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