~SOTC~

 Well, my dear Blogland Peeps , I am finally posting my latest cards made a while back for the SOTC group.

(Sisterhood Of the Travelling Cards)

My good friend Carol was the hostess for the months of March-April and this is what she requested from us :

 " The theme for this round is going to be :: Unique :: Special :: You ! "
 
"God made us after His own image, however, we don't all think, 

act or look alike. Of course, we all love paper crafting though! 

So that being said, I would like to have you make cards unique to YOU! 

I would love you to use your favorite shape, color scheme, embellishment, layout ...what ever you really like to use in paper crafting. 

I can't wait to see what each of you create! "
 

"

 For my cards I focused mainly on my most favorite colors in card stock and designer papers...

I absolutley adore this SU d/p...and hoarded it like for evah!...but now, sadly, I am down to just ONE 12x12 sheet left of this particular design! *sigh sigh* :(

Other  personal favorites are: dry embossing tecnique, the use of either ovals or circle dies, and the

punch art tecnique. I also love using pearls to accessorize (amongst manyyyyyy other loved options *smile*) 

and I often like to pop up my main image too. ♥

 Hopefully the SOTC recipients liked receiving this card...am thrilled that I could finally use the bird punch again as it is often left 'abandoned' like so many other punches.

 Also , the bird's feet were purposely NOT used here....lol   ;o)

     ♥ Thank YOU for visiting!! Wishing you a BLESSED day! ♥

June Duel~~~♥

  Hello Friendly Bloggers,

Are you ready? It's DUEL TIME! ♥

This months's lovely hostess are : Darlene ,for us Dazzlers ,and Terri for the Divas...

The theme they both challenged us this month is : GARDENING

      Us Dazzlers received a wonderful kit full of great choices and a super image. 

♥ THANK YOU DARLENE! ♥

Image: Gardening Shelf by Stamps Happen stamped w/ Marvy Matchables Black Ink 

(by Uchida on Conqueror Diamond White Cardstock)

Designer Paper; K & Company -Lemon Citron Pack-

Embellishments: Paper Studio Gemstones, Ribbon, Ribbon Boutique Silk Plaid Ribbon, K & Company Dimensional Flower, Recollections Blue Flowers, CraftWorkCards Candi Dots, 

Creative Impressions Dragonfly Brad, Spare Parts Glitter Lady Bug and Garden Tool Brads

For my card I added: card stock, some diff. sized pearls, nesties and dimentionals.

Image was colored using Copics and SU markers.

 Above: The finished inside of  the card and below a close up of the completed image. 

The gardening gloves and the pink seed packet were fussy cut ,then propped with dimentionals 

on top of the nesties. A couple of garden related sentiments were used both in and out of the card.

As an extra step, Darlene asks us to add some gardening tips : well, I used to save all egg shells (both fresh or boiled), plus the coffee grounds and add them to the dirt...it makes for good compost. Also if/when you have leftover milk to discard use it for the geraniums...for as long as I can remember I was told it's really good for those kind of plants...♥

                                                            

Happy Gardening Everyone and God's  Bless!!

~ Unidentified Image # 14 ~

 ~ Hello Peeps and blogland friends...
Not much time to be creative or to even feel creative lately...but I am trying the best I can, to do what I can with the crumbs of time I seem to have lately....way too much has been  happening, one thing after another...hopefully this 'madness' will end soon...I sure could use some 'don't worry time' both from the job (there may well be a full fledge strike going on starting next week!)  and also in my personal life some 'stuff' ' is keeping me very concerned indeed...I could use a total escape from reality....LOL....or learn to bury my head in the sand...
(it ain't gonna happen!)....

Well, I am finally posting the card (s) I made for the 14th round of the Unidentified Image Swap. These were due to post 2 days ago...but here I am now...not too late, in comparison of another commitment or two, not yet even started! *sigh*

This round's lovely hostess was Kadie and she sent us all partecipants a very sweet, adorable stamped image to play with, from Pink Cat Studio * love it! *  

                                 ♥ Thank YOU Kadie ♥   
 

 This is the inside of my card...I chose to use a sentiment I had , that accompanies the image of the 'crayoned' sun I added...

