Happy Easter Everyone!

Or Happy Day if you don't celebrate Easter.

I've been busy preparing for the celebration the last couple of days so haven't had time to create for the blog. My apologies to you all. This is Eva's first Easter so we are hosting her family so they can celebrate with her. We've been cooking up a storm and preparing for an egg hunt. I haven't had an egg hunt in quite a few years since my kids are grown. We dyed eggs, made flower arrangements and signs. All kinds of fun stuff! The Easter bunny will have a ton of goodies for her :)



Not forgetting the real reason we celebrate though, we will also take her to church and show respect for the actual reason for the holiday.


May you all enjoy this day and be blessed more than you you are now.

Love ya,
~Deb~

A Z Card Using Scraps

Once again if you are FAMILY STOP READING!!! This may be for you.

If you're anybody else, welcome to today's post and a special welcome to my new followers!

I told you I would have a card using the scraps from the Double Pocket Card. I'm a day late but hopefully not short for this post! I used the background paper to make a Z card. I haven't made one of these for a while and Crafting Vicky reminded me just how pretty they are. So this idea for a mother's day card popped in my head. I had an image from Priscillastyles that I wanted to use and I think with the paper it came out perfectly.

 The image is of sweet peas surrounding a double hoop. I tried to use colors that would compliment the paper and yet still have the sweet pea look. I also colored in the background of the image slightly with light blue to give it an outdoor hanging vibe. I applied some Studio G Lavender Glitter glue to highlight the flowers in the image. For the Z part of the card, I used recollections bright green CS and embossed it with a Cuddlebug Folder called Stylized Flowers. I attached some green felted wired ribbon to both the image section and the top of the Z to hold the front in place when open. I then placed some artificial flowers from my stash to the top of the Z to decorate it. After I did that, the Z top was to heavy and wouldn't hold the front flap in place. Well I didn't want to just trash it so I played around with different ideas and finally came up with a green pearl bead in the center of the flowers. That was enough to keep the flap tucked and open. You still have to be careful placing it as it's top heavy but it does sit nicely now. So without further preamble:

Lying flat (closed).

Open side view.



















Love ya,
~Deb~

A Double Pocket Card

If you are my family, STOP READING NOW! This might just be for you. 

If you're anybody else, welcome to my blog post today!

The Frugal Crafter, Lindsay, had a tutorial on her blog for making a double pocket card. I'd seen them before and liked them but I'm a visual learner so watching someone is easier for me then written instructions. So THANKS Lindsay! I appreciate you doing the video tutorial so I could give this card a try.

I started with double sided paper as she suggested. I don't think I folded it right though because I actually ended up with three pockets. One on the left side that I don't think should have been there but I like it! I can stick a personal message in there now!

I also loved her suggestion of seed packets in the front pocket. My sister who will be getting this card is an avid gardener so that was perfect! Really Lindsay, you helped me a ton with this card!!!So here are the pics:

So here it is unassembled. You can see the two front pockets and as I said the left side has a third pocket LOL. The DP was from Michael's but it didn't have a brand on it so I'm assuming it's their brand. I've added a flower from my stash, don't know the brand of that either (2 strikes!) The ribbon and the leaves came from the Dollar Tree. The Rose Chippie is from Michael's and I used Viva Pink Glimmer Mist and then  Chandelier Glimmer Glam over that. It looks orange in the picture but it really is pink. For the book mark I took a plain white Recollections bookmark, sprayed it with Cornflower Daze Glimmer Mist and then sprayed the Viva Pink Glimmer mist over that to get a color close to the blue in the paper. Then I attached it to a scrap from the main DP. The stamp is from Stampin' Up and I used Craftsmart white pigment ink. I also attached some Michael's flat backed purple pearls and inserted a pin I received in a swap.

Here's a picture of it assembled...

I'm using another piece of this scrap from this DP in tomorrows project. I really love the color and pattern.

Love ya,

~Deb~

Final Easter Card

Believe it or not ( I'm not sure I do!) I got all my cards done this holiday!!! They'll go in the mail tomorrow and I can breathe a sigh of relief. 

So for my final Easter card I used an image from a sheet I got from ALPHASTAMPS. It has several vintage Easter images along with some other vintage stuff on it. I thought this one with it's little saying was cute so I decided to use it on this last piece for the holiday.

I kept the inside very simple with a couple of layers and a bit of distress ink around the edge of the top layer. (you can't really see it in the picture but it's a light pink)

Hey Mr. Mailman! Come and get these please.

Supplies:
Recollections CS and DP
Petaloo Ribbon
Michael's Flowers
Jolee's Easter Chick Sticker
Alphastamps Vintage Image
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
Studio G Gems

Til tomorrow...
Love ya,
~Deb~

CAS for Easter

We all know I don't do many CAS cards. I'm a bling kinda girl

But with new responsibilities come some changes in our life so a clean and simple card is all I had time for today. I think it turned out really pretty considering it's not my usual style.

