Relaxing at the Path of Positivity

Welcome to a new challenge at the Path of Positivity blog. Although the challenges are all Anything Goes, the optional twist is RELAXATION. Create something that would encourage someone to relax.

I used papers from A Taste of Summer Paper Kit, created by Lisa Decosse of Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. 

I colored an digi image called Fab Four from Babycakes DND by Sandra Caldwell.  Do you like the Beatles' music? My hubby was a big fan. He even created a Beatles channel on Pandora. He could relax best with their music. My girlfriend loves the Beatles, too. Her birthday is next month, so besides getting a blast from the past, she will enjoy this card and not stress too much over another birthday!

There's a famous quote that says, "Music hath charms to soothe the savage soul". It's a proverb that  comes from the play The Mourning Bride, by William Congreve, an English author of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Music plays a very important part in everyone's lives. For instance, have you ever watched a scary movie and turned the sound off? Way less scary!!

Moms hum or sing lullabies to their babies, dancers move to the rhythm without thinking about it, just letting their bodies move with it. When I'm winding down, I turn on the soft acoustic sounds of a piano or guitar. When I want to get off the couch and move, it's rock or pop. As the kids always said on American Bandstand, "It's got a good beat I can dance to".

You have all of August to create something positive and link up with the Path of Positivity challenge blog for your chance to win prizes. All positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging projects qualify for this month's prizes:

• The A Taste of Summer Kit, a digital scrapbooking kit from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles, our guest sponsor for this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all qualifying entrants.

ONE image (value of $5 or less) from Scribbles Designs, for the post or project that the team deems most inspiring based on all entries.

One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

 Good luck and happy crafting!

Challenges I am Entering:

Archi-Scraps - Music

Classic Design Team - Anything Goes

Creative with Stamps - Dad or Masculine

Pearly Sparkles - B is for..."Beatles"

The Creative Crafters - Anything Goes

Dare 2B Artsy - Anything Goes

The Most Unusual Friendships are often the Strongest

One of my best friends is a woman with whom I worked. Our personalities were complete opposites. I felt we had nothing in common until each of our oldest children developed behavioral issues that sent them to temporary live-in care and us into a vortex of worry, doubt and fear.
I am proud to call this woman one of my very best friends. Through our shared experiences with mental health (ours and our kids) we bonded so strongly that almost 20 years later, we are still tight.

My card today reflects this friendship, and how I feel about our relationship. She feels that I have supported, cared for and loved her so much, and I feel the same. She's going through a rough patch right now, dealing with issues of loss recently. Besides the phone calls and the emojis added to my texts, I want to send her this card. We both have dogs, and both are allergic to cats, so my creation is very much in tune to us.

I featured a Sandra Caldwell image from her Babycakes DND Etsy Store. My cardstock haf a perfect circle in which to frame my Copic-colored image, but I made an error in cutting out my image. Men will use Duct tape; crafters will use Washi tape!! I love the geometric feel of this card.Just a little (okay, a lot) of jeweled bling to make it shine and I finished off my card with my sentiment.

How do you fix something that wasn't supposed to end up the way it did? Washi tape? Ink? Do you change your card to fit the error, or start all over again? Let me know!! and as always, happy crafting!

Challenges I am Entering:

Through the Craft Room Door -  Anything Goes
Show Us Your Pussycats - Furrything Goes
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes w/a Critter
Fabrika Fantasy - For the Boys/Men
Sheepski Designs - For Someone Special

Christmas Creatures Featured at the 12 Months of Christmas

Here's my holiday card for the 12 Months of Christmas blog. The optional twist is to create a card with a Christmas creature. I played with an image from Babycakes DND by Sandra Caldwell. It's called Snow Kitties and it is too cute, don't you think?! Babycakes DND is this month's guest sponsor, and one of my favorite stamp artists.

You don't need to follow the twist to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month nor for a chance to win a $9 gift certificate to the Babycakes Digis & Designs by Sandra Caldwell store. Every challenge runs from the 1st through the last day of the month.
Last month Chicago almost broke its record for latest Spring snowfall, the second snowfall in April. So creating Christmas cards in May is not exactly "out of season". Since I started creating this year's holiday cards in January for the 12 Months of Christmas Challenge blog, I'm building up quite a stash to send out!
Here's what went into my card:
Image: Babycakes DND Snow Kitties

Papers: Decosse's Dynamite Doodles' December Delights Deck the Halls pp; 12 Months of Christmas Checkered pp & 12 Days of Christmas 2018 Green Foil Textured paper

Ink: Copics
Font: Chemin

                   

Another Card with Sandra Caldwell for Your Scrapbook Place

Just a creative reminder that Your Scrapbook Place has an Anything Goes challenge this month. Sandra Caldwell is the guest sponsor and I used this free image from her Facebook page. I love tearing paper, and it's a good way to use up leftover pieces of patterned papers. I covered my torn-paper background with my Copic-colored image, framing it twice with cardstock. A simple bow and a sentiment finish off my card.
You have until the end of the month to create and link ANYTHING at Your Scrapbook Place for your chance to win!

