Fab'n'Funky Challenges #182 - You Can Stick It!

Hi Everyone,

We are back at Fab'n'Funky Challenges with a brand new challenge for you today.  The winners from last time are also on the blog so head on over to find out who was lucky.

The talented and very kind Ciska is our host this week and we have a great challenge to help you use up some stash...

You Can Stick It!

We would like you to use stickers on your project.  They can be peel-offs, glitter stickers, word stickers or any other kind of sticker from your crafty bounty.  Just make sure you tell us what you've used.  

Our sponsor this week is the brilliant Bugaboo Digi Stamps.  They have a stamp for every occasion and some really funny ones too.

The DT were lucky enough to work with fabulous Bugaboo images and I chose to work with the Silhouette Butterfly Flowers image which you can find here.

I started with a 6" square scalloped card blank and used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to create texture in the middle of the card.  I inked this with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Fired Brick to make it pop.  My image was cut out using Spellbinders Picot Edge Circles.  I simply threaded the ribbon through the holes created by the die and tied in a bow at the top.  This is the first time I've used this technique but really liked the effect.  

My stickers are ancient!  They are glittery butterfly stickers from Anita's.  I think I might have bought them from the DoCrafts website a few years ago but really can't remember.

I really hope you can join us to stick it this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

All Kinds of Cuttlebug News

Hi Cuttlebuggers,

I have some good news, along with some sad news.  The Cuttlebug Spot is closing.  Boo!  But.....there is a brand new Cuttlebug blog for you - Cuttlebug Mania. 

Unfortunately, I've decided to step down, for now, from the design team.  I'm so busy creating wedding stationery for my brother's wedding and some other things have come up so I'm not able to dedicate as much time to these challenges as I'd like.  Hopefully once things settle down, I might be back at Cuttlebug Mania.  Watch this space!

The first great challenge at Cuttlebug Mania is live right now.  This week the theme is...

Butterflies

My absolute favourite thing to create on a project so this was an easy one for me and here is my card...

It's a twisted easel style and was the birthday card I gave to my best friend, Vicki.  There was a chorus of "Wows" around the room when she opened it so I think it was a hit!  For the topper, I started with matt silver card and then using a piece of designer paper from a free paper stack designed by Kate Knight I used the Spellbinders Butterfly Corner die in the top corners.  I added a butterfly cut with Create and Craft textured cardstock in purple and spritzed with Mister Huey shine spray.  I added gems to the centre to really bling it up.  The ribbon is from Papermania.

My base layer was again made using the silver matt cardstock and Kate Knight designer paper.  This was free with Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine a couple of years ago.  To make my stopper I used Spellbinders Fancey Labels Two and then the sentiment was cut from white cardstock using Spellbinders Framed Tags One.  I propped this up on foam pads to make sure my card stayed open.  All my die cutting was done using my beloved Cuttlebug.

I hope you'll join the team at Cuttlebug Mania this week and for many weeks to come.  They have some brilliant challenges coming up that are not to be missed.  I'd really like to thank Jannie, Kerry and all the lovely ladies at Cuttlebug Mania, along with Nilda from The Cuttlebug Spot.  I've loved using my Cuttlebug to create these cards and it'll always be my No 1 crafting tool.  All the best with the new blog, ladies.

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Projet - Sweet Like Chocolate

Hi All,

We are back at The Cuttlebug Spot with another great challenge for you.  But first, thanks to all the great entries for last week - you were all as Cute as A Button!

Now I know you are wondering what challenge we have for you this week.  It's a scrumptious one!

Sweet Like Chocolate

We would like to see you use chocolate in some way - you could use a chocolatey image, chocolate cardstock or even make a chocolate wrapper.  And this is what I've done this week. 

Before you all think I've lost the plot colourwise - this is the favourite colour combo of the recipient.  My friend's daughter invited me to her cupcake making party on Saturday night and I knew I wanted to take her a little something and this is what I came up with. 

