Cuttlebug Challenge, Relax, Rejuvenate, Be Inspired!

Thank you for joining the Cuttlebug Challenge blog hop today! Make sure you visit all the Design Team blogs and "collect" the flowers! I chose the Hibiscus as my flower because thinking about it transports me to a beautiful sandy beach in Hawaii, where I can lounge around all day sipping cold alcoholic beverages and get a great tan! LOL I've never been to Hawaii, but the Hibiscus, to me, is a symbol for that beautiful tropical island, and it definitely relaxes me! The Hibiscus is a versatile flower with uses ranging from tea to medicine and paper to grass skirts. There are over 200 known species of Hibiscus!

Special Thank You to all of our generous sponsors!!

Blythe terrarium Etsy store
Monogrammed Robe By Tammy Etsy store
Bella Bee designs Etsy store
Ferris Wheels Wonderful gift set for PC comfort Etsy store
Delicious fun Handmill soap from SavonShoppe Etsy store

How about some Java to help us rejuvenate?
Katheryn Etsy store

What's a party without Sweets, eh?
Laura's Sweet store

How about a set of Handpainted coffee mugs?
Mary's Etsy store

How about a set of Blooming towel basket?
Christie's Etsy Store

How about some indulgent bath soap? (Fragrance may vary)
Nicki's Etsy Store

How about a manicure and pedicure kit?
Erzulie's Cosmetics Etsy store

Complete Spa basket with bath salt, eye pillow etc..
TuttieLou Designs Etsy store

How about Divine chocolate soaps?
Southern Vermont Soap Etsy store

Spa Gift Basket
Connie's Boutique Etsy Store

And don't forget to check these Design Team member's blogs for some give-aways too!

Karen M K&Co goodies
Amber Ribbon & Martha Stewart stamp set
Eva TBD
Maggie Uhu Glue
Ching SEI Windsor
Christine Basic Grey
Lea Scenic Route Sonoma papers
Danni Small Spa basket
Nathalia vintage ribbon/trim/lace
Jen P. Paisley Embossing Folder
Spike Arbonne, a pot of Glitter Ritz Glitter & a set of Spellbinders Nesties
Mrs. J Lush bath bomb, a candle and maybe a couple of other little surprises
Cassie Lavender goodies Sachet and pillow mist

To be eligible for the great prizes, make sure you:
Visit each blog in order
"Follow" each blog
Leave a comment on each blog
Grab the name of the blogger
Grab the name of the blogger's flower
Email Cuttlebug Challenge with the name of the bloggers and flowers by the end of the weekend
Make sure you start at Cuttlebug Challenge to collect all the flowers in order!

Be sure to visit Becky's blog for more blog hop fun and to collect the next flower!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #29

Must be one of those days..... It's Wednesday, and I knew it was Wednesday but I didn't realize it was Wednesday. Until now. There's only 35 minutes of Wednesday left! So sorry I'm really late getting my Cuttlebug Challenge posted!

This week, the challenge was to make a Mother's Day card w/matching envelope using the Shopping Boutique digi stamps from MyGrafico. Here's my card:

These little images are super cute and were really fun to work with. Thank you, MyGrafico!

And don't forget our Spa Retreat Weekend starting Friday, May 1st!! It's going to be soooo much fun! You won't want to miss it! Awesome tutorials, wonderful prizes, a fun blog hop... make sure you stop by Cuttlebug Challenge to get started at 8 am EST on Friday!

Cuttlebug Be Inspited #28

Happy Wednesday! This morning, I said goodbye to my oldest DD for 3 days! She's going away for 6th grade camp. They get back Friday evening. I pray they are safe and have a fun time :)

This week's Cuttlebug Challenge theme is Home Sweet Home with Marks Paper Co.

My project is a "Home Sweet Home" LO with interactive window shutters :)

I used the Argyle embossing folder for the house and Distress Stripes for the shutters. The floral background paper is from Marks Paper Co. and also the red on the door and in the windows. The brown, green, and white cardstock are from my stash. I inked the edges of the green cardstock before embossing, and after I sanded the embossing. On the shutters, I embossed first, then sanded and inked the embossing. I used and edge distressing tool for the floral background paper, then added some extra rips and tears, then I inked the edges.

The photos are my 3 daughters, my hubby, and myself. I'm thinking of adding some info about each of us on the inside of the shutters. Each of the photos are from a different time within the last 4 months or so, so I would put the date the photo was taken, the age of each child, maybe a quirky little fact about each of us..... I'm still thinking it over :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Don't forget about Cuttlebug Challenge's Spa Retreat and Blog Hop coming up May 1-3. It's going to be a TON of fun, you don't want to miss it!

TFL!

Happy Tax Day!

