Love and Romance from The East Wind

Welcome to the first Blog challenge of 2017 at The East Wind.  Our theme this time is Love and Romance, how perfect for Valentine's Day.  Bet you can't guess who this is for, (wink wink) and for once I'm ahead of the game.  As soon as I saw the gorgeous Aurora 'be my Valentine' I knew she'd be THE ONE for MY ONE and our perfect Love Story.  (P.S. She's on sale for just $2.00 for Valentine's Day)  I'm thrilled to be using my new Santa's Book dies from Precious Marieke, (so much more versatile than just for Christmas, don'tcha think?) to make a book shaped card.  I've added a heart shaped doily, some epoxy hearts and I little bow I've cut from trim.  My original thought was to make it a lot more frilly, but then decided he'd prefer it this way.

Here's a closeup of the gorgeous Aurora 'be my Valentine'.  She's colored with Copics with some epoxy hearts over the center one in her hands and the little one to the left in her hair.  Big surprise it's red, eh?  And although it took me quite a bit of time, it was really fun to color.  Unky draws such gorgeous hair and her eyes are so expressive and full of love.  I hope he can see that when he looks into my eyes, even after all this time.

The sentiment, both inside and out was computer generated using the Storybook Font.  More epoxy hearts and a satin heart bookmark so he can always find my loving words and remember our very special Love Story.  I hope you feel the same about the love of your life.

My DT sisters have more gorgeous inspiration and we hope you join in our new Love and Romance Challenge at The East Wind.

New releases now come out each Wednesday and there is a special limited time "package deal" for all of the February releases at one low price (and before they all are available individually) HERE. 

Here are of all the important links you need.

Challenge Blog

Unky's Coloring Therapy

FB Group

FB Fan Page

Etsy Shop

I'm entering this in the DL.Art February Linky Challenge, Craft Rocket It's a Love Thing (2/14), Come and Get It 3 or More Layers, February Classic Design Team Open ATG, CCC Digi Creations #66 Add a Heart (2/13), LTSCB February #94 Who Loves You, Baby!, House of Cards Feb. Love Theme and/or Colors, Crafty Friends #50 Girly (2/09), Creatilicious ATG/optional Add Some Hearts (2/14), Simon Says Wednesday Color of Love, Crafting from the Heart ATG (2/5), Tuesday Throwdown #328 Love Notes(2/6), the Outlawz Monday Greetings Everything is Love challenge, TTRCD ATG Week of January 30th, Digistamps4Joy ATG/optional Red for V-day, Dies R Us Challenge #66 Hearts (2/13)  and the Outlawz Twisted Thursday Tic Tac Toe (using top row, Red, Punch or Dies and Heart).

Yipes, Stripes! at Dilly Beans

It's Friday again already.  Do you believe it?  Time for a new challenge at Dilly Beans.  This one is easy peasy, STRIPES.  I've used one of the fab new images, #540 Owl Always Love You.  He was so much fun to color.  Love his stripey feathers and tatooed wings.  My color combo came from the fab striped DP from Heidi Grace which looked great on the Kraft card stock.  I printed the image twice so I could fussy cut the eye and pop it.  I added a clear epoxy sticker for some shine.  Then just a few adhesive beads and I was done.  Pop over to the Challenge Blog a bit later for more DT inspiration and come and join us.

I'm also entering this in the DL ART Thankful Thursday Birds Challenge and the Digi Makeover Challenge #77 Stripes Challenge at the Paper Makeup Stamps Blog, Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes and the Addicted to Stamps, Use Craft Challenge. 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I still have lots to do.  I haven't exactly been crafty the past few months but I couldn't let the day go by without a card for my love.  It's a simple one, done in Cricut Craftroom.   It's all I could manage, but the thought is there and I think he'll like it.

Pretty much says it all.  Merry Christmas to you!  xxD

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!

The Winner, a New Challenge and a Freebie (for a limited time)

Happy Tuesday!  How do you like this little guy?  Isn't he the sweetest EVER?  Well, for a very limited time you can get Alex and his Teddy Bear absolutely FREE just for visiting the Papelitos Challenge Blog.  I couldn't resist coloring him up immediately and here's the result.  The Adage Tickets are Tim Holtz and the sentiment is computer generated on a TH journaling Ticket.  When you find someone you love this much, I don't think you should ever let go.