I started with a piece of orange cardstock and wrapped tightly around the chocolate bar secring at hte back with super stick red liner tape.  I used my Cuttlebug to cut the Spellbinders Floral Doily Accents border to make the borders in green.  Finally I aded the tag, cut with Spellbinders Framed Tags One and then stamped using the ClarityStamp Letterbox Alphabet kit.  The A is for Alyssa.  I love that name.  I attached the little tag with some baker's twine from Creative Expresssions.

We had so much fun making the cupcakes on Saturday night and I'm only sad that I never took a picture to show you all.  The girls did a fab job of decorating.

I hope you can join in with our chocolatey challenge this week.  The winner will receive a mystery prize from the DT.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Cute as a Button

Hello Everyone,

Phew, what a blog hop at The Cuttlebug Spot last week!  I hope you enjoyed hopping to all of your blogs.  Thanks so much to everyone for the lovely comments and follows. 

We've got a fantastic new challenge for you this week.  Our theme is...

Cute as a Button

We would love you feature a button on your project and tell us how you used your Cuttlebug.  Here is my inspiration...

I started with 6" scalloped card blank from Anita's.  I made my papers by using the colour picker tool in Craft Artist 2 Professional.  My image is produced by Hunkydory for Crafter's Companion and is from the Angelic and Friends range.  As soon as I saw this collection, I knew I had to add it to my basket!  Just as well Create and Craft had it on such a good deal! 

My harlequin cardstock is also from the paper kit.  I cut this with Spellbinders Grand Decorative Circles in the smallest size as it fits perfectly through the Cuttlebug.  Using Spellbinders Standard Circles, I cut a layer for my topper.  The vertical strip of paper was passed through a paper crimper to create texture.  I bought the ribbon a few years ago from Hobbycraft and it's from DoCrafts' Papermania range.  My finishing touch was to add my buttons and I used Spellbinders Sewing Elements to cut them.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Milk Coffee - Make It Cute
Crafty Ribbons Challenge #39 - Button Up
A Gem of a Challenge - Dies and Punches

Be sure to check out my teamies creations.  Hope you can join in our challenge this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #158 - What's Inside

Hi Crafty Friends,

It must be Wednesday as we have a brand new challenge for you at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  We loved all of your romantic and heart projects last week - what a lot of love is going on in the world this week!  The winners and Top 3 are on the blog now so do take a look.

And now to let you in on our new challenge, we have the brilliant Beccy and she has chosen...

What's Inside

We would like to see the inside of your cards decorated.  You can decorate it in any way you like, just make sure there is something extra special in there for the recipient.

Our sponsor this week is one of my faves - Stamp Fairy.  You can click here to check out their fab designs.  The randomly picked winner will receive a $10 voucher to spend in the online store.

So, I bet you are wondering what I've created this week, so without further ado...

Isn't he cute?  This is Garden Goblins 1 from Stamp Fairy and you can find him here.  I took him into Serif and used the Cut Out Studio to cut away the main white part of the mushrooms.  I added a red polkadot background paper behind and then once printed out I fussy cut around with scissors and a craft knife.  I coloured using my ProMarkers and Flexmarkers in Satin, Almond, Dusky Pink, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Caramel, Burnt Umber, Lipstick Red, Ruby, Surf Blue, Aquamarine and Soft Aqua.  I hope you can see the shading.

My red layer is a piece of Coredinations cardstock which I distressed with my Tim Holtz paper distresser.  I embossed the mushroom frame from the Cuttlebug Freshly Picked set and then sanded back to reveal a bit more of the design.  My circle of clouds was made using a Darice folder and an X-Cut circle die.  I printed the blue and brown papers from Serif, recolouring using the colour picker tool.  My card blank is from Hunkydory and I used Antique Linen Distress Ink to age the edge. 

I layered up more of the papers that I had used on the front and then added a border of mushrooms.  This paper was also printed from Serif.  My mushroom die is by C.C. Designs and I've had it in my stash for ages but only just cut with it today.  I used a stamp set, with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Fired Brick, that was a free gift from Create and Craft as part of my club membership.

I hope you can link up your creations this week.  The team have come up with some brilliant ideas to I hope you can visit them for some inspiration too.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot Valentine's Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

It's here!  Today is day for The Cuttlebug Spot Valentine's Blog Hop.  We will be hopping all week long!

