In my Private Garden

This 5 x 7 card was so much fun to make!  I am entering it into the Dutch Dare Card Challenge  called Open The Gate, using a  gate fold card.  I had a chance to use digi images from two of my favorite, and oh so talented artists!  I have elements from all over included in this one!  The darling Chareity Hare and Harey the Hare are from my friend Kristen at Kahwinkedink.  I think they are just so adorable, and they were my inspiration for this card.  The sweet Porch Swing set was made by Alison at Stretch N Bubbles at my request.  You can e mail her a request to make a digi stamp and she will create it for you.  The Shed Doors to my private garden were freebies from GTC's Crafty Corner, I did quite a bit of cutting and altering to get them to open in the center.  The background card stock came from a beautiful painting by Camille Pissarro that I found at Old Photo Album, a wonderful site that offers all sorts of Vintage Digital images.  I took the picture of the painting and loaded it on to Picnik and I applied a fun finish called HDR-ish, which made it look more in line with my digi images, and less like the vintage painting it is.  As I said, this was so much fun to make!  A big thanks to all of the sites that made these items available to me.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane   

Diannie and Andy

 

How cute is this image!  Kristen at KardsandKlay drew this image and named it Diannie and Andy for me!  I just love it.  This is her FREE image this week and she is using it for her Kahwinkedink Challenge.  All you have to do is make something with this image, so go over and snag it for yourself.  I am also going to enter this card in a few more challenges.   The Order of the Opus Gluei is a fun new challenge site looking for ruffles and flourishes. Thank you Rosemary, I scraplifted your ruffled embellishment idea (yours looks better).  Speaking of scraplifting, I got the idea for the Faux Metal Tin Cieling (Stamping with Di) from a tutorial at Papercraft Planet.  I didn't have the right stuff to make it like hers, so mine only looks similar.  Practical Scrappers challenge is for anything stamped, digi, ink, whatever.  They are featuring a new product called Stampee Foil, you will have to check it out, it's really cool!  Saturday Spotlight's challenge is messy or distressed, I hope my tin roof qualifies as distressed.  

I used Diannie and Andy free digi image, silver cs with the Cuttlebug A2  Mandarin Screen embossing folder, then I rubbed the Stazon black ink on it to give it the distressed faux tin look.  Black cs, Stampin Up Patterns pack Designer Series Paper 111, Spellbinders Petite Ovals and I don't have the mfg on the Flourishes stamp.  Flowers and lace are JoAnns, card is 5 x 7.    Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Asian Influence

I made this card for the Order of the Opus Gluei challenge to make something Asian.  I used Core'dinations card stock, along with black, metallic gold and red.  I did the border with the Stampin Up Sale-a-brate scallop trim border  punch.  I cut the lanterns on the Cricut with the Pagoda cartridge at a size 4.  I used the Cuttlebug 5x7 Emboss folder- Bamboo, lightly sanded and painted the leaves with my Niji Pearlescent Watercolor Set.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

A lot of sparkle in my day

What's Glittery, Bright, and full of Bling? 

Look at these beautiful Copic atyou Spica markers I received in the mail today! This 12 piece set came to me courtesy of Colleen at Distinctive Touches.   These were part of a promotion to introduce their newest Copic Regional instructor Jennie Blac.  Colleen, who is a Certified Regional Instructor for Copic markers is a very talented lady with a beautiful blog.  She has a lot of information about Copics that she shares on her blog.  Colleen also teaches in an online classroom called My Creative Classroom.  It is an online arts and crafts learning center.  Their interactive and in-depth courses are instructor led and filled with wonderful projects and techniques to help you get the most out of your supplies.  This spring My Creative Classroom will be offering over 70 courses, including 35 brand new courses.  From the Cricut to Copics to mixed media to rubber stamping to scrapbooking, they have something for everyone.  Thank you Colleen for the Copic atyou Spica markers, I will put them to good use.  Do yourself a favor and stop by Colleens blog and her classroom.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

WHEN CREATIVITY KNOCKS GREAT CRAFTERS TOOL HUNT 2, WHOSE TOOL WILL RULE?

