Popsicle Toes

DonnaMundinger

If someone had told me I was gonna make 31 cards in 31 days I would have said "IMPOSSIBLE!" Especially after the major slump I was in during the holidays. Well here it is, Jan 31 and this is my final post for Jen's card a day challenge. Thank you so much Jen for motivating me to get my rear in gear. They certainaly haven't all been my best work, but creating is creating and if nothing else you learn from your mistakes. LOL that being said, I really wanted to go out with a bang but I'm afraid the "big deal" things I've been working on the last couple of days are either not finished or will come with a surprise. :) So here's my contribution for today, not a card, but a tiny 2 1/2 x 3" purse from Tags, Bags, Boxes and more that I just finished to bring to the daughter of my BFF who adores little things. Our DH's rented snow shoes today and drove up to the mts. for a winter hike. Do you believe it? Men! At least he didn't ask me to go. LOL Anyway, Lisa is making a yummy dinner for us all so I better get moving. Bop by Jen's BLOG and congratulate her too. HUGS!

DonnaMundinger

Well we're down to the wire in Jen's card a day challenge! It's been loads of fun, but DEFINITELY a challenge. I found this scrap I had cuttled with the Stylized Flowers folder using the DCWV metallic stack and thought it was kinda pretty but needed some jazzing up so I started to color the embossing with some metallic gel writer pens. I was really liking the way it was turning out until I realized the ink was rubbing off on my hand. I buffed a bit off with a Q-tip but still really liked it so I decided to emboss some acetate using the same folder and put it on top to protect it. I'm afraid that's why there's so much glare in the pic. I really didn't want to use adhesive so I cut a mat and used a corner punch that allowed me to fit both layers in without it. I've been sort of obsessed with butterflies lately I guess because they're easy with the cuttlebug or punches and they add so much to a card. Ditto with the metallic words and beads so I'm sorry for the repetition but you gotta do what you got to do. Be sure to hop on over to Jen's BLOG to say "hi" too.

DonnaMundinger

I am so pleased and thankful to receive this lovely blog award from Linda at Pinklilacs. She is a sweet and creative lady and I am honored that she thought of me. Be sure to stop by her BLOG to see her beautiful work. Now I am to list 7 things that I love about me.

1) I love that even after 33 years of marriage when I look into my husband's eyes my heart still flutters.

2) I love that when we talk to our kitties we refer to ourselves as "Mommy" and "Daddy".

3) I love that in retirement I have the freedom to craft as often as I want.

4) I love that all of my friends and I are a mutual admiration society.

5) I love that through blogging, inspiration is only a click away.

6) I love that even though crafting has replaced much of my exercise I haven't gained any weight. LOL

7) I love that most of my dreams have come true.

As far as sharing this award I cannot possibly narrow it down to 7 people. So to all of you who encourage and inspire me daily, this award is for you. Please feel free to post it on your blog with love from me to you. (But if you do, I better see a list. LOL)

Now on to my quick card for day 29 in Jen's card a day challenge. Thought I'd play a bit more with my new Nesties and tried cutting a shape with 2 dies inside each other at the same time. Lo and behold it worked! I embossed it that way too. Then I cut another hot pink square that I cuttled with Swiss dots to show through the opening. (BTW Lillie, cutting right side up took care of my problem, thanks!) I also wanted to use my new Cuttlebug folder that came with the baby words die cut plate. Love those big dots and the space in the middle which I mostly covered up with ribbon. Added bunches of butterflies both Cuttlebug and Martha Stewart, some silver adhesive beads and "dream". So that's all for today folks but be sure to stop by Jen's blog to see what she came up with today.

