Die Cut Crazy blog hop

Welcome to the Die Cut Crazy Magazine Holiday Blog Hop. The designers have made some wonderful holiday projects to inspire your own holiday crafting with your die cuts. If you just joined our hop, be sure and go back to the Die Cut Crazy Magazine Blog to learn how you can enter to win a prize from Die Cut Crazy Magazine when following the hop from designer to designer.  

My holiday project I am sharing today is...

 When I was a little girl, I had this story I wrote about called Santa's Magic Key and how he used it to get into all the houses around the world where families didn't have a chimney for him to access. And, no, we had a chimney so I think I was very concerned about the other little boys and girls.

On the back of the keys, I have written the special instructions needed...

Cricut - French Manor, p.64 ( 11" )

Really Reasonable Ribbon

bell, chipboard, paper - misc.

Next up in the hop is Anna with Craft with Anna. Go see the amazing project she has prepared for you to enjoy, I can't wait to see it myself!

If you just joined the hop, here is a list of designers so you don't miss any

Debbie  http://www.scrapmequickdesigns.com/

Sandee  http://inthehillsofnorthcarolina.blogspot.com ( you are here ♥ )

Anna http://craftwithanna.blogspot.com

Allie http://mycardparty.com

Melissa http://cardtreasures.wordpress.com

Die Cut Crazy Magazine  http://diecutcrazymag.com/

Thanks for stopping by the Die Cut Crazy Magazine Holiday Blog Hop. I hope
my Santa's Key project inspires you to create your own.  Please leave a
comment to let me know you stopped by.
Stephanie will announce a winner of the overall blog hop on the Die Cut Crazy Blog and Facebook page.

entering Santa's Key in:
Die Cuttin' Diva's - #139 Anything Goes
Craftin Desert Divas - #18 Link it Up Party
Challenges 4 Everybody - #32 Anything Goes


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( And for everyone who is waiting on the winner of the Mixed Media kit to be announce...I promise I am working on it, I am so sorry for the delay!! )
winner has been announced!

Helmar makes Halloween a "snap"

It doesn't have to say Halloween in order to be considered spooky, take this fabulous quote by Morticia Addams, the fictional matriarch of "The Addams Family" created by cartoonist Charles Addams. 

( This was one of my favorite shows as a kid!! Did you watch it? )

To get you in the mood, feel free to trip down memory lane with by watching this:

Are you snapping your fingers and singing along with me? 

Helmar Craft Glue worked beautifully adhering the pearls and rhinestones to the plastic spider.

I added glitter over the glue to add more sparkle.

Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots was perfect for adhering the spider's body to the board. Since he was hollow, I filled up the space with the Liquid Scrap Dots and then smooshed him down to the board and released. When it was released the Liquid Scrap Dots filled in the gap between the board and the spider's body.

I used the Helmar Crystal KOTE Gloss Varnish
to seal in all the inks and sprays that I used creating the background.

Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots

Helmar Crystal KOTE Gloss Varnish

other well enjoyed products:

Really Reasonable Ribbon
Want to Scrap - pearls
Martha Stewart - glitter

I love it when I make something and it sells within 24 hours, 
it was barely hung in the shop before it went home with someone!

entering this snappy sign in:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - spooky
Rhedd and Rosie's challenge blog - #18 Anything Goes 

Paper Playtime - Apples

Ch# 19 APPLES!

Begins: Monday, Sept 16

Ends: Sunday, Sept 29

Sponsor: Cardz TV Stamps http://www.cardztvstamps.blogspot.com/

Prize: 1 set of stamps

(must have USA address)

Since the apple cut already had an opening, I freehand drew a worm and stuck it in there, he then evolved into a Halloween worm. Now to let you know how my mind wanders, you can go HERE to read about why he has both a witches hat and a bow tie, seriously, I am weird sometimes! 
Just sayin'...

Cricut - Doodlecharms, p. 118
Really Reasonable Ribbon - twine
Ranger - Glossy Accents
everything else is from old stash

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Don't forget that the Frosted Design store is having their coupon sale until September 20th!! Go to the post below this one for the codes, and happy shopping!

Piehole: noun

(slang) mouth

pronunciation

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Die Cuttin Divas - #128 ~ Orange and White

Simon Says Stamp, Monday Challenges - Challenge: Make the cut

I cut the moon at 3" and the witch at 3½" just to make sure there was enough 'overhang' to glue the witch properly over the opening of the card.

