Happy "Boo-Day" and BBTB2 Blog Hop

Happy Halloween everyone and welcome to our Monthly Blog Hop for BBTB2. If you came from Susan's Blog you're on the right track. Our dear and fabulously talented Shelly chose either ghost cut from PDDU for this challenge, but I took some artistic license and used the one from Happy Hauntings instead. I was browsing my DS files and came across one called "Boo-day" that I'd done eons ago using the ancient Stamped (not to be confused with Stamping)cartridge. The sentiment was all that as there and I'd done it way before there was any "spooky" Halloween font available. I was originally thinking Halloween birthday, I guess, but actually, Halloween is sort of a "Boo-Day" in itself so I decided to go from there. Try as I might, the suggested cuts didn't work as well for my design so I opted for the others (and you can too, remember, we're easy at BBTB2).

It's my usual shaped front style, welded in DS. The "Happy" is also from the Happy Hauntings Cartridge and the entire mess is welded to the rounded rectangle from George. The inside mat is from my Halloween stash and set the tone for the color scheme. I'd planned to do something more colorful, but in the end I enjoyed the neutral theme. The rest of the DP is from the DCWV La Crema Stack and the ghosts were cut from old glitter paper from WalMart. The sweet little flocked ghosty brad is by Making Memories.

I've done my usual dimensional layers and am pretty pleased with how it came out. I've been in a bit of a funk lately and I'm hoping to snap out of it soon. Now hop along to Carri's Blog, but don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in my giveaway, a $40 gift certificate sponsored by Custom Crops. Check out their sale going on NOW with Cricut carts starting at $15.00! I'll be drawing the winner using Random Org on Saturday, November 5th. WooHoo! If you ever get lost along the way, hop back to BBTB2 to get yourself back on track and of course, we'd love to see your take on the challenge. Please link up a new creation using any ghost cut by Nov 13th to win our much coveted POW blinkie. Happy hopping, and have a wonderful, safe, Halloween.

I"m also just squeeking in on the ABC "B" is for Boo Challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the 2nd Annual Dia De Los Muertos Blog Hop!

BBTB2 Trick or Treat Hello Kitty Challenge

This week at BBTB2 our lovely and talented DT sister Theresa chose the Trick or Treat Kitty from the Hello Kitty cart. I just love Hello Kitty, but I wanted to think outside the box (or in this case inside the box, LOL) and make something 3-D. I've had a jack-in-the-box idea for some time and thought this might be the perfect challenge to try it out. I was hoping to create a real working jack-in-the-box but the head proved to be too heavy for the body so I had to modify my design and just go with the appearance of a kitty-in-the-box. I still think it turned out pretty cute. The body was created with strips of 2x12"card stock, glued at right angles and the alternately folded over each other. Just keep adding strips for as long as you need it. this creates a "springy" body, but the longer you go, the less stable it becomes (if you know what I mean). The kitty was cut a 5" twice on blackout and trimmed the head and paws to use in my piece. I used an empty ribbon spool covered with paper between the front and back of the head to give it dimension. This was part of the reason it was so heavy, but oh well, hind site is always 20/20. Both head and body were hot glued to a rosette ruffle I made with 2 strips of 1 1/2 x 11" card stock.

Originally I planned on using a larger box with an attached lid that the kitty would pop out of but as I said, I just couldn't make it work. Instead I used a smaller box with a detached lid, cut a part of the rim of the lid and glued it open and then hot glued the kitty at the height I wanted to the open lid, just at the ruffle. I attached the paws to those cool sort of thick and thin pipe cleaners and used a metal candy brad and toothpick for the lollipop. The box trim is from the Tim Holtz rosette die that I'd originally cut for the ruffle but found it to be too small. I'm not thrilled with the box decoration. I really think it should say "Trick or Treat", but I cut the phrase with the Cricut twice in different sizes and didn't like how it was looking so I gave up and used puffy stickers because I was running out of time. The flower is Recollections. Be sure to bop over to BBTB2 to ooh and ahh over the rest of the DT's creations and we'd love it for you to play along using a "new" creation and linking your blog post to our linky and back to our challenge. If you don't have Hello Kitty, any other Halloween themed kitty project will do. I'm also entering this in the ABC "B" is for Boo challenge.

