BBTB2 On the Farm Challenge (Don't look, Becky!)

Happy Monday, everyone.  This week at BBTB2 our sweet and talented Krista has chosen On the Farm for our challenge.  I knew immediately what to do.  I'm horribly late with a Graduation card for my BFF's son who just so happens to be going to our Alma Mater, MSU.  I think everybody is pretty much over the graduation thing and excited about starting a new chapter, so I decided to make him an MSU wallet and add some cash.  What's with the cow?  Michigan State was established in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first in the United States, and served as a prototype for future Land Grant institutions. Obviously MSU has expanded beyond it's agricultural roots, but it's still often referred to affectionately as "Moo U".  The cow is cut from Paper Doll Dress Up.  I rarely use that cart because of the lack of shadows and layers for these accessory cuts but after cutting him 4 times in white, trimming off body parts to add dimension, coloring with Copics, and doodling a bit, I finally came up with a decent looking cow.  The cowboy hat (I'll explain that later) is also from PDDU and "Moola" is from Varsity Letter.

The wallet is made from card stock, embossed with the snakeskin folder from the Cuttlebug Animal Prints set.  It's inked with distressed and I added fancy metal corners from Tim Holtz.

The top opens like a wallet for cash, and the pocket has room for cards with a personal message.  Just in case you confuse MSU with that "other" university in Michigan, I thought (singing dancing) Sparty should get in on the act.  I actually bought him while visiting Becky in Michigan when Andy was probably 7 years old and bought him one just like it.  Squeeze his hand and he plays the MSU Fight Song and Andy drove his Dad nuts with it (he's a fan of that "other" school.  LOL).  The hat is vintage,  mine, and I still wear it when watching MSU play on TV so my cow needed one too.  I kinda like to think it's got lucky charms since I had it on when Magic lead the team to the NCAA basketball championships in 1979.  Good times.  I'm wishing Andy all the best.  Now hop on over to BBTB2 and see what the rest of my teamies came up with for this challenge.  Sure would love it if you would play along too.  Just be sure to use your Cricut and follow our simple rules.

Macabre Monday Freakers Free for All Featuring Tiddly Inks

Hello peeps, it's time for another Macabre Monday at Haunted Design House and this week it's Freakers Free for All (Meaning Anyting Goes as long as it's Dark, Gothic or Halloween inspired).  Our sponsor this week is Tiddly Inks whose digis are near and dear to my heart (and BTW they now have Clear Stamps too!)  

I've use the adorable Whatever! for my card today.  Such a cute Goth chick.  Love her 'tude.  She's colored with Copics, fussy cut and popped a top Toasting Properly Paper which I've changed the color of using my Printmaster Pro Program.  Couldn't help but add a Glow skull from Creepy Glo's Etsy shop to her hair.  Fabulous, eh? 

Creepy Glo also turned me on to the fabulous freebie sentiments at Ginger's House which is where this one came from.  I printed right on the skull on the paper and then cut it out and popped it too.  Quite fitting.  Those who know me well are giggling now.  (Well, maybe not, but hey, I'm a Taurus.  What can I say?)  Be sure to stop by HDH and see more the the fab inspiration from the Minions using more of the wonderful Tiddly Inks images.  BTW, the new Fantasy Friends release is unbelievable and you have a chance to win some Tiddlies of your own!  If you've wanted to dabble in darkness but were afraid to try, this might be the challenge for you.  Come join us.  

Love to Create Challenge featuring Papelitos Stamps

Papelitos Stamps is one of the sponsors for this week's Love to Create Challenge Blog so I just had to play along.  The challenge is Spots N Dots and I'm pretty sure I've got that covered.  I've used Lala from Papelitos because  I thought this image would be cute for a tag, which happens to be the current challenge at the Papelitos Challenge Blog as well.  I thought it would be fun to paper piece her hair with dotty paper too and really love how it came out.

I printed her 3 times so I could add dimension to her lips and hand and gave her some glitter lipstick.  The sentiment was cut on my Cricut using the Graphically Speaking cartridge.  You have 'til tomorrow to play along with Love to Create and until Monday for Papelitos.  Remember, you don't have to use a Papelitos stamp, but we love it when you do.  Cris is adding extra incentive by compiling all of the challenge entries at the end of each month for an additional chance to win.  And BTW, if you love Papelitos Stamps, there's a Design Team call HERE so be sure to check it out.

