BBTB2 Weekly Challenge!

Happy Monday Everyone and we're officially into December! Wow time sure flies! I can't believe it's almost Christmas! I'm Not ready to say the least and once again I'm feeling rushed, lol!

Well this week over at Bitten By The Bug 2 it's Joanna's week and she picked the Santa from the Winter Frolic Cartridge and since I don't have that cartridge I used Doodlecharms. I was inspired by my Design Team Sister Donna for this card. She made a card a couple of weeks ago with Hello Kitty and added the Ho, Ho, Ho to her card and I just had to try it. I've seen the welded letter's on some of her other cards and I took the plunge and did it and I do have to say I loved it! It wasn't as hard as I thought and I think it came out kinda cute, So Thank You Donna for the inspiration! I hope you don't mind that I copied the Ho, Ho, Ho but I had to try it and that was an easy saying to try, lol! And it had a shadow (wink!)

Well like I said I used the Doodlecharms cart for the Santa, the Ho, Ho, Ho is from the Hello Kitty Font cart, the Holly on Santa's hat is from Winter Woodland, and on the inside it says Merry Christmas and that is from the Hello Kitty Greetings cart. On Santa's hat the "Snow" is Martha Stewart's snow. And of course I had to add more glitter and the berries are a bit of bling! Cuttlebuged Santa's beard with the Devine swirls folder and Santa has a rosy little nose and some cute pink cheeks added with some chalk.
I'm also entering this over at Frosted Designs, this week they are having a blog hop and the challenge is to use glitter and as you can see this has some glitter on it, lol! Go on over there and check them out too.

Now if you don't have the Winter Frolic cartridge feel free to use any cart with a Santa on it, the wonderful gals over at BBTB2 have some amazing creations so make sure you check all of them out, they never cease to amaze me. Hope you play along too with us, you may win the cute little Winners Blinkie to add to your blog along with bragging rights. 

Thanks for stopping by, you guys are all amazing and I just want to say Thank You all for all the nice comments you leave each week, I really do appreciate every single one of you and I hope I can inspire you in some way.

((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa   



BBTB2 Weekly Challenge! X 2

Hello Everyone and today is the weekly Bitten By The Bug 2 challenge and today my wonderful Design Team Sister Jeri picked the Cartridge Winter Frolic and we were to use a Ornament and the Phrase "Deck the Halls". Well I don't have that cartridge, I've been wanting it but haven't got around to getting it yet, hopefully soon, before Christmas is over would be nice, lol! Well I did get to go to Black Friday, Ken took me, he had never been to a Black Friday sale before so he decided at the last minute to go. I got to get the Jolly Holidays, Twinkle Toes and Four Legged Friends carts and I even picked up a Green E, not sure if I'll keep it but I got caught up in the moment so it's here in the house, lol! Well I was really surprised that our Wal-Mart here got any Cricut stuff because we don't have hardly any craft stuff here. Well they had all the carts and a bunch of E's. (We went back Sat. and they still had a BUNCH left except the Jolly Holidays cart, it seems like that was the big seller this year.) So since I didn't have the Winter Frolic Cart I used my new Jolly Holiday cart and made a 1 page layout. And I realized something as I was making the layout that I never realized about myself before, or at least I never wanted to admit it anyway, lol! 

I don't like to do phrases or weld words together!!! LOL! 

I don't mind if they are already done but to make one I'm not real crazy about it! That's why I did the "Believe" from Gypsy Wanderings instead of making a phrase "Deck The Halls" AND I like to have a shadow on my phrases, lol!   

Well I liked all the ornaments on this cart and used quite a few. Used some stickles and added a bit of bling, Also a couple of the Martha Stewart punches for the stripe strip and added a velvet red ribbon also. And I added another hidden jornaling box with the little presents on the lower right side of the layout. Isn't it funny, I don't come up with a good phrase but I can always come up with a unique jornaling spot, lol! 

Well Another challenge to play along with US at BBTB2, hope you can make it and remember if you don't have the Winter Frolic cart use Any cart with Ornaments and a phrase. You have a shot at that adorable little Winner Blog Blinkie! I am also going to enter this in the weekly Frosted Design's sketch challenge. I love the challenges at Frosted Design's each week, please, go check them out they are a very inspiring blog and many talented gals over ther also, lots of extra fun! And I was just curious, is anyone doing any Cyber Monday shopping? If you do have you ever used Ebates? I have and it gives you money back and if your interested please use this link to sign up, it's my link and if you sign up you will get $5 just for signing up. They don't ask for any sensitive information and it just takes a second and then you can start saving. I just got a check back or you can have it added right into your paypal account. So if you want just click on the link and it will take you right to Ebates site. And NO I don't work for the company, lol! Thanks in advance if you do and have fun, there are alot of stores on there, I'm sure you can find something you like, lol! http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=lAo58B%2FOGPONq7aN3Ui1lQ%3D%3D Well have a great Monday!

((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa

Weekly Cricut Challenge #9-Black Friday!

 Hi Everyone and I sure hope you all had a Blessed Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful one, we were invited to some friends and we brought the Turkey and I can say it was my Best Turkey EVER! Good thing too because I would have felt awful if it would have been dry or no flavor (or I could have just blamed it all on Ken and said he made it, lol) not really giggle! Anyway back to the challenge.................................

