Music is a Gift

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late for a very important date!" No I'm not in wonderland but you might think I  fell down a rabbit hole.  I really started this post yesterday...See: It's May 15th and time for another duel with the Dueling Darling Divas and Dazzlers.  This month Paola for the Dazzlers and me for the Divas chose the theme "Music is a Gift" and sent off card kits to our team members.  Looking back through the past months it’s hard to believe we’ve never used music as a theme before now.  Well, how serendipitous for Paola and me as we both had elements that reflected this theme within our stamping materials.  Here are the items that I put in the kit for my team: 

Stamped  images:

  Sparkle Creations, “Ukulele Josh”

  Bild malarna stamps, “Mimosa Violin”

  Verve, “Beautiful You”

  “Musical Notes”

Designer Papers:

  Imaginisce, Live Loud “Garage Band” (double side with musical instruments/grey & blue diagonal plaid)

  Stampin’ Up, “Rockabilly” (chartreuse with white crowns)

  Crate Paper, Paper Pad (light blue herringbone pattern)

  Me & my Big ideas, “Harvest” (orange check foil)

  Recollections, “Black Music Notes”

  Embossed Panels: Darice “Sheet Music” embossing folder

Accessories:

  Recollections, musical notes brads; guitar brads; variety of buttons in black, blue, orange and green; musical sheet music washi tape; zebra pattern mini clothes pins; Paper Studio, musical notes and words stickers; chartreuse adhesive rhinestones; Ribbons:  orange satin – Offray; green texture – JoAnn Decorative Ribbon; blue with white dots – Dashes, Dots a& Checks; musical notes – Paper Studio; Black; black and white twine

 

And here's my creation:

I used the Bild Malarna Mimosa Violin image, colored her with Copic markers and cut her out and mounted her on a panel of the Crate Paper designer paper to which I had applied the music sheet washi tape in a diagonal pattern and then attached to a piece of the Me & my Big Ideas orange foil check paper.  I also used the Recollections "Black Music Notes" for the background and the Imaginisce "Garage Band" in another panel.  The Recollections music note brads and a button with twine accessorized the card.

 

 

 I used this sketch from Splitcoaststampers for my layout:


 

 

 

We asked our Dueling Darling to  participate in a little extra challenge:

If you could dedicate a special song to someone, what song would it be, to whom  would you dedicate it and why? 
When I wrote to my team I mentioned how special their friendship is to me and chose the theme song from the TV show "Friends", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbODnX0dVs  Kadie wrote back and suggested the theme song from "The Golden Girls" and I thought that was so perfect too:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P1r4YBPTNk  So I dedicate both these songs to the Dueling Darlings and all my Splitcoaststampers friends!! I LOVE YOU AND AM SO GRATEFUL FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP!

Enjoy!! 

Check out the Diva's creations here:
Kelly: http://www.sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/
Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/.
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/
Kadie: http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

And the Dazzlers here:
 Jeanette:  http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com
April:  http://aprilsallery.blogspot.com
Darlene:  http://accordingtobijou.blogspot.com
Debbie:  http://theinkigloo.blogspot.com
Melina:http://me-craftyscrapper.blogspot.com
Paola:  http://paola-sama.blogspot.com
Terry:  http://itstotallyterry.blogspot.com
 

Girl's Day Out with the Divas!

It's April 15th and time for another duel with the Dueling Darling Divas and Dazzlers.  We are two teams of gals who love to play with paper and assorted tools to make beautiful cards and other paper crafts.  Each month one member of each team plans a theme and creates a card kit for each of their team members.  Then on the 15th of the month we post our creations on our blogs and have a friendly "duel".  This month our hosts our Kadie for the Divas (my team!) and April for the Dazzlers.  Kadie's theme for the Diva's is
"Girl's Day Out" and the Dazzler's April chose "Girl's Night Out"....How fun!  Here's what Kadie included in her scrumptious kit:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things - A la mode "Polished to Perfection"
Papers: Crate Paper - "Oh Darling" and Bo Bonny - "Double Dot"
Embellishments:
 Prima Flowers
 Crate paper, Oh Darling bowtie clothes pin
 My Mind's Eye, Now and Then brad
Eva Creative pearls
Doodlebug sequins
Dear Lizzy (by American Crafts) wood button
May Arts twine
Creative Co-op burlap ribbon
Papertrey ink ribbons

And here's my card:

I colored my image with Copic markers and added the pearls for drips of polish on the bottle.  I kept it pretty simple using one of the Crate Paper designer papers for the background and panels of the Bo Bunny dsp that weer embellished with ribbon and a Prima flower.

