One of seven sympathy cards...

This is just crazy.  Three of my friends had relatives who've passed away; and my dear MIL lost her youngest sister.  So that would have been four, but I feel that I also need to send one to her brother, sister and brother-in-law, since I know all of them.  I was able to give one of my past cards to my MIL, but I didn't have anything appropriate for the rest.  Having a mental block hasn't helped me much lately either.  On top of these cards, I have a couple of "get well" cards and some anniversary cards to finish.

I started looking through past stamped images and digis that I've already colored to see if I could save time there.  I found these swans that I really like. I colored them with my promarkers.  They are by Nicecrane Designs and can be found here.  I usually like to add a little more bling, on my cards, but since I'm going to be mailing this one, I didn't want it to be too bulky.  The papers are K&Co. and the stamp is by MS.  I used vellum to stamp on for the sentiment; a technique that one of my new friends, Natasha, has used on some of her cards.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

There She Goes Clear Stamps - sketch
Scrap-Creations - anything
 I Love Pro Markers - male & promarkers
Paper Pretties - male (sympathy card)
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - anything
Crafty Sentiments - animals
Paper Cutz Challenge - anything
Totally Papercrafts - buttons
Totally Gorjuss - buttons
Charisma Cardz Challenges - dies
CES Challenges - song - Swan Lake
Sugar Creek Hollow - anything
Gingerloft Challenge - anything
One Stitch at A Time Challenge - for the boys
The Crafty Pad - digi

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will leave a comment.

Faith - Last but not least.

Well, finally this is the fourth of the Sugar Nellie images that I purchased a while back.  Her name is Faith and I thought that she was gorgeous.  I know a few have made comments that they find the little girls somewhat melancholy, but I find that makes them more intriguing.  I used papers from DCWV and some from my stash.  I thought I was being really cool reversing the colors on the matting behind Faith.  But it took me forever to get the angle just right to cut the mat out correctly.  Then I realized that I had made the mat so that only an eighth of it even showed.  LOL. I've used my Prismacolor pencils to color her and I used various other items from my stash.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

I Did It - sketch
Paper Playtime - digi and anything
 The Corrosive Challenge Blog - green
One Stitch a a Time Challenge - charm
Craft Your Passions - anything
The Crazy Challenge - lovely ladies
Bunny Zoe's Craft - spring
Kaboodle Doodles Challenge Blog - green
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday  - stitching
Tuesday Throwdown - scraps
Flutterby Wednesday's - butterfly
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - anything
Desert Island Crafts Challenge - #1, #4, #5
Do You Stack Up - layers
Delightful Changes - butterflies
Meljens Design Team - green
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - yellow & green
Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - get well or thinking of you
Scrap Creations - anything
Little Claire's Designs - flowers
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - flowers
Aly's Sunday Challenge - anything
Ginerloft Challenge - flowers

Thank you for stopping in and leaving a comment for me.

Hugs,

 '

Angela's Candy - Three of Them

Wow, Angela, over at Angelwood's Crafting Corner is offering not one, not two, but three candy give-aways.  You need to become a follower on her blog, her daughter's and her "Magnolia" blog.  To see the complete rules you can stop over here.  Winners will be announced on April 18th.

I'm not going to tell but two of you I hope you win, because I'd like to be one of the three.  LOL!
Hugs,

Friends forever...

Hello, I hope you've had a great day.  I don't know where the time goes.  I  can't believe that it's the last day of February already.  It also looks like March is coming in like a lion here in NC.  My daffodils and forsythia are already blooming.  I'm ready for spring, just not quite so warm yet (it was 80 here today).

