Movie Magic at Tiddly Inks

This week at Tiddly Inks we're celebrating the silver screen. What's my favorite? That's a no brainer, especially with the adorable images Christy has created. I took the cup from the her new Cuppa Love set and sized it big enough to make a shaped card (and printed it twice for dimension). After coloring and cutting it out, I realized I'd made it too large to open it fully from the top or bottom (more than 12 inches either way) so it folds at the top of the cup (without the fun hearts) and I traced around the bottom and cut that part out. Then I did a full mat (including the hearts) to glue on top. This is what I generally do with my Cricut shaped cards when I weld and there was plenty enough room inside for a sentiment.

All is colored with Copics, there's Alice (Time for Tea) and the Hatter (Mad For You), but there wasn't a Cheshire Cat purrr se (LOL) so I drew a huge grin and a little stripe on the kitty (What's Up) and voila! The images are cut and popped and the tea bag sentiment is hand cut and computer generated. That cool string is from The Twinery (thanks Nat!) Be sure to check out the Tiddly Inks Shop. New images are added each Tuesday and I just saw MORE that I MUST HAVE! Christy has a super sale of 20% off orders of $15 or more so what are you waiting for? If that isn't enough, check out the Tiddly Inks Blog to see the latest FREEBIE available (for a VERY limited time) when you join the PCP Group. And while you're at it, check out the imaginative creations by the Tiddly Inkers on the Challenge Blog and come and play along for a chance to WIN.

BBTB2 Joys of the Season Cup Challenge

This week at BBTB2 our sweet sister Marina chose the cup cut from Joys of the Season. Of course my first thought was an "Alice" inspired card, but we'd just spent the evening with friends who have poodles (really BIG ones!). I guess I'm more the small dog type, so I decided to make a "teacup" poodle (or a poodle in a tea cup, LOL). I created a shaped card using the shadow of the cup from JOTS and the poodle (flipped) from Create a Critter. I welded the shadow of both, along with the resized heart from the "merci" cut (also Create a Critter) to allow for a decent amount of writing space inside. I really haven't used CAC before and I omitted the "layer 1" because the eye and mouth placement for the poodle looks weird to me. It was interesting to note that when using the shadow and regular cuts for the poodle, the layering pieces weren't exactly the right size so I played around with those until they fit to my liking. The poodle is flocked by running the pieces right side down through my Xyron and afterward her ruff and topknot were embossed with the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder. Embossing AFTER the flocking made the pattern show up much better than vice versa. I also cut the regular cup twice so I could add some detail to it.

LOTS of layers so I could achieve the dimension I was going for. IRL she really does look like she's inside the cup. The paper is from the 6x6 Sabrina pad by Making Memeories. This was a fun one! Be sure to stop by BBTB2 to see the wide variety of spectacular projects by my DT sisters, and we love it when you play along. Make it a new project though, not one dug up from the depths of your blog because it happens to fit, okay. What's the challenge in that?

Happy Anniversary Haunted Design House!

Would you believe Haunted Design House is celebrating it's first Anniversary? That's right, one year of Macabre Mayhem and to celebrate we ask you to Stamp it Crazy! Create a project with a minimum of 3 stamps (digi is okay) and we're being sponsored by the fabulous Barb at Stamp it Crazy. Although you don't HAVE to use Stamp it Crazy stamps on your project, but with the plethora of diabolical digis and rubbah, how could you not? I've used the vixonish digi Wonda, a vamp of the Nth degree, along with the rubbah Pet #33 and that little spider hangin' off the Inkadinkadoo web is Stamp it Crazy too, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. (Don't faint, I actually masked the web and Wonda, a first!) The sentiment is computer generated, and if you don't "get it", I suggest you Google "familiar" (the noun) and it may make a bit more sense. LOL I gathered and laced some tulle to echo Wonda's sexy little outfit. I think this one's going to DH for Halloween. Now if you visit this week's Macabre Monday challenge you may notice something about random facts. Read all about why they are important (prize alert!) and rush to gather them up from the Minions and you may WIN! My fact? What kind of shoes does the Creepy Cricut Cween LOVE? Well killer stilettos, of course! So be off, my pretties, and create! And don't forget to email Barb at barbi007@kc.rr.com with your facts for more chances to WIN!

