More DeeDee's Digi's 4th of July

Hello and welcome to 2 new followers:

Leslie G of Leslie's Craft Room and Zella - for whom I can't find a link so perhaps Zella doesn't have a blog. Zella if you do, please provide me with a link so I can give a shout out with your blog address. Thank you both for joining here as followers. It's always so exciting to see new faces in the following list. Watch out for a surprise the day I see that 250th face/name show up!

Again, I'm using some of DeeDee's Digis 4th of July Designs - this one is from the Hat's Off digi collection.

 



- Precolored Digi was hand cut, did a minimum amount of shading with copics. Separated the Uncle Sam top hat from the drawn digi and reattached with a narrow white ribbon.

- Embossed & stenciled background was a snippet from another project - the front didn't turn out as I wished. Decided I could use a MBox stencil and some blue spray and still use the piece as a background. Die cut an oval, placed a snippet of the stripe digi papers from the Stitchy Stars set behind this cut out oval. Used the Lil Inkers ovals to cut a frame, adhered the frame over the striped paper. Mr. Eagle has some dimensional foam tape adhering  him in place and the sentiment from Hat's Off was cut with deckle scissors so it would fit in the space.

- punched 2 stars from silver glitter paper and covered with Smooch paints (the kind that looks like tiny fingernail polish bottles. A NBUS for me. Have had the stuff, seldom think to use it.). Used some sponges that had red & blue residual Distress ink that were in the drawer. (?another snippet?)

One more down for the 4th of July cards I need to get mailed. Hope you like it, and will check out DeeDee-s.

If you've time, check out the Friends Card page (tab at the top of the blog). Scroll down to see the latest cards. I'll be sharing some lovely cards received lately from some wonderful people. You made my day very special & thank you so very much. Come again when you can set a spell, and many hugs & blessings from me to you!

Christmas Club Angels

Happy Sunday Afternoon and welcome to my entry for our bi-monthly Christmas Club Challenge, where our wonderful Scrappymoi (aka Maureen) selected Angels as our theme for this week's cards. I started out with one stamp, doing some backgrounds with pan pastels (inspired by this lovely card). This first stamp was a large one, very detailed, and when I did the heat embossing with my favorite Ranger Queen's gold, it just did not turn out well at all. Back to the drawing board (er...to the stamp drawer ...) to hunt for another angelic image. Found a Stampendous stamp that had 'looser lines' and it turned out quite nicely.

- Background was created with pan pastels in blues and magentas (pinks) using Jean's inspiration technique. Then covered this background with MB Ornate stencil and sponged pan pastel Rich Gold - which created the subtle design that is visible. Next lightly sprayed with some Tattered Angels Irridescent Gold - let that dry, then sprayed again with another shade of gold. (the next picture shows the effect better..but was not great photography).

- Stamped image with versamark on this background, embossed with Ranger's Queen's Gold. Colored with Koh-I-nor and Derwent Colorsoft pencils.

- Created another background using Dylusions Crushed Grape & Funky Fushcia - some sprays were full strength, some diluted either with water or White Linen. Sprayed with various shades of Gold sprays and finished off with a very rich copper. Let it dry & marble for a while, then finished drying with a heat gun. The marbling effect always looks better if the piece dries naturally. All the paper pieces were GP or Neenah, not water color. Flattened with the large angel stamp that wouldn't cooperate, but I can see where there is still some warping that will need more 'weight pressed' time.

- Die cut the frame piece using S/B Matting Basic (not sure if I used A or B). Embossed the inner edge and outlined lightly with a Krylon gold pen.

- Sentiment is Elizabeth Craft die. Cut 3 pieces from white snippets, glued together for extra dimension. Colored the top piece with Purple Wink of Luna, several coats. Covered that with WoS in gold. Adhered to card front. Thought the piece was dry, but evidently not as dry as should have been, and there is a little blob by the 'x' which I need to think of a way to cover up!  Other than my blob boo-boo, I enjoyed making this card. Angels are another favorite of mine (betcha didn't know that, did you?).

Please check out the other wonderful entries made by the members listed on the side bar, and thanks for joining me this afternoon.

Psst...here's a better look at the background effects, but the lights used for photographing cast too much of a shine for this to be a good photo. Hugs!

Thank You Watering Can

Hello and welcome. Today is a scheduled post to share a thank you card.

Now, on to the card for today:

- White background created with a Lil Inker Quilt Stitched Pattern die. You'll be seeing this one quite a lot, I expect. I love quilts and pounced on this die when I saw it.