You can see that when you open the card up there are a couple of bats flying around! :)

Cricut - Paper Trimmings, p. 52

Faber Castell - PITT pen

Really Reasonable Ribbon 

BugBites - Magic Spells stamp set

Folderol: noun

nonsensical talk or action : trivial nonsense

pronunciation
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Creative Inspirations - Inspired by Anything Goes
Anything but a Card - #25 Summer Fun

August 2013 Creative Dare - Let it Go...

My first video uploaded to Youtube! This is a milestone for me!

( insert happy dance )

Things I like about the video:

1. It's right side up :) happy dance....lol

2. intentionally increased the speed so you can see the process in 11 minutes and not 22

3. It doesn't loop continuously

4. It's on Youtube, lol

Things I need to work on:

1. Lighting, must work on that

2. Remember to focus closer to the project

3. talk or music, you do need one or the other

Since the August challenge was to complete your work in less than 90 minutes, I am pleased that I did the "6 x 12" base" design in 22 minutes! I really "let it go", and "let it flow"....lol I actually like how it turned out too. Bonus, huh?

I used my Zinnias for the inspiration, you can see them in the video at the top of the screen, but here's another picture of them, they are the first 2 to bloom this summer. ( I grew them from seeds )

After I did the charcoal I had to spray it and set it, so I took the time to clean up and get ready for the next phase. Overall, I worked on the piece for 1 hour, by far the fastest I've ever completed a work. It's not as detailed as I like but the simplicity kinda works for me. During that time I decided I wanted to add some dimension to the center of the flowers so I painted the centers blue and then using E6000 I adhered some dew drops over that.

For some people the painting freehand might be stressful, but for me it's the stamping. I really have to work at it and I usually goof it up along the way. The highlight was finding out that my gemstone ladybug fit perfectly in the o of Love...♥

I had to add in the "breathe and let go" somewhere on the canvas, after all that's what this piece is about!

And the final result, the finished canvas, the pièce de résistance....

E6000 - adhesive

Apple Barrel - acrylic paint

The Robins Nest - Dew Drops

Golden - gesso

Primo - charcoal pencil

Really Reasonable Ribbon - hemp cord

Stampabilities - alpha stamps

StazOn - ink

Balderdash: noun

  nonsense; empty talk

pronunciation

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Delightful Inspiration - August FREE Stamp of the Month Challenge

Everything that Stickles - Anything Goes

Coffee, Cards & Chocolate - Challenge # 45 ~ Color Inspiration

 I printed out the image and then cut away the sack and placed my kitten in the grass instead. I love the balloon string caught in his paw, I think he had chased it down and is it now his! I cut up along his front paw so that I could slide it out over the grass and his tail has a small dollop of LSD to keep it propped up.

 Just for kicks and giggles, I decided to play around with 3 of my white stickles, to see side by side the difference in them. I uses Diamond around the edge of the balloon, Frosted Lace on the big circles and Star Dust on the small dots. It was a fun experiment. Can you tell the difference? Not so easy on this lavender paper, will have to try this again on black paper.

Ranger - stickles, distress stains, distress markers

Really Reasonable Ribbon - twine

Helmar - Liquid Scrapdots
Cricut - Paper Trimmings, p. 56 ( grass )
Happy Hauntings, p.66 ( grass )
Stretch Your Imagination, p. 60 ( balloon )

Paper Playtime - pattern paper

Ch#15 Use Pattern Paper

Begins: Mon, Jul 22

Ends: Sun, Aug 4

1st Sponsor: 
$15 Gift Cert. to The Robin's Nest
2nd Sponsor: 
1 set of Metal Dies or 1 Stamp Set 
(winner's choice; must have USA address) from My Craft Spot
Winner announced in the WINNERS Page Tab

Do you ever have any trouble mixing pattern paper? I use to, didn't like it one bit actually, but in the last couple of years my thinking has been turned around and now I love it. Here, for my little altered box, I mixed 2 different lines of paper. 

I have fallen in love with boxes, and evidently so have my customers at the Art MoB because this one has already sold! It is made out of the cardboard spool from Christmas ribbon. The bottom and top rounds were also cut from chipboard and attached.