Oh Alice! Chapter 25 and PCP Cuttlebug-ers #81

It's been a few week's since I've been able to play in Wonderland and I've missed it so! This week the Oh Alice! Challenge is White Rabbit, White Gloves, White Wonderland which means make a card or project that is all WHITE except for the main image panel. I was actually ruffling through my stuff to work on next week's Cuttlebug Spot card when I came across this adorable Cheshire Cat stamp from Nikoart I'd bought way before all of this Alice obsession began. Of course the purrrfect place to put him was a tree and it hit me. My Leafy Tree embossing folder from Crafts Too was just what I needed. I knew I wanted a cutout window but the tree itself seemed too flat so I cut a Petite Scallop and regular Circle with my Nesties and embossed the plain circle as well. The window for the kitty to peek out was cut through all 4 layers with the mat and top circle popped for dimension. We all know that it's nearly impossible for me to embrace the clean and simple style (not that I don't like it, it's just sooooo against my nature) but I resisted the urge to over embellish and merely added a ribbon and computer genterated sentiment cut with my Nesties Mega Scalloped Ovals and popped it as well. It still didn't look quite right because the cut out had totally removed the leaves from the upper right side of the tree so I fussy cut the tip of a branch and several individual leaves from the cut out and glued them in the bare spot above the cat. Better!

The cat is colored with Copics and cut with a Nesties Petite Scalloped Circle and popped. I did add a colored mat (doubt that disqualifies me) inside and a computer generated sentiment. What do you think, Heidi? I also found a new (to me) PCP group called The Cuttlebug-ers that I found through Betty's blog so I've entered their challenge #81 as well. Looks like a fun group for all you Cuttlebug lovers. Check it out!

I also want to remind everyone that is IS Friday the 13th, and there's all sorts of mayhem going on for Fiendishly Fun Friday over at Haunted Design House (both majorly creepy and not so much so if you're so inclined...) :D

Bah! Humbug! Through the Window Challenge

Well, I intended to do 2 challenge cards for Bah!Humbug! this week so as not to spoil my perfect record, but I'm afraid I just couldn't manage the paper tearing one. I actually started it, but didn't like how things were going and I was anxious to to the Windows Challenge and I'm quite pleased with it because it is finished inside AND out. WooHoo! I used another of the Cuttlebug Emboss Plus folders called Lace Door (and turned it into a window, of course). I then cut windows in both the card front and the foil mat and used acetate for the window so I could add panes and snowflakes. Instead of inking the trim, I turned it around and used silver peelies in the debossed lines. The corners are peelies as well.

Inside is the foil embossing of the Snowy Village Cuttlebug folder framed with one of the Oh My Crafts exclusive Holiday folders. I stickled the flakes, rooftops and hillsides. The cut out was done with Nesties Labels Four. Again I used peelies to frame it. The blank space below is where I'll sign it. More peel offs for the sentiment on another of the Emboss Plus Fanciful Labels inked with a silver gel pen. For those of you unfamiliar with "peelies", they are fine metallic stickers that are manufactured mostly in Holland. I get most of mine now from StoneBridge Creations. I hit them up big time at the Expo again (obviously). LOL I'm hoping the Bah! Humbug! gals will forgive me my one lapse and enjoy this window card. I so love playing along with their challenges!

My FIRST Tiddly Inks Card as a Guest Designer and Papertake Weekly Challenge.

WooHoo! I'm over the moon because a dream has come true! You all know I've been doing the Tiddly Inks Challenge since I discovered those ADORABLE digi images. Well here I am, along with my dear friend Nancy, as a Guest Designer. Pinch me (No don't, I'd hate to wake up and find it isn't true.) LOL Well this week the theme is Windows, create a card or project with a window that either opens or you can see the image through. I had a tough time choosing among all of the fabulous images available at the Tiddly Inks Shop. I finally decided on the Happy Couple from the Gothic Cute images (these are definitely some of my FAVES!) They were colored with Copics and cut out with my Nesties Labels Eleven on the inside of the card.

I created a shaped window card in Cricut Design Studio from the Happily Ever After cart. Instead of the "valence" I trimmed a doily but wanted a bit of extra shimmer underneath. Because it was part of the main image cut I used an embossing pen and heat and stick powder just on the area under the valence, heated it up, and sprinkled on some fine MS clear glitter. It was just Serendipity (my new favorite word) that the embossing pen that goes on blue STAYED blue to match my card stock. I wound ribbon through the layer of the open window and attached little doves at the top from an MS punch.