I hope you are all excited to hop with us.  We have some amazing inspiration from the DT and we would love to see your creations too.  So, let us begin.  All you have to do is visit each of the blogs of the DT, following the list in green below, give us a follow and comment on our Blog Hop post and then link up using the usual linky after the main post on The Cuttlebug Spot blog.  We have great prizes this week too so make sure you are in it to win it!

This is my card for our Valentine's Blog Hop...

Not a traditional colour scheme but I hope that you all see the message I was trying to portray - you are the key to my heart.    I started with some gorgeous gold matt cardstock and used my Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Squares to make a card blank.  I added a layer of brown pearlescent cardstock and then embossed a piece of the gold cardstock using my Cuttlebug with the Couture Creations Without a Lock embossing folder.  This is a new folder that also came with a great mini cogs embossing folder called Replacements. 

For my top layer, I ran an X-Cut die through my Cuttlebug to create an aperature and then added some Creative Expressions silky crush ribbon in gold.  My sentiment topper came from the new Spellbinders Framed Tags One set, also cut on my Cuttlebug.  I embossed with gold embossing powder and heated with my heat tool.  The stamp actually has tiny hearts within the lettering but it hasn't really shown up with the heat embossing.  The key was cut using my new Silhouette Portrait.  It is so clever and easy to use.  I just need another three days a week to be able to play some more!

Now then, on to the Blog Hop sequence...

The Cuttlebug Spot

Kerry

Jennifer

Deneen

Brianna

Gloria

Rachel (you are here)

Andy

Jannie

The Cuttlebug Spot

I really hope you can join in with us on our blog hop.  Don't forget, your next stop is Andy.  The prizes are really something this week.

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Love Is In The Air

Hiya,

I'm back with another challenge brought to you by The Cuttlebug Spot.  We are in the mood for love and have lots of romantic inspired challenges for you during February.  If you haven't already, mark your calendars for 12 February as we are having a Valentine's Blog Hop with loads of great prizes to be won.  Hope you can all pop by and join in.

So this week we would like to see projects on the theme of...

Love Is In The Air

Easy peasy for February, right?!  Just make sure that your card features something romantic and get those Cuttlebugs cranking!

Here is my card...

Super romantic!  I have to say I've never made a Valentine's card before!  I'm still looking for Mr Right so I won't be sending any either!

I started by using my brand new birthday present even though my birthday isn't until the end of April!  My parents bought me a Silhouette Portratit!  Yippie!  I used my new toy to cut the swirly heart frame with matt black card and layered this onto a double layer of red vellum.  I whipped out my Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tags One and Cuttlebug for the sentiment which was embossed with silver embossing power.  I curved the tag over the edge of my craft table.  I matted my topper onto red mirri-card and then onto pearlescent black card.  I finsihed off with the four gems.

Hope you can join in with our romantic challenge this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Simple Christmas Tags

Hi All,

I made these tags to add to my craft stall in November.  I sold quite a few and thought I would share them with you all today as there is only a week left until the big day and these are really simple to make.

I used my Picturesque Cricut cartridge and cut the tags at 3.5" from Centura Pearl cardstock by Crafter's Companion. 

The tag on the left was stamped with Merry Christmas in silver ink and then I added a silver mirri-paper snowflake cut from Spellbinders Create a Flake Four on the Cuttlebug, topping with a blue gem.  I repeated this for the right-hand tag but changed direction and left off the gem.  I used Spellbinders 2012 Snowflake Pendant for this tag.

The centre tag was embossed on the Cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder on the bottom-half only to leave room to write on the back.  I used silver mirri-paper again for the snowflake from Spellbinders 2012 Snowflake Pendant.  I sure do like those snowflakes!

I used baker's twine from Creative Expressions for the ties in blue, red and green.  I'm off to add these to some parcels.  Happy wrapping!

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Create a Banner

Hi Everyone, 

What a great seasonal challenge last week at The Cuttlebug Spot and I think I know which season you all love!  We had fantastic entries.  I hope you can join us again this week.

