A new challenge starts today at Bitten By the Bug 2 called In the Stars.

I searched Design Space for stars, then went to my second favorite place SVGcuts.com to search for stars.  This box card      came up as part of the kit called Happy 4th.  Since I needed to make a card for a friend who celebrated their 90th birthday on July 2, I decided I could modify the card into a birthday card.  I took the first insert and using a square shape, sliced off the top which said “4th” on a banner with a star.  I searched Design Space and found a birthday sentiment that was curved in Create a Critter.  I used a banner from Close to My Heart “Artiste” and a star shape from the basic shapes.  After sizing all of them to fit, I made a copy of the sentiment and then arranged the original, the base, the banner and the star together and welded them.  I replaced the dot on the “i” with a star.  Since it was her 90th, I also hid the star contour on the front flap and replaced it with a 90.  Everything else remained as the original design.  The paper was from Authentique and called Anchored.  It makes for a fun birthday card.  Don’t be afraid to alter some of the fun designs you find to make them your own.  Join in the fun with your own project with star shapes on your Circut and link it to the challenge on Bitten By the Bug 2.  – Denise

My mother was born on June 21 (the first full day of Summer) so this time of year has always been celebrated in our family.  Bitten by the Bug 2 has chosen this as the challenge for the next two weeks.  My daughter was also to be married on June 21 this year, but due to COVID 19, it has been postponed until next year.  I am still going to see her, so I did a super quick card for our challenge.

I searched for sun in Design Space and this image from Folk Art Festival came up and I thought it looked like one of those suns they show on the CBS show Sunday Morning.  The sentiment is from Small Talk Frames & Tags.  Using some scraps from my stash in yellow, orange and peach I cut it out and mounted it on blue cardstock.  Just a simple card, but very cheery looking. Have a wonderful start to Summer and enter your own project with the sun using your Cricut on the challenge here.  Be sure to check out all of the great designs from the other members while you are there. – Denise

June is the month for weddings and that is the current challenge on Bitten by the Bug 2.

Like everything else this year, weddings are being effected by COVID 19 restrictions.  My niece was to be married in April and my daughter in June.  Both have postponed their weddings until next year.  Since I didn’t have an actual wedding to make a card for, I decided to make a general one and have in my stash.  This cut is from Summer Celebrations and is currently free on Design Space.  I cut it with gray and white cardstock from my stash.  The original cut is open to the inside, but I didn’t like the look, plus the sides were pretty thin.  I cut a piece of cardstock from the DCWV stack called Le Blanc and put it behind the front.  It was a quick card to make and is pretty classic looking.

Check out all the great projects the design team did for the challenge and link up your own project using your Cricut on Bitten by the Bug 2 here.

Today is Memorial Day and the challenge at Bitten By The Bug 2 is Military. My son graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2014 and currently serves flying C130s.  I am finally finishing an album of his time there and made this page of his graduation.

The whole graduation week was filled with lots of ceremony and the graduation was no exception.  One of the highlights was then Vice President Biden saluting and shaking the hand of every single graduate (and there were just under 1,000).  The larger picture captures that moment when my son shook his hand.  Last year I watched a live stream of President Trump doing the same thing.  Unfortunately this year the cadets had a very abbreviated ceremony without any friends or family present and of course, no shaking of hands by the Vice President.  At least they did get a graduation, unlike most all other colleges.  I used an Authentique collection called Pride for the papers.  The stars are just the Cricut basic shapes and the title is a font called Plantin Schoolbook.  I also cut one of the pictures in the star shape.  You can do this if you are very careful to place the cut on the mat in an exact location and position your picture to be centered in that location.

I certainly have a new appreciation of those who serve after having a son in the Air Force.

Be sure to add your military project using your Circut machine and link it on the challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2 here.  – Denise

Today we start a new challenge on Bittten by the Bug 2 using graduation as the theme.  Graduations are certainly going to be a lot different in 2020 so my card is a little different too.

   View of the back.

My great-nephew is graduating from high school and a vocational school this year after taking construction.  He has been accepted into an apprenticeship at the carpenter’s union, so this tool box card from SVG cuts seemed appropriate.  It is from the Father’s Day Box Card collection found here.  I added a mortar board in his school colors to the note pad on the front from Decorate, Celebrate. The writing is Modern Calligraphy.  I love writing with my Cricut because it always looks good and I can size it just right to fit.  I used basic cardstock in my stash along with metallic cardstock from DCWV.  I also used a couple of different brads that look like metal fasteners and screws.

Don’t forget to make something for that special graduate because they will need it more than ever this year.  Link up your project made with your Cricut to our challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2 here.

Starting today through May 10 Bitten by the Bug 2 the challenge is flowers.  What a perfect start for May.

