Cuttlebug Challenge Desing Team Member

I'm soooo excited to be the newest design team member at cuttlebug challenge! I received the invitation from Maggie several months ago, and I am so pleased to be working with such a talented group of designers!

The Cuttlebug Challenge is a great resource for anyone who owns a cuttlebug, big shot, big kick, wizzard, quickcutz or cricut. Even if you don't own any die cutting system, there is so much inspiration for every type of paper crafter! Today is my debut as a design team member using the new embossing folders that will be released at CHA. Cuttlebug challenge blog is the ONLY place to see them in action...and to win them before you can buy them woo hoo !!

My gift box features ***46*** brads that's right 46! A new way to use textured paper, and a brand new embossing folder

As you may be able to tell from this sneak peek, my gift box is dressed in the new in colors from Stampin'up! Dusty durango, and soft suede. If you want to see the new in colors, and all the new Stampin'Up! products contact me for a new catalog, or you can go to my website here .
To see the completed gift box & tutorial and the other design team samples go to the cuttlebug challenge blog

Owl always be your friend

woot-woot! I love the new in colors from Stampin' Up! This card features one of my new favorites melon mambo...thats so much fun to say {melon mambo} say it 3 times fast it will make you smile I promise :) This great sketch was created by Jennifer Meyer at Our Creative Corner I had to play along with this weeks challenge because ONE... I really love this layout, and TWO... Ive been itching to use this cute paper from American crafts its called Lucy Hootski! Its so darn cute and paired up nicely with the owl from forest friends {Stampin Up!} I used the cropodile to attach these extra large eyelets, layered a piece of green behind them for a touch of contrast it looks really cool especially on the embossed paper which is the reverse side of the owl print run through the cuttlebug and sanded lightly.

Countdown to CHA

What could be more exciting than getting to see the new cuttlebug folders? What could be better than all the fabulous samples and artwork from the design team? How about WINNING some incredible blog candy including NEW cuttlebug folders!!

I want to invite you to join all the excitement at cuttlebug challenge blog This is the only place to lay eyes on all the new folders. This is the only place to WIN brand new not yet released folders. Tell your friends..have them tell their friends this is BIG! You do not want to miss this, the countdown is on...are you counting?

Razzelberry tea bag holder

I finally received my shipment of paper, including the new in colors!! Woo Hoo!!
I wanted to play along with the stamps and smiles tea bag holder project, go check it out! This is a fun little wallet style card/gift holder you can make this for all sorts of small items like chocolate or{ well lets face it what could be better than chocolate?}, mine is holding two packets of blueberry organic tea which are a perfect way to showcase these gorgeous new Stampin'Up! in colors rich razzelberry, and crushed curry. The oval scallop punch was punched out twice in old olive to make a mat for my sentiment, I just layered them behind the white, and popped a couple of felt flowers on top of a cut out flower from "always" stamp set.

The flourishes are the swirls die from sizzix, I Love the old olive with these colors!

Inside of the tea bag holder, I chose to add ribbon to the center...after I goofed up and had the bright idea to put a row of brads on the outside....yeah should have done that before it was completed oops! LOL but it still looks pretty and I like to say its not a mistake its a change of design! :)

Sing, Dance, and Laugh!

Today the "way to use it" challenge at split coast stampers is to use text on our card or project, I have used a patterned paper that has text printed on it and I ran that through the bug with the script embossing folder...lots of letters going on there. This stamp set is called trendy trees from Stampin'Up! and really works best if you use the stampamajig. The scalloped pink circle was cut using nestabilities, and the circle was cut with the circle scissor plus {I love that thing!} I sponged the edges with pink ink , and stamped the even more text in pink as well.

I don't have any green paper..because UPS still has not delivered my box, any who...I dyed some white paper with green ink and cut out 2 sizzix leaves {what a great trick!} it works like a charm but don't be like me and try to play with the paper before its dry, you will get inky fingers!

Feathering the nest

I'm slowly settling in here at our cottage in New York, I have completely unpacked and enjoyed a few grilled to perfection dinners on the deck. This place is so beautiful and its a great reminder to slow down for a minute or two and enjoy the great outdoors. We always have at least one birds nest under the tall deck and this year we have two ..but no robins eggs, so I made my own on this pretty nature inspired card. I embossed the nest image {unknown} in a tarnished gold powder, and colored the eggs with my pastels and a blender pen. I followed today's sketch challenge at SCS its an interesting layout to work with.

I have a jar of antique buttons that will take me eons to use, my cousins started picking them up for me at garage sales and flea markets until I had to tell them No more!! LOL A girls can only use so many buttons although I have to admit I LOVE pouring them on the table and admiring them!

I dont know if anyone else has noticed that eyelettes have sort of fallen out of favor with paper crafters, I for one remember when eyelettes were the "star" of the paper world, maybe if we start using them in new and unusual ways they will come back into the limelight...who knows it could happen :) join me in my silly quest!

The Days we wait for...

We all have days that we wait for, long to arrive for some its Christmas day, or a special birthday, or the long awaited first day of summer. For me few days bring as much joy as the day my first peony blooms each tender pink petal unfolding to reveal its inner beauty and sweet aroma.
There is a reason I'm so fond of these gorgeous flowering miracles, My Mother in law planted these many years ago on the property of our summer house. The first year they did not bloom as peonies are temperamental that way. Two years in a row my nephew who was helping with yard work cut them down mistaking them for weeds, she cried that second year one of the few times I witnessed her shed tears. The following summer we had a flower box put in to protect them...and the workman pulled them up in the process, the flowers again did not bloom. Sadly Rose never did get to see her beloved peonies bloom, the summer following her passing we had 6 splendid flowers. they will always remind me of her spirit, so tough and enduring but also an inner beauty saved only for those who were lucky enough to truly know her.