Ana hunted high and low at this year's CHA Winter Show to bring you some of the latest and greatest crafting tools. Ana & Megan visited thirteen manufacturers who were asked to show us what was GREAT about their tool. The catch...they had three minutes to do it...on your mark...get ready...set...go! Now they put them in your hands to vote. Tell us "Who's Tool Will Rule!" Vote & Win! Four lucky voters will win one of these prize packages: Package #1 AMACO's Cloud Clay and Pasta Clay Machine Purple Cows' Freestyle Mouse Spellbinders' Presto Punch Package #2 Clover's Heart Pom Pom Maker Elmer's X-ACTO Retractable Knife Painters Pyramid's Craft-N-Spin Xyron's Creatopia Package #3 Craftwell's e-Craft Midwest Products' Easy Cutter Ultimate Plaid's Glue Gun Helpers Package #4 G.C.D. Studios' Chip Art Tools by Melody Ross McGill's Butterfly Silhouette Punch Viva Décor's Glitz Up! Are You New To The When Creativity Knocks Website? You need to register to login. To login on the WCK site you must answer a simple math problem. (example: 12 - 3 = 9) You will receive an authentication email at the address you registered with. Click the link in the email to enter the site. Then navigate to our Episode Library to view the Tool Hunt videos. To the right of the video screen is a voting area. You may only vote once.

Dates To Remember February 12 The Great Crafter's Tool Hunt 2 voting will open at 12 Noon (PST) February 21 Voting closes at 12 Midnight (PST) February 22 The winning tool will be announced February 23 Four (4) Great Crafter's Tool Hunt 2 Prize Package Winners will be announced! Good Luck Everyone!  I won a very generous prize package from them last year!  I hope you will be the next winner!  Thanks for looking ~ Diane

My card club swap

 

I just love this cute digi image Aimee Josephine from Kahwinkedink so much I had to use her for my card swap last night.  In fact I love her so much, I saved a few extra's for myself.  I am going to enter her into Crazy for Challenges, they are looking for a Valentine.  She makes a cute Valentine, but she could also be a sweet any occasion card.  I used Stampin Up dp for the border and the hearts, Stampin Up Kraft and Ivory cs, I had another beige cs I used also.  The dp ribbon border is from from Briar Press (not a typo, they call it dp ribbon).  The border punch is Martha Stewart lace.  This card is a standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2, not my standard 5 x 7.  I ran the whole card through my Spellbinder Wizard with the Cuttlebug 5 x 7 embossing folder Plum Blossoms.  I ran the lighter colored cs through with the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls Embossing Folder.  The hearts were cut with Cricut Plantin Schoolbook.  I printed Aimee Josephine on my computer from Word, colored her in and then cut her out and mounted her on to the card front.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

This is Gumble

GUMBLE ROCKS!  HE WON THE CHALLENGE AT  

ORDER OF THE OPUS GLUEI!

Gumble is a free digi image from Stretch n Bubbles.  I love the way he printed out on the paper, it looks like he is holding a pink heart in his cute little hand.  I could not do that again if I tried!  Gumble was free for Alison hitting 100 more followers, she is almost at 300!  She is giving away an image for hitting her milestones on the way to 500, stop by and check out what her design team does with her images, they are fantastic!  And there is a Wednesday freebie there today too!  I am entering Gumble in quite a few challenges.  The Order of Opus Gluei is looking for a Valentine with red white and pink.  

Crazy for Challenges is looking for a Valentine, 

Digital Tuesday Challenge  is All About the Animal's, I don't know if Gumble can qualify as an animal, he looks like a Monster to me? 

Drunken Stampers (great name) wants me to use any kind of metal, like the red metal brad I used for the flower.  

Crafty Cardmakers is looking for anything digital, and keep checking that site, they will soon have a tutorial on how to merge or use 2 digital images together.  I want to learn how to do that!  

