Design D.I.V.A.S. OBG Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to this month's Facebook Design D.I.V.A.S Oldies But Goodies Blog Hop!

The Facebook Design DIVAS (Divine, Inspirational, Virtuous , Artistic "Sistahs") is a group of crafters who love to share their inspiration, talent and fellowship! We have our "Oldies But Goodies" Blog Hop the third Wednesday of each month. Our challenge is to use products that
have been neglected or forgotten for at least six months. Be sure to mark your calendars and stop by each month to share in the fun! You are sure to see some amazing projects!

Carolyn Bounds starts our blog hop today! If you have come here from Carolyn's awesome blog, you are in the right place.

I have a fun easel wedding card to share with you today. I enjoy making this style card and the way it it is able to sit up for display. Dawn Griffith has a great video on how to make this card here! I started with a white card base. I then layered black, pink dotted swiss and another layer of white. The bride and groom hearts are also an inspiration from Dawn and her video for these can be found here. The base and white layer are cut with a border punch. The easel "stopper" is the same black, pink and white with the sentiment generated on the computer. The card has some added bling with pearls and clear adhesive hearts. There is a computer generated greeting inside the card. All the elements of this card more than meet the criteria for this hop! It has been an encouraging discovery to pull out the "oldies but goodies" for this challenge! It's still amazing what you can stockpile in a couple of years time! But, that is no surprise to any of you, right?

I hope you have enjoyed your visit here today! It is always a joy to have you stop by! You will want to continue the hop by visiting Maria Matter's blog! Maria always has wonderful projects to share! I am sure you will find inspiration at all your stops on the hop today! Join us again next month and I will continue to send...

Blessings to you,
Vicki

A Butterfly Blessing

Hello Everyone!

I'm here today to share the very sweet blessing sent to me by a dear blogging buddy! It is always a special treat to receive a blog award! Cindy Johnsen Pec has included me in the "Butterfly Blog" award! Thank you, Cindy! Sorry it took me so long to get this posted! Cindy is such a hoot! Her crafting is remarkable, her heart is warm and wide open to her friends and she's a nurse! Be sure to pay her a visit at Cindy's Antics Stamping, Scrapping, Nursing, Family! Oh, and be ready for the strange splashing sound on her blog! When I first heard it, I wasn't sure if I should try to catch something or jump into something!!

As with other blog awards, there are a few guidelines that come with the award. I have been asked to answer some questions.

Q1) Name your favorite color? Green

Q2) Name your favorite song? Victory in Jesus

Q3) Name your favorite dessert? Chocolate Chimichanga

Q4) What whizzes you off at the moment??? Politicians

Q5) Your favorite pet? Oh, can't pick favorite...I love them all

Q6) Black or White? Depends if it is day or night

Q7) Your biggest fear? Falling

Q8) Best Feature? Hope it is my smile

Q9) Everyday attitude? Nothing God and I can't work through...

Q10) What is perfection? An unrealistic perception

Now, I am supposed to send this award on to ten other bloggers. Well, I can't! I can't choose just ten!! So, I am going to share this award with all my blogging buddies and hope they know how important they are to me! I have been so blessed with wonderful crafters who inspire me with their creativity and make my heart sing with their love and kindness!

I am so glad you stopped by today! I hope to have some paper projects posted soon, so, be sure to check in later! Hope you have an amazing week! I will leave you now with...

Blessings to you,
Vicki

No Tragedy Here

Hello Friends!

Quite the weekend for the East Coast, huh? Hope everyone came through with little or no damage or injury!

I want to share a card with you today that was made for my nephew. He is a wonderful guy who I dearly love! He has been in the theater many years wearing many "hats"; actor, writer, singer, dancer, you name it! To hear him talk in his soothing Southern drawl warms any heart! But, to see him on stage and speaking a whole different dialect and expressing a completely different persona just blows me away! For his birthday card, my thoughts immediately went to the theater masks, comedy and tragedy.