- Die cut image is a die-namites Floral Watering Can (DN-1016) cut from white paper snippet and colored with copics. Debated on trying to add back in the little cut-a-way bits as I've been seeing done so beautifully on a lot of blogs. Decided this would take more fiddling than I had time for just at the moment, so settled for coloring. I quite like the effect of the coloring with the white background.

- Lil Inker Stitched Mats Circle die on a snippet of white pearlized paper. The addition of the pearl centers was a last minute idea, and I'm not certain I like this, but ...they were stuck down.

- Die cut sentiment from white snippet. Two layers for dimension, adhered together, and top layer colored with copics in the blue family.

- ribbon from stash.

Added some links for the dies used on this card. Some bloggers add pictures below the post showing supplies, and I don't know how to do that. So if I think of it when I'm posting, I'll try to remember to add links in case you're interested as to where I purchased supplies. I do try to find sales or coupons, and I'm always drawn to sites that have minimum order free shipping. Just FYI.

A simple card, but I hope it conveys my thanks in the way I meant. This is for a VIP who means a great deal to me.

Thanks for spending some of your day with me here and I hope your week is going well so far. Big Hugs & Blessings going out to you, and ya'll come again when you can set a spell!

It's Time for Rudolph Day

Welcome and it's that time again...you know... when Sarn  hosts the Rudolph Day Challenge. Today's cards had been ready for last month's challenge, but I wasn't feeling tiptop then, so these were saved for June's Challenge. This great challenge helps us get cards ready all year long, and have a good stash by the time December arrives. So come along, and submit your creations...Rules are posted but it's quite simple: Just submit 2 festive cards and link up.

Here's the Carolina Cards for today:

- PSX stamp purchased on eBay some years ago, stamped with Memento Tuxedo black on Xpress card stock, colored with copics and Spica pens. Think I may have added some clear WoS on the water can and the blue ribbon, as it sparkles a lot. These 2 images were colored quite a while ago and then the cards were made in small craft sessions as I felt up to such.

- a stitched rectangle die (which I think is MFT brand).

- Turquoise mat smooth card stock (stash) and narrow gold mirror mat also from stash.

Card base was embossed with who knows what EF. Easy card to color, and since I love cardinals, I really enjoyed coloring this one.

Next up:

- SU image, colored with copics & spica pens and white gel highlights. Distressing with DI Tea die while still in the die. Tiny clear rhinestone centered on snowflake.

- Pierced oval (think this was MFT also); used the out-of-the-box technique (search You tube for video) to get the extended holly leaf at the base.

- Tri fold card - covered in really old, old papers from when I first started buying paper. Used a stitched border die for the red trim.

- on the inside (which didn't turn out as nicely as I wished!) the panels are covered with another green Christmas paper, that had a nice white swirly tree in the bottom of the page. Cut the upper portion of this paper to cover the panels. Used the same oval to cut the larger tree pattern - glued it to the portion of the oval that shows on the inside. Used Versamark to stamp a nice Christmas verse in the middle section, embossed that with Ranger Queen's Gold. So far, looking pretty good. However, where it folds at each side on the interior, the paper edges fold too, so the white card base peeks through {which is why I didn't show the inside picture :-) }. I'm trying to think of a way to fix this boo-boo without destroying the card. I just don't have a lot of luck with making fold cards.

So off to link up at Rudolph for June 2014 and have some fun enjoying the beautiful cards already submitted. Hope you will join in as well.

Thanks for visiting this afternoon, and stay cool. Hope there's no nasty storms around in your area. God Bless, and hugs.

DeeDee's Digis Says Happy 4th of July

Hi, and welcome. We're taking a short break in between cleaning out some attic stuff that the DD may want. It gets too warm up there for me, and stomachs were growling. DH & DD have gone to get some lunch. We had another little washing machine upset this morning, which didn't start our day off pleasantly. There's this trap  'thing-y' on our LG washer that is to be emptied periodically. It catches debris and sometimes has a bit of standing water. DH cleans it from time to time. You will remember my fiasco with this apparatus last year, and it caused the tub of machine water to leak all over the floor, down into our basement floor insulation and ceiling tiles...BIG MESS! Anyway, started a laundry load, had my coffee in hand and happened to walk into the kitchen to start the dish washer. I keep a rug by the machines and thought "hmm, wonder why that rug looks funny colored?" (it was wet!) and quick as a flash, "Uh-OH - it's leaked again"-- remembering that DH had cleaned the trap out Sunday evening for me. First time I've done laundry since then. Evidently something didn't get tightened properly. Oh my, he was not a happy camper at all. We've called somebody to come in and probably replace the wet insulation between the floors, as DH dried it with fans last time. Don't want to take a chance on mildew, etc this time. Plus 6 stained ceiling tiles. Anyway, at least the daughter is here to brighten & lighten his mood! Thanks for letting me whine, and on to the card...