I traced Gumble with my Zig glue pen then added some black glitter and some googly eyes.  I used some pop dots to lift him off the paper.  The heart was cut with my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook, the patterned paper is from DCWV, the background stitched paper was purchased 5 years ago from Costco, sorry I don't know the mfg.  Computer sentiment trimmed with the new Stampin Up Punch.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane  

Spellbinders Kleenex Box

 

This is a Kleenex box I made for the Spellbinders contest.  I did not make it in this year, but I will try again next year.  I need to grow more in my card making, and I know that.  This will make a perfect gift for a girlfriend who has been ill.  I took apart a Kleenex box and traced it on to the back of this pretty red foiled card stock.   I made all the folds using a ruler, and put it back together again.  I decorated it with a lot of my Spellbinders products.    I used the Spellbinders Impressabilities Flourish to emboss the box itself.  The Spellbinders Petite Oval Scalloped was used to make the hole in the top.  I taped a baggie inside the hole firmly on all 4 sides of the opening, then I cut a slit in it just like the original Kleenex box had.  The edges are decorated with Spellbinders Grand 12" Classic Lace Border and silver foil card stock.  I also used the smaller inside piece of the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant Shapeabilities to decorate the 4 sides.  I love how the foiled card stock takes to the Spellbinders dies.  If you go to the Spellbinders blog you will see some of their work with the Spellbinders foil which is much sturdier than my card stock.  I think my friend Peggy will like this.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Aimee Josephine

 

Aimee Josephine comes from the Kahwinkedink Primitive line of digi stamps.  I don't know if I did her justice, I maybe should have aged her a bit, to keep with the primitive influence.  The lovely border background came from Briar Press, it is called a button border.  It reminded me of a primitive art necklace which is why I chose to use it here.  I printed it out on the aqua cs and then cut it out and mounted it to the Core'dinations red cs that I embossed with the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls Embossing Folder.  I printed Aimee Josephine on white cs and then colored her in.  I used my Spellbinders Petite Ovals to cut her out.  I made 2 copies of my digi image, I experimented and colored in the first one, then cut her out and used her as a mask.  I used some of the Zig, 2 way glue, let it dry so it would be re-positionable and mounted 1 image on top of the other so I could use the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Turquoise Blue.  I really love that glimmer mist!  If you would like to see more of Aimee Josephine stop by Kards and Klay, you will see more of her there.  I am going to enter her in the Color Chef challenge, red, blue and white.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Wilhelmina Marie

Beautiful Wilhelminamarie is a digi stamp my friend Kristen made.  The minute I saw her I fell in love with her.  Kristen has many more sweet digi's available at her site, Kahwinkedink.  You can stop by her blog Kards and Klay and see the many beautiful cards she has there.  And this digi is FREE, just stop by her blog and snag her, she's near the bottom of the page!   It's Kards and Klay, and be sure to leave her a sweet message.

I made this card for a challenge at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps at SNR Universe.  The challenge is to use buttons, and there is a free digi image involved, but you must submit your card today!  

Sweet 'n Sassy also has a store where she too has beautiful digi's.  After all, we can never have too many digi's can we?

This is a 5 x 7 card, I used Stampin Up kraft and Patterns 3 dp and Core'dinations cs.  I embossed the Core'dinations with Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Embossing folder - Plum Blossoms.  I used the Spellbinders Deckled Mega Rectangles Nestabilities also.  The 2 miniature buttons are from my stash.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Cuttlebug Kimiko Geisha's

 

I made the Geisha's on this card with my new Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Emboss Folders and some wonderful foil cardstock, I love how you can see the reflection in the picture.  The Giesha'a are from the Kimiko folder.  I embossed and debossed so that I have 2 images facing different directions.  This was quite easy, I folded the foiled card stock in 1/2 so the shiny side was facing front and back.  After I embossed them in the blue foil I cut them out.  Then I ran double scraps of white card stock through for the heads and hands, which I also colored, cut out, then glued on.  The lovely dragon is from the Cricut Pagoda cartridge I received for Christmas and haven't used yet!  I cut this at 2 1/2 in the gold and red foils.  I also used the Cuttlebug A2 Japanese Scales to give the dragon more texture, and the Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Oriental Weave on the Wausau Copper card stock.   This card is for the Practical Scrappers Die Cut Challenge.   Which works out well, because they encourage us to use what we have, and I bought these earrings at least 1 year ago!  I used both my Cricut and Cuttlebug folders to make this.

