Photo Inspiration at Catch the Bug

It's the last April Challenge at Catch the Bug and this week here's the lovely photo to use as inspiration. It's also my last post as Guest Designer and I want to thank Jodie and the Bugaboo DT for having me.  It's been wonderful.

I'm afraid I wasn't exactly creative in my interpretation here, but I loved the colors, beautiful flowers and butterflies so much that my card is quite literal.  I already knew I'd be using DP from the K&Co Specialty pack by Susan Wright because of the colors.  All I had to do was make a choice of image, which proved to be quite difficult since there are so many lovely florals at Bugaboo Stamps.  You can check them all out HERE.  I finally decided on the rectangular image from Floral Set2 and colored with Copics (new eye prescription so I hope to be coloring more soon).  I remembered some sweet butterfly dimensional stickers from Little B and miraculously they fit exactly over the butterfly images in the digi, so WooHoo!  Today happens to be my birthday but couldn't find a birthday sticker so it ended up a "thinking of you" card that can be used for many occasions.

Be sure to stop by Catch the Bug and check out the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team.  You may use anything in the photo as inspiration, so let your creativity go wild.  (If it's not obvious, you might mention it, though.)  So please come and play along.

I'm entering this in the DL.Art April Linky Challenge, Simon Says Wednesday AG, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #104 AG, the Outlaw Twisted Thursdays AG, the Outlawz Festive Fridays AG, Jo's Scrap Shack FFC #279 AG, ..

Handmade Flowers

Well today I'll be re-entering the land of the living and getting some much needed work done on me at the hair salon.  It can only make me feel better, right?  I did manage a card for a couple of Outlawz Challenges that involved embossing,dies and a punch that I think turned out pretty neat, though.

You can enter up to 2 times for Twisted Thursday and the twist is "handmade flowers" which I mentioned before is a rarity for me. This time I pulled out my several year old (but never used) Sue Wilson 2 part flower die.  I rarely work with vellum either, but I was really impressed by designer Andrea Norris's heat embossed (yeah, I WISH I could do that) vellum flowers that I cut the bottom of the petals from vellum and layered over with blue card stock.  The flower centers are prills and I've added leaves cut from a Sizzix Dogwood die set also from vellum.  I layered them over a Butterfly Frame from Die-namites and added a Martha Stewart punched butterfly and tiny pearls.  The mat was embossed with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and I added a bow of crinkle ribbon from DL.Art.  I backed the aperture cut with a Spellbinders Oval with vellum and added a silver sticker sentiment.

This also works for the Outlawz Tuesday Color challenge Tic Tac Toe board as I used the middle row across of Emboss, Add Lace or Ribbon and Use Punch or Die Cut.  My row doesn't have a color but I picked blue from the board.  It would have worked for the left row down, as well, but I wanted to keep the card monochromatic so I cut the leaves in vellum instead of green.

I'm also entering this in the 613 Avenue Create April Challenge using the optional twist, vellum (woohoo!), the DL.Art April Linky Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #80 AG, Dies R Us #65 Springtime, Scrapy Land Challenge #88 AG w/dies Scrapy land sells and Simon Says Wednesday AG.

Aurora Wings Double Showcase "Weeping Rose"

I'm thrilled to be joining the Aurora Wings Showcase Team for the double release of two new glorious Aurora Wings stamps.  This beauty is called "Weeping Rose".  My first thought was a sympathy card because of the rather sad look on her face, but this image is much more versatile than that.  I instead chose the sentiment Thinking of You so it could be used, not only for sympathy, but a variety of occasions.  the elegance of the image called for a special mat so I used my spellbinders Enchanted Labels 28 and backed it with shiny gold card stock.  The layout is simple, just DP from Graphic 45, another later of gold and a simple white card.  The only embellies are matte gold half pearls in the corners and some gold rosebud stickers at the top.

Here's a closeup of "Weeping Rose".   She's colored with Copics, and although my first inclination was to go in with pencils for more shading and drama, I decided I liked the soft monochromatic look here.

I got a new dimensional medium called nuvo Crystal Drops this past weekend which work like Liquid Pearls but have suspended glitter in them.  I thought this was the perfect project on which to try them.  Yummy!  I've also added Diamond glaze to her lips, but for the life of me could not get them to shine in a ic.  It's a rather gloomy rainy day and lighting has been a challenge, (especially with the shiny gold card stock I used.