DonnaMundinger

This week's challenge over at Bitten by the Bug is to use the rose cut from the Indy Art cartridge. I LOVE roses so of course I LOVE this cut and decided I couldn't do just one. I thought they would be pretty on one of my Valentine door hangers. The door hanger itself is cut from chipboard using the deep housing blade and the Wedding solutions cartridge. I cut the double hearts on shadow, and then twice again in regular. I cuttled the bottom regular cut with Swiss dots, then trimmed off the open heart on the second and used D'vine Swirls for more texture. For the roses I first welded 3 of them using Design Studio and the shadow feature. I cut 1 more shadow and several layers of the regular and blackout features to allow for layering. The top rose petal layer is cut out of suede paper from Hot Off The Press, inked, and attached at different spots using both pop dots and glue dots to give a sort of ruffley effect. I wish you could see that better in the pic. Finally, adhesive gems and a ribbon were added to embellish. Be sure to stop by Bitten by the Bug and see what the talented designers have come up with. I can't believe there are only 3 more days in January. Wow, how time flies! I also can't believe I've kept up with Jen's card a day challenge. I'll miss trying but am sure I'll still be stopping by her blog on a regular basis. You can too by clicking HERE.

DonnaMundinger

I was extremely motivated to get caught up on Jen's card a day challenge so I went back to my new Hello Kitty cartridge and started playing with the cherries again. Although there is a card feature for the cherries on the cartridge, it is not using the shadow feature so the actual writing part inside is VERY small. To remedy that I designed my own using Design Studio and the shadow feature so I'd have plenty of space. The weird thing about this cartridge is the sizing of the shadow is much larger than the regular cut so the card is welded at 4" but the actual cherry parts are cut at 4 1/2". Also there was still enough room for a second shadow (the black and white polka dot) so I tweaked a 3 3/4" shadow to fit appropriately. Of course I chalked, doodled and popped the cherries (oooh, that didn't quite sound right LOL) and added a gingham bow. I love how bright and cheery it turned out. We're on the home stretch of this January challenge and I again thank Jen for giving me the motivation to keep going. Thanks also for reminding of the polka dot challenge over at Caardvarks. I'm there! Be sure and stop by her BLOG and say Hi. Whew! I'm gonna need a vacation when this is done but there are some new and exciting things for me in the works in February so I can't wait.

DonnaMundinger

Okay, I'm almost embarrassed to post this but I'm DETERMINED to finish Jen's January card a day challenge and I'm still playing catch up so here's yesterday's card. It's done entirely with reject and scraps from The Cuttlebug Spot challenge card I posted yesterday so let's just chalk it up to that. With the exception of the metallic heart from J's, and the $1 ribbon from M's it's all cuttlebug, Heart Blocks, With Love border folder, and Love Language emboss/die combo for the small hearts and the double heart cut out. No bells, whistles, dimension, or anything but hey, they can't all be masterpieces. LOL Jen of course continues to make masterpieces each day and they can be seen HERE. She even got a mention in the Cricut CHIRP newsletter this week as did my friends Margie and Lillie! click on their names to view their fabulous blogs. Congratulations ladies! Hugs, D

DonnaMundinger

Being a Guest Designer on The Cuttlebug Spot I got a jump on this week's challenge but couldn't post until it was announced so my card 25 for Jen's card a day challenge is late again. This week we were to do a card for our husband or "sweetheart". I kept racking my brain for sweet and romantic but it just didn't come. I'd recently purchased a DCWV Rockstar matstack and especially loved these shiny pink lips. I remembered the big ol' juicy smackers from the Indy Art Cricut cartridge and decided to combine it all with my new Cuttlebug "Love Language" die/emboss combo. I just happened to have pink foil paper from Best Occassions that embosses like a dream. I also used it for the blackout feature for the lips. I didn't have pink glitter cardstock that matched so I cut the top layer of the lips in pink cardstock and glittered it myself by running it through my Zyron top side down and sprinkling on Doodlebug Sugar coating. Tell me those aren't kissable! LOL The large open heart is from Calligraphy, and the small hugs and kisses and double hearts are from the die part of the Cuttlebug "Love Language" set. I think both Jen and I are struggling this last week with the card a day challenge. Be sure to bop over to cheer her on HERE. We both think we deserve a spa day when January is over. LOL And be sure to stop by The Cuttlebug Spot to see what the fabulous Design Team members have come up with. Thank you Nilda for allowing me to participate. I'm loving it!