BBTB2 Vulture Challenge

OOps! a little late today. I'm not sleeping well and my schedule is all off. Today my dear friend and DT sis Agnes (Flowerdisco) has chosen the BBTB2 challenge this week which is the vulture from Life's a party. I can't believe it's ANOTHER cart I don't have. Too many too fast, these days. Well, there is another vulture on Zooballoo, but try as I did, I just couldn't make that pitiful little thing work for me so I chose the raven from Oct 31st instead. I thought he would be a good substitute, lovin' tearing apart dead carcasses and all. However, when I read Agnes's intro she was talking about cute...ahhh, well, not so much. But hey, I all but exhausted my cutesy quotient last week with that frog so it is what it is. Sorry Agnes.

Yes, it's a shaped front card done in DS using the raven and moon from Oct 31st, the drippy swirl from Happy Hauntings and the skull from Wall Decor and More. The background paper is from the 6x6 Blackbird (how fitting!) collection from Memory Box which lead me to emboss the moon with the Goochie Script (5x7) embossing folder. (In case you can't see it, there's script on the DP as well.) Shades of Poe, eh?

Lots of layers and the raven is glittered with Doodlebug Sugar coating after running it through my Xyron right side down. The swirl is enhanced with Glossy Accents and adhesive gems. Both the moon and the skull are cut from iridescent card stock but the glimmer doesn't really show up well here. All edges were inked with Distress. My DT sisters have done an amazing job on this challenge so be sure to stop my BBTB2 and have a look. We'd love to see your take as well. Remember, the challenges run for 2 weeks, you may substitue the cut for another similar one, please enter new creations only and link them back to BBTB2. I'm also enter this in the Gingersnap Creations Theme Challenge, Horror Stories.

BBTB2 Create a Critter Frog Challenge

Finally, eh? This week the BBTB2 challenge was chosen by our DT sister Carri, who picked the frog from Create a Critter. I have Halloween on the brain so I did a themed wall hanging. The witch's hat and cauldron are from Mini Monsters. All shadows were welded in DS and the layers were popped with enough foam that a chipboard base wasn't required.

The frog is embossed with the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles and the cauldron with Swiss Dots. I cut the cauldron multiple times and trimmed them so I could layer the rim. I also resized the cauldron bottom to create a sort of decoupage effect.

The rosette is done with a Tim Holtz die. Not to self: avoid glittered paper as it doesn't want to crease and has a tendency to tear. I reinforced a few of the folds with tape and copy paper and popped a cute little Sandylion spider on top. the star is actually a charm from Making Memories that I've cut the loop off of.

Open the ribbon and there's a surprise. I've layered the cauldron with the card feature so it opens. The sentiment is from Mini Monsters as well. I know this froggie doesn't look wicked, but I just couldn't resist. This particular sentiment is part of the witch's hat family of cuts. I just trimmed off the hat so it would fit. The entire hanger measures 11 1/2 inches, not counting the ribbon so it's pretty substantial. My teamies at BBTB2 have outdone themselves on this challenge so hop on by and take a peek. As always, the challenges run for 2 weeks. We want to see "new" projects only and please link back to BBTB2 so others can join in the fun.. If you haven't the particular cartridge featured, you may use another similar cut. You know the drill. Can't wait to see what YOU come up with.

BBTB2 WIMG Wheelbarrow Challenge and Blog Hop

Welcome to the BBTB2 Blog Hop! If you have arrived from Lori's Blog, you're on the right track. If not, you might want to start at BBTB2 so you don't miss a thing. I'm hosting the challenge this week and chose the wheelbarrow from Walk In My Garden. Although it's an oldie, it's still one of my faves. I've welded the shadow of the wheelbarrow to a big full moon from George and pumpkins from Holiday Cakes. The sentiment is from Holiday Cakes as well.

Yes, it's a shaped front card. You know that's my favorite kind to make. I've re sized the rounded rectangle from George for the back. The background DP is from Memory Box. I've embossed the wheelbarrow with the Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder and the full moon with Polka Dots.

