I Will Be Gone From July 4 - July 11

I will be leaving in the morning to dogsit with my favorite dog and will be gone from July 4th until July 11th and will not be posting to my blog during that time.

Hopefully, I will be able to complete all the projects I have plans to make during the week that I am there and will have many new creations to post when I return! I have new patterns and tutorials that I am excited about making and can't wait to begin!

The amount of supplies I am taking with me to make all these projects could easily fill the entire trunk and a good portion of the back seat of my car I'm afraid - there will be barely enough room for clothes and food! :<] But we all know what happens if we don't have have something we need half way through a project! Panic! And it's a long drive home to get it! :<}

Wishing you a great holiday weekend and the week following! I will post as soon as I return.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Barbara Diane

Beautiful Face of a Brave Young Lady

Hello,

Some time ago I wrote of my young friend Ali, who was very ill, and asked that you keep her in your prayers and send good thoughts her way. Your kind responses were heartwarming. It was amazing to hear from people who did not know her, yet cared enough about a little girl's suffering to take the time to wish her well! I forwarded all the messages I received to her mother, who was very grateful for your kindness. Thank you!

Today, my reference to Ali is good news!

Her mother reports that "Ali has turned the corner and things are definitely improving. At this point, she is not showing rejection by reducing her antirejection drugs. She seems to be past that frightening stage - our prayers have been heard. REJOICE!!! Hopefully, I will have more great news to share as time goes on. God Bless all of YOU!!!"

Ali has gone through so much already in her young life and she is an extremely brave young lady. That lovely red hair and her equally lovely smile! She is an inspiration to those around her. With the help of all the prayers and good wishes she is now much improved and was even able to attend summer school on Monday.

I wanted to let you know that she is doing well. Thank you again for your good wishes!

Wishing you a good evening! Thank you for stopping by today!

Barbara Diane

Finished Pop-Up Flower Card

Thank you for stopping by to see the card!

Barbara Diane

Pop-Up Flowers For You - My First Tutorial

I loved making these flowers! I found the directions at http://extremecards.blogspot.com/ and they were easy to follow once I re-read them a couple of times to make sure of the sequence. The flowers are very time consuming but the end result is well worth the effort. I hope that you enjoy my tutorial on how I made these flowers and if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

So lets begin. In the directions from Extreme Cards a flower was cut from plain paper, but I used a flower stamp to form my pattern because I wanted a stamped image to color. The flower needs to have 7 petals. This flower is from SU's Playful Petals stamp set and I stamped the image on SU's Whisper White card stock. To color the flowers I used SU's new In Color markers - they are from top to bottom, Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede and Crushed Curry.

Stamp the flower image 7 times as you will need 7 individual flowers.

Color each individual flower the same and then cut them out.

When you have all 7 flowers cut out, you have the option of coloring the backs of the flowers or leaving them white. I colored the backs as I wanted the solid color look.

Now fold each individual flower in half and press flat. Fold them so that 3 solid petals are across the center and the petals on the ends will be folded in half. Repeat folding around the flower - a total of 4 folds - so that each petal will have been folded in half and has a fold line down the center.

When you have finished folding the flower it will look like this, with a crease down the center of each petal.

Cut out one of the 7 petals and discard, leaving 6 remaining petals.

Now glue the bottom petal to the left of the cut out piece to the bottom petal on the right. This will cause the flower to form into a cup shape. It will look like this. Press the double layer petal flat.

Glue each of the 7 flowers into a cup shape. When the flowers are completed, you are ready to assemble them together to make a bouquet.

Fold each of the 7 cupped flowers in half so that you have 3 petals in a double layer and lay them out in the following order. I numbered the 7 sections to make it easier to follow the remaining steps.

The first step is to glue the back of the left petal of section 3 to the top of the right petal of section 1 using glue dots. (You can see how the glue dots are stuck to the top of the petals of section 1.) You can use a glue stick also, but be sure the finished bouquet is dry before you glue it into your card.

With the first section in place, now glue the back of the right petal of section 2 to the top of the left petal of section 1. This will leave the middle petal of section 1 in the center between sections 2 (on the left) and 3 (on the right).

The next step is to glue the bottom of the middle petal of section 4 to the top of the middle petal of section 1.

This is how it looks if you lift the top petals.