On the Cricut Circle Blog they have a weekly challenge and sometimes I enter and sometimes I just let it go. This week the challenge has to do with Black Friday and yes I went out on BF. Just to Wal-Mart at 12 am to get some of the Cricut lites for $20 and I had no problem getting the ones I wanted. There was only 2 other gals that were there to get anything. And only one to get an E. I got the Jolly Holidays, Twinkle Toes (I actually like it better than Shall We Dance!) and Four Legged Friends and.....................................

I grabbed a green E! I don't need one so I may be taking it back but I thought if it's there I might as well pick it up, you never know, lol! Well back to the challenge...................................... 

Now the challenge is to Use the Color Black and to Re-Cycle or Re-Purpose something and the usual to use at least 2 Cricut cuts from any cartridge and of course you need to be a Cricut Circle Member. Well I made McCade's Teacher's these, he has Two of them and I made them in traditional Teacher colors (well at least what I think of as traditional teacher colors, lol) These are a couple more of the cute little Sweater Pumpkins that I've been obsessed with lately. I used a Re-Cycled Black and White old sweater from the Hope Center (Thrift Store) and used the Wild Card for the tag and saying. I also added a tiny little Barrel of Monkey's (Re-Purposed) with a bow onto the tag. I added some of the Acorns from the Woods, some Pinecones and Silk Leaves some Shiny Floral Red Berries (all Re-Purposed) and then added a Gingham Red Ribbon. I sure hope they like them, With the traditional teacher colors they can leave them out all year. And hopefully Provo Craft will like them also and I'll win the challenge, lol! Now the 

following one I made for Pat, the Lady of the house where we had Thanksgiving dinner. It was made with a Re-Cycled Man's sweater also but it was a bit more rustic looking I think. I made the Burlap Rose and the stem was wrapped with Burlap also, I used some coffee dyed antiqued stringy fringe (looks better in person then in the pic) and also added a couple of felt leaves (cut from Doodlecharms) Acorns and a Pinecone. Pat loved it and put it on the table for part of the Center Piece! (I was going to do a tutorial on the Pumpkins but the one of the gals that I got the original directions from here had a fit about it and claimed they are her own design so if anyone wants directions from me drop me an e-mail and I will send you my directions, or you can check out hers, mine are a little bit different so it's up to you) Not Theresa at 612 Riverside, she also makes them and that's where I found them originally, she's a real sweetie and has a great blog so if you want some nice inspiration and love vintage goodies stop by her blog! I am also entering this in to the  challenge over at Frosted Design, The challenge is What your "Thankful" for, and I am Thankful that McCade has GREAT teacher's this year and we have wonderful Friends that include us in with their Family!

Well I sure hope if you all went to any of the Black Friday sales I hope you got everything you were looking for and got some really good deals, I got what I was looking for and McCade even found a video game he was wanting and he still had some B-day money so he got his game. Hope you have a wonderful weekend and Thanks to all of you for all of the wonderful comments you all leave me, I am Truly Blessed to have so many wonderful Followers, Thank You!

((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa

BBTB2 Challenge-It's A Hello Kitty Merry Christmas

Hello Everyone and it's another glorious Monday and with Monday's it's another Bitten By The Bug 2 challenge! This week it's our fearless leader Heather's pick of the challenge and Heather picked Hello Kitty (yippee)!  Okay shhhhhhh, I have to share a little secret with you all.............................................................

 I Love Hello Kitty! I've Loved Hello Kitty since it first made it's debut back in the 70's, yep I remember it back then, I was in High school and had a few things (my secret obsession back then, Hello Kitty and Ziggy, lol), but didn't really get into it till my Daughter was born in 1984. She had so many little Hello Kitty goodies (I sure wish I would have saved that stuff, my Grand Daughter's like it too now!) That's when I remember the stores opening in the malls, how fun was that! Everything Hello Kitty! And yes they still have them and Hello Kitty also has a Buddy named Keroppi, a adorable little Froggie, so you can be sure that Sis even had a few of Hello Kitties little buddies Keroppi to keep her company, with having the nickname Treefrog you can bet I had to have a few of those little buddies, lol! Well anyway enough of the trip down memory lane, (giggle) on to the challenge!   

Heather picked the Hello Kitty on page 74. And since I haven't done a layout in awhile I thought this would be a perfect time. I am very happy with how this turned out, pretty simple but nice and bright and cheery. I also added the Tree on pg. 76 with an oval cut out in the tree from George and Basic Shapes to the center of the tree to add a picture. And the little tiny Christmas lights are some that I bought years ago and just added them to the tree for a little unexpected surprise. And speaking of surprises..........................  

The little present on Pg. 42 is my journaling box! You all know I have my little hiding places for my journaling like HERE, HERE or HERE to show you a few. It is also the first time I used the glitter paper and cut it on my Cricut and I have to say I will be looking for the glittered papers from now on, I loved it and it cut like Butta, lol! I added a few rhinestones to the front of the Santa suit and sparkled up the Santa hat with some stickles to give it a little bling. I also used a new punch of mine I just recently purchased which is the big EK Success punch, the large scallops with circles and I absolutely love it! Some sparkly ribbon on the mats and it was good to go. I'll have to dig out some of my Daughters' old Christmas pics to add or have her take a few of the Grand daughter's to add on the photo mats.