 I thought it would be fun to share a picture of my embellishments, the silver fans I used.  These were inexpensive earrings that I cut up and glued on to the card.  I found my earings and foil card stock  at my local Dollar Treasure.  By the way, I absolutely love the new 5 x 7 folders from Cuttlebug!  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Edith Mayfly

My friend Kristen of Kards and Klay has some fab new digi images, this one is Edith Mayfly.  Edith got her sweet name in a contest "name the digi", that Cheri, at The Paper Freak won.  Kristen will be offering free images on her blog in the future.   Be sure to stop by and see what she is making, she is a prolific card crafter!  I just had to Google "prolific" and make sure I was using the right word.  Here's the definition: 1. producing offspring, young, fruit, etc., abundantly; highly fruitful: a prolific pear tree. 2. producing in large quantities or with great frequency;   Yep, that sounds right, that is Kristen to a T!  She also has a shop Kahwinkedink, where you can buy some of her images.

I used card stock from DCWV The Sweet Stack, and some pink vellum.  I also used some Studio g glitter glue on the wings and the Cuttlebug embossing folder Mandarin Screen.  Thanks for looking,  ~Diane

WHISPERING

I titled this post whispering, I believe the reason these fine ladies are whispering is because they obviously can't breathe!  Look how tiny those waists are!  Aren't you so glad we don't have to wear corsets?  I found this wonderful image at Vintage Holiday Crafts.  I used a new Spellbinder technique I learned from Sherry Cheever's Walkin on the Bad Side blog.  Sherry is a Designer for Spellbinder.  There is a video on both blogs, Sherry's and the Spellbinders blog to show you how you can do this.  Along with another technique on how to reverse it, and use your negatives, I love to conserve paper! 

I made this "Vintage" image for the challenge at Busy Little Hands.  I think you can see the layers pretty good from the picture, there is a large piece of dimensional foam between each of the 5 layers.  I did a bit of my own take on Sherry's technique, since I am using faces, not flowers.  I chose to use the Spellbinder Petite Oval to frame the ladies faces and the Scalloped Petite Ovals to pick up on the ruffled theme of the dresses.  I added the different shape of the Labels 8 to the last layer to pick up all of the background in the picture.  I used the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Coffee Shop to feather off the edges, the image actually ended about 1/4" below the Labels 8 frame.  The DP is Melissa Frances, 2 different ribbons from JoAnns, I sewed (by hand again) through both layers this time.  The sweet little 4 leaf clovers are actually real pressed clovers from my blog candy stash from Alison at Stretch N Bubbles.  By the way, this is a 5 x 7 card like most of my cards are.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Thank you Gwen, this card won the challenge over at Busy Little Hands!

Bubble Bath Libby

Bubble Bath Libby, is one of my favorite digi images, she is made by Alison, of Stretch N Bubbles.  So when I saw the colors over at the Play Date Cafe, I knew right away I wanted to make something with her.  This is a first for me, but she is actually going to make it into FIVE challenges.  Whew!  I find this very exciting.  2 Red Bananas has a Banana Split Sunday Challenge "Think Round".  The Sketch layout comes from Stampin For the Weekend, and I will be using this sketch again, I really like it.  And also for Corrosive Challenges by Janet, lets go Digi, and Stretch N Bubbles is a sponsor there this month.  Practical Scrappers is looking for something embossed.  On to the recipe.  I used Bubble Bath Libby digi image, Tempting Turquoise, a paint sample, Very Vanilla and some of my foiled cardstock from my stash.  I embossed it with Cuttlebug Swiss dots and Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls Embossing Folders I won from my friend Mona at Cupcakes Creations (stop by, she is a fantastic papercrafter!)  I also used my Spellbinders ImpressabilitiesCircles, I was really trying to keep that bubbly theme going.  The sentiment was computer generated, I used some pop dots to lift the sentiment up off the card a little.  I used my atyou Spica sky blue glitter marker pen to trace the bubbles, then I painted the bubbles and the tub with Close to my Heart Create a shade paint Pearl and then I used Stampin Up Crystal effects to add some dimension to the bubbles.

 Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

GOTCHA!

 

I made this fun little Valentine using the sketch Michelle provided for the Tellens Place challenge.  I also used one of the free digital images Terry so generously gives out.  Stop by her site and see whats going on, it's always fun.  This one is not my usual 5 x 7, it is 4 1/2 x 5.  Actually it started out as a 5 x 7, because I was working off a sketch I made in my notebook of what it should look like.  I was not sure about something so I checked back and realized my dimensions were way off!  So I cut away the excess to make it look more like the sketch.

I used my Spellbinders Petite Ovals, and the card stock is DCWV.  I colored it in with my Stampin Up markers, and I used a Copic for the skin color.  I also used my new atyou Spica sky blue glitter marker pen.  I have heard everyone talk about these, I found this one at my LCS on sale so I gave it a try.  I do like it, I don't know if the camera picked it up, but it has a little glitter in the ink, kind of sparkly.  It is the darker blue I used for the trim, belt and boots.  I found the wooden Gotcha! sentiment in the childrens craft section of JoAnns.  Well this was fun, these challenges are really inspiring.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

 

Just Us Girls Challenge # 16 Valentine

When I saw these colors over at the Just Us Girls Challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to make!  I have to say that is a really good feeling, especially since I was experiencing a little bit of a creative block the last few weeks.  I am so glad that is over and now I have a ton of ideas swimming around in my head again!  For this Valentine I used Stampin Up Very Vanilla, Core'dinations for the Burgundy, an unknown Gray cardstock and a paper flower for the Blush.  The awesome image that had all of these same colors in it came from Artfreebies.  Jeanette and June have some beautiful Vintage images there that they so graciously share with anyone who would like to stop by.

I embossed the gray card stock with my Spellbinders Impressabilities Flourish.  I should mention that 98% of my cards are all 5" x 7" including this one.  In order to get the Impressabilitie to emboss the full 5 x 7 without border lines,  I had to trim the edge off of 1 end with scissors. At first I hated doing  this, I felt like I was breaking one of my tools on purpose!  But over at the Spellbinders site they often cut pieces out of the Impressabilitie's for many different decorative designs and uses.  Once cut I then embossed 1/2 of the gray cardstock, then turned it so the already embossed portion was left sticking out as I sent it through my Wizard a second time.  I used a Stampin Spot in Bravo Burgundy to lightly highlight the flourishes and edges of the gray card stock.  The key and heart embellishments were found in the jewelery section at JoAnns.  I cut the heart out with Cricut Plantin Schoolbook, then embossed it with the Cuttlebug Swiss dots, embossing folder.
The Valentine sentiment was printed with my computer on to vellum.  I really enjoyed making this card and playing along with the challenge.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Just Us Girls and Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenges

I made this card for the Just Us Girls Challenge 15, add stitching to your project and the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge   for the layout.  This is the first time I tried sewing on a card, I did it by hand because I heard sewing machines bite.  This was a lot of fun, I used the Bazzill In Stitch'z piercing tool, Bazzill In Stitch'z Piercing mat and the Bazzill In Stitch'z 8 x 8 Flowers stencil pattern that had a nice square edge I could follow, it was so easy to punch out!  Thanks to Bazzill and When Creativity Knocks, the right tools make a world of difference. The card stock is Certainly Celery from Stampin Up, the beautiful dp is Graphics 45, I am in love with their paper.  I used the Spellbinders Classic Circles Nestabilities to cut and emboss the circle, and the Ribbon Tags Trio Shapeabilities for the sentiment tag.  The sentiment is Stampin up Warmest Regards.  The image is from one of my old cookbooks, I aged it, and the lace with a little with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Coffee Shop.  Instead of laying out a newspaper while spraying it, I have decided to use tissue paper.  I plan to save the beautiful over-sprayed tissue to use for a flower or some other embellishment at a later date.  The Glimmer Mist is so beautiful I can't bear to waste it!  I added a little paper flower and  put a pearl in the center.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Thank you Alison at Stretch N' Bubbles for the awesome $242 blog candy prize!