 Now on a happier note:  let me say a warm welcome to a new follower: Grace N of Th-INK-ing of You. Grace is a designer for ODBD and has some stunning cards. I had visited her blog quite a long time ago, but just rediscovered it again, to my delight. Thanks for joining as a follower and do give yourself a treat and visit Grace's amazing blog.

The June Challenge over at DeeDee's Digi's is in its final week, but you still have some time to snag a delightful digi from the store and play along.

The featured set for June Challenge at DeeDee's is Life's a Beach,  and is totally adorable. . You can purchase this month's featured set for just $1.25, or you can get it for FREE with any $10 purchase of Deedee's Digis products from the shop. (NOTE: To receive this set for free with your qualifying order, you must enter this code, minus quotes, in the comment area of the checkout form: "DDOM-10.") Create and share any wholesome project made with this set by the challenge deadline, and Deedee will email you next month's featured set for free. Keep playing, and keep collecting freebies -- it's as easy as that!
Since I need to have some holiday cards, I chose a combination of 2 sets for today's card: Stitchy Stars and Hat's Off.  Stitchy Stars has some 'country stars' designs, some pretty digi papers, line images & sentiments; I liked the sentiment from Hat's Off  for this card however. Printed out both sets, and selected the elements that I wanted for today's card. Am surely loving this digi paper stuff - YAY! The remaining designs that were printed out are just waiting for another 4th of July card.

 

 

- Star & striped paper from Stitchy Stars . The Hat's Off sentiment was die cut with a sizzix die, and outlined with a red Wink of Luna pen. The blue paper at the top is Bazzill smooth, embossed with a Crafts Concept Solid Stars EF. Went over the raised stars with a clear WoS pen*, and then outlined with a white gel pen.

 *Edit: This should have read WHITE WoS.

 

- Glitter stars done with a small Marvy punch, and the tiny kraft heart is a snippet from the bird house die you saw on an earlier card. Added the red rhinestone just for giggles. Another very easy card & fast.

 

I hope you'll take time to pop over to DeeDee's and check out the June challenge and also the wonderful images available there.  In the meantime, thanks so much for taking time to stop in, and have a wonderful (hopefully cool!) afternoon. Very hot here in my area. G'bye & Hugs.

 

 

 

PS: I had mentioned in emails to several of you, that I'd share a picture of the printer paper that I've been using with the digi papers, that I like so much. I think I paid about $3.97 or $4.97 for this pack in Walmart. It seems to yield a much better result than the plain ole printer paper that I always use for printing. Hope this helps anyone who might be interested.

 

Dog Days of Summer

Good Morning & happy start of the last week of June. Oh my, _where_ has this year gone? Anyhoo, the June Challenge over at DeeDee's Digi's is nearly at the end, but you still have some time to snag a delightful digi from the store and play along.

The featured set for June Challenge at DeeDee's is Life's a Beach,  and is totally adorable. . You can purchase this month's featured set for just $1.25, or you can get it for FREE with any $10 purchase of Deedee's Digis products from the shop. (NOTE: To receive this set for free with your qualifying order, you must enter this code, minus quotes, in the comment area of the checkout form: "DDOM-10.") Create and share any wholesome project made with this set by the challenge deadline, and Deedee will email you next month's featured set for free. Keep playing, and keep collecting freebies -- it's as easy as that!

I chose the delightfully fun set of Dog Days of Summer. There's two really adorable dog/puppy designs in the set, precolored if you wish or layered art if you choose to select your own colors and media. Some wonderful design papers and appropriate sentiments are in the set too. Here's what I did with my precolored image:

- printed several images on GP paper (which worked great in my new Canon printer purchased last July but just now set up properly). Got so frustrated trying to work with an Epson Stylus, which is cranky with certain card stock. Used an S/B rectangle to cut out the base image, and fussy cut elements from 2nd image. The sun is a separate image, also fussy cut. Did a bit of shading with copics, spica pens on the fussy cut bits.

