I Love Paperdolls

Hello!

One of my most favorite things to do is to cut out paperdolls! I love detail cutting - you know how I love to paper paint my cards! It is very soothing to me to not have to think - just mindless cutting of paper. It is a good thing that my friend Jamie's granddaughter Ellie loves to play with paperdolls so I have an excuse! These are the latest paperdolls that I cut out for her and I made this folder with a little handle for her to carry them in. We dropped them off at grandma's house yesterday - I hope she likes them!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! We had MORE rain here in this part of WI - one can actually see a little green showing through all that yellow and brown grass! The heat is now so humid but we needed the rain so badly! My electric bill is going to be enormous because of the need to run the air conditioner every day - I may have to go on that diet next month as no money for food! :<)

WOYW? Time and A Different Workdesk

Hello!

I have a different workdesk and studio area all re-arranged today - but not by choice. My son Jim was here this past weekend and on Sunday I had him help me move some furniture in a impulse idea to move my studio area around so we could move the small table from the kitchenette to the living room area - and it backfired on me! I live in a small apartment and my studio area is half of my living room. I 'used to have' a large L-shaped desk as my workdesk (see prior postings) and it had never been put together properly when I purchased it so it always was a bit iffy when moving it. It was heavy and bulky and it would start to come apart at the connections. Well, this time it did really come apart and one entire end broke off! I just wanted to sit down and cry - knowing that now we had to take the rest of it apart and haul it out to the trash dumpster - and I had to find a new arrangement with what I had - which meant moving everything else in the area and finding a place for it! The nice Sunday afternoon - I had been cutting paperdolls for a new project and Jim had been working on his artwork - became a disaster. And it was hot - even with the air conditioning on!

But I had no choice and by the time I took Jim back home at 4:00 pm I had two folding tables in place for my workdesk and all of the drawer units and the small bookcase moved around. - which had meant emptying them and moving and then putting back. There was still all of the equipment and 3-ring binders and everything that had been in and on the old workdesk and the drawer units all over the floor and on the couch, etc. and I finally finished at about 7:00 pm that evening when I had to stop because I could hardly bend or walk by that time! We had  moved the hide-a-bed couch that weighs a ton and all of the drawer units and bookcase and when we moved the table into the living room area there was no room for it and the two living room chairs so we had to move it back which meant moving the large microwave, etc. I finished the vacuuming on Monday morning. So much for impulse ideas and we still have to eat in the living room from trays!

Oh well, I have a new workdesk and my studio area is all re-arranged and clean and here it is. Be sure to check out Julia's blog http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see all of the other workdesks and what interesting projects people are working on!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! I will try to get to everyone who left a lovely comment or e-mail to return the kindness! We actually had RAIN here this morning in this part of WI - real RAIN - and although it is still supposed to be in the 90's today - the last three record breaking days of 100+ are past! Wishing you a cool and happy day today!

Barbara Diane

A Hot And Dry Summer

Hello!

The situation here in this part of WI is with the extreme heat and no rain is devastating. Today is to be a record high at 102 degrees and tomorrow it is again to be 101 degrees and no rain in sight. It is already 88 degrees at 9:00 am. The storms just keep going around us!

BEFORE

NOW

BEFORE

NOW

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! Wishing you a good Monday!

Barbara Diane

Happy Birthday Anna!

Today's card is for you Anna. Wishing you everything good!

Hugs,

Barbara Diane

Unintentional But Card Reflects Life

Hello!

It wasn't intentional, but today it occurred to me that my card reflects my life. Me against the County, the system, Social Security, etc. Having a child with disabilities is a never-ending battle, especially when one is a single parent. One that is difficult to keep track of, to battle and in the end it is too large. After more than 35 years of it I am worn out but there seems to be no end in sight. The current battle has left me feeling so defeated and without power and it has only just begun. If you want to see chaos, right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, power games and arrogance in action - with no concern for the client's rights or suffering - these are the places to go.

I'm so weary and it's overwhelming! :<)

I was going to enter this card in the Mo Manning challenge - where the theme is "Anything Goes w/ Mo Image" this week. BUT I ALREADY DID! I fear my poor brain is fried. For some fun go to http://mosdigitalchallenge.blogspot.com/ to check out the wonderful inspiration from the Designer Team's ideas to more than 75 entries! There are still 23+ hours to enter! Wishing you a happy day today with your families!

Barbara Diane

Color Challenge at MelJen's

Hello!

Today's card was my entry for the current challenge at MelJen's Designs. The theme of a color challenge is to make a card using  RED or BLUE and I decided to work outside the box for me and make one in different shades of blue.  I combined two digital images of MelJen's - they are "Window Kitty" and "Miss You Birdie" If you go to http://meljensdesignsdt.blogspot.com/ you will see some fun inspiration!

Wishing you all a nice day tomorrow! Still no rain here in this part of WI and although the temperatures are no longer in the three digits, it is still hot and humid and it is back in the high 90's by the weekend.

