BBTB2 GINGERBREADMAN CHALLENGE

Good evening
Well it snowed heavily today here in Wales I didn't even get to work! I'll have to try tomorrow if I can dig my car out and the  roads don't freeze!
On to today's challenge at BBTB2 and I was lucky enough to get to choose the cut this week and chose the Gingerbreadman cut from Just Because Cards cartridge. I decided to make a gingerbread girl!
For my card I used BO Bunny Christmas paper on my card and the snowflakes are Tim Holtz On the Edge Snow Flurries die. I cut my Gingerbread girl twice and pop dotted and added some white ric rac ribbon. Her skirt and bow she's wearing are made from a polka dot mini cupcake case! I added some buttons and gems  to finish and her cute little face is a Peachy Keen stamp from the Simple Sallies set.
Be sure to pop over to BBTB2 and see all the adorable projects the DT have created this week and we would love you to join in even if you don't have Just Because  Cards there are lots of other carts with Gingerbreads on!
Have a great week everyone, hope you're all ready for Christmas!
Juliexx

I LOVE 'ENDCAPS!!'

Good evening
Not much crafting going on here at the moment, but I did make these quick tags for  3 gifts for my friends hence the title regarding endcaps! Fellow Cricuteers will know the term it is a way of getting text inside a shape which is available on some of the Cricut carts. This one is the tag using endcaps feature from Plantin School cart and  the tags are about 9".My friends loved them!
We've had loads of snow here today and luckily it's my day off work and Connor finished college yesterday so we could stay in the warm! Lots more forecast for the weekend though! Everyone stay safe and warm!
Juliexx

HAPPY NEW YEAR AT THE CUTTLEBUGSPOT!

Good evening
Over at the Cuttlebugspot this week we are celebrating New Year!! Nilda asked us to make a project to celebrate the New Year. I went with a card with a glass on it to raise a toast to 2011!
I made the backing paper in my graphics programme  and printed it straight on to the front of the 6"x6" card. The silver mirrorboard mat is cut from Nifty Fifties Cricut cart at 4 1/2" and embossed with one of the Cuttlebug folders from the Robots companion set.The cocktail glass is cut at about 5" and is from Cutting Up Cricut cart using the Cartoon button. I cut it 3 times in black and the centre is partially cut so just cut out and added the layer in white. I added the first layer then adhered two together and pop dotted so I could slide my cherry and cocktail stick ' through the middle.' I embossed the white part with Cuttlebug snow folder for the little bubbles and added some gems too. The cocktail stick is real and I cut a glittered ball  for the cherry from a Christmas decoration nearly slicing my fingers in the process lol!. For the finishing touches I added glass glitter as frosting for the top of the glass and a little star charm for the glass charm.
Pop over and visit us at the Cuttlebugspot and chek out the fabulous projects everyone has created this week! We are havinfga two week break at the Spot for the Holidays and the challenges will start again at the beginning of January. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Juliexx

CUTTLEBUGSPOT CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE 'O HOLY NIGHT'

Good morning

Oooh it's frosty this morning -6c when I took Connor to college!

We are celebrating Christmas over at the Cuttlebugspot this week and Nilda asked us to use a technique such as inking, for our projects.

Mine really isn't a technique but I do love the look of embossed mirrorboard and that is what I used for my star.

My card is very simple but I hope conveys the real meaning of Christmas.

The nativity is cut in black card using a Sizzix decorative strip die 'Nativity' which I recently bought in the sale at Sizzix.co.uk,( this is just a portion of the die). I computer generated the text before embossing my background with a Craft Concept embossing folder (these are very similar to Cuttlebug folders and work the same way) called Sun Rays (when I saw this folder I bought it with the idea for this card in mind). Finally I added a star which is cut at 2" using my Cricut and Joys of The Season Cart shadow in black and base in gold mirrorboard which I embossed with CB folder Swiss Dots.

Pop over to the Cuttlebugspot and see the fabulous creations the rest of the DT have been working on and as always we would love to see your take on this weeks challenge.

