Cuttlebug Be Inspired 76: Easter Dresses

Hello again girls. This week's theme for the Cuttlebug Challenge is all about Easter. I remember being a little girl and the easter dresses my mom would sew for me. Dresses that were pretty, pastel, and definitely designed for warm weather. Easter Sunday ends up being chilly here half the time! But that never deterred me from wearing that new dress.

I can just imagine this little girl in her new Easter dress, waiting for the egg hunt to begin. I mentioned in the post below that I wanted to use this week's DareDevil sketch in a new way --- and this is it. Completely different take on the layers and all and I love it! Be sure to scroll down to see that post as well, okay!?! And since I added a butterfly at the last moment, I can use this for Flutter By Wednesday as well!

My card uses some cardstock from the Coredinations White Wash line. Such a fun paper - I love how soft and muted the color is with the white wash finish over it. We have a new official glue sponsor for the Cuttlebug Challenge - Beacon Adhesives. One of their products is Zip Dry and I used that on my card today. One thing I've had issues with in the past is getting layers to adhere to my card when I emboss the base (or layer below it) like I did on today's card. My Tombow tape runner just doesn't seem to get a strong bond. But the Zip Dry did the trick today. It's a great glue for paper crafting as it dries without wrinkling - one of the biggest issues with using liquid glues with paper. I remember using it a few years ago in a Karen Russell class but then forgor about it until now.

Head over to the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see the rest of the designers creations. Be sure to upload a link to your creation so we can see how you intepret the theme!

The Diedrich Dare: It's December Already?!?

Happy Wednesday girls! Can you believe it is December already? It seems like it was just summer!

This week for Whimsical Wednesday: The Diedrich Dare, we are being challenged with a great sketch by Nicky! Take a look at this layout - imagine all the possibilities!

He wants you to know that the circles in the corners are buttons!!

Here is my take on the sketch - a little simplified!

I had scraps out on my desk and really wanted to get them used up instead of stashing them in a drawer. This card has some of my favorite things on it: velvet ribbon, gems, distressing, embossing. I hope you'll play along with us this week - be sure to visit the rest of the girls too and see how they rocked this sketch! We are so excited to welcome a new DareDevil this week to the group! Please say hello to Kris and check out her blog HERE!

You do see those snowflakes embossed on the main panel, yes? Oh My Crafts is the sponsor at Cuttlebug Challenge - last week's challenge is running through this week too --- they are giving away 15 prizes this week so be sure to head over there and complete the challenge for your chance to win!

Take a spin over to the Diedrich Dare blog to see the featured team member (it's me!) this week. And check out the rest of the team members too!

Darla Wilson  ♥ Debbie Lee ♥ Heather Schlatter

Jacquie Peifer ♥ Jessica Diedrich ♥ Kim Ross ♥ Kris

Lisa Slusser ♥ Randi Wall ♥ Rebecca Ednie ♥ Sandra MacLean

Have a beautiful day!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 51: Thank You

Post #1 of 3: I still haven't found my SD card but I swung by DH's office and used his work camera to snap a pic real quick!

We are wrapping up the month long celebration of the Cuttlebug Challenge blog's 1st birthday! Today it's about the thank you cards. I kept it simple - (anyone surprised???!?!) LOL!!!! - but the Coredinations Black Magic cardstock makes it look really W-O-W!!!

To make it even more cost friendly, production friendly and mail friendly the ribbon *could* be left off.

But who would want to do that??!?!?!?!?!?!?! Bwahahahaha!!!

Visit the Cuttlebug Challenge to see all the other wonderful creations by the team over there. It's always worth a visit!!
Stick around for a moment - I've got my Flutter By card and my Diedrich Dare cards to post too!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 49: Mini Album

The Cuttlebug Challenge blog is continuing on with our Birthday Palooza! This week are making mini albums to record the moments of the party! Since my theme is a '50s Sock Hop/Grease I went with my color scheme of pink and black and white. One of the major icons of this era is the poodle skirt and that inspired my mini album!