Challenges I am Entering:

Imagine That! - Anything Goes

Colour Crazy Challenges - Anything Goes

Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

When Holidays Collide

While shopping the clearance aisle for Easter supplies for next year, I was reminded of how stores put out their Christmas stock about the same time as Halloween. When I was growing up, we were appalled when the stores dared to sell Christmas items before Thanksgiving! So my imagination, always active, took the holiday mix and the movie Nightmare Before Christmas and created today's card. The image is from Sandra Caldwell, and the papers and elements are from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.

Challenges I am Entering:

Fab & Funky challenges - Christmas
Try It On Tuesdays - Add a Quote

Anything Goes at Your Scrapbook Place

Happy November, crafters! Today starts a new challenge at Your Scrapbook Place challenge blog. Our sponsor is Sweet Pea Stamps, and we are sad that the store will close very soon. There are so many talented artists whose images have brightened our days. Look for them on Etsy and Facebook.
Meanwhile, I created a card using  an image from Sandra Caldwell, one of my fave artists from Sweet Pea.The image is called Three Stooges. These guys were my hubby's favorites when it came to slapstick and guaranteed laughter.
Which makes my sentiment perfect for my card: "A good time to laugh is any time you can"
The challenge at Your Scrapbook Place runs the full month of November, and has an Anything Goes theme. So get crafty and link up with us for some fun, inspiration and a chance to win free prizes!!

Happy Holidays to You from Squigglefly

Squigglefly offers this December new release digi image from artist Sandra Caldwell, and I am one lucky duck for getting to play with it!!
He's called "Santa and His Birdie." He is so stinkin' cute.
I colored him with Copics and framed him with a window card. Patterned paper is a piece of leftover from my stash files, along with that sentiment and flower. ut with the old, and in with the new!
Making holiday cards this week? Use a Squigglefly image and enter it in their challenge for your chance to win free digis! Get a freebie HERE.

Spice Up Your Christmas Colors

Today brings a new challenge from Squigglefly- a Christmas card! But there's an optional twist: Use non-traditional colors!
I replaced Pine tree green and Holly Red with Hot Pink and Neon Green and made this nifty card.
I got to use a November new release from artist Sandra Caldwell called "Pete & Pat Penguins." I used my trusty Copics to color this pair, then framed it with hot pink cardstock. My card face uses a piece of leftover Christmas patterned paper from last year.
To embellish, I found a hot pink Christmas ornament and adhered it so that it looks like Pat (hey, that's my name) is holding it in her, uh, flipper. My sentiment is stamped and embellished with sequins, and a pink feather finishes off my card.
Are you bored with the same old Christmas colors? Try using some non-traditional ones with a Squigglefly image and you will be in the running for free digis. If you don't have a Squigglefly image, check out the FREEBIES.

Challenges I am entering:
xCraft Your Passion - Beginning with B (Bells, buddies, Brrr)
Imagination Crafts Challenge Blog - Anything Goes
xLove to Create - Anything Goes

That's a Fact, Jack (o-Lantern)!

I love Halloween, don't you?! This week Squigglefly Challenge Blog offers a perfect challenge for the season--Use pumpkin(s) on your project.
My image is a very mysterious jack-o-lantern, a Squigglefly October new release from the very lovely Sandra Caldwell. The image is called "Peeking Jacko" and he looks too cool for that cat!
I colored him with my trusty Copics, adding a little shimmer to his shades, which gave the whole image a lot more dimension. Then I ripped the image's edges, distressed and inked the edges and popped him onto my card face, which is two diagonally-cut patterned papers adhered to black cardstock.
A couple Halloween stickers finish off my card and I'm ready to send to one of the grandkids!
Got some extra pumpkin paper, stickers or images lying around, waiting for a challenge? Try out the Squigglefly Challenge blog this week. If you use a Squigglefly image, you could win free digis!!

A Passion for Purple

Squigglefly's new challenge is for projects to show off their passion for PURPLE, BLACK or ORANGE. I chose PURPLE to showcase this September new release from artist Sandra Caldwell. It's called "Bearly A Nurse" and it is so stinkin' cute.

After coloring her with Copics, I diecut black card stock to frame her and popped her onto a leftover piece of patterned paper. The sentiment is also from Squigglefly. I embellished simply with a few purple flowers and some sequins.

One of the teachers with whom I work during the school year took a bad fall and broke a few ribs. He is still in the hospital and will have to do a long round of rehab, so this card should cheer him up some.

