"Fly The Flags" for Penny Black Challenge

Hello!

This challenge I was on time for! The theme this week for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge was "Fly The Flags" - and the inspiration from the Design Team is wonderful! To look at all of the entries and see the different styles and fun creations, hop over to http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ and check them out! Add your card to them for a chance to win two Penny Black stamps!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! The heat here yesterday was unbelievable! It was 107 heat index and with this high humidity it was like walking into a wall when one went outside! More 90's today but hopefully not so awful! We need rain so badly in this part of WI - maybe soon. Wishing you a happy day today no matter the weather!

Barbara Diane

Missed The Red, White and Blue!

Hello!

Well, this little girl's face says it all I guess - I made my card for the Red, White and Blue theme for Sassy Cheryl's challenge and when I went to post it, I realized I had my days mixed up again and was too late! So her expression not only fits says what I have on the card which is "Who washed my socks!" but also how I felt when I goofed up again!

But all is not lost! Cheryl also has a blog where we can post what we are doing this week. You can see all of those fun entries at http://sassycheryls.blogspot.com/ and I will post this cutie there now! She is one of Cheryl's digital images called "Samantha Cops An Attitude" - I'm with you Samantha! :<)

Thank you for stopping by to visit my blog today! The horrible heat wave has hit this part of WI - it is to reach 105 heat index today and we have a heat advisory from noon until 8:00 pm. I just took out the trash and it is awful out there already this morning! I never turn my air conditioning on until afternoon because of the expense but I have it on now! Wishing you cool air wherever you are!

Barbara Diane

WOYWW and A New Friend For My Duck

Hello!

It's another Wednesday and time for "What's On Your Workdesk" again - where do the weeks go! I cannot believe how fast time is flying by this summer - in a few days it is July already! If you don't know what WOYW is all about - go to Julia's blog http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ and check out all of the wonderful creations going on in the blog world.

This is my workdesk this morning - working on some cards and if you look up by the lights . . . . . . . .

You will see that my duck has a new friend! :<)

Thank you for stopping by to visit my blog today! This is when the record heat wave starts - 98 degrees today - 100 degrees tomorrow. I don't have the air conditioner turned on yet this morning, but soon! Wishing you a much cooler day than we will have in this part of WI - and a happy one too!

Barbara Diane

Part 2 - The Birthday Card

Hello!

This is Jim's birthday card that I made him to go with the cake in the box I posted yesterday. It was the first time I have made a pop-up card using this technique and it took me a long time to make. I cut out the saying on the front and the one on the cake, as well as the presents, hats and cupcake on the cake, from one patterned paper and used another patterned paper for the front and inside of the card. For the 'frosting edges' on the cake I first colored with a white marker and then added Crystal Effects to give it dimension.

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! I apologize for being late to return visit all of you who have left me a lovely comment but I hope to catch up today! Wishing you a day of cool  breezes!

Barbara Diane

Part 1 - Birthday Cake In A Box

Hello!

My son Jim's birthday was Saturday and I made him a card and cake in a box. When I made my first box using this tutorial I knew that I wanted to make one for his birthday with a small cake inside. The cake is made around one of the little tea lights and so it lights up! I forgot to take a photo of the cake by itself, but you can see in the last photo the cake top and part of the side which had a banner that said Happy Birthday!

I will post the card tomorrow. It was the first time I made a pop-up card using this technique and it took me a long time but I loved the result and the two were great together.

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! We are having some hot weather again here in this part of WI - the forecast said it was to be 98 degrees on Wednesday and 100 degrees on Thursday!!!!! Wishing you a cool Monday!

Barbara Diane

From Frustrated to Favorite

Hello!

I think this is one of my all time favorite cards that I have made - and it almost went into the trash at least 5 times! I originally stamped this image at a class I took at our local Archivers - one of the images that there wasn't time to work on so we just stamped them and put them in the envelopes with the pieces for a card to take home to work on. I wish now that I had this stamp but it is a large wooden stamp and very expensive so I doubt I will purchase it.

During the making of this card I had so many mistakes and disasters that every time I fixed one thing another would happen and I was constantly wanting to just trash it and say a sad goodbye. Even at the end when my card was put together and I was outlining the blue card itself with black - the marker slipped and a black line went into the card. And it was all put together! So I added the black strip of cardstock at the top and then the butterflies to break the line and another mistake was repaired. I added a glossy finish to all of the flowers with Crystal Effects that gave it a 3 dimensional look and there it was - a favorite card1 I loved it! Jim wanted it and he said he loved it! It was a card for my friend Verda and she said that I 'outdid myself' and she loved it! Good thing I didn't trash it!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! This has been a very stressful week for me and I am hoping the weekend is quiet. Wishing you a good one!

Barbara Diane

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Hello!