I was doing some searching many weeks ago looking for poodle patterns and came across some "history" of the poodle skirt. NOT that I can find that link today! One said that it was invented by a lady who didn't sew but needed something special for a holiday party. She grabbed felt since it wouldn't require hemming and such and just cut out a wide circle and then decorated it. And then sold it to someone at the party!!! A business was born!

In searching for that link I found this really neat explanation - no reference to who invented it but lots of talk about how teens loved it because of the SWING when dancing to Rock-N-Roll! And something about the leash meaning you had a steady guy and no leash meaning you were playing the field!?! Oooh la la!!

I created an album that was SO SIMPLE to put together. I just sketched out a rough triangle in the shape of my skirt, cutting several pages. I used some Black Magic Coredinations -- so my album alternates between pink and black as the paper is double sided. Very cool even thought I didn't sand it. I hemmed and hawed for about an hour trying to decide if I wanted to emboss my skirt or not. Finally opted to just emboss the little petticoat/crinoline that is peeking out from below.

I found the poodle pattern by searching for poodle skirts in Google Images. You can find it here (along with several other free applique patterns!) After trimming her out, I covered her in Fun Flock and added a bling collar and drew in a leash - because I am after all wholly committed to the 2 guys in my life!!! *wink*

Please visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see what the rest of the designers came up with for this challenge! We'd love to have you play along as well!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 48: Gift Bag & Card

Post #1

We are continuing our 1 Year Birthday Celebration at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog! This week it's all about the GIFTS!! What's a birthday without gifts? (You can see my invite here).

In keeping with my '50s Sock Hop/Grease theme, I used some very classic 1950's Grease colors: pink, white and black and of course, kept it really simple!

The bag is actually a bag that has a company logo along the bottom! I just covered it up with paper!!

Here's a close-up shot of the bag decoration! "It's Your Party" is a little play on words; maybe you remember that song from the '50s "It's My Party" --- well, just a little twist and it's perfect!

And then here is the close-up of the card - same paper, same embossing, same border punch. I kinda makes me think of those crinoline (?) underskirts they would wear under the poodle skirts so they would stick out. Again, my sentiment is another well known '50s song!

Thanks for checking in this morning!! Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog and see all the other wonderful creations by the team!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 47: Birthday Invitations

It's all about birthdays this month at the Cuttlebug Challenge blog as we celebrate our FIRST birthday!! By the end of the month, you'll have everything you need to throw a Celebration that will be Remembered Forever!!

I hope you'll join us ALL month long for all the excitement!!

This week we are focusing on Invitations --- makes sense since they are the first thing that has to be done for a party! Last week I worked on something and it made me think of Grease 2 -- my favorite of the Grease duo....and that led to me picking a 1950's Sock Hop/Grease theme for my party this month! (Even though Grease 2 is pretty late '50s-early '60s maybe) (Hey: It's My Party and I'll Cry If {nope, DO WHAT} I Want To!! -- anybody know that song? I used to spend hours growing up at my grandma's listening to old LPs - I still love oldies music and Lesley Gore rocks!!!}

It's a VERY SIMPLE invite!! I'm of the personal opinion that if (A) I have to make a ton of something and (B) people are going to throw it away then (C) I'm not going to create something elaborate that takes tons of time and product! But that's just me!! Hey - those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile now are probably not surprised!! I can be a lazy stamper - not ashamed to admit it!! I used the circle nestabilities to cut out the record, then used them as a guide to trace the "grooves" on in silver pen. The inside was embossed with the invite folder and the details added in silver pen as well. Hubby created the "Happy Birthday" record label for the center!! He's such a genius - it took him about a minute and that's only because I didn't explain very well were I wanted the Happy Birthday!

Hopefully though, my little record is spiking the curiosity of the invitees and has them thinking of jukeboxes, poodle skirts and leather jackets.

Before I send you off to see the Cuttlebug Challenge blog -- I'll leave a link for another of my favorite song/dance numbers from Grease 2!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 46: Back to School with Cosmo Cricket

Hey girls!! It's Wednesday again and I've got 2 posts for today --- so be sure to browse both of them!

