I'll Be Home For Christmas-Die Cuttin' Divas #196 Christmas Carol

Hey there fantastic friends old and new :)

 Merry Christmas! I know we're still a few days out, but this is my last challenge post before the holiday. I hope all of you get to spend good quality time with those you hold dear. This is my very favorite time of year for so many reasons. Christ is definitely my number one favorite reason for the season, but there are so many other joyous things that stem from there. I love the friendliness in the air, the traditions, the food, and the time with loved ones. My 10th wedding anniversary to the man of my dreams is on Thursday. I love him more everyday, and I am so thrilled to be in the double digits of marriage years. We leave for our Christmas vacation to Bryson City, NC this week. If you all are looking for a vacation spot in the Smoky Mountains. this little town is perfection. We went there last year, and moved our WDW Christmas plans to July so that we could go back to NC. 

We may be in the Smoky Mountains for Christmas Day, but we will be going back home to visit family in Western Arkansas and  Eastern Oklahoma. This is where the inspiration for my card in the current challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas. Our challenge this week is to make a card inspired by a Christmas carol (don't forget the die cut) , and this may be my favorite one to date :)  It was so much fun to put this together. I went in with a small plan and an amazing inspiration card found here. 

I used a Doodlbug Stamp and die set by Sizzix and Hampton Arts for the little house and sun. The snowman and trees are actually random Studio G stamps that I bought in a big lot on ebay. I fussy cut them out with a Slice Precision ceramic knife. I love that thing. I found it on clearance at a office/teacher supply store for only $.50. The triangles on the side are actually some cardstock pennants from Paper Accents. I knew I wanted to use them, so I played around with them until I finally came up with this idea. My daughter says it's like a bow. She's so supportive :) The circle die is a My Favorite Things "pierced circle" die, and I have been using that set on everything. 

  

The windows literally pop out with Glossy Accents, and the snowman was colored using some Sakura pens. I couldn't capture it in the pictures, but the snowy hills are shimmery with Smooch Spritz in Vanilla.  The Sky and the striped papers are from Bo Bunny in the Elf Magic collection. I found the yellow for the sun in a scrap folder, so sadly I don't remember what brand it is. The coloring on the trees was done with Spectrum Noirs, and the coloring on the cottage was done with some La Pluma II markers I purchases on Ebay. 

I am really excited by how this card turned out. I hope it's as whimsical and fun as I tried to make it. I can't wait to see all of your carol inspired cards (with a die cut) at the Die Cuttin' Divas. Have a very Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading!

~Dusty Rae

Love To Scrap! Challenge #44 When Nature Calls

Hello Beautiful Blog Readers!

I hope all is fantastic in all of your worlds. This week we leave for our extended Christmas Vacation. I am so excited I can't stand it! This week at Love to Scrap!Challenge Blog our challenge is "When Nature Calls"-Feature something on project that's found in nature - living or inanimate. The sponsor of this challenge is Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet. My project was made using the Doodle Deer digital stamp. I have to tell you I have really grown to LOVE digital stamps, and especially Stitchy Bear's stamps. This is my third challenge using their images. You can see my other two projects here and here. 

I really love this little deer. It is whimsical, yet elegant. The hardest part of this card was deciding if I wanted to dress it up or dress it down. I decided to pull out some dies I bought on clearance at Michael's a while back,, and see where the card went from there.   

The fancy circle die is a Spellbinders Nestabilities die. It's called "Splendid Circles". I used a My Favorite Things Die-Namics die set called "Pierced Circles", and this is my new favorite! I have used it several times in the past week. 

The way the papers came together really is my very favorite part. The red cardstock is from Bazzill, and the patterned ones are from The Paper Studio in a pack called "A Very Merry Christmas". The Merry Christmas sentiment, I printed it from my computer. 

I really had such a good time with this project. It would be great to see you all enter your projects involving something from nature over at Love To Scrap!. Also, don't forget to check out Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet. They have a huge selection and they're a lot easier to store than traditional stamps ;) I'll be back tomorrow, but then it will be a couple of weeks. Thanks for reading y'all!

