Another Version of the Flower Petal Card

Hello,

This is the other version of the Flower Petal Card - one I made for my friend Anna who loves cats and has I think 10 of them now. I hope she likes it. :<)

Everything I needed to make the card.

The outside of the card.

The inside of the card.

To close the card, each petal folds in on to the one before it.

Close up of the front of the card.

The finished card - closed and tied shut.

My lovely friend Helen commented that this fold card would make a great ornament. She was right - look how great it is as an ornament! I love to hear other's creative ideas! Thank you Helen! You can see Helen's beautiful blog at http://helenmade.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today!

I finally was able to visit all of my followers who have a blog - to see what you all are creating and to leave a comment. If I missed anyone, please do let me know! I am now trying to catch up on visiting other bloggers that I also follow and will try to come to visit everyone more often. I absolutely love it when you come to visit me and your comments are what keeps me motivated to create so I want to return the kindness! :<)

We are going to get some snow here soon. This is the first winter that I am anxious of what winter means - the cold, the snow, the ice. The cleaning off and moving the car from the parking lot so the snow plow can get in and then moving it back. The worry of a dead battery. Difficulty in driving to appointments, to get groceries, etc. Fear of ice on the roads and walkways.

I will just have to keep looking at the small sign I keep by my computer that helps me during the difficult times. It wasn't meant to mean 'real weather' but I guess that can fit also! It reads "No Winter lasts forever, no Spring skips its turn." I may have to enlarge the sign!

Wishing you a good day today wherever you are! You are important to me! :<)

Barbara Diane

Flower Fold Card

Hello!

I love cards that are interactive - different - unusual. This Flower Fold card is all of those things and it is also so pretty!

After printing and cutting out the card template, I sponged on a darker red ink around the edges of the entire card, including the edges of the middle octogon shape - both on the outside and the inside of the card.

From the printed template for the attachments, I cut out the pieces from a DP and then sponged the edges of these pieces with the same red ink. The inside piece with the words was cut from a white CS and then also sponged.

Then a ribbon was added across the outside of the card. This will become the top and the bottom of the card. I used a strip of Snail to hold the ribbon in place.

The DP was added to the front of the card - on top of the ribbon.

The white CS and the DP petals were added to the inside of the card.

The petals all fold in - starting with the top one on the right and going around the card - each petal folded in on top of the one before it . . . . .

until it looks like this - with them all folded in.

Then the top comes down over the petals and the ribbon is tied in a bow to keep the card closed.

The punch ornaments were decorated and added to the top of the card with Pop Dots to give them dimension and there you have it - a beautiful Flower Fold card!

You can purchase the template for this wonderful Flower Fold Card at the "Cards, Etc. Shop. Their site is at http://dutchmall.nl/cards-etc-shop/artikel/category/templates

Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow I will have another version of this card. :<)

Wishing you a great Monday! We are having sunny and warmer days here in this part of WI and I love it! I know it is coming - but so far no snow!

Barbara Diane

"Tis The Season

Hello!

It was inevitable - the Christmas season is here. In fact it has been in the stores everywhere - since Halloween! I have put off making anything Christmasy until now as we have the rest of this month and almost the entire month of December to create holiday cards and projects. But is is time - Thanksgiving is over and my favorite holiday of the year is on it's way!

I love this style of card and you can find a great tutorial on the Friday, November 19th post on the Bo Bunny Blog at http://bobunny.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wishing you a great weekend! We have cold, cold, cold here in this part of WI but no snow yet!

Barbara Diane

GINORMOUS E-Giveway!!!

Hello!

I am a member of an awesome group called "Artisians Creating Outside The Lines". They are having a fantastic giveway! Go to http://artisanscreating.blogspot.com/ to visit the site and read all about it! While you are there be sure to visit all of the wonderful members sites beginning with my good friend Jess - our leader! http://littledirtlanedolls.blogspot.com/

Here is a list of all of the talented members. For a most lovely trip - beautiful dolls and bears, art creations, recipes, ideas, all sorts of fun things - do visit their sites! It may take some time, as you will want to spend some time at each one looking at all of the glory - but this is the most amazing collection of artists! You will be happy you did!