 Stamps: Crayon Cuties -SU 2002-  &
                    Be Happy Sentiments -
                        by Amy R stamps

Close Up of the sweet image




Card Deets:
Stamped Image : 
Lily Stamp -by Pink Cat Studio
Card Stock : by SU
Designer Paper : Me and My Bright Idea Specialty D/P , plus  others from my stash.
Ink: Copics, SU Pastels 
Accessories: Inverted Scalloped circles nesties, orange buttons from my stash, blue and white floss by American Crafts , dimentionals, Crystal effect.


          Thank you ALL for taking time to stop by....
your comments  are greatly appreciated...Thanks! ♥

                    SENDING MANY BLESSINGS YOUR WAY!

March - Calendar Girl

 *** ♥ Double posts today! If  you are looking for the Dueling Card please scroll down...♥ ***

Finally finally finally....

my MARCH card for the Calendar Girls challenge IS done!

TAMI...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE!!! xox

I did two cards today (one for the Dueling Darlings and this one for the CG)

Truth is that my mind was confused and I thought I owed TWO -DDD cards' challenges...lol

noooooo...I owed TWO CG cards' challenges....at least I made this one so now I am still ONE behind for April....*sigh*

March Challenge from Tami
Did you know that March used to be the first month of the year on the Roman calendar? It was changed to the third month by Julius Caesar. The calendar we use today is refined from the Julius to the Gregorian. Sadly, we only gained like the wee bit of a percentage of more time to craft with the change! In theme of the original first month, let's use one button on your card.
Let's make a card based on a sketch. I saw this sketch and wanted to use it at some point. It's time! Please note, the sketch challenge is still open, so be sure to join!
Speaking of Romans, purple is the color of the day. Please use the color purple on your card somewhere. Purple was worn by Roman Emperors and magistrates. It is also the color worn by those cute little ladies you see out lunching together, wearing purple and red and a bunch of hats!
 

 

 For my card I used the following:

Ink : Versafine Onix Black , Orchid Opulence (yup, dusted IT off too! lol)

                                                          purple/lavander markers (SU)

Stamps :  Artifacts (SU)   and Warm Words -sentiment- (SU)

Designer Paper : Me and MY BiG Ideas plus C/S

Accessories : Clockworks Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug) , lavander button ,

punch from Martha Stewart , paper flowers from my stash.

Tecnique : sponging, dry embossing and embossed inking

Below : inside of my card

 Again, sorry for the delays....my life has been a delay after another lately in regards
to my fun-time with crafting , and I don't forsee any changes too soon either....*sigh*

                                   ♥ C'est la vie!! Thanks for visiting!!! ♥

Dueling Day : Music

 *** MUSIC IS A GIFT***

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, 

flight to the imagination  and life to everything.”
~ Plato~

                                            ♥ DING DING DING!! It's 'dueling day'! ♥

                                        My partner Judy and I decided on a music theme

                                     for this round of duels, and this is our challenge to you: 

                                      If you could dedicate a song to someone in your life ,
                   what would your song choice be , and to whom will you dedicate it and why? ♥

                                              Now...who doesn't like music?...Really! ;)

♥ What would the world be without MUSIC to embellish each of our lives?  ♥

Kit Contents:

Stamped Images :
*Gift Of Music /D.Morgan  by Stamps Happens INc ;
*Violin and Music scroll : UNknown
*Angel w/Instrument : UNknown
*Sentiments : by Cling Stamps Co. # 557133

Accessories :
Designer Papers :
* Up,Up & Away (Doodle Bug Design);
*Bella Boutique Stack (DCWV) ;
* SU Double D/P x 2 ;
*Elementary Pianoforte Music Examination (from a real Conservatory of Music book)
*Ribbon : barely banana grosgrain from SU
*Virtuoso Music Die both in black and white choice (Memory Box)
*Viviene Butterfly (Memory Box)
*Assorted gems and pearls in a variety of shapes & sizes

 

For my card I used : Night of Navy c/s from SU , circle nesties , stamping pastels (SU) , 

Copics , glitter (lots!) and dimentionals.

My choice song for today (I tend to have several choices otherwise) is : 

'You're Still The One' by Shania Twain , recorded in 1997

This is one of many songs that has a very special meaning to me because its words truly depict

what hubby and I had to go through to 'fight' for our love as certain 'friends' of the family were, then , actually belittling us and telling me that what we thought it was *love* was most likely an 'infatuation' that wouldn't last...(perhaps because I was only 15 yo ?....)

