BBTB2 Monogram Challenge

This week at BBTB2 I've got an easy challenge for you- Monograms. Better yet, monograms from ANY cartridge. I'm always in need to a note card of some sort and think monograms are a nice personal touch for any correspondence. I chose the Art Nouveau cartridge because I think those mongrams are particularly elegant and made a shaped card in DS by copying, flipping and welding the swirly base and then hiding all of the inner contours to make the card more "solid". Note: in DS, you have to close the file and reopen it to hide contours on a copy and pasted image (kind of a PITA, but...) I chose a classic cream and black color scheme and some DP from my fave K&Co 8x8 stack.

My original plan was to keep this card flat for ease of mailing but...well, you know. I added a bit of texture too with my Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots, some adhesive beads to further deck it out and there ya go. My DT sisters hit it out of the park this week. Some used cartridges I'd not even heard of yet. Eiyiyi, clearly I'm not keeping up. So hop on by BBTB2 to be inspired, please play along with a new card, hook it up to Mr. Linky with a link to your post, not your blog and a shout out to BBTB2 with a link back to us to spread the word. Thanks so much!

I'm also entering this in the Gingersnaps Creations challenge #140 use only Two Colors.

BBTB2 Cindy Lou Flourish? (oops!) Challenge

So where's my BBTB2 post for this week been? Hiding, of course since I screwed up. All week long I kept looking at page 30 in the Cindy Lou handbook and THIS is what I saw. This is no flourish, it's a filigree, but apparantly I'm the only one who saw it so my card looks ridiculous with all of the other gorgeous flourishes. Heather asked me not to delete it from the blog so I didn't. After all, I did do the challenge, it just was the wrong cut. Oh well.

I made a shaped monogram notecard using Cindy Lou and George in Design Studio by stretching and hiding contours, adding shapes to the base and all of that. What's weird was I didn't even notice the cut had a shadow (which I ALWAYS use when making my shaped cards). Can't even believe I missed that but it was a very stressful week, last week! LOL I was kind of thinkin' the shape looked like a formal flocked wallpaper print so I flocked the base filigree and it took on a richness that I love, particularly against the card base which is pearlescent (and doesn't show in the pic.) I wasn't sure how well the mongram from Blackletter would flock being so intricate but I was pleasantly surprised.

I popped a couple of layers for dimension, added a few gold adhesive beads and that was it I'm quite fond of the color scheme and was able to use scraps from the "Bite Me" banner. Now go have a look see at the gorgeous FLOURISHES the rest of the BBTB2 DT used and if you want to play along try page 40 in Cindy Lou or any other flourish you may find. xx

Criss Cross Cards x 2 for Everyday Cricut and a Giveaway! (.Cut File Available)

Did you know there are criss cross cards for the cutting on Tie the Knot? Well I sure didn't until I started browsing through my manuals looking for fun stuff for Everyday Cricut. These are my Tuesday cards and I hope you like. As you can see, I did another cream and back card because I just think they're sooo elegant and that gorgeous monogram so inspired me. On a lighter note, I did the same card in picnic colors using "Celebrate" from the From the Nest cartridge. To find out more about them, click HERE to visit Everyday Cricut. And, just because I love you guys, I'm offering an 8 x 8" pad of this elegant ivory and black K & Co paper so you can make one too. Just leave me a comment. The winner will be announced Friday.

Click HERE for the free .cut file and detailed instructions at Custom Crops.

The Cuttlebug Spot Favorite Flower (and Happy Birthday to ME!)

This week at The Cuttlebug Spot we're celebrating our favorite flowers. I have so many, it was hard to choose, but seeing that it's Spring and I had an Impressabilites embossing (what do you call 'em, stencils?) from my dear friend Glenda (Thanks hon!) along with a tulip Borderabilities (also from Glenda) I hadn't used I thought "Tulips it is!"