I'm also entering this in the Sassy Cheryl's Polka Dots Everywhere Challenge, Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes and the Simon Says Stamp and Show Hey Girl Challenge.

Dilly Beans Ribbon Challenge

Megan is having some computer woes so the Dilly Beans Challenge will be posted a bit late this week, but that doesn't mean you can't take a little peek at the challenge.  We want you to pull out your RIBBONS.  I must say I'm a bit of a ribbon collector and they seem to be multiplying.  Sooo many ribbons, what to choose?  Well, it's seems like I'm in kinda a Christmas mode at the mo and with all of the adorable Dilly Beans snowmen just waiting in the wings, I decided to pull one out.  #310 Happy Snowman is one of my absolute FAVES!  He's colored with Copics and backed by snowflakes from the Tim Holtz Snow Flurries Die.  To keep my ribbon banners from fraying, I first used my ATG gun to tape the ribbon to strips of card stock and then cut the notched end.  Easier to cut that way too.  Pop over to the Challenge Blog and click on the sidebar to go to my teamie's blogs if you just can't wait 'til the post goes up.  You'll be glad you did.

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge, Charisma Cardz Monochrome Challenge, Pink by Design Christmas in July and Shelly's Images Christmas in July.

Haunted Design House Wretched Wednesday

I bet you all were just sooo disappointed that there wasn't a Macabre Monday post from me, weren't you?  Well, I had a few too many things on my plate and wanted to do it justice because of the theme AND the fabulous sponsor so Creepy Glo gratiously allowed me to share her spotlight, this Wretched Wednesday, along with our fab guest Minion, Nancy.   WooHoo!  Our theme is Movie Madness and our sponsor is the fabulous Spesch Designer Stamps.  This was an absolute no brainer for me.  You know how much I LOVE Alice in Wonderland and I bought the whole collection as soon as these came out.  The winners of the coveted Gruesome Twosome with EACH receive 3 stamps of their choice from the vast selection at Spesch Stamps.  WooHoo!

I've used the Zombie Queen who seems thrilled to display the White Rabbit's severed head on her sceptre.  I've cropped it from Zombie Alice's little fist. Zombie Cheshire is there to clean up the remains.  I had a ball coloring these with my Copics, but didn't have a background chosen which proved to be a bit of a prob.  The sentiment begged for a "timely" theme and the lovely darkness of DCWV's Tattered Time was just the ticket.  I've added some blood via nail polish to the hands in the spirit of "time's up".  Yeah, I'd say so.  the sentiment letters were cut with the retired Curls and Swirls Cuttlebug Alphabet which is just PERFECT for the quirkiness of Wonderland, but it was really hard to get them to show up against the dark background.  Believe me, I tried many colors and finally had to go with the purple backed with the dark red which didn't show up on it's own. (Bummer!)  And of course, everything's better with Drippy Goo, so there you have it.  Be sure and check out my Sister Minions who managed to get it together on time HERE.

I was so thrilled that the Poison Peas challenge is back in business and there theme this time is "Unusual Alice" so of course I'm entering it there as well.  (I think this one's a little more fitting, don't you, Mark?)

Wicked Wednesdays Famous Monsters

Have to go post this for WW Famous Monsters.  Don't want to miss it.  BRB This was the fastest ATC EVER!  Nosferatu is from The Octopode Factory colored very quickly with Copics.  I hand drew, cut out, embossed and inked the coffin.  Background is and MS Halloween mat stack.  Eiyiyi!  I've been trying to get to this all week!

WooHoo!  All worth it!  I made the top 3!  Thanx guys!

BBTB2 Christmas in July

Happy Monday!  Our challenge at BBTB2 this week comes from across the pond from our lovely and talented DT sister Jayne.  It's a Christmas in July theme challenge, so it's pretty much "anything goes" as long as it's Christmas and cut with your Cricut.  My card is from the Cricut Circle 4th quarter cartridge Out of Character with some added stars from Simply Charmed.  I took my somewhat non traditional colors from the patterned DP I chose for the "O".

