February Dueling Darlings

It's time for the Dueling Darlings to duel it out and...

♥ IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE! ♥

Our hostesses, Paola for the Dazzlers, and Judy for the Divas - chose this theme of love based on the Bible verses from Corinthians 13: 4, 7, 13

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”       (New International Version)

There is so much about love to celebrate in February, besides the forever traditional day of love, Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14^th.  Some celebrations that take place this month, and that may inspire you as you create your card for the upcoming duel, are:  American Heart Month, International Friend Month, Random Acts of Kindness Week (10^th – 16^th in 2013), Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week (17^th – 23^rd in 2013), Send a Card to a Friend Day (Feb. 7^th), Love Your Pet Day (Feb. 21^st), Family Day (Feb 18,  2013 in Canada)

With this theme in mind we would like you to sow the seeds of love and kindness you have received in your life.  You are challenged to pay it forward by performing a kind gesture and doing it anonymously!  The week of the 10^th – 16^th may be the perfect opportunity for you to do this.

Our kits from Paola were packed full and included:
Designer Papers from My Mind’s Eye (Love Me) : 'Hearts' 
Pinecone Press (Be Mine) : 'Smoochie' and 'Checkmate'
Ribbon from Recollections (Michaels): red glitter; pink glitter; red and white satin
Divine Twine: pink, white and red twine floss
Heart Wood Clip: ' Celebrate It' (Michaels)
Pink bling hearts baubles (Michaels)
Prima flowers -from my stash
Various heart brads -from my stash
1/2" Epoxy Brads 'Sending Love' from SU
Buttons - from my stash
Stamped images and sentiments, all from SU! : 'Summer by the Sea' ; Circle sentiment : 'Riveting'

With such an overflowing kit, I was able to create a pocket card as well as a diaper fold pouch that holds a couple of sweet treats!

Thanks for stopping by.  Please take a look at all the Dueling Darlings lovely creations.  See my sidebar for a list of their blogs. 

((HUGS))

Calendar Girls January Challenge

Jeanette was a our hostess for the January Calendar Girls challenge.  And her challenge was....

I want you to find a photo – it can be a picture you’ve taken (of a family member, a scenic drive, a food you’ve cooked, whatever) or it can be a picture someone else has taken. Maybe you even found it on the internet. After you’ve chosen the PHOTO you want to use, create a card/project inspired by that photo.

Of course on your blog post – when you show us your creation – we also want to see the photo that inspired you.

I did not quite follow this challenge...exactly...

I made the card below a few months ago in another swap where my theme was rainbows...and this is a picture of it, and it is a picture on my computer...hahahaha...

I cannot exactly remember where I found the layout design but I really liked it.  And I really liked the bright and cheerful colors in the DP and the cardstock I matched to that.  That got me thinking this would be a great birthday card because it is SO bright and cheerful.  So that's what lead me to make this card...

 

 

I used the same layout, colors, and DP but changed up the image and added the scalloped circles behind it.  I used Crystal Effects on the heart on the top of the cupcake and glued micro beads to the cupcake to give the "frosting" some texture. 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please check out all the Calendar Girls creations.  See my sidebar for their blogs.  



January Dueling Darlings

The Dueling Darlings are battling again!  This month with "Book Blitz Month."  And the kits we received from our hostess, Terry, (for the Dazzlers) was terrific!!!! 

The kit included:
Image - MFT - Who's That Girl "Well Read"
Paper - Basic Grey DP "Study Hall", DCWV brown solid, Fancy Pants "Fridig"
Accessories: CTMH Baker's Twin, Buttons - Dress It Up "Lone Stars", Nailhead Metal Stickers - Mark Richards from Hobby Lobby and brown ribbon from Terry's stash.

And I loved, loved, loved, the designer paper.  I used the designer paper with the books underneath the image and then flipped a small piece of it over and punched out the flowers using my SU! flower punch and added the metal stickers for the flower centers.  Image is colored with my Copics.  I added some white and Choclate Chip cardstock for the card base and first layer.  (Sorry the picture is not too great - bad lighting!)

I have several favorite authors and I LOVE to read.  My favorite reads are Christian fiction - suspense novels.

And here is my card for this month's duel:

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Please see my side bar and check out all the Dueling Darlings blogs for their "Book Blitz" creations.



Calendar Girls December Challenge

Our hostess for this months Calendar Girls challenge was Kelly and her challenge was as follows:

Blessings to you this DECEMBER! Since we post the 28th of the month, Santa will have returned to the North Pole by then and it will be a wee bit shy for the New Year Growing up in Europe where winters where filled with the beauty of snow and all the splendors of ice, I am filled with joy when I see all things snow. While some of you may long for sunshine and warmth, here in Miami I miss all of that during the holiday season so for this month so let's live vicariously in your creations of a

WINTER WONDERLAND

 

Picture snow-filled winter trees, snow nestled on park benches, fountains and tree branches ... ponds frozen over, icicles in the pine forests ... there is snow-filled glory all around us in the winter I would love for you to use blue and silver on your cards and a snowflake(s) somewhere on your card via paper, design, brad, etc!

