Lost in my craft room

Liebster Award

2012-02-28T23:18:00.001-06:00

Hi all....I am one lucky girl....my good friend Barb, passed on the Liebster Award to me and I am thrilled and honored...

The idea of the Leibster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. So, in the spirit of good fun, I am passing this award on to five other bloggers. Please stop by and encourage them by leaving a little love on their creations.

For the 5 blogs I'm presenting this to, please ....

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.

5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

My five pics are:

1. Debbie...aka. Lildj

2 Judy
3 .Joan
4. Gael
5. Lauren

Thanks again Barb for sharing this wonderful award..I do appreciate it...♥

Calendar Girls Febraury 2012

2012-02-28T04:30:00.001-06:00

Well here we are once again...It is Calendar Girl Challenge time and Miss February aka Kelly was our wonderful hostess...Here is her challenge:

Our February Theme

** Show us how FURRY you are! **

Hee hee! It’s February, a month that symbolizes
LOVE. When thinking of a theme for this month’s
Challenge, I knew I wanted us to get happy with
the furry ones! My challenge for you this month is: Show some
LOVE to our furry animals! I love them great and small,
Short and tall – furry and fluffy! I am also
sure at one point we have all had a special pet that we have loved,
or maybe still do have a pet (or a bunch!) So let’s show them
some love! I challenge you to show us fur, your fluff, your waggin’ tails! The possibilities are endless – from doggies to cats, mice to turtles – in one case, a spider! (lil dj!!) LOL! Let’s bring some creativity to making a card (etc) with any image showing us a pet (including if you don’t actually own one!)

** For an extra part of the challenge, since it is February, please try to include the color RED on your card somewhere (coloring of the image, your DSP, cardstock, embellies – just a touch (or a lot!) of red.

Please post your cards to your blogs on February 28th ! I hope you LOVE
this challenge this month and LOVE creating with FUR and FLUFF!

Kelly (Miss February)

For my card this month I chose the Whipper Snapper Image Sheepdog and Hydrant. I think this image is stinkin' cute so just had to use it. I do have a little dog but I don't have any stamps currently that would be like her so I thought I go the totally opposite way..."big dog"...lol

I used umber paper for the base of my card and mounted SU cherry cobbler on that. I then used a piece of double sided dsp I found in my stash of leftovers so I don't know who makes it (sorry), but I do think it is adorable. I put the hydrants facing up for the background and then turned the paper over to make the mounted paper square behind the image. I don't know if you can see it, but I used crystal effects on the hearts, nose and little rectangles in the hydrant...I used blue stickles for the collar and put tiny rhinestones over the stickles. I also used a silver pen on the bolts of the hydrant.

As I am trying to do as of late, I also did the inside of this card. I'm working on getting better at this so please bear with me...

I kept the inside very basic using the same paper as I used from the front. The saying I have seen this with is "sometimes your the dog, sometimes the hydrant", but I don't have the stamp...I left it blank for now and will add a sentiment when I decide who I am going to send it to...

I hope you liked my card. Please stop by the other Calendar Girls blogs and see what they have created for your view pleasure...I am sure you won't be disappointed...

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time,

Hugs,

Carol

Dueling Darlings February 2012

2012-02-15T04:30:00.001-06:00

Well here we are again...dueling our...♥'s out. This month Debbie (aka Lildj) and I were the hostesses for our groups. I have to tell you I am one lucky girl having a partner like Lildj...she comes up with the best ideas and it is so much fun working with her...this month we put our heads together and chose "Let me call you sweetheart" as our theme. With Valentines the day before our posts it seemed appropriate. I can't wait to see what everyone has created...

For the Diva's I chose the Mo Manning image "Young Love". Since I really love her images and Mo's policy says "My works are intended for your personal use and you are not permitted to redistribute (including copying, lending, duplicating, sharing, reselling or putting online -- except for as elements in a digital scrapbook or as demonstration photos of your finished projects) any of my illustrations, unless you receive permission." I emailed Mo to see if she would give me permission to use this image for our group.....Bless her heart she promptly emailed me back and gave me permission. I am extremely grateful and I do think my fellow Diva's are as well...Thank you Mo...♥

For my card I used a black base and used three of the DSP papers that I had in the kit. The white background is Best Creation Inc. basic glitter, the Pink is Sweet cakes by Doodlebug-heart to heart and Red is Sweet Cakes by Doodlebug dotted daisies..As you might have noticed all three papers are accented with glitter. My image was colored with copics and the sentiment was computer generated. I used pink and red heart embellishments with a small pearl in between. I also accented the birds wings, the buttons on the shirts and the ribbon with a little extra glitter...giggle, giggle, I firmly believe a little glitter makes the card...

On the inside I used the bazzill basic dots white paper for the background and the same three dsp papers from the front to tie the card together. I also used some fun heart ribbon, as well as some pink ribbon with a golden thread through the middle that I picked up at JoAnn fabrics to wrap around the dsp and accented once again with red hearts and a pearl..I had fun with this challenge..

As an extra we are to share our special valentines if we choose. My special Valentine is my "Little Miss", my special granddaughter. She is 6 and is my best friend. We love to craft together, read together, cook/bake together and just plain hang out..she truly is my bright spot in my life...I am so blessed to have her, my family and my awesome friends...(you are all my special valentines).

I hope you liked my card and I hope you have time to stop by the other Diva's blogs and see what they have created...I am sure you will not be disappointed...

A special thanks to Mo Manning for letting me share my image with my friends and also, for all she shares with us..

Thanks for stopping by....
Until next time...

Hugs,
Carol

Calendar Girls January 2012

2012-01-28T04:30:00.001-06:00

Hi all, here we are starting our second year of the calendar girls group and what fun I have had...am looking forward to just as much fun this year. Jeanette was the hostess this month and this is what our challenge was:

Our January Theme

It’s time for our first challenge of 2012. Can you believe we’ve now been together as a blog group for an entire year? That is exciting! I want to celebrate who we are and the fun we’ve had together. Sooooooooo my challenge for January is this: Something New Using Something Old!

What do I mean by that? This isn’t exactly what it seems. It’s not a vintage theme, though you can make your card/project vintage if you’d like. What I do want you to do is look back over your Calendar Girl posts/creations from the year 2011 and choose one of the images you used. Then I want you to create something entirely different with the same image. It cannot look at all like the previous Calendar Girl creation; nor can you use the same papers/embellishments/etc.

When you post to your blog – on January 28 – I want you to also post a picture of your 2011 card/project that used the same image so we can see the two and how different they are.

I hope you are up to the challenge! I can’t wait to see your Something NEW Using Something OLD!

So in keeping with the theme the challenge, I looked through all my entries and picked this image....as luck would have it, this is the card I started last year out with...Getting ready for "June" (my month) brides...(this year I will have 3 brides I am helping out...)

The above is my January card from last year using a Sassy Studio image and here:

is my January card for this year using the same image...I have colored this beautiful bride...or this year...bridesmaid in a lavender and accented her flowers with a medium pink highlighted with a darker pink and the topped off with iridescent stickels...rather than having a traditional folding card I have made this an easel oval card. I used Concord grape SU paper as an accent behind the white embossed oval. I cut this beauty out and mounted her with mounting tape on the embossed white image. I then placed pearls all around the concord oval to really make the image pop...finally I added pearl lace and some purple flowers with pearl centers to hold up the easel card. Here:

is the picture of the card closed...

I hope you like my "something new using something old" card.

Please stop by and check out the other calendar girls creations...I am sure you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mystery Image Challenge #8

2012-01-18T04:30:00.001-06:00

Time for the mystery challenge reveal...I thought I had lost my card picture along with the change over for the new computer...after searching for a half hour guess what I found it...lol...This new computer is going to get the best of me before all is said and done...Holy hanna, I can't find a thing on it... Ok so now my blog is going to act up on me as well...sooooooo...here goes.(It won't let me reposition this bad picture of the beautiful image).

Darlene was our lovely hostess and sent this wonderful D. Morgan image to all of us...as you can above, it is beautiful. The sentiment is part of the image....well.....I had to do some modifying as I didn't do such a good job on coloring the frame.....Rather than beg Darlene for more images I decided to make my image different....

and this is the result.. As you can see I cut out the picture frame and the kittens tails and mounted the picture on very wall paperish looking dsp. (to give the appearance of the kittens sitting on the ledge of the window looking out. I then took and cut out the sentiments and mounted one on the front of the card.....

and the other on the inside. Since the kittens tails were right by the saying I had to cut the sentiment out a bit wonky and then mount it on green paper (like I did with the one on the front). I took some of the wallpaper dsp and cut it into strips to add a bit more to the inside and make it look like it belonged with the outside.
I hope you aren't upset Darlene that I butchered this beautiful image...

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog...I do appreciate it.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Dueling Darlings January 12, 2012 "It's the little things"

2012-01-15T19:37:00.000-06:00

As you all know, the 15th of the month our Dueling Darlings post a creation based on supplies and fun kits sent by our fun Darlings...this month our Darling Diva that sent our kit was Joan, the Darling Dazzlers received their kit from Melina...these two gals had a brilliant idea and I so enjoyed the package I received from Joan...it was filled with tons of fun things...we received several Lockhart images with the instructions to use at least 3 of them on our cards..we received several pieces of dsp (of which I used 3), colored rhinestones, a butterfly brad, 2 pieces of rickrack (green and ivory), lace, the perfect day label and many more goodies...I chose these 3 lovely images to color up with my copic markers...how fun. I know they are veggies but don't they make darling dresses?..I made a 5x5 card and used 2 of the beautiful pieces of dsp for the outside layout and the green dsp I used to back my images. I topped my border of dsp with green rickrack and the lace and mounted my dresses with mounting tape so they would stand out a bit from the card....