Have a great week everyone! I'm just off to work!

Juliexx



FELT FLOWER USING SIZZIX BIGZ CHRISTMAS SPIRAL GARLAND DIE

Hello there
I made this card a while ago for a friend's birthday, and as you know when I make cards to give I take the less is more approach so this card has a lot of white space!!
I printed the happy birthday strip which I made in my graphics programme straight onto a 6x6" white card and added a pink felt flower cut using the Sizzix Bigz Spiral Garland die. This is a Christmas decoration die that I purchased last year especially for making these flowers!! For the card I probably used about half of the spiral but if you used the whole spiral the flower would be bigger and would make a great decoration for a hairband, hat or bag and I'm sure to decorate many items! The thicker dies will cut so many materials too, this is why I still love these dies. I added a pearl to finish off and some leaves cut with my Cricut using Give A Hoot cart.
So don't think this die is just for a Christmas decoration it'so versatile!
Well all the snow is gone here in Wales at the moment but it's still very cold and we could have more next week! Keep safe and warm everyone
Juliexx

STACEY'S BIRTHDAY CARD

Good evening
Last weekend was my friend from work Stacey's birthday. Stacey loves everything cupcake, Hello Kitty and skully! As I made her a cupcake  card last year I decided to make this girly skully trainer shoe card for her as she received some gorgeous trainers with skulls on for her big day!
I cut the trainer shoe from Cricut Paisley cart I think it was at 3 1/2" my memory is terrible when I don't write things down lol! The card is 6x6"and the backing paper is digital download bubbles paper from Pink Petticoat and I added the words in black using Cheri font to the bubbles before printing it out. The skull paper for the shoe is also from Pink Petticoat Halloween Haunting Girls and the  rest of the cardstock is from my stash. There are lots of layers to the shoe and I pop dotted them for dimension. To finish off I added lots of gems in pink and green, some organza ribbon and a little skull charm.
It's still freezing cold here but it's just started raining with a warning of ice and more of the white stuff next week!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Juliexx

PEGGY LOVES VINTAGE SANTA CARDS

Good morning from snowy Wales!
I made these two little cards last night using the gorgeous Santa 1 cutouts from Peggy Loves Vintage. These are such cheery Santa Claus images and print out beautifully in any size you want and you get 7 different Santa images altogether!
As you can see I am a bit addicted to this ribbon weaving and have made the Ribbon wreaths on my card as I think they frame the santa's perfectly!
My cards are 5"x5" and I used Pink Petticoat paper downloads Stripes and bubbles and added lots of computer generated Ho's in different fonts to the bubble paper, this is why I love digital papers as I can add to them before printing as I'm not much of a stamper! I made my wreaths using 6mm double sided satin in red and white (ribbon from Hobbycraft) and added some gems and holly confetti to one and some snowflake buttons on the other. The Merry Christmas sentiment is computer generated using 'Antsy Pants' font. I got the tutorial for the wreath's here and they are so quick and easy to make!.
Making these cards has made me start feeling all Christmassy!
Juliexxx

WEDDING CARD

Good afternoon
My friend asked me to make a wedding card for a wedding she was attending. I saw the invite which was cream with accents of black and red so I thought this may be the theme and set about making this card
I went simple and elegant, less is more as I usually do for cards I send or am asked to make so the card base is ivory hammer card and I also managed to purchase some ivory hammer paper from Hobbycraft to match for the insert. (looks white in my photo but in real life is ivory!!) The card is A5 in size (8 1/2"x5 1/2").  I used Tie The Knot Cricut cart to cut the cake   cutting the shadow twice to pop dot in black, base in black and layers in cream. I then 'went to town' with lots of red crystal gems and pearls to finish off. The text is computer generated font is amaze.
Hope you're all enjoying the snow I love it as long as I don't have to try and drive!!
Keep warm and have a lovely weekend everyone!
Juliexx