My project is a tissue box cover.  I know this doesn’t sound glamorous, but since I have allergies, these are all around my house and dressing them up has been fun.  SVG Cuts has these cut files that go together quickly.  I decided to use some of my beautiful Graphic 45 paper so that I could look at it every day.  The kit I used is called French Country.  I decided to dress it up even more by adding a dimensional Sunflower to match the paper. This also came from svgcuts.com in a set called Harvest Sunset and can be found here.  The Sunflower on the bag is the one I used, but I downsized it to fit on the side of the box.  This meant that the pieces for the center were fairly small and I wouldn’t try it any smaller.  I inked the petals and leaves with a blending brush and Distress Oxide Inks.  I shaped them The center was covered in glue and then rolled in glass micro beads.  I picked those up at Hobby Lobby sometime and have used them for some fun things.   They really made the center look great.  I made another with plain cardstock and added the decorative panels from another Graphic 45 kit and will probably fill my house with them.

Have fun making any kind of project with flowers using your Cricut machine, then add your link to the challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2 here.  – Denise

I am home because of the Pandemic shut down and decided to try and use some of the ginormous stash of 6 x 6 paper pads that I have.  I also had received my April 2020 KOM and March 2020 SMAK kits from Unity Stamp Company in the last couple of weeks, so I incorporated stamps from both of those in these cards.  I found a template on Pinterest by Dawn Lewis and it can be found here.  I printed her template which includes measurements. She actually uses a whole pad and made 66 cards, but used the template to make 11 at a time using 6 pieces of the paper.  I liked it because it didn’t have any waste and the layouts were straight forward enough to add things if I wanted to.  The paper pad is from Crate Paper called Bloom.  I picked it up sometime at Tuesday Morning.  I love going there because these pads are so inexpensive and I end up with tons of them.  Anyway the cards went together easily and I was able to use a lot of the stamps and did just a little fussy cutting for the butterflies and rabbit. The leaves on the big flower card were also fussy cut and were used to cover up a boo-boo I made.  I am glad I was able to salvage it.  Have fun and try the template. – Denise

Join the challenge at Bitten By The Bug. This challenge is perfect because my grown children and their families love the outdoors so I have lots of papers and accents in this theme.  While they camp out all the time, I prefer ending my hikes at the cabin where there is a hot shower and a soft bed, lol.

Here is my card open (the card holders on the sides are just to hold it open).  I searched Pinterest for ideas on a pop-up tent card.  The item that came up the most was a die set by Karen Burniston with lots of little details.  Since I have my Cricut, I don’t tend to buy shaped dies like this because they are expensive and limited in their use.  I looked at it and also some other sites that gave basic information on designing a pop-up element in both cards and books and came up with a design that works using only basic shapes.  It should be in the Cricut Community in Design Space under 3d tent.  I always like a challenge to see if I can translate what I am thinking into Design Space.  I also used the cartridge Camp Out for the fire and logs.  The paper for the tent and card base is from paper by Parkland called Wilderness.  I used several different brads from Eyelet Outlet as decoration as well as some buttons from my stash.  The sentiments and front of the card were from a Photoplay collection called Campfire.

     Here is the front of the card.

    And a top view.

Here are my prototypes. Practice cards are a good way to use the ugly paper you have and won’t use, lol.  These brown roses just don’t get it for me.

Here is a second card I made using the same paper packs as the first plus Photoplay’s Lakeside. I used eyelets on the top of the tent instead of brads because I actually thought about doing it before gluing the tent together.

Join us for the challenge and add your own outdoor themed project made using your Cricut machine here.  I hope you are all able to get outdoors and stay safe as we get through this time of COVID 19. – Denise

Bitten by the Bug 2 has an Easter challenge this time.  This year Easter will certainly be different with all of the COVID 19 restrictions in place.  Last week I participated in a virtual crop since groups are not supposed to meet to help keep the virus from spreading.  It was different, but fun and I was able to get this basket done during the time I participated.

The pattern is from svgcuts.com and is called Hippity Hoppity Basket.  Mary offered this basket svg file for free a couple of weeks ago, so I grabbed it.  The patterned paper was from a DCWV pack called Just My Type.  While it isn’t a typical Spring pack, the colors in it seemed to work well.  The base was white cardstock and I chose a solid green to match the patterned paper. This stack also had a page full of “happy” words and a page of shadow letters, so I used those to decorate the band at the top of the basket. The basket itself really went together pretty quickly and I will be making a few more to send to my grown children since we will not be able to get together this year.  My husband will get the other one so that he doesn’t feel left out.  He is 69 and still expects his basket, lol.

   Here is the side view.

I hope that you all stay safe as we navigate through this pandemic.  If you have extra time while staying home join our challenge with your own Easter basket, box or bags using your Circut and post the link at Bitten by the Bug 2 – Denise