In some cases, I've cut the image more than once and done some trimming to add more layers, like the middle pumpkin and the green vines. The wheelbarrow was also cut in several colors and hand trimmed to add more detail to the cut.

Isn't this jack-o-lantern a hoot? I stickled the yellow layers of the pumpkins so they looked like they were lit from within, and embossed several with Swiss Dots.

Here's the dimension shot. I couldn't resist adding some non-Cricut embellies, like the leaves and Rain Dot bats. I sprinkled in a few adhesive beads, as well. Now hop on over to sweet Krista's Blog but before you do, please leave a comment for a chance to win a $40.00 gift certificate to Custom Crops. They have a Spooktacular BooTique, chock full of Halloween goodies, as well as new Holiday items and plenty of Tim Holtz, so be sure to start a wish list in case you're the winner! I'll be drawing the name (with any luck, LOL) on Saturday, so be sure to check back because I won't be hunting you down. Now remember, you have two weeks to complete each challenge and we'd like to see a "new" project and please link back to BBTB2 so others can join in the fun. If you don't have the cartridge, you may use a similar cut. In this case, I'm not sure there are any other wheelbarrows, so a wagon would be a fine substitute.

BBTB2 TBBM Box Challenge

Isn't that title hilarious? I'm sure non Cricuteers are scratching their heads. Translation: This week our challenge at Bitten By The Bug2 was chosen by our fabulously talented sis, Jeri. Her pick was ony of the 3D boxes or containers from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. Well, my fave box on that cart is the cake box. However, I had a hard time figuring out what to do with it because I had already done a vintage inspired Halloween one HERE, and also a birthday cake shoe HERE. What I didn't realize, was that I could cut it quite a bit bigger than the "fit to page" size on a 12"x12" mat, which is 9". By turning it around using DS, I could just cut it a a whopping 11". WooHoo! That is SOME slice of cake!

I used just two colors because I decided to use the trick or treaters silhouettes from A Child's Year and create a little scene around the sides of the box. They look quite vintage to me, and the paper decorations I have left from my childhood have few colors other than orange and black. I finally got to use the larger MS fence punch too.

The figures were cut at 2 1/4 " (the witch, clown and princess) and 2 1/8" (fairy, fireman, and cowboy) Some were flipped so they would all face the front of the box. To continue the scene, I punch a smaller MS Spooky Fence punch to add around the top.

"Trick or Treat"was cut from Pumpkin Carving. I added a large moon and shadow cut with my Grand Caliber and Grand Circles Nesties. The haunted house is a Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Die. I happen to have a Big Shot, but these can be cut in the Cuttlebug too, using the die between 2 B plates.

The box opens from the back so of course I needed to decorate that too. "Happy Haunting" is also from the Pumpkin Carving cart and the ghosts are another MS punch. I'm telling you, LOTS of treats will fit in here! Now don't fret if you don't have TBBM, because any box or treat container from any of the carts will do, as long as it is a "new" project and you mention and link to BBTB2 in your post. Now go have a look at the amazing inspiration from my DT sisters and we hope to visit you to see your take on the challenge too. BTW, although we have a new challenge every week, you have 2 weeks to complete them so our winged, drippy heart challenge HERE is still open as well.

BBTB2 Rock Princess Flying Dripping Heart Challenge

Happy Labor Day! Hope everyone is enjoying their looong weekend. Mine is just starting as we're off to Nick's Cove for a couple of days to celebrate our 36th anniversary on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to a little break from crafting and some relaxation on Tomales Bay.

Our challenge this week at BBTB2 was chosen by our fabulous Team Leader Heather. I couldn't help but make a Halloween card using the heart, as well as the font from Rock Princess, all welded together in DS. The colors were dictated by the batty DP from Basic Grey. It all still looks a little jarring to me, even though I tried to tone down the lettering with inking and embossing. Trust me, I tried about a bazillion different color combos and this turned out to be the best but... I do love the bat wings, though. They were embossed with the Tim Holtz Spider Web folder and inked with Alabaster Chalk Ink. OOOOH, SPOOKY! The heart was glittered by running it through my Xyron and sprinkling it with gorgeous purple Doodlebug Sugar coating. Yummy!