BBTB2 HELLO KITTY GREETINGS

Good evening
It's BBTB2 challenge day and Heather asked us to use the Christmas Kitty from Hello Kitty Greetings. I've had this cart for a while but not used it much so this was a little challenge for me in itself!
My card is quite large an A5 side opening card (5 1/2"x8 1/2" approx) as I woulldn't advise this kitty to be cut too small as there are some very small pieces! Kitty is cut at 4 3/4" base and layers and I cut an extra blackout to pop dot  for some dimension.The papers and greeting are from a mixture of DCWV Christmas stacks and I also used black American Craft card. The dotty ribbon is from Costco and I added a strip of white card under the ribbon which I edged with my Martha Stewart loopy border punch. The gems , flower, pom poms  and cute little heart picks that I used as little balloons are from Hobbycraft.
My DT sister have created some gorgeous Christmas Kitty's so be sure to pop over to BBTB2 and see them and we'd love to see your take on the challenge too!
Have a great week everyone and for my Amerian Blogger friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Juliexx

CUTTLEBUGSPOT THANKS CARD CHALLENGE

Good Morning
Over at the Cuttlebugspot this week we are following on from our last 2 challenges of the Thanksgiving Invite, then Setting the Table and Nilda has asked us to make a Thank You to our host for a lovely dinner .
I found this fabulous video tutorial for a ribbon weaved wreath HERE (thanks to  Lynn for posting this link on her blog and thanks to En-May for the great tutorial) and it was so quick and easy to create!
For my card I used a cream A6 (US A2) card and cuttled it with the A2 trellis embossing folder from the Sizzix 'Hello Friend' set. I computer generated Thank You (sorry didn't note the font)  onto some cream card and punched out with a 3" paper punch and adhered to the back of the wreath. My wreath is made from 6mm  mustard gold satin ribbon from Hobbycraft and I added some little branches in cream using Martha Stewart branch punch which I finally found at Andy's shop Pinnacle Crafts! Finally I added some gold coloured gems to finish.
I can't wait to make some more of these wreaths for Christmas cards!
As ever pop over to the Cuttlebugspot and see the wonderful designs the DT have created this week and we would love you to join in with us too! We have a new sponsor this week , Letraset  and there is a chance to win some  fabulous Promarkers!
Juliexx

BBTB2 GIVE THANKS CHALLENGE

Good evening

This week at BBTB2 the wonderfully talented Donna chose the Give Thanks cut from the Thanksgiving cartridge as Thanksgiving is just around the corner in the US,

I don't have this cart so after a little searching I found that Designers Calender also has a Give Thanks cut and also a nice maple leaf on the circle shift button.

I cut the base card using the doily card cut from Wildcard cartridge at 5 1/4". The leaf in a circle frame is cut at 4 1/4" twice and I handcut the leaf from the second cut which I then embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Crackle' embossing folder and inked with Ranger Brushed Corduroy ink pad then pop dotted on to the first circle cut. I cut Give Thanks 3 times in gold mirricard and adhereed together. All the papers used are printed from Pink Petticoat Autumn collection download and to finish off I added some gold ribbom and a little heart which I coloured gold with a gold leaf pen.

My DT sisters have made the most beautiful creations this week so  pop over to BBTB2 this week and please join us in the challenge.

Have a great week everyone!

Juliexx

CUTTLEBUGSPOT THANKSGIVING TABLE DECOR

Hello everyone
Following on from last weeks Cuttlebugspot challenge to create a Thanksgiving Invitation this week Nilda asked us to set the table and create Thanksgiving Table decor.
I decided to follow the theme of my invite and since I was so pleased to finally find my CB cut and emboss maple leaf I decided to get as much use out of it as possible!
I cut and embossed 3 maple leaves in copper glitter card, 3 with ivory Pearlescent card and 3 with gold mirri card, adhering 3 different ones together and adding some gold squiggly wire. I then punched out 3 strips of gold mirricard using Martha Stewart  Double Edge Weave deep edge punch. I used 2 strips on my candle and adhered the leaf decor atop, and used one to make the napkin ring with another set of my leaves. Finally I used my gold leaf pen to write the name on my placecard. This was a quick and easy project and could easily be used (using different toppers) for any occasion.
By the way once I'd done with photographing my project on Sunday evening that glass of wine was very enjoyable!! Oops I forgot to put the knife and fork in! Never mind you get the picture!
Pop over to the Cuttlebugspot to see all the fabulous creations this week and please join in with us too!
Juliexx