- Printed out the digi design papers (a new thing for me.Used some Bright White printer paper purchased at Walmart, and it worked much nicer than using the plain bulk purchased printer paper). Nice colors resulted - but different printer could have made a difference too. Anyway, I was happy with the resulting papers. Cut the sun image paper to fit the card base, embossed with the C/B dots EF.

- Printed the wildly colored chevron design and then die cut with a MB Ribbon Candy Border. This worked great to hide a spot in the background paper where the EF didn't emboss all the way because of the placement of the paper in the folder. I really liked this bright chevron design and the lovely thing is, I can reprint as much of this paper as I wish and not have to store it!!!

- IO Die 156-H for the birdhouse using a snippet of kraft (found it quickly in my color coded plastic bins! Normally I would have spent an hour hunting for that little bit). Did some coloring with copics and a highlighter. (the die was a NBUS as it was purchased many, many months ago after attending a class taught by Mitra of Impression Obsessions.)

- IO Die154-A (tiny birds - also a NBUS - purchased at the same time). These were cut from tiny white snippets and colored with copics.

- Sun had been fussy cut, and was glazed with a clear WoStella and dried before layering with foam tape.

- Dog & puppy were popped up with foam tape, as was the bird house and flying bird. Red bird was glued flat with Easy Flow glue as was the chevron ribbon. After placing the dog in the pool, used some clear WoStella over the water to give a glisten, and a Sakura Silver Star pen over the water coming out of the puppy's hose. Used clear Spica on the hose, White gel pen to add some highlights.

- Sentiment from the same set printed on a snippet of the digi paper while I had the design in my Word program. This just involved placing the sentiment down at the bottom of the document - still within the margin boundary, before printing. Trimmed it out, added to another snippet of white cardstock for stability, and hand cut it. Edged with just a bit of blue Distress Ink that was on a sponge in the drawer (guess that might be a snippet too? Hey, it was leftover ink!). Some gold pearls at the bottom and this puppy was done. A fast card, other than the fussy cutting, which I do slowly.

Do check out the June Challenge over at DeeDee's.  And see what some of the awesome DT members have created for your enjoyment.

Since I have a couple of NBUS items on this card I'm going to link it to:
Darnell's NBUS Challenge #1 (which ends June 27, so you still have time to enter!)

Ta Ta for now. Our daughter is in the air on her way up to Upstate South Carolina for a few days. I'll have a scheduled post that will go up later, but will be MIA again for a few days. Ya'll enjoy whatever it is that you have planned for this week, and see ya later. Thanks for stopping to visit, please do check out the challenges, and I hope you like today's card. I did, and had fun making it too! These precolored images are great because I don't have to agonize over what colors to chose. Hugs & Blessings.

Yellow Rose Sympathy

Hoo-Ray for Saturday, and welcome.  When you have time, please take a moment and check out the new page recently added for the lovely friends' cards that I've received. I copied this excellent idea from our Darnell - who termed it Happy Mail. A great title, but I didn't want to copy too terribly blatantly, so I named my new page Friends' Cards. I hope I can successfully add new cards as they are gratefully received. I love to share them with everyone, as we are always so thrilled to see this kind of mail.

Unfortunately we lost a very dear neighbor last week. It had been expected for a while, but it happened the day that DH had his heart cath. (and thanks for all your good wishes for him. His checkup went fine...just typical of a dude his age!). Here's the card we are sending to this family. He was the kind of neighbor who was always there when you needed a helping hand. He had a very strong faith, so knew where his journey would end. We know he is with his Father now, but we shall miss him a great deal.

- Inkadinkadoo image, stamped in Momento Desert Sand. Didn't want a black outline as I intended to use yellow copics for the rose. There's just a touch of pink in areas close to the petal shadows. Added clear WoStella in places on the rose and the leaves (copic yellow green family). Background is BG0000.

- S/B Label 4 die cut;  faux mat cut by outlining the outer edge of Label 4. Shook down the WoS really well - outlined the blue mat and it looked very silvery- instead of  the usual glisten of the Clear WoS.   Dylusions blues sprayed on water color paper created the mat - this piece was intended for another project; decided I liked it here. S/B Tranquil Moments die cut the yellow design paper, which was snipped in the middle to fit around the edge of the blue mat. Lightly inked with DI Sage Green to compliment the green leaves. I see in the photo that I didn't get this placed evenly on each side, but drat it, didn't catch it at the time.