Need a break from doing your taxes??

Why not look at this week's Cuttlebug Be Inspired challenge! This week's challenge was to incorporate numbers. I created this LO of my DH and his aunt. His b-day is in November, and is usually close to Thanksgiving, but a few years ago Thanksgiving was on his b-day. His aunt lives in another state, so we usually only see her once a year, and she usually comes out for Thanksgiving. So that year, she was also here for his birthday. :)

I used my Swiss Dots embossing folder for some of the circles.

All paper: CTMH

ink: CTMH (chocolate)

Zig writer: (chocolate)

cupcake stamp: Inkadinkado

chipboard letters: Colorbok

misc: ribbon

And here's a few other layouts I've done lately:

all paper and letter stickers: KI memories

flowers and crystal swirls: Prima

ink: CTMH

misc: buttons, "b" and "g" letters

all paper and letter stickers:KI memories

ink: CTMH

flowers and crystal swirls: Prima

chipboard bracket: Scenic Route

misc: buttons

paper: DCWV

cardstock from stash

flowers and crystal swirls: Prima

misc: rhinestones

Threading Water punch

Cricut Expression used with Accent Essentials, Doodlecharms, and Printing 101

TFL!

Spa Retreat Weekend at Cuttlebug Challenge!

For those of you who participated in our Luv Bug weekend, you should remember the great tutorials and prizes over at Cuttlebug Challenge. Well, you won't believe what's happening May 1-3!! So many awesome projects and tutorials... and the giveaways! Wow! You won't believe it!

This is going to be one of the best events we have done for you.

Tell all your friends and meet at Cuttlebug Challenge for fun and friendship. It's going to be a Spa Weekend, with tons of prizes valued at over $1000.00! You will not want to miss it. Fun challenges, tutorials, Inspirations and best of all, getting to meet our Design Teams and some of our loyal readers that have been invited to join in the fun. By meeting new friends and having a great time in our Blog Party of all of Parties... the blog party will be from Friday-Sunday May 1-3, 2009 with a chance to win great prizes! Each Design team will be creating great inspirations for you for the Spa weekend, sharing tidbits on how they relax, rejuvenate and get inspired.

Our Celebrity Guest for the event is the incredible Jennifer Mcguire, contributing editor for Creating Keepsake Magazine! Meet Jennifer on Saturday May 2nd on Cuttlebug Challenge! She will be creating an exclusive challenge for us. Whoohoo!

It would not be a Spa weekend without Spa Treats right? Here's a partial list of prizes:

Spa Retreat Gift Baskets (Soap, Lotions, bath salts)

Spa retreat gift baskets (Eye pillow, towels, soap)

Spa Retreat gift baskets(Assorted facials)

Gift baskets(Assorted hand towels)

Handmade soap gift sets

Custom Monogram Bathrobe (winners initials will be embroidered on the Robe)

Scented Candles sets

Custom Slippers(made specifically for the winner)

Vinyl Lettering for your HomeHand designs

Wine Glasses for 2

What kind of Party will it be without sweets?

Set of delicious Chocolate Cupcakes (freshly made and sent express to you)

Set of Custom blend (Java coffee for those Java lovers)

Manicure and Pedicure set

Are you feeling relaxed and rejuvenated yet? There's more, are you ready! I'm sure you are wondering about Scrapbooking prizes, no worries we have that covered as well! :)

Gift Certificates from Scrap Freak.com, Acbailey.com, Crop Stop.com.

Ten Seconds studios (the last event they gave over $150.00 worth of prizes.) Whoohoo!

Remember, this is just a partial list for the event!

Wanna know what the Grand Prizes are?????

Everyday we will be giving out 1 cuttlebug machine and folders, so you have 3 chances of winning! *restrictions applies

Major Grand Prize: 1 Epson 900 Printer including 3 months worth of cartridges. * restrictions applies

Runner Up: 1 Cricut Expression Machine including the new cartridge, Home Decor. * restrictions applies

Again this is a partial list! Not only do we have a great Guest Celebrity designer we also have another site joining us, stay tuned for more details...

We need help spreading the news, and to thank you for helping us, we are going to be on the Event Banner Patrol. Here's how to win: Add the banner on your blog, create threads on your blog regarding the event, create threads on forums you belong to, then come back to Cuttlebug Challenge and leave a comment and a link.. We will put your name in a drawing and use Random.org to pick our winner of an awesome prize package! Go to Cuttlebug Challenge to grab the banner and the Spa Retreat ad!

This is going to be BIG!! You don't want to miss it!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #26

Happy Wednesday! I am totally NOT ready for Easter to be this Sunday! There's outfits to buy, baskets to fill, eggs to dye and hide.... I'm not prepared. But, at least I have a cute card to give my kids :)
This week's Cuttlebug Be Inspired challenge is to make an Easter card with embossed vellum.