DonnaMundinger

As usual I'm playing catch up in Jen's card a day challenge. Yesterday my first Nestabilities came in the mail so I wanted to try a tent topper card like my sweet friend DeeDee had done. She is sooo talented and such an inspiration so be sure to visit her blog HERE. I also couldn't resist the cherries from Hello Kitty so here you go, a simple note card but I think the colors are cute and fresh. Love that ribbon from M's $1 bin! Again, thanks to Jen who has kept me crafting up a storm this month. Be sure to see what she's up to HERE.

DonnaMundinger

This week's challenge over at Hallmark Scrapbook is to do a card with "wings". Could be a butterfly, bird, or whatever using any cartridge. I've been dying to cut the bird from Indy Art and also wanted to try out my new Wildcard. I cut the doily shaped card at 6". The shadow of the bird and 2 sets of clouds from Paper Pups were welded using Design studio as a base for the design. I then cut more clouds (at 3") in both shadow and regular, cuttling the top clouds with D'vine Swirls and chalking the edges. The layers were popped for dimension. The bird is also cut at 3" using the regular and blackout features. The tummy is chalked lightly and pink rhinestones were added for bling and a blue one for the eye. The pink chipboard heart is Melissa Francis and the card stock is My Mind's Eye, Bazzill, and BoBunny. The ribbons, fiber, flowers and stickpin add a slighly "shabby" feel which I love. I suppose this could be a Valentine, but I think I'm going to save it to give to my MIL for Mother's Day. (How great to be ahead of the game for once. LOL) I am not however ahead of the game for Jen's Card a Day Challenge as this should have been posted yesterday. :-) Be sure to stop by Hallmark Scrapbook and check out what others have done, and also to Jen's Blog to see her beautiful creations.

DonnaMundinger

My Hello Kitty Cricut cartridge FINALLY arrived and I was so anxious to try it out. Jezebel wanted me to make a Valentine for Daddy IMMEDIATELY and I was happy to oblige. This cartridge is really a no brainer with shaped cards already on there for the cutting (no messing with welding in Design Studio) so I was able to do it all yesterday afternoon at Leah's (BeeCherryLady on the Cricut message board) while we gabbed away. LOL Jezzie chose red, black and white to match the cards Goliath and I were giving DH (I'm surprised she didn't want pink and sparkly) so I decided to cut the bow and heart out of red metallic cardstock to add a little bling. The bow was cuttled with my Swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and "I love you " was embossed on the heart. The kitty herself I cut out of white glossy cardstock and I added some glossy accents to her eyes and nose and popped her bow, the heart and paws for dimension. A really simple card but isn't she sweet!? This is card #22 for Jen's card a day challenge. Be sure to pop over to her blog HERE to see all of the gorgeous things she's been creating.

Also I was delighted to see that my new blogging friend Linda at Pinklilacs had tagged me. This is a fun way to get to know your cyber friends better. In this case I was to go to where I store my pictures and find my 6th folder and post the 6th picture in the folder and explain it. Mine is a picture of my family room fireplace all decked out for Christmas. All my rooms have themes for Christmas and the family room is "Christmas in the Vineyard" as we live in Livermore which is CA wine country of the East Bay (of San Francisco). Now I shall tag 6 friends who visit my blog that I would like to get to know better. They are:

Click on their names to view their fabulous blogs. Hugs!

DonnaMundinger

My day 21 of Jen's card a day challenge is this week's challenge at Bitten by the Bug. We were to use the heart cut from the Wedding Solutions cartridge. This is my favorite heart cut and I even used it last week for my Valentine door hanger and for a split second considered using that design but I'd already posted it on my blog, and hey, wouldn't that be cheating? LOL Instead I designed a gate fold card using Design Studio using Plantin Schoolbook for the rectangle and the shadow feature of the hearts for the cut outs. The top layer was designed in the same manner. I adhered another shadow of the heart to the inside to show through the opening and popped the gorgeous filigree heart on top. I embellished with silver adhesive beads, organdy ribbon, and metallic hearts from JoAnn's. the "kisses" is from the $ bin at Michael's. Patterned paper is from K & Co. Be sure to check out the beautiful creations from the Design Team at Bitten by the Bug, and also Jen's blog for even more inspiration.

