If I haven't convinced you to buy a Cuttlebug yet, maybe this next tutorial will sway you. I've shown you how to emboss using Cuttlebug embossing folders and today I will show you how to use Cuttlebug dies. What is a die? A die is a metal form or stencil that is used to punch or cut out shapes. Below is a picture of the Cuttlebug die called Flowers:

The front of the die has a picture of what the finished cuts will look like.

The back of the die is padded with foam. If you press down on the foam, you can feel the metal stencil edge that cuts through the paper.

For my project, I only needed to cut one flower so I trimmed a small piece of paper down and placed it over the shape that I wanted to use. To use the dies, you will need to use the sandwich technique that I showed you in my first tutorial. (A plate + B plate + die tool + cardstock + B plate). Once I finished assembling the Cuttlebug sandwich, I cranked it through the machine.

I removed the top plate and here is what the die cut looked like.

After removing all the surrounding paper scraps, I was left with a single perfectly cut flower.

Note that the top B plate of the Cuttlebug sandwich will have permanent impressions engraved from the metal edges of the dies. The plate warps a bit when it is sandwiched with the dies and will eventually need to be replaced after heavy usage.

I added the flower as an embellishment to another thank you card I made. The card is 5.5" x 4.25" and the center rectangle is 4.25" x 3". I layered the center piece with different patterned paper and ribbon. "Thank you" is stamped on a small piece white paper and layered onto a rectangle of celery-colored cardstock that I cut with a pair of scalloped scissors.

Here's a close up picture. I added a little rhinestone to the middle of the flower to give the card some sparkle.

Go out and buy your Cuttlebug today!

I finally finished sending out "thank you" cards to all of my wedding guests... all except for my bridesmaids. Five months have passed since wedding and I haven't officially thanked them! That's awful, isn't it? I had my heart set on making each them personalized cards and I just didn't have the chance to get around to it until recently.

I made another "thank you" card for one of my bridesmaids last night. Since a few of you liked my little entry on the Cuttlebug, I have more Cuttlebug fun for you today.

One of the first things that I do when I make a card is choose a color combination. For this thank you card, I pulled out sheets of colored paper and mixed and matched until I found a combination that I was satisfied with.

  
I love choosing neutral colors with one bright color in the mix.

 
This Cuttlebug embossing folder is called Divine Swirl.

 
I cut a piece of paper to the size that I wanted it and then placed it between the embossing folder.

 
Next, I did the whole cuttlebug sandwich process that I talked about in my last entry and I cranked it through it through the machine. Out popped a sheet of swirly embossed paper!

 
This is a slit punch. It punches a half circle through a sheet of paper. By punching a bunch of half circles in a row, I can create scalloped borders for my cards.

 
Here is the finished product of the scalloped circle punch.

 
I used it as a border for my swirly paper.

 
Finally, I stamped a few images on white and guava-colored paper, cut them out, and stuck the pieces onto a piece of brown cardstock for the final product.

 
Here's one last close up view. I wanted to give the card depth so I used pop up foam squares to adhere the pieces to the cardstock. I love the effect!

There are so many neat folders and dies available for the Cuttlebug. You can use them for cards, invitations, altered items... The possibilities are truly endless! 

After my wedding passed, I needed a way to fill the void that wedding planning had once occupied. What was I to do with my lonely craft-deprived hands? Well, I recently discovered the wonderful world of stamping and paper crafting. I've always been a scrapbooker, but I have developed a new love for stamping and card making. Along with this new hobby, I picked up a horrendous amount of new craft tools and supplies.

Meet my new baby, the Cuttlebug:

What is a Cuttlebug? It's a die-cutting and embossing tool. The side plates fold up and it takes up no more room on a desk than a portable photo printer. I'll show you what this little guy can do.

 
This is an embossing folder. It's about 4.25" x 5.5" (the size of a small greeting card). This particular design is called "Swiss Dots" and it will emboss a dotted pattern onto your paper. Embossing folders for the Cuttlebug cost around $5-6 each.

Here's another view of the embossing folder. It folds in half and one side of the folder has the negative image while the other has the positive image.

First, insert a piece of paper between the folder like so.

Then place the folder in a "sandwich" between the embossing plates that are included with the machine. The order is: A plate on the bottom, then B plate, embossing folder with paper, and lastly a second B plate on top. The plates are labeled very clearly and it's mores simple than it sounds. The sandwich/plate technique is slightly tedious, but it allows the Cuttlebug to be adapted to other brands of die-cutting stencils and embossing folders rather than being restricted to only Provo-Craft products.

Next, place the plate sandwich onto the Cuttlebug and run it through by turning the crank on the right side.

Remove the paper from the folder and voila! Polka-dot embossed paper.

Here's an example of a finished "thank you" card that I created for one of my bridesmaids using the embossed paper. I just love the textured element that it adds to the cards.

One last closeup shot.