http://allisbrightcrafts.blogspot.com/
http://angiesraggedypatch.blogspot.com/
http://whimcees.blogspot.com/
http://barecubdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://beachbabyartdollcreations.blogspot.com/
http://buttonbearsraggedies.blogspot.com/
http://cinnamonstitchedprimitives.blogspot.com/
http://www.gobblegoos.com/
http://dollys2.blogspot.com/
http://handmadebynama.blogspot.com/
http://jrbcreations.blogspot.com/
http://lilmamasprimitives.blogspot.com/
http://littledirtlanedolls.blogspot.com/
http://littleartycraftycrow.blogspot.com/
http://mammystitches.blogspot.com/
http://ocrprimitivearts.blogspot.com/
http://olivegroveprimitives.blogspot.com/
http://rablogparty2009.blogspot.com/
http://raggedyanngirlssociety.blogspot.com/
http://sewmanyraggedies.blogspot.com/
http://stitchanything.blogspot.com/
http://sympletymes.blogspot.com/
http://dollsinthebigredhouse.blogspot.com/
http://wiltedmagnolia.blogspot.com/
http://therustythimble.blogspot.com/
http://thimbleprimsstudio.blogspot.com/
http://reepeas.blogspot.com/
http://designsbyguka.blogspot.com/
http://woodburyparkbears.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Barbara Diane

The Stylish Blogger Award

Hello!

I received the Stylish Blogger Award from Monica - who's blog is Monica's Crafts - and you can visit her there at http://monica-fc.blogspot.com/ to see all of her creations! Thank you Monica - this is a lovely surprise and you are very kind to think of me!

Accepting this award, I am asked to do the following:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded me this award.

2. Share 8 things about myself.

3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that I have recently discovered.

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

So here are 8 things about me.

1. Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love everything about it - the colors, the music, the food, the atmosphere. Everything!

2. I love to read! Always have. As a young girl my father would tell people that the ceiling could fall in and I would not even notice if I was reading. Still the same. :<)

3. I am very organized. I love order and am known for my ability to fit mega items in very small areas - which is a good thing as my apartment is very small!

4. Loyalty and honesty are very important to me. I value these things in my friends and family as to me they mean security and love.

5. I am definitely not a morning person. I need to begin my day in quiet. A person who can begin their day with an alarm that also turns on the radio - especially if it is a news program - they live in another world from me! :<)

6. Cut flowers are beautiful to me and lovely to have. If I ever became rich, I would have cut flowers in vases in every room!

7. My one dream was to have what I call "a grandma house" - a small 2-bedroom home with a little yard that has a garden and trees, an enclosed porch for my studio, a garage, room for a dog. I have taken photos of such a house that I will share some day.

8. I try to stay positive and keep my sense of humor. That has kept me going throughout my entire life. If one can somehow find the ability to laugh - one can face most anything.

I want to pass this award on to the following bloggers that I have recently discovered. In alphabetical order they are:

A Scrapjourney http://debby4000.blogspot.com/
Capture a Heart http://captureaheart-cami.blogspot.com/
Crea Astrid http://creaastrid.blogspot.com/
From My Scrap Room http://frommyscraproom.blogspot.com/
P P Paradise http://michelle-pinkpaperparadise.blogspot.com/
Snap, Edit, Scrap http://annssnapeditscrap.blogspot.com/
Stranamenteio http://stranamenteio.blogspot.com/
Tessa's Cards http://tessaskaarten.blogspot.com/

Please do visit these awesome blogs and you will enjoy seeing their wonderful creations!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! :<)

Barbara Diane

A 15 Minute Card

Hello!

I needed to make a card and had very little time. This card took 15 minutes - the longest step was drawing the leaves from a template and cutting them out. The actual measuring and cutting the cardstock and even drawing the stitches took very little time.

Those of you who have followed my blog may remember this turkey guy as one of my polymer creations from last year. :<)

Thanks for stopping by today!

I am continuing to try and visit as many of you as I can - hopefully over the next few days I will be able to be at home so I can spend more time on the computer! I love seeing your blogs and looking at your wonderful creations! Your visits to my blog and your kind comments bring me inspiration and motivation! :<) You bring smiles to my day!

Wishing you a good day!

Barbara Diane

Hello!

The directions for this fun little box can be found on the wonderful Beate's blog 'fresh & fun' and you can find them here http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ Most of the posts of her great projects also include a video 'for the visual learner' and that is certainly me! I can follow a written tutorial with no problem, but I love videos that 'show' me what to do! :<)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have to head out early today to an appointment so this is short. It is raining and cold and dark.

Wishing you some sunshine where you are!

Barbara Diane

Class Projects

Hello!