In Kadie's words: "Who doesn't like to spend some much needed quality time with her Besties!?  In addition to making your card, we would love for you to also share who your longest friend(s) is and perhaps your favorite thing to do with that person."  Oh, my!  I have more than one long time friend.  The closest long time friend is Barbara and we've been friends since high school, more than 50 years ago.  I was her maid of honor when she was married and she honored me by naming her youngest daughter after me.  We've shared many high points in our lives as well as the lows, celebrating birthdays and marriages together, as well as, comforting and providing the needed shoulder during illnesses and deaths of loved ones.  Simply my favorite thing to do with Barb is just visiting, chatting and catching up on one another's lives.

Please check out the Diva's creations here:
Kelly: http://www.sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/
Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/.
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/
Kadie: http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

And the Dazzlers here:
 Jeanette:  http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com
April:  http://aprilsallery.blogspot.com
Darlene:  http://accordingtobijou.blogspot.com
Debbie:  http://theinkigloo.blogspot.com
Melina:http://me-craftyscrapper.blogspot.com
Paola:  http://paola-sama.blogspot.com
Terry:  http://itstotallyterry.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by and I love to read your comments!

Singing in the Rain!

Happy March 15th! It's dueling time with the Divas and the Dazzlers. On the 15th of every month these two teams display their cards made from kits created by their team leaders for the month.  This March the kits were provided by LJ for the Divas, my team, and Terry for the Dazzlers.  The theme they chose was "Umbrellas"!  Why umbrellas?  In LJ's words "One of the many signs of spring is rain and umbrellas, and as March is National Umbrella Month, we are going with an Umbrella theme this month."  I just had to take this theme one step further and use the title "Singing in the Rain" 'cause the theme brings to mind Gene Kelly dancing and singing in the rain with his umbrella. :-)

What a delightful kit of goodies LJ sent:
Stamps (image and sentiment): Unity Stamps
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love Collections (Including journaling type cards)
Accessories: Buttons (mostly PTI and Basic Gre7y), Ribbon (SU!, American Crafts, Offray), vanilla brads (SU!), Hodgepodge clips and ribbon holder (SU), mulberry paper flowers (Prima), and 7 Gypsies Manila  Folder.

Here's my card:

I chose to use the Manila Folder for the base of  my card and layered the front with a panel of the cloud and wind  Cosmo Cricket paper mounted on a panel of black cardstock.  I snipped the words from the DSP label and attached it to the tab.  I colored that cute umbrella image with Copic markers, die cut with oval Nestability,  sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink antique linen and mounted on a scalloped  oval Nestability die cut that had each scallop punched with a small hole punch. I place the chrome brad from the kit in the center of the umbrella and embellished the spokes with a silver metallic pen. The sentiment was die cut with an oval Nestability, sponged with the same ink as the image panel and mounted on a black scalloped oval die cut. I used the clip from the kit to attached it to the card.    I threaded the orange ribbon through the medal buckle and attached to the card.

Thanks for stopping by!  What do you think of my first Manila Folder card?

Please visit the rest of the Dueling Darlings starting with team Divas here:
Kelly: http://www.sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/
Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/.
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/
Kadie: http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

And the Dazzlers here:
 Jeanette:  http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com
April:  http://aprilsallery.blogspot.com
Darlene:  http://accordingtobijou.blogspot.com
Debbie:  http://theinkigloo.blogspot.com
Melina:http://me-craftyscrapper.blogspot.com
Paola:  http://paola-sama.blogspot.com
Terry:  http://itstotallyterry.blogspot.com
















    
    

Dueling Darlings Are Feeling The Love!

I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!  These cards were suppose to be posted here on my blog 3 days ago for the February duel with team Divas (my team) and team Dazzlers.  Barb, a Diva, and Debbie, a Dazzler, choice the theme "Feel the Love!" which is very appropriate as the scheduled duel fell one day after Valentine's Day.

Barb sent the Diva's this fabulous kit full of so many goodies listed here:
Crate Paper Patterned Paper
  Fourteen:
         Crush-Banners and Stripes
         Darling-Hearts and Lace
         Cupid-Chevrons and Diamonds
  Paper Hearts Collection
         Valentine-Large Hearts and Brown Background
          Cupid-Green stripes and Small Hearts
          Define-Words and Red Background
Authentique Patterned Paper - Lovely-Hearts

Fourteen different strips of gorgeous red and white ribbon and twine
Red and pink flowers
Red, pink and ivory buttons
Pearl brads, Red heart brad, Pink and Red round brads
Ivory pearls

And stamped images of my most favorite Bible Verse:Galations 5:22-23

There was so much to choose from I made two cards for two very special ladies:

This card features the Galations 5: 22/23 image which I die cut with a Spellbinders Labels Eleven.  I punched, die cut and layered 3 hearts with various cardstock. The base of the card is Stampin' Up  Cherry Cobbler

 

This card I used buttons and ribbon from the card kit.  The top panel was embossed with a Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder. The sentiment was stamped with Stampin' Up  'Trust God" stamp set, punched with SU oval punch. The embossed panel was mounted on the white cardstock base with dimensionals

 

 

There still is so much material left in Barb's kit I have enough to make several more cards.  Thank you, Barb! Thank you, Debbie for the wonderful stamped sentiment image!