Front:

Inside:

I decided to use a clear SheetLoad acetate sheet for the base of my card. I cut the Easter egg on the Cricut using Doodlecharms; 2 vellum, and 2 cardstock eggs.

I inked the edges of the cardstock eggs with lavender Dew Drop Brilliance ink, and adhered one to the inside and one on the back of the card. Then I traced the egg on the front of the card and cut it into an egg shape. I embossed my large vellum egg with the Cuttlebug using Perfect Paisley and the small egg using Swiss Dots. I used the lavender ink again to bring out the embossing.

I adhered the large vellum egg to the front of the card and added a strip of green cardstock for a
"grassy" look. I tore the top edge and inked using CTMH Sweet Leaf ink. I stamped "egg hunt" on the front using black StazOn ink. I tied a little yellow ribbon around the bottom of the egg, added 2 Prima flowers on the left, and the small vellum egg on the right.

TFL!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #25

Happy April Fool's Day! I remember loving this "holiday" as a kid... I'd make up all sorts of stuff to fool my mom and my friends. Today, I've got another Cuttlebug Be Inspired challenge to share with you. No foolin'!!



This week's challenge is an inter-site challenge, and sponsored by SheetLoad. They were very generous and sent the Design Team some clear and frosted acetate sheets. I used one of the clear sheets. It measures 8.5" x 5.5". We were also given a Sheetload sketch:
I made a wall hanging:




First I cut my background sheet one inch smaller (7.5 x 4.5). I adhered it to the back of the acetate so I can journal on the back if I choose to.
I cut 2 more smaller pieces of patterned paper and embossed one with Bloom Dots on the Cuttlebug. I inked over the embossing a little to help it to stand out more. After adhering my photo, I added flowers (Prima and Imaginisce), crystals (Prima), and a ghost letter (Heidi Swapp). To make the letter more noticable, I added some acrylic paint around the edges and also tied a little ribbon.

Make sure you stop by Cuttlebug Challenge to check out the rest of the Design Team's projects, and also the Sheetload giveaway!!
While you're visiting the challenge blog, make sure you take a few minutes to complete the Provo Craft survey!

TFL!

Another Cuttlebug peek!

Cuttlebug Challenge has posted a peek of another embossing folder!

And don't forget to take the Provo Craft survey!

Want a Cuttlebug SNEAK PEEK?!?

Visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see an exclusive sneak peek of one of the new embossing folders set to come out at CHA in July! It's AWESOME!
And while you're there, be sure to fill out the quick survey from Provo Craft. Let them know what kinds of products you want to see. Let your opinion be heard!

We're also going to be giving away some Cuttlebug embossing folders, too! Make sure you become a "follower" and get a chance to win one! The drawing will be held April 4th.
The survey is available until next Thursday.

Make sure to tell your friends too!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #24

It's time for another Cuttlebug Challenge! I can't believe how fast the month has gone by... pretty soon it will be 2010!! Wow!

This week we were challenged to use a digital cupcake stamp download from Regina @ The Cutting Cafe. Digital stamps are images you download and print from your computer (instead of using a rubber or acrylic stamp) that you can do whatever you want with.... like watercoloring, adding glitter, flocking, embossing, etc.

I chose to cut my cupcake into pieces and use it as a template for a paper piecing for this LO:

Every year, I bring cupcakes to my kid's classes to celebrate their birthdays. I had this cute cupcake paper and thought it would be perfect for my oldest DD's cupcake pictures from this year. I used a sketch that was for 4 pictures, but when I went to print my pictures out, I discovered I didn't have enough! So, when I was thinking about what I was going to do for this challenge, I remembered this cupcake LO, and thought the digi stamps would be perfect.

I had 2 pictures that were good to use, but needed 2 more.... that's where I put my cupcake paper piecings. I printed out my cupcake of choice, cut it out, then traced it onto light brown cardstock. I cut out 2 whole cupcakes, and 2 of just the bottom portion. I took the 2 cupcake bottoms and cut a couple strips. I inked all the pieces and and popped the strips with thick Zots.

Then I took my cupcake print out and cut the top off. I then traced 2 cupcake tops out of dark brown cardstock. After cutting those out, I embossed them in the Cuttlebug using Swiss Dots, then added Stickles to look like sprinkles, and also to match the paper. :)

I used 3D foam squares to attach the cupcake top to the light brown bottom. I really like the way they turned out, and I think they are perfect for this LO!

Materials:

DCWV paper

CTMH cardstock and ink

Cuttlebug embossing with Swiss Dots

Stickles (Platinum)

Thickers chipboard stickers

TFL!