Wow!  I feel so truly blessed!  I won this awesome $242.00 worth of blog candy over at the Stretch N' Bubbles blog!  Thank you Alison, this is an extremely generous prize and I am so very fortunate to have won it.  Alison is a fun and trendy digital stamp designer that I have been following for quite some time now, because I do love her images!  I made the cute ladies shoe with the boa with her digital stamp (Feather Shoe without Border a set of 2 stamps).  And I had a ton of fun with my santa chic (Chick-a-dee).  She now has a design team offering all sorts of ideas on ways to use her super cool stamps.  The Stretch N' Bubbles blog also offers tutorials on how to work with a digital stamp for any of you who are new to the world of digital stamping.  She even has some ink tips for those of you who are more experienced.  One of the really great things I like is that she even offers to create a digital stamp for you, just email her at familybubbles@hotmail.com. with your idea.  And she is kind enough to offer a Free Digital Stamp Wednesday don't miss out on that.  The free digital stamp is a great way to get acquainted with the whole process of digital stamping.  I have a ton of rubber stamps mounted on wood blocks that take up a ton of space!  Digital stamps can be stored on your computer or on a flash drive.  I use a flash drive so I can set up folders to know which designer's stamp I am using and I keep the terms and conditions together with the images.  You can also re size a digital stamp to match the project you are working on, and for some reason they never come out crooked like the ones I stamp sometimes do, lol.  I hope you will stop by her blog and leave her some love, maybe even pick up one of her cool digi stamps,  I'm sure you will love them as much as I do!  Thank you again Alison this is a very generous prize that I have been so very fortunate to have won.  Thanks for looking, and yes I did buy a lottery ticket this morning!  ~Diane

Spellbinders Surprise Birthday Party!

Spellbinders is having another new product reveal, and we are all invited to join the fun! It is a Surprise Birthday Party and they are offering daily prizes to celebrate!

They will begin on January 7, 2010, Today! and will last for a week.  Each day 3 fabulous Designers will introduce one or more surprises!! Each day 3 lucky winners will win all of that day’s newly revealed product! At the end of the week they will select a Grand Prize Winner!!  I can't wait to see the new releases!  Click on the link to their blog to see the schedule of blogs and the official rules. Good Luck!  ~Diane

Published in Ready, Set, Create Dec.09 / Jan.10 issue

These are the 2 cards I made for the Dec.09 / Jan.10 publication of Ready Set Create.

  The first card 25th, uses my favorite Spellbinder die, Fleur de Lis and my Cricut.

By: Diane
Supplies:
Cardstock: Around the Block Ash Filigree
Gold glitter, Dazzling Diamonds
Stampin Up, Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge, Spellbinders
Fleur de Lis Pendant, Shapeabilities, Petite Ovals
Nestabilities, MS lace punch, gray ribbon

 

This card made a full page featuring all three photo's.

Pop Up Spinner Combo Card

By: Diane
Supplies:
DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies, Stampin’ Up Doodle This, Wonderful Wings
and Delight in Life, Vellum, clear acetate, 2 pennies, dimensional foam.
I made this card with lots of love for my dear friend and fellow blogger Carole at Paper Arts.  She has taught me so much and she is such a wonderful friend, I am so fortunate to have met her.
The butterfly spins in circles, I have directions on how to make both a spinner and a pop up in some of my older posts.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I was busy cooking and preparing as I am sure many of you were too.  I hope you enjoy and as always thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Happy Anniversary to Jan at Papercraft Pleasures and thank you for the Bind It All Blog Candy!