The window is popped as is yet another of the Fanciful Labels from the Cuttlebug Emboss Plus folders. The sentiment is a peelie and of course I used a number of silver adhesive beads from M's to dress it up. I'm also entering this card in the Papertake Weekly Challenge which is Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue. Thanks Nancy for turning me on to this one! (How Serendipidous! :D ) Now hurry on over to the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog to feast your eyes on the fab creations by the Tiddly Inkers. Thank you so much Christy for this wonderful opportunity!

BBTB2 Life's a Beach Lizard Cut

This is my second post of the day, so if you're looking for Macabre Monday, please scroll down. I'm trying hard to get back in the swing of things, but I had to get up at 3:00 am to do it. Just couldn't make this one all come together yesterday. For this week's BBTB2 challenge our dear DT sister Lori has chosen the lizard from Life's a Beach. I knew I wanted a sun (also from Life's a Beach) but the sentiment took awhile. I finally decided that "Bask in it" would be a good sentiment for a variety of occasions like birthday or some sort of congratulatory thing (the inside will some day read "It's Your Day!") and also thought it would be good for a guy, so I resisted the urge to put blingy toenails on the lizard. :D He's embossed with the Mesh Texture Cuttlebug folder (reversed) and inked with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint. Okay so he does have long lashes on those lidded peepers (and yikes the eyeballs sort of rolled back in this pic, enjoying the sun, I guess) but I do know a few guys who were blessed with bedroom eyes. (Are you reading this? LOL)

With all of that texture goin' on on the lizard, the sun looked pretty plain so I took the wavy embossing folder from the Cuttlebug Just My Type border set and embossed each ray. To do that, I positioned the border as shown and used my A plate, Spellbinder's tan mat, B plate, folder with sun inside and 1/8th inch plumber's gasket cut to the size of the border folder and ran each ray through the Cuttlebug individually. There was a little smooshing of the texture where they met, but I was covering that up anyway. The center of the sun is embossed with Swiss Dots.

I really wanted to make one of my shaped front cards here but the design was really too open for that so I created the base by welding two rounded rectangles from George and cutting 2 smaller mats as well. No shadows on Life's a Beach, either so I welded the entire front mess together and cut additional sun and lizard layers to do my offsetting trick. The font is from Don Juan which actually DOES have a shadow but it's so close to the regular cut that I cut extra of those as well. (Oh yea! There are his little eyeballs.)

That cool "sand" paper is from an old DCWV Summer Glitter Stack. I will be heartbroken when I use that up! As you can see, there's quite a bit of dimension here. Glad I started making my own pop dots using fun foam and double stick tape. And no, that isn't lizard poop, I just need something to balance the design, Marlene. Obviously getting up that early didn't leave me at a loss for words,but one last thing. be sure to stop by BBTB2 to see the fabulous creations from the rest of the DT and we sure love it when you play along.

Macabre Monday Netherworld Nymphs and Smeared and Smudged Oh! the Horror Challenge

Much to the relief of some of you, my Macabre Monday card isn't creepy so it's safe to look. LOL Our challenge this week is Netherworld Nymphs and I was excited to use one of the (MANY) Sweet Pea Stamps I own. This one is ching-chow kuik's Fairy of the Night. All of these stamps are just gorgeous but I though she might be able to be "darkened up " enough for Haunted Design House. I stamped her 3 times in order to cut her out for the dimension and colored her with my Copics. One of the reasons I went to the Expo on Saturday is because I wanted to do her in purples and found I had hardly any! I hate buying them at a premioun price but what's a girl to do? The crystal ball in her had was stamped on holographic paper with Staz On and cut out. Then I used an acrylic bubble over it so it really glows IRL. The star necklace is also acrylic from a Recollections pack form M's amd I scattered them around the frame to add to the magical feel. The sentiment is a Sweet Pea stamp as well. I've also recently joined the Smeared and Smudged Forum and this month's Oh! the Horror challenge takes inspiration from the movie Pan's Labyrinth. I did see this (really bizarre) movie (in the theater, even) and enjoyed it immensely. My inspiration is the oval stone gate and twisted vines from the movie poster. This is a fun group with a wide variety of stampers participating so I encourage you to check it out.

The double mats are cut with my Nesties Deckle Ovals and popped along with the sentiment and fairy layers. Papers are Stampin'Up (thanks Lillie) and K & Co. Obviously I'm still playing with my MS Iron Gate punch, this time the corners of the sentiment mount. The silvery fiber is from my stash. Be sure to stop by Haunted Design House to see what the other Minions have created and we're thrilled to see so many more of you playing along. We've got stuff going on throughout the week (and not all of it is totally creepy) and this Friday is the 13TH!!!! Oh oh, prepare to be scared! Bwahahaha!!!!

