Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #15

The DDIC today comes from this image ..... Pacifica Garden Gift Set. I thought this set was very pretty, with the gold and purple. Then I realized there was more pink, with some yellow and blue. This threw me for a loop. I had the hardest time making a decision. Would I go with the shape? Could I possibly get all the colors in?

So here's what I did. I made two cards. I thought I would pick the one I liked better, and upload it, and say, THERE! The problem was, they were so different I couldn't make a decision.

One uses the shape and combines the colors in a similar pattern. The other uses the theme of Pacific, which means peaceful and serene. So the upshot is, two postings. I couldn't decide. I guess it's up to you.

Please check out the rest of the team. Their blogs are in the left hand panel and you can highlight their names. If you join us in this challenge and upload to SCS, please put DDIC in your keywords.

#2.......Nature Pauses

This is so not like me!! I made this card in five minutes out of a recycled card I couldn't bear to throw away, and two colors of metallic paper, blue and silver. Sorry the silver doesn't really show true, but photographing metallics is always a trying experience. I added some sparkle snowflakes to match the card. Altogether, it's very shiny and bright.

Thanks for looking!

Cardinals and Snowflakes.....A Shadowbox

The sketch this morning was very interesting! I flipped the diagram, and made a shadow box. I don't know if you can see it, but the bg is trees in the snow. I used my new MS cardinal punch, but had to cut off the legs and feet (EEEEEWWW!!) because I didn't want the birds to be standing. The pieces are really small, and they were hard to hold while sponging. You should see my RED fingers!! Have a fun and creative day!! I'm off to check out YOUR blogs!!

CC and DDC - 2nd post today. MMTPT66 Below

First I have to thank Janice (catcrazy at SCS) for sending me a whole bunch of these images. I asked for one, and she sent 18!! How wonderful is that!! Hugs to you, Janice!!

The hostess with the mostest for the Doubledog Dare Challenge today is Fran (Francie G.) who DARED us to make a card with at least 4 layers, and ribbon or cord. I combined the Dare with the Color Challenge, which was to use neutrals, and use an image to make the card POP! Using the bright colors and Merry Christmas ribbon worked really well here. I hope you like it.

Hi-Yo-Silver.....MMTPT66

We're off to a tea party with Mrs. Claus. She has wonderful cookies, fudge, peanut brittle, and other yummy lo-cal(!) stuff for us. She has found a way to help non-tech Santa this year. She got in touch with the scientists in England who cloned a sheep. Remember that? Well, she asked them if they could combine a rocket with a reindeer, clone it, and send eight of them to the North Pole. They said they could, and did.

Santa will be calling his reindeer by different names this year. He'll call to his team....Hi-Yo-Silver, as the lead reindeer (clone #1) has that name. The rest are Argentous, Chrome, Luster, Metallic, Amalgam, Aluminum, and Tinny (he's the little one on the end). Rudolph has retired to Florida.

All of this is rather silly, but it's fun on Tuesday to be a little around the bend (some of us are that way daily!). This time I ended up with a card I can actually send. Hope you like it.

Projects for kids - Thanksgiving

I spent a frustrating morning trying to do the new technique. No good. I should have given up in the beginning, because I broke my CB!! DH took it apart, and the white metal had broken. Totally unfixable!! SOB!!

After I got over the fact I had ruined my cb, I started some projects for Thanksgiving, and thought I would show them to you for your constructive criticism (or even NON-constructive!)While the grands are waiting for dinner to be ready, I usually have some crafty thing for them to do. In past years, they have traced everyone's hands and made a book; they have colored turkeys; they have done mazes and word searches; they have made marshmallow and apple turkeys, etc. The kids range in age from 15 to 8, so it has to be something they can all do.

This year they will make candy place cards for each other, and for the accordian tag booklet, each person will get to write their name, age, and what they are thankful for. I have left enough tags for all the adults too (this year, my eldest son and family will be in FL, so there will only be 11 of us.). This will be part of the Centerpiece on the table. I think it will be fun. PLMK what you think too. Thanks.

Here are the tags I made for everyone to write their names and what they are thankful for, and we'll start with the youngest.These are the little patterns I made for the candy-place holders for the kids to make for the table. I think they're easy enough for them to make in a few minutes, even with the time it takes to eat a few pieces!