On the bottom I once again used a small strip of dsp and again the green rick rack to top off the piece of dsp. In each 1/2 of the circles on the dsp, I placed the different colored rhinestones. I used all but one (It

flew away...:( )...Next I went to the inside of my card....giggle giggle...(can you believe it I attempted to decorate the inside of my card...), I loved the polka dot dsp so decided to use it on the inside as well...Joan had sent along the "A Perfect Day" label so I decided it should definitely go on the inside of the card. I made a ribbon flower from the left over lace from the front of the card a placed my final rhinestone in the center... I topped this all off with my butterfly brad mounted on mounting tape to give it a little more definition.

This was a fun kit to work with...thanks so much Joan...the final thing I need to do is let you know what my first thought was when I read the theme..."The Little Things"...my first thought was that the little things in life are the most important things...we all wait for and anticipate the big events in life, like weddings, baby's births, trips etc those things are important and fun but it is the little things in our journeys to get to these big things that make everything worthwhile.

If you get a chance please stop by all the Diva and Darling sites and check out their creations...I am sure you won't be disappointed...(leave a little love along the way too....:)).

Thanks for stopping by,

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

P.S. Sorry I'm late....dh set up my new computer before I could post and lets just say....it didn't work out as planned without a bit of tweaking....

Mo's Challenge #116-Anything goes...

2012-01-11T14:01:00.000-06:00

Here I am again slipping in just under the wire but did this card and lost track of time...Mo's challenge for this week is anything goes and I just purchased this cute little fairy and couldn't resist coloring her up...(and of course playing with my glitter...lol). Her name is Winter Talva and to me she is absolutely adorable.

I rarely use my purples and I'm not sure why because I do like the color but for this card I chose SU concord grape for the base of my card. I used a snowflake embossing folder for the white c/s on the front and cut out white and silver glitter snowflakes from my SU snowflake long die. I mounted them on purple rectangles and the cut little Talva out with a round nesti and then cut the background nesti out in white glitter paper as well...I don't know if you can see it well but the hat, leg warmers, balls on her hat tie and wings all have some iridescent glitter on them...

I hope you liked my card...

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #115--favorite 2011 Mo project

2012-01-01T16:31:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year all...I am hoping it is a prosperous, happy and healthy one for each and every one of you...Today I am showing you my favorite "Mo" project from 2011...Now I have to say, Mo's images are so fun and awesome it is hard to choose a favorite image at any time of the year...but, I am going to show you a card using "Tex". I originally got it for a scrapbook page to make for my wonderful friend Lorie on the birth of her grandson. I can't remember for the life of me what I did this card for but thought I'd share anyway as I really did like how it turned out..

I used a caramel colored paper for the card base and this fun sheriff themed dsp I received as a birthday present to accent Mo's wonderful image.

I hope you like this card...

Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time.

Hugs,
Carol

December Calendar Girls- Mo's Challenge 114--

2011-12-28T04:30:00.001-06:00

Well here I am FINALLY....seems that time has gone by way to quickly this month...between card groups, "31" parties, working, babysitting...trying to get my Christmas cards done and out and my computer being a real pain I haven't had time to even think (or post)...:(...I haven't had time to stamp or chat with my very special online friends.....and I do so miss them...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a Happy and prosperous New Year!!!

Since we are do not have a November or December hostess we have a special challenge for this month....and here it is:

December - Who loves a secret? I know I do! Let's have a secret ONE-WORD challenge. This is how it will work. Each Calendar Girl will come up with a one-word challenge for the Calendar Girl who follows her on the list. It can only be ONE WORD, but it can be any word (glitter, three, apple, blue, holiday, sponging, friendship.... whatever word you choose!) Then secretly email or PM that ONE WORD challenge to the next person on the list and she will create a card that in some way represents that word. On December 28th, she will post to her blog a picture of her card and the ONE WORD secret that she has used. Because it's a busy time, please email or PM your ONE WORD to your secret partner no later than the 28th of November so she will have ample time to create during the busy holiday season. Okay?

The lovely "Miss May" Barb, gave me my word which was "hugs"...I hope she will forgive me for not making it plural but I had the perfect stamp with the word hug on it..When I originally got the word I was thinking about making a clear box and putting the "hershey Hugs" in it to incorporate my word...but as you can see I didn't quiet do that...sigh...instead I made a telescoping card that as it turns out works out perfectly for the Mo Challenge this month as well...This was to use punches and or dies...as you can see the whole card is made with dies and the adorable little image is a Mo Manning creation....(just love her images)...

I used the SU night of navy for the base of the card and night of navy retired designer paper. I colored this little cutie with copic markers and then went to town putting this together...this is the first telescoping card I have ever attempted and used the tutorial found Here from the lovely Beatte on Splitcoaststampers. It was much easier than I had expected it to be. I have to say I am pleased with how it did turn out.

I hope you enjoyed my card....please stop by the other Calendar Girls blogs...I am quite sure you won't be disappointed....

Thanks for stopping by..

Until next time.

Hugs,
Carol

November Calendar Girl Challenge card(s)

2011-11-28T03:30:00.001-06:00

This month our dear Jeanette threw out this challenge for all of us.....

November - Because we post on the 28th, the end of the month... and most of us will be in Christmas mode, since Thanksgiving will be over... how about if we post a Christmas card for our November posting? That should be easy, since we are probably all making a Christmas card or two anyway. I also think it might be fun to post a picture of our workdesk/space with all of its creating clutter... you know, the Christmas cardmaking frenzy in all its messiness....

Well the Christmas card is a done deal...the ideas are set up and ready to cut out and finish......but the picture of the craft room....well....not so much. It truly is a mess and I didn't have time to even attempt to clean it this past week so I am going to refrain from posting one...the other thing is that I am doing cards in my craft room, and my dining room so it is all spread out...sigh....one of these days I will get my act together and get organized....(or one can hope anyway...).

Since I have an overabundance of Christmas stamps I am probably going to do these two cards and possibly another so I can use my stamps...This card was made with some dsp I found last year at Archivers, I loved the burgundy and dark shapes and writing on it the minute I saw it...At one of the conventions I went to I found the Silent Night Stamp which I have stamped in bravo burgundy on white card stock and then mounted onto black. The avocado green Christmas tree is from the SU Christmas Lodge stamp set in the winter mini...the ribbon is black grosgrain trimming the gathered lace I found at JoAnns.

My next card I saw done at Archivers and it was done in blue with no background paper just the white. I decided that the white needed to be mounted on black so that I could use my pretty black glitter paper for the background for this wonderful Christmas scene stamp. I embossed the image with black embossing powder and then mounted it on the glitter paper.....I also purchased the sentiment the same day. I embossed that in black as well.

I know that black traditionally isn't a Christmas color but for all of you that know me....you know my love of the black and white combo as well as glitter...It appears I have "Silent Night" as my theme this year as well...(I actually just noticed that...).

I am wishing all of you a very blessed holiday season...

Thank you for stopping by, please stop by the other calendar girls, I am sure you won't be disappointed with their Christmas card treats...

Until next time,

Hugs,

Carol

Some Odd Girl Guest Challenge Card

2011-11-20T16:22:00.000-06:00

Today I have a card I plan on submitting to the "Some Odd Girl" guest challenge. I love these images and had fun doing this card. Of course I had to use some glitter as my MO absolutely dictates it...lol... I chose "Winter Mae" as my image for this card. I love her little snow outfit and it just seemed right to use red to color it. The fur around the hood, boots and cape were accented with glitter...to indicate fur, and I used a silver pen on the zipper of her boots to have them pop through a bit...

Doesn't she look like she is having fun? I colored the image with my copic markers and used my pan pal chalks to add a soft background. The dsp is from SU and the red glitter paper that I cut using a sizzex die is also from SU...The base of the card is Umber from Archivers (one of my favorite colors for any season) and the card itself is SU very vanilla...

I hope you like this card.

Thanks for stopping by,

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mystery Image challenge card....

2011-11-18T17:39:00.000-06:00

Hi all, can you believe it.....I am back again this week...The lovely, talented Barb was our host for this swap and she had us make our cards with this ADORABLE Whipper Snapper Snowman image...I loved him the minute I saw him...I colored him and his cute little friend up almost immediately and then the images sat on my desk as life took over...sigh..anyway, I did get the cards done and they are winging their way to Barb as I type...hopefully they will be there tomorrow...

I must say I have been into the weird and wacky colors for the holidays this year...dark browns, kraft, black, white with of course the normal colors mixed in...I love this little pair and used my metallic silver pen to color the bottom anchor and blades of the skates....and of course my trusty glitter to accent the snow on his hat...I also scored some blig at Michaels for really reasonable and thought I should add some more bling to my card...lol....The layout is really simple and I actually like how it turned out...

On the inside I took an old SU snowflake punch and punched in the corner of the white paper. Then I mounted it on the umber base so the brown would show through...I was going to add a friendship saying but decided that the person who receives this card in the swap may have another purpose in mind for the card so chose to leave it off.

I hope that you like my card...stop by and see the other mystery cards...you will see some in my sidebar and some on SCS in the gallery...