I started with a standard size card base in Brilliant Blue. I rounded the corners of the base as well as the gold mat layer. Having no stamps for the masks, I went to the computer and found the clip art. I only used the comedy mask for this card. I printed those images twice, cut them out and layered them on the card with dimensionals. I printed the greeting, also on the computer, using Print Shop. Next, I sponged the edges of the greeting layer with some Brilliant Blue ink. As a final accent, I added some copper colored adhesive pearls. I am happy to say he loved it!

I always seem to enjoy the cards made for family much more, don't you? I love crafting cards, but those going to family and friends just make me enjoy the process in a different way!

I am so glad you stopped by today! Hope you have enjoyed your visit and will come again! Who knows which relative or friend's profession I will zero in on next?!?!?

Have an awesome day and know I am sending...

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Design DIVAS Oldies but Goodies Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the August Design D.I.V.A.S. Oldies but Goodies Blog Hop! Our challenge for this hop is to use items in our project that are at least six months old. I know we all have some of those in our crafting supplies!! If you have arrived here from Dru's blog, you are in the right spot. To start at the beginning of the hop, be sure to go to Heather's blog.

The card I am sharing with you today is made up of all "oldies but goodies". I made this card for a friend's great niece. That fact will be important later!

I started with the dress template I found here. It is precious and reminds me of the dresses my girls wore when they were babies. This is a two part template so the variations for this piece are endless. I started with a white cardstock base and covered it in wallpaper. Tacky glue works really well for adhering the wallpaper to the base. For the front, I also cut a vellum overlay which I then embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. I sponged the dress edges with rose colored chalk ink. The trim around the top is bakery twine in a coordinating color. At the bodice line, I added a strip of pink grosgrain ribbon. The buttons are actually from my friend's collection! I wanted to include a little heritage in the card! I think it is so neat that we could include the great aunt's buttons! The sentiment strip was computer generated and cut with design scissors. I also used the scissors to cut the bottom edge of the dress. As a final touch, I added a tiny satin bow with the tails falling down the front of the dress. The card opens at the bottom; so if your cardstock or paper has a definite pattern, you will need to cut the fold at the shoulder in order to keep pattern going in the right direction. I also had to make the envelope for this card as it did not fit standard sizes. This card is a little time consuming, but definitely worth the effort.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit here. It is such fun "hopping" with these talented ladies! Your next stop is Mary Harmon's blog. I know you will be inspired by what she has to share!

Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope you will join us again for our next hop the third Wednesday in September!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Two from One Design!

Hello Friends!

Today I would like to share a couple of cards made using the same DCWV cardstock design. Once again, I have gone to my favorite Fun in the Sun pack! This has become one of my favorites due to the double sided designs and the touches of glitter on the cardstock.

My maternal grandmother was a tiny lady with a big heart. One of her favorite sayings when we washed the dishes was, "While you have that hot wet rag, how about wiping down this...or that!" She managed to get her entire kitchen cleaned that way!! We use that phrase still today and I was reminded of it when I had this cardstock out. So, while I had this big piece of cardstock out, why not make two cards??

The anniversary card is standard size. I cut the outside edges with Majesty design scissors. The greeting layer is cut with Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangle die and stamped in Really Rust craft ink. The edges are sponged with Ballet Blue ink. I added copper pearls for accent as well as the heart gem brad. I used the SU Bird punch to add some extra interest with the bird and branches. The bird's eye is also a copper pearl. Simple and fun with this card!

The second card was made for my daughter's friend. Military wives are so awesome about encouraging and supporting each other! She needed a card just to say she appreciated her friend's efforts and prayers. Same standard base as before. The greeting is stamped on a strip of GP white cardstock and cut with an MS border punch. The flowers are from a K & Company pack. The centers on the flowers were yellow so I went over them with a copper glimmer gel pen and added the white dots. You are gonna laugh I know, but I thought you would get a kick from the fact that I used the little dot cut outs from the border punch on the flower centers!! How's that for recycling?!?!? The flowers are adhered with dimensionals. I added a rust colored ribbon to soften the card a little and rounded the lower corners. Here again, simple and fun!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and you have enjoyed your visit here today! Please come back soon! And, remember....put that hot wet rag to good use while you have it!! Hugs and...