Well Thanks for stopping by and remember if you don't have the Hello Kitty Cartridge you can use ANY cart that has a Santa on it. Link up to the BBTB2 blog with Mr. Linky and you may be the next winner of the BBTB2 Winner's Blinkie to display proudly on your blog. Well have a wonderful week, it's Thanksgiving week and hope everyone has a Very Blessed week with Family and Friends! 

((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa 

Cricut Circle Magazine Ornament Challenge!

Hi Everyone I wanted to share with you a challenge I'm entering. There is a ornament challenge going on over at the Cricut Circle Blog and I thought I would enter it. I don't know how happy I am with how this turned out but I'm going to take the plunge and enter it. I needed to use at least 4 cuts and the Antique Silver (Martha Stewart) glittered snowflakes are from the Home Decor cartridge that are cut 4 times from card stock and 2 are glued together for some substance and to add some thickness. The polka dots are cut with double sided red line tape/paper and taped/attached to the Christmas ball and glittered. The little red snowflake is from the Gypsy Wandering and cut 2 times from glittered red card stock and glued together so the glitter is on both sides and I didn't have to glitter and make a bigger mess than I already had made, lol. Then I added a little charm on the red snowflake that dangles in the middle of the cut out. I also added beads to 3 of the snowflake "arms" and they dangle and sparkle and give it another dimension and texture. Added the black ribbons and a sparkly little string to tie on the tree. It's very un-traditional colors but I think it turned out pretty and if it was in the right spot it could be left out all year long if you like. Well I need to post this to the blog because tonight's the last night to post so I'm off, wish me luck and I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

((Hugs)) and Take Care! 

Theresa 

Give Thanks at BBTB2!

Happy Monday everyone and I can honestly say I have to Give Thanks to the Bitten By The Bug 2 Team for allowing me to be on such a wonderful Design Team with the Best Design Team Sisters ever!  This week is Donna's turn to pick our challenge and she picked the Saying "Give Thanks" from the Thanksgiving Cartridge and since I don't have that one I chose to use Doodlecharms.  And as you can see I had to make another one of my fabulous Sweater Pumpkins! Can you tell I just LOVE these! I sure hope you all aren't sick of seeing these little beauties, I just can't get enough of them but I sure hope I don't scare you all away thinking that's all I know how to do, LOL! And remember I am not the original creator of these little gems Hummadeedledee Blog is the Genius and I have to say it again, Thank You for such a fun and unique Re-Cycled work of art you created and also the original place I seen these was at http://612riverside.blogspot.com/! And Yes I am doing a picture tutorial that I will be posting this week (before Thanksgiving, lol) I'm waiting on a e-mail from the original gal who thought of these, I want to give credit where credit is due!

Now back to the challenge....................................

I made a tag for my Pumpkin because like I said before, these are for Family and also McCades Teachers this year for a little Thanksgiving gift. Like I said before, I used the Doodlecharms cart for the Leaf and Acorn, I welded it together and made a card/tag, Thanks was from Gypsy Wandering and Give was from Winter Woodland (I was also working on Xmas cards so that's how WW got in there, lol) I did some embossing, inking and some faux stitching also and I kept thinking it looked kinda bare and needed something so that's how the Garden Twine bow and Teeny Tiny Acorns got added! The embellishments on the pumpkin are just some more Garden Twine, Silk Leaves, Tea Dyed Ball Fringe Ribbon, a Pine cone and some more Acorns found on my walks in the woods.

  

I just love Fall, I love to go for walks in the woods here in KY. I don't go to often in the summer because it's just to hot and humid and to be honest, the bugs here just Love me and I wind up getting eaten up even if I spray myself down with bug spray and wear long pants and long sleeve shirts and boots, I still get something, lol! Well I always bring a little bag with me because I ALWAYS find something! In the picture you can see alot of the goodies I find, Pine cones, Lots of Acorns (all different sizes) Buckeyes, Little Gourds, Odd shaped Rocks (the one on the left side of the pumpkin with the ruff surface is a perfect round rock! Not sure if it's a Geode or not, I don't want to break it open!) And last but not least, Birds Nests! I have quite a collection of these and these are only two of them. I only pick them up if they are on the ground and have fallen out of the trees. The one next to the round rock has Horse Hair on the inside of it perfectly swirled around in there. It's a pretty small nest and I think it's a Hummingbirds nest because it's so small and pretty tightly done!

 Well hope you like it and remember if you don't have the Thanksgiving cart use anything that has a Thanks on it, there is always a use for a Thank You Card, especially with the Holidays coming! And don't forget to drop by BBTB2 and check out what all the Gals have made to show how Thankful they all are. Hope to see you all at the challenge and remember you might just win that cute Winner's Blinkie if your entry wins the challenge and you can display it on your blog, along with bragging rights of course, lol! Have a great week and I'll be seeing you sometime this week with my Sweater Pumpkin Tutorial.  And I just want to say that I want to Give Thanks to all of you that stop by my blog each week and leave such wonderful comments, Thank You to each and everyone of You!

((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa

BBTB2 Weekly Challenge with Cindy Loo Flourish!