This week the Cuttlebug Challenge blog is sponsored by Cosmo Cricket! They sent the design team an assortment of their lines; I received The Boyfriend crafting kit and ribbon pack. (*I know! I've seen tons of people raving that they love this particular line!*)

It's time for Back to School --- some have already started, some start this week and a lucky few still have a week or two of summer left. School started yesterday here --- I taught high school for 11 years before quitting to be a work at home mom. I have thought of my fellow teacher friends all week; the first week of school is the best of times and the worst of times!

So, the Cuttlebug Challenge team was asked to think outside the box and create *projects* revolving around the idea of going Back to School! (by the way, I can't type that phrase without singing this song in my head --- which I've been doing for DAYS now!!)

I have a trio of items that I created: a mini backpack, perfect for hiding some sweet treats in and giving to a special student; a pencil box, simply decorated and a locker magnet.

I paired the papers from The Boyfriend with Coredinations Black Magic paper. The Backpack template can be found HERE at SCS and the Scor-It was an essential tool to bring this together! Coredinations included a Dust Buddy in our package and I actually remembered to pull it out after I embossed and sanded my cardstock. It was so neat to just swipe that across my paper and desk and have all that fine dust GONE!

The locker magnet is an altered dry erase board I picked up in a dollar spot at some point. I covered it with the "test" paper and added several other elements to pull it all together. The favorite part for me is the quote - a strip that I trimmed from one of the papers and then cut apart each word. Since I taught 9th graders, it was not hard for me to picture this as a motto for a group of high school boys! LOL!!!

You really need to be sure to swing by the Cuttlebug Challenge blog today - I've seen lots of the projects so far for this week and they are OhMyGoodnessAwesome! Seriously! Be sure to upload your creation for the challenge over at Mr Linky so we can come see what you've created as well!

Stick around for my second post!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 45: Shaped Cards

This week's challenge at the Cuttlebug Challenge was to get creative and create a SHAPED card! This could have been quite a difficult challenge if it were not for our sponsor this week: Paper Popsicles. Melissa has a TON of different shaped templates that you can use to create cards!

I needed a masculine card for my Dad's birthday so I chose to work with the truck shape. I have many fond memories of my Dad's truck from growing up. It was an old GMC that was once red but the whole time it was in our family it had faded to a pale orange color. Donuts in parking lots during snowstorms, shivering in the winter as he drove me to basketball practice at ohmygoshitissoearlyanddarkstill:thirty, taking the humps on a street not far from our house so that we really bounced in the seat. Ah - good times!

I hope he sees the similarities when he opens his card!

I used the Diamond Plate to emboss the body of the truck and the Spots and Dots for the wheels. I used some Black Magic Coredinations for the card - first cutting it out for the base with the black on the outside and the orange on the inside. Then I cut another truck with the orange on the outside and trimmed out the wheel wells. I could've sanded but decided to just rub an ink pad over my embossing to have it really stand out. I also didn't sand the wheels but the embossing is deep enough that it brought some color through the black anyway! A few buttons and some silver creamy stuff finished it off!

Please go by the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see the rest of the teams creations. There are a variety of the templates for you to see. You can view the entire line of Paper Popsicles Shaped Templates in the store. For only 99 cents, they are totally worth the time it would save me to try to sketch my own out!

Be sure to load up your shaped card over at Cuttlebug Challenge for a chance to win this week's prize, courtesy of Paper Popsicles!! And I've got one final card for today!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 44: Making a Scene with Sakura

Hello everyone!! I'm so happy you stopped by today. I have several posts today so make sure your have your beverage of choice and settle in for a good visit!

First, I was so blessed by this wonderful write-up by Danielle; blessed to have been chosen to be mentioned on the Inspirational blog -- as you know, there are so many talented cardmakers out there so I just feel honored, thrilled, humbled to be included! Thank you Danielle for such a lovely post! If you are fairly new to this blog, it's a great post that highlights some of my favorite projects from the last year.