-  Sizzix die cut leaves from water color paper sprayed with green shades of Dylusions, and snipped apart to fit the placement I wanted. The paper had been heat embossed with a white rose design, then sprayed. Didn't like the result, but it worked nicely for the die cut leaves. Some of the embossing shows on a few leaves. WoS applied and some veining with a copic green multi-liner.

- Colorbox Watercolor theme pad (from Walmart - $5 for a 12x12 pad) used for the card front.  Embossed with a new Crop Stop EF - has doves and leaves. Card base is white.

- Sentiment stamped on the snipped out middle portion of the yellow S/B Tranquil Moments die cut, using a S/B label die. Blue mat behind the sentiment is from the blue water color paper.

- added some tiny pearls.

Hope that you have wonderful plans for this Saturday. Thanks for spending a few moments here with me. I appreciate each visit & comment that you care to leave, and am always happy to answer any questions you might have about any card that I post. Enjoy your day, and Big Hugs. Ya'll come back soon.

Sympathy in White

Good afternoon. Thanks for visiting today and a warm welcome to 2 new followers.

Sharon Gurnhill of Nellie's Handmade Cards

Aussie Annie of aNNie's Style. Actually Annie was already a follower on a lot of our blogs, but she had to close her old blog Memories to Keep due to  hacker issues. So she has started a new blog, and I encourage you to check out both these talented bloggers sites. Thanks for joining me ladies. 

[hmmm, I'm thinking there might be a little give-away here soon...not so big as blog candy, but just a tiny milestone appreciation. Ya never know.]

Sympathy cards are never easy to make. I saw this beautiful card by Maxine D,  and needed to make a pretty but fast card to get mailed. I'm also working on one for another neighbor who lost her husband last week. When I saw Maxine's card, I thought "That design would be nice in white with gold embossing", so here's my take on Maxine's lovely card. I didn't use the layers and embellishments that made Maxine's card such a stunner, but I like this one anyway.

S/B Floral Ovals embossed with Ranger's Queen's Gold using the same ODBD sentiment used by the inspiration card.

Card base embossed with a Crafts Concept corner folder - edged lightly with Delicata Gold.

Sentiment mounted with foam tape over gauze glitter ribbon.

The inside is also simple, using a sentiment from the same ODBD set, which is very nice to have for such occasions as this.

So thanks, Maxine, for inspiring me, when I needed a card that could get made & mailed rapidly, yet still be one that I thought turned out well.

Again, thanks for taking time to visit this afternoon. God Bless. Hugs too. Come again when you can.

Happiness Is Having Something Lovely in the Mail

Good evening. Before I get started with the reason for this post, let me welcome some lovely new followers.

(1) Karen Hasheck of Karen's Kreative Kards

 

(2)Maxine D of Kiwime's Kreations  

 

(3) Rachel Fisher of Fisher's Cards and Crafts  (actually I think Rachel has been a follower, and I must have missed seeing her join. Usually I see a new 'face' in the list, but sometimes if a blogger doesn't  have a picture associated with their blog, then the 'gray head' shows at the end of the pictures. If I've missed welcoming anyone, please leave me a comment so I can do so. I appreciate my followers and wouldn't want to leave out anyone. It's always lovely to be able to post a link to new friends (another Darnell idea!) and help each other build our blog following). Thanks for joining as new followers here.

 

I get so many ideas from all of you, and I've warned you: I'm a copier!

 

Today the Fed Ex truck stopped and DH said "NOW what have you ordered?". Of course I said "Nothing" - which was a little white lie {well, not really, cause nothing I've ordered is coming by Fed Ex :-) }

 

Signed for the package, wondering what it could be. Once in my hot little  hands, I could open the shipping slip and saw who - from where. This is what was in the package:

 

 

 

Isn't it just beautiful? It's made by temp-tations, safe for oven, dishwasher & microwave - my kind of dish! You wanna talk sniffling & sniveling? Well let me share a larger view of what's written on the inside.

 

 

 

Now this brought tears to my eyes. No - it's not from DD...but another DD, who has become my 2nd daughter, whom I've never met, but feel like she belongs to me. (I'm a lot older than she is, so she couldn't really be my sister! So I gotta be her other Mom, and proud to say so too.) We've gotten to know each other pret-tee well with lots of emails, and this Sweetie is very special to me.

 

This lovely surprise was from my dear sweet unofficially adopted daughter, Brenda of Friends Crafting with Friends.  So thank you, Dear Brenda, for thinking of me, with this beautiful dish. How did you know red happens to be my favorite color? It's so cheerful & bright and will look very pretty on the table or on the counter (Brenda is fantasizing that I will cook something...HA! But it's pretty & I like pretty things, even if I don't like to cook!) LOL!