Thanks Barb for the fun challenge and swap (although I have been MIA alot....)

Thanks for stopping by.....

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Dueling Darlings Challenge---"Holiday Party What Not to Wear"

2011-11-15T04:30:00.001-06:00

Here we are again...I must apologize as life has once again completely taken over...I am trying to slow down and post more but that will be a problem for awhile...sigh...BUT I did have to get my card for this months challenge posted. Our lovely hostesses were Kelly and Jeanette and they picked a wonderful theme for us to do....(my favorite show...heehee)...We were to use the "what not to wear" show as a spring board for the kit they sent to each of us...Our image is Lilah from Instyle stamps and as you can plainly see from the front of my card she really isn't too in style...yikes...

Kelly sent the chock full, fun filled, mismatched kit and boy was it fun to work with...I chose to do a Z fold swing card (first time ever and didn't turn out as well as I had hoped) Kelly sent along some green glitter paper and I couldn't wait to use it...unfortunately I used it on the wrong side so you can barely see it behind Lilah...Isn't her outfit adorable...giggle, giggle...(Stacey was appalled by the way...) I used some of the wonderful dsp to make a pleated skirt for Lilah, colored her funky hair with copics and wrapped some twine around the "dahlia" cut out and anchored a button to it for emphasis...the beautiful poinsettia is on the make over side...heehee...

This picture gives more of the effect of the fold...After looking at Lilah, Stacey and Clinton decided enough was enough and had her completely re-done...from her hair to her toes...

Lilah's hair was colored with copics and her sexy black dress and boots were colored with copics and then colored again with black spica pen so that she sparkles and shines as she sashays through the holiday party....as you can see I used as much of the wonderful dsp as I could...I'm not sure if this is exactly what you were looking for with this challenge...but I had fun re-making Lilah...

The second part of the challenge was to post a pic of ourself or someone else in a "Not to wear" outfit...although I surely have enough of them and quite honestly have worn my fair share...I was unable to find a picture...(thankfully....that means I didn't get caught....yet)...

Thank you for stopping by...I hope you liked my card...Please stop by the rest of the DDD blogs...I am certain you will not be disappointed....I can't wait to see the rest of the wonderful creations...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Calendar Girls October Challenge

2011-10-28T01:30:00.001-05:00

Woohoo....it is once again time for our Calendar Girl challenge and our lovely hostess is Tami....I'm so excited because in her challenge she chose to have us use my FAVORITE embellishment...."GLITTER"...heehee...

This is what the challenge read...

:::: OCTOBER CALENDAR GIRLS CHALLENGE ::::

I really cannot believe that it is my turn to host our monthly challenge already! This is such a fun group. I appreciate being a part of it.

Although maybe not a super original idea, I would love to see what Halloween cards the Calendar Girls can make! I have seen so many fun designer papers, stamps and embellishments at the craft stores of late. Fun!

Here are the details……..

Theme: Halloween

Layers: At least three layers somewhere on the card, one layer being a designer paper {I love me some DP}

Colors: Somewhere on your card please use the color purple

Embellishments: Two for sure - and are you ready Carol..... one needs to be a glitter product *gasp*

Blog Post: Please share what your favorite candy is to receive in your trick-or-treat bag and if you participate in this holiday, please include what fun things do you like to do for Halloween

I am so looking forward to seeing what our great group of Calendar Girls has to offer on this challenge. I can hardly wait!!!

Until then…….

Tami, Miss October
Isn't this just fun...(can you tell I'm excited????)

Well, I decided that since our talented Miss Tami said we must used glitter as one of the embellishments, that I would glitter my card up...lol..(hopefully I didn't overkill)...I chose a Sassy Studio Design digital image and colored her up with my copics...Then I cut her out and used black glitter on her hat and dress...and some of the pieces on the frame. I then took my nestie and made a background from some amazing black glitter paper I got at Target to mount the image on...I used more of the black glitter paper as dsp behind the other two layers. Now in the directions it said to use the color purple on the card somewhere...I decided to use purple mirror paper behind my witch image...(it looks better in real life).

yay me, so far I have everything pretty much covered.....except....I can't find my Halloween embellishments in my messy craft room....bummer...so on the way home from work I stopped at Michael's and many of their Halloween embellishments were on sale so you know what happened next....lol...I of course couldn't decide on just one thing so I ended up buying two different packages of embellishments...(glittered of course). I used the purple witch on the front to hold the flap of the joy fold card down and the ghost to highlight the word ghost on the dsp in the front...Inside I used a black cat and a gold broom to surround the SU sentiment...

Now for the next part...I have always loved to get snickers as treats and for treats, so I guess that would be my favorite thing for my treat bag...I also love to light up pumpkins and decorate the house a bit for all the cute little trick n treaters that come our way...(last year we had 250)...I've scaled down a bit since we get soooooooooo.....many but I still do have fun....especially now that my granddaughter comes over and goes out trick n treating (I generally make her costume like I did for her mom and auntie growing up)...

I hope you enjoyed the card....please stop by all the rest of the calendar girls blogs....I am sure you won't be disappointed...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #105..Favorite Mo Image & sentiment

2011-10-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

Hi all, I'm back with a challenge card for Mo's challenge #105..This week we were to create with a favorite image from Mo and a sentiment...I can honestly say I don't have any one favorite of Mo's I LOVE THEM ALL!!!!! I picked up this new Kissy image not too long ago and tried my hand at something new to me...lol...On SCS one of the challenges was to color with pencil....so I tried that technique on this sweeties dress. I used charcoal pencils (light, med and dark along with a white pen to help soften the colors). I used my copics to color the other parts of the image (face, flowers, hair etc).

Those of you who know me know I love the black and white color combo so that being said what else could I use...lol...I got the new heart round nesties and thought they would be perfect for this. I made the easel card in white using the SU large scallop circle die. I also used my round nesties for the inside and to frame this sweet little girl...altough it is hard to see on this picture I used my glitter for the ruffles and on some of the flowers to add a bit of pizazz...I used a lace/pearl ribbon I got at JoAnns and some red and white roses to make the card stay in place...

I loved this saying and it is generated from my computer...I thought since the image was blowing kisses, this was appropriate...

Thanks for stopping by....I do hope you liked my card..

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Sassy Studio Progressive Challenge #4 Steampunk Vivian

2011-10-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hi all, today I am posting the last challenge for the Sassy Studio Steampunk Series...these images have been so much fun to work with. Thanks so much to the DT at Sassy Studio's for this wonderful opportunity...On to my anything goes challenge....

The last image we received was Steampunk Vivian. The challenge anything goes...so instead of a card I decided to do a luminary. I found the directions on the SCS forum page (thank you Bette for the tutorial). I first colored 2 Vivan's with my copic markers and then cut them out. (my pictures aren't the greatest so will apologize in advance). Once I got the images colored and cut I had fun with my stickle glitters...lol..I put black and red stickles on her hat and black stickles on the ruffle of her panties and on the buttons. I also used iridescent stickles on the ruffle of her top...I then used a silver spica pen to highlight the tops of her stockings and her pretty blouse. My trusty silver pen accented the knife in her boot and the barrel of her gun....

I used In My Minds Eye-Haunted small chandeliers paper for the base, my nesties to cut the windows, speckled vellum to cover the windows and black glitter paper (from Target) to trim the windows and add a decorative scalloped design on top. The chandeliers have a rich velour texture and in real life the glitter paper is absolutely shimmery/stunning...I thought a black feather behind the cute little hat would add just a little extra to the whole effect. Below I have a picture of the luminary lit up at night...(again not a great pic but in real life much better).

I hope you liked my project for the last challenge...I really did have a great time with these images.

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time.

Hugs,

Carol

Sassy Studio Design Steampunk Victoria--Challenge #3

2011-10-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

Today I am showing you my card for the 3rd Steampunk challenge over at Sassy Studio Designs. We received the image and of course I couldn't wait to start coloring her. The challenge is to make the card Victorian or Vintage. I often struggle with these type cards so I am hoping I made it on some level with this design...

Isn't she just "sassy" and adorable. This was a fun image to work with. I colored Victoria in browns and used peach accents for her stockings and hat band. On the hat in the center are gears so I used my trusty silver pen to color those in as well as the buckles on her belt. I used platinum liquid pearls for the buttons on her boots, and also the silver pen on her little revolver. Once I had her colored up the challenge really began. I know baroque, swirls, lace, pearls, and flowers all represent that time frame (or at least I think they do). So I did try and incorporate some of each of them. I'm not exactly sure why I'm drawn to browns lately but I do think it gives the card a rich look...

Thanks for stopping by to check out my card.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Sassy Steampunk Amelia--Challenge 2

2011-10-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit later posting this challenge than I would like but had a longer day at work than usual...bummer...lol...The second image I got was Steampunk Amelia. The challenge was to use a clock or gears on your card..When I saw that my thoughts immediately turned to an easel card using a clock image as the background for Amelia.

I first colored up Amelia with my copic markers and then proceeded to find my clock and cut my base. I used SU's Sense of time (retired set) for the background clock. I stamped it in black on white paper and used Tim Holtz distressed ink (pumice stone) to shade up the white clock to give it the appearance of a little wear. I mounted the clock on SU tempting turquoise paper and then mounted the whole works on umber paper. I cut out Amelia and used dimensionals to pop her up from the clock image..The beads/brads on the boots, armbands, and top were highlighted with a silver metallic pen as were the lens on the goggles..