First I want to share my Cuttlebug Challenge project with you! This week, in addition to an embossing folder of our choice, we are using the Whitewash papers from one of our official sponsors Coredinations along with our weekly sponsor Sakura. They sent us some of their outline Sticklers and souffle pens to showcase for you today. Our challenge was to use these products and create a "scene" on our card.

Here is my card. It may appear washed out in the photo, but it's actually pretty close to this. The Whitewash finish on the cardstock really tones down the colors. I used 3 shades of blue from the collection for the sky and water, a green for the seaweed and then a scrap of regular brown cardstock for the ocean floor.

The layers were embossed, then sanded. What is really neat about the Whitewash line is that the raised portion becomes darker when you sand it as opposed to it becoming lighter or white like traditionally happens with this technique!

I adhered my Sticklers to white cardstock and then colored them in using the Souffle pens. Each Sticklers package comes with 3 pens. The trick is to GO SLOW so you get nice, even coverage! As the ink dries, it will lighten up considerably. I even went back and used some to add dots to my fish!

We can wait to see what kind of "scene" you can create with your Cuttlebug and embossing folders! Be sure to link up your project over at the Cuttlebug Challenge blog! And if you haven't already been by there - go see what the rest of the team came up with!

I've got 2 more posts to share today so don't go far!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 43: On My Mind, In My Heart

This week at the Cuttlebug Challenge, blog owner Maggie provided the team with some digi stamps that she had created. A few weeks ago, Scor-It provided the team with a Scor-It to use and we were asked to showcase the possibilities of it as well.

I knew I wanted to use this image as soon as I saw it. I will be in Oklahoma in a few weeks on business and this card was made to send to my hubby while we are gone. Or maybe just leave on his pillow.

I started by embossing a piece of black Coredinations cardstock (from the Black Magic pack) with my hearts folder and then sanding to reveal the core. This is not my first time using this paper, but every time, the results still get a "wow" from me! I'm so grateful to Coredinations for providing us with tons of their paper to showcase each week in our challenges.

The sentiment was trimmed and mounted to a paper pleated rosette (is that what they are called?) The Scor-It made it easy to link up the spacing and get straight and crisp scores to fold on.

Even though this is for my hubby, I did add a bit of glitz to it. The glitter on the hearts was adhered by tracing the image with my Quickie Glue Pen.

Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see what the rest of the team came up with! You can see it all HERE!! And I'll have my FlutterBy post up later this afternoon!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 39: Whooo!

It's Wednesday again and that means more sneak peeks at one of the new embossing folders that Provo Craft is releasing for the Cuttlebug at CHA! The design team at Cuttlebug Challenges will be creating cards, layouts and projects all month long! Be sure to visit there often so as not to miss anything! There are several places you can preorder the folders online and HSN is having a pre-sale too on July 9th!

We at Cuttlebug Challenge are wanting to make it even easier for you to participate each week so you'll see several elements at play in the challenges. You can use all the elements like the team or just the ones that work for you! Our goal is that you'll Be Inspired to create something and share it with us! I've found so many wonderful new blogs because you link up your creations!

This week the team was asked to use 3 colors: a bright orange, turquoise and a celery green along with the new OWL folder coming out. Danni even suggested that we include some sort of nature --- or non-scrapping item in our project. (I missed that one)

I think this folder looks great just embossed in white and was tempted to do something along those lines. But the bright colors we were given just screamed to be used. I don't use brights very often and so I really wanted to step out of the box.

I embossed my white panel and then used a Versamarker pen to go over the raised portions. My image was then colored with my chalks and the applicator that came with the set. Some blue gems for the eyes add a bit of sparkle to the card. I also trimmed it down before mounting it to my base.

What do you think? Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog and see what the rest of the girls came up with. I've seen a few already this week and they are awesome!! You won't be disappointed by the detour!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 37: Seeing Stars

ETA: The post is finally live -- if you've been waiting to see it head on over now! There are just amazing projects to see!