I started with two separate images. One from Whimsie Doodles and the other from Lilyboo Designs. I placed them together in my program, saved it as a new pic so it would print well and viola! A totally awesome image for my card.

Supplies:

Recollections Shimmer CS

Easter Girl Image - Whimsie Doodles

Egg Flowers and Grass Image - Lilyboo Designs

Embossing Folder - Swiss Dots Cuttlebug

Dies - Shapez by Xyron

Stickles - Worn Lipstick

Pink Ribbon - from my stash

Thanks for taking the time to stop and look today!

Love ya,

~Deb~

A Swapping Good Time!

SWAP FLASH!

Have you SWAPped at the CDAC Swap Central yet? Well why not? It’s a fun way to see what others are making by “trading” your items for theirs. You can see up close and personal how someone else’s art is different from yours and maybe get some new and fun ideas to try! We currently have a

that you can join and we will have two more fun swaps beginning the 1^st of April. Come check out Swap Central and join in the creativity!!! We’d love to have you! Click on the link at the top right of this blog and come play with me!

Love ya,

~Deb~

Easter Blessings

First I'd like to welcome all my new followers. It's a joy to have you here! I'll visit you as well. Come by often and lets support one another. And as always, thank you to all my very loyal followers!

I took part in the Easter Club over at Create with TLC. She gave us some GREAT images! It's such a reasonable price for everything you get from Paulette. If you haven't tried it yet, I would encourage you to, it really is worth it! The image I used on this card is one from the club and I adore it! I colored it in my usual style then aged it with TH Distress Ink Old Photo. Next i dripped water on it and then crinkled the heck out of it to make it look old and used. I wanted a vintage look to the paper to match the image.

The card is rather large, 5 1/4" x 8 1/4". I needed it large so that the image could be the focus but still have room for embellies.

Inside I went with layers and a couple more flowers. I used a very old Stampin' Up sentiment stamp that I had but I thought it made sense for Easter. It's actually a pretty versatile stamp and I tend to use it often.

Well Easter is a week away and I still have two more cards to make and get in the mail. I think I'll make it this year! Whoo hoo!

Supplies:
Recollections CS and DP
Create with TLC Image
Really Reasonable Ribbons Yellow seam binding
Petaloo Yellow crochet lace
Tattered Angels Suede Glimmer Mist
Tim Holts Old Photo Distress Ink
Ashland Flowers
Gems from my stash

Love ya,
~Deb~

CDAC Card Swap

I think you all know by now that I am the hostess for the swaps over at CDAC. Well our first two swaps were pins and cards. For the cards, we created a spring theme. It needed to include yellow, pink, and green plus use an image with spring flowers on it. It also had to have three layers and a minimum of one embellishment. Easy Peasy Springtime Breezy!

I had so many images of flowers that would have been perfect for this swap. problem was my time has been crunched with the new addition to the household so I wasn't sure how I was going to find time to make these.Then I ran across the perfect image over at Paper Printables. The lady who drew this and operates the site is Kate Prothero-Davies and her newsletter was my savior!  This new image she created (comes in both B&W and pre-colored) had all the colors I needed along with the spring flowers and some added interest of a cottage front. PERFECT. I could use the pre-colored digi and whip these up fairly quickly. So here's what my swap mates will receive from me.

 I decided to add a pin to the front just cause I like them and ...well I'll admit it...I've become obsessed with them! I love making the little buggers! These were made to look like flowers with the bell shaped metal piece and the beads for the stamen. I also added some May Arts leaves and a little crocheted flower from Michael's.

Inside, I layered again and then added the butterfly. I intentionally left them blank so they can use them for whatever they like. I'll put a little sticky note inside telling them that.

These swaps are really enjoyable and the creations that others are making are so fun to see. Really lets you see different ways of assembling and embellishing and it's in your hand and not in a picture. If you're interested in joining us come on over to CDAC. Our newest swap is a MINI ALBUM and you only have to make one (1)!

Love ya,
~Deb~

My Bunny Buddy

I joined a swap through the Crafter's Cafe. The idea was to create an Easter card to swap with a "Bunny Buddy". When you completed your card you contacted the host Susan, and she sent you the name and address of your buddy. We were asked to include a couple of extra goodies whether it was candy or crafting supplies. Just something besides the card and it didn't have to be a lot. Half way through the swap timeline, the Crafter's Cafe shut down without notice. We had been working on our cards and now way of getting the information to send them out. Lucky for us Susan is resourceful. She hunted us down which I'm sure took some time, and emailed us to see if we were still wanting to be involved. Of course I said yes! My card was already done and ready to mail.

Well I got my card yesterday and was it ever cute!

My Bunny Buddy was Sherry Wegner (click here to go to her site). Didn't she do a great job on the card? She also included a set of dimensional stickers (the one's you saw in yesterday's post. It was a set of 14 different phrases along with a set of 3 pink chipboard flowers. I totally loved my card and surprise and it was so much fun to do the swap! Thanks Sherry for this fabulous card and thanks Susan for following up in a very difficult situation.