It is a fully shaped card for a change, the shadows welded in Design Studio.  Pretty easy as the it's sort of a "word jumble" cartridge so the word "Joy" and (almost all) of it's layers were done for me.  I intended this to be pretty straight forward and simple, but decided as I went that is needed a bit of sparkle and bling.  First I glittered the stars and embossed them with the Stars Cuttlebug folder.  My 5" Xyron crapped out halfway through so I removed the adhesive with one of those erasers made for that purpose and was happy I didn't have to cut them over again.  This time I used a glue marker which wasn't all that easy to tell if you've covered evenly, but it was ok.  Added some really superfine glitter and then (when I was sure it was pretty dry) ran it through my Cuttlebug. (Note to self, buy extra Xyron cartridges).  The "J" was embossed with Swiss Dots and begged for some star gems at the top and bottom.  To balance those, I added gems throught each of the holes cut in the "y".  Quite the PITA since it's popped, but I love how it looks.  After that, the "o" and stars looked a little underdressed, so they got blinged too.  (TMI?  Sorry, I'm feeling kinda chatty today.)

Even I was suprised at how FAT this thing turned out.  It looks a little bit ridiculous as a card, so I may just tear off the entire top and attach it to a plaque and make it a door hanger or something.  There are actually 2 shadow cuts for each word on this cart, the first one being slightly offset.  You can't really see it that well with my poor color choices here.  There are 2 shades of teal, one slightly darker.  It looked like more of a contrast before it was all assembled so there's an extra layer right there.  I feel strongly about each element having an entire shadow around it and each is popped.  In the design, the "o" in "Joy" had no shadow but I felt compelled to create one.  LOL  Also, when I've added several background elements in a design, I prefer them to be on different planes.  See how the top star is several layers lower than the bottom one?  I like the depth that creates, but it requires multiple cuts of the same element and really adds to the thickness. 

It looks cool (I think, anyway) but isn't so great for mailing and if you're making a card, it requires some major reinforcement to the back or it won't stand up.  This is the inside with the trimmed second shadow adding some reinforcement.  The base card was cut in the darker teal as was the top mat on the front which hides the welds.  However, I actually cut two of the top mats and glued and folded one over the back before adding the front mat to give it an extra layer.  I will also probably cut a dark shadow for the bottom star and a star itself, before adding a sentiment.  (Providing I keep it as a card, LOL)  So there you have it.  I've had a lot of requests about tutorials or videos about this so I'll call this a "baby step".  Hope y'all weren't too bored with it. Now pop on over to BBTB2 and see the fabulous eye candy from the rest of the team.  Then follow our simple rules and come join our challenge, ok? Oh, and don't forget you still have a week for our Fashion Challenge as well.  See ya there.

The Altered Alice Week 4, Chapter 17: Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue

The White Queen gave a deep sigh, and laid her head on Alice's shoulder. `I am so sleepy?' she moaned.
`She's tired, poor thing!' said the Red Queen. `Smooth her hair -- lend her your nightcap -- and sing her a soothing lullaby.'
`I haven't got a nightcap with me,' said Alice, as she tried to obey the first direction: `and I don't know any soothing lullabies."
`I must do it myself, then,' said the Red Queen, and she began:

Hush-a-by lady, in Alice's lap!

Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap:

When the feast's over, we'll go to the ball --

Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!

-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

In the United States, we celebrated our Independence Day this month, so we have a patriotic Red, White & Blue color challenge for you at The Altered Alice! Of course here in Wonderland we know those colors are for the White Queen, the Red Queen, and Alice's blue dress! Enter your red, white & blue project by July 27 for a chance to win a prize from our sponsor. All entries are welcome, but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances to win instead of one.


Simon Says Stamp is offering a $20 gift certificate to one randomly drawn winner! Simon Says Stamp has over 100,000 items in stock. They have all of the latest releases from Magnolia, Whiff of Joy, Tim Holtz, Spellbinders, Copic and so much more! With great deals on shipping, it’s a great time to shop with Simon Says Stamp.



My project this month is a patriotic Hatter's hat cut with my Cricut using the Cricut Craftroom Exclusive Independence Day 3D Projects digital cartridge (thanks Paula Bee for drawing it to my attention with your fab project).  I used the small version of the hat and cut it at 5".  At this size was able to lay the entire thing out on a 12X24" mat and cut it in white cardstock.  I colored the pieces with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in in Faded Jeans, Festive Berries (from the Winter Seasonal Distress 3 pack) and Frayed Burlap.