The images in this card came from two different sources.  The little girls are by Mo Manning; aren't they adorable?  The swing, which looks like it was made for them is by Make It Crafty.  I got this when I donated to the "Help for Katie" benefit that was going on.  I've since gone back to their store and purchased four more background scenes.  Woo Hoo!  I tried to merge the two images in Photoshop Elements, however I couldn't understand how to get both  images on their own page.  So I did it the old fashioned way and cut the girls out, then I pop-dotted them.  I used Dorcas' tutorial  found here for coloring the sky.  (Obviously I need a bit of practice. LOL)

Close up of girls.  Two reasons I really love to work with digis; the first is that you can size them any size that you need (this one I needed to make them really small), and the second is that they can be flipped.  I felt that they would work better flipped, since the one little girl fit better on the right because of the slant of the swing.

This is how I decorated the inside of the card.  The base for the card is double-sided card stock; one solid green and the other with the grids as seen below.  I used one of MS's new punch sets on the polka dot paper.  I then added the blue and white.

Supplies used:
Images: Mo's Digital Stamps, Make it Crafty
Papers: DCWV and miscellaneous
Colored with Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol
Sentiment by: Meljen
Ribbon: Michaels; Lace: Joann
Flower: hand made
Button: stash
Punch: MS

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Forgotten Scraps - flowers and spring
Digital Tuesday Challenge - punches
Top Tip Tuesday - bling (glitter on green card)
Party Time Tuesdays - anything
Creative Cottage Challenge - flowers
Paper Pretties - glitter
Mo's Digital Challenge - handmade flower
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - dots and spots
Do You Stack Up - anything
Crafty Sentiments - spring
 Little Claire's Designs - anything
A Gem of a Challenge - buttons, bow
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days Challenge - distress
Crafty Catz Week Challenge - friends
Stamp Something - flowers
Pattie's Creations Challenge - make own embellishment - flower
Tellen's Place - buttons
One Stop Craft Challenge - flowers
Sugar Creek Hollow - inside & outside of card
Sentimental Sundays - anything & sentiment
Corrosive Challenges - distressing
I Did It Challenge - punches or dies
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - flowers
Lexi's Creations - flowers
The Pink Elephant Challenge - buttons, lace & ribbon
Stamps R Us Challenges - for the girls
Woodware USA Clear Stamps - anything
Craft Your Passion Challenges - girly girls
Prairie Fairie Fridays - inspired by a song - You've Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman

I hope you enjoyed looking at my card, and will leave a comment.

Hugs,

Do Central American Tree-Frogs speak in Spanish or what?

Well, I guess if frogs could talk, we'd know, right?  LOL.  This beautiful creature is done by Deborah Boyet of Blackberry Lane Designs.  I am so happy to be on her DT and have the ability to color her images.  I like cute cards, but I quite like still life, also.  I never knew that there were so many types of tree frogs; until I did research to color this one.  This is a red-eyed tree frog from Central America.

I had the hardest time getting the exact color I wanted, but finally I've gotten it to the point that  I don't mind saying I colored it.  I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol.   I'm entering this in a few challenges that are looking for spring inspired cards.  I do have a little floral background paper, and I hope the other bright colors will look a little springish.

Supplies used:

Image -  by Blackberry Lane Designs
Papers - From stash; some Bazzil, DCWV, and not sure about others
Punch: - MS
Frames - Nestibilities
Flower - Handmade by me

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

The Sweet Stop - sketch & spring
Allsorts Challenge - nature
CES Challenges - spots & stripes
I Did It Creations - anything
Incy Wincy Designs - punches
One Stitch at a Time - anything but square
Kaboodle Doodles - something new (my digi)
Simon Says Stamp and Show - stripes
Digital Tuesday Challenge - punch
Alota Rubber Stamps - nestibilities
Party Time Tuesdays - anything
Sweet Stamps Blog - flowers
Sketchs in Thyme - sketch
Forgottenscraps - spring/flowers
Crafty Creations - lives in the garden (It didn't say where the garden has to be, did it? LOL.
Creative Cottage - flowers
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - dots & spots
Do You Stack UP - anything
Delightful Challenges - use scraps
Crafty Sentiments - spring
Create With Connie and Mary - picture inspiration
Little Claires Designs - anything
Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps - punches

Well, I hope you enjoyed stopping in and that you will leave a comment.

Hugs,

If The Shoe Fits ...

I never thought I would make a card with just a shoe. I'm just not a "shoe" person. (Please don't quit following me. - LOL)  However, one of my daughter's best friends commissioned one for her sister.  I was asked to use black and hot pink, diamond shapes, bling and a heel.  My DH took me shopping in a little larger town than we live in. (We only have Michaels.)  So, I was able to take advantage of Joann's 50% sale on the paper.  Another deal was using a 50% coupon at A.C. Moore for my latest Nestibility.  I felt the two "hot pink" papers in front of the lattice blended in with the black a little too much, so I used a white gel pen to "stitch" around the edges.  The image is one of several that you get when you make a donation to "Help Katie", a young wife, and mother of three boys; whose story can be read on Jak's blog.

Here's a close-up of the shoe, which I colored with my Prismacolor pencils.  This is the pattern that the shoe comes with, not paper piecing.  While I appreciate the compliment, I want Jak Heath to get credit for the flowers and leaves. I did color the large roses, but then got the idea of adding the little roses.  (Is it too much?)

This is the inside of the card, using one of MS's latest punch-around-the-page sets.

And this obviously is the back of the card.

Items used or inspired by:
Image - Jak Heath, found here
Paper - DCWV, Black Currant
Die Cuts - Nestibilities & Cricut
Punch - MS
Colored with - Prismacolor pencils & Gamsol
Embellishments - Recollections

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Digital Tuesday Challenge - digi & a die cut

Flourishes - 3 design papers

Papertake Weekly - bling, glitter, gems

Top Tip Tuesday - sewing

Creative Card Crew - friendship

Dutch Dare Card Challenges - glitz

Cute Card Thursday - shiny, happy card

Digi Doodle Shop's Best - anything

Do You Stack Up - dots

Delicious Doodles Challenges - bling

Stamp Something - something funky

Totally Papercrafts - digi

Sketch Saturday - sketch

The Crafty Pad - red, pink & black

I Did It Creations Challenge - anything

House of Gillie - recipe

Little Claires Designs - anything

Wags N' Whiskers - punches

Alota Rubber Stamps - nestibilities

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will leave me a message. 

Hugs,

dj1952 (Debra)

Wee Stamps - How Cute...

There's a new digital stamp site that you may want to stop by and check out, called  Wee Stamps.  This little cutie-pie
is free for a short period of time.  Stop by Sylvia's Blog
to see the details.

Monster love...

That pretty much sums up how much as grandparents, we love our grandchildren. (Not that we don't love our children the same.)  Our little 2-1/2 year old grandson, Noah, has been a little under the weather for several days now, and even had the flu, so I just had to do a card for him (of course, I don't really want him to play with it and tear it up, [lol] but for mom to save it for a future scrapbooking page or something. (Am I being vain?)  I thought these were the cutest little monsters, and I didn't want to do just one, so I thought this was a little different way to use more than one.

I thought these were the cutest little monsters, and I didn't want to do just one, so I thought this was a little different way to use more than one. You can see from this card the way I usually finish the inside of my cards, except I don't usually use an image.  I either use a printed sentiment or a blank piece of white/ivory paper for someone to put their own note in this place.  I find that this helps to balance the weight of the front of the card, so it's not so flimsy.

And obviously this is the back.  Where you see the "Need a hug" I usually put a Bible Scripture, a sentiment, a little stamp or something else I may have found that would look nice there.

Recipe:

Papers - from my stash, which means I can't remember (LOL), dots & circles paper is from The Paper Studio

Frames - Nestibilities

Punch - MS (Loops Heart)

Distressed paper with - Cuttlebug

Button - Digital button by Roma Penner of scrapadolic.com

Colored with Promarkers (Can you believe I finally got back to trying them out?)

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Simply Create Challenges - hearts

Phindy's Place Challenge - embossing

Sew Many Challenges - anything

Stamp Something - digi

Totally Gorjuss - sketch

Catch The Bug - anything

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - dots and stripes

The Crafty Pad - love

Creative Inspirations - hearts

One Stitch At A Time - digi

Paper Sundaes - 2 images

Incy Wincy Designs - love

Paper Playtime - hearts

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - love

Craft Your Passion - anything

Crazy Challenge - love
Top Tip Tuesday - frame
Tuesday Throwdown - buttons
A Spoonfull Of Sugar Challenge - love
Flourishes - buttons
Papertake Weekly - hearts
Creative Card Crew - for a loved one
Dutch Dare Card Challenges - love
Forgotten Scraps  - anything
Ooh La La Creations - for someone special

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will leave me a comment.

Hugs,

Friends are flowers...

in the garden of life. I really do believe that friends brighten up our lives. Without friends who would we have to encourage us and share our problems with? (Of course, our family's help, but sometimes we're too close and they don't always really understand that we may just need to get things out, and then we'll be ok.) I have a host of friends. Many live far away now, and we only talk by emailing, or the occasional phone call, but they are still dear friends; sometimes closer than some of our family members. And then we make new friends by sharing our creativity on the internet. This is the type of card I would send a dear friend. Of course I like to send funny ones, too. It would depend upon the circumstances.
This beautiful little girl is the third of four adorable images by Sugar Nellie that I've purchased. Here name is Grace and she is adorable. At this time I'm focusing in on the head shots. Later I will do the full figures. I can imagine that she's just about to fall asleep, and has wound down. Or maybe she's just gotten dressed to go out (since her bows and hair still look so neat). LOL. I've colored each of the girls with different color hair using my Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. My next one has black hair. I love how realistic these images are, and I especially love that thier eyes can be colored.

Purple and red are my favorite colors. But I like the really intense shades, especially of red. I believe the papers are DCWV, but I've had them so long, I'm not really sure; they're from my stash. (I could probably make many cards without having to use anything new; other than the base.) The ribbon and flowers are from Michaels. The gems are by Recollections and the butterflies are a MS punch. The sentiment and the frame are by Whimsy Stamps, that I won. Yeah! I stretched the frame out and made it shorter to fit the sentiment.

This is the inside of the card. I like how this shot shows the sparkle in the white stripes.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Craft Your Days Away - love

Totally Gorjuss - as you like it

CES Challenges - bold & bright

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays - punches

Gingerloft Challenge - things that fly

Simon Says Stamp & Show - love

Paper Playtime - anything

Crafty Cardmakers - flowers

Papertake Weekly Challenge - anything

Scrap-Creations - friendship

Top Tip Tuesday - girly

Tuesday Throwdown - stitching

Try It On Tuesday - love - sponsored by: One Stop Card Crafts Store

The Sugar Bowl - sketch

Paper Play Challenges - stamp it out

Thanks again for stopping by and looking at my card. I always appreciate comments.

Hugs,

Sometimes you just need a hug...

I thought I'd do a little cheerful card, with this cute image from Doodle Pantry. I believe it was a freebie several months ago. Anyways, I colored them a while back and they've been calling to me to put them on a card. LOL.

This was a very easy card to pull together. I used paper from my stash, the small flowers are by Recollections, the ribbon is from Bunny Zoe's. The larger flower is one I made out of tissue paper, unfortunately you can't see the glitter on any of them. The charm is from Michaels and the sentiments inside and outside are ones that I typed up myself. And of course the punch is by MS.

This is the inside of my card.
I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Moving Along With The Times - spring

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - flowers

Delicious Doodles Challenge - spots or stripes

Craft Your Days Away - love

Totally Gorjuss - anything

CES Challenges - bold & bright

Crafty Cardmakers - flowers

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - punches

Paper Playtime - anything w/digi

Stamp Fairy Challenge - homemade flowers

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that you will leave some comments.

Hugs,