It's a shaped front card, but I bet you already assumed that. LOL Couldn't help but add some bling. the interior swirls and small gems on "Batty" are by Recollections from M's and the large purple hearts (honestly they ARE purple but insist on photographing more BLUE for some reason) are by Darice.

Lots of layers again, this one sort of took on a mind of it's own. The second layer of wings were left free to fly. Now don't panic if you don't have this cart. We'd love you to play along with any heart, or thing with wings, or drippy thing (Hmmm...I'm not going there) on a new creation and link it up mentioning the BBTB2 challenge and linking it back to our site so everyone can get in on the fun. Now go take a look at what the rest of the DT has come up with for this challenge and be inspired.

BBTB2 Heritage Tree Challenge and Blog Hop

Welcome to the BBTB2 monthly Blog Hop. If you've come from the mega talented Mona's Blog (I'm asking you, was that eye candy or what!?), you're on the right track. If not, you may want to begin at BBTB2 so you don't miss a thing. I can't believe it's the end of August. Next thing you know, there will be a nip in the air and the leaves will be turning. Ah, glorious Fall! Definitely my favorite season. How fortunate that our sweet and fabulous DT sister Julie chose the curly tree from the Heritage cart for our challenge this week. All I could see when I looked at that tree was the changing seasons so I decided to do a home decor project. It's 10"x10" without the black mat and I hope to frame it. I welded 4 of the trees to represent the 4 seasons. Each is backed by a circle ("and the seasons, they go 'round and 'round" from the song "The Circle Game" kept running through my head) in an appropriate color. I kept them sort of muted to make it neutral and modern looking.

"Seasons" is from DonJuan. The blossoms and leaves I've added to the trees are the off cuts from MS border punches. I'm still in shock that I hand wrote the seasons around each circle, but try as I might, I couldn't manage to figure out a way to do it on the computer and I had no appropriate rub-ons. Unfortunately, it looked too plain without, so...

Not much dimension because I wanted to keep it suitable for framing. I just popped "Seasons" and a few of the flowers and leaves for added interest. Now off you go to Lori's Blog to see what yummy creation she has in store. But before you go, please leave a comment for a chance to win a $40.00 gift certificate from my fabulous sponsor, Custom Crops. They have tons of new products, and a fab Back to School sale going on NOW! Please be sure to stop back on Friday

when the winner will be chosen. Hope to see you join is this week with a new creation, using this gorgeous tree from Heritage, or any similar tree if you haven't that cart, and please don't forget to mention BBTB2 in your post and link it up so others can join in the fun too.

BBTB2 Meets The Stamping Boutique

Happy Monday everybody! This week at BBTB2 we had the pleasure of working with digital images from The Stamping Boutique. We each got to choose from the fabulous Halloween/Fall collection and pair it with a frame from the Happy Hauntings cartridge. I chose the adorable Halloween Vampire because my FAVE frame cut on the cart is the elaborate coffin. yea, I know I've used it before, but it's just so PERFECT! Because the little vampire is a digi, I was able to stretch him out a bit to fit perfectly. He's colored with Copics with some Stickles for shine. His patent shoes are done with glossy accents. I've added a bit of drippy goo and jewels to the bling up the coffin.

The bats are a Cuttlebug die, cut and embossed twice, and suspended mid air by springs I've made by winding some wire around a wooden skewer. The cut out coffin is popped atop a matte metallic solid version ( had to hide a bazillion contours for that, but it was well worth it.) My DT sisters have many more examples of the adorable digi's available at The Stamping Boutique, HERE. Heather will announce a contest soon where you will be able to win some of these adorable images. In the meantime, grab a frame from Happy Hauntings, or any frame and play long with our current challenge.