Almost all my boxes come with velcro closures. 

And I paint the insides to match.

I add LSD to keep the wings up and separated so that they won't flatten out, I mean we want the recipient to see all that pretty paper!

Cricut - Paper Trimmings, p. 36 ( butterfly )

p. 52 ( circle )

My Minds Eye - pattern Paper

Prima - pattern paper ( script )

Really Reasonable Ribbon

Helmar - Liquid Scrapdots

Martha Stewart - doily

So I hope you get out your pattern paper and play along with us!

Kubrickian: adjective

From Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) American
Think: irony, emotional aloofness, deliberate pacing.

( actually not in the dictionary although Merriam Webster lists it...confusing )----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Die Cuttin Divas - Challenge #124 ~ Ice Cream

Bitten by the Bug - Celebrate National Ice Cream Month

Craftin Desert Diva's - Summer Linky Party #10

It was one of those crafting moments, when either your creation gets "filed" in the oh crap bin or you push on and make lemonade. So here I am, assembling my layers and I put the glue on the wrong side of the ice cream...:/.....what to do? Well, I smoothed out the glue and added glitter, lol I made 'glitterade' out of my mistake. Or as Charles Shultz said, I took a lick!

Cricut - Doodlecharms p. 107
Really Reasonable Ribbon
Viva Decor - Pearl pen
Ranger - stickles, Glossy Accents
Sakura - glaze pen
Fiskar - embossing plate
Big Shot

Wellesian: adjective

From Orson Welles (1915-1985) American

Think: cinematic pyrotechnics done to technical and dramatic perfection.

( weird that they offer it as a word, but it's not IN their dictionary )

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Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #179 - Christmas In July

Cut it Up - Christmas in July - Challenge #23

Although the mittens might look like they are hanging

 freely, they are actually attached.

And when you remove the gift card from inside the buggy you have a small hidden sentiment. Inside the card you have plenty of room to write in.

Cricut - Stretch Your Imagination, p. 71

Ranger - stickles

S.E.I - stickers

Robins Creative Cottage - sentiment stamp

Really Reasonable Ribbon - lace, twine

Hero Arts - small sentiment stamp

Perspiration: noun

Perspire derives from the Latin spirare, "to blow" – suggesting vapors released by the body. It emerged in the 1600s as a gentler alternative to the much older word sweat.
To some, perspire sounds more refined; to others, it seems a bit precious. As one London magazine reported in 1791,
"It is well known that, for some time past, neither man, woman, nor child, in Great Britain or Ireland, of any rank or fashion, has been subject to that gross kind of exsudation which was formerly known by the name of sweat; and that now every mortal, except carters [and] coal-heavers... merely perspires." (The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 70)
 pronunciation
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Digi Haven - July 5th Red, White and Blue Challenge

Ranger - Distress Stains

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Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog - Simon Says... Pin It!

Echo Park - paper

Really Reasonable Ribbon

Maya Road - butterfly stick pin

eye jewel, flower stems - recycled material

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While you are reading and enjoying your Saturday, I will be participating in a sidewalk chalk art contest and while most of you might be thinking I'll be hoping to win, which frankly I know I'll have no chance; I will be just happy if I can walk after it's over. Having a bum knee and preparing to sit, squat and kneel on a hard sidewalk just makes me hurt to think about it. I can't say that this is on my bucket list of activities to achieve before I die...
but it is something I've never done before...and that's reason enough to try.
Preparing for Sidewalk Chalk Art
Sketches for Saturday
~ wish me luck ~
:)

Barbecue: transitive verb

In some parts of the country, such as Texas and Tennessee, your answer probably involves a method of slow-cooking with indirect heat. If you're a Northerner, you might just point to your backyard grill.
The word has different meanings, but a single origin.
When 17th-century Spanish explorers landed in the West Indies, they saw native people – the Arawakan – drying meat over a frame. The Arawakan called the wooden rack a barbacoa. The explorers borrowed the term.
Barbacoa soon came to name not only the frame but the process of cooking (not drying) meat. Now, of course, barbecue can name the cooking structure, the food, the cooking method, or the social occasion.

pronunciation
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BIGGEST PRIZE EVER!!!!!!!!

