JBC:Flurries & a big NOEL plus daring faves

hi all! happy monday!  i know – oxymoron right 😛  i had to run to the grocery store this morning around 8 and i had ICE on my windshield!!!  yikes!  but yesterday was wonderful and the trees are INCREDIBLE right now!  i LOVE fall color!  we never had that down south (NO i do not consider virginia the south – i am talking about south louisiana – south of new orleans.)  anyway we didn’t have any fall color change on our trees – heck we BARELY had winter.  as a kid i always thought it was some kind of myth.  then i moved north – first missouri and then here – WOW!!!  makes my jaw drop every year!  like some of the trees are on FIRE!

so apparently i should have bought some lottery tickets last week or something.  i think i got three challenge awards in one week!!!!!!!!!!  i one a gift certificate from the cuttlebug spot, made the top three scoops at pile it on, and got a mention over on just buggin!!!  i think i have been doing challenges for 2 years now and have had this happen like twice before 😛  talk about floating on air hee heee!!!!  i enjoyed all of these challenges immensely and felt i needed a change so i hope to fit them into my weekly crafting every week!!!  starting now HAHAHHA!

tried something new for today’s card – new for me anyway!!  the challenge over at Just Buggin’ is to make a die cut shape card with your cricut.  well i NEVER use the card feature – mostly because i have the baby bug so the card is small and envelopes even smaller and it just frustrates me.  BUT i really started looking at them for this challenge and wow!  some really good stuff:

after i cut the main card i cut some layers for the snowflake and then a frame with nesties.  here is the second reason i get frustrated with the card (tag, whatever) feature – the layers don’t quite match up – BUT i made it work!   i took an acetate sheet from the back of a set of studio G stamps and colored it with alcohol ink.  then i adhered it to the back behind the snowflake cut out.  i cuttlebugged a border and then added some snowflake skittles and a cute little snowman face skittle.

all of the layered pieces are popped up on foam tape. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i also did the inside:

i cut matching pieces to cover the inside so the acetate sheet edges were hidden.  i used a nestie to cut the windo out for the snowflake. 

The snowflake border and inside image/sentiment are studio G stamps – don’t let anyone tell you these little $1 babies don’t stamp well!!!  look how crisp those itty bitty letters are!  i always use brilliance dew drops.

 

 

 

 

 

i had SO much fun with that one i decided to do another one but i got a little fancier – broke out my cricut design studio.  i have had DS for 1 1/2 years and have barely dabbled in it at all.  but i really like what i did – totally nothing fancy by DS terms but still cool:

the card shape is just a shape on the cartridge.  in DS i put the shape on the right and then the shape on black out feature on the left and welded them together so the cut out to form a card.  then i also cut out the frame the same size from DS.  i outlined the letters with holly stickles – a cool mix of green glitter with a bit of red.  added some red sparkling pezabling and the front was done!

the letters were cut out and well that just bothers me so once again i HAD to put on a backing.  i cut the blackout shape again from clear acetate.  wanna know where i got it this time?  it is the cover that comes off a new cricut mat 🙂  i covered it with alcohol inks and attached it with glossy accents.  i put another frame on the inside edges to give it a finished look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

here’s the best part – all the extras that were cut out of the noel piece and the frame were perfect for a second card with no additional cutting:

i edged everything with brilliance galaxy gold and also brushed gold over the raised embossing.  this time i did my stickles outline with candy cane – red glitter with a bit of gold mixed in.  this gold ribbon went perfectly and i finished off with a christmas yoyo, a green printed holly skittle and some more red pezabling!  this covers the daring cardmakers challenge use at least 5 of your favorite things on one item – 10 if you can!  i used:

1. cricut

2. cuttlebug embossing

3. yoyos

4. skittles

5. pezabling

6. stickles

7. metallic ink

my hubby really liked these with the cutout feature so i might have to experiment some more with them.  i can do tags too!!!  hahahha!  i may devote one weekend to tags since i need a bunch of them.

and now i am off to see what the mysterious pouring sounds are i hear coming from the kitchen……..my child NEVER stops getting into stuff….

Stamps: Studio G

Ink: Brilliance; alcohol inks

Paper: SU & scraps

The Rest: cricut – noel & joys of the season, stickles – holly, candy cane; ribbon, yoyo, skittles, pezabling, acetate; cuttlebug