My only complaint about the Cuttlebug is that I wish they had bigger embossing folders available. 4.25" x 5.5" is the size of 1/4th of a regular sheet of paper and it's limiting in the scope of projects one can create. Michael's sells Cuttlebugs for $89.99, but I've seen fabulous deals for these machines. Recently Joann's had a bug for $49.99 with free shipping. I definitely would not pay full price for one of these. You can find a good deal on one if you look around a bit.

Next, I'll show you how the Cuttlebug can make ultra-fabulous die-cuts.

Hello hive! It's been a while. I apologize for being MIA. Mr. Eggplant and I have been really busy trying to sort out our housing situation at the moment. We are no longer purchasing the SF condo that we had planned on buying. There were some complications with the timing of the finished construction, our marriage date, and title issues. It's a long and complicated story and I've been pretty bummed out about it lately. But I'm thankful that we still have a roof over our heads and two great jobs that provide more than we need for food on our table. Anyway, onto my post.

Mr. Eggplant and I were very blessed to have worked with some amazing vendors througout our wedding, including our photographers, Ray and Erwin of Apertura Photography. Both of them really went above and beyond in their service to us. We wanted to thank them with something extra special to show them how much we appreciated their friendship and professionalism. I am a huge gift person and I love giving very personalized gifts to others. I decided to put together a special package for Ray and Erwin:

1. A Gutiar Hero tee for Ray (he LOVES his guitar hero. )
2. A videogame controller tee from Heavy Tees (no longer available on their site) for Erwin who loves graphic tees and also wanted to purchase a new gaming unit.
3. Ray & Erwin love coffee so both received a reserve coffee gift with 1/2 lb of Kona and 1/2 lb of Jamaica Blue Mountain beans (YUM).
4. Wind up sushi for Erwin who loves sushi (Ray disklikes all seafood. ).
5. An Oops bottle opener/coaster for Erwin.
6. Vintage robot magnets for Ray.
7. Jazz guitar ice stirrers for Ray.
8. Stuffed ninja dolls for both, representing both of their stealth-like photo skills.
9. Hurricane Popcorn from our Hawaiian honeymoon.
10. Chocolate chip cookies in a handmade box.
11. Milk to go with the cookies (a Tokidoki blind box).
12. And a card made by me.

I'm happy to say that they received their gifts this week and loved them. Here are some fun pics of the gifts that they posted on their blog:

I have been really into stamping and card making lately. Stamping is such an addicting hobby! I used to be really into scrapbooking, but I'm impatient and it takes so long to finish a scrapbook that I ended up neglecting my projects. With stamping, I can easily finish a project in a hour and move on to a new idea.

Anyway, I wanted to share a card that I made for the Valentine's day exchange. I found this idea on a stamping blog somewhere and it's the easiest card ever.

Supplies:
8.5 x 5.5 inch pink cardstock
Two shades of green cardstock
Adhesive
Flower punch
Black ribbon
Black ink pad
A seed stamp (a black marker to draw seeds would work just as well)
Paper cutter

First, pyour pink card stock on a table vertically and score it at 4.25
inches. fold in half so that you have a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card.

Next, we will make the melon rind.

Using your paper cutter, cut one of the green cardstock sheets into a 0.5 x 4.25 inch strip. Cut the other shade of green cardstock into a 1.5 x 4.25 inch strip.

Use adhesive to stick the smaller green strip to the larger green strip.

Adhere the melon rind to the pink cardstock.

Use the seed stamp (or a black marker) to stamp melon seeds.

Punch a "bite" into the top right corner of the melon with your flower punch.

Decorate with the black ribbon and inside, stap (or write) "You're one in a melon!" If you're making a thank you card, you could also use, "Thanks a melon!" or "A melon thanks!"

Have fun!

My Valentine swappers all should have received their packages by now, so I can write about one of my all-time favorite baking projects: cookies on a stick! I've made these for for baby showers, birthday parties, Christmas exchanges, and more. They are super easy and cute.

Here are the supplies I used: Wilton's blossom and heart cookie treat
pans ($6 at Wal-Mart or use a 40% off coupon and snag one at
Michael's), 6 inch cookie sticks, clear treat bags, and a roll of
raffia.

Since the cookies were travelling accross the country for several days, I needed them to stay as soft as possible. I used Tyler Florence's Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie  recipe. This recipe calls for a lot of flour and the end result is a softer, cake-like cookie.

These cookies rise quite a bit in the pans, so if you attempt this treat, fill the pan just a tad under. Insert one of the 6-inch cookie sticks into the dough before you pop them in the oven. Once they are finished baking, let them cook for at least 5 minutes before removing them from the pan or the dough may break. After they are completely cooled, place them inside of a treat bag and tie them off with a strand of raffia.

Yum! Cookies on a stick are so much fun to eat.

Here are the cookie treats ready for mailing. I "accidentally" broke a few, so I had to eat them. Shucks.