Their actual words to me were "yours is only puppy love" 

(yup almost like Paul Anka's old song....*sigh*)

Well , after 3 years of courtship plus 44.5 years of marriage later , we are still together 

and he is definetly still my one and , of course , I will dedicate this song to my man!! ♥

Can't wait to see what ya all 'cooked up' for this duel!!!

Nite , nite....it's almost 3:00 am here , and this night owl is calling it quit! zzzzz......zzzz

****Muwahhhhhhhhhh****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZH-emehxA 

You're Still The One

                                                       When I first saw you, I saw love

And the first time you touched me, I felt love
And after all this time, you're still the one I love

Looks like we've made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life

(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life

(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night
You're still the one

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life

(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

I'm so glad we've made it
Look how far we've come my baby

Songwriters
LANGE, ROBERT JOHN / TWAIN, SHANIA

In Memory....

 

         A year ago, on May 1, 2013 my dear sister-in-law`s Mom passed away, 

leaving everyone absolutly stunned! Her untimely death was nothing but devastating by all who

knew her , especially from my DSIL , who is mourning her Mother daily, still....

Worse time of the year is the recent Mother`s Day, of course. This is my way to honor her memory

and to showcase the sympathy card I made, a year ago, for my sister in law.

Emilia was an avid gardener, amongst many things (hence the flowered card) ; she had many uber talents too but , in primis ,was her love of singing partecipating in the Vancouver Italian Choir. 

I remembered that when I visited her last time at the hospital , she was regretting not being able to partecipate and sings in `her`choir anymore...yet now she has the privilege to sings with God`s angels...I feel she must be happy about that! ♥

This is the very last picture of Emilia...I took it on Easter Day (April 1, 2013) as she enjoyed the beautiful sunny day, eating al fresco at her daughter`s and my brother`s back yard , engulfed by laughter, happiness and much love...

Nothing could have prepared any of us of what was brewing ahead...  

Exactly one month later, on May 1, 2013 she took her last breath, after been admitted to the hospital two weeks after Easter.... Until we meet again Emilia!

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep  Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you wake in the morning hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft starlight at night. Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. (Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there, I did not die!)  by Mary Elizabeth Frye

~ Down On The Farm ~

Hello friends in blogland,

today post is about some cards I created recently for a 'farm swap' 

hosted by Barb, aka SCS queen of swaps ;o)

For these particular cards I took an idea and went with it, casing it from a wonderful blog 

I happened to come across recently --->'Fat Cat Stamper' <---   

Here is its link :

http://fatcatstamper.blogspot.ca/2014/04/c4c230-veggies.html

I marvel at Danielle's wonderful gift of creativity and I thank her for inspiring me! 

Will definetly visit her blog over and over again ♥

                          *click on each picture if you wish to enlarge*

I finally got to use a super cute set gifted to me almost a couple years ago by my sweet and very generous friend Kadie, (SCS:Kmensley) while I visited her in Seattle. 

Together with Judy (SCS:JAM123) we went to the A*MUSE store and...oh my!! 

Easily fell in love with sooo many things there! ♥ lol...:o)

This set is called 'Farm Fun', it's super cute with its farm animals 

and funny sentiments , as you can clearly see here...lol

I also used 'Wood Grain' embossing folder by Darice and a medium circle Spellbinders' die.

                              Hopefully both the hostess and the recipients liked 
                                  receiving these fun to make window cards. ;)

♥ Thank you for stopping by and making my day much brighter with your comments...and have yourselves a wonderful , most blessed kind of day! ♥

Girls' Night Out ~ *DDD* ~

  ~ Hello Everyone,

It is the 15th of the month, and-as such- it's time to 'duel'!! ;)

This month's hostesses are : April (for us Dazzlers) and Kadie (for the Divas)

April sent all the Dazzlers an awesome kit full of  goodies to play with.

Here's what she challenged us with , in her own words :

  "Hi Dazzlers!
Kadie and I decided to go with a more general theme rather that a seasonal or holiday one this month.
We are having a "Girl's Night Out"!
Who doesn't like to spend some time with their bff's??
On top of making your card why don't we share who our longest friend is and our favorite thing to do with that person.