Hi Everyone and Happy Monday November 1st! Can you believe it, Already! Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween. Well Mondays always bring the new challenge over at Bitten By The Bug 2 and this week is no different, lol! This week is Reader's choice and the Reader's wanted to see the Flourishes on the Cindy Loo Cartridge. We used a specific one on page 40, flourish3. Now if you don't have this cart there are plenty of beautiful ones on many other cartridges. I love the flourishes and that is one of the reasons that I buy half of the carts I have, because of the flourishes or the flowers, lol! I have just gotten the Cindy Loo cart about a month ago and I LOVE IT! It is definitely one of my favs. (Actually one of the layouts I did that is going to be published was made with Just the Cindy Loo cart!)

 Well I have been making these wonderful Pumpkins out of old recycled sweaters (I got the idea from one of my favorite blogs, 612 Riverside, you should check out her blog if you like vintage goodies and she actually said she got the idea from a blog called Hummadeedledee Blog, I want to give credit where credit is due so actually I will give credit to both Gals and we all just added our own unique twist to them, lol!) If I get enough requests I will try and do a tutorial for you all.

Well lets get back to the challenge.........................

For my tag I used the Wild Card Cartridge and the the Flourish is from Cindy Loo. This was actually a really easy one for me this week since I have been making these cute Pumpkins and I wanted to feature them and I will be giving these as gifts this year to family, (we go to Ohio for Thanksgiving and I like to bring goodies since we don't do the whole Christmas thing, except for the Kids!) so I'm adding the tags and I will be able to write on the inside of them.

 I made the Dictionary Flowers with a punch and got the directions from a Tim Holtz video. The little flowers are a punch and added the bling (gotta have the Bling, lol!) The leaves are some silk leaves I've had and the Acorns are from my daily walk out here in the country. We have so many different types of trees out here and all different types of acorns and nut trees out here. (Walnuts, Pecans, Chestnuts, Hickory, Buckeyes and I'm sure many more that I'm still learning) We also have many different types of Evergreens on our property also so that means plenty of pine cones so I had to add a little bit of my own personal touches to these little Gems! 

I sure hope you will join us this week with your Flourishes and link your projects back to BBTB2 with Mr. Linky and you could win the fun Weekly Project Winner Blinkie for you to add to your Blog with Bragging Rights too Of Course, LOL! Hope you enjoy and please, let me know if you would like a tutorial on these fun Pumpkins and I'll see what I can do!

((Hugs)) Take Care and Have A Wonderful Week!

Theresa  

Circle Weekly Challenge Entry!

Well I'm taking the plunge and entering the weekly challenge at the Cricut Circle Blog. It was to do a Halloween project and use some type of transparent element. Well I've been making these recycled pumpkins with old sweaters and I tried a new idea using denim. I just LOVE Denim, and love to recycle fabrics (remember my Aprons HERE.) I originally found the idea of the sweaters from a great blog I just love called 612 Riverside and her name is Theresa too (that's probably another reason I like her so much, lol!) Well I thought I would do a home decor project with the pumpkins and figured I would add a Paper Leaf so I could add it into the challenge. Anyway I was looking for a leaf and came across this one from the Tinkerbell Cartridge and the Flower is from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and the Clear Plastic piece is from one of the clamshells from a cart and the I embossed it with the Devine Swirls CB Folder. The Flower actually opens up as a tag. I will be giving these as gifts this year for the family when we go to Ohio for Thanksgiving and definitely McCades teachers will be getting these also. If everyone likes them let me know and I will try and do a tutorial on them but I just want to make sure with Theresa over at 612 Riverside if she doesn't mind. I've added a few of my own elements but I want to give credit where credit is due. I'm sure all of you know where I'm coming from on that note.

Well wish me luck on the challenge, there is alot of really great things there and this isn't your typical Halloween decor and colors so I hope it isn't disqualified for that but I like to different once in awhile and this is different sooooooooooo........................................

I'll keep you all posted, so Take Care and Chat with you all later!

((Hugs)) Theresa

Country Life Banner and Blog Hop at BBTB2

Hi Everyone and It's the last week of the month and you know what that means..............................

BLOG HOP TIME at Bitten By The Bug 2!

You probably hopped here from the Amazingly Talented Donna's Blog. Boy I hope I can live up to Donna, she's amazingly awesome and makes the best layered cards, I call her "The Queen Of POP", LOL! 

Beth picked the Country Life Cartridge to use this week and we are to use the Banner Feature on the cart and I made a banner to put in my Laundry Room. I actually used my Imagine for this one and used Kraft paper instead of the normal white paper to give it a more rustic look to it and I'm not sure I'm liking it 100%. I like the whole idea of not having to pick out papers, I just printed them and then used the Kraft paper for the shadow behind it and added some glitter to the letter's. I used the packing tape method to apply the glitter where you add the tape to the back side of the image, sticky side up, and add the glitter to the sticky side. I used a copper glitter and I think I should have used a darker color, maybe Red or Blue (??????) but it's done now so too late and it looks better in person then in the pic so............!!!!!  

I inked Every thing with Tim Holtz Distress Inks using Vintage Photo. I also added some twine to tie the banners together and added the little Mini Clothes Pins, aren't they the cutest! I've had them for along time and finally got to use them, lol!

And to tie all the banners together and take it one step further I added the wash basin and scrub board, perfect for the occasion! Added some glittery stickles for the bubbles and some shiny diamond glaze for the shine on the bubbles in the tub. I also did alot of faux stitching, on the banners and the washtub and scrub board.