We would like you to...

Create a Banner

This can either be on a card or project or as an actual banner - whatever takes your fancy.  We have some great inspiration over on The Cuttlebug Spot blog so be sure to check it out.  Please remember it is one entry per person.

We have a great sponsor this week with a $20 voucher for the lucky winner and here is a little about them...

Boys Rule Scrapbooks kits is a monthly scrapbook kit club for those of us who love to paper craft boy subjects. Care and consideration is key as each kit is assembled for the boys. Cool embellies are paired with handsome papers you will love to play with each month.

Boys Rule Scrapbook kits also has exclusive embellies with each kit....they are all different and very unique, and are included each month just for you.

It's fun to create when you have a compelte kit that is designed for the memories of dirt, grunge and smelly things!

********** 

And now for my card...

Yip, there's a penguin in my cocoa!  Isn't this image adorable?  It's a new one from The Paper Shelter.  I started by taking my image into My Craft Studio and printing matching papers using the colour picker tool.  I used an 8" square card blank from eBay.  I attached the coral paper with double-sided sticky tape.  My three strips were just plain when they started but I used a Lili of the Valley stamp set and some yellowy gold ink to stamp all over.  I mounted onto gold mirri-card and attacehd with foam pads.

The embossed panel is also layered with gold mirri-card.  I used a snowflake embossing folder for texture.  My super cute image was cut with Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Six.  I mounted onto gold glitter card and then added two Memory Box snowflake flourish dies. 

My finishing touch was to add my banner.  I used gold elastic cord and then cut the individual flags using my Cricut Expression 2 and the Baby Shower cartridge.  I stamped using the ClarityStamp Letterbox set in the same yellowy gold ink.  I added a foam pad to the back of each flag to give dimension.

I hope you can join us this week at The Cuttlebug Spot with your banner projects and don't forget about our great sponsor prize.

Happy Crafting,

Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Season Greetings

Hi Everyone,

I hope you've had a great week and avoided the dreaded ice.  It's been terrible here.  I don't know which is worse - the roads or the pavements! 

Thanks to those who joined us last week at The Cuttlebug Spot for our Scrap Sandwich challenge.  I loved that challenge and try to use scraps as much as possible - I certainly have enough! 

Now on to our new challenge for this week...

Season Greetings

We would like you to design a project featuring one of the four seasons - SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN/FALL or WINTER.  Simples!  We also have two great prizes this week...

First Prize:  $20.00 gift card to Joann's 

Second Prize:  $20.00 Stamps Alive online store

I did think about doing a winter themed card since I still have a ton of Christmas cards to make but then I found this super image on one of my new Cricut cartridges.  Yip, I went a bit mental and ordered 4 new cartridges - Baby Shower, December 25th, Nate's ABC and Ornamental Iron 2.  Very naughty so close to Christmas!

Anyway, enough rambling, here is my card

I started my making a stepper card on my Ultimate Pro and then attached a piece of cloudy paper to the back panel.  This was customised in Serif's Craft Artist Professional 2.  I used two different colours of Coredinations cardstock for the hills and just tore those by hand.  My sentiment stamp is from my stash.

My hot air balloons are from the Baby Shower Cricut cartridge.  I love the versatility of this cartridge as you can make so many projects that are not baby themed.  Although I love the 3-D pram on it too!  I cut one at 4", one at 3" and one at 2" from yellow cardstock and then added the banners in blue.  The two on the right were attacehd with a piece of acetate.  I attached the biggest one with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue.  Although, I think I would have liked it on foam pads.  Hey ho!

And now for the inside...

I added another layer of the cloudy paper and Coredinations cardstock.  My sentiment layer is from Spellbinders Labels Twenty and I cut this out on my Cuttlebug.  I've left this blank for now as I don't have a recipient in mind yet.

Don't forget there are two great prizes on offer this week so why not give it a try and link up your creation.  Can't wait to see what you make.