Next I stamped, distressed and cut out 4 of the gears in the Sense of Time set...mounted two images together to make them pop up to hold the front of the card in place...the inside was distressed with the same pumice stone ink that the front of the card was....

I chose not to include a sentiment at this time as I am not sure what I am going to use the card for but I kind of like how it turned out...

I hope you liked my take on this challenge/..

Thank you for stopping by I do appreciate it..

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Sassy Studio Design Progressive Relay Challenge

2011-10-16T23:54:00.000-05:00

Hi all, today I am sharing my submission for the Sassy Studio Design Progressive Relay Challenge...Sassy Studios is releasing Steampunk digis and Steampunk Josephine is free on their website to play in this challenge. You must first use Josephine for the first card and post it and then you will receive the second image...after posting your card with the second image you will receive the third.....stop by their blog to see all the details...it is sure to be a fun, fun challenge....Today the challenge was to used Metallic embellishments. I chose to use black metal dots and metal looking dsp for the layers...to heed to the metallic embellishment requirements....I love the looks of this image and had so much fun using her. I colored her with my copics. I was thinking red and black but decided on purple and black...

The buttons on the shoes are colored in with silver metallic pen as are the toes of the shoes...You can't see it well in this picture but the saying has a silver metallic scalloped oval behind it..I used the deconstructed sketch for this card which I really liked...Be sure to stop by Sassy Studio Designs to check out this awesome challenge..

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card...

Until next time..

Hugs,
Carol

Dueling Darlings--October Challenge

2011-10-15T01:01:00.000-05:00

Hi all....seems like it has been FOREVER since I have posted to my blog...Life has completely taken over...we've been doing wedding things for next years wedding (my DD is getting married) and I have found some new bridal crafts that I will be trying my hand at...yikes...but that isn't what this is about....

This months hostess for the Divas is the lovely and talented Tami....the Darlings amazing hostess is Darlene. The two of these wonderful ladies got together and came up with the theme "Fall Harvest". Tami sent us a ton of fun items to work with...oh my did I have a hard time choosing what to use...The DSP was absolutely beautiful...(and there was a piece of silk bronze paper amongst the choices...you will be surprised to see what I chose...giggle). The image is from SU called sweet season..

The pictures aren't very good but will have to do for now...sorry...I colored up my image using my copics..doesn't that little guy look like he is having fun skipping along with his wagon full of pumpkins? I then used umber paper for the base and SU cherry cobbler for the accent color. I loved the dsp and didn't want to use just one on the front so decided that two would be appropriate...lol...I used the beautiful bling in the corners and mounted the red leaf brad on the image panel.

On the inside of the card I mounted two more pieces of the dsp as I just loved this as well...I didn't add any other embellies as I think it may get too thick once I mount a saying inside.

Tami, thanks so much for the great kit...(can you believe I didn't use the gorgeous glitter paper...), I have enough left over to make another card for sure... Tami also, asked us to leave a favorite fall recipe.

Mine is quite simple but yummy...

Carmel Apple Dip

1- 7-8 oz jar of marshmallow creme
1-8oz package of cream cheese softened
1 jar of carmel ice cream topping

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and dip apples in for a yummy treat..

Thanks for stopping by....if you have a chance please stop by all the other Darling's blogs...I am sure you will not be disappointed in their creations...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

C4C106-Crazy for you Challenge--Halloween

2011-09-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

I decided to try my hand at the Crazy for you Challenge this week. The Sistahood card for Oct is also a fall theme (which included Halloween), so this is the card I made for that challenge and am also using it for the Crazy for you Challenge as it fits for both..(I love when things work out like that...)

This cute little image is an inkadinkado clear image I found last year. I colored it up with my copics and used a silver metallic pen for the buckle on the hat...the patch and band on the hat are filled in with black stickles and the embellishments are from making memories and Jolee's boutique...I also used my air brush for the background (using a purple copic)...I'm still working on mastering the air brush and hopefully I will get the hang of it soon...

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

September Calendar Girls--Choices for Fall

2011-09-28T05:00:00.001-05:00

Well here we are Sept 28th and you know what that means?? It is our day to reveal our cards for the Calendar Girls...Our lovely, talented hostess Paola, (aka. Sweet P) laid out this challenge for us:

Our September Challenge

~~* Hello wonderful Calendar Girls
well, sassy Miss September is finally ready to challenge YOU all....*wink*
I'd like this month to continue to be about choices,
therefore I would like YOU to pick your own challenge
by selecting ONE of the THREE choices provided below.

*choice one* MUSIC:
Select one of the three youtube songs I added below, and have your card reflecting part of the lyrics from your song of choice.
The possibilities are absolutly ENDLESS! )
I would also like YOU to gift your finished card to a close neighbour, or a friend that lives close to you that could use a 'pick me up'.

'September' by: Nat King Cole
September Song - Nat King Cole & George Shearing - YouTube

'September in the Rain' by: Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington - September In The Rain - YouTube

'Wake me up when September ends' by: Green Day
Green Day-Wake Me Up When September Ends lyrics - YouTube

*choice 2* EDUCATION:
Create a card with a special teacher in mind, and please remember to add at least one apple somewhere in your card. Teacher's {heart} apples! )
I would also like YOU to gift your finished card to a teacher (past or present) who has been a true inspiration in your life. (or in your child/children life/lives)

*choice 3* CHILDREN:
Your card should reflect anything a child may like to do: playing, reading, toys,sports etc....but with a twist!
It should be both cheerful and also reflect the fast approaching Fall, a colorful season I love very much. )
I would also like YOU to gift your finished card to a child (other than your own!) that could use a little lift, a lil smile.....just because....

** PLEASE NOTE **-----> Once you post your September creative cards on your blogs, please explain why you chose option 1, or 2 or 3
and also let us know who are you going to gift your card to and the reason why..............)

This was honestly a very difficult challenge for me and it shouldn't have been. First of all making the choice was hard...In order to follow through I first had to decide who I was going to send my card to in order to decide which challenge to pick...now mind you I probably could have produced something easily enough for each theme but following through might not have been easy...so as a result I chose to go with theme number one...I chose the September song and immediately found the lyrics on line. The second verse is:

When the Autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time
For the waiting game...

The image on my card along with the beautiful copper/glitter fabric that is the background for the image was gifted to me by my sweet friend Cheryl...She is a very creative stamper and a wonderful, generous, kind, sweet friend who thinks of others first and herself second...She also, takes others under her wing when she sees them hurting and brings them into the stamping fold to help them heal their souls and share in the beauty of stamping....(she is getting my card)....Anyway, back to the card. Cheryl purchased this Northwoods stamp for all the girls in our stamp group at the time..the fabric she found a couple years ago and brought to all of us as well...I thought the two would go well together so I chose to use both.(the fact that some of the leaves on the fabric were glittered didn't hurt anything either....heehee... ). I unfortunately am not exactly pleased with how my card turned out but like life...it was a work in progress...I colored the stamped image with my copics, highlighting with glitter to give it extra "flame or spark"... I then cut the image out and placed it on an umber circle which had been run through the distressed stripe cuttlebug folder. This was placed on a copper scalloped circle and then mounted on the background which is an umber cardstock covered with the beautiful fabric and then mounted on a white base. I found the pretty leaves at Michaels in the 1.50 spot and thought they might be a good accent for the image...I honestly think the coloring is what I am having a problem with but for now it will have to do...I will definitely do something different the next time I use this image..

Now on to the song...the fabric leaves and the image itself contains leaves that I tried to make flaming of sorts and the last line of this verse say "one hasn't got time for the waiting game" which can be interpreted in a couple ways...(the waiting game---the deer waiting as if hearing something that may threaten him), or (just waiting around )...anyway, however you chose to look at it I was hoping it would fit the song..

As I said before I plan on sending Cheryl my card as a thank you and also to let her know I am thinking of her. I also, want to let her know that I am grateful for her friendship and that I do put her generous gifts to use...

Thank you for stopping by....please stop by the rest of the Calendar girls blogs...I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Until next time,
Big hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #101-Autumn Colors--MMSC123

2011-09-27T17:19:00.000-05:00

Hi all....today I am covering 2 challenges with one card...giggle...I rarely am able to do that but it worked today. I am doing Mo's Challenge #101 Autumn Colors and the MMSC123 sketch challenge...fun huh... I chose "bunches" for the image today from Mo's awesome collection of digitals. I paired this sweetie with autumn dsp Tim Coffey from K & Co. (a gift from a friend...lucky me..)...First is a picture of the Midnight Madness sketch...I chose the plain sketch as I felt it was a better fit for my image and dsp....

Since Mo's design team had a bouquet of fall colored flowers for inspiration I worked off that scheme to color my image and her beautiful bouquet with my copic markers...Once she was colored I put crystal effects all over the ribbon to give it a shiny look like satin...put white liquid pearls on her shoe buttons and glitter in the centers of the flower...and on the ruffle of her apron. I then cut her out with a plain round nestie and mounted her on the heart nestie..I used SU cherry cobbler for the base of the card (which I really love the look of) and stamped the sentiment with cherry cobbler ink...I noticed afterwards that the white is cut a bit crooked....(it was difficult to cut as it is 1/2" X 1 1/2")...

In keeping with my own personal challenge for myself I also decorated the inside of the card...Now I need to find the perfect sentiment and get this card in the mail... My sweet sister and her DH are celebrating 32 years of wedded bliss on friday so I am hoping I will be on time this year...sigh....

Thank you for stopping by today...I hope you liked my card.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #100---Celebrate!!!

2011-09-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

Woohoo, Mo's challenge team has reached challenge #100...and I'm in time to join in on the fun. The theme for this challenge is Celebrate and wow are they celebrating...lots of good prizes and tons of amazing inspiration...I thought about this for quite awhile and had colored 4 images up...during the course of my thinking...heehee...I finally chose this Bride and Groom image to showcase on my card...Now who doesn't love a wedding celebration and as some of you remember my early summer was spent preparing for my nieces wedding...now on to my own dear daughters....Last weekend in fact we went out wedding dress shopping for her and found the perfect dress....and it is BEAUTIFUL...

For those who know me, I would venture to say if asked what my favorite color combo is the answer would be hands down "black and white" and of course my favorite embellishment would be, hands down "glitter"...Well I married..heehee these two favorites together to pull my "celebration" card together.. I made an easel card with the lattice rectangle nestie and used some scrap black velvet swirled dsp along with black and white glitter paper..

This is the card closed...you can kind of tell that the image is mounted on white on white glitter paper and then mounted on black then white glitter paper. I popped up the image and the base that it is sitting on with mounting tape. The lovely bride has irridescent glitter on her dress, veil, shoes and ring finger and as you would imagine the groom is probably wearing some glittler just from holding his lovely bride...heehee..

For the base holding the easel card in the upright position I used a beautiful black glitter ribbon for the center and then flanked it with pearl trimmed rosette lace/ribbon I purchased at one of the local sewing stores...I was thinking of putting some ribbon on the top but decided against it as I think it would have taken away from the image...I used shimmer paper for the base of this card which kind of shows up in this picture...

I hope you enjoyed my take on the "Celebration" theme..

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mystery Image--Sept--Host Karly

2011-09-18T17:38:00.000-05:00

Hi all, I'm back today with my mystery image card. What a fun image Karly sent us for this challenge. It was a Penny Black Hedgehog balancing on a spider web between two flowers. I took a personal challenge and tried my hand at prisma pencils, gamsol and a blending stump. (I have been working with copics so this was quite a change), thanks to the encouragement of my SCS friend Tami....I did have fun with them but oh do I need to practice some more...lol...

I purchased the new Fleu de Leur square Nestabilities for 40% off and couldn't wait to try them.....so I did use this for the background of my image and bumped the whole thing up with mounting tape. I used a different paper for the background of the whole image...I found it at Anchor Paper and it is a fabric type paper with gold and silver dandelion type flowers on it with "GLITTER" centers...lol....I really liked it...it's kind of too bad the nestie was as big as it was. I did however take a small piece of the dsp and mount it on basic black to used on the inside of the card....(it doesn't show up too well in the picture but it does on the card...sigh).

This was definitely a fun challenge...Thanks Karly for the fun image...I can't wait to see what Barb has in store for us the next round...

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

September DDD Challenge "School is Cool"

2011-09-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

Here I am late posting my challenge card but they say better late than never...lol..Our wonderful challenge leaders this month were: Jamie for the Diva's and April for the Dazzlers....my kit came from Jamie and it was loaded with fun things. Here is the list....

Your kits include DSP from DCWV, coordinating solids from Stampin' Up, images from Recollections-School Days, various ribbons and brads. The bus is a die cut from my boys' elementary school. I can't wait to see what you guys create and would love if you would share your favorite "school" memory. It's only a request, not a requirement...

I immediately thought of using the bus die cut on a gatefold card....now the issue came...the bus was longer than the front of the card. I immediately chose real red for the base of my card and folded one up to see what I could finagle...I love the dsp on the front of the card and once that was on I placed the bus on the front...after a few trys I decided I could cut part of the bus off in the middle and create a shorter bus...thus using the bus exactly how I envisioned....

My bus of course did not look complete to me so I cut off some of the small pom poms on the pom pom ribbon Jamie sent along and used them for heads of the bus driver and the students...Of course every bus has a district number on it and the name of the school so I decided my school name should be "Stampers" and we all know stampers are #1 so that is what district we are...lol....I made wheels with the black circles Jamie sent and made my own spokes and head light with a silver pen..I decided that any more to the front would probably be overkill so I went to the inside....a challenge in itself for me lately....

I also, loved the other print dsp Jamie sent along and used it as a backdrop for the awesome saying that the kit contained...The pencils that flank the side of the card were also in the kit and I colored each letter with a different color from the dsp. in the corners I used the glitter book and apple stickers ('cause as we all know, no card is complete without glitter somewhere, at least in my little world...lol).

As far as memory from school....I have several...but one of the most positive was the year I was chosen to represent my class at our "Girls State" convention sponsored by the American Legion. It is a convention that represents our state government, we elected government officials, stayed in dorms, met tons of new friends, had government in action meetings, had an election and at the end had an awesome program to which our parents were invited...We all wore formal dresses and marched in to "Pomp and Circumstance" which myself and another gal played on the piano during the march....There were so many girls that during the middle of the entrance we switched piano players during the course of the song....My parents were dumbfounded when they saw me at the piano...nice surprise for them (Legionaires) and fun for me....

I have refrained from visiting all the other blogs so that I wouldn't gleam ideas from my fellow stampers so I am hoping I didn't.....I am now going to go leave some love for their creations....please join me as I am sure we will not be disapointed....

Thanks for stopping by,

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #99--Boy Attitude

2011-09-11T19:20:00.000-05:00

Hi all, this week Mo's challenge was "Boy Attitude"....I chose this adorable little sheriff to color up. I orginially got this image to do a scrapbook page for a dear friend who was having her first grandson...her son was a police officer and I just couldn't resist this little guy...I had gotten the horse and deputy paper in a gift package for my birthday and thought it would be the perfect paper to showcase this little man....

I used SU more mustard for the card base and an umber color to mount the dsp and image on...I also attempted to do the inside of my card....(something I have been working hard at doing).

I took the left over scraps of dsp and umber and added them to the inside...no sentiment though as I wasn't sure what I was going to use the card for...

Thank you for stopping by....I do appreciate it...

Until next time..
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #98- Card Sketch

2011-09-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

Hi friends....today I am posting my card for Mo's Challenge #98...this week the challenge was a card sketch...fun, fun, fun...here is the sketch:

I chose the little girl on the potty for my image...she was fun to color up. I personally think she is adorable. It was a challenge for me but I really did have a good time putting this together.

I hope you like my interpretation of this sketch...

Thank you for stopping by...

Until next time.
Hugs,
Carol

August Calendar Girl Challenge--:Sew Glad we are friends--

2011-08-28T14:17:00.000-05:00

Here we are August already and time once again for the Calendar girl challenge...I am a wee bit late in posting as I took in the MN State Fair yesterday with my daughter and didn't get my card scheduled to post....I did have a good time at the fair though....

Our wonderful hostess this month was Debbie aka--Lildj. This is how the challenge read:

Our August Challenge

“SEW” Glad We Are Friends!!!

Because I just love this entire group and it feels that we have been friends forever, I just wanted to say…”Sew” Glad We Are Friends!

So for this month’s card here are the requirements.

1. Please use the above sentiment on the card somewhere. Some of you may have a stamp with that sentiment-if so, that’s great!! But if not, just type it up on your computer and print it out. (Sorry…making you work.) LOL

2. Please use at least one button on your card. (Use as many as you like...but there has to be at least one.)

3. Please have stitching of some kind on your card. You can use a sewing machine, hand stitching or faux stitching using a pen.

4. Once your card has posted to your blog, please send your card to a friend telling them how much you appreciate them and that you are “sew” glad you are friends! If you want, you can tell us in your blog post who is receiving your card and how special they are to you.

5. I know there is a lot of cute DP and stamps out there with a sewing theme, so if you have those go ahead and use them. But if you don’t have them, don’t fret-they are not necessary. Just please have the sentiment, button and stitching on your card for sure.

Hope you enjoy the theme and HAVE FUN!!!

- Debbie

I chose to do a modified gate fold card. It is the same as the gate fold only the base paper is longer so that the edges can be folded over...The base of my card is Marina Mist by SU and the dsp is one I had in my stash of left over dsp so I am sorry but I don't know who made it...The image is a Mo Manning image (BBBFFF)

and I had fun coloring it up.

As per our instructions the card was supposed to contain at least one button. On the front of my card I used 3 pink button brads to keep the front folds in place. I also used white paper and mu SU eyelet border punch to add a trim to the extra front folds to spice them up and make them stand out a bit more. I also faux stitched the sides of the border of my image....so far so good (although the button brads weren't really buttons, I didn't figure that counted)...sew--lol .....

On the inside of my card I added three real buttons in each corner...sew far sew good...I then messed up....:(. The directions said use the sentiment "Sew" Glad We Are Friends!" which of course I generated with my computer and messed up......this old brain was sure it said "Sew" glad we're friends...sigh....I was doing so well. I'm beginning to think that I am going to unintentionally mess up on each month. Apparently I am not a good instruction reader. To finish up the challenge we were supposed to share who would be receiving our card if we chose. I have been thinking long and hard about this. I wanted to send it to all my Calendar girl friends as well as all my SCS stamping friends, my stamping Wednesday night friends and all the other people I am blessed to call friends and I ♥, but of course that would mean tons of this card..."sew" after much deliberation I have decided to send it to my friend Lynn. Lynn and I met 2 weeks before her wedding at a stamp class several years ago. We were the only two in the class and hit it off right away. We have done many things together and have enjoyed each others company as well as enabled each other in many ways on our girls days out...lol...Lynn still stamps but has become passionate about quilting. She has invited me to a few quilting classes which I have attended with her and I have completed one (should be 3) quilt front. She tapped into my "old" love of sewing and has re-introduced me to my sewing machine. I still don't sew as much as I stamp (heavens there just isn't enough time...that darn work keeps getting in my way), but I have some sewing projects I'm just itching to get my hands on..."Sew" not only is Lynn a treasured friend but she is my "sewing" buddy as well...and I felt that this card really summed up our friendship....

Thanks for stopping by....if you get a chance...stop by the other calendar girls blogs, I am sure you will not be disappointed in what they have to show you....

Until next time....

Big hugs,

Carol

Mo's Challenge #95 "anything but a card"

2011-08-16T19:35:00.000-05:00

Hi all, I got another Mo's challenge done before the deadline...."whew"...this week the challenge was anything but a card....I love Mo's images and chose the "Pineapple Girl" to play with this week. I also chose to make a post it note holder. I love these little holders....they are perfect size and I found some pens and pencils that fit on the side perfectly a couple years ago at Michaels...I stocked up when they went on clearance. I have shared them and used them quite a bit. When the challenge was anything but a card I thought this would be perfect. I colored my cute little gal with copics and then cut her out...(when I look at her she looks like she is cut out pretty well but when the camera does its thing I feel like a kindergartener with their first set of scissors...sigh...) I used some tropical dsp by SU that is discontinued as a background and made a large flower with SU cameo coral paper...I used a white gel pen to accent the inside of the flower and then of course added a little glitter to top it all off..

I also popped everything up with mounting tape. I took a side picture of the holder so you can see the whole effect.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Dueling Darlings August Challenge "Its so hot....let's cool off"

2011-08-15T04:30:00.004-05:00

Once again it is time to rise to the challenge....the Dueling Darling challenge that is...Our sweet hostesses this month were Judy from the Diva's and Paola (aka Sweet P) from the Dazzlers. The challenge was "it's so hot...let's cool off". What a fun, fun, fun kit Judy sent us..There were soooooooo many elements that it was hard to choose what to use. There were 4 different images to use--beach babe by Close to my heart---sparkling summer by SU--- beach chair, umbrella and ball by Great Impressions and ---hammock by Savvy Stamps. I chose the beach babe to color up from CTMH. I colored her with my copics and then had a blast putting together my card....

Isn't she just fun...Judy also sent along 5 pieces of dsp from the Margarita collection by American Crafts..3 pieces of ribbon...10 buttons in a variety of colors and sizes...3 hot pink rose buds---3 K&C brads---sea themed stickers by Jolee--Cricut die cuts....palm trees, flamingo, clouds, "sunshire" and a swirl in variety of colors along with a big blingy flower. I loved all the bright designer paper so I tried to use a sketch in which I could use as many as possible. I chose SC193 for this card...

I was able to use 4 of the 5 pieces of dsp (which were double sided). I also used the sunshine die cut for the front of the card along with 3 of the buttons. I challenged myself to decorate the inside of the card....(I love how the girls in this challenge group so often do this and do it so well...)

I used one of the pieces of dsp from the front and layered it on top of my card base, I then layered a white piece of card stock on top of this...The little sea creatures by Jolee were begging to join the inside of the card and who was I to refuse them...(I think one probably would have been enough but I was on a roll...lol). Anyway, this is my card for this months challenge. I do hope you enjoyed seeing it...

If you have a chance...stop by all the dueling darlings and check out their creations. I am certain you won't be disappointed...

Thank you for stopping by.....until next time.

Hugs,
Carol

Riley and Co Challenge Oceans of Fun

2011-08-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

Hi all, I am joining my sweet friend Kelly and her crew at Riley and Co for their challenge this week...Kelly continually makes these darling cards with Riley images and it's hard not to get swooped up in all the fun. This week Kelly is the challenge hostess and below is her challenge....

Kelly's challenge is Oceans of Fun with Riley! Bring out your nautical side! Use a boat, ocean, beach (etc) and include the colors of red and blue!

I chose to color up Sophie in a swimsuit. I stamped her once in black and then stamped her again in red. I colored the black image with my copics; then with the red image I cut out her swim suit and glued it onto my colored image..I like how that turned out,

I used a round nestie to cut Sophie out and layered her on real red and night of navy circles (both from SU). I sponged a little crumb cake at the bottom of the circle and some baby blue for the sky. Once done with that I glued a water dsp on the top of the card and crumpled up some crumb cake for the bottom...now in my head this was supposed to look like a beach scene (but my head wasn't really clear on what it wanted my fingers to do...). I then used some dimensional stickers to add a little extra, to kind of make it more beach like...

If you want to check out the rest of the creations for Kelly's challenge just click Here and check them all out...

Thanks for stopping by...
Until next time.

Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #94-Easel Card

2011-08-07T16:53:00.000-05:00

Well here I am finally....ready to post a card. Seems like it has been forever and time has been just flying by. Whew...today I am posting my card for Mo's Challenge #94..the challenge is to make an easel card that has a bird or animal somewhere on the card. I picked the image of Dorothy with little "Toto" in her basket.

I colored this image up with copics and used red glitter for her ruby red shoes. I also used iridescent glitter on the ruffle of her dress to make it more prominent. On the bows of her hair and pantaloons I used dots of ice white pearl pen to give them the appearance of having pearly buttons in the center. I also learned on my trip, how to make ribbon roses so I incorporated the ribbon I used on the top of the card into ribbon roses to hold the card in place when it is open...(I just purchased the oval lacy nestie so just had to give it a whirl on the easel part of the card...)

I'm not sure it this second picture shows the glitter a bit better but it did when I was looking at the cards to transfer.

I hope you enjoyed the card today...thanks for stopping by...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Calendar Girls July 2011

2011-07-28T04:30:00.001-05:00

Well it is that time again when our wonderful "Calendar Girls" take the monthly challenge. Our lovely, talented hostess this month is Michelle...she gave us this fun challenge.

This month is a free for all....any theme! But.....there is a catch.

Our cards can be created using anything BUT a stamped image (sentiments are okay). Here is where you can get creative...examples would be punch art, stickers, embellishments, patterned paper, what ever you chose.

- Michelle (Miss July)

My card for today is made with a Penny Black Sticker mounted on a black background...the paper I used for mounting feels like suede and is so different. I found it at Anchor paper a couple years ago and now wish I had gotten more...(maybe I'll find more the next time I go...lol...wish me luck). I used white shimmer paper for the base of the card...which is mounted on black as well. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder on the shimmer paper (I don't know the name though...sorry), and added little black pearls where the lines cross each other...Under the sticker image I added a line of SU's 1/8" basic black ribbon and of course it is rare that any card I do doesn't include glitter somewhere...this card is no exception...I added stickles to the flower just on the accent lines of the image...I hope I didn't over do it...

My pictures didn't turn out as well as I would've liked them to but for now these will have to do...sigh...I hope
that between the two pictures you are able to see the glitter...

Thanks for stopping by, if you get a chance, please go check out the other creations our lovely Calendar Girls have for you...

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Dueling Darlings July 2011

2011-07-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

Hi all, I am back from my vacation/road trip and am helplessly behind. I had planned on getting my card done before I left...hey, I even had the image colored...but as per usual, life took over and I discovered at the 11th hour I had totally not left enough time to get my card posted and scheduled in time for our deadline...so please forgive me for my tardiness...I will try and be better in the future.

Laura Jean and Terry were our amazing hostesses this month...Laura Jean (LJ) sent me my kit and wow, what a kit. The theme for this month was Garden of Friendship...istn't this image "Gardening Flopsey" from My Favorite Things...adorable? LJ Send us a wonderful assortment of DSP from October Afternoon so I decided to make a joy fold card so that I could use as much of it as possible...

.

Included in the kit were buttons, ribbon, a ribbon buckle, a spiral clip a Lady bug button from favorite findings and some fabric die cuts from SU's Big Flowers Sizzix Die. I colored my image with my copics and cut the cute little guy out. I then used the biggest flower to mount on the front panel and cut a 5 petal flower with a punch from SU out of the matching dsp as the background. I used a fabric die cut circle for the center of both flowers. I then used mounting tape behind my cut out image and placed it on the panel. I made little roses from the green satin ribbon LJ sent along to place in the right hand corners and used the gingham bow LJ sent along for the center and to also kind of anchor the top panel when the card is closed...

Inside the card I used the cute little saying LJ sent along and the ribbon buckle with a bit of the green satin threaded through it to accent the cute saying...

Our extra this month was to share a friendship we have...I have many stamping friends as well as other friends I have met through the various paths my life has taken....I have been truly blessed by all of them and I feel very fortunate....I have to say the cyber friendships I have (this group and various others), have been the most surprising and unique friends...and I cherish each and every one of you...I find it so surprising to have met all of you on line...have never seen most of you but know that if I am troubled, or happy I can share with you and you are happy or sad or encouraging me...you support me and each other and rise in the bubble of happiness or hold me and each other up with the waters get too deep to bear...I thank each and everyone of you and am truly blessed to know you, (even though we haven't met)...

Thank you LJ for the awesome kit...I still have plenty left to play around with and make another card...how fun.

Thanks for stopping by, if you have a chance....go visit the rest of the Darlings and Divas, I am sure you are in for a treat..