 

I'm off now, got a card to schedule a post, a sympathy card to finish up & mail, plus some other commitments I need to get crackin' on. Ya'll have a wonderful evening, thanks for joining me, and Hugs to all. Come again when you can. 



 

A Hummingbird for Father's Day and a NBUS too.

Good evening, and thanks for joining me on my 2nd post for today. Normally I would have made DH a card with an old car, truck or something of that sort, but I found this delightful little Just Rite stamp that I've had for a while, and never used it so --- Hooray, it qualifies as an entry into Our Darnell's NBUS Challenge.  I have been fretting that I wouldn't get something made in time to link in & play along with Darnell's wonderful challenge. For those who don't know the term NBUS, (check the Bloganition tab...but it means Never Before Used Schtuff  - also called Stuff!).

DH & I enjoy watching the hummers come to our feeder in summer, so I thought he'd enjoy this little bird. Now I didn't color it perzackly like those birds we see - and these little guys are ferocious at times, chasing other hummers away from 'their' food supply. He did like the theme, so here's the card:

 

 

- Just Rite Backyard Birds set (JR 09230),(NBUS) and I don't know how old this set is. Stamped with Tuxedo Black onto Xpress snippet, die cut with a pierced circle die. Colored with copics. Had to use a .03 copic multiliner to fill in on the sentiment as some of it did not stamp as well as I'd have liked. This stamp & border fits onto the JRite wooden circle holder, and I wasn't applying enough pressure to get the print stamped nicely. I knew I could fix it, so I didn't restamp it.

 

- After coloring, diluted some Liquid Pearls Opal with water, brushed over the hummer and the flowers, for a lovely glimmer.

 

- sponged DI Spun Sugar and then Milled Lavendar with the image in the die.

 

- background created with Dylusions sprays: Cherry Pie, Turquoise and Funky Fuschia. Cherry Pie & Turquoise were diluted with White Linen, Fuschia with water only. This was sprayed over a Damask design stencil. Dried with a heat gun, then sprayed Tattered Angels Crimson Current (another NBUS) and some Irisdescent Gold.

 

- Leftover (ie snippet) S/B Scalloped Borders two that had been created with dylusions sprays and some over stamping for an earlier card. I liked it as a border with the purple-pinks of the background.

 

- sentiment is a Lil Inker die, from another snippet. Had tried using the SU doily stamping on black, embossing with a colored powder, didn't like the look. Needed something with a nice contrast on the background, so die cut the Lil Inker from this snippet. It looks like crocodile print when you can see only part of the snippet! Just goes to show, those boo-boo's will eventually get used.

 

DH was happy with his card, so that is what matters. We're going out to dinner (his choice of venue) with my #2 brother & SIL. So after doing some linking, I'm off to get changed. Thanks for joining me once again. Ya'll come back when ya can. Hugs

 

Submitted to: Darnell's NBUS Challenge

and Pixie's Crafty Workshop Challenge, Week 129

 

Carolling Penguins

Good afternoon and Happy Father's Day to those readers for whom this would be appropriate. Thanks so much for visiting this afternoon. Our Christmas Challenge theme of penguins was chosen by Carol  and here's my challenge entry:

- PBlack Slapstick image (40-034-Carolling Penguins), stamped on Xpress paper with Memento Tuxedo Black, colored with Copics. Used some Opal Liquid Pearls diluted with water to paint the white areas of the penquins which gives a nice glimmer IRL. Sparkle n Sprinkle Cloud Nine Velvet Glitter was added to the fur and pompoms on the hats to give some texture.

- Sakura Silver Star dotted around on the snowflakes in the background, and added some sparkly Stickles around the area under the feet. Also added a bit more of the Cloud Nine for a little snow effect.

- die cut image with S/B Majestic Label 25. Faux cut a black mat using the outer edge of the same die.

- Dylusions background created with Calypso Teal diluted with White Linen and the same color diluted with just water. Added in some of the new Slate Gray, which was diluted with white, and this made some nice snowy blobs of color. Sprayed just a bit of Tattered Angels gold that has an iridescent look. After drying, embossed with the Kars snowflake EF.