All stamps for the project come from the Stampendous Wonderland set of Clear Stamps.  The main images were stamped with Memento Ink in Rich Cocoa, and colored with Copics, the rest with Distress Festive Berries.  The rosettes were cut with the Tim Holtz Sizzix Paper Rosette Flower Strip Die and again, colored with Distress Inks. The tiny red clothespin is from Canvas Corp.  The flag Alice is holding is a cupcake decoration.

Tucked in the hatband is the patriotic version of the Hatter's price tag (cut with Nesties Labels Seventeen) with the 4th of July date instead of the 10/6.  Many use those numbers to celebrate the Mad Hatter's tea party (October 6th in the US, June 10th in the UK) so I thought it would be fitting. The numbers themselves were cut on the Cuttlebug using the Curls and Swirls Alphabet.  The White Rabbit is telling us it's time to celebrate.

The hat is finished with ribbon from my stash and the starburst center (from the Rosette Die) stamped with hearts from the Stampendous set.  Please be sure to stop by The Altered Alice to see my DT Sister's fabulous projects from the previous 3 weeks and don't forget you have until July 27th to play along.

I'm also entering this in the I Brake for the Red White and Blue Challenge, Scrappy Frogs Red, White and Blue Challenge,  and Simon Says Stamp and Show No Rules.


 

New Release at Papelitos

Today is new release day for a quartet of adorable angels at Papelitos Stamps on Etsy.  The Angels Set is available for just $5.00, each one cuter than the next.  I really didn't know which to color first, but this happy little one looks like she's spreading Joy to the World and I made my first Christmas card of the year.

She's fluttering atop a glitter star cut with Nesties and I've also added some Stickles to her wings and gown after coloring her with Copics.  Her message is spelled out in Alpha Beads strung on twine from the Twinery. The striped mat is also shiny and sparkly which brings me to the fact that this week's Papelitos Stamps Challenge is Anything that Shines.  There's still a couple of days left for the challenge and you don't need to use a Papelitos stamp to enter so what are you waiting for?  Challenges run every Tues and there are prizes for 3 winners each week.

I couldn't resist adding a little dimension to my card.  Not so sure it'll fit in a legal envelope anymore but I can always make my own.  To see more examples with the rest of the the Angels click HERE to see what my DT sisters have come up with.   They're not just for Christmas.  And if Angels don't float your boat there's a little something for everyone at Papelitos Stamps.  Cris does cute, gothic, quirky and creepy so be sure to check them out.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Cardmadfairy's Christmas in July
Jellypark Friends Challenges Christmas in July
The Poodles Parlour Use a Digi
Sweet and Sassy Stamps Christmas in July
Delightful Challenges Christmas in July
Paperplay Challenges Christmas in July and
Annabelle Stamps Say it with...Christmas

Dilly Beans Pink and Orange

This week at the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog we have a retro color combo; pink and orange.  My room as a teen rocked these colors (along with a few more) and I'm still loving it.  I colored the adorable #414 Jenna Framed with a combo of very intense Copics.

I did a bit of my own doodling in her hair with a Memento pen to add to her curls and outlined them with an even brighter fushia.  I then decided to soften the intensity a bit with a white mat punched with the large MS Wild flowers punch around the page.

I always print my digis at least twice so I can fussy cut and pop portions of the image as I did here or at least have a spare if I mess up.  LOL  The finishing touches were an embossed mat, dotty ribbon and Alpha Beads (so lucky all the letters came in orange).  For more inspiration, please visit the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog and why not join in our groovy challenge this week.

BBTB2 Fashion Challenge

Happy Monday!  It's time for a new challenge at BBTB2, this week chosen by the fabulously talented Rebekah.  The challenge is "Fashion" (near and dear to my heart, I must say) and can be interpreted in soooo many fun and exciting ways.  I had so many ideas for this one that I had a hard time making a decision, but finally decided on the words and stylin' silhouette from Forever Young.