DonnaMundinger

I'm so proud to receive this award from Caryn (ScottishScrapper on the Cricut message board). She is a lovely person and terrific crafter and I thank her from the bottom of my heart. I think her blog name is just the cutest and it's so inspiring to see her work. Please visit her at Glitter Me Silly. To accept the award I must list 5 more addictions (wow, I'm working on #11-15 now LOL) so here goes:

11) Altoids Cinnamon gum (I should have listed this at #1, I'm a chain chewer and buy 20 tins at a time)

12) Collecting Cricut cartridges (#32 comes tomorrow and I've only had my Cricut since May)

13) Playing with Cricut Design Studio

14) Looking at magazines (but Vogue and InStyle have been replaced by Cards and PaperTrends)

15) Wine (now, now, I don't need AA or anything, but I'm especially fond of red which goes so well with my previously listed addictions pizza and chocolate.)

Now I'm supposed to pass this on to 5 other deserving people but honestly I'm encouraged and inspired every day by the wonderful people on the Cricut mb, my fabulous new blogging friends, and each of you who visits my blog and posts a comment. Please feel free to post this award on your blog with love from me to you. I would however like to call out Jen in particular. Her Card a Day Challenge has gotten me over a major slump and has encouraged me to craft up a storm this month. Be sure to visit her fabulous blog HERE.

Now on to the card. My BFF was telling me over the weekend that she had talked to her mom in Rhinelander Wisconsin and it was 40 below zero and they were still gonna have the annual snowmobile festivities and race across the lake in nearby Eagle River. (Are you kidding me?!) I made this card for her using my Graphically Speaking cartridge and welded the 40 and ! from Plantin Schoolbook to it using Design Studio. I used the snowflakes Cuttlebug folder on the glitterstock background and Swiss dots on the letters. The cool snowflakes are from Me & My Big Ideas and they're popped for dimension. Inside the Brrr... is also from Graphically Speaking. Glad it's still in the 70's here (at least for today). This completes day 20 in Jen's Card a Day Challenge. WOOHOO!

DonnaMundinger

WooHoo! This week I had the honor of being a Guest Designer for The Cuttlebug Spot. Thank you so much Nilda for giving me this opportunity. Each week The Cuttlebug Spot challenges Cuttlebug lovers to use their bugs in new and exciting ways. This week is a color challenge. We were to design a Valentine WITHOUT using the colors red or pink. My inspiration came from the yummy Offray ribbon I got at my LSS (local scrapbooking store, in this case Richard's Arts and Crafts right here in Livermore) which reminded me of the cute adhesive conversation hearts I got at Michael's. I used my new Martha Stewart border punch on the turquoise mat. The peach background is from the DCWV glitter matstack cuttled with the Swiss dots folder. I punched scalloped squares out of white glitter cardstock, cuttled them with fancy frames and added 3 of those darling hearts. Click HERE to visit The Cuttlebug Spot to see what the fabulous designers have done with this challenge. I'm proud to say I'm still hanging in there with Jen's Card a Day Challenge. Click HERE to visit her fabulous blog.