Please visit the Showcase Blog for more inspiration and check out my next post HERE, for my project with Crown of Roses.

And here's the fab Coupon Code for this weekend. Don't miss out!

And GWP with NO MINIMUM!  WOW!  Isn't she ADORABLE?

Here's how to keep up with all that's happening at Aurora Wings.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday ATG Challenge, the Outlawz Twisted Thursday ATG/ATG, the Outlawz Saturday Paper a la Mode Flower Power Challenge, Crafty Gals Corner ATG, Inspiration Destination #109 ATG, Artistic Inspirations ATG, Crafting from the Heart ATG, 613 Avenue Create ATG, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends ATG, Crafty Friends ATG, the ABC R is for Recipe Challenge using Sentiment, Digi Stamp, Pearls, Dies and Flowers (in the image), Crafting With Friends ATG (#3of3), and Simply Papercraft ATG.

Dilly Beans Bright Colors

This week our challenge at Dilly Beans is to use bright colors.  I decided to go CAS this time and let my Printmaster Platinum software do most of the work.  The adorable image is #407 Feeling Twitchy.  I resized her, lined her up and then changed her color to mimic a rainbow.  In my program you just do it the same way you would change text color.  Click on the image, go to format, then color, then choose.  I added rainbow stripes above and below the images, embossed the card base and scored the printed panel.  Love the rainbow ribbon (guess that was the whole inspiration).  The sentiment is computer generated and cut with Nesties Labels Two.  Be sure to visit the Challenge Blog to see what my  DT sisters came up with.  There are (will be) several adorable examples of the new Robots release and the Birthday sale is still going on.

I'm also entering this in the Crafting for All Seasons Bright Colors Challenge, The House That Stamps Built Cards with Scoring Challenge, and The Paper Shelter Clean and Simple Challenge.

Macabre Monday WTF, I Mean Freakers Free For All Challenge

This week at Haunted Design House we were tired, VERY tired, so we pretty much said "WTF" which translates as a fabulously EASY challenge for all. We're having a Freakers Free For All! Woo Hoo! Show us what ya got. Twisted, creepy, even creepy cute,we wanna see it. I have been DYING to make this card and what a perfect occasion. The image is from the Femdom digi stamps set from Smeared Ink. The fab chain punch is by EK Success and the background is embossed with the Sizzix Tim Holtz Bricked folder (makes the perfect dungeon). The sentiment is computer generated. Anybody feel that way this lovely Monday morning? Yeah, I thought so.

And some words of encouragement inside. Boy, do we have some inspiration this week! Just scary what's been on the Minion's minds! You must have a look HERE and be sure to play along. (Hopefully I'm not too early, I told you it was a sort of WTF kind of challenge). LOL But it's no holds barred! I'm also entering this in the ABC Challenge T is for Trouble. Yeah, I think it qualifies. LOL

AND in celebration of our 400 fabulously twisted followers, the Masterful Mistress is offering up some sickly sweet candy up for the taking. Don't miss out! Check it out HERE! Halloween came early this year!

Pretty Kitty from Peggy Loves Vintage

Peggy Loves Vintage has released a whole bunch of darling new Cut Outs and I just couldn't wait to play. So many adorable Easter Cut Outs, and children and animals and especially KITTIES!!!! You know how I love KITTIES! But which kitty first? Well, this one looked so much like my Jezebel that I couldn't resist! She's from the Cuties Animals 2. And sitting in that bunch of flowers she looks like she's perched in a window box. Seriously ADORABLE AND I got a chance to use my new Decorative Window Scene Die made by Spellbinders for Heartfelt Creations. I fussy cut the kitty, cut and embossed the frame and decided the beautiful bright colors would just pop against an all white card. The background is embossed with my new Sizzix Ornate Frame #2 from the newest Ornate Frames set and I saved the pieces from the Window frame cut out and embossed those with Swiss Dots. The tag was cut with my Cuttlebug Embossed Tags folder and the sentiment is a peelie.

Besides the variety of texture, I think popping the elements for an all white card gives added interest so I popped not only the kitty, but the tag, frame, and entire first mat as well. I LOVE this card and Jezzie thinks she's quite the star. (I didn't have the heart to tell here it isn't REALLY her.) You can see the entire collection of new Cut Outs on the Peggy Loves Vintage Blog and they're available for purchase at her Web Shop, Etsy Store, and on Ebay. Peggy is also sponsoring the challenge at Craft Us Crazy so be sure to check it out for a chance to win free images.

