 to fit on the sail of the Pirate Ship Silhouette which I fussy cut and popped on top of the map. The skull and bones die cut is from the Cricut October 31st cartridge.

The fabulous wench is Pirate Polly,colored with Copics and out for blood. I take that back, she's NOBODY'S wench, but I'll bet she's got quite the booty.

The side view gives you a better view of the layers which I hope are enough to qualify for this week's Delicious Doodles Loads of Layers Challenge. The sentiment is computer generated and cut and layered with Nesties Labels Two. The Minions have been suffering from a number of horrible atrocities this week but there is still plenty of inspiration at Haunted Design House. Just wait 'til you see Teri's new Pirate Zombie releasing on Wretched Wednesday (and you'll bet Greepy Glo will be showcasing it to it's fullest) and don't forget there's still time to get your creep on and apply to enter the wicked realm of the Minions of Haunted Design House.

ADFD Add a Feather Challenge and Dilo en Espanol Use Black

Okay, tell me she's not GORGEOUS! I recently purchased and colored this beautiful image, ADFD Bewildered B, for the previous ADFD challenge but found I had missed the deadline. The new Add a Feather Challenge worked out even better as I also wanted to combine it with the new Dilo en Espanol challege #5 which is Use the Color Black. I've popped the double mats cut with my new Nesties Labels 20. The top mat is embossed with peacock feathers from the Cuttlebug Animal Prints set. The sentiment is from the Abby's Dilo en Espanol, Muy Agradecido set and means "You're a Beauty". Perfect for the image, eh? The gorgeous die cut feathers are also Spellbinders called Jewel Fantasies by Julianna Hudgins. I found the little dotted real feather on one of my walks and was so happy to use it on this project. This will also be my second entry in the Art With No Bounderies The Eyes Have it Challenge for pretty obvious reasons. LOL Enjoy your weekend, all. We finally have some SUNSHINE!

Dilly Beans Shades of Pink and Black

TGIF! We've got some nasty rain today and I'm wondering where our Spring weather has gone. Actually, WHAT Spring weather? Here in the Bay Area, we've seen nothing that truly resembles our Spring. Bummer, but we do need the rain. At the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog we're in the pink though, with a color challenge of shades of pink and black. This should have been a snap, but there are so many cute digis at the Dilly Beans Shop that lent themselves to these colors that I had a tough time deciding. I went with #383Abby Framed and then decided to add a flower wreath to her head from Megan's Posie Set. She's colored with Copics and set on a heart doily I've colored black with a Sharpie. The light pink mat is embossed with a 5x7 Cuttlebug folder from the Heritage Companion set. It's set off with another mat, this time in black and I've addded some adhesive pearls for good measure. All in all, pretty CAS, but Megan's gorgeous images don't need much else. Be sure to stop by The Challenge Blog and see the fabby creations by the rest of the team and we love to see what you create, too.

I'm also entering this in the Paper and Such CAS Challenge and the Art with No Bounderies "The Eyes Have It" Challenge.

Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge and BBTB2 DT Call

If you're wondering where my BBTB2 post is this week, we have a little Easter break but be sure to visit the blog HERE for our DT call. If you've ever dreamed of joining our team, now's your chance!

Oh boy! Just sneaking this in to the Wicked Wednesday Forest Fairies and Woodland Nymphs ATC Challenge. My sweet image is Pixie P from Pixie Dust Studio. The gorgeous DP is K&Co and she's popped atop a velvet leaf from Making Memories. There's even a bit of real forest moss beneath her feet. I've added a few leaf brads, gold adhesive beads and Alpha Beads to finish it off.

I'm also entering this in the following challenges:
My Time to Craft Fairy Nice challenge
Crafting When We Can Things With Wings
The Squirrel and the Fox Things With Wings

Macabre Monday Homage to Hitchcock

Good morning all. Hope you had a lovely holiday. We had a fabulous Easter dinner at Auberge du Soleil but I have to admit I'm feeling a bit like Zombie Bunny from my Dilly Beans post on Friday. So much for cuddly bunnies and Easter frills. It's time to get your creep on again with Macabre Monday's Homage to Hitchcock at Haunted Design House. No contest here as to which movie I'd honor. My all time FAVORITE Hitchcock movie is The Birds. I remember it scaring the bejesus out of me back in gradeschool, and the grotesque image of pecked out eyes stays with me to this day. I even still get a little nervous when I see a large flock perched on the phone wires. EEEKKK!!!! I'm afraid the card style looks a bit familiar, but it seems to have served me well on a number of occasions at HDH so back it comes. The stamped images are all Tim Holtz with the large bird being heat embossed atop the blood spatter and cut with Nesties Deckle Rectangles. Even the MS birds on a wire punch look sinister with Drippy Goo falling from their little feet. The sentiment is computer generated.