Love ya,
~Deb~

Believe in the Easter Bunny

I set about making a card for our niece today. She's an artist herself and does wonderful work so it can be challenging to come up with something I think she'll like. Everybody loves bunnies on Easter though right? So that's what she's getting. A bunny with a surprise inside the card.

I created a little pocket to hold the tag/bookmark with the same paper I used on the front. Boy it felt good to create again!

Supplies:
Image - Bugaboo Stamps
Papers - Recollections Seasonal pack
Flowers- Petaloo
Dimensional Stickers - Daisy Hill (a gift from my Bunny Buddy which you'll hear about in my next post)

Tag - Studio G
Butterfly - Michael's
Misc. - Stickles in Icicle and Spiced Marmalade, Studio G Glitter Glue in blue and purple

Love ya,
~Deb~

Google Friend Connect

So there seems to be a firestorm of panic going on in the blog world about Friend Connect Closing. I hate to break the news to everyone it isn't as bad as it sounds.

First I researched the Google site and here's what I found.

• Google Friend Connect—Friend Connect allows webmasters to add social features to their sites by embedding a few snippets of code. We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012. We encourage affected sites to create a Google+ page and place a Google+ badge on their site so they can bring their community of followers to Google+ and use new features like Circles and Hangouts to keep in touch.

OK did you read that correctly? It happened a year ago!

Second I called Google to see if there was anything new regarding this. Unfortunately Google is not good at customer support. All they could tell me was to go to the website that there was no one who handles Blogger/Blogspot other than online. Well we all know that's bull. There has to be someone behind the scenes handling this and they COULD talk to us if they wanted to. I wasn't impressed. What that means however is that nothing has changed since March of 2012. If you use blogger or blogspot your friend connect still works. Does that mean you shouldn't prepare by adding other means of contact? Absolutely not. If you feel you would get better results add Blogloving or Networkedblogs.

As for me, I'm going to leave friend connect as is for now but I'm going to add Networkedblogs. Why? Because I'm going to ask those that are truly followers to sign up there. That way I can weed out those that came over only because of candy and I'll know who to visit. I already use Networkedblogs for other peoples blogs anyway so it's a convenient quick add for me.

In summary, don't panic, nothing is really affecting you unless you don't use a google blog.

***Please Click on NETWORKEDBLOGS in the side bar if you are a true follower of mine. There's an incentive if you do!***

I'll email you the incentive after you sign up. Hope this is informative for you.

Love ya,
~Deb~

OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!!

I won the crown contest AND I (well the baby really) was featured on Mark Montano's Facebook page!!!  Can you believe it! Her first brush with fame.You can see it here. We were featured friend #2. Yippie!!!! Doing somersaults!!!


So I removed the bigger feathers and sized them down some before reattaching.  So here's the pics of the improved version.

Mommy was bouncing baby in her excitement so it's a bit blurry but aren't they beautiful together?

Love ya,
~Deb~

A Crown for a Princess

I told you about the little girl we are currently taking care of. Well Angela Holt Designs, whom I love to watch what she makes, was having a contest for making crowns out of lace. You know me, I have to bling everything up to the extreme.
                                         
So here are the pics including one on the adorable little model.

When it was complete I decided the feathers were a little high so I'm going to change that. Her Grandma requested one in yellow and green to go with her Easter dress so I will probably make another with those colors for her.

I had a blast making this and am anxiously awaiting the results from the contest. It ends tonight at midnight.

Love ya,
~Deb~

CDAC and Petaloo are teaming up for some FANTASTIC Easter/Spring Challenges & Contest BONANZA'S!!!

CDAC and Petaloo are teaming up for some FANTASTIC
Easter/Spring Challenges & Contest BONANZA'S!!!

It starts TODAY, March 17th and runs through the end of the month!! Lots of prizes will be awarded at the end of the month so, don't miss out! There are crafting challenges, a "LIKE" Facebook contest and even a simple "spread the word" Contest. Along with some wonderful Gift Certificates from some wonderful Digi Artists, Petaloo is offering some AMAZING prizes. Petaloo International, is one of the largest floral manufacturing companies in the crafting world and is your source for floral & specialty embellishments. With exclusive factories in
China, India & Thailand, along with over 20 years experience in floral & craft products.They offer customers fun & innovative products at factory direct pricing. Here is just a "sample" of "some" of the prizes that will be awarded. Plus, Petaloo has a WHOLE NEW LINE of flowers coming out on April 1st that will also be part of these prizes. Don't miss out on being the "first on your block" to own some of these fabulous flowers!!!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FUN!!

For my Design Team project using a Priscillastyles image, Petaloo flowers and trim, I made an Altered Keepsake Box. I used a tissue paper technique on the outside, added wooden legs, popped up the image and the saying, and lined the inside with mole skin fabric. It was so much fun using these products and I hope you'll get some and try it too! I promise you won't regret it.

And here's a slide show of all the DT members projects.

Find more photos like this on Crafters Digital Art Center
Love ya,

~Deb~