BBTB2 Baseball Challenge

Another Monday, another BBTB2 challenge, chosen this time by our fab sister, Karen. The baseball cut she suggested is on the Life's a Party cartridge, but I didn't have that one so I used Sports Mania, an oldie I may have used, maybe...once? Remember, you can always substitute a similar cut because we want everyone to have a chance to play along. I made a shaped card using the mitt, also on SM and the "have a Ball" sentiment from Birthday Bash. I chose the colors of the SF Giants, they DID win the World Series last year, after all. I wasn't thrilled with it at first because it looked unbalanced. Thought about putting the SF logo at the top left but it wasn't working. I asked DH and he suggested a pennant. WooHoo! That did the trick. The pennant is also from SM and I welded "Yea" using Plantin Schoolbook RolyPoly font. Thought this could be used for a number of occasions.

The mitt looked best all glued together to show the stitching detail, so I really hadn't planned on this many layers, but as usual, it just grew. Conveniently, I was able to stick the pennant under the baseball and shadow because of the way I'd placed the foam underneath. Then I just added a few adhesive beads from M's. My DT sisters have come up with super creative takes on this challenge, so be sure to stop by BBTB2 and have a look. We'd love to have you play along with a "new" project, and remember, you have 2 weeks to complete it. I'm also entering this in the Cards for Men, Anything Goes Challenge, the 365 Cards Sports Team Color Challenge and Sentimental Sundays Shaped Card Challenge. For some reason, blogger has decided to screw up my Blog so at the moment, all my sidebar stuff is at the bottom of the posts. I'm quite frustrated with it all but afraid to mess with it further, hoping it will come to it's senses and go back the way it was on it's own. When I go into "DESIGN", it still shows my original configuration so I'm hoping it's them, not me. Oh, and if you'd like a chance at some "Card Candi" and would like to see what Jacob has been up to, click HERE.

BBTB2 Pie Challenge

Wow, time sure seems to be flying, because it's already Monday again and time for another challenge at BBTB2. Our sweet and adorable sister, Krista, has chosen the pie from Paper Doll Dress Up for our challenge, but there are loads of pies on other cartridges if you don't have PDDU. I've chosen the pie from Simply Charmed because I've had that cart for ages and never used it. I thought about keeping the smily face on the cut but just couldn't quite bring myself to be that cutesy so I hid the contours in Design Studio.

The pie shadow is welded in DS to the shadow of the sentiment from Hello Kitty font, and a heart from Sweethearts. Yeah, no surprise, it's another shaped front card, the back being from Lacy Labels, another cart I had to have but I'd yet to use. The little tag hanging off the "C" is from Plantin Schoolbook. For once I remembered to do some embossing BEFORE I'd assembled the card with Swiss Dots on the heart, and a Stampin'Up folder on the letters.

The background paper is Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess. The print was the right scale and I thought it gave the card a vintage look. Had to laugh because DH even recognized the vintage vibe. His standard comment for my creations is "That's cute." (including the creepiest of my Macabre Monday cards, which pretty much means he's not looking too closely. LOL) I didn't go wild with dimension this time, but I guess it's enough. I had a busy week. I'm guest Designer at Bah!Humbug! for the month of August and I'm particularly proud of my debut card HERE (if you REALLY wanna see some layering) , and I've joined The Altered Alice Design Team and did something a bit different this week by altering a frame HERE. What fun! Anyway, there's a whole lot of yumminess going on at BBTB2 so be sure and check out the fab creations by my DT sisters and we do hope you play along.

Happy Monday! If you're looking for the Haunted Design House 100th Challenge Celebration, please scroll down. Trust me, the blog candy at HDH is worth checking out!

With school just around the corner for many, our BBTB2 DT sister Lori, has come up with a school themed challenge using any of the school supplies from Locker Talk (or any other appropriate cartridge). I was inspired by a cute project my friend Margie made for the Stampotique challenge HERE (she was a designer's fave, WooHoo!) and borrowed her sentiment for my card. I was going for a primary school feel so I used Micky Font in all caps. I thought the sentiment captured the excitement a child feels when they rush home with something they've made at school. Obviously my "school supply" was scissors and I made a heart chain, welding the hearts from George.

It's a shaped front card, using Design Studio. The colors were chosen from the Cosmo Cricket background paper that I thought was perfect for this challenge.