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Design DIVAS OBG Blog Hop!!

Hello and Welcome to the Facebook Design DIVAS OBG Blog Hop! So glad you are here! If you came here from Mary Griffith's blog, then you are in the right place! If you would like to start at the beginning of the hop, head over to Cindy Grigiski 's blog!

The Facebook Design DIVAS (Divine, Inspirational, Virtuous , Artistic "Sistahs") is a group of crafters who love to share their inspiration, talent and fellowship! We have our "Oldies But Goodies" Blog Hop the third Wednesday of each month. Our challenge is to use products that have been neglected or forgotten for at least six months. Be sure to mark your calendars and stop by each month to share in the fun! You are sure to see some amazing projects!

My project to share today is a masculine birthday card. These always seem to be needed and seem the hardest to come up with. This time I needed a card for my son-in-law. I even got excited when I came across a stamp set I had not used in quite some time! I started with a card base from My Mind's Eye. I love the brown and blue together for a masculine card! I found some matching cardstock in my stash and stamped/clear embossed the lighthouse in Night of Navy craft ink! This image is from The Angel Company's "Light the Path" set. I then stamped and embossed the birthday greeting from the Inkadinkado's "Greetings" Collection. I cut the image and greeting down to size with scalloped scissors. Next, I cut the mats and sponged all the edges with the craft ink. I also added the Making Memories "Metal Sayings" sticker for some extra interest. The last detail is some baker's twine in Cappuccino color. Then I adhered the image and greeting to the card with dimensionals. I hope you like the result! I was pleased to see these older products come to life again!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! It is always a treat to have you here! Now, you will want to hop on over toDru Cabral's blog! She always has the neatest things to share!

Hope you enjoy the hop and I leave you with...

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Vintage Birthday!

Greetings to all! Ready for the weekend? We were looking forward to some cooler weather but looks like we are going to have the storms to come with it! Crazy Spring here in the mountains!

I have a birthday card to share with you today. This was a true labor of love as I made it for my best friend, Mary! She is such an awesome lady and my "rock" for several years now! I hope all of you have someone in your life that is your "Mary"! It is such a blessing!

Mary likes vintage styles, and her favorite colors are pastels. I tried to incorporate those "likes" in her card. I started with some wonderful double-sided cardstock from DCWV's "Fun In the Sun" collection. I cut the 12 x 12 sheet to 8 1/2 x 11 and made a half fold base. I used the tree branch stamp from the SU "Easter Blessings" set and Color Box Chalk ink in Warm Violet to stamp the background. I then cut the top layer edge with a Martha Stewart border punch. I rounded and distressed all the other edges. The greeting was cut and embossed from the same stock with the Spellbinders "Peony" die and then stamped and clear embossed with the a Stampede "Elegant Birthday" stamp. I outlined the embossing with a pink glitter pen. The ribbon trim is an Offray ruffled white satin. I also used the white ribbon to make the flowers. I embellished the flower centers with petite flower brads. The flowers are very easy to make with the ruffled ribbon. It is just curled in a spiral with glue dots to hold it all along. These are attached with glue dots also. To "bling it up" even more I added a jeweled hat pin and ribbon slide from Making Memories. The heart "Gemstones" are from Paper Studio and the pearls are from K and Company. I found a wonderful poem for the inside of the card and thought you might have a "sister" in your life you would like to share it with.

You may see me use more of the ruffled flowers all along as they are so easy to make and ruffled ribbon comes in so many wonderful colors. I don't know about mailing a card with these flowers. I hand delivered this card, but I know there is extra postage required to mail a half fold card. I was also told that any card that is too thick to go through the machines is charged extra. I just don't think I would risk mailing a card with these flowers and beads on it.

Well, my four legged babies are telling me I have said enough(they want to go out), so I will leave you with a wish for a wonderful weekend and, as always...

Blessings to you,
Vicki