After coloring with Copics, I used a Glue Marker to add some flocking to the bear.  Love the warm fuzzies.  It wasn't as even as using my Xyron, but I actually preferred this result and even scratched a bit more of it off so it looked like he's been loved A LOT!  So if you love this image as much as I do, hurry to Papelitos and nab him before he's GONE and while you're there, check out the new Happy Birthday/Celebrations tandem Challenge with Paper Crafting Journey.  Be sure to link up to both challenges to be eligible for a prize.

And speaking of prizes, the winner of June from the new Papelitos Stamps Saturday release is # 9, Jenn Borgeson who wrote

Congratulations Jenn!  Please email me at dlundinger(at) yahoo (dot) com to collect your image.

I'm entering this card in the Paper Crafting Journey Anything Goes Challenge , the Digital Tuesday Child's Play Challenge, the Going Grey With Scrap- Creations Kid's Theme Challenge, the Critter Sketch Digi Week Challenge (I'm hoping the bear counts as a "critter"), the  Here Come the Boys, Boys Toys Challenge and the Use Your Stuff Let's Hear it For the Boys Challenge.

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. 

Dilly Beans PURPLE!

TGIF!!!  Yea, for sure.  It's another fun challenge at Dilly Beans Challenge Blog and this week it's the color purple.  I've become quite fond of that color and started singing about the flying purple people eater in my head so I added Nestie wings to Megan's cute #390 Dilly Monster and off she flew over #391 Heart Flowers.

The sentiment and heart flowers were printed right on the mat which was distresed with Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord, then I printed the flowers again to pop.  I wish I cold have done a video for this, because the little monster truly is a flutter on an action wobble and she looks so cute flitting about that she makes me giggle.  There are stunning purple creations from the DT so be cute to check them out, and don't forget today is the LAST DAY for the buy 10 get 10 free sale at the Dilly Beans Store.

I'm also entering this in the 4 Crafty Chicks Monochromatic Challenge, the Crop Stop Monochromatic Challenge, DRS Designs Flying Friends,  Lia's Stamps Things with Wings, Whimsy Stamps things with Wings, and the Southern Girls Things with Wings as well.   Finally, I'm adding to Simon Says Stamp Diamond Jubilee, Crown and/or Gems challenge.  Her crown certainly looks like a gem to me and of course it's all royal purple,  Finally, do pearls qualify?  I say yes!

Dilly Beans Green and Black

Love, love, love, love, LOVE Megan's new images over at Dilly Beans! And since I'm always a last minute kind of gal, I was able to choose some of my new FAVES to do this week's color challenge at the Designer's and Challenge Blog: Green and Black. Normally this color scheme would throw me for a loop, but the fab Madly in Love Stack from DCWV was just the ticket. I've used #376 Martin (flipped) and #378 Cordillia. Aren't they just MFEO? I decided to stay really monochromatic and color them with Copics in shades of green only. The layout is loosely based on Deconstructed Sketch #41 and I'm hoping it's close enough to enter there.
The sentiment is from the new #375 Cute and Dark quote set. I've popped every other word for emphasis as well as Martin and Cordillia. Too funny that I just had a conversation about this with my Sweetie and I've come to the conclusion that if a guy ain't lookin' at other women, he's dead. LOL (So I guess you have to take this sentiment with a grain of salt) There's loads of inspiration at the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog so be sure to hop over there and take a look. We're so thrilled when you play along. I'm also sneaking this in to the I Break For Love Challenge, the Dare to be Sassy Thursday Seeing Green Challenge at Sassy Studio Designs, the Everybody-Art-Monochrome Challenge and the Shopping Our Stash Sentiments Required Challenge.

Dilly Beans Love is in the Air

It's Friday and that means another fun challenge at the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog. Our theme this week is Love is in the Air. My first thought was of course Valentine's Day, but if we're lucky, love is in the air year 'round and I just couldn't resist Megan's new image Girl with Butterflies. This new digi is taken from one of Megan's original paintings and she is not the only in this fabulous new Dilly Beans release. I printed the image quite large and colored her similarly to the original painting (as you can see as an example in the store) with my Copics.

The image was printed twice so I could fussy cut the butterflies. They're popped in the center with the wings flying free and I've added pearlized hearts to their centers that I've cut off some Maya Road stick pins. There are tiny peals on their antennae and on her lashes as well. The black border of butterflies was done with my MS punch and glued just at the tips of their wings to the edge of the card. The theme of the week is spelled out in Alpha Beads. Be sure to check out the fab examples by my teamies and I have to say I've been very impressed with your challenge entries each week. Keep up the wonderful work! I'm also entering this in the Charisma Cardz Things with Wings Challenge, The Delightful Challenges Love Challenge, Crafting for all Seasons, and Simon Says Stamp (both also Love it in the Air).