Yeah, lots of layers and I've creased the heart chain to look like it was actually cut with the scissors by folding accordion style and cutting half the heart. (YKWIM, don't you?) Anyway, it's only popped in the middle of each heart and was embossed with Swiss Dots. I actually had to dismantle some of the card because I'd forgotten the embossing and couldn't stand how plain it looked without. Couldn't get the original chain off so I cut another one and sort of slid it in under the portions that overlapped. Phew! I worked. Then just a little doodling and it was good to go.

To make sure the inside sentiment didn't show through to the front, I cut another heart chain and glued it directly under the one on the front. I think I craft and blog because I never lost the thrill of creating, especially for those I love. My DT sisters have done just fabulous projects for this challenge, so I hope you stop by, and we invite you to share your love of creating with us at BBTB2. Our challenges run for 2 weeks and we only ask that your project be a new one and that you mention and link us in your post so that others can join in the fun. Hope to see you there.

BBTB2 Sweet Treats Ice Cream Cone and Blog Hop

Morning everybody! It's the last Monday of the month, and you know what that means. It's the BBTB2 BLOG HOP and my super sweet and talented friend, Maria, has chosen the ice cream cone from Sweet Treats for our challenge. Hopefully you've arrived from dear Carole's super inspiring blog, but if not, you may like to start at BBTB2, so you don't miss a thing. I was dying to try the ice cream cone box from the new Sweet Tooth Boxes cart. Isn't it fun!? I've embossed the bottom of the come with the Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaics Folder and the top with the 5x7 folder that came with the Give a Hoot companion set. You need to turn the scallop folder sideways and emboss in sections for this, so I had to use my Grand Caliber for it to fit. BTW, you need an extra adaptor plate to use your embossing folders with this machine. If you use the embossing plate that comes with the machine and try to force it, you'll break your machine. Yup, I did! (Note to self, read the instructions)

I'm not the greatest on determining the size of how boxes will turn out (even using DS, as in this case), especially when they are in 3 sections like this one. I didn't want it teeny so I went with the largest size I could fit on a 12x12 mat, which was 11". Let me tell ya, it's one huge honkin' box! I suppose it's meant to fit a cupcake (or is it just a truffle?) Anyway, you could definitely fit a cupcake in the center of this one, for sure. This is what the inside looks like. The usable space is only the top section, and at about 9 1/4 " to top (minus the cherry) I'm not so sure about the stability without weighting the bottom.

The top of the cone looked boring to me, so I've added a chocolate rim by cutting the top of the middle section in brown (by moving it off the page in DS you don't waste another whole sheet)
and punching the bottom with my MS Drippy Goo. I added real sprinkles by running some Terrifically Tacky Tape around it and dipping it in. Gluing sprinkles makes the colors run. I sprayed the ice cream with adhesive and sprinkled MS extra fine glitter to give it a frosty feel. I still thought the top of the cone looked a bit plain, so I added the "Sweet" sentiment, which is also from the Sweet Treat Boxes cart.

I've made the tag using the flat bottomed cone from page 34 to match and embossed it like the box. Remember, you don't have to use the exact cut to play along with us at BBTB2. Just make a new project using an ice cream cone and you're good to go. Now hop along to see what yummy treat Mona has in store for you, but before you do, be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a $40.00 gift certificate to Custom Crops. They're having a super summer sale right now, so that should go a long long way. Loads of Cricut carts on sale, including Sweet Treats, HERE. I'll be announcing the winner next Friday, so be sure and stop back by.

Edit: I've been reading some of my comments and I wan to to clarify that the Ice Cream cone Box is from the new Sweet Tooth Boxes, not Sweet Treats. Only the Tag is from Sweet Treats.