Now for your next stop on the Hop you are going to Penny's Blog, How exciting to see what my wonderful Design Sister has in store for you next and if you get lost along the way remember to start at the BBTB2 Blog homepage where you can see all the amazing projects for all the Design Team Gals on one page.

Now for the fun part, Blog Candy.....................

To win my Candy all you have to do is to be a follower and leave a comment with what your impression of the Imagine is. It's not going back to anyone just for me being curious as to what everyone thinks. If you have one or if your planning on getting one and what your opinions are of it are. I haven't been using mine a whole lot and just did the update and didn't have any problems other then keeping my fingers and toes crossed because there wasn't any real step by step directions from the Provo Craft site. I think that would have been a lot easier and faster for alot of people, including myself. I'm going to try and make a few other things this week so I may have a few more of my opinions, (and yes I have a few) and a few suggestions for any new updates. But for now it is Blog Hop Time and Blog Candy Time so follow and leave your comments, Hop off to my fellow Design Team Gals and Good Luck! Have a Great week and remember please play along and if you don't have the Country Life Cartridge use any Cart that has a banner feature and enter the challenge with Mr. Linky on the BBTB2 Blog for your chance at a special winners Blinkie! Hope you see you there!

I'm also adding this to the challenge over at Frosted Design, their challenge this week is to use Die Cuts. Well everything I used other then the string was a Die Cut so I guess that qualifies, lol. I already entered my Old West Layout but since I don't post a whole lot and I Love their blog (if you haven't checked them out you really should) I will enter this also! Hope to see you over there also!

((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa  

I Finally Made The Cricut Chirp!!!

Well I Finally made the Cricut Chirp, I've hit the big time, LOL! The Layout that got Highlighted was My Heritage Sewing Layout Here One of my favorite Vintage Layouts, I do have to say so myself! I always wonder how they pick and was always told they just pick from the pictures that are posted so I figured if I don't post I won't get picked so I've been posting some of my layouts and I guess they liked that one. Thanks Provo Craft, You made my day! If your interested and your not  familiar with the Cricut message board just click HERE and it will take you to the post. Thanks for all the great comments everyone left, I love it! And Thanks for all my wonderful followers Old and New for all the encouraging and sweet things you all say, your all the best! Thanks Again!

((Hugs)) Theresa

Old West Layout and BBTB2 Challenge! (PIC Heavy!)

(I want to give you heads up warning this post is Picture Heavy)

Hi Y'all! How was your weekend? Mine was very nice! Love this weather, no more hot humid days hopefully (and nights, lol) We went to the Foothills Festival in the next county over with the neighbors and had alot of fun, then came home and BBQ'd some burgers. I was a nice peaceful weekend. McCade goes back to school after being off for the week. They had Fall break and boy I'm glad he goes back, I need to get some work done around here, lol!

Well Monday's always bring new challenges and the new challenge this week over at BBTB2 was my week to pick and I chose the Barn on The Old West Cartridge. Most of you know I'm a newbie Country Girl, moved here from Las Vegas a couple of years ago and now live out in the country. I love Old Westerns and I really do think I lived in the Old West in another life, lol! I love everything about it. When we used to live in Las Vegas we would go to the old Ghost Towns and go exploring, it was so much fun. I was trying to find all the pictures I've taken over the years we were there but it seems all those pics are in storage so I didn't get to add any pics to my Layout. (Boo Hoo, they were perfect!)

Well as you can see I did a layout for this week. I've been working on this for awhile in Design Studio and I had so so so much fun doing it! I absolutely LOVE to do little scenes when I do a layout and I really wanted to add pictures to this one because I have some great ones from a Ghost Town we had went to years ago.

(Here's from Left to Right)

(Here's from Right to Left)

Now the challenge was to use the Barn and I wanted the doors to open so I made myself some hinges and attached them with some tiny brads and that's where my journaling will be. Added the Steer horns on the Barn above the doors and a Steer skull on the fence. The old fashioned milk container is all ready to be filled when the cows get milked and the wheelbarrow is full of hay to feed the livestock.  

I love how the stagecoach turned out also, I popped it for dimension and added "Velvet" curtains in the windows. All the Old Westerns I've seen usually have curtains on the fancy stagecoach's that haul people so I had to add them also and added a brass brad for my doorknob and axles to hold the wagon wheels on. I also made the luggage that I added to the top of the stagecoach and did you see the little lantern on the seat for the driver?

The General Store has a few layers also, I added the shutters for the doors and some ribbon for window coverings (don't think you can see it that well in the pictures) And of course the General Store always has things for sale, like Feed and Hay and the ever famous Moonshine, lol!  

The stagecoach driver is all decked out with his Chaps and Leather Vest. He's tending his trusty horse and getting him all ready for the trek out west.

(Here's a closeup of the stagecoach, driver and horse)

I did alot of shading with my chalks and inks. On the wooden picture frames they are tied with some twine and added the jute for the wanted picture mats. Lots of doodling and I even did some stamping. I stamped with a dark red stamp from Fancy Pants in the corners and distressed the rest of the papers. As you have heard me say before I always have a hard time picking out pattern paper (even thought I have Tons of it, lol) but since there is so many different things going on and I didn't want to take away from the western scene I used some pretty subtle papers. Kraft paper and a small striped paper and did chalking and inking.