Good morning girls!! Oh, I've missed you! The last several days have been spent in the New Mexico Rockies, enjoying a wonderful family vacation that included my parents and siblings. Fishin' and drivin' and balloonin' and gamin' --- all add up to a WONDERFUL time!

It's good to be back home and it's GOOD to be back with a Cuttlebug Challenge card! We took a break last week and today are back with some exciting things! First, the NEW team has been announced and today is our first Wednesday Be Inspired project. I was so happy and honored to be asked to stay on for the Fall term and blown away to get a "promotion" to the Senior Design Team. Seriously! The ENTIRE Cuttlebug Challenge team is fabulously talented and to get to create with them each week is a true honor ~ pleasure ~ blessing ~ joy. Anyway, it's still hard to believe. The talent and creativity that is brought together in this team is truly awesome! I hope you are a follower or subscriber to the blog because there are terrific things happening over there!

Second, we are showcasing projects using the new embossing folders being released by Provo Craft at CHA later this month. The entire month is a celebration of the new folders and you'll be seeing some terrific creations all month long by the design team!

This week we were asked to use the new Stars folder and a color combination of red, white and blue along with buttons!! Meda works diligently and tirelessly each week uploading the team's cards onto the CBC blog for us. When we found out her birthday was on July 4th, it was suggested that we also create a Happy Birthday card so as she opened emails from us this week, it would be a virtual deluge of cards for her! Thank you Meda so much for your work each and every week! You make us look great over and over again!! Have a very Happy Birthday girl! I'll eat a s'more in your honor on Saturday!!

I wanted to use Baja Breeze and thought it would pair terrifically with white and a true red. The stars were embossed and then trimmed down to fit on my white card base. The message (Anna Griffin) was stamped on a journaling tag by Martha Stewart and some buttons - new and vintage - along with a big, red polka dotted bow were added to finish it off! I wish I could remember what sketch I used for this card but I did it quickly between a packing break before we left and just am drawing a blank now!


Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'm so glad you did!! Be sure to check out the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see the rest of the design team's creations. And be sure to check out the bios for the design team --- lots of new artists are joining us!!

Have a beautiful day everyone!!

Cuttlebug Challenge Countdown to CHA

Good morning girls!!

The Cuttlebug Challenge team is on a one week hiatus! We're are preparing for a MONTH long event over at the blog, counting down the days to CHA! Provo Craft is releasing a dozen new embossing folders for the Cuttlebug and we want to inspire you all month long with awesome new creations!

You can win some of the NEW FOLDERS before you can buy them! Just click the ad above to get all the details over at the Cuttlebug Challenge blog!

See you next week with our first Countdown projects!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 35: Father's Day Card/Gift

Hi! So good to see you again! If this is your first visit today, be sure to scroll down and see my Flutter By card for this week.

This week at Cuttlebug Challenge the theme was Father's Day. This is an extra-special Father's Day for my brother-in-law: it's his birthday AND his FIRST Father's Day.

One of the new sets being released by 2RedBananas this month is an adorable baby set designed by Jami Bova. I created a quasi-card to send to my BIL. What's a quasi-card? It's part card, part layout, part home decor.

I stamped the large star from the set in Creamy Caramel on my Kraft base (5.5 x 10). The pictures were cropped and sized and then mounted on white mats. All my white pieces have been embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.

Two squares were embellished as accents. The top square used the same star and one of the sentiments from the set was stamped inside. I wanted to capture that feeling of how as a parent you add a whole new facet to your personality when you have a baby join your family....and so added to the sentiment in my own handwriting.

The buggy is just one of the larger images from this set. Since it's for my BIL, I wanted to keep it fairly clean and simple. I left room over to the right so we could add a personal message before we send this off. The sketch is an older one from (sketches by tamara).

And to make sure that this card could be enjoyed for a long time, I constructed an easel from some chipboard and adhered it to the back. I hope that my BIL will enjoy it and display it on his desk at work or somewhere in their home as a reminder of those first days.