BBTB2 Jolly Holidays Penguin Cut and Bah! Humbug! Shaped Card Challenge

Happy Monday everyone! Time for another fun challenge at BBTB2, this time chosen by our oh so talented sister, Melissa. Our challenge this week is the cute penguin with the umbrella from the Jolly Holidays cartridge but any penguin with any umbrella will do. Now you don't have to do a Christmas card, (wait 'til you see some of the uber creative things my teamies have come up with!) but I did, because I wanted to also enter it in this week's Bah!Humbug! challenge which is Shaped Cards. I designed my card in DS using the snowflake from Accent Essentials as the base. Seems like I always come back to that one. The penguin base is welded to the shadow of the snowflake at sort of an angle so he's look like he's flying through the air with his umbrella. He's a pretty simple little guy so I decided to add a few more snowflakes (also from Accent Essentials) to jazz up the card a bit.

Not quite as many layers as usual, because the cuts on Jolly Holidays has no shadows, but I did glue the umbrella around the top and side edges and pop the center so it sort of looks like it's open (which doesn't seem to show in the pic). There's a little embossing, doodling, adhesive pearls and a twine bow, and that's pretty much it. All in all, I still think it turned out pretty cute. Now go have a look-see at the fab creations by the rest of the BBTB2 DT and remember you have two weeks to complete the challenge with a "new" card, please. And why not check out the fabulous Bah!Humbug! challenges as well? Always super inspiration and fun there and for once, there's still time to enter because I'm not getting my project in just under the wire. LOL

BBTB2 Joys of the Season Mittens Challenge

This week at BBTB2, our dear sister Penny thought we all needed a bit of relief from the summer heat and turn our thoughts to WINTER by choosing the mittens from Jots for our challenge. Unfortunately, I'd just done a mittens card that I really liked a few weeks ago so I had a really tough time. I finally came up with an idea, which I actually love, but my execution leaves alot to be desired. I should have chosen a face other than Santa from Doodlecharms. I made a shaped card of him way back in 2008, so that didn't thrill me either, but then again, I'd just used that funny baby face (my original dea) for a BBTB2 card just two weeks ago, so... Next prob, I decided to flock and glitter so that stuff is all over my craft room bathroom and after screwing up the beard several times because my hands were wet, I guess, I resorted to cheap glitter paper from Walmart so my mat is now full of it too. But the WORST idea of all was to use marabou for the cuffs and hat. Sticking that stuff to anything is a real PITA and the feathers were too long so I tried a little trim job. Besides the fact that it now looks like it has the mange, that stuff is flying all over the place and is stuck to every pair of scissors I own (because I never clean them off after cutting my adhesive foam.) I got pretty much disgusted with the whole thing so I didn't even finish the card. That's why there is only one pic. When you fold out the mittens it's gonna say "No peeking", and when you open the card it'll say "It's Christmas". That is a cute idea, right? Seriously, at least I did one. It's a great challenge, Penny, it's just that my mojo flew the coop. Anyway, my DT sisters came up with ADORABLE mittens this week so be sure to check out the fab creations at BBTB2 and come play along with a NEW mittens card. You have two weeks to complete the challenge and if you don't have JOTS, any mittens from any cart will do.

Have a Crab-u-lous Fourth! (BBTB2 Starfish Challenge)

Well, it's finally here! The Fourth of July is a big deal at our house so I took the opportunity to do one last patriotic project. When our fabulous team leader Heather chose the starfish from Life's a Beach for this week's BBTB2 challenge, all I could see was more red, white and blue. My red is the addition of the adorable crab from Create a Critter. Because all 3 starfish are one cut, I had to use alot of hiding contours in DS to get them positioned to weld, and of course they didn't include shadows on Life's a Beach (Grrrr!!!) so I did a little manipulating there as well. The starfish and crab are done with Bo Bunny card stock and the inside mat is a really old DCWV Summer stack.

Yes, it's a shaped front card and I couldn't resist adding a little toothpick flag in his little claw.

I had planned to make this really simple because of all the stuff I had to get done for our party this week, but in the end it did get pretty dimensional. Woohoo! Now grab some inspiration from the rest of my DT sisters and come and play along. Remember, you have two weeks to complete the challenge and new projects only, please. and be sure to mention and link to BBTB2 so others can join in the fun. Have a Crab-u-lous 4th and stay safe! I'm also entering this in the Fantabulous Cricut Pool Time (or Water-Themed) Challenge this week.