Well here's also a couple of pictures of the Wild West title. Added a bit of faux stitching and some shading, almost looks like real denim doesn't it! That's it for all the pictures, if you've made it this far I thank you for sticking it out till the end, believe me I truly appreciate you!

Well I sure hope you like the Layout, I can surely tell you I had a Blast making it! It took me a few days, I would work on it for awhile through out the day when I had some extra time. I love all the little details and I have to say this is probably one of my favorite layouts at the moment, lol! Hopefully you will enter the challenge over at BBTB2 and remember if you don't have the Old West Cartridge you can use ANY cartridge that has a barn on it (Create A Critter, Country Life and Paper Doll Dress Up have Barns on them) so please join in the challenge, I get to pick the person to receive the Project of the Week Blinkie that you may win for entering the challenge and then you get to display it on your blog, along with bragging rights that you won! 

I'm also adding this Layout to the challenge over at Frosted Design. There challenge this week is to use Die Cuts and I'm sure all these are considered Die Cuts and there sure are ALOT of them! Wish me luck, lol!

    Well Take Care and have a Great Day!

((Hugs)) Theresa

BBTB2 Weekly Challenge-Haunted House!!!!!!

Hi everyone and Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. McCade had to sing again this weekend for a March of Dimes walk at the park, it turned out really well and it was a beautiful day for a walk in the park for a good cause!

Now today is challenge day over at Bitten By The Bug 2 and this week we are to use the 3-D Haunted House from the Happy Hauntings cartridge. I just got the cartridge last week and was all ready to make the house then I realized that when I make it what do I do with it after Halloween? We have a VERY small house and not a ton of storage and even if I put it in a box with just the house in it it would be taking up my precious "space" so I asked Heather if it would be okay if I did a Layout instead of the house and she said "Absolutely" so here is my interpretation of The Haunted House in a Layout!

Now, to me this is a bit "busy" for me, lol, if you can believe that, but what I mean is, the colors are a bit busy! I think it looks more complicated then it was to do. And of course again I had a hard time with the pattern papers. The Halloween papers I had were too busy so I used a light purple (you can't really tell in the picture) and a lighter burst pattern paper and a bit of Black Ric Rak.

I did a bunch of embossing and popping again and used a Martha Stewart spiderweb punch around the page, added some stickles and of course some bling! Gotta have the glitter and the bling, lol! I also used a shimmer rub on paint to highlight some of the embossing and of course used my trusty chalks again. 

I just love how this embossed chandelier turned out and I accented it also with a silver and gold jelly roll pen (I used the gold on the flames of the candles) I had to add it even though it will probably get covered by a picture!  

Now the journaling is going under the tombstone. It lifts up and you can write on the inside. Pretty neat huh!? There is also alot of faux stitching and doodling on both pages. I sure hope you join us over at BBTB2 and remember if you don't have the Happy Haunting Cartridge you are free to use ANY Haunted House from any cartridge and if you want to do a dimensional house and don't have Happy Hauntings feel free to use the dimensional houses on Winter Woodlands and just make them into "Haunted Houses"!

There is also a challenge going on over at Frosted Design and it is to use Doodling/Handwriting on your project, anything goes but it has to be doodling on your project, go and check it out HERE.

Graphically Speaking BBTB2 Monday Challenge!

Good Morning everyone and Happy Monday to you! I had a fun weekend and if you read my earlier post from yesterday you can see that I got the deal of the year on my Peacock Chairs, if you missed it just scroll down and take a look at those babies, lol! Anyway Monday's always bring a new challenge over at Bitten By The Bug 2. This week we are using Graphically Speaking and the Hand Icon on page 65. I almost didn't do the challenge because I just couldn't think of anything to do with that hand, it just wasn't my style but I started playing around with it in Design Studio and since I've never used the GS cart I figured I better use it at least once, lol. So once I started playing I was inspired to use it on one of McCades school pictures and I actually had alot of fun with it and really like the way this came out. I will definitely be using GS again, there are alot of really cool things on it and if you get a chance to get it I think it would be a good cart to add to your collection. This was totally not my style but that is one thing I totally LOVE about being on the BBTB2 Design Team. It is a challenge each week for me to think outside my comfort zone and I have learned SO SO MUCH from all my Amazing Design Team Sisters, they are all absolutely amazing!

Can you believe I actually added a picture to my layout, lol! This is McCade's 2008-09 school pic, he was in 2nd grade in this picture (now in 4th) and all the colors/papers look really good with the picture I used. As you all know I just got my craft stuff out of storage and this was some of the papers I found and figured I better use some of the tons of things I've had for awhile. I actually did a few things I haven't did in a long time. I actually used acrylic paint on this layout to give it a distressed look with the paint. You can kind of see it on the pictures below. It was actually pretty fun and I really do love to paint!

I embossed almost everything but the pics don't really show the embossing that good or the distressed paint. I had a heck of a time with the light for the pictures this week, it was just a very overcast couple of days to get a good picture so sorry, but I tried, lol!

All the cuts are from the Graphically Speaking cartridge and all of them are popped (I learned that from Donna, she's the Queen of Pop, lol) and inked and I even added a bit of bling too, with McCades approval of course, lol! He really liked the way it turned out and for me being out of my element I actually really like how it turned out as well! Now remember if you don't have the Graphically Speaking cartridge you can use something similar or even a stamp to enter the challenge this week over at BBTB2. Thanks for stopping by and sure hope you can join us this week, don't forget to stop by over at BBTB2 and see what the ladies have done also, you won't believe what these gals did with the finger (LOL)! Sorry I just couldn't help myself you'll get a good laugh at one of the designer's cards so make sure you go check it out, Hee Hee!