Got some PURPLE, BLACK or ORANGE paper to create with? Use a Squigglefly digi image and link up at the Squigglefly Challenge Blog for your chance to win free digis!!

Time Flies When you're Crafting

Time flies when you're having fun, like water coloring or crafting or spending time with the grandkids. I've had a broke-down clock for months, and was waiting for inspiration to strike. Well, it did over the weekend, and here's my finished project.
I took off the glass cover and removed the hands and broken guts, then used a newly-released digi image from Squigglefly. It's called Angel & Birdie by the ever-talented artist Sandra Caldwell. After coloring the image with my trusty Copics, I fussy-cut my angel and adhered it to the clock face. The sentiment went on next, and then I threw on jeweled flowers. I sprayed a protective sealant on it and it's now hanging in my kitchen.
There are some awesome digital images released this month at the Squigglefly store. The challenge blog, whose challenge this week is to "round those corners," offers up plenty of inspiration to crafters, and the chance to win free digis when you link your own "rounded project using a Squigglefly image.

Crafting Around with Squigglefly

Today's card follow's the theme for this week's Squigglefly challenge - "create a ROUND card. I created my ROUND card using a July new release by artist Sandra Caldwell.  It's called Fashion Fanny.  Isn't she adorable?!

I colored her with Copics and fussy-cut the image. I layered my ROUND card base with adhesive flourish border tape, an alcohol-ink misted paper doily, black diecut cardstock, sequins and butterflies. Then I popped Fanny into place and there she is, in all her fashionable glory!
Have you made ROUND CARDS yet? They're fun, as they make you think outside the angular box. Try it for Squigglefly's new challenge--and if you use a Squigglefly digi image, you'll be in the running for digi prizes!  Don't have any?? Click here for FREEBIES.

Let the Sun In!

Don't you just love summer?  Especially after that freakish winter and bi-polar Spring? Squigglefly has a new challenge this week-Create a card using the shape of the sun: "add any type of embellishment that includes a sun shape on your card, this can be a die cut, a pattern on your cardstock, a button shape, an brad or eyelet, an embellishment, or part of your image."
I decided to go with a sun-shaped card. I played with two of Sandra Caldwell's images released by Squigglefly this month, Americana Beauty and Firecrackers, coloring them both with Copics. In keeping with the roundness of the sun (and my card base, I framed both images with red and blue cardstock, adding a little Stickles for shimmer and shine.
I embossed the words I love America and added a line of pearls and a couple ribbon bows for embellishments. I inked the edges of my card with coordinating ink and I have the perfect birthday card for my daughter, who turns 19 this 4th of July. Happy early bitthday, Wendy!!

Only 199 Days Before Christmas

Squigglefly has a new artist creating images for them!! It's someone whose images I love to color. Her name is Sandra Caldwell and I made my card today using Americana Beauty.
The challenge this week is to make a Christmas card, and I love to take images from one holiday and use it for a different one. Here, I colored this Americana Beauty with greens and reds and pulled out my Christmas papers. I used white gel pen to draw faux stitches around her to coordinate with the stitches on the patterned paper, which is from the DCWV paper stack. along with the photo corners.
The red ad green bow with bells attached is from a set of Christmas earrings, one of which was lost sometime between Christmas and New Year's. I never throw away the matching earring, as I can always find a use for it in my craft room.
So, why don't you get a headstart on your Christmas cards by joining in this week's Squigglefly challenge? One random winner will receive free digis of their choice! What are you waiting for? Time's running out!!

QKD Card Today

Hey, crafters!  I have a fun card to show you today.  I stamped up a Queen Kat Designs image called Frog Queen by the lovely and talented Sandra Caldwell.   I love this image and have used it often.

After coloring it with Copics, I framed it with cardstock first and then with another square piece of cardstock whose corners I punched (with my favorite punch).  I popped it onto a base of stitched cardstock and embossed paper.

I embellished with an acrylic sentiment, a couple stray beads and some sequins.  I like the look of the card.  the scene almost looks like an alien queen from another planet selfie!!  I have a friend who loves frogs so this card is going straight to her mail box via snail mail.

Do you still mail out cards or letters?  I do.  There's nothing more satisfying than getting mail out of the mailbox to open and read.  I try to send my grandkids mail, even if it's just a card.  The youngest, Bella, loves getting mail addressed to her (she's 6).

Safe Under Mama's Wings

Today my heart goes out to the victims of the tornadoes that have brought destruction to the midwest, especially yesterday.  Would that we all be safe from harm "Under Mama's Wings", as this QKD image is called by the very talented Sandra Caldwell.

I made a tag card, distressing the background a tad, popping some lace on the bottom for a roosting spot for that poor tired mama, under whose wings her chicks rest peacefully.  A wired swap of beads decorates the top, while sequins are sprinkled across the front.  A simple "Hi" sentiment finishes off my card.