RED Card and some Fussin'

This morning has been awful! I woke up at 2 AM and never went back to sleeep. Lying awake, I thought of a fabulous idea for a Birthday present for my Mom. I read the paper, saw the ads, and took off. Rite Aid no longer stocks coffee. Aborted mission. Went to Staples. They didn't open for another half hour. Checked out Stop & Shop....nothing. Went to Building 19 (a junky place that sometimes has good stuff). Nothing. Staples opened, and they didn't have what I went there for. Another aborted mission. I came home, and here I am uploading the card I made EARLY this morning. Thanks for letting me fuss.

My card is a case of Miss Boo, our Featured Stamper. All the details are on my post in my gallery. I'm much too far gone to add it all again. There is a link to my gallery on the left, farther down, if you really want to look. I hope my day gets better. Hope yours it GREAT!

Inspiration Challenge

Today's Inspiration Challenge comes from Precious Possessions. The maker of the cup and saucer I chose for inspiration is Franz Porcelains. I just loved the Zebra stripes combined with the colors in the violets and leaves. And here is my card. I had a wonderful image to use, and also a great zebra stripe bg stamp. I used the purple and green for accents. I hope you like it.

Sharing a great idea!

I'm not so sure this card is all that great on the front, but just wait until you see what's on the inside!! The only thing I will tell you is.........be sure of the size of the three flaps before you glue them down. Luckily, I discovered that the middle one was just a BIT TOO WIDE, and could trim it. I had already stuck down the other two flaps, so it worked out okay.

I just had to share this with you because I thought this card was such fun, and easy to boot!!


Here is the blog where there are directions for this card, http://www.creationsbypatti.blogspot.com/search/label/Cards, and lots of other really neat creations. I found this blog sorta by mistake, and am I ever glad I did.

I changed the papers, and the front, but of course I had to keep the RED.......Gee! I don't know why!!!! I thought this was a wonderful idea, and I'll be making more of these for Christmas. The front may change, but I really love the snowman inside with the snowflakes.

I hope you will check out her blog.....her name is Patti, and she has a LOT of fab things.

...and the Leaves Came Down

What a fun challenge today.......we were to make a card showing our weather, and 2/2/2. We are having a cloudy windy day, and this new Inkadinkado stamp was just perfect. I used my cloud template (thanks Mothermark!), and added a couple of extra leaves. For the twos, 2 ribbons, 2 swirls, 2 popped leaves, and 2 colors of layered cardstock.

The leaves really are coming down fast. All I could think of, looking out the window, was ..."and the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down". You know, from Winnie the Pooh. In this case, it's not rain, but leaves. DH took care of them two days ago, and it looks like they were never touched! Guess how happy that makes him!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you are having nice weather where you are. Boy, the TX-CO area is really getting socked! I'm so glad I live HERE. Have a great day, wherever you are!

Purple Thistle

I just love this image!! The WT today is to use purple. This is the only stamp that comes to my mind when I think of purple. I have lots of other images that would work as well, but this one really does it for me!!

It also gave me a chance to use my new E K Success Curve Punch, some pretty paper (I love sage shadow and any kind of plaid), and some girly pearls.

I am spending the day alone...YAY!... and hoping to get some birthday cards done for November. We have a lot of them... all in the same week as Thanksgiving. Since DH and I will be away from the 8th to the 15th, I thought I'd better work on them now.

Have a creative and wonderful day!

Silent Night

This card is for the SC today on SCS. I love nontraditional colors for holidays, and I really like this combination.

The sketch is interesting...thanks Roxie! The panel was to be smaller, but I couldn't get this to fit in any other size. I think the words are more important anyway. I added a white row of punching, and a navy and gold ribbon, the holly and some gold beads. I hope you like it. Please check out my Belli Challenge card below!!!!

Rain all day today....better than snow!

Creative Belli Challenge #77

The Creative Belli Challenge this week is being sponsored by Sherrod Studios, who sent us some images to use for our cards. I chose to use the turkey for a Thanksgiving easel card. I watercolored the image, added leaves, a brad, and some sentiments. I tied some raffia in a knot, and done!