My card today is my entry into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge and the theme this week is "5 Circles" - a fun challenge you can see at http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ The set I used is called "Fresh New Day" and it is filled with wonderful characters! I have used Crystal Effects to glaze the sun, the eyes of each rabbit and the flowers and have taken photos at an angle to try to show this more clearly. I had one heck of a time with the white dots as I have terrible luck with the white pens! I finally had to resort to using a toothpick dipped in white acrylic paint to redo all the dots!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! And thank you to all of you who leave me such kind comments! I love to get them! Wishing you a happy day!

Barbara Diane

WOYW - I Am A Duck

Hello,

If you have noticed the little duck sitting on the top of the small shelf unit on my workdesk, it is my good luck  charm. Over 30 years ago I was working as a nurse for an Orthopedic surgeon and one of my friends who was a nurse with my favorite IM physician gave this to me as a joke. Sue had this little wind up toy chick sitting on her workdesk and she insisted on calling it a duck! She knew I loved to wind it up and watch it walk as it always made me laugh. One day I came to work to find it on my workdesk with this piece of sutgical tape on it's back that said "I am a Duck" and Sue was around the corner watching to see my reaction. Well, I started to laugh and then Sue started to laugh and then the other nurses in our area started to laugh and pretty soon the physicians started coming out to see what the fuss was all about. All morning we would get the giggles and I would say "You can see it's a chick!" and Sue would say "You can see it's a duck!" and many of our patients had to see my little "Duck" and watch it walk

Sadly, my friend Sue was killed in an auto accident shortly after she gave this to me - she was 22 years old. She had a 1 year old daughter. Her mom also worked as a nurse at the clinic and it was a very sad time for everyone. Sue was a beautiful young woman with her life ahead of her. I was commissioned to draw her portrait in memory of  her and I have kept this sweet little wind up toy on my work desk wherever I have been since that time. It still works and from time to time I wind it up and it still makes me laugh - and remember Sue. 

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! Go to  http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see all of the wonderful entries this week for "What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday". I love visiting as many as I can to see what is being created all over the globe really. Wishing you some laughter today!

Barbara Diane

In The Park

Hello!

It is WARM here in this part of WI - temperature in the 90's with record high expected today! We really need rain but the storms keep passing us by. I send thanks every day for my friend Doug who gifted me with an air conditioner last summer - until then I had only fans for almost 8 summers to cool in this very small apartment! I am blessed with good friends.

My card today is one I made for Mo Manning's current challenge - the theme is "At The Park" and there are so many wonderful entries! Go to http://mosdigitalchallenge.blogspot.com/ to see them and all of the great inspiration by the designer team! This wonderful digital image of Mo's is called "Codys Balloon" and the butterflies and flowers are cut from two other of her images. The grass is a MS punch.

Thank you for coming to visit my blog today and thank you for the lovely comments and e-mails! I love , love, love hearing from you! Wishing you a good day today!

Barbara Diane

Picking Cherries - Making Compote

Hello!

There are two cherry trees in the orchard area next to our apartment building and this year they are absolutely loaded with fruit! I have never seen so many cherries on them. Jim was visiting this weekend and he and I picked the cherries on late Friday afternoon and then again with our friend Jerry (he is 98 years young!) on Saturday. The cherries are too tart to eat from the tree so I decided to make something from them to share with others at the apartment who are unable to go out to pick the fruit.

I made a cherry/lemon compote and when we went to the grocery store to get the sugar and lemon jello I purchased some cute little canning jars to put it in. Because it needs to be kept in the refrigerator and also because someone may not know what a compote is - it's more like a thick sauce then a jam or jelly - I made the tags. A dozen little jars of compote were delivered yesterday and I hope everyone likes it. Jim said "I could eat that whole bowl full!" but as he is a diabetic that couldn't happen -  but it made me feel good! 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! Wishing you a sweet Monday!

Barbara Diane

My Fold Out Box

Hello!

This is the box I  made for myself after the one I posted yesterday. I just fell in love with this when I saw it - the fold out was so unique in that it was all one piece. It is a small box - measures approximately 2 1/2 inches square when closed and 7 1/2 inches long when opened - but it is so cute and holds lots of goodies! I used a patterned paper with a scene so that I could divide it into sections for each side of the box. I then used the reverse side pattern for the inside. The flower on the belly band is made from CS and the little butterfly was cut from the patterned paper. I love this box and am making one for Jim's birthday with a surprise inside! This may turn out to become my new 'magic box' template!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! We are to get some thunderstorms in this part of WI - we do need the rain. Wishing you a happy weekend!

Barbara Diane

Wonderful Fold Out Box

Hello!

Yesterday I posted of this great little box I found when looking at other sites. You can find this great tutorial video on Dawn's Stamping Thoughts at http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/ and here is my first little folding box. I made this one for my friend Verda - who brings me candy every Monday morning, without fail. I always make her some paper craft each week in return as a thank you. She loved this box and so do I! Tomorrow I will have photos of the one I made for myself. :<)

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! Wishing you some creative hours at your workspace! Try this box - it's easy and so much fun to make!

Barbara Diane