Take Care and have a wonderful week!

((Hugs)) Theresa

I have a Winner! And a (Kinda Long) Silly Story!

So sorry for the delay, I know it was saposta be yesterday but so many things were going on again that I didn't get to it. McCade had to sing at the opening of the street scape project downtown in town, they re-did the circle in the center of town and they had a bit hoopla for it. Living in a small town the littlest things they celebrate, lol!!! Here's a picture of the Dude looking like he's having a Great time.................NOT! LOL There were some Military Vehicles that he was more intrigued in then what the teacher was doing, lol!

Also we hit a few yard sales and I got the deal/steal of the century (at least for me it was!) I have been looking for these chairs since 2006! When I came out here for my Brother's wedding I had seen them and fell in LOVE with them and have been looking all over the place for them and guess what I found at the 1st yard sale I stopped at.............

Yep you guessed it......................

THE LOVESEAT AND A CHAIR!!!!!!! and your not going to believe the price.............................

$50.00 for BOTH!

I didn't see them when we had parked, there was a truck in front of them but I walked up and seen them and asked the lady how much and when she said $50 I was so excited, but I kept my cool and walked around the rest of the things, (not seeing a darn thing because I WANTED those chairs!) Ken was in the car (he just drives and humors me on my yard sale adventures) and he said he could see it on my face that I found something I had to have! Well I had $40 on me and said "GIMME GIMME the cash and we have to go to the bank" all he thought was "OH Good Lord what is it now, and HOW MUCH is this going to cost me!?" I said just get a $20 and knowing he was getting off CHEAP! So I walk up to the lady and said I have $40 and......she said oh I'm sure she wants $50, and I said No I'll give you $50 but I need to go to the bank, here's $40 will you hold it for me till I get back and turn around and Ken was OFF! He left me there, LOL!! The lady started laughing and said well I guess you really want it because he's gone, so I stayed and chatted with the lady and Ken went to the bank for the rest of my cash and when we were loading up the chairs the lady who owned them came back and said she had so many people call her that they wanted them that she was going to bring them back home but was happy that she didn't have to now. I told her I've been looking for them since 2006 and so she said she was very happy that they were going to someone that really wanted them and knew that I would love them. She said they needed a bit of TLC and showed me a few spots that needed welded (which I had seen already) and I said I have just the place to go. So we got them loaded  up and went to the Machine shop that my Brother's Best Friend Josh works at and all it cost me was some Burgers for lunch to have them repaired better than new! Heck I've been looking and seen a few for sale here and there and the cheapest I've found them was $240 for 2 chairs earlier this summer and the Loveseat (which is what I wanted in the first place) was $250 (and it was painted white and all rusted!), so you see I got them for a STEAL! They are Wrought Iron and everyone around here calls them Peacock Chairs (and yes, I can tell why they are called that, don't you!) I kind of like them this color but I may paint them Red since the house is Yellow and Red, (Yes I have a Red metal Roof which I LOVE) and RED is my FAV color ever! But we'll have to wait and see, so what do you think, aren't they the prettiest things you ever did see, LOL!!! Now I have to find me one more chair, and another escapade to tell you all about, lol!!!

But I so sorry I got sooooooooooooo off track here, hee hee! On to the winner now...............

Drumroll please.............................

Glenda said:

Beautiful layout! Love the vintage feel, colors, and all the fantastic cuts you used!

I am now a follower---just getting my own blog started!

Thanks for the chance to win a great prize!

Woo Hoo Glenda, you have a week to contact me at:

mccadesmom at gmail dot com

and I will get your goodies out to you!

Thanks everyone for listening to my crazy story but I just had to share my good fortune with you!

Take Care and Have a wonderrful rest of the weekend!

((Hugs)) Theresa



BBTB2 BLOG HOP TIME!!!!

Good Monday Morning Everyone! Hope your weekend was fun and exciting. Mine was busy! Well you all know the drill on Mondays, it's the new challenge at Bitten By the Bug 2 and the last Monday of the month and that also means Blog Hop Time, Woo Hoo!

Well this week Heather picked the Sewing Machine on Heritage for us to use. I LOVE this cartridge and was excited to use it. I just LOVE anything Vintage and don't do enough layouts or cards or decorate enough with it but I really do love the look! I finally got another Layout done, I've been slacking lately on the layouts, lol. I've been designing some thing's On Design Studio and my Gypsy (I have a hard time picking out all the papers, lol) but I have been working on a few things so hopefully I'll be able to post a few things this week. Well I did use the heritage cart along with Nursery Rhymes, Sentimentals and French Manor. All pretty vintage-y (? is that a word?) and I love all those carts! Didn't do alot of embellishing on this one. Added the coffee stained ribbon/seam binding, a few flowers and a touch of bling and did a bit of faux stitching. I love the colors, two of my favs! Now remember if you don't have the Heritage Cartridge you can use another one or use a Sewing theme to you challenge entry. So what do you think, are you up for a fun challenge!?

Well now to the fun stuff.......................................................................