The Cuttlebug Spot Buttons Challenge

Continuing our focus on embellies this month, our weekly challenge at The Cuttlebug Spot is buttons. I knew immediately I wanted to use the adorable La Mode dragonfly I'd gotten at J's awhile back and set about looking for a good embossing folder to use with it. I decided upon the folder from the Cuttlebug Friends Forever Card Making Combo and the "hello" sentiment from the Everyday Greetings set, both still available, and on SALE at Custom Crops. I fashioned antennae from fun wire I had strung though the holes in the dragonfly's body and took the colors from the wings and chose tiny buttons by Fabulous Findings (also from J's) to glue onto the embossed flowers. The sentiment was cut twice and glued slightly offset and I added a polka dot mat and it was done! Super simple but I love how it came out. Be sure to stop by The Cuttlebug Spot for more inspiration from the rest of the team. I'm also entering this in the My Partner In Crafting Crime Challenge which is conveniently, BUTTONS! WOW, short post! How about that?

The Cuttlebug Spot Step Card Challenge

It's our second week of unique card folds at The Cuttlebug Spot, and today we're steppin' it up with Step Cards. Again, there are loads of possibilites for this type of card and I decided on a Center Step card that I found (Oh, oh, I can't seem to find it). I'll keep looking, but basically it's the same as a side step, but there are tall pieces at both sides. I started with a piece of card stock that's 7 x 8 1/2 inches and the cuts are 1 3/4" in from each side. When it folds it'll fit in a 5 x7" envie, considering the Nesties Beaded Oval I used for the back panel.

The stamped image is from Heartfelt Creations Hydrangea/Posy Branch PreCut Stamp set that I colored with Copics and fussy cut it out. These images coordinate with Nesties, in this case the Posy Patch Flowers PreCut Stamp Set for the 5 popped blooms on the branch that matches the Spellbinders Posy Patch Die. The tiny flowers are a bit challenging to line up with the Nesties but there is a video to help with that HERE on the Heartfelt Creations blog.

The green panels are embossed with the Cuttlebug With Love Border set and Swiss dots behind the Nestie, and the pink side panels with the Crafts Too Daisy folder. the sentiment is a peelie mounted on a Fancy Label from the Cuttlebug Emboss Plus set mounted on a Petite Scalloped Nestie. The butterfly is a MS punch. Now be sure to take a look at the fabulous variety of Step Cards by my super creative DT mates and play along for a chance to win a gift certificate from The Craft Barn.

Butterfly Kisses

So do you believe it, a non Halloween, Thanksgiving OR Christmas card? LOL I planned to enter this in a challenge for Some Odd Girl Digi Day but I was too late. I used Kissy Mae who's blowing lots of butterfly kisses to her Sweetie. Isn't she adorable? She's colored with Copics and fussy cut and popped. The butterflies are punched with various MS punches and the paper is Me&My Big Ideas. I do think it's "girly girl" enough to enter in the Stampotique Designers Challenge and although I prefer to use my Stampotique stamps for those, it's not required this time. (Hopefully I can do another using them later).

The mat is cut with my Nesties Mega Ovals Large and popped. The sentiment is computer generated and cut with Labels One. Flowers are prima. xx

The Cuttlebug Spot Power of Women Challenge

Welcome back, Cuttlebug Spot! I'm happy to say I'm a returning member of the Design Team and looking forward to working with a fabulous group of new sisters and brother, yup, we got a crafty man, Woohoo! (along with my old buddies, Lillie and Julie). In celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month we were asked to Think Pink. I have several friends who have battled this horrible disease and a few who have sadly lost. I made this card because I think of all of them often with hope, faith and love. The beautiful frame is the Lace Door Emboss Plus Cuttlebug folder and I used both the outer frame and cut out for the background. The Pink ribbon is cut on my Cricut from the Stand and Salute cartridge, embossed with the ever favorite Swiss Dots. The sentiment is computer generated.

The gorgeous butterflies were cut right in my Cuttlebug using a die from The Scrapping Cottage. A bit of popping for dimension and there you have it. Please join me in welcoming the new team and be sure to visit The Cuttlebug Spot to get acquainted and view the fabulous inspiration there.