Happy Crafting,
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Feathers

Hi Everyone,

Firstly a huge welcome to my new followers.  Thanks to everyone for checking out my blog and all your lovely comments.  I'm on my way to the big 100 and I'm planning to put together a little giveway when I reach that milestone :)

Can you believe that it is already my second post for The Cuttlebug Spot?  Nope, neither can I!  Well this week we are all using...

Feathers

So all you have to do is use a feather on your project and link it up.  We also have two special prizes.  The first one is a set of three 5x7 Cuttlebug Folders.  This set will go to the winner of the random project entry using the Linky.

Geometric Rings, Wicker Weave and Bit of Paisley 

5x7 includes coordinating border 

The second prize is a $20.00 gift card to Michaels Craft Store.  All you need to do to enter to win this prize is simply leave a comment at The Cuttlebug Spot and tell us what is on your Black Friday shopping list.... and if you comment after Black Friday...do tell us if you got what you wanted.  

So I had better show you my feathery inspiration...

I started with some brown pearlescent cardstock and used the Spellbinders M-bossability Venetian embossing folder to add the pattern.  I took a sanding block and ran all over to reveal the pattern further.  I covered this with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Fired Brick and then attached to a custom-made card blank. 

I used my Cuttlebug to cut three diamond shapes with Spellbinders Classic Diamonds from orange and red cardstock and then attached these over the edge of the card.  The focal point of my card came from the Spellbinders Venetian Accents.  I used the Classic Diamonds with my Cuttlebug again and then cut two of the borders on my Grand Calibur.  I inked the diamond and borders with the Fired Brick DI.  This is the first time I've used the flourish mask (from Venetian Accents) and it looks so great cut out of different kinds of cardstock.  Can't wait to play again.

I used foam pads for the main topper and left enough space to slot in my feathers.  These are from an embellishment pack by My Craft Studio.

I hope I've given you an idea of how you can incorporate feathers into your creations.  Do check out my teamies creations - brilliant work, girls!  Can't wait to find out what you create.  Don't forget our comment prize too.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #146 - Let's See Those Bears

Hi Lovelies,

Firstly I must apologise for the lateness of this post.  I can't blame Blogger this time though.  My internet at home is completely knackered so I'm having to travel to my parents house to use theirs this week.  Fingers crossed it is sorted for our next challenge.

I hope you've all had a great week.  Thank you again to those who entered our last challenge.  The winners are up on the blog now so check them out at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.

Our wonderful host this week is Wendy and she has chosen a fantastic theme to show off our furry friends...

Let's See Those Bears!

So all you have to do is include a bear on your project and then link it up.  Simples!  Our sponsor is the brilliant Doodle Pantry and the DT were lucky enough to receive some images to use.  They were all so gorgeous, I really had trouble choosing!

Eventually I settled on this pre-coloured cutie.  I love the bright green, blue and yellow accents.  Doodle Pantry were also kind enough to send us a couple of matching papers and I have used the checked one on my card. 

I started by embossing the card blank with a dotty embossing folder run through my Cuttlebug.  I added washi tape in three colours to co-ordinate.  This is the first time I've used washi tape and I think it's fab.  The colours were such a great match too. 

I used Spellbinders Labels Twenty Six for my layers and then added a couple of layered flowers.  The centre gem came free with a magazine last month.  I may add a sentiment later but at the moment I've kept it sentiment-free.

I hope you can join us for some beary fun this week.  Can't wait to check out your great projects.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Challenge #110 - Leap into action...

We loved looking through your entries for the Green, White and Blue challenge last week over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  Who knew there were so many shades of green and blue!  Thanks to everyone who entered.  Pop over to the blog to see if you were our lucky winner.

As most of you will know, we have an extra day this month, making 2012 a Leap Year!  The theme this week is based around this and we want you to...

Leap into Action

You can choose anything that leaps or jumps and this theme is perfect to let your creative juices flow and see what you end up creating.  The lucky winner will receive crafty goodness from Joanna Sheen. 

I have chosen a frog and here is my card:-

Now, I know what you're thinking - "Last week was green, white and blue!"  Well, I didn't set out to make a card with these colours but this is how it turned out and I kinda like it!  I cut a piece of the Anna Stemplewska black and white dotty paper and attached with double sided sticky tape. 

