Cuttlebug Challenge #24 Two embossing folders

Halloween in March anyone???

This is my second Cuttlebug Challengehttp://thecuttlebugspot.blogspot.com/ and I'm loving it! The challenge this week is to use 2 different embossing folders on the same paper. I had to pull out my big binder of Cuttlebug embossing folders and think hard to come up with this one. Are you ready? You may have to look closely, but I tried to get the best picture I could to show both folders I used. Click on the picture for a close-up look.

First I ran through white cardstock and the "Distressed Stripes" folder, then I brayered the "Boo To You" folder with pumpkin pie ink and ran the paper through the Cuttlebug again. I really liked how it turned out. Then I used the Holloween Sign embossing folder and die cut to make the sign. I cut the die first, then brayered the embossing folder with black ink before running it through the Cuttlebug. I pullled out my chalks, (poor things have been so neglected since I gave them up for gamsol and prismacolor pencils) and I colored in the image. I decided to back the image with black and pumpkin pie layers, which I cut by hand and then popped the top and bottom layers with dimensionals. I added the ribbon, button and finally the little googly eyes, which I mounted on 3/16" black circles. I mounted all that to a card base of pumpkin pie.

Ahh, now she's done you say...but no, just when she thought she was ready to take a picture and submit the card for the challenge, a light bulb came on in her head....what if she were to make that Halloween Sign part of the challenge by using another embossing folder on it, thereby achieving the challenge x2??? But, that would mean she would have to start all over with the sign because she would have to run the paper through with her other folder first or she would lose the sign image. That would be CRAZY! Of course, that is exactly what I did! This time I took my white paper and put it through the cuttlebug using my distressed stripes again. When I cut the die, I cut it with the stripes running across instead of up and down so it would be opposite the embossed background piece. Out came the chalks again (they were so happy to be out in the light for so long) and there you have it...a Halloween card embossed twice on the same paper x2!!!

Hope you like it. I had a blast doing it! Thanks for a great challenge!

Mojo Monday 79

Last week I had my Mojo Monday card done on Monday and this week I struggled a bit to try to come up with an idea for this sketch. I had to look through all my stamps to figure out what would fit this layout. I think it was the bow on the bottom that threw me. I finally settled on this stamp from a Tricia Santry Studio acrylic stamp set called "Hoppy Day".

I double stamped the image and then popped off the whole thing including the butterflies. I added the micro beads to the flower center with some Diamond Glaze for glue. I also used my clear glitter pen on the butterflies although I don't think you can see that in the photo. I drew in the border around the stamped image and added the brads along the right side along with the "friend" sentiment. The bottom border is an MS punch and the patterned paper is by Heidi Grace. The burgandy paper was from my stash and the gold is Stampin' Up's mustard paper.

Once again, I used my Cuttlebug dots embossing folder for the gold background.

Thanks to the Mojo gals for once again pushing me to go outside my box with this challenge.

Chicks With Inkpads Inspiration Challenge #1 & Cuttlebug Challenge #23

I decided to enter this card for both the Cuttlebug Challenge #23 Spring http://thecuttlebugspot.blogspot.com/ and the chicks with inkpads challenge. This is the first time I am entering a card for the Cuttlebug challenge. I might be late for it, but I think I am confused with two different sites doing cuttlebug challenges. I tried to post last night but couldn't find the right link after I edited this post. Guess I was just up too late catching up on the blogs I follow:) Does that happen to anyone else???

I linked to the chicks 1st challenge http://chickswithinkpads.blogspot.com/through Karen Motz's blog http://paperplayhouse.blogspot.com/. Karen is an awesome card artist whose blog I have been following for a while. As soon as I saw the challenge I knew what I was going to do. I love the soft colors in this challenge and it immediately made me see butterflies and flowers. (It helped that I had just recieved a card in the mail from a friend who does the most awesome paper creations and then die cuts images from them. Her card had a butterfly die cut done with the really cool nestabilites butterflies dies that emboss the die cut too.) Here is her card:













Isn't that just awesome paper that Jane created for that butterfly? She's so talented!

The butterflies on my card were created with my new double die QuicKutz butterfly that I have been itching to try. The card base is Stampin Up pumpkin pie cardstock followed by marigold morning. The white background was embossed with my Cuttlebug birds and swirls embossing folder. The butterflies are cut out from tangerine tango and sherbet DP from Stampin' Up and a piece of scrap polka dot that seemed to match well with the other DP. I punched the white circles with a 1 3/4" punch and put them through my Cuttlebug with the dots embossing folder. I punched the scallop circles with a 1 7/8" scallop punch. I popped the white circles with dimensionals and then added the white pearls to each butterfly. The sentiment is stamped in certainly celery with an acrylic stamp from Inkadinkado and I used a MS punch for the leaves on a green Bazzill paper. I punched out some little flowers with my EK Success flower punch and added the little pearls for centers. Finally, the polka dot ribbon across the middle of the card is produced by The Paper Studio.