And BTW, recognize this? It's the very school house from the movie. We're not too far from Bodega Bay when we visit Nick's Cove so last time I insisted we take a little side trip to relive the horror...nice! but not a killer bird in the sky...sigh... The Minions have additional thrills so be sure to check them out HERE and don't forget Wretched Wednesday when Creepy Glo struts her stuff. Also, if you've ever dreamed of becoming a Minion, a DT call is up through April 20 HERE.

Week 2 Chapter 14 The Altered Alice Splendidly Dressed

"After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!'"-- Chapter 2; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Happy Easter everyone! April has arrived, which (in the northern hemisphere) brings thoughts of wearing your Sunday springtime best and perhaps donning an Easter bonnet! So we at The Altered Alice want to you to show us your Sunday best; ruffles, ribbons, lace, frills; however you want to interpret the challenge! I've made a little Easter pedestal vignette in a nest with a mini bell jar top.
The design team is so excited about showing off the brand new Wonderland Perfectly Clear™ Stamps from our sponsor, Stampendous (Website / Blog). This Alice is all dressed up from her shining shoes to the top of her hat, not to mention her frilly parasol! We will have THREE winners this month, and they will each receive the same Wonderland stamp set the design team is using! You can read more about this amazing company HERE.

I've used 4 of the fabulous stamps from this new collection in my project. Is that the Easter Bunny? No, it's the White Rabbit, late again. His sparkly texture was achieved by stamping OVER micro fine glitter that was adhered to the card stock using Be Creative Tape Sheets. I used Memento Ink so I could shade him with my Copics (yes, you can color over this glitter, it's so fine!) His pocket watch was also stamped with Brown Memento and detailed with gold gel pen before being coated with Glossy Accents. He's about to hop through the Looking Glass (resin frame from Melissa Frances). See the checkered floor beyond?

And finally, the beautifully detailed heart is the crowning touch for this little tableau. Both the floor and heart were stamped with Distress Inks and I was so pleased how wonderfully the impressions came out, not matter what ink I used.

My frilly elements for the challenge were the lace, ruffles, ribbon and pompom trim from my stash adorning the little wooden spool pedestal. The base was cut with my Nesties and the text is the same as our book quote for this week. The little resin teapot is also Melissa Frances.

Besides inspiration from my Sisters at The Altered Alice, we have fabulous work by the Stampendous Design Team as well so be sure to visit each week. Enter using the Linky Tool by Friday, April 27 (my BIRTHDAY, WooHoo!). All entries are welcome but Alice in Wonderland entries are encouraged and will receive two chances at the drawing instead of one. Multiple entries are great but each must be on a separate post. Have a glorious Easter!

I'm also entering this in the Our Creative Corner In Your Easter Bonnet Challenge

Dilly Beans Easter Overload

This week at the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog our challenge is an Easter card or project. I've used the adorable #164 Zombie Bunny. Poor thing looks like shes been mowing through her chocolate bunnies, Peeps and Jelly Beans and is now a bit green around the gills. She's colored with Copics, double matted and popped. The chocolate bunnies were cut with my Cricut from the Easter 2010 cart in brown and cream card stock then wet embossed in several layers to make them shiny. I'm thanking my friend De who led me to a freebie for the Peeps. They were colored with Copics (honestly I had no idea they came in so many colors until I hit Walmart) covered them in Be Creative Tape, sprinkled them in ultrafine glitter and fussy cut them. The sentiment is computer generated. The candy background paper is from the DCWV 8x8 Sweet Stack.

Lots of popping for dimension and I've added a bow to Zombie Bunnie's hair. My DT sisters are hopping down the bunny trail so be sure visit the Challenge Blog for more fabulous inspiration. Have a blessed Easter, everyone, but careful with that candy or you'll awake with a tummy ache.

I'm also entering this in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday I Want Candy

Creative Cutter Room Easter or Bunny Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Use Your Favorite Tool (Cricut die cutting machine)

Love to Create Bunnies, Chickies and Jelly Beans Oh My! Easter Challenge

DLArt Thankful Thursday Easter Challenge