Look at this cute little Pink Wonder!  It is a Bind it All New Version 2.0 by Zutter Innovative Products, and I won it as a blog candy prize from Jan at Papercraft Pleasures.  Thank you Jan, this is just so awesome!  I can't wait to start creating some beautiful bound books and projects with this. Jan's blog Papercraft Pleasures is one of the first few blogs I started following.  I really admire her work, she has been published numerous times, and has many awards in her creative resume.  So it has always been a pleasure for me to follow her.  She has a very interesting blog with cards, scrapbooks, cooking, jewelry and much more!  There is just no end to her creativity!  This blog candy was in celebration of her 1 year Anniversary for her blog.  I suggest you might pop over to wish her a Happy Anniversary, and become a follower.  This is not the first time she has offered a Bind It All as blog candy either, I heard the last one went to Canada.  Thank you Jan, this is a very generous gift and just in time for Christmas!  Thanks for looking  ~Diane

Just Us Girls Challenge # 11

 

I made 2 cards for the JUGS Just Us Girls Challenge this week.  The challenge this week is to use the chalkboard technique.  Stamp your image in white ink, and then apply your chalks.  For those of you who have never tried this, the chalk will stick to your white ink.  I am so glad they suggested this challenge!  I chose to stamp this on some vellum I bought at JoAnns.  I colored it in with my Stampin Up chalks and then I used the eraser to clean it up.  I hardly ever use my Stampin Up chalks and I have never used the Eraser that comes with it.  I am so glad I gave it a try with this technique.  The eraser really cleans up the chalk residue that does not rub off, and I also used it to do some shading.

See the really neat embossing?  I was so fortunate to win those Cuttlebug folders along with a whole lot more from the JUGS challenge site last week!  Thank's to Mona from from Cupcake Creations, she sponsored the wonderful Blog Candy.  She has an interesting blog with beautiful creations, you must stop by.  There were 3 Cuttlebug folders, 4 really cool stamps, wonderful ornament gift tags she made (they are gorgeous) and a beautiful gift box she made with heat embossed snowflakes on it.  My daughter has already informed me I should put a gift card for her in the gift box.  I have a picture of all the goodies I received above.  I also want to thank Sandi from Paper Trail for the wonderful idea of using a double frame.  I saw a card on her blog where she used a double frame and I loved it, so I had to scraplift it!  I used the Spellbinders Labels 8 to make my frames.  I strongly suggest you use my links to stop by all of these sites, they all have so much to offer!  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Santa Chic

 

I made this card for 2 challenges this week.  The challenge at Play Date Cafe is hosted by Alison of Stretch n Bubbles this week.  Alison offered one of her images, but you can use any image you want.  The colors are Red, Lime Green and Bright Pink.  The challenge at Tellens Place is to use a technique called Paper Piecing, they too offer a free digi image to work with or not.   I embossed the red card stock with a Sizzix Texture Plate, I cut the 2 backgrounds with Labels 8 by Spellbinders.   I printed Alison's digi Chic on the green dp, and also printed it 4 more times on white cs.  I cut the flower hat 4 times, decreasing it's size on each cut, and colored each layer a different color.  I cut the purse and shoes out of the white cs also and colored them in and glued them on top of the patterned shoes. This was a lot of fun combining both challenges for this piece.  And even better since I really need to get my own Christmas cards done, Yikes!   Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Winter Birds by Inkadoo

I made this card for the Just Us Girls challenge # 10.  This week it is a layout challenge, and I really like the layout so it was fun designing this card.  I used Winter Birds by Inkadoo stamp set and Night of Navy ink from Stampin Up.  This is the first time I have used this stamp set, found it on sale, then forgot about it.  For the background I used Core'dinations Cobalt Blues, and Cuttlebug Snowflakes, then I sanded it off.  I can't forget my Nesties, I used the round and Labels 8.  The stars are silver, and I used foam pop ups under all the white card stock to lift it up a bit.  JUGS has a new challenge every Saturday, so stop by and see what they are doing, the designers are top notch. Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Pink and Red Valentine

This is my entry for the Tellens Place Red and Pink challenge # 3.  The fab digi gal image is a freebie from her site, although you don't have to use her images to enter, they are just too cute to pass up!  The wonderful red foiled card stock is a find from my local Dollar Treasure store.  I also used a piece of pink vellum from  Paper and More to fill in where I cut the heart out with the Cricut.  This is the first time I used the center point function.  It took me some time to figure out which direction to place the card stock to get the hearts to both print out in the same place with the hearts going in the same directions on both pieces, but I finally got it right.  I ran the heart cut outs through the Wizard with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot folder.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

I'm feeling vintage, ha ha.