A big thank you also goes to Sonia, http://www.scraps4fun.com/, who continually shows me how pretty white on white can be with her awesome creations. Check out her blog, you won't be sorry.

I think I may use this card for one of my Mother's Day cards. Now to decide which mother gets it:)

Sweet Sunday #10

Here is my take on the Sweet Sunday challenge for this week. I used one of my brand new MFT stamp sets for this card that I want to send to my sister for Easter with her package of chocolate.

I started out by stamping the chair and footstool on a pink print by Imaginisce so I could add that over my original stamped image. Then I stamped and colored the image with my Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I added those cute chocolate pearls by Kaiser Scrapbook to my box of chocolates and also added the larger ones down the right side of the card. I popped the stamped image on dimensionals to give the card some more depth and added some ribbon I got from Michael's. I also added some hot pink brads to the sentiment because it looked a little bare. The border punch is Martha Stewart. The solid brown is Bazzill, the pink is ColorMates, the print floral/paisley is Basic Grey and the striped paper is Heidi Grace.

This was a fun sketch that I will probably use again. I absolutely adore Karen's card this week! It really inspired me. Thanks again Karen.

Cheer Me Up Card for Sis

I have been cooking up this card for a little while, ever since I bought this cute Mouse House stamp several weeks back. I decided I would use it to come up with a card for my sister who just finalized her divorce after 20 plus years of marriage. I wanted this to help cheer her up after she finally sold her house and moved into an apartment this last week. She's really trying to move on and stay positive about her new life.

The printed papers are from "My Minds Eye" and the green is Stampin' Up old olive. I used my Prisma colored pencils and gamsol to color the Mouse House image. Again, I double stamped my image so I could cut out and pop the little mouse head, the flower and the lemon over the original image. I used some diamond glaze to cover the lemonade portion of the glass and used my spica clear glitter pen on the flower. I created the sentiment on my computer, sponged the edges and mounted it with some cute yellow polka dot brads that I found at Hobby Lobby. The ribbon is called mini dot moss and I just picked it up at JoAnn Fabrics today, hoping it would work on this card.

I'm including a picture of the inside of the card just because I wanted you to see how I used up the frame I had leftover from the nestabilities die cut I used on the front of the card. It sort of accidently fell onto the card while I was moving things around on the table and a light bulb went on in my head. Ha! Ha! Anyway, I thought it added a nice funky look to the inside and now I don't have to fret about tossing away that scrap piece of frame:)

Hope it brings a smile to your face!

Hubby's B-Day Card

Here is a card I made for my hubby's birthday next month. I used Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch from this last Sunday again because I thought it would work perfect for this card. I realize it may not look like a very masculine card, but trust me, he's going to love it.

Okay, so maybe I'll have to do some explaining of this card. It is a birthday card. However, you may ask why that cute doxie has bunny ears? Well, my hubby's birthday just happens to land on Easter Saturday this year, so the bunny ears are appropriate and the doxie just happens to resemble our little Liesl dog who has been gone out of our lives but not out of our hearts nearly two years now.

The plaid paper is from We R Memory Keepers, the red is from American Crafts and the blue is Bazzill. I used my nestabilities to cut the circle and scallop, double stamped the image, colored it with my prismacolor pencils and gamsol, then cut out the doxie head and 3 of the tulips and popped them over the original stamped image. I was tempted to pull out a cuttlebug embossing folder for the blue strip, but I decided to pierce the paper instead. I created the Happy Birthday on my computer and punched it out with the Stampin' Up word window punch. I inked the edges and mounted the pieces with the green brads. I'll have to hide this one as soon as I finish the inside sentiment. Hope you like...I know he will.

Birthday Card for Tracy

Here is a card I created for my daughter-in-law, inspired by a card I saw on Splitcoast. She is a music teacher specializing in piano and guitar. I always try to make her a card with a music theme. Her birthday is on May 5th. That happens to be the same day as my sister's birthday, which is the next card I hope to get done ahead of the game.

I embossed the silver background paper with my Cuttlebug music notes embossing folder. The red patterned paper is from Paper Pizzazz that I bought at JoAnn Fabrics. The musical notes are eyelets from Eyelet Outlet and the piano is a brad that was in my stash. The Happy Birthday is an acrylic stamp that I think came from Archiver's. The ribbon was a scrap I had that just seemed to fit with the rest of the card. I hope she likes it.

On to the next birthday card.