To get the water effect, I crumpled up a piece of copy paper and then inked up my speedball brayer in Big and Juicy Waterfall and ran it over the crumpled paper.  Then I bayered over the bottom part of the card.  I waited a little while to let the ink dry and then put the top half of the card inside the Happy Birthday embossing folder and passed it through my Cuttlebug.  I attached this with foam tape.  The frog was cut with my Cricut Expression 2 from the Paisley cartridge and added using foam pads.  I coloured the American seam binding with my Cyan Promarker. 

Hope this challenge does send you all hopping mad!

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

Distressed Butterfly Tag

To be honest, this tag was a bit of a happy accident.  I was playing around with my new Cuttlebug embossing folders and found a scrap bit of Black Magic Coredinations cardstock.  Next thing I knew the sanding block was out and I was distressing away to my heart's content!  I managed to make the entire tag out of the waste card and funnily enough didn't use the embossing folders in the end.  The base for the tag is a cropped Spellbinders Labels die and I inked the edges in Tim Holtz distress ink - Fired Brick, which hasn't show up very well in the photo.  I ran the blade of my craft knife along the edge of the tag base. 

The black layer is a piece of the crumpled up Black Magic Coredinations cardstock which has been sanded.  I die cut the butterflies twice from the same coredinations cardstock using a Sizzix die (bought from the Stampin' Up catalogue).  It works like a dream through the cuttlebug and is my favourite butterfly die.  I sanded the butterflies to show up the embossing and then finished it off by gluing together with Pinflair Glue Gel.

Flutterby Thanks

This was a quick thank you card for my jewellery making tutor, Anita.  I did a 10 week course in jewellery making earlier this year and Anita was so lovely that I thought it would be a nice thing to do for her to say thanks. 

I cut the butterflies out using Spellbinder dies and then inked through with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China.  The purple dotty butterflies were a little trickier!  I had to draw round the die and then cut them out by hand as they only come in one size.  I embossed them with a dotty embossing folder run through the Cuttlebug and then added some more of the Distress Ink to make the dots stand out.  The sentiment was stamped using the peg alphabet letters from Stamping with Dimension. 

Knock on Wood!

This will be my brother's birthday card when he turns 26 at the end of June.  He is a joiner so I knew that I wanted to incorporate some toppers in this theme.  I made the base card using the Ultimate Pro by scoring the sections before cutting.  I used a brown textured card for the base to give the effect of wood.  The blue toppers were made using white card and a Mica Mask.  I dabbed blue ink through the mask using a make-up sponge and then cut them to size. 

The Woodware tool stamps were stamped in black ink and then run through the Cuttlebug with Spellbinders Labels 8.  I ran the same blue ink over the edges of the toppers to tie-in with the masked toppers.  The paintbrush stoppers were also stamped in black and raised up with foam pads.  The Happy Birthday stamp was from a greetings selection from the Hobbycraft Store.  This card could easily be adapted for Father's Day.

Shooting Star

This Little Star stamp from the third set of stamps designed by Suzanne Woolcott for Sugar Nellie is just so cute.  The embossed purple shape was actually originally printed from the computer for another project and ended up being put to better use on this one.  I ran Spellbinders through my Cuttlebug to make the nesting shapes and also the bases for the letters which were stamped using an acrylic peg.  The stamped image was coloured using Promarkers and this was my first proper attempt at using them.  More practice needed there, I think!  I actually the Promarkers to colour the purple base shape.  Luckily I had a colour that matched the printed shape on top perfectly. 

90 Best Wishes

This is the card I made for my Gran's 90th birthday last December.  I ran a daisy embossing folder through the Cuttlebug for the pattern on the left-hand side.  The image was achieved by using the nail varnish remover technique.  I photocopied the photo in black and white and then used nail remover to transfer it onto lemon coloured paper.  The flowers have been glittered in the centres and at the edges.  I used a gold peel-off sentiment to finish the card.  I also added a gold border peel-off to the side of embossed paper which was done after the photograph was taken.