Whatcha Got Cookin?-.Cut File Available

Happy Saturday! For some reason it seems more like Sunday to me but I'm glad I have 2 more days to finish my DT projects instead of one. I'm kinda dragging because I seemed to have caught a cold. Blah! Hope I feel better for Monday when my BFF and I will be celebrating her B-day with lunch and shopping. I promise to post my Swarm pix tomorrow but for today I have another little simple shaped card using From My Kitchen. Now I can't keep the song "Hey Good Lookin'" out of my mind. It is designed for Custom Crops so as usual the .cut file is available for free HERE. My sample uses DonJuan but I did design the sentiment using Plantin Schoolbook as well. After the QVC gypsy broadcast there will be tons more people with DonJuan so WooHoo! It's one of my favorite fonts. Did I buy one? No, not yet. It doesn't have all of the features I need so until they update to add them I'm waiting. My craft bill this month was over the top so I just couldn't justify it when I would just put it aside for a few months. It was a super deal though,

congrats to all who took the plunge.

I kept telling myself this card was way too simple but I get requests for unintimidating designs using fewer cartridges so this is it. I really love the paper from Nana's kitchen though. Finally it became my own when I decided to hang the oversized question mark over the handle. My dear friend Margie (be sure to check out her blog HERE) was teasing me about my adhesive pearls (or the lack there of) on my Perk Up card. Well you've got to go read the article HERE to see what happened to the majority of them on this card. They are NOT always the right choice. LOL

Perk Up .Cut File Available

I absolutely LOVE the new From My Kitchen cartridge. The retro feel of it makes me think of my Auntie Lee's kitchen Up in Ishpeming MI when I was a little girl. We Swede's are big time coffee drinkers so my first card had to be something about coffee. I did this for the Custom Crops Design Team so the .cut file and complete instructions are available HERE. I love the DonJuan font thanks to all of the super cards my sweet friend and super talented Cuttlebug Spot Design Team Sister Julie has done with it but I realized that cart wasn't so easy to come by so I did an alternative sentiment using Plantin Schoolbook too, as well as a little tag for those of you who would prefer a stamped sentiment. I used papers from DCWV Nana's Kitchen and Nana's Nursery Baby Boy mat stack. I thought it would be cute for a friend who wasn't feeling 100%.

BTW, my little Scarecrow Treat Box is now available at Custom Crops too. Just click HERE. And as always, reviews (good ones anyway LOL) are always appreciated.

Under the Sea with Cottage Cutz and the WINNER!

Here's a fun little shaker card with an undersea theme using my Cottage Cutz Sadie Seahorse and Coral Garden dies exclusive to the Scrapping Cottage. I made a shaker using the packaging from Terrifically Tacky Tape and the largest circle Nestie was the perfect size to cut a mat for it. WooHoo!

It was fun using the dies with various patterned DCWV patterned papers which made them look especially whimsical. I thought I had some sand, but I ended up using Kitty litter (new, of course) mixed with some beads for additional color in the shaker. I curled the ribbon by winding it around a wooden skewer, spritzing it lightly with spray starch and baking it on 200 degrees for 20 minutes. Be sure to lay the skewers across the rim of a baking pan or something so the ribbon doesn't discolor. I added a couple of small shells and some Raindot "bubbles".

The sentiment is a Cuttlebug die from the Everyday Greetings cardmaking combo (I think). the mat is attached with sticky strips. Now don't forget The Scrapping Cottage is offering a $250 gift certificate to their store when they reach 500 followers on their blog so click HERE to enter.

OOps, I almost forgot to announce the WINNER of The Cutting Cafe Anniversary downloadable stamp set. Chosen by Random DH the winner is #31 Stephann! Congrats Stephann and thank you all for participating. Be sure to check out The Cutting Cafe for all of Regina's brand NEW designs. Tons of goodies! Hugs, D

The Cuttlebug Spot-The Inside Counts

This week The Cuttlebug Spot focusses on the inside of cards so I actually designed this card from the inside out. I challenged myself to use as many embossing folders and dies as I could so I've counted 5 different folders, two different Nesties, and 3 dies. WooHoo!