SHIRT CARD

Good evening
This is a card made back in October . My mother and father in law have a laundry/ironing shop and my father in law always delivers the laundry to the customers and has become known to the staff as 'The shirtman'as this is what he delivers amongst a lot of other garments. The staff wanted to send him a card for his birthday and I found this great free template here. cut some buttons from an old shirt that my son no longer wears and the papers are fromP ink Petticoat Little Check download. I added two metal studs to the pocket and made a little credit card  from white card and an edge rounder with a computerised greeting( sorry I can't  remember the font) but this could also hold a gift card!
A quick and easy template to use for those oh so hard make male  cards!!
Thanks for popping in
Juliexx

THANKSGIVING INVITATION. THE CUTTLEBUGSPOT

Good morning
Tuesday's are the new day for the Cuttlebugspot challenge and this week Nilda asked us to create a Thanksgiving Invitation.
I decided to go simple and hopefully elegant and as I eventually found my Cuttlebug maple laef cut and emboss die after much searching I thought  I would use it for my card!
The card is cut from ivory pearlescent ribbed card and measures approx 8 1/2"x4" and opens to the side. I cut and embossed two leaves, one in gold mirricard, one in a coppery brown glitter card. and added a brown satin bow. The strip across the middle is the same pearlescent layered on a strip of gold mirricard. The invitation words are computer generated, Thanksgiving is LD elegance and Invitation is Castellar. Another simple card and quick to make if you need to make a few!
Hop on over to the Cuttlebugspot and see the fabulous invites created by my DT sisters and join in too we love to see your work!
Juliexx

BBTB2 BANNER CUT CHALLENGE

Good evening

Over at BBTB2 this week the wonderfully talented Beth from the DT chose the banner  from Country Life cartridge . I don't have this cart so I chose the banner cut from Give A Hoot which has these lovely birds holding up a small banner and thought they would make a nice Christmas card. My card is very simple as I just used the cut as is, shadow ,base and layer. The card is DL in size (8 1/2x 3 1/2") and the base card is gold mirri card. I cut a layer of  red glitter swirl card from DCWV Christmas Glitter card and pop dotted on to the base. My cuts are made at 2 1/2" as I like the 'off the card' look shadow in black, base in gold mirri and the birds are cut in white glitter card and pop dotted . I added pearls to the top of the banner,some black gems for eyes, white glitter letters and finally dangled some tiny bells from jump rings at the bottom of each of the banners (this was the harderst part of this card as I had to make the tiniest of holes to thread!).

As you know it's month end so some of my DT sisters are doing a blog hop so make sure to pop over to BBTB2 and follow the hop for some prizes along the way and feast your eyes on the gorgeous projects my DT sisters have created this week and as always we love to see your take on the challenge too!

Juliexx



THE CUTTLEBUGSPOT 'ANYTHING FALL'