You can do so much with these pans. You can bake a sugar cookie recipe and decorate the treats with icing. I've used the round pans to make baby rattle treats for my director's baby shower. The possibilities are endless!

Calling all engaged photography lovers: Ray and Erwin from Apertura Photography are hosting a free engagement session contest! They photographed our wedding and engagement session and we couldn't have been more pleased with the pictures. From their blog:

So….. we just had our 100,000th blog hits in January! To celebrate this,
we want to thank our incredible blogstalkers who cared enough to visit
& leave your wonderful input & comments. We’d also like to
invite all of you to participate in our very first blog contest: “Blog
Stalkers Unite!”

WHAT?

One lucky couple would win a E-Session Package valued at $3650!

1. Up to two hours of FREE engagement/day-after session with both Ray + Erwin
2. A 10×10/9×12, 30-page Fine Art Engagement Book
3. DVD of images with the album delivery

Blogstalkers, please send us a picture of a you and your significant
other (in JPG format no larger than 800px at the widest, 72 dpi) and
write us a short story about why you deserve this engagement/day-after
session. The top finalists with the most interesting story and photo
would be posted in this blog. We will pick the winner by April 8, 2008.
Email your entries to: info@aperturaphoto.com. Please put “blogstalker”
in the subject line.

WHEN?

All entries must be received by March 25, 2008 Midnight Pacific Standard Time

Darn, I wish we weren't married yet so that we could enter. Read the details and view an engagement session slideshow on their blog. Good luck!

I love the Life and Soul article in this month's "Real Simple" magazine. Real Simple readers answered the question, "What's the Secret to a Good Marriage?" Here are some of my favorite answers:

My husband and I have a strict rule: Never argue with your clothes on. If we are out and about to fight, we know that we have to wait until we’re home and undressed. By then we’ve usually forgotten what the trouble was about.
Amy Hadsall
Cameron, North Carolina

Marry someone you love exactly as they are, and be sure they feel the same. That way, you’ll never expect more of each other than you are each happy to give. I didn’t realize this until my second marriage. Another secret? Don’t get married until you’re sure of who you are.
Lisa Noll
Martinsburg, West Virginia

Knowing the grass isn’t greener on the other side. My husband and I married a bit later than the average couple, and by then we had both had plenty of time to “sow our oats.” We truly love one another and never wonder “what if,” mainly because we’ve been there and done that. We know we want to be together, without question.
Amy Dodson
Richmond, Virginia

I once asked an elderly neighbor this very same question. He and his wife had been married more than 50 years. He replied, “Oh, my dear, it’s really very simple. My wife and I agreed long ago that I’d make all the big decisions and she’d make all the little decisions. And in all these years together, there just haven’t been any big decisions.”
Cecilia Saad
Washington, D.C.

Mr. Eggplant and I have a few casual rules that we try to maintain to keep our marriage healthy:

1. The winner of any argument is the one who can get the other to laugh first. I love this rule. Mr. Eggplant started it unofficially during one of our arguments by making funny faces at me while I was upset. I couldn't stay mad! He has since kept the tradition going. At first, I hated that he would always get me to laugh because he wouldn't take anything seriously! Now, I appreciate the fact that he eases the tension. And honestly, my reasons for being upset are usually pretty petty.

2. On weeknights, no technology is permitted until after dinner. No televisions, computers, or game consoles may be used until after we've eaten dinner together. This rule allows us to spend a few hours of quality time together every day.

What are your tips for maintaining a healthy relationship?

(Read the rest of the Real Simple article here.)

Hey ya'll.

I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, but let me tell ya, married life sure is BUSY. Two sets of family + two sets of friends + double the committments = no free time at all. Is my schedule always going to be so crazy? I've been treasuring every spare minute that I have.

Another strange thing happened recently: I totally forgot about our wedding. For months after the big day, I'd constantly reflect on our amazing, fun, and joy-filled wedding day. Now, I barely think about it.Yes, it was absolutely wonderful. But in the grand scheme of things, it was only a day, and that day has now faded into a busy mess of purchasing a new home, working crazy hours, and adjusting to sharing life with another person.

I wish I could get back into wedding mode because I have a stack of thank you cards to write. Also, I still need to finish approving my wedding album so that I can finally have our digital wedding pictures. I just have absolutely no urge to look at anything wedding related.

On a non-wedding related note, hubby came up to me yesterday while I was cooking and asked, "Are you wearing a sports bra?"

I replied, "Yes, why?"

"I don't like it. You look like you have a uni-boob."

LoL.

Hmmm. Now that the featured question has been posted... I *am* making some cookies this week and I've been researching ways to pack and ship them to my friends on the east coast. Perhaps I'll make an extra package for the troops.

Here are some great sites if you're thinking of shipping cookies also:
http://www.troopcarepackage.com/cookies.html
http://www.treatthetroops.org/tips.htm

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!