- MBox Snowflake border die cut using some 6x6 DCWV glitter paper. This has a sort of 'plastic' backing, but is more lightweight than a lot of the glitter papers. However, even though the metal shim was used, several rolls through the Big Shot took place, I still had to fiddle about with scissors to get a nice cut. This die cuts nicely, but this paper was probably not the best choice for such an intricate die. Selectively cut the border to place bits of it where I thought it looked nice, and added the tiny punch out stars from the die around on the card front.

Please do check out the other members of the Christmas Club group to see what beauties they submitted this week. You can find the members listed on the sidebar.

Back later with a Father's Day card. Have a wonderful afternoon, God Bless. Hugs

Butterflies are free...

Good morning and welcome. I'd like to say hello & thanks to some new followers, so will do that first:

Margaret A of Granmargaret's cards-n-stuff

KT of KT's Designs

Danielle V of D's Crafty Connection

Thank you so much for joining as followers and checking out what goes on here.

I'd also like to send big Congratulations to Our Darnell who has a fantastic new NBUS Challenge going on until June 27, to celebrate reaching 500 followers on her blog. (I'm not at all surprised. You won't be either if you get to know Darnell...not only a talented lady, but so funny with words and a kind & generous crafting friend too). So if you have time, check out Darnell's NBUS Challenge (you do know what NBUS means, right? Never Before Used Stuff...and we all have 'em). Also do yourself a big favor and check out the new followers' blogs listed above. You're in for a treat.

Today's card has been done for a while, but due to current Life circumstances around my house, it just didn't get photo'd and posted. Inspiration for this effort  was this beautiful card by my blog friend, Lynn. Saw Lynn's nifty card & read about the Tsukineko irRESISTible Pico Embellishers. Had to order some. Found some previously stamped butterflies; colored them with copics, and experimented with the new product. I have a learning curve using these, but think I'm going to like them. Here's the card :

- may have been a Hero Arts image borrowed from a stamp buddy (found in my pre-stamped stash that goes along when we travel). Colored with copics, outlining with Sakura silver star - which shows better on the top butterfly. Black Pico Embellisher was used on spots and body. IRL it has a raised shiny effect, similar to Glossy Accents. I used a straight up technique to apply the product, and think it would be better controlled to use at a slant. There is a tiny pin tip that is unscrewed when using, that keeps the product from clogging. I think I'll like this stuff a lot, once I feel comfortable using it. There are colors to match all the Memento ink pad colors (I think), as well as metallic colors too.

- antennae made with bronze wire

- dp wood grain snippet (CASEing Lynn's card)

- background created with DI Wild Honey, Barn red, ?Chipped Sapphire and Broken China? Spritzed with water, dried & then spritzed with Tattered Angels gold. Stamped with the SU Swallowtail butterfly, but that can only be seen down in the lower left corner.

- embossed with Craft Concepts Thoughtful Collection Achebe EF.

- MB Thanks die - cut from the same background paper. This die cuts individual letters, and my first layer didn't adhere well. Cut a 2nd layer - so the letters are raised a bit, which I liked.

- MS tiny butterflies (snippets) from a bit of Dylusions sprayed scrap paper. Hides a couple of glue smudgies from the first attempt to layer the Thanks letters evenly.

It's been a while since I visited Pixie's Playground, and I see that the Snippets Playground Week 128 is still open. I have a tiny dp snippet  and if I stretch a bit, the butterfly images could be considered snippets too (?). So I'm dashing over to play with my buddies that I've been missing. Won't you come along & join in the fun? Always some fun prizes and lots of inspiration from some terrific folks.

In the meantime, thanks for visiting today. I'm trying to do better with posting & visiting, but still not a lot of energy. Yesterday we spent at the hospital where DH had a heart catherization, so it was an all day affair. Thankfully no stents had to be done, so we were both happy to get that ordeal over with. He just has to take it easy for the next 48 or so hours, drink lots of water to flush out the dye so that it doesn't cause kidney damage.

Have a great day, and thanks again for all the emails I've had from you lovely folks. I've enjoyed each one, and felt so blessed to have such sweet blog friends.

Hugs! God Bless.

DeeDee's June Digi of the Month

Good morning, and welcome.

Big news to share...I am thrilled to announce I was accepted as a new Design Team member over at DeeDee's Digi Designs.  I follow several bloggers who are wonderful designers for DeeDee's designs, so that is how I found her work. Last year I needed a cooking theme stamp for a project, and found the perfect image (on this card). The lovely part was that I had the option to use pre-colored designs or line drawings which I could color myself. I chose to use the pre-colored (which made a fast card!). There's a wide range of design themes and the prices are extremely reasonable too. (we all like that!). So needless to say, I was over the moon at being asked to be part of the very talented  bloggers who make up the Design Team.

