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

Cup of Christmas Cheer-Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #193: Shaped Card

Hello Creative Crafters! 

   Happy Thanksgiving Week! This week I am thankful for each and every one of you all reading this :) Crafting is such a wonderful hobby that has become a huge part of my life. I lost a very close friend a few years ago and suffered from horrible depression. Crafting has helped me come out of that, and I am finally productive and happy again. Those years of being so down really did a number on my body, and because of that I gained a significant amount of weight. Through much discussion with my family physician and the physician in my family (my husband), we decided that weight loss surgery is good route to assist me in my complete life overhaul. I have already begun all the steps needed to take me on this journey, including significant diet changes. Today, (Tuesday, Nov25th) I am having a surgical procedure to get me ready for the big surgery to come. I guess I am telling you all this because I will begin to share some of the process and progress on this blog. If anyone has any questions about my experience or what I'm having to go through, feel free to e-mail me. Thank you for letting me share the things I love with you all!

Now On To The Crafting!

This week at the Die Cuttin' Divas  the challenge is to make a shaped card (Don't Forget The Die Cut). Myself and my Design Team Sisters are using some UH-Mazing images from our sponsor for the next two weeks,StitchyBear Digi-Outlet. I'm not traditionally a Digi Stamper, but honestly, I might be a convert. It was so simple! Let's start at the beginning. The image set I chose to work with is called the "Cuppa Warm Pack" and it's created by Stitchy Stamps. I just love the variety in this image pack, it's as if each individual image is a different theme. I must confess, I was really thinking using digital stamps would be tedious, and complicated. Lol Not even close! I had the images sized and printed before I would have even found my ink with a traditional stamp. There was also another plus, that I didn't realize was even an option! I can color them on my computer!!! Now, you all may already know this, but I did not. It was (were? idk)  as if angels were singing. I LOVE coloring, I mean I REALLY LOVE coloring.(I take a coloring book on camping trips. For Real)  Sadly, at times, it can be time consuming. This sped up the process so much. My printer isn't a Rock Star, so the colors aren't as pretty as they could be, but I still love it! 

After printing the image the lines were not as dark as I would have liked them. (My black ink is running low) I used a black Sharpie to trace every line. I like the almost cartoon-y look it gave the image. I couldn't find my Glossy Accents, so I used a Glaze Gel Pen in clear to add dimension to the tree, marshmallows, and candy cane. 

I used a white gel pen to add stitch lines to my circular Shaped card base. I also used my Cricut Explore's Print then Cut feature to cut out this image. I added traditional brass colored brads to the sentiment I printed off of my computer. The papers used were some GP white cardstock, solid Paper Studio green cardstock, and patterned paper also by The Paper Studio from a Holiday paper pack. 

I really like how this card came out, I am definitely adding this design into my Christmas Card Rotation. I hope you all love it as much as I do! Don't forget to play along with us at the Die Cuttin' Divas this week in our Shaped Card Challenge- No Rectangular Cards(And Don't Forget the Die Cut). Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments below :)

~Dusty Rae

Thanksgiving Place Card- Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #192

Hello hello!

 How have you all been? Sorry I missed last week. This time of year is so hectic. Today( the day this posts, Nov 18th.) My baby girl turns 9. I cannot believe she is 9! They truly grow up too fast. This past weekend we had a surprise party for her. She is the best person ever to surprise. It was a great time.
 
  This week at the Die Cuttin' Divas we are having a Thanksgiving Challenge. This year we are going to Arkansas to my mom's house, so I thought a table decoration could be fun. I did a little searching and ended up at SVGCuts. I purchased the "Thankful Cuties" collection. I decided to make a place cards out of the adorable little turkey. Using my handy dandy Cricut Explore made this project less than 20 minutes start to finish. I used some basic Recollections textured cardstock, homemade enamel dots, and a little brown ink from a WRMK Sweetheart Inker.