Prayers to all who lost something or someone this weekend, and heartfelt thanks to those heroes who put themselves in harm's way to save their neighbors.

Enjoy the day, crafters!!

Under Mama's Wings by Sandra Caldwell

Did everyone enjoy the weekend?  I ran away with my mom and my sisters for a girls' overnight away.  We played Yahtzee and watched movies and had a bunch of fun.  We laughed over memories and made new ones.

I made this card for one of my sisters. Each is a godmother to one of my kids, so I always give them cards as well as my own mom.

Queen Kat Designs released a new image from Sandra Caldwell that was perfect for my Mother's Day card.  It's called "Under Mama's Wings".  That is one tired looking mama bird, but she also looks happy to me, happy to be able to hold and protect two healthy young ones.

I too am happy to have two young adults as my children, one married into a family with a daughter of his own, and the other about to embark on the adventure of her life, graduating from high school next month.

You can always find the perfect images and stamps for whatever you're feeling, whatever you want to say to someone.  Check out the Shoppe for the most fun, funky, fantastical, gorgeous images!! You'll love what you see!

Making Lists

Are you a list maker?  I am!  I like to cross off the things I've listed on my to-do list.  I like to make sure I get everything on my grocery list when I go shopping.  I  like to know what I've got stashed in my closet during those last few shopping days before Christmas.
I love lists!!  And I get tired of having to buy pretty little books to keep my lists in, so I made a few this week and wanted to show them off.

The first notebook I made uses a Queen Kat Designs April release from artist Sandra Caldwell.  It's called "Four-Eyed Flower.  I colored it with Copics and, after making the "cover" from patterned paper, I fussy-cut the image and popped it onto the front flap.

Here's the inside:

I didn't do much to the inside.  I just added a few stickers and some gold lace border.

The next notebook I made is for a challenge from my Yahoo group, Your Scrapbook Place.  Every day this month, we receive a new challenge and have 24 hours to finish and post a photo of our projects.

This challenge was to make a special notebook called Purse Papers.  There is a tutorial on Split Coast Stampers with instructions and a template, if you click on the link.



Anyway, I tweaked the instructions a bit.  Instead of stamping on white cardstock, I used double-sided patterned paper.  My booklet opens the opposite direction, too.  But I like what I created!

Please don't laugh at my Christmas theme!  I just happened to have the paper in front of me.  And the box of Christmas embellies was just an arm's length away.

The booklet stays closed with the help of the ribbon. tied into a nice neat bow.  I added some die-cut pine trees and the sentiment sticker.  To really get into the whole winter thing, I used white acrylic paint for some snow effects.

When opened, a pretty pocket holds some sheets of paper, decorated with a (of course) Christmas-themed stamp.  I inked the edges and added a few candy cane hearts.

So I am in notebook heaven, ready to make more lists, and cross items off of them.  I should save up all my old lists and place them in a time capsule.  It would certainly showcase how I have lived my life!!

Bloomin' Bookmark

Hello, crafters!  Today I have a pretty bookmark using a Queen Kat Design's April release called "Four-eyed Flower".  The image is designed by the talented artist Sandra Caldwell.

I thought this glasses-wearing posy would look great in a book.  I used a magnetic bookmark base from Stampin Up and created an ATC-sized card base that fits well on the magnet.  I kept my embellishments to a minimum so that it would lay flat in the books I read.

DO you like to read?  I love mysteries by Joann Fluke and Carol Higgins Clark, as well as biographies and the witty writings of Carl Hiasson.  But my all-time favorite books are The Stand by Stephen King, The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein, and The Crystal Singer trilogy by Anne McCaffrey.

Do you have a favorite book you like to read more than once?  Tell me what your favorite reads are and I'll choose a random commenter and send you my Bloomin' Bookmark.

Meanwhile, Four-Eyed Flower would look perfect on your own bookmark!!  Or you could make a card with Sandra's image and put it with a book to give to a friend!  For her image, and the rest of the new releases this month, check out the Shoppe.  There's nothing like some new images to make your day bloom!

Birthday Bunny

I made a card today, using another too-cute digi image from Sandra Caldwell.  This one is called  Easter Rabbit  .  I used two pieces of leftover patterned papers, dividing them with a piece of colored lace.  A blue diecut balloon is floating behind a metal charm that reads: birthday.  The image was colored with my trusty Copics, and a couple pearls finish off the embellishments.
There's still time to join in the challenge over at Your Scrapbook Place Blog, where the theme is anything goes using one of Sandra's free digi images available at her blog, BabycakesDoodleThis&That.  More than one winner will be drawn, so come on over for your chance to win some fabulous prizes!  Check them out: