Just playin' around

 Hello friends ... welcome back to my blog!

Yesterday while looking through my various dies, I spotted a die that I haven't used in years so figured now was a good time to put it to use.  

I've created a very simple card using Brutus Monroe designer paper and this Elizabeth Craft 'Romantic Bouquet' die.  A few Nuvo drops & faux stitching were used as embellishments and a sentiment from 'the TON' made this card a quick make.

 

I had originally place my die cut panel all the way to the edge of my card front but then didn't like it so cut another thin strip from my left over designer paper.  It would have been easier had I just placed the die cut panel inside the edge by 1/4" LOL.  

 Hope you have a nice day today! 

My crafting friend Sandy has come up from NC to visit for a few days so we are off to hit a few craft stores before buckling down for some serious crafting!  LOL

As always ... thanks for stopping by!

 

Need too many Sympathy cards . . .

 Hello friends ...

Sadly, I'm in need of several sympathy cards right now so before sending them I thought I'd share them with you today.  The basic design is simple but the one I did 'fancy up' with flowers.

 Card #1

Inside view:

 On both cards, I've used Creative Expressions dies for the basic design and scraps of pretty designer paper positioned behind the opening.  

 For Card #1, I have used the Sue Wilson 'Floral Meadow' (CED1605) and for Card #2 I've used Sue Wilson 'Striplets - Regal' (CED1608).

       

 The flowers on Card #1 were created using the (old) Sue Wilson Finishing Touches 'Passion Flower' (CED1497) and using up the last couple sheets of an old 6x6 paper pack.  The leaf sprigs were a variety of dies and Nuvo drops were used as an accent.

 

 Card #2

 Inside view:

 Again I'm using up scraps for the background paper behind the die cut and the butterflies were cut from the same paper using an old Martha Stewart butterfly punch (gosh haven't used that in a VERY long time).  

 

 I'm quite please with how these cards turned out.  
Hope you like them too!

 

As always, have a wonderful day ahead and

 

Inspired by other crafting friends . . .

 Happy Tuesday All ...

Yesterday while commenting on some crafting friends blogs, I spotted THIS card over on Bonnie's blog and she was inspired by another creative crafter, Michele with THIS card.  Since both cards were very much of my liking, I thought I'd add a little twist to it (to make it my own) and came up with this card . . .

 

 I have so many 3D embossing folder that I just LOVE creating with so today, I went with a Lisa Horton folder called 'Abstract Dahlia' and my floral stem is a very old die by Poppystamps called 'Tulip Branch' (#1146).

 

      

 The sentiment used today is from the Simon Says 'Wild & Free Flowers' stamp set (#2026ssc).

 The floral stem was die cut from a scrap of white card stock then colored with Tombow markers.  The same purple marker was used for the faux stitching and Nuvo drops were used for an accent.

 

 Thanks ladies for inspiration!!

And thank you for taking the time to stop by today!  
I truly appreciate it!  Blogging has changed considerably and unfortunately
I get very few visitors these days and even fewer comments.

As always, have a wonderful day ahead and

3D Rainbow embossing

 Happy Monday All!

I took a little time yesterday to play around with a quick design I spotted over on Pinterest a while back.  I love my 3D embossing folders ... you can just do so many things with them to bring them to life!!

What do you think??

 

The 3D embossing folder I've used is by Lisa Horton - 'Camellia Cluster' (LHCEF043) and the sentiment panel is a stamp/die set by Pink Fresh 'Perfect Sentiments'. 

  LOL ... would you believe it was just now that I noticed I had placed my embossed panel upside down on my card front ... duh!!  Oh well, too late ... as I glued the sentiment panel on so no way of taking it off without destroying the card.  

It should have looked like this with the colors running red to purple  - left to right.  
Oh well ... still a pretty card! LOL

 Ok time to 'get to work' ... I have several card orders to finish up and I'm thrilled to say my North Carolina (she used to live close to me here in Ohio) crafting friend Sandy is coming up Wednesday to spend a few days with us and she & I will be crafting up a storm plus running around to a few stores that she doesn't have in NC.  

One of those stores is Hollo's Paper Craft which is a paper company on the outskirts of Cleveland where we can buy our card stock by the pound in a variety of weights & colors.  Another spot we want to hit is in the other direction ... south ... down in Amish Country where another local friend of hers discovered a few crafting stores that we went to when she came up in April for the Adventures in Stamping convention but at that time neither of us 'took enough cash' with us to purchase as much as we would have liked!  LOL  We'll be prepared this time!!  LOL

 Here's a few challenges to share in:

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #759 - Thank you / Anything Goes (ends 7/23)
Creative Inspiration Challenge #28 - ATG  (ends 7/31) 
Ellibelle's Garden Party #5 - Anything in or from a garden (ends 8/11)
Krafty Chicks Challenge #777 - CAS (ends 7/24)

As always ... thanks for stopping by!

 

Peace on Earth Challenge #92

 

Hello Friends and welcome back to my blog! 
SO happy you stopped by!

Today I have a card to share for the new challenge over on the PEACE ON EARTH CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE BLOG.  Of course the theme is Anything Christmas and we hope you'll come join in the fun! 

Here's a fun inspiration board we've created to help get you started ...

 

 For my focus image on today's card, I've used one of the snowman images from a sheet purchased through Stamp On It.  Though difficult to see in the photo, it's also been adhered to one of their glitter film sheets before cutting & adding to my card base.