The next step is to glue section 5 and 6 to section 4 the same way as you glued section 2 and 3 to section 1.

The last step is to glue section 7 unto section 4 just as you glued section 4 to section 1. Your pop-up flower bouquet is now complete and ready to glue inside your card. Press it flat.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the next step, which is to glue the flower bouquet inside the card. Leaving it folded flat, line it up with the center fold line in your card - with the cut out space next to the fold line as it will open up from the top. Glue it to one side of the card, press flat and glue to the other side of the card. Press the card closed.

This is how it will look as you are opening the card.

This is the inside of card when completely opened. I hope that you enjoyed this project!

I will post the card when it is completed. Thank you for looking at my first tutorial!

Pop-Up Bouquet of Flowers

Want to know how to go from this stamp to this bouquet of flowers?



Check my blog tomorrow as I will show you how I made them with my first tutorial! :<}

Thank you for looking.

Barbara Diane
http://www.picturetrail.com/whimcees
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=12146

Another Stationary Box Set

I love making the stationary sets! When the set is completed it gives one a great feeling of accomplishment. I have now made 10 stationary sets - seems amazing to me that I have made that many. I will share photos of some of the other sets at later dates.

My very favorite set was one I made in all black and white - the box and the contents - and it was difficult to part with it! I want to make another set just like it to keep for myself. When I can find the time! :<} Right now I am working on a special-project-late-anniversary-present for my brother and sister(-in-law). Oops! :<} Thank you for checking in! Barbara Diane http://www.picturetrail.com/whimcees
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=12146

A Set For a Friend

Hello again,

I made this card and matchbox set for a friend who loves butterflies and all the shades of purple. I love the butterfly from SU God's Beauty stamp set (on the matchbox) and will miss this set as it will no longer be available after tomorrow, as it has been discontinued. I don't think I will ever stop using this stamp. The other little butterfly (on the card) is from SU's Flight of the Butterfly stamp set and is still available. I use this set all the time and love it's versatility.

The listing of supplies used is to make this set is on my Splitcoaststampers gallery at
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=12146

I love sparkly and so of course had to use the Dazzling Diamonds to give the card and matchbox some bling! :<} If you have any questions, write to me and I will be happy to help.

Barbara Diane

Information for the Fan and the Birdhouse Patterns

Hello!

For those who wrote to ask for the fan and the birdhouse patterns, here are the sites where I found them. Enjoy!

The bird house pattern is called the Bird Box and you can find this pattern at Capture the Moment http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/

The fan is called the Fan Card Pattern and you can find this pattern at Victorine Originals http://www.victorineoriginals.com/

You will love visiting these sites! Thank you for your kind words and for writing! You make my day! :<}

Barbara Diane

Birdhouses & Fans

Today my oldest son Jim came over to work on projects. Jim lives in a group home and goes to a center two days a week where he teaches a small class on papercraft on one of the days and a class using the polymer clays on the other day. I help him decide on a project and set up the supplies that each person will need. Today we made fans and birdhouses for the papercraft class and Jim sculpted a Sculpey dragon sample to take to the clay class, but we were so rushed at the end of the afternoon that I forgot to take a photo of the dragon after it came out of the oven.

I made my birdhouse as a gift for a friend who is going through a difficult time and my fan to go with my little shoe and purse set. Jim took two birdhouses home with him - one for a woman worker at his home and one for himself and he also had two completed fans that he was giving one away and keeping one. I forgot to take photos before I took him back home because we were working right up to the time we had to leave, so have only photos of mine for show 'n tell today.

Thank you for looking at my blog and taking the time to write to me! I appreciate your e-mails and kind comments of my work! I am starting some large projects and hope to be able to complete them this week but it is going to be a busy one! Take care.

Barbara Diane

A Purse and A Shoe

I love the little shoes and I wanted to make a purse to go with a pair of shoes.

I chose the brown cardstock as I wanted a more realistic look before I tried a fantasy set. I did not use two-sided designer paper so I had to line the shoe, which made more work, but I like how it turned out. I used the same paper to do this as I had used on the front of the purse and to make the flowers. I used small pink pearls for the centers of the flowers and on the shoe strap.

I want to make this set again using the faux leather technique and will post photos of that set. But first I have to make the other shoe for this set! :<}

You take care! Thank you for visiting my blog!

Barbara Diane