DonnaMundinger

The challenge over at Hallmark Scrapbook this week is to make a card using a kitty cut from any of the Cricut cartridges. I was trying to hold out until my Hello Kitty Greetings came but of course it didn't show. Instead I chose the cat from Zooballoo and made a shaped card using Design Studio. I welded the shadow feature of the kitty to the open heart also from Zooballoo. The patterned heart paper is from Stampin'Up and the dots are BoBunny. I cut the cat again using both the regular and outline feature and popped it for dimension. His lidded google eyes are from JoAnn's. I used a wine charm ring and alpha beads for the collar and added a bow. "Daddy" is also spelled out in Alpha Beads. I wanted the card to have a childlike feel because Goliath will be giving it to his Daddy for Valentine's Day. Jezzy is holding out for the Hello Kitty cart. I can't believe it's already day 18 in Jen's Card a Day challenge. If you'd have told me last month I would be able to keep up with this I would have said "NO WAY!" Thanks Jen for being such a great motivater. Please visit Jen's blog HERE and you will be motivated too.

DonnaMundinger

Oops, another late post for Jen's card a day challenge. Had a great day crafting yesterday with my friend Leah (BeeCherryLady on the Cricut mb) but as usual we spent much of the day chatting so I had to do a quickie. Don't you just love it when the paper does most of the work? I was like a kid in a candy store last week at M's with their paper pads at 50% off. I loved this Me & My Big Ideas paper so much I bought it in both the 12x12 AND the 8x8 sizes. I also scored on these cute metallic adhesive words in the $bin and a card was born. I chose a corner of the paper with the pretty flowers and hand cut another flower from the page and popped it for dimension. Then I used my Cuttlebug butterfly die/emboss combo for the butterfly. I cut it twice, embossed the top layer and adhered it only in the middle so the wings would fly, then added some silver adhesive beads to the body to echoe the metallic sentiment. The pink metallic heart dotting the "i" is from J's. Corners are from the Jasmine Cricut cartridge that I cuttled with Swiss dots. The inside was a convenient scrap to which I added 2 more corners and a tiny butterfly from a Martha Stewart punch. Sorry the pix aren't so great. The sun was really shining through the window causing shadows. Be sure to stop by Jen's blog to see all of the wonderful things she's creating. Just click HERE.

DonnaMundinger

Today is day 16 of Jen's Card a Day challenge. I can't tell you how happy I am that I decided to play along with her. She has helped me get over a major slump and provided amazing inspiration. You can visit her blog and see what I mean HERE. I don't know about you, but I often see some scrapping item that I can't live without, I can't wait to get to the store or order it online (and then count the days until it arrives), rejoice when I have it in my hot little hands, and then let it sit for months before I actually use it. This is especially true of some of my Cricut cartridges so I decided to remedy that today. One of the cartridges that fits this catagory is Stamped. Happily I found the word Love on it. I also haven't used Graphically Speaking nearly enough so I cut the U in the rectangle from that cart. The hearts are actually off cuts from my double heart door hanger. I cuttled the pink one with my birds and swirls Cuttlebug folder and used Swiss dots on the Love. The lace border is a Martha Stewart punch. The layout is partly due to the fact I couldn't measure a thing right today but I think it turned out okay. LOL

DonnaMundinger

Today is day 15 of Jen's Card a Day Challenge which means we're almost halfway through. Since DH and I were gone all day and I'm pretty tired I needed to find a quick project if I was gonna stay in the game. I saw the adorable treat pouch Heidi Van Laar did for 3-D Design Challenge and decided to try one myself. It is a simple origami fold I remember doing as a kid called the drink cup leaving the back flap up instead of folded down. I used K&Company Wild Saffron double sided paper and matching dimensional stickers. Just added some ribbon. It literally took me 10 minutes but I think it's really cute and would be great for party favors. Be sure to stop by Jen's blog and Heidi's blog to see their beautiful designs. They are always an inspiration.

DonnaMundinger

This is going to be a lovely day. First I received this beautiful award from Barb. It's called the "Marie Antionette a real person, a real award". Isn't it gorgeous!?! Barb does some amazing stamping so you must go visit her blog Made for Keeps. Thank you so much! I'm passing this lovely award to some of my friends from across the pond. Be sure to stop by for a visit.

