Dilly Beans Brads or Eyelets Challenge

It's Friday, which means it's time for a new Dilly Beans Challenge.  This week we want to see Brads or Eyelets.  I tried my own version of the "spotlight technique" using both #504 Noah's Winter Hat and #505 Noah's Warm Winter Wishes Framed.   First I printed Noah on white card stock.  Then, in my Printmaster Pro Program I resized the framed verson to fit perfectly over the first digi which gave me a sentiment.  The uncolored version was embossed with an older Cuttlebug folder and I've added brads and some glitter acetate on top of random snowflakes.  The framed "spotlight" was colored with Copics and glittered with Stickles and I found a teeny button brad for his coat.  I used deckle edge sicissors to cut out the frame and popped it for dimension.  Stop by the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog for more inspiration and come play along.

I'm also adding this to the CCEE Stampers embossing and Glitter Challenge, Creative Knockouts Snowflakes, 613 Avenue Create ATG, and Holly Jolly Warm Christmas Challenge and ABC Christmas Challenge W is for Winter Wishes.

Bah!Humbug!, Scraptastic Monday, and Whimsical Wednesday, WooHoo!

I can't believe it's the very last Bah! Humbug! challenge of the year. I want to thank Ann, Max and the monthly Guest Designers for the fabulous inspiration they've given me these long months. The final challenge is Cute Christmas Critters and I don't think you can get any cuter than this sweet little Christmas Penguin from Cindy's Scraptastic Designs. Better yet, I was able to enter it in the Scraptastic Monday Challenge #4 which calls for no red, green, or gold. In case you're unfamiliar with the Scraptastic Monday challenges, there's a new challenge once a week but you have 2 weeks to complete the challenge. You may use anything you like (your Cricut, rubber stamps, or digi's) as long as you follow the theme, but of course I wanted to use one of Cindy's own. For this challenge, you even get an adorable free digi for entering (showcased by Cindy's talented daughter Tiffany among the DT examples) so I know you all want to check it out and enter.

Seriously, who could resist that face? I printed him twice and colored him with Copics, then fussy cut him out along with his beak, wings (or are they called flippers?) and light strand from the second image and popped him into a Nesties Beaded Circle. The glitter snowflakes are a McGill punch and I've also added some glitter icicles punched with a MS border punch. Oh oh, I see a bit of chartreuse has snuck onto the ribbon. EEK! Quickly avert your eyes, or if I must, I'll gladly rip it off to qualify for that fabulous digi.

Here's the dimension shot. Notice the pretty bling on the light strand and snowflake centers? That's for the current Whimsical Wednesday Winter Fun Challenge that just started today and asks that you use something sparkly. I think I've got it covered with the that and the glitter snowflakes and icicles, don't you? I'm also entering this in the ABC Christmas Challenge (Y is for Yippee! Anything Goes).

Bah! Humbug! Meets Octopode (by accident)

Eiyiyi! I'm NOT keeping up! The days 'til Halloween keep flying by (no Beck, I haven't started yet, LOL some inspiration, eh?) and I'm still trying hard to keep up with my DT stuff as well as my fave challenges around Blogworld. Bah! Humbug! this week is Glitz and Glitter, and Lily at TOFF has a musical theme going. I had totally different ideas for BOTH challenges but realized I wouldn't be able to do them both unless I combined them, so this is the result. Probably not what either of them expected (or you either, considering the challenges) but it is what it is, and I kinda like it. First off I just bought a wad more Octopodes and I was dying to use the sweet new Winter Girl (that I don't see in the shop at the moment, but I'm sure she'll be back soon). Figured she'd be great for a Christmas card. The hitch was I was also dying to do the thing in sepia tones which doesn't really translate to glitter (or Christmas, for that matter) but Winter

Wonderland wanted Christmas with Autumn Colors.

She's colored with Copics and the snow flakes behind her were done in my Printmaster Platinum program by cropping some musical digi paper I just won from the House Across the Bay. The cropping is done with dots and I couldn't exactly see what I was doing but I was going for a sort of rough snowflake shape. The result was pretty funky but I thought it was perfect with my Octopode gal. The images were merged but it didn't really gel until I drew around them with my Memento marker to make them look more like a digi stamp as well.

To glitz it up, I applied Stardust Stickles to the snowflakes and cut a glitter card stock mat with my Nesties Grand labels One. There's also some Rock Candy Distress Stickles on her boots and I printed, colored and cut her hat and scarf a second time and popped them for dimension. To add to the musical theme, I added the note brads and the rub on words to "Let it Snow" from Melissa Frances.

Finally, I popped the frame and added chipboard letters from Prima that I've had forever (and never used). They look just like they were encrusted with ice crystals. Sorry I didn't take a pic of the unopened package ladies, but this qualifies for the ABC Christmas Unused Stash Challenge. So there you have it! A real collaboration while designing. I know it's different, but I had a ball.

Bah! Humbug! Flourishes/Swirls Challenge

This week the Bah! Humbug! challenge is Flourishes and Swirls and because I skipped out on BBTB2 this week, I thought I'd better do a Cricut card. Happier now? My very first thought was the Trim a Tree cartridge with the intricate swirling images. I chose the ice skate this time because I was a figure skater as a kid and also because it was a natural to add a flourish to. Ever go to MyCutSearch.com and type in flourish? HA! There are so many carts with flourishes these days that I got an error message. Left to my own devices I decided to use another of those carts I just "had to have" and have hardly used, Picturesque. (Phonetic spelling pik-che-'resk, according to Merriam-Webster, except the "e" in che is upside down in their phonetic spelling and I can't figure out how to do that. LOL But honestly, I've heard this cart called some very hilarious things, even in a VIDEO!)

Fortunately, I didn't have to look very far to find a suitable flourish, so I welded the skate and shadow of the flourish to a rounded rectangle from George to make a shaped front card. I'm hoping this counts as a shaped card for the ABC Christmas Challenge this week which also requires Swirls, Spots or Stripes. I chose the gray glitter DP from M&MBI to join in on the CHNC Glitter Challenge and added glitter snowflakes from JoLee's as well.

The swirly top skate is done in matte metallic with the regular flourish in mirri which is why the pix are so bad, sorry. It really is prettier IRL. There's a bit of dimension and a few silver adhesive beads and a peelie sentiment and there ya go. The Shopping Our Stash challenge this week is No Coloring Allowed so I'm popping it in there as well. For once I'm a bit ahead for all of these challenges so go have a look. There's still time to play long and the DT examples are lovely.