Blog Hop Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have probably "Hopped" over here from the BBTB2 blog  or from the Amazing and Beyond Talented fellow Design Sister Donna's blog (I learn something from her all the time!) and for my bit of Candy all you have to do is BE A FOLLOWER and LEAVE A COMMENT, and a way to get ahold of you, that's it! (Only USA and Canada please, shipping cost, I hope you understand!) Now your next hop on the Bog Hop will be to the Sweet and Amazingly talented (and leader of the Design Team) Heather's blog! If you ever get lost on your Hopping Escapades you can always start at the BBTB2 main blog. 

Hope you had fun and don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in the candy giveaway (I will be drawing on Sat. Oct. 2nd) and have a wonderful week! Happy Hopping everyone!

I also added this LO into the challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut The challenge is for National Sewing month and THCEO from the Cricut MB told me about it so I'll keep you posted next week what happens. Thanks THCEO for the heads up!

I have some pretty fibers and some 8 x 8 papers (you can never have enough paper, lol!)

Take Care and Froggie ((Hugs)) Theresa

  

BBTB2 Weekly Challenge!

Hello Everyone, hope you had a wonderful weekend and you all know what Mondays bring....................

Yes your right, Bitten By The Bug 2 challenge and this week The Amazing and Talented Sandi chose the Candle on the Oct 31st cartridge and since I don't have ANY Halloween carts (Boo Hoo to me, and yes I'm feeling sorry for myself, lol) I used the Christmas Noel Solutions Cartridge. Well since I couldn't do Halloween I did the next best thing, Christmas! (It will be here before we know it! Yikes!) 

I actually made this pretty big, 8 7/8". I have no idea why but I just did, lol. I added the wreath to the window (I add wreaths to the windows at my little ole house at Christmas too!) And the Candle on the wreath is the crowning glory!

Lots of layers, a touch of embossing and of course stickles and bling and the snow on the windows is the chunky Martha's glitter. I didn't think I would like it but for snow it worked out nice. Fluffy and a bit of shimmer.

  Added a little Holly leaf and some berry bling on the inside and I need to add a sentiment on the inside but not sure if I want to stamp something or do another Cricut cut. I wanted to add "From Our Home To Yours" since the front says Greeting's.

Well hope you all will join us over at BBTB2 this week and if you don't have the Oct. 31st cart there are plenty of other's with candles, so hope to see you there. Have a wonderful week and please leave a comment, I really do LOVE them!

Froggie ((Hugs)) and Take Care, Theresa

BBTB2 Weekly Challenge-Tags, Bags, Boxes & More!

Hello Everyone and Welcome to another Monday challenge from Bitten By The Bug 2! As everyone knows September and School just go together and this week's challenge is from the Amazing and Very Talented Regina who chose the Crayola Box from Tags, Bags, Boxes & More. I kinda went traditional with the crayon box and crayons, (don't tell anybody but I LOVE a new box of crayons! lol, and I'm sure there are alot of you out there that do to!) I love back to school time and all the good ole school supplies. I like going to the office supply store (and the hardware store) almost as much as going to the craft stores! When we get McCade his school supplies I always have to pick up a few things also (giggle)! He actually started school August 11th (my birthday!) this year, so he's been in for a month so far. We actually have parent teacher conference's this Monday so he is home today. (Okay, I'm off track again so back to the challenge.............................................)

The Crayola box from TBBM!

 I haven't played with this cart is along time so it was almost like getting a new cart, lol. I went traditional school cards and made these for McCades teacher. I made the box into a holder for six cards. I added the A+ Teacher (McCade REALLY likes his teacher's this year and so far loving it!) and then the cards I added Thank You on the front's and she can use them as Thank You notes. Kind of a dual meaning. McCade and I think she is an A+, so Thank You form Us, and then she can actually use the notes as Thank You notes! Here's a close up of the actual Crayola Box with the cards inside.

I made the card in Design Studio and welded the blackout tritop tag pg. 87 together after I shrunk it to the size I thought was a good looking crayon. Then I welded a square from George and Basic Shapes. The lettering and Apple is from Plantin Schoolbook. The crayons on the cards are each separate crayons attached to the card base and then a space for a note was added. On the fronts of the cards the various saying are a cuttlebug die and emboss folder and the scallops and circles were cut using my Nestabilites then embossed. The Edger Punch is an EK Success punch (I think it's called binding edge) And last but not least the Paper is a DCWV stack, Grade School Premium stack, love it, it's perfect for all the school pics and for some of the teacher's gift's for the year. I used it for the Teacher gift's for McCade's 3rd grade teacher's little mini books HERE, you can take a look if you haven't seen them or forgot what they looked like. Well here's one more look at the Note Cards: 

So don't forget to stop by BBTB2 and take the challenge and see what all the other amazingly talented Design Team did with their Crayola Boxes. I love to see all the different ways the gals minds think and what they come up with. That is one reason I just LOVE Monday's! Hope you all play along with us this week, you could possibly win our lovely weekly challenge winner button/blinkie also! Wouldn't that just be an honor to display that on your blog! Well I'm going to try and post some pics of my new craft space. It's not completely finished but I have it organized and it was so nice to actually use it for the first time this weekend, I have a couple of things I have to add before it will be totally done but I can surely say, It beats the heck out of the kitchen table, LOL!!!

So Take Care and Froggie ((Hugs)) Theresa