Be sure to stop by the Cuttlebug Challenge and see the rest of the cards and projects by the team as well. Several team members are moving on and I know it would mean a lot to them if you stopped and wished them well. They are alumni now and will still be stopping by from time to time! There are some exciting events coming up in the next few weeks at the Cuttlebug Challenge too so be sure to check in frequently --- the best bet is to add it to your Reader or subscribe so you won't miss anything!

Stop by the 2RedBananas blog as well and the rest of the Banana Bunch too. TODAY is the day that the June releases are available in the store. Lots of cute stamps this month. And be sure to check out the Smooch ink and the ribbon too! There is still time to join in on the challenge at CPS and the 2RB blog!

Be Inspired #35: Favorite Movie

How are you on this wonderful Wednesday? I'm having a pretty wonderful day around here. We made it home last night and it was great to be home. It's cloudy and has rained softly almost all morning. Loving it!

This week at Cuttlebug Challenge, we were asked to create a card/project inspired by our favorite movie. I did take a few basics with me to my in-laws so I could get some projects done. I for some reason did not take my cuttlebug - well, I was traveling light and didn't realize that I really needed it! A quick side-trip to Michaels to see what they had I could work with.

My favorite movie is The Magic of Ordinary Days. It's a Hallmark movie that you really should see. I was thinking I would have to go with another favorite but then I spied the Thanks embossing folder. One of my favorite scenes from the movie takes place at Thanksgiving and Livy, the main character, expresses her thankfulness for the Singleton family.

A thank you card in browns, whites and creams. You may be wondering how I embossed with no machine? Well, luckily enough, Tonya, once shared with me that she uses a rolling pin to emboss! I tried it out and got pretty good results. I also went over a few sections with a book and rubber mallet. It worked, but I am ever so thankful that I actually have a machine to do it for me lickety split!

Be sure to stop by the Cuttlebug Challenge blog and see what the rest of the team came up with! Vintage Plum is the sponsor this week and one participant will win one of their monthly kits!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 33: Monograms

Good morning girls!! I hope you are having a terrific Wednesday! I really enjoyed the long weekend -- but it really threw me off schedule!

This week the Cuttlebug Challenge team was given the theme of monograms to work with. Our sponsor this week is Elle Studio, a delightful shop on Etsy stocked with fun little tabs and journaling spots. We'd love for you to join in this week. After creating your project using a monogram, please leave a DIRECT link to your project in Mr Linky over on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog!

I used the Mojo Monday sketch for this week along with the journaling spot from Elle Studio. The CAS challenge last week at SCS was Black, White and One Bright. Although I'm not sure I'd exactly call this "clean and simple". WOW! That's a triple challenge - that rarely happens for me!

I'm testing a new layout on my blog. Let me know what you think of this. Be sure to stop by the Cuttlebug Challenge and view all the rest of the creations for this week. Then leave a little encouragement for the girls!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 31: Words with POWER

Good morning everyone! Are you having a wonderful Wednesday? I sure hope so!! Wednesday is all about the cuttlebug and the butterflies around here!! I ended up combining the two as I was just tired and wasn't sure that I could even pull a simple butterfly card out this week!

The Cuttlebug Challenge team is sponsored by Create & Treasure this week. They sent the design team a variety of their products and we were asked to create a 3D project. They are generously donating a prize pack to a participant as well! You can see the details over at the Cuttlebug Challenge blog!

My project actually fit in very well with the challenge for FlutterBy Wednesday as Danni wanted us to use a quote/sentiment this week along with our butterflies or fairies.

I used the tag book to create a mini book of words that are very powerful, in general and especially to me! Words that describe characteristics I strive to have. Words to remind me to stay on track.


All the pages were covered with some vintage dictionary pages and then stamped. The cuttlebug was used to cut out the decorative strip as well as all the elements for my flowers. A little cream paint was smeared on with my finger so that part of my title would stand out!

Here are the interior pages. I used the same elements on every page which really helped it come together fast!

A different view of my completed book.

Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog so you can see the rest of the team's creations. Leave them some love and encouragement on their blogs too! I look forward to seeing YOUR 3D projects!!

And don't forget those awesome FlutterBy girls too! Nicola is our featured stamper this week. Be sure to visit Danni's blog to see her feature and to leave your link with your butterfly or fairy creation! And visit Nancy too - her birthday was yesterday!! And Harriet, Heather and Michelle could certainly use some get well wishes!! Kim too, her allergies have really been acting up!

HMMM - just leave everyone some love!!! All the links are over there!! OH - almost forgot, we get to welcome 2 new team members this week too - see the details on Danni's blog!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 2: Mom's Day

Good morning girls! I hope your Wednesday is off to a wonderful start. Today the Cuttlebug Challenge blog is sponsored by My Graphico and one of the participants will win a set of digital stamps from there.

We were provided Shopping Boutique to work with this week and the prompt of creating cards for Mother's Day with a coordinating envelope. I cropped out the flower from the shopping bag, enlarged it and then printed it on red and yellow. The red was trimmed and I used the back and then embossed it with Stylized Flowers. The Yellow was cut out, embossed with Swiss Dots and then popped up with dimensionals. I also added some red and clear gems to the flower centers. My envelope flap was also embossed.

I decorated the front of the envelope by die cutting 3 flowers and then trimming the blossoms to match the flowers in the center of my big flower.

I hope you enjoyed it - it was fun to work with such a large scale image! Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to view all the other creations by the design team! And have a beautiful day!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 28: Home Sweet {Welcome} Home

Happy Wednesday morning!! This is my second post for today. I hope you'll scroll down to see my Flutter By card too! I'd love to hear what you think of it!

This week the theme over at Cuttlebug Challenge is HOME SWEET HOME. We were sent the most delicious papers from Marks Paper Company to work with this week. My project today features papers from the Old Fashioned Courtship Collection. It's a really cool mix of Vintage, Traditional and Contemporary designs. Not only that but it's a nice, sturdy double-sided paper equivalent in quality to Basic Grey. I'm sharing that with you because I had never heard of Marks Paper until a few weeks ago as we started working on this challenge --- maybe it's new to you too? I loved using it and I'm thrilled to have some left to play with! If you've never visited the website, I really encourage you to do so. You can see lots of stuff that their design team has done.

Here's what I came up with:

I knew that I wanted to try to create some sort of "home" image but wasn't sure what to do exactly. As I began sketching out a design, I remembered all those flower pot cards I've seen over the last few weeks and I thought it would be really neat to have a home designed with a pull feature and so my {Welcome} Home Pocket Card was born! Since my measurements are completely different from what I saw for the flower pot card, I am sharing the entire process with you!

*Note: All edges were inked with Chocolate Chip ink.

1. Cut base (or "home") from paper to measure 4" x 7 3/4"

2. Score at 3/4" and at 4 1/4"

3. Fold so that the small portion is a "mountain" fold and the other is a "valley" fold.

4. Use a border punch to add interest to the eave or trim. Since my paper is double sided I get a contrasting pattern.

5. Adhere Red Liner Tape to the sides of the large section only. This will close off your card and keep your insert where you want it. Go ahead and close together. I also used a few glue dots to adhere my trim down flat as I didn't like the look of them sticking up.

6. Cut an insert measuring 3 3/8" x 5" for your card from a contrasting paper. Cut another piece from white cardstock to measure 2 7/8" x 3 1/4" and set aside.

7. For the roof, cut paper from a third pattern to measure 1 1/2" x 5". Below you will see a simple trick to ensure that you get matching angles on both sides of your roof. This is also a great trick to use when making your own tags!

8. As illustrated below, trim the right side of the roof at a slight angle. Take the cut off portion, flip it over and line it up over the left side of the room. Trace the angle and then trim that side as well. You can see in the final pic that you have a perfectly matched angle.

9. Insert the base insert into your card and line up where you want your roof.

10. You can see that my roof allows some of the trim to peek out. Trim off the excess that is showing from the insert above the roof line. Adhere the white piece for the insert, lining it up so that is is tucked under the roof.