Tiddly Inks Fit For a Princess and Friday Sketcher's Challenge

Slowly but surely things are getting back to normal and I managed to crank out a card yesterday for the current Tiddly Inks Fit For a Princess Challenge. I had not colored Everyday Princess yet and was anxious to do so. For once I chose my paper first from the DCWV Madly in Love Stack. (It works out SOOOO much better that way!) She's colored with Copics and cut out with Nesties Petite Ovals Small and I used my newest Iron Gate MS punch and snipped it to go around the oval. Now what? A sketch might be nice so I bopped over to Friday Sketchers to see what was up. This is the first time I've played along there (you know me and sketches) but I LOVED the sketch because it included a tag so I was able to use another of the new Fanciful Labels from my new Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Folder. (Surely a new FAVE!)

Here's the dimension shot. (Crappy pix I know, but again I had to use my Bloggie. The new battery for my usual camera I finally came in the mail did nothing so DH has it in pieces as we speak.) I printed her several times and colored her head twice and skirt 3 times to cut them out. I snipped fat glue dots to adhere the layers and make her skirt all frilly. Her head is popped as well and I used a silver brad for her crown. Of course there are adhesive beads but I actually had to GLUE them with Glossy Accents to get them to stay put on the metal. More were added to her scepter and the ends of the horizontal bar. Instead of the side sentiment on the sketch I substituted a bow and charm. It still looked a bit unfinished to me so I added the off cuts of the coordinating MS corner punch. Lotsa stuff goin' on, but you know me, more is never enough. LOL

Although I've got loads to do, I'm toying with the idea of going to the Scrap Expo in Santa Clara today. Like I need more stuff, huh? Well it's just looking at the CHA Trade Show and I really didn't get to shop at the Super Show because I was soooo busy so we'll see... (Shhh, don't tell DH!) :D xxD

More from CHA

Wow, I think my MM card did me in so I'll have to post a few more CHA pix that have been sent by some friends. Maria and I had a ball running around the trade show. She is also a Custom Crops Designer and she and Natalie have just completed a fabulous Cricut video. There will be more on that later and it will be available for preorder on the Custom Crops website SOON! In the meantime you can view the trailer Here. WooHoo! Here we are with Tim Holtz and our autographed Texture fades. Stay tuned. These may just be coming up at blog candy one of these days since I already own them ALL!

I'm sure you all have seen tons of pix by now of the ProvoCraft Gala. What an amazing time and how excited was I to be receiving one of the new Cricut Imagine machines! Here I am with the whole Custom Crops Crew (Susan, Amy, Patty, Maria, Me, Kelly and Libby). (How embarrassing to be in front like that but honestly, they made me move because we didn't all fit. Yikes! Now I remember why I'm sooo glad we don't have humidity. Sure does a number on the hair!)

Here's a group of us at the Cricut Cricle Breakfast. Maria, Susan, Melanie, myself and Diane. Thanks Joy for taking the pic! I was also especially excited to meet my dear blogging friend Audrey in person! Wish my camera had been in commission so I could have had a pic. HeeHee, she's a midget like me!

Friday and Saturday was the Super Show. Here's the retail portion of the Custom Crops Booth. Didn't it turn ou fabulous? We also had a demo area, a DVD preview area, Robyn (My Pink Stamper) and her BFF Carly , and the Make and Take area which was my home for the 2 days.

I really think I had the best job because I was able to meet so many wonderful crafters and even some friends from the Cricut mb and the sweetest gal who had made my purse card from the Custom Crops website. So sorry I don't exactly remember your name hon, I'm having a senior moment. LOL I know it begins with a "T" and it was so sweet of you to come back on Sunday to take a pic with me since I'd missed you on Saturday. Had to laugh because Aprile (Chirpin'Is Fun) sat there for a long time without realizing I was there. Lots of big hugs when she recognized me! And Rheba (DazyCutr) drove all the way from Tennessee to attend. I was so happy I was able to take a break with her and spend some time. This is Susan Edwards (also a Custom Crops Designer as well as BBTB2 sister) and I helping with the Make and Takes. (We're way back in the corner.)