I am really having so much fun using SVGs, and the Cricut Design Space software. I know I go on and on about it, but I have truly rediscovered the fun in crafting that was beginning to fade. You all should enter your Thanksgiving projects (that include a die cut) at the Die Cuttin' Divas. I hope you stay warm and have a great week! Thanks for reading :) 

~Dusty Rae

Sweet Recipe -- Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge190: Recipe

Hello Beautiful People! I hope this November has started off well for you all :) We have had a stomach bug that will just not die, and the end of the soccer season was this weekend.  I love watching my kids' games, but 3 practices a week with 2+ games is wearing. I am ready to transition into the holidays. This is my very very very favorite time of year, and this Christmas we will be in Bryson City, North Carolina. We have quite a bit to look forward to, and I am so excited. 

November 2nd was one of my baby cousin's 21st Brithday. She is such an amazing person, and I wanted to make her card for this weeks challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas. This week is Challenge #190 which is a Recipe of  1 Ribbon/Twine, 2 Pattern Papers, 3 Pearls/Gems and don't forget the die cut :)  I with my juvenile humor thought it was funny to play on the challenge of "recipe" with a cupcake. lol I still think it's funny. 

This was my very first purchased SVG file. I purchased the cupcake from Pixels and Company. To be honest, this wasn't the easiest website to navigate, but I found the image via a Google search and I just searched for "cupcake" in the store. I LOVE my new Explore, in case I haven't mentioned that. The papers I used are from Doodlebug, but I lost the cover of the paper pad, so I'm not sure what collection it's from. The amazing 3-D bow is from American Crafts, and all the remaining items are from The Paper Studio. 

There is a funny story with this sentiment. I had originally stamped with a stamp I had purchased from a blog that sells their own stamps. After a whole day, the scale of the sentiment was completely off. It was far too tiny. At that point I was really needing to get my photos edited, so I was in somewhat of a hurry. When this happens, I get out the handy dandy word processor and one of the many many fonts I have. I quickly grabbed a few fun looking fonts and printed the sentiment out in several sizes of each. Then, low and behold I had printed out in the exact same font that the original stamp was made with. lol. I guess that stamp was perfect for what I was wanting, it was just too small. I also hadn't realized that was how stamps were made. It makes sense, but I had never even thought about it. 

I'm usually pretty frightened by mixing patterns so closely, but I think it's fun.  She is such a fun person I think it will suite her well. This is my very first time using a card recipe, and all in all it was challenging and super fun. I hope you all decide to play along with us all at the Die Cuttin' Divas. I can't wait to see what you guys create :)  I will be creating a new Facebook Page for my blog, so be looking for that soon. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.

~Dusty Rae

Misunderstood Scarecrow-- Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #189

Hello Remarkable Readers!

I do hope you have had a fantastic week! I'm just going to jump right in with this week's challenge over at the Die Cuttin' Divas. This is the halloween challenge. My family has never really celebrated it, so I (with the help of Georgiana's wonderful advice) decided to make a card with my own spin. Enter the misunderstood scarecrow. :) I must tell you that I (at times) have a very juvenile sense of humor, and because of this I find a scarecrow telling people to not be scared hilarious. I made this entire card with my Cricut Explore, and some basic textured cardstock and some WRMK patterned paper. This card is far plainer than I had hoped, but this was a busy week. (this next week I am working on time management) I hope you all like it in it's basic glory :)

I love the scalloped edge. This was cut with a Fiskars rotary scallop blade.  

I got a little overly zealous with the inking of the overalls, but those brad buttons help.

I hope you all aren't scared :)  I think he turned out cute, and very approachable. Let me know what you think, and leave me a comment or a message. I love getting feedback. Also please follow me on Bloglovin. I love having you guys visit my blog :) Thanks for reading! 

~Dusty Rae 

"Think Pink" Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #188

Hello Fabulous Friends!

I hope this week finds you well :) It was Fall Break around here last week, and my sister-in-law got married. I was a busy busy wonderful week. Want to know what else is super exciting? The "Think Pink" Challenge over at the Die Cuttin' Divas is super exciting. The requirements are to make something in honor of  Breast Cancer awareness, survival, etc or just a project with Pink as the main color. Don't forget the DIE CUT. We are the Die Cuttin' Divas afterall ;) With all the busy of this past week, I had a teeny tiny amount of time to craft, so this is my fastest card to date.  With the help of my new wild orchid Cricut Explore it was a breeze.