Good morning
It's a lovely crisp Autumn morning here today and that's also the challenge that Nilda has set us this week over at the Cuttlebugspot, anything Fall related.
Well I love the song Autumn Leaves by Nat King Cole so that was the theme that I used for my card!
First of all I set about finding the Maple leaf die and embossing folder that I purchased early this year especially for Fall cards. Hmm do you think I could find it..... No! I searched and searched! Do you do this, buy things and when you want to use them they're nowhere to be found, I blame it on my age lol!
Anyway having given up on that idea I found a sizzlits die with a nice leaf on and some little leaf punches in my stash.
The background is actually Autumn Leaves sheet music which I printed on a very very pale leaf background and cuttled with CB folder Autumn words and highlighted the words Autumn and leaves with a soft gold inkpad. I typed out the words of the song using font LD Elegance and printed onto to Autumnal coloured card and cut out the 2 largest leaves, I also cut a few in gold. I punched some little leaves in the same colours to trail down the card and cuttled these with the small folders that come with the 3x3 dies, I used one from the butterfly set and the folder from the snowman set so you get the miniature embossing for tiny items. After adding these to my card I added some swirly gold net ribbon from my stash. I have also added Nat to my playlist singing Autumn leaves to get me in the mood for Fall, one of my favourite seasons!
Pop over to the Cuttlebugspot and see all the wonderful creations made by the team this week and we'd love you to join in too!
Thanks so much for looking and have a wonderful week everyone
Juliexx

SEWING BIRTHDAY CARD

Good afternoon
My friend asked me to make a card for her mum who was turning 80. Her mum used to be a seamstress so she wanted a sewing theme for the card.
I searched the net and found a fabulous digikit here for just $7 and used it for the base of my card. The sewing patttern background, lace, faux stitching, tape measure  and sentiment frame are all from the kit. I love digikits because you can recolour the elements to match with your graphics programme! I printed it all straight onto a 6x6" card and printed twice and cut the sentiment panel out from the second one to pop dot for a bit of dimension. The sentiment is also computer generated and the stitched Happy Birthday is Primerapples font and Mum is Pristina font. The cotton reels are cut with my Cricut and Happily Ever After cart at 1 1/2 and 1" and I wound some blue and pink floss around the reels. The thimble and needle are from a button pack from Hobbycraft and the rest of the buttons are from my stash. I was a litte lazy and insteead of stitching through all my buttons I used my white signo gel pen to make them look like I had stitched cotton through them! I think this is what the scrapping world would call a hybrid card?
Thanks for popping in to take a peek, have a lovely weekend
Juliexx

HALLOWEEN LUMINAIRE. THE CUTTLEBUGSPOT

Hello
It's freezing here today! There was even ice on the windscreen this morning Winter is certainly setting in now!
Over at the Cuttlebugspot this week Nilda asked for Spooky Halloween!
I thought I would make A Halloween luminaire which turned out great irl but unfortunately due to my terrible photographing skills doesn't look so good here!
I used my Cricut and DS and the following carts:
Mini monograms for round edge squares
A Childs Year for the Halloween silhouettes cut inside the squares
Plantin School circle for the cut out moon
Don Juan Cut out half moon
Behind my luminaire I lined with a lovely pearlesent vellum and embossed each side with a different folder using Cuttlebug folders Deb Devine, Divine Swirls, A folder from the CB Robotz 4 set and a Quikutz polka dot folder.
Sorry about the awful photos!
I hope you'll join in the challenge this week there's a great prize up for grabs and be sure to check out the fabulous spooky projects the design team have created this week!
I am also entering my project into Top Tip Tuesday  challengewhich this week is 'anything goes'
Have a great week everyone !
Thanks for visiting
Juliexx

HALLOWEEN TREATS!!

Good evening!
Well I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks I came down with yukky flu for about 2 weeks but I'm on the mend at last!

Over at the Cuttlebugspot this week the challenge is Halloween Treats!! I made a couple of little treat bags using 2 cut down cellophane card bags (the3"x8" are perfect  for these!). For the top I used nesties Labels 3 die (I used the largest di) and it's folded in half tomake the top. I embossed with Cuttlebug folder Skull srolls folder . The pumpkin is cut using Sizzix Bigz die Pumpkin Toy and the little sentiments and hats are also cuttled with CB Swiss dots and I added 2 little pompoms to the hats.  You can see the embossing better on the second and third photos!

All the fabulous papers and sentiments are from Funky Hand who just recently released this fab new download kit called Spooky Dookie for just £3.49! I am entering this project into the Get Funky challenge this month which is to use Five background papers.
Thanks so much for visiting today and have a great week!
Juliexx