~Dusty Rae

The Pink Christmas Tree- Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #195: Color Challenge ~ No Red or Green

Hello there you wonderful crafty people!

 I hope all is well in your world. Have you all been hard at work making your Christmas cards? How do you all do it, do you make one card multiple times? or do you make many different ones? I haven't really mastered the multiple cards of the same kind thing yet. I think I should figure it out though, it seems quite efficient, and I have a card storage box just begging to be filled. I'm pretty terrible about sending out cards anyway, but the New Year is coming and I see this as something to go on my resolution list. (I've decided to make a list this year for a little accountability.) 

Moving us back to Christmas, this week at the Die Cuttin' Divas our challenge is to make a Christmas Card without using Red or Green.(don't forget the die cut) I really had such a great time with this challenge. I love how Christmas transcends tradition, and looks awesome in any color combination. I chose black, white, silver, and pink to work with. I used a plethora of glitter paper, it was a good time ;)

I usually avoid glitter, but Christmas brings out the worst best in me. My 9 year old daughter has already swiped this away, it's definitely right up her alley. All of my supplies, other than the ribbon, was purchased at Hobby Lobby. I used my WRMK Evolution Advanced to cut out the tree and ornaments. They are from the Sizzix- Tim Holtz Framelits die and stamp set-Tree Blueprints. I used some Glossy Accents to make the ornaments pop. The Chevron glitter papers are from Doodlebug Designs, and the solids are from The Paper Studio. The ribbon is a dollar clearance ribbon from Michael's that I purchased probably 2 years ago.  I used a Martha Stewart punch with some silver vellum for the snowflakes, and the stamp is from the Tim Holtz set as well. I have developed a really bad habit of outlining or inking all of my projects with black Sharpie, and it is not a clean look. Perhaps by confessing this to you all, I will be shamed into not doing it anymore. 

Well that's all I have for this week. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I do. I can't wait to see all your color change projects with us at the Die Cuttin' Divas. Thanks for reading you all :) Let me know what you think. Leave me a comment, or send me a message. 

~Dusty Rae

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge # 194 Sketch

Hello There Fantastic Friends :) 

I hope Thanksgiving went well for all of you. We had a fun trip to Arkansas, and I even managed to get my husband to go to Wal-Mart with me at midnight after the crowds had cleared. Half of my Christmas shopping is now completed. Did you all get any good bargains? If so, let me know what you got :)

This week's challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas is a sketch challenge.  I made this card using the same image pack from StitchyBear Digi-Outlet, called "Cuppa Warm Pack" by Stitchy Stamps. This week I used my Spectrum Noir Markers to color the image. I finished the card, but then decided to change the kraft paper out for a darker one. 

 I decided to add the darker kraft paper to match the coloring on the stocking better. 

Those enamel dots are the ones my daughter and I made in the toaster oven. 

Which do you guys like better? I really liked working with this sketch, and image pack. I'd love to see all of your creations at the Die Cuttin' Divas this week. You can find the sketch here. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading :)

~Dusty Rae

New Design Team! Love to Scrap! Challenge #43-Shape Shift

Hi there pleasant people! 

Today is my first challenge at the Love to Scrap! Challenge Blog. I am so excited to be a Design Team Member with all of the super talented lovely ladies at this awesome blog. I must admit I have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start. I was so excited to start and work with this amazing image, Snowy Days Rory from Lacy Sunshine,  that  I completely missed the part about this challenge being for a shaped card. Good news is, I'm adaptable, and I got it done :) The pictures aren't my best ever, but I still hope you like it. 

I colored Rory with my Spectrum Noir markers. I am still learning, but I am pretty happy with how she looks. The papers are from a 6x6 paper pad from The Paper Studio called Woodland Wonderland. I love that burlap looking print. The "Merry Christmas" was printed from my computer, and the ribbon is from Michael's. 

This is the original card I made, before I "shifted the shape" haha. 

 I love the way both cards turned out. I hope you all enjoyed them as well. Please let me know what you think. I hope all is well with you until we talk again. Don't forget to enter your shaped cards into the challenger over at Love to Scrap! Can't wait to see you all there! Thanks for reading :)

~Dusty Rae