I wasn't quite sure what to do with these thin metal filigree plates so I bopped over to Susie B's Heartprints Gallery (Shes by far the embossing QUEEN!) to see how to use them in the Cuttlebug. She had all sorts of recommendations as to paper and whatnot, but I just followed her Cuttlebug sandwich guide of A Plate, B Plate, Spellbinders tan embossing mat (you really do need the thin squishy mat for this, plumber's gasket is too hard) , paper, Impressabilitie, and B Plate. You'll also need some shims to get a deeper emboss. I used 2 of the cardboards that come with my Cuttlebug Folders. As for card stock, I just used the inexpensive Wausau stuff you get a WalMart.

I really love how this turned out, especially after chalking. It doesn't photograph as well as it looks IRL. I decided to keep it simple and do a monogram card using the Borderabilitie across, and labels 9 as a base for the "D" that I cut on my Cricut from Lyrical Letters Loop Dee Loo font. The small tulip I added is from the Spellbinders Tulip Pendant. I really think it turned out soft and pretty and I'm sure I'll be making more of these. Be sure to stop by The Cuttlebug Spot Garden to see al of the beautiful creations by my DT sisters. And please play along for a chance to win a $50 (WooHoo!) gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp! But remember, you need to submit a "new" card and it must have some type of dry embossing. I'm a bit bummed today, because after several days of fabulous weather, it's dreary and rainy and it's my birthday. At the moment the old "April showers bring May flowers doesn't cut it with me. LOL At least dinner at Boulevard in San Francisco will cheer me up! YUM!

2 Sketches 4 You and Die Cuts R Us

Okay, this week I was DETERMINED to do the 2S4U challenge and perhaps even post it ON TIME. (Even though I've got a BIG secret project that's due TOMORROW. YIKES!) Well I loved Kazan's Sketch 32 and was toying with ideas when I came across a post on Carole's BLOG about her DT project and very first challenge at Die Cuts R Us. OOOOh, monograms! I've certainly been into them lately so here you go. I thought I'd be using some of that great cream and black paper from K&Co that I've become so fond of, but because I couldn't WAIT to try out my new Nestie fleur de lis pendant and also wanted to incorporate my new CB folder, it just was too busy so I just stuck with the color sheme and forgot about the patterned paper. WooHoo! 2 challenges in one and one is a SKETCH! (I'm overcoming my fear. LOL) Even stuck it all together with my Glue glider (and a few pop dots :D).

Blackletter Note Cards and The Cutting Cafe Social Butterflies Set Winner

First of all, without further ado, the winner of the Cutting Cafe Social Butterflies set is JENNIFER PELLEGRINO! Congratulations Jennifer! Please email me your email addy so we can get your prize sent right out to you. And thank you all for participating.

Yesterday I had a really bad day. My Dh is STILL gone on a backpacking trip and has been gone since Tues. morning and of course I'm having all sorts of technical difficulties with my desktop computer, my air conditioning and most disturbing, my cat box. Yes, you read that right, my CAT BOX. I have a litter robot which sort of looks like R2D2 from Star Wars. The cats climb into what looks like a space pod to potty and when they're done the top rotates sift the litter to deposit the contents into the base and then returns to it's original positon, except now NOTHING HAPPENS. Scooping out of this contraption is no mean feat either. WHAT A PITA!

Sorry if this is TMI for all of you non-animal lovers, but I'm really getting frustrated and had to vent. Anyway, I miraculously managed to make a set of note cards using several of the new Cuttlebug folders, some gorgeous paper from K&Co, and the Blackletter Cricut cartridge. I was amazed at how the folders coordinated so well with the paper designs.

The first uses the Victoria folder. this is the one that got me started because the embossing almost matched the paper exactly!

The second uses Textile Textures, not a new folder but definitely a great one.

The third uses Morroccan Screen. I'm really loving these new folders. The images seem more crisp and I love the variety.

Finally I used my Stampin'Up label punch and my Labels 1 Nesties for the monogram layers and popped them for dimension. These were cards were really simple (which was about all I could handle yesterday), but I think they turned out quite elegantly just the same.