 

We were asked to show our love to our wonderful team leaders: Kelly for the Divas and Jeanette for the Dazzlers.  I have had the great pleasure of these two women's friendship for the past 5 years as we participated in several swaps together and through Splitcoaststampers we've gotten through good time and tough times together.  Both these women create some of the most beautiful cards but what I really admire about both of them is how they so graciously represent their faith and love of  our Lord and Savior Jesus.  They are true and faithful witnesses to Him and show that love to everyone in how they care for their families and for their friends.   I thank God for the blessing of their friendship and have been so honored to be the recipient not only of their loving friendship but also their beautiful cards.  Thank you, Kelly and Jeanette, for inspiring me in so many ways! LOVE YOU!!

 

Worship at my church this month has centered around the theme of "Loving Relationsships".  Last Sunday our pastor intern Christy gave a meditation on one of the Bibical Greek  words "Pathos" that really touched my heart.  I felt it was so in line with DDD theme I wanted to share the link to an audio of her message:

 

http://orovalley.org/sermons-2/?sermon_id=225

Please check out the Diva's cards here:

Kelly: http://www.sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/

Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/.
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/
Kadie: http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

And the Dazzlers here:

Jeanette http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/

April: http://aprilsalley.blogspot.com/Darlene: http://accordingtobijou.blogspot.com/

Debbie: http://theinkigloo.blogspot.com/
Melina: http://me-craftyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Paola: http://paola-sama.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

Dueling Darling Angels!

Hi everyone! It's January 15th and time for another duel between the Dueling Darling Divas and Dazzlers.  Each month one Diva and one Dazzler come up with a theme and send each of their team members a kit to create a card around that theme.  This month Carol for the Diva's and Melina for the Dazzlers chose the theme "Angels"!  In Carol's words: "I like to think Angels among us.  Whenever, I thinkof angles I think of peace, tranquility, and beautiful scenery/flower gardens..."  In her delightful kit were the following:
  Designer Paper:
     Paper Pizzaz sponged blue and green
     Magnolia Summer Memories Forget-Me-Not Wallpaper
     Basic Grey Sweet Threads Fashionista
     K & Co. glittered flower from a paper pack
Six different ribbon/trim, flowers and a little adhesive rhinestones and a string of pearls.

Here are the two cards I made:

Front

 

 Inside

 

 Front

 

Front with a peak inside

 

I used the same cute angel image and layout on both cards.  The only thing different is the color scheme in paper, ribbons and flowers.  I used cardstock for the base and panels from my own supplies, as well as, the blue and pink flowers.  The image and the image panels were cut with Spellbinders dies.  I stamped the sentiment inside both cards with Stampabilities "May Your Birthday Be Filled..." stamp.

 

Carol asked us to share "an angel experience--guardian angel story...or anything of that nature...".  Although I can't think of a specific story regarding angels regarding me personally I do share with Carol the belief they do exist and our working for our benefit even when we don't recognize them. 

 

These two cards are going to some friends today as we celebrate our January birthdays.

 

Please check out the Diva's cards here:

Kelly: http://www.sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/

Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/.
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/
Kadie: http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

And the Dazzlers here:

Jeanette http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/

April: http://aprilsalley.blogspot.com/Darlene: http://accordingtobijou.blogspot.com/

Debbie: http://theinkigloo.blogspot.com/
Melina: http://me-craftyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Paola: http://paola-sama.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

New Year, New Cards

I really meant to get my first card made in 2014 uploaded to this blog on January 1.  Well, I did get the card made.  It was for a friend's 80th birthday on January 1st.  I got it made just in time to head over to the big celebration.

I'm joining a group of card makers on Splitcoaststampers (SCS) doing a 100 cards in 100 days.  Part of the challenge is to use stamps, paper, and other tools and supplies we already have to create these cards.  Here is my first card:

I CASEd this card from a design I saw on Susan's Simple Stampin' blog here:  http://www.simplestampin.com/simplestampin/2013/12/im-backand-i-missed-you.html

As I didn't have a Happy New Year stamp I cheated by creating the Happy New Year and Happy Birthday background with some card making software I have.  The 80 candles were stamped with a very, very old stamp and mounted on the background paper with dimensionals.  I kept it very simple with red cardstock panel mounted on a blue cardstock base.