Shadow Stamping

I must love a challenge, I made this card with what few scraps of paper I have here in my New York cottage, I'm checking the street every 20 minutes for the man in brown to bring a box filled with new goodies, I wish he would come soon ...I need paper! LOL This is the upsy daisy set from stampin'Up! I stamped it in soft sky ink on my scrap of soft sky paper, and then to create a shadow I stamped it again in colorbox chalk ink in a color very close to not quite navy. As you can see I moved the stamp slightly over and downward. I love the effect it gives and adds dimension to this silhouette image. The two rows of piercing act like a frame for the flowers, and for a pretty punch I also stamped the envelope in the left bottom corner.
I cant wait to share more projects with you...so come on Mr. Brown!!!

Limited tools!

Hi everyone, this is my first post from my summer house in New York. I'm pretty happy with this card due to the fact that I have not received my boxes of supplies that I shipped to myself. My cuttlebug arrived yesterday but the binder full of folders and dies is in a box that has not found its way to this sleepy little town. Maggie from cuttlebug challenge blog has a tutorial for these wonderful flowers made from circles of paper.I don't have any of my circle cutting tools here so I turned an embossing powder jar upside down and traced it for my largest circle, and had to cut it out with a pair of 8 inch tailors shears LOL

I had ONE sheet of patterned paper to work with and luckily the 3 sheets of card stock I have worked well with it :) I have a large stack of cardboard sheets that line the packs of wax paper we use in our candy making business so I incorporated that as well.

I attempted the sketch challenge at our creative corner but I think I should have placed my layer askew to "qualify"! Oh well I'm pleased that I could make any card at all today I hope my Stampin'Up! order gets here soon so I will have card stock to play with.

Look Whoooos Hinged!

I think owls are so cute, I for one love it when icons from my childhood come back into style.This adorable owl is from the so tweet chipboard available from stampin' Up! This is a hinge card and instructions for this type of card can be found at stamping school or at split coast stampers. This is a square card, but many shapes can be used. I covered the owl with good morning sunshine designer series paper from Stampin' Up! I colored his feet and beak with markers, and attached him to nestabilities label 3 in chocolate chip and white. I used choc buttons and half back pearls for his eyes, and my favorite accessory of the moment a corduroy brad.

The leaf is a sizzix die in old olive and sponged, the scallop border is summer sun, and punched with the SU border punch.

I'm packing for my flight to New York tomorrow, every year We spend the summer there. I'm trying to decide what to ship to myself and what I can "live without" but if you are like me you cant live without any tools, stamps, inks and papers!!

Emilys First Birthday Is Sweet!

My dear friends are getting ready to celebrate their beautiful daughters first birthday. All first birthdays are special, but Emily's is extra special to all that know and adore her. Emily entered this world several weeks early after her mother was in a head on collision with a driver who fell asleep at the wheel, mom was airlifted and was immediately taken in for emergency surgeries, including a risky c-section. Baby Emily had to be taken to a childrens hospital more than an hour away where she stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit. She and her mother are evidence of the miracles that touch our lives everyday. It brings me great joy to celebrate her life as well as her birthday!I don't have the sizzix pennant die, so I created this banner by cutting my paper 5"X 6" and marking the center of the 5" side I lined up the corner to the center mark and cut both sides giving me a pennant shape triangle. The chocolate chip scallop circles are a nestabilities die cut, and the letters are chipboard. The die cut cupcake is an exclusive sizzix die from Stampin'Up! This incredible fringe ribbon was discovered at Michaels and I LOVE it!

Emily's' birthday party theme is "sweet" so cupcakes are of course on the list!

Check back to see all the sweet things we will be doing for her candy coated sugar filled party!

A trendy tree in my urban garden!

I have a couple of challenge cards I want to share with you, it was my intention to combine the color and sketch challenge from SCS but the challenge colors were kiwi kiss, tangerine tango, and riding hood red. I needed a fathers day card and I attempted to make a masculine card, however my mind kept drifting toward flowers....so flowers it is. I used the stylized flowers embossing folder for my main panel. I cut two papers from a sizzix envelope die and glued them together to achieve the look I wanted. I cut out a couple of sizzix leaf shapes, and a few tangerine flowers from a cuttlebug die. I place little red rhinestones in the centers of the flowers and scalloped the edge of the envelope. It was a fast card to make ...really it took longer to talk about than it did to make :)

This is the sketch today at SCS, its very "user friendly". I started with a basic gray card, and layered urban garden DSP from Stampin' Up! I stitched around all the edges, and taped down a strip of taffeta ribbon in basic gray, the stamp is from trendy trees and the button was in my box of many buttons. This will be one of the Fathers day cards I send out...hmm I wonder who I will give it to??

Building A Better Rat Trap!

I may not have built a better rat trap, but I have built a party invitation like no other! My fellow Hen House members' son is having a different kind of birthday party this summer, he and his buddies are having a rat themed celebration...what can I say they are 14 year old boys. Boys are a mystery to me as it as {I have girls} and teen boys are from another planet :)
To make these super fun rat pack traps, I cut heavy cardboard... warning that totally killed a new rotary blade in my cutter! I stamped the words "rat pack" in red and sanded them down just a little.
I put a hole in each clothespin with my big bite cropadile and glued a screw shaped brad-thingy in each one. I used crystal effects to attach the clothespin...because these are for teen boys and I didn't want them to be destroyed in under 4 seconds LOL. The rat is printed on gray CS and was from a free clip art site. I coiled wire around a fat pen and stapled it to the invite....and wa-la A Better Rat Trap!