Back to the shaped front card.  Guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  LOL  Shadows of the cuts were welded in DS to a tweaked rounded rectangle from George.  The color scheme was quite a challenge.  I'd already cut the base in black but hadn't chosen anything else.  HHHmmm....  The black was too harsh for most of the papers I was considering, (except of course red or pink and white but I wanted to change it up a bit, it is summer, after all). I finally found my DCWV Lemon Flower Stack and a tiny print for her dress in my stash, but I didn't want it too reminiscent of a bumble bee so I added some lime.  "Citrus colors", isn't that some sort of trend?  Anyway, worked for me.

Here's the dimension shot.  "Flair" and "Style"  were embossed with Swiss Dots and have an extra layer to stand out more, with an extra couple of layers still to bring the fashionista to the forefront.  The Prima flower was added to the inside mats to balance the design.  This was such a fun challenge and just wait 'til you see the fab variety of projects by my DT sisters at BBTB2.  We sure hope you enjoy is as much as we did.  Please join in, we can't wait to see what you create but make sure to follow our simple rules to be fair to all.

Macabre Monday Music Mayhem

We've got a great challenge at Haunted Design House this week.  Sooo great that I was inspired to do TWO cards.  WooHoo!  The challenge is Music Mayhem, create a dark, Gothic or Halloween themed piece inspired by a song title or lyrics.  OOOh... so many songs, so little time, eh?  I'll show you my initial thought in a minute.  But this first one was inspired totally by this fabulous Manson digi from Papelitos Stamps.  Sooo kewl!  I hate (well, maybe not) that I'm not all that familiar with the majority of Marilyn Manson tunes so I had to look some up.  Have to say "The Beautiful People" was the easiest to mess with.

After coloring Manson with Copics I fussy cut him and matted him with a collage of his portraits found on the net.  The sepia mat behind is from the Tim Holtz (oh crap I can't find it and I'm too tired to look) stack which I used upside down because of the video where people were walking on the ceiling (I think).  Anyway,  my fave part is I put Marilyn's head on an action wobble and WooHoo! here he goes.  (BTW, Papelitos has a new Challenge Blog HERE so why not check it out.)

My next offering is inspired by Rihanna's S&M video which I also won't link so as not to offend the delicate flowers who visit my blog for everything BUT these posts, but feel free to Google it.  This fab digi is from Smeared Ink as well as the sentiment.  She is Femdom Dominatrix, obviously available individualy, but hey, why not go big and get the whole set HERE (you know you want to).  The Minions gave me a ration of S*** because I used PINK, but if you've Rocked the video, you'll see why.  Ditto the plastic.  My layout is very loosely based on the Very Sketchy July card sketch on the Smeared and Smudged Forum (not a member?  ask to join) so I'm entering this there as well, hoping they will see the inspiration.  Hey, normally I follow the rules, but I've looked at tons of sketch blogs and half the time I don't see ANY resemblence to the sketch so...consider this artistic license. Are you inspired yet?  There's LOtS more at HDH so be sure and check it out, and check back Wednesday for Creepy Glo's post with whomever else was too hungover to do their DT duty this week.

Dilly Beans Sparkle and Shine

It's Friday and you know what that means around here.  A brand new challenge at Dilly Beans.  This week it's Sparkle and Shine and it was a no brainer for me.  Yea!  I'd picked up "Sparkle" spelled in rhinestones in the $ bin at M's and thought it worked perfectly with sweet Amalia Princess.  She's colored with Copics with stickles on her skirt and more gems on her crown and waist.  Her wand has a shiny dimensionsional star.  The mat is backed with mirror CS and I've punched starbursts out of glittle paper and more mirri for even more shine.  Check out my teamie's beautiful projects HERE. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

BBTB2 Window to my World Challenge

Happy Monday everyone.  It's time for another BBTB2 challenge, this time hosted by our fabulous Brenda.  Brenda has chosen the theme "Window to my World".  Isn't that fun?  You may use any Cricut cart to create your window, so let's peek inside.  Following my new theme of using neglected carts, I chose the beautiful window from French Manor that I tweaked in DS to get the proportions I wanted.  There were not as many layering feature to the cut as I'd hoped either, so I ended up cutting it several times and then cutting it apart to emboss different parts and add additional features.  When you change the shape of a cut like that, you also have to manipulate the layers to fit, which can sometimes be challenging.  There was no trim for the semi circular to window so I used the border feature and played around with it until one of the shapes fit and then cut it apart as well.

