An a-ha moment!

Did you ever have one of those ideas that you think is positively brilliant, only to find that someone else has already thought of it?  After spending days working on a project, that is exactly what happened!

I decided to post the photo anyway, since after all, my version is a bit different than that which came with this week's issue of the Cricut Chirp!  So, without further ado, here is my Valentine's Day wreath.

I started with heart shaped styrofoam purchased at Joanne's.  Using the Flower Shoppe Cricut cartridge, I cut Fun 1 in a variety of sizes.  The largest red roses are cut at 5", all the small cream colored one are cut at 2".  I inked the edges of the 5" roses with Fired Brick Distress Ink to give them some more dimension.  I rolled them all with my Hybrid Petal Roller from Imaginesce.  Linky  I used my hot glue gun to close them up.  I attached them to the wreath using straight pins.  I used pearl headed pins for the red roses, and ordinary pins for the cream roses.  I cut a piece of ribbon from my stash to create a hanger, and adhered it with straight pins.


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                        `v´  Darlene

Hello

to all my bloggy friends.  Another post without a project.  :(

Sorry I have been MIA.  I have just returned from a week long trip to Disney to celebrate my daughter's birthday.  Unfortunately, during my little family vacation my house sprung a leak, causing a flood and extensive damage.  I've been dealing with contractors, and plumbers and insurance people for the last three days.  I have been told my house will not be back together until after Christmas.  I will be spending all free time for the remainder of the month either packing up everything to get it out of the way for the repair work to be done, or unpacking it to get back to living.

I will do my very best to post pictures I have stored on my computer of older projects I have done, but the picture quality will be far from ideal.  In the meanwhile -happy crafting everyone!


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                        `v´  Darlene

Today is World AIDS Day

 

AIDS continues to be a major health concern.  There are new cases of HIV diagnosed every single day in the United States.   Today is a day of remembrance for the lives lost to this disease, and a day to be thankful for the medical advances that allow so many to continue on.  Take a moment today to think of those lost and those who are surviving.

In memory of those clients I have lost over the last decade.  May you all rest in peace.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Today is my guest designer spot at Susana's Scrapping Corner  found here!

Here theme this month was My Favorite Things.  Due to some camera malfunctioning, I was unable to photograph my project.  :(  But, I went through my stash of photos from past projects and came across a card I made a few months ago for a Baptism.

I used Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Ovals for the deep embossed image around the cross.  The cross itself is from the Indie Art Cricut cartridge, cut in various shades of pink.  I used my Xyron 250 to adhere the cross pieces together, and to the card.

Hope you like it!  Stop by and wish Sue a Happy Thanksgiving!  Until next time!

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                        `v´  Darlene

Another Source of Inspiration

EGADS!!!  Almost three weeks since the last post!  I promise to be better!!  Life has been hectic, leaving little time for crafting.  When I do have time to create, I don't always have the time to set up everything to take a decent picture and upload it.

More than a month ago, hopping around the Spellbinders blog, I came across this video YouTube.  When I watched the video I thought it was a really great way to spruce up a gatefold card (which is my absolute favorite fold), but didn't really have the chance to try it myself.  Over the weekend I gave it a whirl, with this as the result:

I started with Recollections basic cardstock in red cut at 5 1/2 by 12.  I eyeballed the patterned paper to make it fit.  I adhered it with my Xyron Mega Runner.  Rather than use the Twisted Metal Tags and Accents die that Julie uses in the video, I chose the large ornament die, from the Holly-Ornament Set from Heartfelt Creations Found Here.  The sentiment is the matching stamp from Heartfelt Creations Winter Wonderland Collection found here.  I stamped it in white pigment ink from Hampton Arts, and embossed with white embossing powder.  I tried as hard as I could to get the ink onto the die to create the lovely frame, but alas, I couldn't get a good image - so I just used ordinary white cardstock.  Rather than use a glue pen, I ran it through my Xyron 250.

Here is a view of the card when it is opened:

I chose not to use the die cut ornament for the inside of the card because I wanted the white embossing.  I was originally very unhappy with the stray flecks of embossing powder, but now I think they look like snow!

I will be submitting this card to Xyron for their holiday card contest.  Until next time!!


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                        `v´  Darlene 

Inspiration

Where do you find yours?

I love to hop through different blogs.  I love to walk around when I'm at a crop and see what other scrappers are creating.  I love to look at Etsy and Ebay to see the different designs.  Sometimes inspiration comes from another place.  For instance . . . one day I was flipping through a copy of Arizona Highways.  For those of you not familiar with the magazine, it is a publication put out by the State of Arizona which helps fund their state parks.  It is chock full of beautiful images of various places in and around the state.  Anyway, I was flipping through the magazine, when I came across this quote:

The butterfly counts not months, but moments

and has time enough.  - Tagore

It inspired me to create this card.

I sometimes use pre-made card bases from Michaels and enhance from there.  This is a 5x7 card base, inked with Weathered Wood Distress ink.  The purple background was made using the Faux Torn Mosaic technique from Splitcoast Stampers.  Found Here  I actually created this quite a while ago and then never used it the way I had intended.  I used Spellbinders Labels 8 to trim it to the size and shape you see.  The quote was printed using my Xyron Design Runner.  I then cut it out using Spellbinders Labels 10.  The butterfly is from Gypsy Wanderings.  The DP was from the bargain bin at Michaels.  I used Star Dust stickles in the cutouts on the butterfly.  The base layer was cut on plain white cardstock.  I don't remember the sizes of any of the cuts. I made this card long before I started this blog, and before I realized such details are important!  That's also the reason for the not so great photo.

If you are so inclined, leave me a comment and let me know what inspires you!

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                        `v´  Darlene 

My Creative Time Design Team Call

Emma at My Creative Time announced her first ever design team call on Sunday, October 23, 2011.  Found Here.  I was excited to hear this, as I've been a fan of her stamps since the first day I stumbled across her blog.  Her requirements were to create a brand new project just for this call.  After lots of thought about whether to create a card, a scrapbook layout, or an altered item, I decided on a card using Emma's All Around Christmas stamps.

It is a swing card, made using Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares.  Here it is partially open.

The stamp is Heartfelt Creations Holly Leaves Precut set from the Christmas collection.  I stamped on Bazzil using Memento Ink in black, then embossed with clear embossing powder.  The leaves are cut using the matching Spellbinders dies, and stamped with the matching Heartfelt Creations stamp with Versamark.  They are also embossed with clear embossing powder.  I'm usually not a fan of glitter - bling yes - but glitter, not so much.  However, the holly berries were screaming for something, so I dug through my stash and found some glitter I had been given (thank goodness I had red).  I used my Helmar 450 Quick Dry glue to fill in the stamped areas, sprinkled with glitter - and voilá, pretty holly berries!

Here it is fully open.

I left the inside mostly blank to write a Christmas greeting to the recipient.  The Merry Christmas on the lower right corner is from Emma's All Around Christmas stamp set. The green cardstock is Bazzil.  The patterned paper, ribbon and white cardstock base are all from my Michael's and part of my stash.

Hope you like it!

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      ((¸¸.·´  ..·´   -:¦:-
     -:¦:-   ((¸¸.· (¨`v´¨)
                        `v´  Darlene