Until next time..
Big hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #89 Inspiried by Book or Story

2011-07-05T19:01:00.000-05:00

Hi all...been crazy once again around here but I had to do a Mo's Challenge it seems like it has been a long time since I did a challenge...Today's challenge was inspired by book or story. I chose Dorothy and I used a Thomas Kincade image to indicate Dorothy's home. The image brought her words "there's no place like home" to my mind. With her little eyes closed and Toto so close in her basket...and of course the ruby red shoes it looks like she is ready to go home. The card is a bit busy but I tried to convey Dorothy visioning her home in her mind. I hope you like the card..I had fun trying to bring that feeling out on paper..

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time.

Hugs,
Carol

Calendar Girls June card

2011-06-30T18:05:00.000-05:00

Hi all, I bet you thought that I fell off the face of the earth...lol...(it kind of feels like it ),. but here I am. The big wedding was last weekend so I have been gone (off the computer for almost a week). I was the hostess this month for the calendar girls. I love to make cards but struggled with a theme...sigh...so here is what I came up with...Make a card showing an upcoming event that is happening this summer and explain it when posting the card...the "extra" was to send the card to either a service member or a shut in since June falls in between Memorial Day and 4th of July....Well as you will see shortly.... I struggled with my card as well...not only am I LATE...in posting but my card did not turn out like my pea brain had imagined it would...sigh...oh well at least I have it finally done and I promise to do better next month....

In the month of July I am taking a "road trip" with 3 of my girlfriends and we are driving to and back from Utah. We will be gone 11 days and I am certain we will be laughing, talking, eating, stamping, laughing, talking,.....you get the idea...heehee...I used a Denami image for this card. I colored the car and friends with copics and then cut the whole image out...(darn camera sure shows I didn't do such a good job cutting...). I used pan pal chalks to try and create a scene of sorts on my round background and used some girlie dsp I had gotten from my birthday..Since I love shoes, (as much as I love glitter), I cut out a strip of shoes and used it at the bottom of the card. I used the word border to lay on top of the shoes for the girlie accent. I thought the pearls would add a little umph to the card ...anyway, for the extra part of this challenge, I plan on sending this to my AWESOME AUNT who shares the same birthday month as me. (we are 20 years apart)...and although she isn't a shut in she is one of my heros. She has raised 6 girls and has lots and lots of grand children and great grandchildren. She and my mom (sil) would road trip together to see my dad (her brother), in the nursing home towards the end of moms life. Oh the stories ....heehee...but that is for another time. I saw my sweet aunt this weekend and she raved about my cards and how much she loved them so, am going to pack this one up with a few others and send them her way to wish her Happy Birthday and let her know how much she means to me...I will also, send out a special card to one of our service members who is recovering in the hospital ....after an awful injury...along with a big thank you.

Thanks for stopping by.....go check out the other calendar girls, I am certain they have some fun cards for you to see..

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

June Dueling Darling Challenge

2011-06-15T00:30:00.002-05:00

Well hello all...here we are again embarking on our June challenge. Our lovely hostess' for this month were Barb and Michelle and they chose the theme "The Great Outdoors" which reminds me of the wonderful John Candy movie...what a hoot...I was the lucky recipient of Barb's kit....and oh my what a kit...we had tons of fun things to choose from and plenty of left overs to make more fun things... this is my left overs...and I used alot of the kit to make my card!!!

I chose a new card for me...it is called the Marvelous Magical Marquee Card and you can find the video and measurements Here. Last year the talented Judy gave me an amazing card made with this design and I've wanted to do one ever since. I figured that I could use at least 3 pieces of the beautiful DSP from Bo Bunny Barb sent along. What a fun card it was to make...kind of like a gate fold card but with a fun twist....Here is the card closed and I will show you as it opens...heehee...

Isn't this fun....I used the Bo Bunny camper image for my focal image and the Whipper Snapper "toss out the map" for the inside saying. The front "explore" is a Bo Bunny stamp and I used one of the green buttons to accent the "O" in explore. I thought the yellow grosgrain ribbon was the perfect touch for the inside of the card.

I'm not so great at following directions...holy hannah...I read and re-read the instructions and then forgot to add my "Great outdoors Story"...so am adding it now...sigh... If you know me in person you would know I am a chatter box and have been most of my life...(hmmmmm...got in a bit of trouble in school with that...heehee). so you would be totally surprised if you went fishing with me...I am convinced that if you make noise in the boat...you will not catch a fish and I need to catch at least one...(so I never talk while fishing and it has amazed more that one person in my life that I can stay quiet for so long...). anyway on to the story. When I was in my early 20's I went to my friends cabin to visit for a couple days....Her DH was an avid fisherman and she was an avid talker like me...anyway, he took us out in the boat to do some bass fishing and I baited my own hook with frogs and cast out....she chattered on and on and on....her dh was getting mighty frustrated with her talking and then she started getting her line hooked on branches etc ....so her dh finally gave up fishing and would row us over unhook her line and let her cast again, get stuck again....and again, and again...well at almost the tip of his frustration, I had cast out my line and was struggling with what I thought was a dumb tree branch that had at my line, I was not too excited to let her dh know that I was the one stuck this time so I just kept playing with my line...I would lift it up sharp and drop it in, in hopes of getting it unstuck, at one point it seemed to be working and I was able to keep reeling in the line....whew disaster averted there....when I got most of the line in I figured I had better stop while I was ahead...just as the hook was to surface much to my surprise and everyone else's I saw a "HUGE" bass on the end of the hook...My girlfriend started jumping up and down in the boat and screaming...(oh did I mention I'm not a very good swimmer??? )...I was sure her dh was going to take an oar and hit her over the head to get her to be quiet and sit down...(although neither one of us wanted to rock the boat anymore that it was already rocking)...it turns out that I had caught the biggest bass yet for the season....needless to say that fish was the end of our fishing for the evening...her dh needed a drink...lol...and I needed solid ground...my friend...well she needed to keep chatting...lol...

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you stop by the other Darling's blogs and take a peek. I am sure you will not be disappointed....

Until next time.

Hugs,

Carol

Wedding Card box and Unity Candles

2011-06-13T21:51:00.000-05:00

Hi all....As most of you know I have been working with my niece with special items for her wedding. We did 200 invites that I posted earlier and this weekend I finished up her card/cake box for her cards, her programs (which I forgot to take a picture of) and her unity candles...What fun this has been. My own dd just got engaged and was thrilled with the card box and thinks maybe she'll let me help with hers....lol...

I made the box from 3 plain round boxes...the hardest part of this was deciding on the right 3 to take. I did decided to take the largest to the 2nd from smallest...I then spray painted the boxes ivory and used a coat of pearl paint over the ivory to give it a shimmer....

Once this was completed and the boxes were dry (that didn't take as long
as I had expected). I placed the boxes one on top of the other and lightly traced the boxes with a pencil so I would know where to cut (held breath during this process....as I didn't want to start over at this point)...

I then cut out each layer inside the marks I had made so that I would have room for glue....I used silicone inside and around each layer. I cut out the card slot.... used the silicone to secure each layer and placed a heavy box on top of the "cake" and let the layers dry tightly together...I now had my "cake" base done....My niece wanted something simple and her mom had told me the colors of the flowers she was planning on so I began to decorate. I used sheer burgundy ribbon around the bottom of each layer and in the middle of the sheer ribbon placed a heavy ivory lace. I used the same ivory lace to go around the slot in the top of the cake. I then started hot gluing the flowers in place, adding of course some iridescent beads and pearls in for some special "auntie bling" lol (since I didn't use any glitter I had to add something special...heehee).

The bottom is the top cover of the largest box and can be removed to let the cards out. I liked the way this turned out...she however LOVED it...lol...I don't know if she knew what to expect (and I wasn't sure it would turn out to her liking but was relieved that it did...).

She came over on Sunday and we did the programs for the wedding and she had brought some plain white candles with for the unity candle...I had some pearls and other bling and we worked together to make these..

She wanted something simple and was pleased with the way these turned out....we embossed the "C" on tissue paper with white embossing powder and then heated the candle to adhere the tissue paper to the candle. We then rimmed the heart shape with pearls and added a pearl swirl around the top and bottom of the large candle and then used the same pearl swirl to wrap around the smaller candles....all in all I have learned some new things and am happy that I was able to help in a small way to make my nieces wedding a little more special to both of us...We had fun working together and she saved some money as well...heehee..

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time.
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #85--sketch challenge

2011-06-05T19:26:00.000-05:00

I love working with sketch challenges and most of the time follow them exactly...but we all have to start somewhere right?..Well this week Mo's challenge was a sketch challenge and I have made a card for the challenge...this is what the sketch looks like:

and this is what my card looks like:

I fell in love with the watermelon girl as soon as I saw here and had to color her up asap...lol...I thought about the card a while and decided I needed watermelon slices and went to work looking to purchase some...hmmm....couldn't find any so while searching my dsp drawers I ran onto red glitter paper and lime glitter paper...hmmmmm....do you think I could make my own?...Well after a couple tries this is what I came up with. I used black stickles for the seeds on the glittery watermelons and on the little girls pants and top. I colored her with copics and used clear stickles to highlight her headband and watermelon...(after all a gal needs some bling...lol). The green shimmer paper had all kinds of fun summer words on it and I backed it with SU retired apricot appeal card stock. I used black rhinestones on the nestie and on the dividing embossed paper to simulate seeds. I had fun with this and I hope you like it..

Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Happy Memorial Day....

2011-05-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every service person and their families for the sacrifices they endure in order for us to have our freedom. I am humbled by your generosity and am grateful for each and everyone of you...Thank you!!

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial day and remember to say a prayer today and everyday for all that serve our country so selflessly....

Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #84--Pearls and Flowers

2011-05-29T18:30:00.000-05:00

Here I am again with another card for Mo's weekly challenge. I chose her new image "Peaches" to use for this challenge. I love this cute little girl....how fun...(I didn't have much luck with the peach sad to say). I had fun coloring her with my copics but as previously stated the peach isn't as "peachy" as I would like...I chose to color her outfit in a green and I used butterfly dsp for the background along with a pale yellow cardstock and SU river rock cardstock...I used a pearl swirl on the side panel and emphasized this with a yellow flower.

I am not the best photographer so I used one picture that I enhanced the color on and one I didn't. (The yellow is really a soft yellow.) I used stickles on the peach, butterflies, and the polka dots on her little outfit...I did use liquid pearls on her shoes and on each point of the flower nestie..

Thank you for stopping by....

Until next time..

Hugs,

Carol

May Calendar Girls Card.....hostess "Barb"

2011-05-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well here we are again....I'm a tad bit late but ready to show you my May card. Here are the requirements:

The month of May can bring many things—Mother’s Day, Graduation, Prom, Memorial Day—all are wonderful events. However, May does bring one thing to mind—Skin. You know—like short sleeved tops, capris, shorts, flip flops/sandals, sundresses—all things that bring a frightful thought to our mind as our body is not in shape to show skin. So, let’s Shape Up. No—not running, biking, weights, but cards that have a different shape. So, your May card is to be a Shutter Card, Side Step Card, Gate Fold, Easel Card, Joy Fold, Criss Cross, etc. Any shape works—but to be true to the challenges we have had in the past—try a new shape that you have not used recently or really take a leap and try a design that you have never done before! The theme of the card can be for any event that happens before posting our next Challenge by the Charming Carol on June 28th—a birthday, wedding, shower, etc.

So, are you ready to take the challenge? Are you ready to Shape Up? Are you ready to show some skin--just kidding................

I hope you like this challenge and that you do trying a new shape in your card making or dust off a technique that you have not done in a long time. And, most of all--- Have Fun!!!

- Barb ______________ ____

True to the month my card is once again........sigh......wedding related..lol. My niece is getting married June 25th and the shower is June 10th. I am making a "wedding cake" card box for the event (to be posted at a later date)..so I did this card to go with the card box. Not sure if I will use it for the shower or the wedding but I will use it for sure. What can it be you say?? Well.....its......a.......wedding cake card.....the picture doesn't show it too well but the back piece is a shiny black paper with the SU discontinued bridesmaid dsp layered on to that...

The cake has three layers with each opening the opposite direction. The bottom and top layer are embossed vanilla dsp I found at a garage sale (what I deal I got)...the second layer is cream paper with mini beads randomly scattered all over it. I found that at a LSS that went out of business. I used yellow, orange and pink roses as a topper as her dresses are a fuchsia color but she is using bright flowers of different colors for the bouquets and wedding flowers.

When I asked her what she would like the cake box/card box to look like she stated she prefers simple, so keeping that in mind I used white pearls to distinguish the top of each layer. I am hoping she will like this card and the cake box that goes with it. (Now I just need to get that done....lol).

Thanks for stopping by today and checking out my "shape"...heehee..Please stop by all of the calendar girls blogs...I am sure you are in for a treat at each of them..

Until next time....
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #83-Distressing

2011-05-23T20:23:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? I'm here two days in a row. I have a card for Mo's challenge and it's done before wednesday...(I'm making progress...lol). I colored up this little girl with her cotton candy she got when she went to the Circus...fun stuff and oh so sticky...(I know first hand)...heehee...

Once again I did my card a bit backwards. I colored my image and then picked a layout and tried to get colors to match. Sometimes this works sometimes not. I used whisper white from SU for the base of the card, the little girl and the oval that my cotton candy sweetie is mounted on. I used Ranger inks to distress the oval, (mustard seed, dusty concord, chipped sapphire and aged mahogany). I used the same colors on the tag only not as dark. I then used an embossing folder to make the dots. The image and distressed circle is mounted on "Umber" cardstock and Pacific point from SU rounds out the rest of the card. I found the little flower ribbon that is behind the image on sale somewhere. It is one piece cut in half as I thought it was a bit wide, I like how that worked out...I also used some blue rhinestones I found in a dollar bin at Michaels... to finish up the card. After thinking about it, I should have used some cotton balls tipped with color for the cotton candy....maybe next time...

Thanks for stopping by, I do appreciate it.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Carol

Sistah hood May Swap card

2011-05-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

This month our lovely hostess "Fay" requested Manly Man cards..I thought about going serious but had this Bugaboo image staring at me and I couldn't resist inking him up and making cards.

Doesn't he look excited and dressed to impress for a birthday party?? Makes me giggle as somehow I can imagine that happening in my house in a few years...lol.. I used copics to color the image and stickles on the balloons (even a guy has to shine once in awhile). I used crystal effects on the lenses of his glasses and on the face of the clock to give it more of a real effect. The base paper is basic gray from SU and the blue is navy SU cardstock. I used some old designer paper from SU to match his boxers...lol...I then generated a computer sentiment that I had seen elsewhere and added a balloon brad to the inside of the card...

I hope that Fay and the other Sistahs are too disappointed that I chose to do a silly card.

Thanks for stopping by...I do appreciate it.
Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol

Mo's Challenge #82--Summer

2011-05-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I have had a card ready in time for the challenge...today I am just squeaking under the wire but I have a card none the less....I colored this little Strawberry girl up the end of last week but have been on the run since and haven't had a chance to make the complete card until today....Strawberries so remind me of summer and I couldn't resist a chance to ink her up. I used copics to color her and pan pal pastels for the blue sky beind her. The base of the card is real red from SU and the blue is SU navy...the dsp is scraps from my scrap drawer of dsp that is too big to throw away but too small to use as a quarter sheet. (I'm sorry but I am not sure who made the dsp. The rhinestones are from a dollar spot. I thought they were pretty and picked them up knowing that someday I would find a spot for them. This was a fun challenge and I hope to be more timely with the next challenges...sigh...

Thanks for stopping by...
Until next time.......
Hugs,
Carol

Dueling Darling May Challenge

2011-05-15T04:30:00.001-05:00

Well here we are ...ready to challenge once again. This month our them is "The Perfect Blend" with our focus on coffee...(among other things). This month my "brilliant counterpart" Debbie, also known as Lildj, came up with this fabulous idea......and who could pass this one up...We put together kits for our teammates using something to do with coffee and sent them out....(I of course started throwing things into a kit with no rhyme or reason and hopefully my teammates didn't find it too challenging to work with). As you all know life itself is a study of "perfect blends", usually our friends personalities blend with ours, we blend the colors of our clothing, we try to blend our work with our outside activities so we don't get overloaded and stressed and the list goes on...Our teammates with the exception of our leaders Jeanette and Kelly, had an additional part to their challenges....I will get to that in a minute, but first I want to show you my cards...I chose to do 2 cards as we have two leaders (and the are fabulous!!!).. My first card I decided to attempt a twisted easel card.

The first picture is the whole card standing
in the easel position. I used my copics to
color the Bella image then cut the image out
and mounted it on a lavender circle, mounted
on a dark purple circle, (the dark purple) is also
the base of my card.
The DSP (from paper hearts) "Dazzle
Circle" had big circles in lavender, blue, pink
and also contained some glitter circles...(hmmm
can you imagine that...lol). Since the dsp was
based on circles I kept the theme going using
buttons of different sizes and colors to "rest"
the top on the card against. I placed pink
rhinestones in the center of the buttons to
carry through the circle theme . I used the
computer generated saying on the front of my
card.

My second card has a base of razzleberry paper (SU). I used the "Z" fold card for the layout. I loved the Bo Bunny Jasmyne Plush DSP so had to use this here....a perfect blend in my eyes..(and some of the flowers were glittered to boot...heehee).

The front of the card closed...

I once again cut out my image that has been colored
with copics (I didn't do such a good job at cutting).
I then mounted my saying on top of the brown polka dot ribbon (I liked the ribbon and wanted to use it somehow)...I also used an embossing folder on the brown oval that backed the image and the diamond embellishment in the corners of the right hand side of the card and center of the plain flower on the left hand side...It was fun...

Now onto the second part of our challenge...each of us are going to tell you why we are so very fond of our wonderful leaders...They truly are a perfect blend of fun, compassion, support, compliments, sharing, enthusiasm, and love. Both Jeanette and Kelly started this amazing group and welcomed each of us into the
fold....they encourage us and make the most amazing comments on our cards each and every month. They lead by example (a very good one at that), and challenge (me at least) to do better...I am truly blessed to have Kelly and Jeanette in my life and as my friends....I am doubly blessed to be a part of this very special group...all these wonderful women I cherish as friends and I hope we will continue to "Duel" for a very long time...I want to say a special thank you to Kelly and Jeanette and to each and everyone of the Diva and Dazzler members for being the special people you are...an amazing, wonderful group..."The perfect blend."

Thanks for stopping by....it you have a chance; go visit the other team members, I am sure you will be delighted with what they have put together...

A special thanks to Debbie for this amazing idea....♥

Until next time,
Hugs,
Carol