The next card is another birthday card I did today for my sister whose birthday is tomorrow.  Not sure she's going to get it in time but I'm sure she'll like it.  The skater image is High Hopes "Ice Princess".  She's colored with Copic Markers to coordinate with the designer paper by Carta Bella called "Winter Fun". (This is a little leftover from last months Dueling Darling kit).  DSP was attached to a panel of SU Cranberry Crisp and on the card base of SU Taken with Teal, both retired.  The skater along with some punched snowflakes, silver sequins and gold sequin stars are inside the shaker card mounted on a background die cut from Recollection Christmas "Mercury Glass" paper.  I also glued a few sequins and pearls to the snowflakes in the dsp.

Here's the inside of the card with a snippet of Cranberry Crisp ribbon and sentiment byStampabilities "May Your Birthday Be Filled":

 

 

I'd love to hear what you think of my latest creations!

A Christmas Story: JOY!

It's the 15th of December and time for another duel with the Dueling Darling Divas and Dazzlers.  Our team leaders for this month, Kelly for the Divas and Jeanette for the Dazzlers, choice the theme A Christmas Story.  Each team leader set their team members a kit including stamped images, designer papers and lots of embellishments with the challenge to create a card celebrating the December theme.  

I'm part of team Diva and received this awesome, beautiful, colorful kit including the following supplies:
-Stamps: inky antics
-Paper: designer paper from Carta Bella's "Winter Fun" and Bazzill opulent glitter cardstock
-Embellishments: Martha Stewart pearls; Bead Landing cord rope; ribbons from Simplicity, Stampin' Up, Offray, American Crafts; Co'ordination tags and twine; K&Co. brads; glitter buttons "frost" by Favorite Findings; snowflakes "Snow Storm" by f f; dewdrops by Robins Nest, clear

Here's my interpretation:

Outside

 

I embossed the Bazzill opulent glitter cardstock with a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and attached this panel to SU kraft cardstock panel which was mounted on SU Cherry Cobbler cardstock base.  Kelly gave us two different images to use and chose to use the angel Gabriel image that I die cut with a circle Nestability, colored with Twinkling H20s, highlighted with stickles, and other glitter and then mounted on a Cherry Cobbler die cut circle.  I cut a 2 inch strip from one of the Carta Bella "Winter Fun" dsp, and layered it on Cherry Cobbler and Kraft cardstock panels.  I used 3 of the ribbons in the kit to create those vertical banners.  To finish the front of the card I used the blingy snowflakes fro the kit.  The layout was based on this sketch from " Freshly Made Sketches 116":

 



Here's the inside of the card:

 

   On the inside I added a panel of white cardstock topped with a strip of the dsp used on the front of the card. The sentiment included in the kit was cut with circle Nestability and mounted on Cherry Cobbler cardstock panel. 

 

Kelly asked us to share a Christmas memory.  I couldn't choose just one. Christmas has always been a special time for me and is an important part of my earliest memories.  First Christmas memories bring to mind time spent with my mother's family: mom and dad, sisters, grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins.  My mother was one of nine siblings so it was always a BIG gathering on Christmas eve.  When I was very young it was at my grandmother's home and in later years most often in my parents home.  I remember wonderful Christmas programs at our church and, in particular, one year with an outstanding youth minister who directed a group of young girls choir I was part of to sing a number of Christmas carols, each in a different language.  I met my husband when he was home for Christmas and by the next Christmas we were married and spending Christmas with his family in Hawaii and again with his family when our sons were seven and two.  Almost every year we made the 50 mile trip from our home south of Seattle to spend Christmas Eve with my family in my hometown of Everett and the following day we traveled another 60 miles to spend Christmas day with my husband's family in Bellingham.  I have wonderful memories of celebrating Christ's birth with my church family in Christmas Eve candlelight services.  Sweet, sweet memories!

 

I hope all your Christmas memories are sweet and filled with Hope, Love, Joy and Peace!!!!

 

Check out the rest of the Diva's creations here:

Kelly: http://www.sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/

Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/.
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/
Kadie: http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

And the Dazzlers here:

Jeanette http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/

April: http://aprilsalley.blogspot.com/Darlene: http://accordingtobijou.blogspot.com/

Debbie: http://theinkigloo.blogspot.com/
Melina: http://me-craftyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Paola: http://paola-sama.blogspot.com/