These are the Thanksgiving projects we made at Hannah's House yesterday. A turkey place card and two cards - the photos show the finished project and the kit pieces, including an envelope and a stamped "Happy Thanksgiving" insert for the inside of the cards. I forgot to take my camera with me - so hope to remember when we create for Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I wish you a happy weekend!

Barbara Diane

November Birthday Calendar Page

Hello!

I almost forgot my monthly birthday calendar page again! I started the calendar last year in December so it is now complete! It doesn't seem possible that I have posted a new page each month for 12 months now and I will post them all at a later date so you can see them in sequence. It's like 12 projects and some I like how they turned out and some not so much. I think I may start a new one again this year. :<) Because . . . . . . .

Hey Bonnie! Would you like this one? I wrote all of the birthday's in pencil so they can be erased without leaving a mark in case you would want it - as you had said you liked it. :<)

Thanks for stopping by today!

I am teaching a class at Hannah's House today - the group home where my oldest son Jim lives. We will be making 2 Thanksgiving cards and a Turkey place card for each one to put at his/her seat in the dining room. It will be fun as they are a great group of people! Staff wanted to make some also so I have brought extra kits. :<) I hope to take some photos and will post the projects tomorrow. I had forgotten how much work and time it took to put the class materials together!

Wishing you a great day today!

Barbara Diane

A Beautiful Card To Share

Hello!

I wanted to share with you this beautiful birthday card that I received from my dear and sweet friend Helen! The color combination is so lovely - this photo doesn't even begin to show how stunning it is in real life. I love it! Thank you Helen!

Helen has a blog called "Let's Create" and with her skill in the art of quilling, string arts, crocheted and paper flowers she creates wonderful cards and projects! You can visit her there to see them all at http://helenmade.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today!

The kindness of friends is wonderful! Wishing you a happy day!

Barbara Diane

A Fall Wreath

Hello!

Finally, I am back with a project! :<)

For the past 4 days I have been working on a Fall wreath - and it took me far longer to complete than I first thought it would! I wanted a project that was something repetitious and mindless, so to speak - something to keep my hands busy but allowed me to concentrate on solving the difficult situations I was dealing with.

To begin, I made two different leaf templates and then using 8 different pattern papers I made 18 leaves from each of the papers - 9 each of the 2 leaf templates - drawing around them one at a time. Then I cut them all out and using a dauber I edged around each individual leaf with ink to give them depth. Eight x 18 = a total of 144 separate leaves. This took hours of work!

When I had them all cut out and edged, I started to layer them in 3 circular rows around a CS wreath that I had drawn and cut out earlier. This step took the longest time of all, as keeping an order to the color/pattern of the leaves as I added them to the wreath became pretty complicated the more leaves that were added. Or maybe I was stuck in the mindless state! :<)

Then I made the little acorns and added them to the wreath. I cannot remember where I saw the idea for these little guys, but I will post the information as soon as I find it again! I used the SU ornament punch and the SU large oval punch for the head and hat of the acorns. I forgot to take photos while I was making them, but if you would like to have me show you how I did this just let me know. :<)

Since removing the Owl-O-Ween poster there has been nothing on my door and I was being told that now no one knew which one was my apartment as I most always have some project or card 'showcased' on it. Many here do their daily walking in the hallways and we all know how many trips back and forth it takes to add up to 1 mile. I guess my door is a landmark in the counting of the trips and without something to identify it makes it difficult for the walkers to know where they are! :<) Love it! Getting old is so funny sometimes!

So here it is - and I am very happy with the way it looked when it was completed! I now have it hanging on the door to my apartment and that makes many people happy! :<) You can click on the photo for a larger view.

Now the happy little acorns are like traffic guards - saying "Here we are! You aren't lost - this is Barbara's apartment! You are now halfway down this section of hallway!" :<)


Thanks for stopping by today!

I hope that you like my Fall wreath - it was a lot of work but I love the results! And I got a lot of thinking time in over the past 4 days while I was busy drawing, cutting and edging leaves! :<)

Wishing you well!

Barbara Diane

And The WINNER is . . . . . . . . .

Hello!

Today is the day! I am very happy to announce that the WINNER of my blog candy celebration is Valery Ann a.k.a. 'Mrs. A'! Congratulations Valery!

She lives in Hampshire, England and her comment of Friday, 11/12 said:

"Just got my computer fixed in time!!! Have added you to my side bar and been a follower for a while. Now 1stly you don't look old enough to be 70yrs. Congratulations on your forthcoming celebrations. 2ndly. My favourite colour combination? Well thats easy. Pink and erm pink! Love your blog. It's a real Hoot. (Sorry couldn't resist that.) Thanks for the chance to win all that lush candy".