I really love the idea of all kinds of pop-ups so when I saw this Sizzix Bigz spiral ornament die I thought maybe it would work for the inside pop-up so I cut it in acetate on my Cuttlebug. The cute bee is a Cottage Cutz die exclusive to The Scrapping Cottage. I used the Nesties Blossom for the large polka dot flower and cuttled it with the large dot folder from the Baby cardmaking combo with the center cut from the paper from the front of the card using my petite scalloped circle. It is embossed with one of the small Cuttlebug flower folders. The green "grass" bottom mat is cuttled with Forest Branches and the top floral mat with the flower folder from the with Gratitude cardmaking combo. The floating flowers are prima.

On the front the individual flowers are cuttled with 2 different small flower folders. All of the printed papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird line. LOVE IT! The adorable ladybug is a BossKut die and the sentiment letters are JoAnn Essentials. Please stop by The Cuttlebug Spot to view all of the fabulous cards from all of my Design Team sisters, and we're offering another great prize this week so come and play along.

Hello Kitty Ballerina

I finally had a chance to make a card just for fun. I'd received a sweet thank you note from my BFF Becky's niece who stayed with us for a few days before moving into the dorm at USF to study with the San Francisco ballet this summer so I decided to make her a card. I had bought Hello Kitty Font awhile ago just for the ballerina and thought Leslie might think she was cute. I made a simple shaped card by welding the shadow cut using Design Studio. The tutu, bow and slippers were cut from glitter paper I had gotten a in pack from WalMart.

Leslie has been working hard and is very tired from her classes. She says they're even more difficult than the ones in New York where she has studied the past 3 summers so I thought this sentiment might be a little pick me up.

There aren't alot if bells and whistles on this card but I did do a little popping of the layers for dimension. Other than that I think she pretty much stands on her own. Hope she likes.

I'm getting questions on this post that I can't answer personally because there is no contact info or blog in your google account. Not you Julie, but I figure you'll be around again sooner or later. LOL I did cut the mat for the inside sentiment first and then used removable tape to position the cut on the paper that I had already printed with the sentiment, then ran it through again. As far as the welding, I only have DS. To weld the tops you must turn the image 180 degrees and then flip the shapes to get it to match up. Hope that helps. xxD

Custom Crops Design Team 1st Post! (Free cut file available)

I'm excited to announce that I am a member of a new Design Team at Custom Crops. The articles and designs will be available on the Custom Crops site and will offer free cut files for the projects posted there. This is an exciting opportunity for me and I'm happy to be sharing my work. This little watering can shape card with the pull out flowers is the first my my designs. Click HERE to view the article and please be sure to leave a comment on the Custom Crops site if you like what you see. There will be lots more to follow from me and my Design Team sisters. And while you're at it be sure to do a little shopping. Custom Crops has added lots of new products and offers super deals on everything imaginable so sign up for their emails so you don't miss a thing.

Smiley Dog

Here's a cute little shaped card I did with Design Studio and Paper Pups. The paper I used was inspired by the cute rub-on sentiment. I added a bone paper clip from WalMart and some ribbon and Primas.

Thinking of You MCPT

This is my second attempt at MCPT (Magic Colored Pencil Technique). I love my new stamp because it has such a fall feel. The card went together quickly from cardstock from the DCWV Fall Glitterstack. I added a few skittles and some fine hemp and it was done.

Gimme a Buzz

I was really missing my BFF from college (she's my best crafting buddy) so I made this card for her. I found the card fold on UTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDfbyHXKvY if you'd like to check it out. I used Design studio to weld the letters from All Mixed Up. The phone was a combination of the swoosh from Opposites Attract and the coneflower from A Walk in my Garden. I cuttled the petals with Swiss dots and doodled away. The bee is also from WIMG and I used the divine swirls on his wings. The phone cord is ribbon that I wound around a wooden skewer, sprayed it lightly with starch and baked it in a preheated 200 degree oven for 20 minutes. Let it cool and pull it off the skewer and voila! Isn't it cute!? Finally I added some little bee brads and skittles for fun.

Hey Lady!

This is the first (and only) card I made using a sketch. I don't know why I don't use them more often. It seems like a great way to jumpstart your creativity but my brain doesn't seem to work that way. Somehow this one called to me though, and allowed me to use some of that darling paper I got at JoAnn's. Aren't the little flowers, bees and ladybugs adorable? The words were welded using Cricut design studio using the All Mixed Up cartridge. The flower and bee are from A Walk in my Garden which I cuttled using Swiss dots, tiny mosaic, and divine swirls for texture. I used fun flock on the daisy center. The adorable bee and ladybug brads are from Queen and CO and a few heart rain dots are thrown in for good measure.