Yipes, STRIPES! at Dilly Beans

TGIF!  this week sure went fast with the holiday, eh?  Well, we ALL love Fridays, especially at the Dilly Beans Designers and Challenge Blog because it's new challenge day.  WOoHoo!  This week it's Stripes and I've chosen Megan's new #406 Worried Skellie.  Looks like he's missing someone BIG TIME, don'tcha think?  He's so chock full of stripes that I really didn't need to add any more but of course I did, and even embossed the mat with Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder.  How fitting.  The sentiment is from the #370 Thoughtful collection with 9 separate sentiments, including quotes of Love and Thanks.  Lots of fun new images of all kinds at Dilly Beans Shop and the SALE of buy 10 and get 10 free is going on through June 8th.  There's loads of stripey inspiration at the Challenge Blog so be sure and pop by and we sure do love it when you play along.  I'm also entering this in Shelly's Images You Pick Two Challenge using a digi and a monochromatic color scheme and the Oldie But A Goodie Anything Goes Challenge using my Distressed Stripes Cuttlebug Folder.

BBTB2 WIMG Caterpillar Challenge

Yea, it's Monday and time for another challenge at BBTB2. My dear friend and co-leader Carole has chosen the adorable caterpillar from Walk in my Garden for our challenge this week but as you know, you may join our challenge using any similar cut as long as it's a new project. This is one of the first cartridges I ever purchased and it's still one of my faves. My hungry little guy is on a branch from Live Simply (which actually has a different worm on it which I hid with the shadow of the other caterpillar in Design Studio). I've added another flower and leaf to make it easier to weld the sentiment from another oldie cart, Paper Pups.

The whole shebang is welded to a rectangle from George to make a shaped front card. the fun dotty paper peeking through is from BoBunny. I've done a bit of embossing for interest (Tiny Mosaic on the leaves and Swiss Dots on the flowers) and some button centers with adhesive beads filling the holes instead of thread.

Not so much dimension this week, guys. To be honest, I was nursing the mother of all hangovers (both wine AND food) yesterday from our belated Christmas dinner I prepared for our BFF's who were away for the holidays (No, I'm always a last minute kinda gal. Yes, it's one of my resolutions, but don't hold your breath.) so this is what you get. LOL Although I'm really happy with the results of the resolution I actually started in October to eat healthier, exercise more and stop thinking of wine as a separate food group, when you do fall off the wagon, you hit HARD!

My little guy is happily munching on one of the delectable flowers which leads me to the inside sentiment. It actually was inspired by one of my favorite cards by Kris Lancaster, posted on the Cricut Message Board in 2008 or 2009. Kris hasn't been crafting much these days, and I sure miss her. She always cracked me up!

The open design of the shaped front didn't leave much room for a sentiment without it showing through so I used my Dymo label maker and voila! My DT sisters have a ton of inspiration for you this week so be sure and stop by BBTB2 and check it out. And remember, the challenges run for 2 weeks so you still have time for the Ice Skate challenge as well. See ya there.

Macabre Monday I Was Framed Sponsored by Dilly Beans

Okay guys, this week we Minions have a super challenge for you for Macabre Monday, sponsored by the most fantastic creepy cute images from Dilly Beans. Our challenge requires you to use a frame because so many of Megan's fantastic digis have a fabulous frame around them. Megan is offering eight (count 'em EIGHT!) digis from her adorable designs, two each to the Gruesome Twosome, and four to the winner (Megan's favorite) of the challenge. Let me tell you, I've got PLENTY more than 8 and she currently has a sale running where you can buy 3 and get one free (through Labor Day)! BTW, although my FAVES are in the creepy cute catagory, there are plenty more that are just plain CUTE so check them out HERE. I've chosen the sort of mournful #205 Hypno Eye Girl. She looks so sad. Who is she missing? There were so many ways I wanted to color her, but I finally decided on my fave Copic combo of red, black and white. I used portions of the MS spider web punch around the page and distressed the mats with my Distrezz-it-All. The fab embellies include a Wonky eyed skull from our own fabulous Creepy Glo Bugg's Etsy store, as well as a flower from Recollections.

I printed the stamp twice so I could add some dimension to her face and added some adhesive beads to balance the design. As usual, the Minions have some fabulous inspiration and don't forget to check back on Wednesday for Glo's take on the challenge at HDH. ALWAYS worth waiting for! We LOVE seeing what you come up with, so grab a frame of some sort and join in. You could be the lucky winner of some FAB stamps from Dilly Beans! I'm also entering this in the Forever Night Too Cute to Spook Challenge. I think she's WAY too cute to spook, don't you?

Fabulous Inky Friday at Tiddly Inks!

I hope you all know that we post TWICE a week at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. Our regular challenge is every Tuesday with at least half the DT participating, Christy previews new images on her Blog, and often there's a freebie or two. Then on Fabulous Inky Fridays, we announce the winner of the previous week's challenge, the rest of the DT showcases their Tiddlies (not necessarily following the challenge), and we also feature fabulous creations found around blogland by our loyal friends and followers. If YOU are chosen, you may grab a badge to display proudly on your blog. WooHoo! This week's challenge is Going Goth and I couldn't resist coloring up the adorable new Lilli Lolita. Precious with a capital "P", eh? And she's just one of THREE new images in the STORE this week.