It's time for a new "Digi of the Month" challenge at Deedee's Digis! The featured set for June Challenge at DeeDee's is Life's a Beach,  and is totally adorable. . You can purchase this month's featured set for just $1.25, or you can get it for FREE with any $10 purchase of Deedee's Digis products from the shop. (NOTE: To receive this set for free with your qualifying order, you must enter this code, minus quotes, in the comment area of the checkout form: "DDOM-10.") Create and share any wholesome project made with this set by the challenge deadline, and Deedee will email you next month's featured set for free. Keep playing, and keep collecting freebies -- it's as easy as that!

I had selected another digi set that just really made me smile (Bigelow's Bounty). Of course it has the precolored images, line drawings, sentiments and even some designer paper. Here's the card that resulted, and explanations are below the picture.

 

 

- precolored DeeDee's Bigelow Bunny was printed 2 times. One fussy cut - one die cut with a S/B label die.

 

- background was made using some 'fabric paper' that wrapped our new laptop. Started to toss the paper and thought 'hmm, what if I used some Dylusions spray on it? Would make great texture'. So I tried, spraying the paper several times, letting it dry, spraying again, dripping some spray ink in spots on the green. (This paper is not tearable, was a bit difficult to cut with a trimmer and sort of sawed when I cut the grass edge. It did create some fab texture however, and the Dylusions did give a nice effect. Not sure if it shows well in the photo, but IRL looks nice). You know I like to experiment when I'm in the mood...LOL.

 

Colored the die cut  background to blend in with the textured background.

 

Die cut MB Arboscello Tree in 2 layers - using a snippet of brown stripe dp for the entire tree, with a second layer of green dp only at the top foliage. Used copics to add some color on both cuts. Green foliage glued behind the brown tree, offset just a tad (again this effect looks better IRL than in the photo). Adhered the tree over the die cut bunny image. Placed the fussy cut Bigelow over the top of the tree (so the tree would be behind him). A bonus of this was that I didn't have to try to fussy cut the carrot tops...you can see these showing on the bottom image.

 

- MB Garden Tools were die cut from a snippet of Dylusions sprayed paper that was handy.

 

- IO DIE068-A clouds were die cut from cloud pattered dp.

 

- Bigelow digi set sentiment was printed out and die cut with a Little Inker stitched banner die, and an old button from my stash was added, with a bit of twine tied.

 

This was a fun card to make, (easy too, with the cute digi), and I hope you like it. Do check out the June Challenge over at DeeDee's.  And see what some of the awesome DT members have created for your enjoyment.

 

Thanks for visiting today, and also many thanks for the wonderful emails while I've been puny. Hugs.

Christmas Card Club Nativity Challenge

Good evening, and welcome. The challenge over at the Christmas Card Club for this 2 week period is a Nativity theme, chosen by our sweet Sue J. I have been very MIA lately, and finished today's card this afternoon. Then had to try to photo it, and of course that was a harder task than making the card itself. So here goes:

 

 

- Onyx Star Dream shimmer paper die cut with the S/B A2 Tranquil Moments die. Even though this is quite an intricate die, it cut quite well, I'm pleased to say.  Used a gold gel pen to outline around the die's center stitching lines.

 

- Older wooden mount nativity stamp inked with Versamark Champagne, then embossed with Ranger's Queen's Gold. 

- Britannia Silent Night die was cut from a white c/s snippet; smooshed in Versamark, then Queen's Gold to heat emboss. Had tried using a Wink of Luna gold metallic pen at first, which yielded a very nice result. After looking at the Queen's Gold emboss color and WoL gold, I decided I didn't like the different 'gold tones', so went back to cut another sentiment. Glued over the top of the WoL effort, and was pleased with the raised effect. Also liked the Queen's Gold effort better.

- white pearls colored with the WoL gold in the corners.

- gold mirror paper embossed with an Elizabeth Craft EF & placed under the S/B die cut. The center part of this layer was removed with an oval die - reserved for another use.

- black card base.

Hope you will check out the other Christmas Club members' cards for this challenge. Their links are over in the sidebar.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening, thanks for joining me, and I'm hoping I can be more active this coming week. My energy seems to be slow in returning, so I'm still resting quite a bit, although my physical symptoms from the allergy attack are thankfully pretty much over. Hugs!