Shot Through the... Heart?

Ah yes, it's another Macabre Monday at HDH and this week our challenge is Shot Through the Heart. VD is only a couple of weeks away so... You know the normal deets, but you must also include a heart AND at least one hole. OK, I don't always mean to be tongue in cheek but I couldn't help it with these fun Octopode images. I've chosen the dude and heart from Zombie Love and Cupid who I can't seem to find but I'm sure he's hiding somewhere so give Lily a shout if you want him (her?). (Sorry, had a marathon shopping day with my BFF and her 15 year old daughter and I'm barely holding on here. LOL) Must say though, a good time was had by all although my pocketbook is groaning.

The cool DP is from last year's DCWV Madly in Love stack. The images are all colored with Copics and I made an arrow like Cupid's by cutting off the end of a heart stick pin, gluing it to a toothpick and adding a feather. Used my craft knife to cut the hole where his eyeball fell out et viola! Requirements covered.

I popped Zombie Dude with his heart front and center and added computer generated sentiments. I have to say I kinda love it. As usual, incredible stuff by the rest of the Minions so be sure to have a look HERE. We've been loving the participation so please keep it up. We love seeing your dark side!

Macabre Monday RESUMES!

Ready to get your creep on? Wow, it was a much needed rest for the Minions at Haunted Design House after a hectic Halloween season, but I must say I've been missing the dark side. We're finally back with great new challenges and a brand spanking new Minion rattling around the Netherworld with us so be sure to give a huge welcome to Imp of Insanity Ike! We're sort of easing into creepiness that is pretty much guaranteed not to offend this week. LOL Our challenge is Got Goth? and I've chose to go the elegant route with black and lace, etc., inspired by the gorgeous image from our own Teri's Delicious Doodles called Dark Valentine.

Tell me she's not beautiful! That gorgeous shading is all in the digi, so all I had to do was fussy cut and color her lips blood red. She waits patiently at her window (the Decorative Window Scene Die from Heartfelt Creations) holding her perfect red rose. All of the other roses have withered and died but hope springs eternal, as does her undying love for the one she longs for. He calls her his angel, and so she is, the guardian of his heart, the keeper of his soul. Someday...

The lovely DP is from the Shades of Grey collection of digi papers from our own Susan's Crafty Chaos. (We're missing you luv, hope you're on the mend) The Minions are a talented bunch (all but me, I've nothing to sell, BooHoo!) so please check out the sidebar at HDH and have a look at the goodies. In order to get the depth I needed for the window, I had to use 3 layers of foam strips because Dark Valentine is popped as well. Thanks heaven I make my own with Fun Foam and transfer tape, or I'd be broke. The intricate lace across the edge is the Decorative Lace Border Die, another exclusive from Heartfelt Creations made by Spellbinders. This border is really wide so a portion of it was covered up but I think it may turn out to be a new fave for me. So there you have it. The first challenge of 2012 and one that I'm sure many of you will be dying to enter. Go have a look at the fab inspiration by the rest of the Minions and pop back on Wednesday when Creepy Glo posts (because she's special). I am also entering it in the Polka Doodles Through the Window Challenge which has been extended through Jan 8. (You've just GOT to take a look at the gorgeous examples by the DT there. Exquisite!)

Fabulous Inky Friday at Tiddly Inks

TGIF! Really! Not that the weekend is gonna be all that great either but... Obviously I'm still in a bit of a funk. Sorry, guys. I did manage a card though, for my Sweetie who does so much for me, even when I'm a crab cake. LOL The lovely image is Will You? from Tiddly Inks Victorian Gothic/Steampunk Release. Sooo romantic, no? I've colored them up with Copics in shades of brown for a vintage feel (except for the red hair, but I just HAD to make her red).

My original plan was to use one of the ADORABLE NEW SUGAR AND SPICE GIRLS but this sentiment was very timely this week so those cuties will be for another day. OOhh, I'm getting sort of misty here. Lotsa love goin' around.