I made my card earlier this month at my stamp club and thought it so was cute, I had to share it.  I love, love, love the snowflake embossing folder from SU!  Image and sentiment are both from SU! as well. 

 

 

Please stop by all the Calendar Girls blogs and check out their winter wonderland creations.  See my sidebar for a list of their blogs.  Thanks!!!

 

Happy New Year!

December Dueling Darlings

I am finally here for this month's duel...9 days late...but here.  Life has been crazy to say the least.   Our hostess, for the Dazzlers this month was Michelle and she sent a wonderful kit with silver cording, silver ribbon, self adhesive snowflakes, some awesome designer papers and a wonderful Whippersnappers image called "Snow is Overrated." 

I used white, Bravo Burgundy, and Not Quite Navy cardstock along with my icicles border punch.  I colored the image with my Copic markers and added the great designer paper, ribbon, silver cording and snowflakes that Michelle included in our kit. 

I am sure you have already checked out the other Darlings blogs...but in case you haven't see my sidebar and go take a look.

Merry Christmas!

November Calendar Girls Challenge

This month's Calendar Girls challenge was to: choose a holiday in November (not Thanksgiving, but a little-known holiday) and create a card/project with that holiday in mind. Here's a link to Bizarre November Holidays: November Holidays 2012 (Official) Monthly, Weekly, Daily, Bizarre, Silly, Crazy, Unknown Holiday Observances

The holiday I chose was November 2...Look for Circles Day! 

I made this card following a similiar style card I made several years ago at a stamp club.  I used white, Night of Navy and Old Olive cardstock.  The cirlce images are from the SU! set Seeing Spots and are stamped in Night of Navy, Old Olive and Taken with Teal.  I decided to add the flowers backed by the Old Olive cirlces (which is different from the original card I made at stamp club) to change up the card a little.  I added silver brads to the center of the flowers and the ribbon is Navy.  The sentiment is from the SU! set Wonderful Words and stamped in Night of Navy.  The entire piece of white cardstock with all the circles was stamped with an embossing ink pad and then covered in Iridescent Ice embossing powder and heated to get the sparkling look.

Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to check out all the Calendar Girls creations for their "little" known holidays.  Well the holidays may be "little" known, their cards will be big time creations.  See my sidebar for links to their blogs.

Have fun browsing!

November Dueling Darlings

Planes, Trains and Automobiles....

That was the theme for this month's Duel. Carol and I were the hostesses. And, yes, I am late to the duel. I apologize. There were a few "unique holidays" in the month of November. One was Aviation History Month, one was National Model Railroad Month and another was Go for a Ride Day. Because all of those relate to transportation, I suggested to Carol that maybe our theme could be Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Then she mentioned a movie by that same name (which I have not seen) and that the characters in the movie were trying to get home for the Thanskgiving holiday. Thus...being November, the movie theme around Thanksgiving and Thanskgiving coming and all the transporation themed unique holidays....our theme was born.

My card is not what I imagined. I had a really great card in my head but was unable to get it out on paper. Here is what I did come up with. I love this image by Kraftin' Kimmie called "Emelia." Emelia and the plane image are in the set.

Besides the images, the kits included a vintage button brad and safety pin, Old Olive ribbon and some linen thread.  I used my ribbon alongside the Really Rust strips of paper and the vintage button brad for the propeller of the airplane and the linen thread for my pennant banner.

We also asked all the Darlings to share a memory of getting to their favorite holiday or Thanksgiving (good or bad).  The year after my dad died, my mom and I decided to go to Michigan to spend Christmas with my brother.  After several hours of delay leaving our home town (due to ice fog), we missed all connecting flights.  So each time we landed at an airport we had to rush to the next gate to try to get on standby.  Of course all flights are booked at this time of year.  At one point we were so frazzled my mother left her purse (which had her ticket and money-all cash she had for the trip) on the courtesy van that was shuttling us between terminals.  My mom just stopped where she stood when she realized this and started crying.  We were so tired at this point we were sorry we ever left home.  However, after a phone call with the airlines shuttle office, the shuttle driver appeared at our gate with my mother's purse with NOTHING missing and we were able to finally bored the last leg of our flight and get to Michigan.  However, our luggage did not show up for there days.  It was horrible at the time but we laugh about it now.  However, I have NEVER traveled at Christmas time again.  HA HA!!!

Thanks for stopping by, please see my sidebar and visit all the Darlings blogs to see their creations.