Julie

Lana

Caryn

I also found out I won the Bitten by the Bug Star Contest and a wonderful prize from Sweetarts Paperie. Krista and Penny put together the yummiest kits so I'm sooo excited. Thank you so much Regina for the super contest and Krista and Penny for your sponsorship.(Is that a word?) I promise to return and share the love but DH is chomping at the bit. We're driving to the coast for lunch (with the top down) today because it's been in the 70's all week. Jealous y'all?

DonnaMundinger

I know this is not technically a card but I'm sure Jen won't mind. Her Card a Day challenge has kept me crafting and that's really what it's all about. Besides, I can imagine hanging this on someone's door on Valentine's Day sort of like the May Day idea. This was my first try using the Cricut deep housing blade which allowed me to cut the hearts on the shadow feature out of chipboard using the Wedding solutions cartridge. I cut them again in cardstock and adhered them to the chipboard sandwiching some trimmed doilies in between. I used design studio to place the lacy heart inside of the double hearts cut on regular, popped them for dimension and embellished them with adhesive pearls. Organdy ribbon was used for the hanger. Check out Jen's blog HERE to see her wonderful creations.

DonnaMundinger

I have received some lovely blog awards from friends I've met on the Cricut message board. I so appreciate the honor and the inspiration you have given me. The One Lovely Blog Award is fom Sharon and Julie. Your Blog is Fabulous is from Susan. These ladies are amazing and have fabulous blogs themselves. Be sure to click on their names to view their marvelous creations. I'm passing these on to all of my blogging friends who encourage and inspire me daily so feel free to copy these awards, list them on your blog, and let everyone know how much I admire you. A few of you deserve special mention, however, and they are

Thank you again Sharon, Julie, and Susan. Be sure pay them a visit and be sure to check out my nominees' blogs as well, just click on their names. Hummm some of my links aren't working. I'm late for my hair appt so I will have to fix them later. SO SORRY. Okay all fixed but I forgot that the Your Blog is Fabulous award requires a list of your 5 addictions. I listed 5 previously but have so many that I thought I'd add a few. LOL So here's #6-10.

6. Pizza

7. Going out to lunch

8. Shopping (previously for clothes and shoes, now for crafting supplies)

9. Fresh flowers in as many rooms as possible

10. Staying in p.j.'s (I'm with you Susan)

DonnaMundinger

Woo Hoo I'm caught up for Jen's card a day challenge! Wasn't sure I'd get one done today because my dear friend Leah (BeeCherryLady form the Cricut mb) and I got together this afternoon to craft. This usually means we spend the majority of our time talking especially since we hadn't seen each other much during the holidays. My card today is quite simple and graphic, a departure from my usual style. I borrowed Leah's Wildcard cartridge to cut the heart border and cut the "you" twice from Graphically Speaking. The top layer was cuttled with Swiss dots for texture. The only embellies were the conversation hearts I got at M's which inspired the colors I chose. The paper is Me & My Big Ideas. Card measures 6 x 6. Be sure to check out Jen's progress HERE.

DonnaMundinger

Hmmmm, it's a lttle after 3 a.m. and here I am posting yesterday's card for Jen's Card a Day Challenge. This one's only a few hours late so I'm getting closer. Woke up and just couldn't go back to sleep 'til it was done. LOL Do you think I'm taking this too seriously? Anyway, this week's challenge at BBTB is to use the snail from A Walk in my Garden. Ain't she sweet? Had a ball dolling her up with prima flowers and skittles and I just LOVE her googly eye complete with eye lashes. The butterfly that is hitching a ride is a Marthat Stewart punch. I originally designed this shape card with just the leaf until I realized it wouldn't stand up that way so I welded some grass from Zooballoo to the bottom and that did the trick. That leaf is also from WIMG and I chose it because I thought the holes made it look like she was munching on it but as I look at it now it looks more like a big green football. Do love the texture from my Swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and the twig folder on the grass though. Scrapping pads were 50% off last week at M's so I filled my cart. These fun patterns are from Making Memories and Me & My Big Ideas. Be sure to stop by Bitten by the Bug and see the design team's amazing creations (including Jen's) and stop by Jen's Blog to see what else she's been cooking up.