In case you think that her winning was influenced by her very kind comment about my age - truly it wasn't! :<) My good friend Sal did the drawing for me and here is a photo of her holding the winning comment from 'Mrs. A'. Thank you Sal!

Valery's blog is called "It's An Alien Life" - due to a 'not so understanding hubby who considers Art & Crafting an Alien existence which I insist on occupying' - love it! :<) She is a fellow dollmaker in addition to being a creator of many crafts. Here are photos of one of her wonderful dolls! Isn't she a cutie?

You can check out her blog at http://itsanalienlife.blogspot.com/ and see all of her creations!

So my first blog candy celebration comes to an end. It was great fun and I am in awe of all of the many wonderful comments that were sent in! I wamted to celebrate my birthday and reaching 100 followers and I now have over 200 followers and this is so amazing!

Thank you all for entering the contest and for posting of my blog candy on your blogs and also for becoming a follower! In the following week I will try to visit each and every one of you on your blogs and see what you are creating! :<)

Thanks for stopping by today! Winter is coming closer in this part of WI - snow is on the way! I am not ready for this - every year it gets harder and the winter months last longer and the weather is much colder - old age has caught up with me! :<)

Wishing you a week of everything good! Hopefully I will be posting again soon! Sometimes life just wears you down and the weariness takes over. I have started to work on some projects and hope to share them soon! :<)

Barbara Diane

Blog Candy To End On Monday!

Hello!

The winner of the blog candy will be drawn and posted on Monday, November 15th!

Thank you to all who have left such kind comments, posted of my blog candy and are followers of my blog! I wish I could send you each a gift! :<)

See you on Monday! Wishing you a great weekend!

Barbara Diane

Blog Candy Celebration Giveaway! ! !

Hello!

To celebrate my big OMG (70th) birthday coming up and also as a celebration for reaching (and passing!) 100 wonderful followers, I have this blog candy to offer. :<)

To enter, I ask that you:

1. become a follower

2. leave a comment to "What is your favorite color combination?" with a link back to your blog

3. post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to my blog candy and/or

4. add my blog candy to your sidebar

If you don't have a blog you can still enter, just make sure you leave a comment with your e-mail address so I can contact you if your win.

I will send worldwide. This candy giveaway will run until November 15th.

The blog candy includes:

** 14 Sheets of assorted DP
** 1 Stampin' Up stamp set "Greeting Card Kids"
** 1 Stampin' Up stamp set "Punch Potourri" (hostess)
** 1 Impression Obsession stamp "Marshmallow Mug"
** 1 Inkadinkado stamp "Three Gifts"
** 1 Innovation Stamp Creations stamp set "Be Thankful"
** 2 Compostion books 3 1/2" x 4 1/2"
** 1 Pkg Stick-On Sandpaper
** 1 Delta Fantasy Snow
** 1 StazOn ink pad - black
** 1 Stampology ink pad - clear stamp
** 1 Liquid Applique - white
** 3 Bottles Stickles - Holly, Diamond and Xmas Red
** 1 Pkg of 4 Self-Stick Notes - pastels
** 5 small spools assorted 1/2" ribbon
** 1 Stampin' Up Chunky Crystals
** 1 Container Me & My Big Ideas assorted seed beads
** 1 Pkg of 5 Teapot mat board cutouts - approx 4 1/2" x 5 1/2"
** 1 Pkg of 5 House mat board cutouts - approx 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"
** 10 Assorted pens
** Miscellaneous ribbons, sparkles, etc.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I hope you enter to win my blog candy celebration! :<)

Wishing you a great week!

Barbara Diane

Away For A Few Days

Michele from Pink Paper Paradise has just posted about my Owl-O-Ween poster on her blog under the Make It Monday #9 heading! http://michelle-pinkpaperparadise.blogspot.com/

Such kind words! Michelle lives in Queensland, Australia and has a wonderful blog so I know that you will ejnoy looking at all of her cards and projects - like her recent beautiful jewelry/keepsake box!

Thank you Michelle for the lovely posting!

Hello!

I will be away from my blog for a few days - but hope to be back soon! Life's issues and not feeling well. A little break time.

Wishing you all a great week and a huge thank you for your lovely and kind comments and e-mails. They are so welcome and bring me smiles and a happy heart! :<) I am very behind in visiting all of you and hope to catch up this week. I love all that you do and your projects and cards are an inspiration and a joy to see!

Hugs,

Barbara Diane