I used the Heidi Swapp Serendipity paper pack for this, with some kraft cardstock. I also used Smooch Spritz ( I love that stuff!)

Both of these images were from the Cricut subscription. I did a little editing to make this a shaped card. 

I really love the way this turned out. From start to finish this card took me 20 minutes! That's right I said 20 minutes. That includes getting my Cricut out and taking the pictures of the finished product. It was such a good time to make it as well. I can't believe I ever didn't want the Explore. I was missing out on so much! 

Well I hope you all like this. Let me know what you think :) Have a fantastic week, and don't forget to submit your Pink projects over at the Die Cuttin' Divas!  Thanks for reading :)

~Dusty Rae

Purple, Orange, and 1 Other Color, Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #187

Hello Again :)

I'd like to welcome my new readers with a big HELLO!  I am so happy to have you all here :)

This week has been wonderful! I hope it has for you guys as well! I ordered the new Wild Orchid Cricut Explore last week, and Wednesday it arrived in all it's Purple Majestic Glory!  I used to not be a fan of purple, but it's one of my new favorites! Speaking of purple, you all need to participate in this new challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas. You're challenged to use purple, orange, and one other color. I decided to make something unexpected, and super cheerful! I hope you all like it :)

 This new Explore is UH-Mazing!! It cut so fast, and so super quiet. I love these 3-D bows! I purchased the digital images from Cricut back when I got my E-2 about 2 years ago. 

The papers are from a Holiday paper set from Michael's. I love the embossed patterns on them,  All of the images are from the Cricut Library. The Gems are from Hobby Lobby. 

This week is pretty simple, but I'd still like to know what you all think. Leave me a comment or send me a message :) See you all next week, and don't forget to submit your projects at the Die Cuttin' Divas. Remember: a die cut and use orange, purple, and one other color. Thanks for reading!

~Dusty Rae

Celebrate Everything! Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #186

Hi There Fabulous Friends!

I hope this week has brought you all happy times and good memories. We had a great week here in Oklahoma. We even had some fall-like weather for two days last week. My husband, his co-chief resident, and my husband's brother went with the kiddos and I to a pumpkin patch. It was such a good time. While we were waiting for my husband and his friend to get there from the hospital, my brother-in-law had the kids search for the tiniest pumpkin, the largest pumpkin, the ugliest, and the most perfect. We all got into it, and ended up being there for a couple of hours. We came home with the largest, smallest, and most perfect ones. The ugliest was far too ugly to buy. lol  

After having such a great week, I wanted to bring that energy into the card I made for this week. The challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas this week is a sketch challenge. I have to confess, this is the very first sketch I have ever used. It was pretty AWESOME! I love how each of the other Design Team members and I have completely different projects all in such a similar format. I hope that the energy and happiness I attempted to put into this card are visible to you all. 

I used Smooch Shimmer Spray on the Pink Balloon. The Balloons are dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I used a white gel pen for the details. 

The papers are from Simple Stories Diy Boutique. This card is 5x7 and I used the 6x6 paper pack so the black polka dots are actually two sheets. The foil papers are from a pack from Wal-Mart, and the Gems are from Hobby Lobby. 

I hope you all like this. Let me know what you think, and try your hand at this sketch. To see the sketch and enter the challenge, head on over to the Die Cuttin' Divas. If you participate, let me know so I can check it out. Thanks for reading you all! Have a great week :)

~Dusty Rae

"Anything Goes" Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #185

Hello you gorgeous group you!


 How have you all been this past week? We went to a craft fair, and it was a blast. I purchased some beautiful re-purposed silverware jewelry, all real silver too :) This week's challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas  is "Anything Goes". It's my favorite kind of challenge. This project is one I love. It's the only one I made specifically to send to someone. She's all the way in England. I thought something country would be a nice representation of where I'm from.  This card is mostly the "I Heart Summer" paper collection, but there's some awesome ribbon, and a punch from Martha Stewart also. I usually use more die cuts, but I really wanted to share this project.