Obviously love is in the air.  The cute couple is from the Sweethearts cart.  I love how they can't take there eyes off each other.  Do you have someone you feel that way about?  I surely do and he's my whole world.  To further jazz up the window, I added some trim from several MS punches and lightly inked my embossing.  So how come this card isn't standing up?  Well...

I really wanted to do something a bit different this week.  Actually, I had some technical difficulties with my first design which involved a pull up shade and sort of had to switch gears mid stream (wow, how's that for some mixed metaphors?  Bear with me, it's early yet) so I turned it into a "matchbook" card.  The front sort of tucks into the fence portion to keep it closed.  I say "sort of" because with the thickness of the front and the short fence it only sort of works. The roses help, a little.  And it doesn't stand up which bugs me MORE than sort of.  But it was late in the game so it is what it is, but I'll probably rip it apart and make a proper shaped card instead.  So are you excited to see more window projects?  Stop by BBTB2 and have a look at the fabulous creations from the rest of the team.  And come join us with a Cricut cut window project of your own, but please follow the rules to be fair to all. 

Macabre Monday Butchered Blueprint

Ahhh, another manic Macabre Monday at Haunted Design House with a challenge that always strikes fear in my heart.  It's "Butchered Blueprint" which mean the dreaded SKETCH.  I know that's supposed to make things easier, but usually for me, not so much. 

However, the Masterful Mistress has outdone herself and upon gazing at her rendering a thought immediately came to mind. (WOOHOO!)

Now don't think for a minute that this reflects any of my relationships, either past or present, but I've been dying to use Teri's Voodoo Woman from Delicious Doodles for some time now.  Ain't she purty?  Quite the eye for vengeance too, don'tcha think?  Yikes! I can't imagine where that last one is going.  (You dudes out there cringing yet?)  I'm hoping she doesn't reconcile, 'cause in my estimation, she's already cut off her nose to spite her face.

I had no probs pulling apart that butt ugly flower and using the petals for the X's in the sketch either.  Popped the image and sentiment for a little dimension.  The rest of the Minions had no probs with this challenge so if you're looking for inspiration, check out the dungeon HERE and don't forget to return for Wretched Wednesday where winners from last week are revealed and Creepy Glow honors us with her presence.  (Always a treat!) 

Wicked Wednesday Life's a Beach Challenge

Over at Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Life's a Beach so I couldn't resist doing a little quickie with my foot paper clips. I found these babies at WalMart back in 2008 and for awhile I used them quite a lot.  You can see those posts HERE. Notice they're blue, 'cause that's what color my toes generally turn in the wet sand. LOL  Papers are from the really old DCWV Summer glitter stack, the letters are Sticko.  Didn't have any sand so I used some vermiculite.  As usual, the DT is fabulously inspirational so pop on over to WW and check it out.  I'm also entering this in the ATC's and Cards with Attitude Anything Goes Challenge, Simon Says Stamp Tags or ATC's Challenge and the Simply Create Too Summer/Vacation Challenge.

Dilly Beans Fabric and Fibers Challenge

Happy Friday!  I'm all screwed up on my days with Wednesday being a holiday and all.  Our brand new Dilly Beans Challenge this week is Fabric and Fibers.  I knew I'd purchased some adhesive fabric card stock some years back in dots and stripes.  Planned on using both for this card but do you think I could find those stripes? NNNNOOOOOO!!!!! (Big surprise, if you saw my craft room.  LOL)  Anyway, I did find the dots and cut a strip and pleated it for that trim above my image.  That sweet girl is #156 Framed Girly (flipped) with the adorable sentiment from #371 Girly Stuff.

I tried something new with her hair this time.  I love paper piecing these images and wondered how it would look if I embossed it after fussy cutting.  This is Coredinations Whitewash and I sanded after embossing to bring out the texture, but had a bit of trouble because I sanded some of the outline away.  OOPS!  Still think it looks kinda cool so I'll be experimenting further.  More fabric with the rolled roses cut from Tim Holtz trim and some fiber in the form of Baker's twine.