 

 

Challenges to share in: 

Addicted to CAS Challenge #287 - Christmas (ends7/26)

 

 Di's Digi Stamps Challenge - Christmas in July (ends 7/31)
Send a Smile 4 Kids Challenge - Christmas in July 4 Kids  (ends 7/31)
CAS on Friday Challenge #313 - Christmas in July  (ends 7/24)

 PLEASE be sure to pop over to THE BLOG and check out the amazing designs our design team has created for your inspiration.  What a group of talented ladies!!  Then come join in the fun!!  

 As always ... thanks again for stopping by!

Double D - For the Kiddos

 

 Hello Dear Friends!

It's time once again for a new challenge over on the Double D Challenge Blog!

 

Here's today's theme:

 

 FOR THE KIDDOs

and here's an inspiration board created to help get you started . . .

 

 

 

 OMGosh ... what fun!  EVERYONE knows these characters
and to be honest, I had trouble choosing who I wanted to create with today!  LOL
Must be the kid in me!  LOL

But of course, I ended up with Mickey ... he's an ICON!!

I used one of the several fractured card dies I purchased through the Kokorosa Studio company early last year.  The Disney stickers came from Hobby Lobby and my sentiment is a die set from Tutti Designs.  Quick, Easy and perfect for boy or girl!!

 

 You'll want to be sure to pop over to the Double D Challenge Blog to see all the details and amazing samples offered up by our VERY TALENTED design team ladies!!

 Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hope to see you at Double D! 

  As always . . .

TOB July Mid Month Reminder

 Hello Friends! 

OLD BAT Darlene here to remind you we are half way through the month and you don't want to miss out on joining in the fun over on the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge Blog.

I've created a card to help inspire you  ... what do you think??

Inspired by the lower right corner of our mood board (below),
I die cut a circle and sponge colored it using TH distress oxide inks
to create my mood.  The cat die is one from Impression Obsession
(which sadly has been discontinued) and the pumpkins are
stickers from my scrapbooking stash by the Paper Studio
Stampabilities.

 A row of grave stones is simply Halloween Washi tape.

 HOPE TO SEE YOU OVER AT THE TWO OLD BATS CHALLENGE!

Thanks for stopping by!

Darlene

Can You Handle the Pressure - Twist - In the Sky

  Hello Friends, thanks for stopping by today!

We have a new challenge starting today over on our new Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge Blog and the TWIST theme is ...

In the Sky

Remember, the twist is optional but you MUST use an embossing folder on our projects to qualify for the prize.  Heat embossing is also permitted but only in conjunction with an embossing folder.

 Here's what I've created to inspire you today.  

I have used an old Darice clouds embossing folder today along with an image from the TooMuchFun Rubberstamps company

I used blue paper to emboss then used white craft ink and did the direct ink to paper technique to make the clouds white.  Added a quick sentiment and my card is ready to mail.

I do hope you'll come check out our challenge blog and play along.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,
I appreciate it more than you'll ever know!!

As always . . .

Stripes and/or Dots at the Sisterhood

 

 Hello my friends!

Today I have a card for the new challenge over on The Sisterhood of Crafters!

 

Our theme today is:

 

Stripes and/or Dots

 

 

The Echo Park 6x6 paper pack of 'Stripes & Dots' worked perfectly for today's theme!  
By making my sentiment square first and placing it in the center of my card, then adding the 3/8" white stripes in  this manner, I created a basic 'fractured card' design the altered it a bit to showcase the various dots/stripes from this set.  A few black Nuvo crystal drops and my card is complete.  Hope you like it!

 
Please come join in our challenge fun at The Sisterhood of Crafters!

My 'sistahs' have created some fabulous creations to help inspire you ... 

be sure to pop over and check them out!

 As always, thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to stop by!

Neglected Stuff

 Hello friends!

Today I have a project to share that was created for our newest
NEGLECTED STUFF CHALLENGE. 

Click on the link then come join in the fun!

 

 

 Card #1

I started this card by using an old scrap of designer paper (no clue what paper pack it's from ... was in the scrap bin) the using a scrap of white card stock cut to size, I embossed using an older Sizzix embossing folder.   Next I created my iris stems in the center of the oval and lastly added some Nuvo crystal drops.

The 'neglected stuff' I've used today is a VERY OLD pack of Sticko Iris Vellum Stickers and created two cards.   I believe I bought this sheet of stickers years ago at either Hobby Lobby or Archiver's.

 

 

 

Card #2

The stickers you see on these two cards are what was left on the sheet of stickers.  I  had obviously used some of the stickers on either a card or scrapbook page years ago and these were what was left.  So, for my 2nd card I used the last 2 iris blooms and some of the greenery that was left and created this focus panel.   I had a long and a short scrap of this purple card stock in my colored scraps pile of which I had intended to 'partially' mat my focus panel then created a punched border for the bottom.  

 

WELL ... without thinking, I cut my second panel for a vertical card vs horizontal card and it was too short for what I had in mind to do.  SO ... shifting gears ... I came up with this design.  SIMPLE but EFFECTIVE I think!
 

 Be sure to pop over and check us out then play along!

If you're a crafter, I'm sure you have some 'Neglected' goodies in your stash
that are just waiting to be loved!

You  have until the 28th to play along!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today!

As always . . .