The gorgeous papers are from DCWV Tattered Time stack and Tim Holtz Lost and Found. The mats are cut with Nesties Labels Seventeen and popped for dimension. The pearls are Recollections. Now pop on over to the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog to see Some fab inspiration by our Tiddly fans and more of the Tiddly Inkers. If you're featured, you may grab bragging rights and a fab badge for your blog. Also, our current Acrylic Challenge is still going on and the projects there are AMAZING. And if you'd like to see a whle bunch of inspiration for the fab Sugar 'n Spice gals take a look at Christy's blog HERE. I'm also adding this to the Whimsical Wednesdays Anything Goes Challenge, the Delightful Pearls and Swirls Challenge and the For Fun Warmth Challenge. That's all for now.

Romance with Tiddly Inks

This is a special one, one I've been thinking about for a long time. When Christy came up with the new Tiddly, You and Me, I knew it was time to try it. It was sort of a risk, printing and coloring the image and then using Cricut DS to create a puzzle.

The pieces are from Don Juan. The hard part was moving the pieces close enough to create the puzzle. You can't weld them, they have to be separate. You just have to hope that you've moved them close enough together to cut as one, as each piece is cut separately and then has to be retraced, in part, for the next row of pieces.

I printed and colored my image first. Lots of time invested. On top of the puzzle I placed a heart from George to cut as well.

Then it was just a leap of faith. There was some rough going. It wasn't perfect. I thought after, that I should have just cut out the one piece, but that's not how love is.

Sometimes the going gets rough, but if you can hold it together, everything will be fine...stronger, better than the perfect, easy way out.


I'm sorry, but something in this post is causing all the stuff on my sidebar to go to the bottom. May have to delete it all.

Look What's New at Tiddly Inks

As soon as I saw Forever, I dropped everything and had to play. Tell me they aren't the most ROMANTIC vampire couple EVER! I merged them with the moon and coffin from The Vampire Extra Pack, which is simple to do in just about any computer program using the "layer" feature (I use Printmaster Platinum from , since the images now come in both jpeg and png format, and colored the whole shebang with Copics. The shaped card was quickly made using my Grand Caliber and Grand Circle Nesties. The sentiment is done with glitter sticker letters that seem to have lost their packaging in my Halloween stash. The gem swirl and tiny stars are by Recollections form M's, and the fabby ribbon is May Arts.

Ya know the teeth here are kinda subtle. I'm thinkin' it might just be nice for an anniversary card. The coffin...well, maybe not, but ahhhhh....immortal love...sounds good to me. And who doesn't love a little love bite, now and again? Be sure to check out all of the fab images in the What's New section of the Tiddly Inks Store. There's one more gorgeous Vamp Me digi, along with a new Wizard to go with that adorable Wizardette, and the sweetest little gal from the 20's, Aida, along with a dashing new beau, Aiden, who all the Victorian Gothic/Steampunk ladies have their eye on. And don't forget the current Thank You Teacher challenge, now going on on the Challenge Blog and the new Wow Ya Wednesday, where we feature artists from all around Blogland. To round out your Tiddly week, tomorrow is Fabulous Inky Friday where we announce our winners and highlight gorgeous examples from the DT and YOU! There's a special badge for those of you who are featured so be sure and take a peek. I'm also entering this in the Get Edgey with Jessica Dietrich Challenge over at The Ribbon Carousel.

Wanna Know a Secret? and BBTB2 Blog Hop Winner

I woke up in sort of a lovey dovey mood this morning and wanted to make a card "just because". I've got plenty of DT stuff to get done, but I just wasn't sure I could get going on that until I did a little "quickie". It just so happened I'd printed out the Sexy Ladies #1 cut outs sheet from Peggy Loves Vintage recently, and this little flirtatious cutie caught my eye. Perfect! I used the fun retro dot DP from Cosmo Cricket Early Bird line and cut a window straight through the mat layers with my Nestie hearts. I then used the scalloped hearts on the dotty mat to make a frame. I printed the sentiment on a smaller heart and added a gorgeous silk bow.

I decided to fussy cut her out so I could use the off cuts of my hearts behind her. HeeHee, she's a cheeky one! I had a ball making this for my Sweetie. Hope he loves it! Peggy's images couldn't be cuter, so I hope you'll take a look at the huge variety of vintage images Peggy has on her store. There really is something for any occasion, and for no occasion at all. LOL

And now the moment you've all been waiting for (for 2 whole days because I've been a terrible SLUG!)...The Winner of the $40.00 Gift Certificate to CUSTOM CROPS is.........NO. 32!!!!!

Paula Bee who said...

WooHoo, Paula! Please email me at dlmundinger(at)yahoo(dot)com to arrange for your prize!

Tiddly Inks Simplify, One Layer Card

Oh what a challenge from the Tiddly Inkers today! Simplify and make a one layer card. What? Eiyiyi! As you know clean and simple is hard enough for me, but ONE LAYER!? Fortunately I'd been blog hopping and came across a beautiful card that StampinAngelJenn had made for her hubby's birthday HERE. The sentiment just spoke to me so I "borrowed" it and used Love Hurts to create a one layer card. Jenn informed me that the sentiment is actually part of the gorgeous image she used by Michelle Perkett Studio. I sized and colored each heart individually on my Pagemaker Pro computer program, added the computer generated sentiment and used my Cuttlebug border to emboss above and below.

I also made some quick note cards using one of Christy's Colored Art images. Her beautiful Flower Blooms is perfect for any occasion and would make a lovely card gift set in the blink of an eye. The image has a soft yellow background so I sized it to fit the inside of a Nesties Classic Scalloped rectangle and I embossed the frame (instead of cut it) using my Grand Caliber. This would work with your Cuttlebug or Big Shot as well. I'm also entering this card in the Less is More One Layer Frame it Challenge.

Simply print your image and tape your Nestie to the card front using removeable tape.

Turn your card cut side up on the base plate, but instead of using the cutting plate, use the embossing mat and plate as your sandwich and run it through your machine.

Here's how it looks on the inside after I punched tiny holes and threaded Peapod twine from The Twinery through to dress up the front. Easy peasy! Christy has loads of fabulous colored images in the Colored Art Section of the SHOP that makes cardmaking a breeze! Christy also has a fabulous Freebie Template and tut on her blog HERE. There is some exciting news about the new shop with new features and for less than a day, today, there's a special freebie printable notecard set available when you register for the new shop so hurry! Be sure to visit Christy's Blog to find out the deets and exciting new coming attractions. Now check out the rest of the Tiddly Inkers inspirational one layer cards and we hope you decide to simplify with us this week.

BBTB2 Forever Young Sunglasses Challenge

Time for another BBTB2 challenge and this week our dear and terrifically talented Heather has chosen the sunglasses from Forever Young. Sure wish I needed sunglasses the last few days, but it's been chilly and dark with sporadic rain. Not May CA weather at all. I redesigned my glasses a bit into "love goggles", you know, those wonderful things that you see your Sweetie through when you are head over heels in love that permanently erase anything but youth and beauty in your eyes. I used Cricut DS to make a shaped card using the shadow cuts of the sunglasses and welded the hearts from Cake Basics to them. A teeny amount of hand trimming was required near the nose bridge. The sparkly DP is from K&Co Portobello Road. "Hot" is also from Forever Young and is just how I see my man, even after all these years. (I'm kinda counting on him wearing them too, if YKWIM. LOL) I cut it 3 times each, glued them slightly offset, added some gems and popped them up. The cool holographic striped paper is from my LSS. I have no idea why I bought the stuff, but could it have been any cooler for this project?

I actually was gonna quit there, but the glasses looked too plain so I searched for a tropical flower and found several. I was thinkin' that it would be tucked behind my ear as we frolicked in the sand. The one I chose was from Car Decals because it had a shadow (and the ones from Life's a Beach did not). Normally I would have welded the shadow of the flower to the whole thing as well, but it was an afterthought. Thankfully I was able to peel some of the assembled layers away to insert the shadow where I wanted it and build from there. The DP is also K&Co, this time from Que Sera Sera. I love the fabulous prints and saturated colors of those lines. The stamen is actually from on of the hibiscuses from Life's a Beach because it was in one piece instead of a bunch of little circles near the end so I tweaked it in DS to make it fit and added adhesive gems and Stickles to bling it up a bit.

Here's the dimensional shot. My DT sisters HERE have done fabulous work with the cut, as always, and if you'd like to play along, remember, you can use any sunglasses from any cart if you don't have Forever Young. I'm also entering this in the current Whimsical Wednesday Take Shape Challenge which is to make a shaped card. So sorry Steph, that this is combined, but the chances of me making 2 shaped cards in a week are pretty slim and I so wanted to play along. Be sure to stop over to Whimsical Wednesday Challenges too, and prepare to be amazed. So there you have it. I'm smiling big time, still thoroughly lost in my little island fantasy and longing for the day we can run away, smash the mirrors, and see ourselves only through love's reflection. MMMmmm....perfect!