I added a little more texture by embossing the mat with a Sizzix folder I think is calle Bow Strings (how apropo).  Girly and her mat was popped over the pleated trim and I've popped the sentiment a bit lower and added adhesive pearls to balance it out.  there are lots of cool ideas for this challenge at The Dilly Beans Challenge Blog so why not pop over there and get some inspiration?  We love it when you play along, and Dilly Beans images are not required, but hey, you may win some.  And speaking of inspiration, there's a brand new Blog called Dilly Beans Inspirations which will chock full of ideas, samples, tutorials and and even a freebie, so go check it out.

I'm also entering this in Ruby's Rainbow Embossing Challenge, Wishcraft Waste Not Wednesday "use your forgotten stuff" Challenge (the image is an older image from Dilly Beans, and the fabric card stock and Coredinations have been in my stash for years), the Frilly and Funky Texture Challenge (including the twist which is fabric), Shelly's Images "What's the Text" challenge, and Papertake Weekly Anything Goes (and I've highlighted the image by popping it and embossing her hair).

New DT, New Challenges at Papelitos

Oh WOW!  I'm very excited to announce a new Papelitos Stamps Challenge Blog featuring the digi stamps from my talented DT sister at Dilly Beans, Cristina Valenzuela.  Cristina is from Spain and has a fun unique style and I'm honored to part of her very first DT.  Although I will probably only be participating only the first week of every month (unless I miraculously get it together), her challenges run weekly, you may enter up to 3 times per week, and you may enter with any stamps as long as you follow the challenge.  This very first challenge is an easy one, ANYTHING GOES!  WooHoo! 

Well, you know I love witches, so I couldn't resist using this adorable stamp Blairy for this very first challenge.  She was sooo much fun to color!  She's looking kind of perplexed.  What's wrong with witches, anyway?  The sentiment here is computer generated with the exception of the word "Witch" which was cut on my Cricut from the Stamped cartridge.

I've popped Blairy and the sentiment for a little dimension and added a few fun embellies.  The "W" in witch was embossed with the Tim Holtz Spiderweb folder.  So are you excited yet?  You should be.  There's lots of inspiration from a truly international DT at the Papelitos Stamps Challenge Blog so please visit us HERE to see awesome inspiration and find out about the fabulous prizes up for grabs for our very first challenge.  Please join us.  And check out all of Papelitos digi stamps HERE in Cristina's Etsy Shop.  She has something for EVERYONE.

BBTB2 Here Comes the Sun

WOW, it's another new month of fabulous challenges at BBTB2 and this week is the first challenge pick from our wonderfully talented Suzanne.  She has chosen the theme "Here Comes the Sun", so besides following our simple rules, the sun on your project should be a Cricut cut.  I was bound and determined to find a sun on a cart I rarely use and lo and behold, there was on on Tinkerbell and Friends and it's a purty one too.  WOOHOO!  Obviously it's a fully shaped card welded in DS from the shadow of the cut along with the sentiment "Shine" from Calligraphy Collection, another sadly neglected cart in my stash.  When I first cut all of the sun layers I thought there wasn't enough contrast.  When I checked the book, I realized the blackout cut was usually cut in black which left a border around all of the other cuts.  Ok, tried that too, but it was too harsh with the sky blue I'd chosen for the base and I wasn't gonna do that over.

First thing I did was line all the cuts with Copics (instead of inking).  It adds some depth, goes fast, easy to do, doesn't rip your cuts and there are lots of colors to choose from.  Better, but not good enough.  Pulled out the trusty Cuttlebug and added some embossing with the old stand bys, Swiss Dots and D'Vine Swirls.  Better yet, but still not there.  Looked in my adhesive pearl drawer but I didn't have enough yellow in the right size and then remembered I'd bought some liquid pearls.  WOOHOO!  That was the ticket and although I haven't quite gotten the hang of them, partly because I wear multifocal contacts or glasses (it's the shits getting old) I think it turned out alright.  In hindsite, I'd wished I'd cut one extra later of the center pieces of the sun to pop it further, but it is what it is.  Now wail 'til you see all of the sunny projects by my teamies at BBTB2.  Gorgeous inspiration there, so you've no excuse not to join in.  We so love seeing your fabulously creative work.  I'm hoping this challenge might coax a little sunshine out of our cloudy sky this week.  It's JULY, after all.  Sheesh!