( ya'll are sooooo lucky!! )

One lucky winner will win an online class worth $65.00

This online workshop includes direct access to the artists, all 15 projects & videos, each artists personal video tutorials, supplies lists and project photos.
With your unique link you will gain access to the classroom where you can stream the videos AND/OR download each video directly to your computer. The video will be yours forever once you download it, (however, we plan to keep the classroom accessibly to registered students indefinitely) and gain immediate INTERNATIONAL access to your inner ARTIST today and join in this unique creative experience 

Plus... Donna's new Internationally inspired Vol 2 Workshop

  has a total of 5 teachers and 5 projects. 

WOWZERS...RIGHT???

( I wish I had a chance to win this!! )

Here's my project that I created, an up cycled Christmas ribbon spool made into a gift box. Over the music ribbon is a layer of tissue paper aged with Distress ink and the twine was wrapped around in the spaces where the ribbon didn't meet.

 I cut 2 butterflies out. Stuck my straight pin in through one butterfly and then glued the second one on top to hide the pin head. Then stuck the butterfly into the flower giving him a "floating" appearance.

The box is held together with Velcro, first the butterfly part opens

then the lid

  

Really Reasonable Ribbon - black, and music ribbon  

Kaiser Kraft - pearls

Ranger - Distress Inkm stickles

Prima - flower

twine - misc.

Cricut - Paisley cartridge

Also entering this in:
Really Reasonable Ribbon - #75 'Anything But a Card & Ribbon' Theme
2 Creative Chicks - 3-D challenge #4

comely: adjective

pleasurably conforming to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion

 having a pleasing appearance : not homely or plain

pronunciation
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Inkspirational - #25

Eclectic Paperie - E-Team Picks Challenge - Monochromatic

All the major work on this card was done on the background. I think sometimes I can get more wrapped up when creating my own paper than the actual design of the card itself. Anyhoo....I first used Broken China along with water, spritzing, and drying, but it still was too dark. So after I finally achieved what I hope for will pass as a sky, I let it thoroughly dry and then sprayed it with my Archrival Varnish and let that dry. Then, I went over the background with a white wash to soften it up somewhat. Stamping the image and sentiment was the easiest part. ;)

Ranger - Distress Stain

StazOn - ink

Hero Arts - branch and bird stamp

Our Daily Bread - sentiment

Golden - Archival Varnish

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Cute Card Thursday - # 274 - In the Summertime...

Little Scrap Pieces - Fun Friday Summer Luvin' Challenge

Delightful Inspiration - i {heart} card sketches no. 23

I colored my cool cat in with some distress stains, added a little stickle to the center of the flower on his sandals....done. :) 

Creative Imagination - pattern paper

Hambo - cool cat digital stamp

Ranger - Distress stains, stickles

Faber Castell -PITT pens

Really Reasonable Ribbon

Helmar - 450

peccant: adjective

guilty of a moral offense : sinning

 

 violating a principle or rule : faulty

 

pronunciation
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Creative Inspirations - Inspired by Red, White and Blue

Craftin Desert Diva's - Red, White and Blue Linky Party
Cut it Up -#21  Red, White and Blue

The background to the tag was created by spritzing my inks on a piece of wax paper. Then I pressed my tag down onto the inks and dragged it through the colors and lifted it up and let dry. Then went back and spritzed the tag with water and dabbed at the spots with a paper towel. 

The polka dot swirl sticker is offset from the tag, so to keep the sticky back from sticking to everything I rubbed a little bit of baby powder on the sticky part sticking off the edge.
 ( Now how many times can I use a variation of sticker in one sentence.... 5, it seems! lol )

 Since the hemp ribbon is thick and part of my pitcher is laying on top of it, I used the LSD to lift up the remaining pitcher and stuck the twine into the glue before it firmed up. The pitcher is cut out twice, with one cut having the handle removed so that I could stamp off the base and that gives it a dimensional look also.

 

 

Cricut cartridges - Paisley,p. 41 ( butterfly )

Country Life, p. 60 ( pitcher and flowers )

Stretch Your Imagination, p. 80 ( tag )

Helmar - Liquid Scrap Dots

Inks - Fireworks, Tattered Angels

Recollections - tiny pearls

Bo Bunny - swirl, friend sticker

Really Reasonable Ribbon - hemp ribbon
Hero Arts - flower stamp