 





















                                           Inside of my card  & close up of  stickled  image


April kit included the following:
Wood Embellishments ~ Prima's Princess Collection
Metal Index Tabs ~ Making Memories
Asst'd Ribbon ~ my stash
Card Stock ~ Sugar N Spice, Coffee, and Fuschia Fizz by Coordination
DP ~ Pink Swirls and Pink Gingham by Paper Pizazz
~ Paper Jazzy by ColorBok
Sequins ~ Teresa Collins
Stamp Set ~ Ginger Snaps Celebrate by C.C. Designs stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black

To create this card I only added : White card stock for my base, 
Stickles, Crystal effect (on the glass),  heart dies and  punched out circles
Tecnique: fussy cutting 

                              THANK YOU for a great kit APRIL 

As for the second part of the challenge, my bff lives 12,000 km away from me....*sigh*
I've known her since elementary school and she also came to visit me in Canada, once, many years ago...We haven't seen each other for over 7 years now, but when we do we make sure it's always extra special and unforgettable! I also have a few really good local friends with whom I can hang out with and be *crazy*....lol...like last Friday, for example, when we got together to Kareoke...that was so much FUN....and this coming Thursday evening we'll have a potluck and pj party at one of my dear friend's house (we also go camping together a lot in the summer!) It is a girl' only party and I can already imagine the laughter....lol  *Cheers*!! :)


***  PS: Sorry about the slight delays girls - 
Truth is that I couldn't find my card reader to download my pictures and thought that maybe
my grandaughters (staying with me these days) must have misplaced it....
Thankfully hubby found it for me just before he went to bed! Yeahhh! :o)  ***

Unidentified Image Swap ~ Round 13

  ~*~  Hello my friends in blogland ~*~

Today I am introducing Ronnie...how cute is she? :)  She was sent to us by Darlene, 

our hostess for this round  of  Unidentified Image Swap. As well, Darlene sent us two complimentary sentiments to use with our images -should we chose to. I sure did as they made me smile.:)  

Used them both on the punched out circles both on the outside and inside of the card, while the sentiment printed in marvelous magenta (from SU) is from my own set 'Say It With Flowers', from Craft Lounge clear stamps, that badly needed to be used- at least once!  lol....

I had much fun completing these cards....wanted to give them some vivid colors and also added

a cute white paper rose trying to match the color to the designer paper used here

 -Pockets Full Of Posies- from DCWV, by using a marker to change the color to match the d/p, then added some sparkles with Stickles...Image was colored using SU Pastels (with Q-tips) :)

Hopefully when Darlene receives them she'll like them as much as I did creating them:)

♥ Thank you for some great images my friend!! ♥

 

♥ Thank YOU for stopping by! ♥

~ Inspiration and Blessings

  ~ Hello everyone,
 here's my card for the latest SOTC swap....
 Judy was the hostess for last Jan/Feb spot, and she challenged us to make a card
 using an 'Inspirations and Blessings' theme.

   Here's in her own words:
 Theme: Inspiration and Blessings!
It’s been a time of reflection the past month and now a time to look forward. So I would like you to create a card that expresses your hopes, dreams, and/or aspirations, for you or someone you would like to inspire and bless.

Extra option/challenge: 

Be creative and try something new….a new technique, never used before stamp, etc.

I am not sure if I did Judy's challenge any justice ....fact is I got stumped three times as my creative flow has been greatly diminished lately, to the point that I was seriously considering leaving the stamping world behind....yet I am hoping to get over this slump once more, soon...

Anyways, on my fourth attempt my mind took a new approach (took the opposite way...) and went with it: I thought of WHO inspired me so much throughout my life , who challenged me the most over my growing years and who was both a constant inspiration and my own true hero...Once my thought were in place this card emerged...This amazing person was the strongest one I have ever known, the most loyal one, the most helpful, the most generous,the most caring, trustworthy...etc etc...
                That person is my Dad.

Years ago I made a card for his birthday using same oak tree image , and wrote a poem to him that he appreciated very much. (Dad also used to write poetry amongst so many of his talents)
I also know he kept that particular card , along with so many others. I know he liked it very much and his tears of appreciations confirmed it. In my poem, one of the lines was comparing my Father's strength to the one of a majestic oak tree....
For this challenged I used same image, creating a totally different card and this is the result.
..







Feeling so blessed and grateful for my Father , for his inspirations, his love and guidance....for everything!
I just wished he still knew how so very much he's loved....

ok, 'nuff with this 'liquid stuff' streaming down
my cheeks now....