Barbara Diane

Meet 'Shy' for Mo Manning Challenge

Hello!

Another unbelievably hot day today in this part of WI. It is to be 104 with a heat index of 110 - just too much! I am about to turn the air conditioning on already this early morning. Yesterday's storms passed us by again - more forecast for today and tomorrow but not much hope.

My card today is one that I have made for Mo Manning's challenge blog http://mosdigitalchallenge.blogspot.com/ where the new theme is "Anything Goes" and I have done my favorite paper painting or fussy cutting - whichever you are familiar with - and have also used Crystal Effects on the hearts of her dress and socks to give them some dimension. This cute little person is a digital image of Mo Manning's called 'Shy' and you can find her and many other wonderful creations at   http://www.mosdigitalpencil.com/  

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! I appreciate your visits so much and love to receive your kind comments and e-mails. I will not be back now until next week as family issues make it necessary for me to spend my days now addressing them. Between the heat and the continuing and seemingly never ending problems in certain areas of my life I am very weary. Wishing you all a very good rest of the week and a happy weekend!

Hugs,

Barbara Diane

A WOYW? Wednesday and the 4th of July!

Hello and Happy 4th of July!

It is time for another WOYW? Wednesday and also a record breaking  heat wave here in this part of WI for our July 4th celebration! We are to have 102 degrees today and 104 tomorrow! That is a heat index of 104-110! Unbelievable. We have had a heat advisory all week that lasts until Friday at 10:00 pm - cooling stations have been opened for those who have no air conditioning and they are opened 24 hours so people can stay overnight if necessary. The heat is so intense it is causing road buckles where the concrete expands causing huge bubbles in the road.- you may have seen the YouTube video of the WI SUV hitting one and going airborne and crossing the median barely missing uncoming traffic! If you have not seen this you can see it here - wait a moment for the commercial and then be amazed! http://www.wlwt.com/news/national/SUV-goes-airborne-on-buckled-road-in-Wis/-/9837944/15383154/-/c4k20tz/-/index.html The people in the car had only minor injuries which was a miracle - what a traumatic experience!

Mostly sorting going on at my workdesk today. I have my new In Color cardstock from SU, my many strips of DP that I collect from trimming paper to size - don't know what I will do with them yet, maybe a quilt card - and some digital images I have printed that need to be filed - ready to use. To see what WOYW? is all about if you aren't familiar with it, go to Julia's blog http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see what other bloggers are creating!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! I think today I am just going to take it easy and stay inside! I had to be out and about yesterday to take my son to an appointment and run errands - and it was hot! We have a forecast for some thunderstorms today and tomorrow but every storm has been bypassing us for weeks now so not much hope. Wishing you a happy day and if you celebrate the 4th of July - stay cool!

Barbara Diane

Large Bookmark For Young Reader

Hello!

The heat continues in this part of WI and still no rain. It is to be 99 degrees today and tomorrow and 102 degrees on Thursday! The heat index is always near 106 when it is 99 - I don't want to think about what it will be when it is 102! I think of all those still with no electricity in this heat because of the storms and keep them in my prayers!

Today I have a bookmark that I made for a young friend for his birthday. It will be put inside the book that is his gift. He is only in kindergarten this year so wanted to make it a large size so he would actually use it and also because so many of the books for his age are large size! :<) I have been a reader all of my life and I love it when I see a child discover the magic of books. This bookmark is my entry to the current challenge at Meljens Designs and you can find the cute creations at http://meljensdesignsdt.blogspot.com/  I love looking at other people's styles and interpretations - so much talent out there! This image is one of Meljens digital images called "Little Book Worm" - a cute little guy!

Thank you for stopping by today to visit my blog! I try to visit and leave comments every day so hope I have not missed any of you that left kind words on mine! Wishing you a COOL summer day!

Barbara Diane

Using Texture for 'A Day For Daisies' Challenge

Hello!

The heat is so intense in this part of WI that I have picked an Easter image for this card with fond thoughts of cool spring weather - maybe a little snow on the ground!

Today's card is my entry into the current challenge at "A Day For Daisies" - using 'Texture' as the theme. The  image is a Daisies digital image called "Easterload" and I love this sweet little person! For the different textures I have first paper painted with 3 different patterned papers for the dress, the egg and the flowers - I love fussy cutting! Then I used Crystal Effects on the flower petals and her dress and added Stickles to the Easter egg and to her hair. Go to http://adayfordaisies.blogspot.com/search/label/challenges to see all of the entries and the creative ways texture was used!

All this week we are to continue to have temperatures in the high 90's and tomorrow it is to be 99 again - don't even want to think of what the heat index will be! We have a chance of a thunderstorm today but only 30 % and as the storms have been passing us by for so long I don't know if that will happen. We need rain badly and the daily heat warnings are scary. Wishing you a good Monday!

Barbara Diane