I am still in a vintage mood, so this is the project I made for the Jugs challenge.  The simple box template comes from a project I did at a Stampin Up workshop years ago.  I covered my box with a page from an old horticultural book that I misted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Coffee Shop.  I really love that Glimmer Mist, it adds instant aging with just a touch of soft glimmer.  I cut the poinsettias on my Cricut, Joys of the Season cartridge.  The cs is Stampin Up Sage Shadow and the red is one of the limited edition colors from another year, maybe Pomegranate, also misted with  Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Coffee Shop.  The lace is hand crocheted, I found it at a garage sale this summer, what a steal!  I bought a box with about 20 feet of the lace and about 10 skeins of the embroidery floss.  The half pearls are from Michaels.  I hope you enjoyed, thanks for looking.  ~Diane

High Heeled Thanks

I made this card for the Just Us Girls Challenge to use Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Bashful Blue . It should also be a Thank you card.  I decided since these are not my usual colors, I would really break out of the box and not do the traditional type of card I normally would do.  I decided I would really take a chance.  I even tried to get my lay out to be a bit out of the box for me.  Not my neatly layered, equally spaced, symmetrical style.   The awesome image is from Stretch n Bubbles,   Alison offers Freebies on Wednesday for her followers if you want to give digital images a try.    I saw this shoe and thought of my boa material instantly!  I sprayed it ever so slightly with the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Turquoise Blue, I used some of my dp that I made with the bubbles and a straw technique.  I do believe my blue is the Stampin up Bashful Blue, but I didn't have the pumpkin Pie or Really Rust so I came as close as I could.  I embossed the dp with the Cuttlebug Swiss dots, embossing folder and used the Cuttlebug Textile for the other 2 pieces I cut from my Spellbinders Labels 8 Nestabilities.  Ribbons are from JoAnns and Big Lots, and I don't know where my Thanks jelly is from.  I really enjoyed making this card, I stretched my skills and learned some new things.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Tellens Place Challenge

All Right!  This card won the the first challenge at Tellens Place!  A new challenge starts today, and there is another awesome freebie digi image, but you don't need a digi image to enter!  Thanks for picking this card.  ~Diane

This is the card I made for the Tellens Place Challenge.  The challenge was to "embellish it".  The adorable image was a freebie at her challenge site.  I'm not sure if you can read the caption, it say's "Now this is how to shop Black Friday.  While the kids are in line, I'll be on line."  My grown children have plans to camp out at a few stores to get the doorbuster deals.  Not me, I will be sipping my coffee sitting at the computer, looking for the on line deals.  I'll also be watching the clock for the Spellbinders Black Friday contest!  ha ha.  Tellens Place is a new challenge site, run by a wonderfully sweet lady named Terry.  Her son Marcus draws awesome images which she also sells at her Etsy store.  Marcus drew this sweet lady for her first challenge.  I was also the fortunate recipient of some of Terry's blog candy, of which I used the blue and brown cs from her stash.  I also used my Spellbinders Impressabilities Circles, and the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Coffee Shop, I really like how that came out.  And it was so easy too.  I used Bazzill jewel templates Borders, and then placed 4 misc jewels in too.  These are more items from When Creativity Knocks Great Tool Hunt. The font is LD Going Nuts Scrap n Fonts (free fonts).  I colored the image with Stampin Up Markers, Prismacolor pencils, Souffle 3D ink, and a Tombow and Copic marker.

This is a picture of my blog candy from Terry at Tellens Place.  She even included some directions and envelopes for me!  And don't forget the adorable images, I stood them up in the back so you could see them better.  Thank you Terry.

 

Thanks for looking, don't forget to check out the Tellens Place Challenge site, new challenges start on Wednesday.  ~Diane