This is a stamp I got on clearance at, you guessed it, Hobby Lobby. I also used Spectrun Noirs to color it. 

See, there really is a border back there. There's also some other shiny silver brads thrown in. I love the contrast.

This was fun to make. Coloring definitely takes me out of my comfort zone, but the more I do it, the more I love it. I can't wait to see what you all make for this challenge. I love the variety. I'll see you all at the Die Cuttin' Divas. Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any comments or questions, and feel free to follow be at Bloglovin.

~Dusty Rae

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #184 "Fall is Here"

Happy Tuesday! How are you remarkable readers? Things are going great here in sunny Oklahoma! Soccer season is now in full swing (or kick haha). This week marks a milestone for me here, it's my 20th post. Some of you may know that I promised a blog overhaul after my 20th post. This week I will officially start shopping for a new design. Maybe a button, woo, or a logo. I won't go too crazy. Also, my new part time job will be no longer a week from today. Some things have happened which have caused a need to have more flexibility in my schedule. No worries, nothing bad, actually all hopeful. :) 

Now let's get with the crafting :)  This week our challenge over at Die Cuttin' Divas was to create a project based on my very favorite time of year, Fall. I love this season so much I was certain I would be overflowing with ideas, but that was not the case.  So I went to Pinterest and found some inspiration here.  I used some Paper Studio papers (I'm sure you're surprised huh? ha). I also used my Cricut with the Autumn Celebrations cartridge and the ones built into my E2. 

I inked the edges with some Brilliance ink in Copper. The leaf is a sticker from a clearance sticker pack I found at Michael's. 

Sorry for the poor picture quality, the lighting was working against me, but I sure love how these colors go together. The eyelets are the wide eyelets from WRMK. 

This is my little cowboy helping me out. I think he got the best lighting for me.  The ribbons are from a multi-pack from Hobby Lobby.

My son and daughter had a blast finding the acorns and leaves for these pictures. They have so much fun getting involved.

Well folks that is all I have for today. This project is the beginning of my Autumn decorations. I have so many. We usually travel for Christmas, so I go all out for Fall. Let me know what you think, and don't forget to submit your Fall creations over at the Die Cuttin' Divas. Have a good week you all :)  Thanks for reading!

~Dusty Rae

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #183 Pirate Day

Hello Again :)

 

How are you all doing? This past week has flown by. I am so excited for this challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas. I have never made a pirate card, or really any masculine cards. My first step was to head over to mycutsearch looking for pirate images. (The hardest part for me is remembering what cartridges I have. Do you all have this same issue? How do you all remember? Do you keep a list? I've found the phone apps to be useless.) I figured out my cut(from create a friend), but then I had ZERO papers that would really go with a pirate theme. This meant a trip to Hobby Lobby was in order. Paper is my main source of inspiration, and this is no exception. My son actually picked out the top paper for me. Isn't it perfect? He did a good job :) I then found the red stripes. They have them in grey and black as well, I know because I wasn't sure which I wanted to use, so I bought them all. Haha I'm such a paper hoarder. 

 

I have to admit I tried a few different versions, having to scrap most of them. Mostly different color combinations and layouts. To make this a little more detailed I used chalks and glitter and the enamel dots I made. I really believe with the cards that I make each new one becomes my favorite, but my hope is that you find it as much fun to look at as I had creating it.

 

Here's what I used.  

1. Hobby Lobby The Paper Studio papers.

2. Recollections Card stock.

3. Pebbles Chalks

4. Cricut Create a Friend

5. Homemade Enamel Dots

6. Stickles

 

 

I added rosy cheeks, and chalked his shirt to make it look a bit raggedy. I also added stickles to the hook to make it pop. Those are enamel dots I made for a previous post.

 

I added chalk around the sentiment to add dimension. I actually made this sentiment up and printed it out, then cut it by hand.

 

Love this little guy.

Well I hope you all enjoyed this card, don't forget to go over to the Die Cuttin' Divas. I'd love to see your submissions. Since the papers inspired this card, why don't you let me know what inspires you to create? I truly am excited to find out. Thanks for reading :) 

~Dusty Rae