11. Add decorative elements to house. The doorknob is a decorative brad and the panes are just drawn by hand. Here are the measurements that I used.

Door: 1" x 2"
Upper Windows: 7/8" x 3/4"
Lower Windows: 7/8" x 1 1/4"
Chimney: 3/4" x 1 1/4" (5/8" showing)

12. Use your Cuttlebug and the Welcome Baby combo die set to create the sentiment. You can see how I just trimmed off the "baby" for my project.

Another view of the home with the sentiment showing! I think this would be great to welcome someone to the neighborhood or to even leave out for a guest to welcome them to your home.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I just love being able to share with each of you!! I hope you'll participate in the Home Sweet Home challenge this week at Cuttlebug Challenge. Marks Paper is giving away a paper pack to a lucky participant!! Use keyword CBI28 if uploading to online galleries. And don't forget to enter the link to your project in Mr Linky at the CBC blog to be entered in the giveaway!

FREEBIE: Marks Paper actually has a FREE digital pack on their website. Really cute patches that you could use for the challenge. Go HERE to get it (click on the photo and the pdf will open. Then just save, print and use!)

One last thing!!! Don't forget that next weekend is the BIG, Cuttlebug Challenge SPA RETREAT event. The 3 days will kick off with a blog hop on Friday. There are lots of projects being put together by the design team and a PLETHORA of PRIZES!! You won't want to miss it!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 27: Numbers All Around

Welcome back!! Wednesday is Be Inspired day over at the Cuttlebug Challenge. This week our theme was numbers. This suggestion is from the oh so talented Betty Bee from the team. She suggested it in honor of "tax day". Isn't that clever?



Maggie had some wonderful suggestions for this theme:


* to use stamps that have #'s on them


* create a card that has a clock


* use the # folder to create a card


* create a little flower pot using # as flower pick


* create a lo use # as timeline


* use a large # on a tag



We have a wonderful sponsor this week - Elle Studio She has the greatest selection of journaling tags and little bits and even a few stamps! The journaling tags are great for scrapbooking - that is a given but they are also wonderful for card making and other paper projects too!

I don't have the numbers folder but loved the way it looks. So I visited my LSS (The Paper Garden) and used the Cricut machine to cut out some numbers in a variety of sizes and fonts in white cardstock. I knew that I wanted a white on white look and the number ONE to be big and prominently displayed.

I also cut my large ONE out in white since I didn't know exactly what ribbon I would want to use. Hey, my muse rarely warns me of what is to come!!!





My card is a 5 1/2 square base that has been embossed with the Swiss Dots folder. Some of the numbers were left plain and some were embossed with various folders. After running them through my Xyron, I applied them to another white layer, turning as I went so they were all jumbled. Here's an unedited photo that shows the background a little better!

After getting home and picking out my ribbon, I sponged Real Red ink onto my ONE and then embossed it using Swiss Dots. Making Memories letters finish out my sentiment. This one is for my hubby! But I think this would also be great for a birthday card. This layer is raised of off the base with dimensionals.

Pretty basic, but I love trying to take a mostly white card and make it something wow!! I also JUST realized that this card and my card for the Flutterby post use the same color scheme - and the same concept - even though they were created months apart!

Don't forget to share your creations using your Cuttlebug and the theme of numbers with us! Just add it to Mr Linky on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog so we can come have a look-see! Also, please use keyword CBI27 when uploading to online galleries!

Also, just a reminder that the first weekend in May is the 1st Annual Spa Retreat! There is a lot of work and planning going on behind the scenes right now to make this the BEST EVER event! You don't want to miss it so mark it on your calendars now!!!

One more little tidbit that I wanted to share with you! CropStop is offering the Cuttlebug Challenge readers a 10% discount on your $30 minimum purchase (regular shipping rates as normal). All the time. Every day. That's pretty cool! Just use code CC4 when you are checking out!

I'll be back this evening for the Club Anya Blog Hop! Have a beautiful day girls!!