The challenge was to use RAFFIA or twine on our cards, in addition to whatever we already had in our stash for card making. That's the fun of the Belli......we are to use what we already have. We invite you to play along with us. Check out the cards submitted by the Design Team, andupload your card to the Belli Blog at http://www.bellichallenge.blogspot.com/

and find our sponsors website here:http://sherrodstudio.com/.

This week's hostess for this week's DDC is Joan
(joan ervin), who DARED us to case something from the gallery of our very own Julia (artystamper). You just know how fabulous her site is, since she has been one of the Featured stampers on SCS!!


The hardest part is choosing what to case. I finally opted for the card here on the right, called Gingerbread Christmas Wish. I changed a few minor things, but kept the integrity of the wonderful layout!



My card is below Julia's so you can compare what
I changed, and how different our cards are. What
I DON'T want you to do is compare our abilities.
I am not in Julia's league.

I hope you will want to join us in the DARE this week. Check out Julia's gallery, and when you upload, please put DDC in your keyword so we can find your card or project. We post a new challenge in the Forum every Tuesday.

Morning Sky

The Color Challenge today on SCS is a gorgeous combination: Melon Mambo, Kraft, and Black. The card itself is Kraft, just in case you can't see it. I know I am not Michelle Zindorf, and I have far to go in mastering the brayered technique for which she is known, but I couldn't resist trying this. Since my table was really messy from the retiform technique (or TRICK), I thought why not add to the mess, and clean it all up at once!

The only thing I felt compelled to do was to insert two teeny butterfly brads. Their color was close enough. I'll probably do another with these colors later. If you like this one, come back and look to see if I really tried again with something different.

A 2nd Challenge today......Peaceful Forest

The Technique Challenge today is called Retiform. I had never done this before, and it was fun and easy.

I used my brayer with four different green inks and some post it notes, then inked up my Just For Fun image of pine trees in Artichoke ink, and stamped it on the brayering. Then I versamarked and heat embossed the same image (offset a little) in WHITE, and added a gold star brad. Took only ten minutes.

I added this to the CAS challenge as well, since it was so quick and easy. Thanks for looking.

Sparkly Snowflakes

I just LOVE a five minute card!!


The CAS today was to use eyelets or brads. Obviously, I had held onto these sparkly silver brads forevah! just to use for this challenge.

All I used was one set of stamps, one color (brocade blue), and seven brads. Works for me! Another Christmas card done. (I think I'd better be careful.....when we go away Nov. 8th -15th, I may not have much to do!!)

The sun is bright. A perfect Fall day for DH to rake. Did you notice I didn't say ME?? The yard is not my job. In fact, DH is wondering what IS my job.LOL! Have a great one! Hugs to you all.

Chrysanthemum Birthday

I made this card today as a case of the Featured Stamper on SCS. I changed a number of things to make this one my own. I just got the new CB folder, Damask, and a new Amuse stamp, so I combined them here.

Mom's birthday is next month, and since the flower for November is the Chrysanthemum, I thought this was perfect. The vellum butterfly is yellow, and I thought I'd tell you so because you can't really see it all that well.

I'll check in with you all tomorrow...... the rest of today will be taken up watching the Patriots and the Yankees (please, let them LOSE!!) play. Have a good one!

P.S. We really HATE the Yankees!!!!!!!!!!

You Rule The Seas!

The Inspiration Challenge today at SCS comes from Anthropologie, where everything is merely fabulous!! The hard part is making a choice as to what will be the single item to use for inspiration!I chose the beautiful tunic top with a ship motif in teal on a neutral bg. I kept the pewter buttons in the form of brads and I think it makes a great guy card. I hope you like it. Have a great weekend!!

Girly Girl in RED

The limited supplies challenge this morning is to make a card featuring a girly girl. Can't get much better than this wonderful image!! She is paper pieced and watercolored, and I just couldn't resist some RED rhinestones. This color combination, as you well know, is my favorite!!

I was so glad the challenge was posted at midnight.... I woke up at 2 Am, and couldn't go back to sleep. I spent some time checking out your blogs, and fulfilling some obligations for design teams. Now I am all caught up, and I think it's time I had some coffee. The sun is still not up, but I sure am!!

Have a wonderful day!!

Christmas Lamb

I got home about an hour ago, had an expensive time at my favorite LSS, but DH paid!!, enjoyed lunch with our friend, and after groceries were put away, decided to do another for the WT.

The background is patched, the label is a new Nestie, and the lamb is a Bosskut I've been anxious to try out. The star is metallic gold, but is not bent.....that's the way the light hit the arms of the star. I really like this, and may do more with the lamb, but not the patches. Too many x's!!

Thanks for looking!

RED patched happy snowman!

Years ago when I made real quilts, one of the easiest to make was called Crazy Quilt. It had no pattern, just random pieces of fabric were appliqued onto a backing. That's what I did with this card for the Ways To Use It challenge at SCS today. I had a lot of RED scraps (Gee! Go figure!!), so I took out the folder FULL of them, and patched them on a piece of RED. I paper pieced the snowman as well, and popped up a hat to show just how happy he was.

DH and I are off for the day. I'm going to my favorite LSS, we're meeting a friend for lunch, then groceries (that part is yucky!). I'll be back to comment tonight. Have a wonderful day. Hugs!

Cross-Eyed Owl

The SC today on SCS was one of mine that Roxie chose! How cool is that??? Mom and I had time to do one last card before she hits the road this morning. The time has gone way too fast. We've made lots of cards, and what a mess!!

Hope you like the card we came up with this morning. My owl looks very cross-eyed. Mom's does not. I can't figure that out!! Oh well, it is what it is.

Have a great day......be visiting your blogs later today.

Mom and I have been busy!

For the MMMY4 today, MariLynn had a picture of a wonderful teapot........you'll have to go see it in the gallery.......this computer is being VERY temperamental this AM!! Anyway, this is done in cameo and white, and I had this ribbon that matches perfectly!! The cb bg is Tiny Mosaic, and the sentiment is from Espress Yourself. We added some flowers, and now we will stoop for a while. We are thinking about a trip to M's. Hmmmmm........anyone want to join us??LOL!

The CC today had wonderful colors to work with: Vanilla, Cameo, Burgundy, and Artichoke. We decided to use our favorite set, Bloomin' Beautiful. We just love this flower, although the whole set is fabulous.

The flower is painted in cameo, and darkened with burgundy. Trust me, it's really there.

Not much to add beyond the ribbon, and few bg layers and some brads. We like the way it came out, and hope you do too.

Twick or Tweet

The hostess for this week's Doubledog Dare Challenge is Joanne (sleepyinseattle), who sent us a bag of Halloween stuff. The DARE was to make a Halloween card with the materials she provided. I should have taken a picture of the things she mailed.......ribbons, papers, pumpkins, ghosts, images, .....what fun!!

Here is the card I made.....I just loved the bats! But I have to tell you that the image of the skeleton with the dog taking a bite of his leg bone just cracks me up. I would have ordered the set for this image alone!

Please feel free to join us in the DARE. Make whatever Halloween card you want, just put DDC in the keyword at SCS so we can find it! Have a great day!

Mom is Visiting!

When Mom comes to visit, we do every challenge! We make cards nonstop from morning to night, taking time out in the afternoon for a glass of wine, but that's it!! Today we did the two challenges at SCS.

The wiper card was new to Mom, but not to me, although I have only made one of them before. We took a lot of time deciding what to use for the sentiment........I thought I had a million SU sets for Christmas. turns out I only have three complete ones, so we were a little limited, but we both like how it turned out.

The CAS challenge for today was to make a sympathy card. Mom doesn't have a lot of experience with CAS, so she was really surprised when we were done in about four minutes. We both like this one too.

Have a terrific day.......no commenting from us.......we're too busy making cards!!! LOL!

See you in a couple of days! Hugs to you all.

Another for Riley, Our FS

Because I saved NINE different cards I wanted to case of Riley's (and that was only on the first and the top of the second pages of her gallery!), I decided to go back to my addict...ahem.....craft room, and do another. I had saved this cutout from a card I received last Christmas, and thought it was perfect for this layout. I cb'd the middle section of the three bands, and used a punch for the scalloped circle, but that was about it. Add a couple dewdrops, a ribbon, and done. And speaking of done, I am, for the day. Seeya tomorrow!!

Reindeer for Riley

Riley Fitzgerald is the Featured Stamper today on SCS. I always love to see what she has posted. Her layouts are wonderful. I had to keep the theme, layout, and colors of the card I chose to case. What I changed was the dp, the image (still keeping the reindeer), the ribbon, and added a sentiment and pearls.

I am still working on Christmas cards, and the theme of Riley's card was perfect. I hope she likes what I have done in her honor.

Today it is raining like time (as my Grandfather used to say......and I STILL don't know what that means!LOL!). The grass seed that DH put in yesterday should take really well. I am dying to watch the Patriots play in the rain this afternoon....not as good as snow, but who needs THAT?????? We'll spend a lazy day, and since I twinged my back yesterday, that works for me. Have a great day......kick back and relax!!

IC Xenia Talor Tiles

The Inspiration Challenge at SCS today was a gallery of tiles by Xenia Talor. They are all beautiful! The one I chose on which to base my card is called Summer Trees. Obviously I used Fall colors to make this Thanksgiving, my first venture with the new In Colors from Stampin' Up. Very simple.......in fact, Clean and Simple.

Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend!

Half-Done Card........COOL!

How cool is the challenge this morning!! The LSC today is to start with a preprinted note card, and finish it in a Clean and Simple style. What took the longest was finding a note card in the back of my closet! The black and gray was so pretty, it really told me what to do, so I added more of those colors, and since the envie and a tiny strip on the bottom was pink.............
I had some flower die cuts from a million years ago, made by K & Co., and this one of the rose was staring me in the face, so on it went. I love punching and die cutting, so this was a snap. I am liking the results. Maybe I'll finish up the rest of the package, and tie them together as a quick gift!! Thanks for looking. Hugs to you all.

2nd post today.......WT Leaves

For the WT today, the theme was leaves. I have been working on making a bunch of cards for the Fall, so this fit right in. I was really foolish in thinking I could just whip off a CD case. I hadn't done one in a long time, and it took forever of course. My carft table will take an hour to clean up. I used just about everything I own (well not really!) I have posted the two sides so you can see front and back, and I hope you like it. This one will go to my MOM, who loves shaker cards. I think you can see in the front picture that the sequin leaves are free-floating. I had planned to do a pocket card (thanks Wendybell!) for her as a surprise, but she was here, and wormed it out of me. Both my DD and Mom are able to do that!! Enough. Thanks for visiting. Have a creative and fun day.

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge

The DDIC this week takes its inspiration from this beautiful fabric. The print is by Kobayashi called Chysanthemums, and I wish it was still available, because it's so gorgeous. The beige background and the variety of flowers, plus the wavy lines give it so much dimension.


My version of this fabric is here, below, done in beige, with razzleberry, durango, curry, and a touch of bermuda bay. I tried to keep a variety of flowers, as in the original, added some wavy lines, and used the punch as a textural dimension.

The layout for my card is an easel, the directions for which can be found in the SCS forum under

TLC242. Very easy and fun to do.

I hope you will join us in the DDIC .....just be sure to put those letters in your keyword so we can find your card in the SCS gallery.

Be sure to check out what all the other Divas have done with this challenge. Click on their names on my sidebar! See you again on November 5th.

Belli Challenge #76 and SC250....Two today!

The Belli Challenge today is sponsored by Creative Cuts and More. They have the most wonderful die cuts, and a fabulous assortment of windows, special folds, and a great variety of things for your creative projects. Their papers are gorgeous. Go to their website here :
http://www.creativecutsandmore.com/

The Challenge today is to make a Fall or Thanksgiving card with at least one leaf. I used CC&M's library pocket card, and a wonderful Karen Lockhart stamp. The leaves are punched out, markered and sponged. Feel free to join us in the challenge. You can upload your card to our blog
http://www.bellichallenge.blogspot.com/ and also to SCS by putting CBC76 in your keyword. Check out what the other DT members have done!!

The Sketch challenge today at SCS is pretty easy. I figured it was about time to use some of my RED paper! These little snowmen from Hero Arts are so cute! It's easy to color them because the area for each color is so small. I used my cb Snow Dots , a MS punch and some ribbon.....voila! I have another Christmas card to add to my growing pile.

Thanks for joining me here today. Have a fun and creative morning.

........and now for the DDC!

Julia (artystamper) is the hostess for the Doubledog Dare Challenge today. She dared us to make a coffin for Halloween candy.

It was easier to make than I thought it would be, and I have two views for you to see....the inside is dp, and the "eyeball" candy will be fun for my DGS Jake. The rope is to keep the Mummy from climbing out!

Julia gave us the website for the template here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/coffin-treat-box?lnc=07a19db8cdcee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=collage_crafts_gift-crafts

Please join us and when you upload to SCS, please put DDC in your keyword so we can find it!!

A Little Birdie............

What a terrible day it is here!! Very hard rain, and dark, dark, dark!! Impossible to get a good clear picture of my card this morning. It's a little fuzzy, but I think you can see it all right.

The color challenge forced me to open a new color, Bermuda Bay, and how FABULOUS it is!! A totally different color than Teal. I almost didn't get it. Watercoloring it, I could tone it down or use it full strength, and the bird really shows up against the muted browns of the owl. I hope you like it.

Julia has posted the Doubledog Dare Challenge, and it's rather involved, so I'll be back later with a different kind of project, a Halloween COFFIN. Sounds fun, huh? Seeya later.

I am in shape....Round is a shape!

At 3:30 this afternoon I decided to do the CAS challenge. thumping is not something I am particularly keen on, but I did it anyway. Of course the bg I chose to do it on doesn't show it up at all, so you'll have to take my word for it. I have had this image for a long time, and finally inked it to go with the sentiment that I think is funny. The silverware is actually silver, and I can tell she's a lot like me, except for the curly hair. I am always ready to have food put in front of me!!! I think I will send this off in the morning to my Mom, who will get a kick out of it. She didn't join us this weekend to see the grands, and she's probably feeling a little alone. A card should perk her up. When she gets one, she calls right away, and we have a chat about it. That's it for me. Seeya tomorrow.

Happy Snowman

I just love this snowman image from Holly Berry House!! He's so jolly! Even though he's a pain in the **** to color, I always love the results. Today he is bright with markers, and the RED really makes a statement, don't you think??? I had fun doing the new Easel Card technique, and it's so easy, I'm sure I'll make more of them. I'm getting a good dent in the number of Christmas cards I need to make.......when we go to NH in November, that's the only stuff I'll take with me.
We had a wonderful day yesterday, watching three of our grandchildren perform. John and Tommy play Pop Warner Football. The day was bright and sunny, but chilly with a pretty good wind. At eight and nine, they are so cute in their football pads and helmets with these little bottoms in spandex pants! DH took lots of pictures. I'll have to post those later. Granddaughter Erin, who is 12, had a cheerleading competition at Assumption College in Worcester. It was fascinating to see what these girls can do! Her team got a first place Trophy!! It was in the gym, so it was pretty loud (and so was the guy I was sitting next to!!!), but I could see everything!! Such fun!!

Today is R & R time. It's chilly here, leaves are changing quickly, and I dread the winter ahead. I think I'll just focus on today. Have a great one, and thanks for joining me here. Hugs.

Parisian Peacock

I don't always do the Inspiration Challenge, but today when I looked at the incredible choices, I fell in love with the glass wall hanging of the peacock. I took a picture of it so you could see how closely I followed the design. After two days of no stamping, I was entertaining thoughts of doing something in my favorite color, but this piece was too beautiful to pass up. DH and I have had a busy couple of days, in spite of the fact that he has a pulled muscle in his groin (EEEEEEEEEWWW!!), and has a terrible head cold. We managed to go off our diets, but are still within reach of our goals. I have less than 6 pounds to go, and I am feeling better in my body.

I woke up with a headache, but I never let that stop me from stamping. I have two design team cards to make for the middle of next week, so I'll be working on those today. Tomorrow we are going to watch the DGS's (age 8 and 9) play Pop Warner football, and DGD's Cheerleading competition. If I get a chance to do the FS it will be late. Have a great weekend my friends, and thanks for looking here again. Hugs.