Even though these cards were sent to destination very late, I hope the recipients will like receiving them ,
if only for all the love and caring thoughts that was put into them....♥

   

On the left , the finished inside of the card, re-purposing the stamped circle from the front panel's die-cutting. Incidentally, the background stamp, En Francais, was finally inked for the first time , after having it purchased in 2007!! Yikes! :)

                 

♥Many, many blessings to you all! ♥
           thanks for visiting... 
                                                                                  

Card Deets:
Stamps: En Francais , Lovely as a Tree , Curvy Verses ,
               Warm Words (all from SU)
Card Stock: Very Vanilla , Soft Suede 
Inks: Versa Fine Onix Black , Versamark ,Mellow Moss , Certainly Celery , Olive Green , Soft Suede , Baja Breeze , Soft Sky.
Accessories: butterfly punch, glitter, round Spellbinders, swiss dots E/F, hair spray, dimentionals, ribbon (SU), green crystals.
Tecnique: window card,  sponging , dry embossing , punching , coloring with pastels .

DDD: Umbrella ~ March 2014

  ♥ Hello everyone! Yeahhhh....it is Dueling time again!♥

This month our hostess was Terry (for us Dazzlers) and LJ for the Divas.

Terry sent us an adorable kit to create with. I love the sweet image and the extra

accessories, papers etc.that she surprised us with.I actually worked on my kit yesterday afternoon , then got distracted with hubby request to watch a movie together after dinner, and only now, that he went to bed I took photos of my card, and here I am.....

                                                                          

 

March Challenge -From Terry:

March is National Umbrella Month!

"We all know that when it rains, it pours so LJ and Ithought we’d put together kits with an image including umbrellas.
The contents of your kit include:
Image and Sentiment: MFT - a la modes 
“The Rain Will Come”
Pink and Silver Dots: Craftwork Cards Candi
Ribbon: Michaels
Flowers: Martha Stewart crafts
Square Rhinestones: from my stash
DP: Paper Pizazz
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Sea salt, Coredinations BlushRed Have fun creating….and always remember…. “True Friends HelpYou Weather Every Storm”!! "

I used both Copics and SU markers for coloring and added some polka dots to the girl's boot, I also colored the white flowers from the kit, and fussy cut the image. The puddle ,as well as the lower part of the boots, has been dabbed with crystal effect and sprinkled with a wee pinch of 'dazzling diamonds' glitter. The headband was given a lil crystal effect too. Both the image and the flowers were popped up with dimentionals. The sentiment (from the kit too) was added on the inside of the card (see above photo)

                             THANK YOU TERRY  
                  FOR SUCH A GREAT , FUN KIT!☻

Good Night and Blessings To All!! ♥

Frolicking In The Forest~

      Hello Friends in blogland~~

These are the cards I made for the latest Forest's swap.

Jeanette's swaps are full of chatter, laughter and just plain good old fashion fun! ♥

Below is the theme for the swap, as explained from Jeanette herself:

Frolicking in the Forest
(could be animals or people)

" If you’re like me, you aren’t real sure what to do with this theme. LOL! Remember, the theme is chosen by the forest friends – you vote for the theme of the next swap.

Sooooooooooo I did a little research…

frol•ic (frlk)
n.
1. Gaiety; merriment: fun and frolic.
2. A gay, carefree time.
3. A playful antic.
intr.v. frol•icked, frol•ick•ing, frol•ics
1. To behave playfully and uninhibitedly; romp.
2. To engage in merrymaking, joking, or teasing.
adj. Archaic
Merry.

               

Well, my first attempt for this swap was made at least a couple months ago, but of course, could not find the original card to post together with these,my final ones.
 (first one I made, it involved a tree and a lil fairy sitting on a mushroom)
have no clue where I stored it :( - but will post once its found.

 

The above, is the inside of the card, 

with a second sentiment (unknown) and a wee frog.

The silhouette stamp (bought brand new at a garage sale ) finally saw ink ,after being dormant since its purchase, for about three years. I think this stamp is definetly embracing all the definitions for 'frolicking'......don't you?? ;o) 

         *Hopefully Jeanette and the rest of the recipients will like my interpretation...*

GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE and GOD BLESS!

  

 Deets:
Card Stock: black, white// Designer Paper: Me and My Big Idea
Ink: Cool Caribbean , Forest Green Staz On, CopicG21(lime green), Copic B02 (robin's egg blue)
Stamps: 'Dancing with Flowers' from Hero Arts & 'On The Go' from SU! (front sentiment)
Accessories: SU ribbon, stickles, rhinestones ,Spellbinders die, EK frog punch, sm.googly eyes