Mojo Monday 78

Wow! Here it is still Monday, just barely, and I already have the sketch challenge done for this week. Just got this stamp in the mail today and thought it would go great with this sketch.

Saw the foot doc today and he said the xrays look great so I can start putting some weight on the foot when I walk with my crutches. Yippee! My hubby took me out to lunch after my doc appt. and the weather was near 60 degrees, so all is well in my world. Think I may even try venturing out on my own tomorrow (we are supposed to have record temps in the 70's).

Back to my card....my pattern papers are from "The Paper Studio". The dark pink and dark brown papers are Bazzill and the light pink is Dena Designs. The bunny stamp is Inkadinkadoo, which I double stamped so I could cut out and pop the ears over the original. I clear embossed the little choc kisses which came from My Favorite Things "How Sweet It Is" set. I cut them out and popped them. I colored the bunny with my Prisma colored pencils and a little blending gamsol, drew in the grass and the decorative edging with my Stampin Up choc chip marker. I created the sentiments on my computer. I also used my Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder to pop the light pink paper and match the patterned argyle paper. I'm happy with how it turned out and now I have one more Easter card done! Hope you like it too.

Thanks to the girls on the Mojo blog for another great sketch challenge!

Sweet Sunday 9

Three days of sitting around the TV after my surgery was driving me bonkers! I finally broke down and had my hubby bring a bunch of my craft stuff down into the kitchen so I could create.

A simple sketch with lots of possibilities this week. I have a pile of birthday's coming up in April and May so thought I would take this opportunity to tackle one of them.

I had a little trouble getting a true color on this photo. The solid colors I used were Certainly Celery and Almost Amethest. The patterned piece is Susan Branch. My photo turned out more blue than the periwinkle color it should be.

The stamp is Penny Black. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the Certainly Celery piece. I also added some crystal laquer to the candles, icing and the frog's eyes and tux. I cut the circle and scallop with my Nestabilities dies and double stamped the image so I could cut one out and pop it over the other. I did the coloring with my Prisma colored pencils and blended with gamsol.

The inside will say "Don't worry, it'll be a piece of cake for you!"

Thanks Karen for jump starting me with another great sketch!

Pirate Ship Card

Here is a card I did for my friend who is going on a cruise. She will be taking a side trip on the actual ship that was used in "The Pirates of the Carribean" movies. She is also a huge Johnny Depp fan. On her little excursion, the ship will take them to an island where they will embark on a treasure hunt.

I am posting two pictures of the inside of the card so you can see how it looks with the treasure flap down and then the eye candy revealed on the last photo. Enjoy!

I will be out of commission for a while starting tomorrow, as I am having some surgery on my foot. Don't know when I'll get back out to post any new cards, but I'm sure I'll be watching what everyone else is doing while I recover.

Mojo Monday 76

Here is my take on the latest Mojo Monday sketch challenge.

I'm adding 3 different views in hopes that you can see how I popped up several of the truffles to give the image some dimension.

The stamp image was colored with prisma colored pencils and blended with gamsol. This one is going to my sister, who shares my passion for chocolate. The sentiment on the indside is

"Even the Bunny knows...it's all about the "chocolate"!

Sweet Sunday 7

Holy pink Batman! Put your sunglasses on to view this baby! This is my attempt at this week's sketch. I tried to turn this sketch on it's side so I could use my new Martha Stewart bunny border punch which I think is adorable. I took a few liberties with the sentiment as I couldn't run it down the side without running into my bunny's foot. This card is neon!

The bunny stamp is from a TAC set from a while back. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on 1/2 of the white nestabilities circle so that it would look like a fence that the bunny is climbing over. I also used a scallop nestabilities die to back the white circle with the neon green.

The pink pattern papers I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics and the pink card stock is a Bazzill paper.

Click on the photo to get a close up look at the detail, if you dare!

Sure hope no one goes blind looking at this baby!

Thanks to Karen for another great sketch!

Mojo Monday 75

It took me a long time to find my Mojo this week. In fact it's been 3 weeks for Mojo. I will try to catch up with the 2 sketches I missed because I did like them.

I'm not sure that I like this card, but at least it's done. The print papers are "All Occasion Print" from JoAnn Fabrics and they are glittered. The hot pink came from some leftover stash I have and the yellow is Stampin' Up "So Saffron". I used a my Cuttlebug dots embossing folder and a Fiskar's border punch. The flower embellishment is one I found at Michael's. The bunny was colored with Prisma colored pencils and blended with oderless mineral spirits. I did use a clear glitter pen on the eggshell, but I don't think you can see that on the photo. The bunny stamp is Stampabilities. It's one bunny of 3 on the stamp, cut out and popped. I used one of my Clear Stamps alphabet sets to stamp the "Hippity Hoppity".