For the love of Gerbera Daisies

Well, here it is Saturday again. Where do the days and weeks go? It is time for the weekly DIVA sketch challenge. You can check to see what all of the designers have done with DSC 185 by going here.




I really liked this sketch, but when I starting kicking around ideas, I made some changes. I rotated it from a horizontal format to a vertical one. The more I looked at it flipped, I knew I only wanted to use half of the sketch. Here's my card. I used it to showcase a Gerbera Daisy pin I made, and the card will make a beautiful presentation package as well.


For the card~
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Beyond the Garden DSP
Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection framelits die

For the Flower~
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Big Shot, Daisies #2 die, Antique Brads

I made a dozen of the flowers this week in an assortment of colors~ Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Tangerine Tango and Pretty in Pink, all with Daffodil Delight centers. (I bought a combination pin back/alligator clip at a local craft store and glued the flowers on with Crystal Effects.) I brought them in for my Wednesday morning Bible study brunch. It was the only fat-free, calorie-free "treat" for the day. :-) The ladies loved them!

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by! As always, I love to see your comments, so leave a little love today if you have time!

Blessings,
Barbara

Everything Eleanor

Good morning!

Happy Saturday to you! Here in northern New Jersey, amazing things are going on outdoors. Last week I spotted a lilac bush in bloom, which is way ahead of schedule. Yesterday I saw irises and a dogwood, and today I spotted an azalea in bloom! Everything is blooming about a month ahead of schedule, and it looks absolutely beautiful wherever you go, but I can't remember the last time it rained! There were several wildfires earlier this week. I wish it would rain, and I wish things would slow down a little!

Today's UDI sketch is very interesting! I struggled with it for a while, and then an idea popped into my head and I ran with it. Here's the sketch, SC184:


And here is my card:

This is a sneak peek of a set that will be in the 2012-2013 catalog, Everything Eleanor. I got this set at Leadership in January, and I can't believe I didn't play with it before. Isn't it lovely? And I only used about half of the stamps! Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, Mocha Morning DSP, watercolor paper
Inks: Calypso Coral, Soft Suede ink and markers
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, retired SAB Calypso Coral ribbon, Lace ribbon border punch, dotted scallop ribbon border

I hope you like it! What do you think? My brainstorm was to substitute all of the ovals in the sketch with the loops of the ribbon. I'm happy with how it turned out. If you have time to leave a comment, I really appreciate it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara

Back to Blogging!

Hi there!

I didn't expect to be away from blogging for so long. It's nice to be back and I'm glad you are here!

Here's the latest DIVA sketch challenge, DSC183. Our sketches this month are by Ruthie B. I stayed true to the sketch but substituted a large oval for the butterfly. Thanks for a great sketch, Ruthie!


I was itching to play with some of the new Summer Smooches products that I had ordered. I got them just before I went away and had no time play. Here's my card:

Recipe:
Stamps: Bright Blossoms
Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Summer Smooches DSP
Markers: Real Red, Marina Mist, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Big Shot, ovals die, Daffodil Delight 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, mat pack

I used the paper piercing pad to get the dotted border on the oval evenly spaced. I love the repetition of all of the little dots in the background paper and the scallop border punch as well. Trying to figure out how to cut the scallop ribbon in half was quite a challenge! I first tried with a scissors, but it wasn't straight. I looked at my tabletop cutter (#106959) and new I would never be able to hold the paper in place, so I finally used my paper cutter (#104152) and it worked like a charm. Next time, I think a little dotto to hold it in place will probably help. The stamps were colored with markers rather than an ink pad. In retrospect, I think Daffodil Delight paper would have better than the grosgrain ribbon. With such vibrant colors in the DSP they shadow through the ribbon. Oh well, lesson learned!

Well, it's good to be back to blogging! I have missed it, and I hope you are glad I'm back too!

Easter Blessings to you and yours,
Barbara

P.S. A lot has been going on in the last three weeks that I would like to share.

I have been working to promote for Manager and have been close several times, but in the last several weeks, I've gotten even closer! I got a new recruit who actually found me! (Thanks, Linda!) We've known each other for about 30 years, and while she was vacationing in Florida, she went to a card class and fell in love with Stampin' Up! products! As soon as she got home, she searched for a demonstrator in her area, and the rest is history!

Two weeks later, one of my downline members (Hi, June!) had her first Stampin' Up! party. I think the party was over $650, and she got a recruit as well!

Last week, my daughter Becky, who was my upline but had dropped, rejoined Stampin' Up! I'm so glad she's back because I love to talk about stamping with her and she inspires me!

Here's the one thing holding me back. I need $1,000 more in annual sales to promote. I am running a special (through me, not Stampin' Up!) sale where I will pay the tax and shipping on all orders. For every $25 spent, your name will get entered in a drawing for hostess dollars as well as items at 50% off! That includes the Big Shot as well our Stampin' Write markers. The bigger the order, the greater the rewards! And I have a free product gift for any one who places an order.

Please shoot me an email if you would like to be part of the fun! You cannot order from my business website since this is a special that I am offering.