I colored Lilli up using all the Cool Gray Copics I owned and added just a few teeny pops of red. Although you'll ever catch me with gray hair (ahem, unless it's the day before my salon appt), I think it turned out pretty darn cute. She's peeking out the skull face from one of the Toasting Properly Papers that I've cut out with my craft knife.

I printed my made up (obviously) sentiment directly onto a smaller version of the skull cut out and drew some shadows and features with my Copics. The bone "rays" of "skullshine" were cut with my Cuttlebug and trimmed from the Beware Skull and Crossbone set. They are layered and popped on Nesties Classic Inverted Scallop Circles. I also did a little distressing with my Zutter Distress-It-All (great for getting out those pent up frustrations, LOL) The little metal hearts are by Colorbok from J's. Can you tell I'm missing my BFF?

BBTB2 Paisley Dachshund Challenge

This week our BBTB2 Challenge was chosen by our sweet Melissa in honor of her adorable pup, Spooky. We're using the dachshund cut from the Paisley cartridge, but if you don't have Paisley, choose another dog from any cart to play along. I wanted to try something different than my usual and was inspired by the sentiment I chose. I decided to make a sort of "missing you" card for my good friend and next door neighbor who dissappears from January 1st through April 15th because she's a tax attorney and estate planner. I cut two of the dogs but in this case I didn't weld them.

I did my usual multiple layering including adding glasses, also from the Paisley cart. The embellies included Prima flowers and adhesive pearls and I scored the edges of the doggie sweater with my MS Score Board to make it look more like ribbing. Because the shadows are so BIG with the Paisly cart, I decided to doodle around the entire thing. As you can see in the pic, the shadow and regular layer of the front dog is actually cut apart.

So the card could open and expand. The hard part was figuring out how to keep it closed. I cut two of the sweaters and trimmed them so the back part could slip under the front part of the sweater and the front could slip under the back ribbing. Inside I added an accordian pleated strip attached to the center of the back and to the edges of the front dog at the edges where it is cut apart.

Full opened, you can read the sentiment which is how this card came about. Ya think she'll get it? I used Plantin Schoolbook Roly Poly font (my fave from that cart) and cut them twice and glued them slightly offset because that font has no shadow. I couldn't get a pic with the card fully extended because it was too long. Cloes the card is (about 9 x 5 1/4" closed and almost 20" wide when fully extended.) I really was hoping I could fit it in a legal envie, but cutting the dog any smaller (she's cut at 4 1/2") made the inside expandable strip too narrow and fragile. As it is, it's only 1 1/2" wide by 11 inches long. Fortunately it will be hand delivered. LOL Now go have a peek at BBTB2 at the fabulous project by the rest of the team, and remember, you have 2 weeks to complete our challenges. Hope to see you play along. I"m also entering this in the Fairlytale Challenge Blog where the theme is green and pink.

Missing - You Sassy Cheryl's Pearls and Satin and Simon Says Stamp Recipe challenges

A few public announcements:

If you're looking for the winner of my BBTB2 Blog Hop candy, please scroll down.

Also, My dear friend Margie's daughter Melissa has just started her very own blog called No Bees, Please and has made her very first card. Let's all welcome her to blogland and keep her creating. She's fab!

Now then, on to my card. I was visiting my sweet friend Barb and saw a gorgeous card she'd done for the Sassy Cheryl's Blog Hop. I just assumed she was on the DT because it was so darling (as they all are, but this one was especially) and I actually had the time to hop along. OH, what inspiration and the images were so stinkin' cute AND Cheryl just happened to be having a sale (which ended at midnight last night, but hey, digi's are a bargain ) so I had to buy some. At the end of the hop I realized Barb wasn't on the DT but was entering the weekly challenge which is Pearls and Satin and that the winner of the challenge wins a $25 gift certificate to buy MORE of the fab images sooo... I just had to sneak in a card to be elegible and besides, this image was really calling to me. This is May. She's cut out with Nesties Labels 10 and colored with Copics with a bit of inking with Antique Linen Distress Inks. Doesn't her wistful expression looks like she's missing someone terribly? I know all about that.

I've also been meaning to to play along with Simon Says Stamp again and the current No Cook Recipe Challenge is 2 patterned Papers + and solid card base and 3 different embellies. WooHoo! My pearls swirls are Zva Creative with a Prima pearl butterfly, the roses are also Prima and the satin ribbon is Offray. The DP is K&Co Blue Awning and I used both the front and back of a double sided sheet for my 2 patterns. Sorry I rambled. I'm kinda lonesome today and I'm procrastinating big time. Must get back to DT work!

Bet you thought Creepy was Over

HA! I love my Stampotique stamps sooo much and I really didn't do the Creep Fest justice yesterday so I made another one for the Stampotique Designer's Challenge today. (Close your eyes, SandyE) LOTS of stamps on this one and lots of masking too which is sort of a new thing for me. All of these stamps are by Daniel Torrente & Jill Penney. They're just the best for creepiness! Not really a Halloween card. More a missing you kind of thing. (REALLY BAD, obviously!)

I loved my HDH monochromatic card where I transplanted heads with the skulls from the Halloween Cubes 1 & 2 so much that I had to try it with Queen of Life. Ain't she SWEET? (And dig those little dudes on her shoulder. I call them "Naughty" & "Nice". LOL) Then I masked Heads with the hole from 3 in a Round and cut out the center to make my very own hell pit. More skulls in the hell pit, of course and the fabby bats are from Halloween Cube 1 as well.

The sentiment is a mixture of Making Memories stickers and the Cuttlebug Postage Stamp Alphabet Embossing Plus folder. I wanted to make this personal so I actually tried to hand write the sentiment but I didn't like the way it turned out so I covered it with the letter stamps. MUCH better! Did some popping of various elements for dimension and wound a fuzzy black fiber around the whole mess. The background paper is Basic Grey and if you look real close you can see it's all SPIDERS!!!! Some kind of hell. YIKES! Spooky, Creepy Crawly enough?

Couldn't help myself today but stay tuned for my BBTB2 card on Monday. So sweet it will make your teeth hurt. LOL

Kenny K's Challenge #10 Embossing

This is my first time playing along with Kenny K's Krafty Girlz challenge. I so love these images and was anxious to color Devilish Donna (seriously, that's her name!). I've been listening to music (Eva Cassidy) and her version of Autumn Leaves is pretty amazing (it's definitely a Fall day here) so I used it as inspiration. The gorgeous purple paper is from K&Co Allegheny Plum. I tore some paper for the mat behind and embossed it with the Cuttlebug Allegro folder and added some embossed leaves. Missing you is from the Forever Friends Card Making Combo. (also Cuttlebug)

Donna is colored with Copics and I used spica pens for some sparkle. Can you see it here? Maybe, sort of. Hard to capture that.

I didn't have the right color ribbon so I colored some with my Copics and added a copper heart charm. The leaves and Donna are popped for dimension. Well, I just went to check out the time and I'm too late for the challenge. Bummer! I would have done this card anyway, though. Hope you like. xx

Missing You and some FABULOUS Blog Candy!

I've really been missing my BFF from college lately even though she visited in June (WAY too short Becky!) and I talked to her on Monday morning. Wish we were up at her cottage at the lake drinking tea (or wine), gabbing and maybe doing something crafty as well. Those are some of my best memories. This card was inspired by those times. You see she has an old bicycle parked outside the guest house and in the basket she plants flowers. It's just the sweetest garden ornament EVER and when I saw this adorable Cottage Cutz die available ONLY at The Scrapping Cottage that's immediately what I thought of. The papers here are from DCWV Green Stack and I fussy cut the birdies and branches. I used my Nesties to cut the sun and cuttled the center with D'Vine Swirls and the background with the ever popular Swiss dots.



The little flower pot and flower is another Cottage Cutz die that also includes an adorable curtained window. The sentiment is from the Cuttlebug Friends Forever cardmaking combo.
Some of these pieces were a little hard to pop but I did my best. For once though I think it'll actually fit in a regular envie with no additional postage required. WooHoo!



Now I've got to tell you about the FABULOUS Blog Candy my incredibly talented Cuttlebug Spot Design Team sister Steph is giving away. In honor of 100 + followers and 25,00 hits on her blog one lucky friend will win a $150 GIFT CARD to the store of their choice! OMG!!!!! Wow Steph, how unbelievably generous of you! You have until Aug 28th to enter so go spread the word. I have to chuckle a bit because Steph's blog is called "Where'd All My Money Go?" You're giving it away girlfriend, and we LOVE you for it!

The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #18 and Some Exciting News

This week's challenge at The Cuttlebug Spot is to use "bling". I've had this Friends Forever set for awhile, but have never used the embossing folder. I thought the flowers begged to be jeweled with adhesive rhinestones and for added bling I embossed using mirror cardstock in a sort of dusky color ( with purple undertones). For more bling I matted it in lavender glitter paper and cut "missing you" in silver, also from the CB set. I dotted the i's with additional rhinestones and added a sweet jewel dragonfly from J's. I always forget how difficult this cardstock is to photograph, and also how the glitter paper sheds so I apologize for the pics.

I'm soooo excited to announce that as of March 1 I will be an official member of The Cuttlebug Spot Design Team along with 8 other new members. I so enjoyed being a guest member and thank you Nilda for allowing me to join your fabulous team. Click HERE to see what the talented Design Team members have done with this challenge.

Miss you

Wow, this isn't nearly as easy as I thought it was gonna be. I'm still working on my May cards. Got a new cart (Paper Pups) because my good friend and next door neighbor is a dog lover. We usually catch up on Sat mornings on a nice walk but she's an attorney and is crazy busy during tax season. I made this card to look like her dog Bennie who usually walks with us. I've been saving the sushi grass for awhile because I thought it would be useful for some craft purpose and this seemed the perfect opportunity to use it. The paw prints on the side were from a very old punch I had.