Wow were Susan and I thrilled to meet fellow BBTB2 Designers Krista Norman and Penny Shuberg in person. They are the sweetest Mom and Daughter EVER! BTW, Susan also has a fabulous DVD called It's a Kid's life with 18 fabulous layouts begining with Back to School. You can have a sneak peek HERE and order it right on her blog just in time to start your child's school year off right. So that's about it for today unless you want to pop over to Haunted Design House for Fiendishly Fun Friday to see the faux tattoo I got at the Cricut gala and the seriously KILLER shoes my DH bought me. Let's just say we're keeping the THRILL alive! HeeHee!

Macabre Monday Foul Flutterings Challenge

I'm hoping not to offend with this one. (Don't faint, Sandy.) It actually scares the bejeebies out of me too. I know it's Wednesday, but thankfully Barb our Masterful Mistress of the Macabre allows us a little wiggle room at times and I sure needed it this week. So here is my Macabre Monday Foul Flutterings offering for Haunted Design House. (And who thought the Cricut was all cutesy? LOL) Can't get enough of that Oct 31st cart! I cut the winged demon twice using Design Studio to slightly enlarge it the second time and hid most of the contours for the red shadow effect (Nope, no real shadows-bummer!) The flames are from Indy Art both shadow and regular welded in DS to a rectangle from George. Those fabulously scary gates are also from Oct 31st. The poor burning souls are Heads by Daniel Torrente from Stampotique and they were inked, sprayed, distressed, cut out and brushed with Perfect Pearls. Unfortunately I'm still awaiting a new battery for my camera so these were taken with my Bloggie and I can't seem to get closeups in focus so the details are lost for now. (Well, I guess you can click on the pic.)

To add to the dimension I made this a stair step card. I ground up the edges of everything with my Distrezz-it-All. The fabulous embossed tag is from another of those new Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folders called Fanciful Labels (love them now that I've figured them out. LOL). The black was inked while in the folder and then I distressed it with Tea Dye. The sentiment was computer generated before running it through the Cuttlebug. I seem to recall from a very scary movie "The Sentinel" perhaps?, that "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" was above the door that led to hell. Seemed appropriate. Don't worry, I'll be back soon with something cutesy for Bah!Humbug! so you don't have to delete me off your sidebar. And please forgive if I haven't made it to your blogs yet. Seriously, I'm still recovering from CHA. xxD Oops! Maybe not so soon. Didn't finish and I have a hair appt. tomorrow morning so I think I'm gonna be late with it. Sorry!

Finally the BBTB2 Blog Hop Winner and some CHA Pix

Sorry for the delay, folks. I didn't get home until 5:00pm (Ca time) on Sunday night and CHA took more out of me than I thought. Although I was hot to craft yesterday I was a bit overwhelmed with my goodies and poor DH ( and the kitties) needed some attention. I managed to get some pix off my camera and also some sent by friends. The Trade Show opens each year with a parade of Bagpipers winding their way through the aisles. I happen to love bagpipes so this really adds to the excitement for me.

ProvoCraft always dominates both the Trade and Consumer Shows with a huge space and demos and make and takes for their products. Plenty of giveaways throughout the day as well. There was lots of excitement! Of course you all know by now that the new machine that both cuts and prints is called the Imagine.

Besides working with the regular Cricut cartridges there will be separate Imagine cartridges with images but also with colors and prints that can be applied to your cut selections with very professional looking results. It is my understanding that ProvoCraft has gone into partnership with Cosmo Cricket for both the cut and print designs for some of these first carts and they are ADORABLE! I think they will be working with other paper manufacturers as well.

For those of you worrying about the designs being too flat, (including me!), you also have the option of cutting and printing each layer of an image individually. Above are some of the examples scattered around the booth. This will be quite an investment with the new machine MSRP at $599 and the ink cartridges running at $34.99 for black and $39.99 for the color array. They did assure us that they would last from 50 to 100 full sheets of printed paper (which I really don't think anyone will do) so hopefully they will last a goood long time when printing just the images you select. There will also be new mats with better stick which will work in both the regular Expression and the Imagine and retail the same as the current mats. The difference besides the improved adhesive will be black lines that the Imagine will use for orientation for the printing/cutting feature.

I have more pix and will post throughout the week, but I wanted to do my long awaited drawing for the BBTB2 Blog Hop. (Finally, huh?)

AND THE WINNER of the $30.00 Custom Crops gift voucher IS

# 4 Jessica Wekenman. WOOHOO JESSICA!

Please email me at dlmundinger (at) yahoo (dot)com to arrange for your prize. Thanks so much to everyone for participating and for hanging in there. I hope to get some crafting done today, perhaps using some of the goodies I picked up at CHA.