Christmas in July

Hello Hello!

It's the 15th of the month, so once again it's time for another duel between the divas and darlings. Jeanette is the hostess for the Darlings, and Kelly is our hostess for the Divas. Kelly and Jeanette have been the "masterminds" behind this duel that has been going on for SO LONG. How long? Close to 4 years I think. It's amazing the lifetime friendships that have been created from a monthly card kit challenge. I love you both sooooo much. It's a huge blessing that you, and the other divas and darlings are part of my life.

So this month's theme is Christmas in July. I got sooo excited when I opened my package and found this Snoopy Doghouse from stampendous! The Charlie Brown Christmas special is one of my favorite specials! Kelly also sent us DSP from Paper Crate, and various embellishments to go with the paper and image.

Our extra challenge this month is "What do you do each year to get in the Christmas Spirit" I usually like to try to get my Christmas cards made early, although that never seems to really happen :( So my real answer would be the Christmas Music - usually starting in October (while I'm at work). Actually I could listen to Christmas Music year round. :) I get a lot done with Trans Siberian Orchestra is in my ears :)

Hope you enjoyed my card. Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs ~ LJ

June 2016 DD Challenge

Hello Hello, 

Today I am finally sharing my June Duel Card - for the duel between the Divas and Darlings. This month I was the hostess for the Divas and Darlene was the hostess for the darlings. We came up with a Pet Theme this month and decided to keep the challenge very simple since it's getting towards the busy part of the year - summer! 

Each of the Divas received a kit containing the following:

Images and sentiments from Kraftin Kimmie Stamps (A Furry Surprise) , Patterned paper from I heart my dog page kit , Paper Banner Ribbon, and burlap bow stickers , and various buttons, ribbons, and brads. 

Below is the inside of my card (sorry it's a little fuzzy) 

Thanks for stopping by - Hugs LJ

DD Challenge - May Flowers

hello ~ hello

It's the 15th of the Month, which means  it's time for another duel between the Darlings and Divas. Tami is our hostess for the Divas - and we have a fun "May Flowers" kit to play with this month. The Image is from Red Rubber Designs - she's sooo cute just sitting there with her flowers :)  The kit contained papers from Cosmo Cricket, dry embossed papers in green and red, as well as the embellishments you see on the card. :)

I used this week's MOJO Monday Sketch for my card. It fit the image and card kit contents to a "T". :)

I don't plant any flowers yearly, since I am a renter, but I usually have a basket or two on my front porch steps :) I am not what you would call a green thumb. :(

The Divas Are:

Barb ** Blog: Barb's Inkin' into Retirement
Carol ** Blog: Lost in my craft room
Judy ** Blog: Paper Hugs & Kisses
Kadie ** Blog: In My Minds Eye
Kelly ** Blog: *Sandcastle Stamper*
LJ  (me)** Blog: Bucky Girl
Suzy **  SCS Gallery
Tami ** : : : : BlueInks Design

And here are the Dazzlers: 

Dazzlers:
Darlene ** The World According to Bijou
Debbie ** The Ink Igloo
Jeanette ** Cre8tive Play: It's Cheaper than Therapy
Paola ** blog That's Amore! SCS Gallery
Shelly ** My creative rumblings
Terry A **  SCS Gallery
Terry L ** It's Totally Terry
Tracie ** Crafty Creations

Thanks for stopping by - Hugs ~ LJ

DD Challenge - May

Hello - Hello 

Finally here with my card for this month's duel between the divas and the darlings.  The theme Terry (Diva Hostess) and Suzy (Darling Hostess) picked Swing into Spring or Spring".  This is what Suzy wrote for the Divas:   So, our theme is "swing into spring" or "spring". Not sure how we decided to word it! Some of you haven't even seen spring yet!!  The second part of your challenge is to let us know what your favorite dessert that was made usually in the Spring....maybe something that was only made at Easter time. If you want...share the recipe! We can always use more dessert recipes!

I loved the kit Suzy sent - it's definitely full of spring - bright colors and a cute girl swinging on a swing (the image is from Stampin Up) 

I am not much of a cook so I don't have a dessert recipe to share. For easter this year (which really seems like a long time ago since it was early this year) my family went out for dinner to a local place that had a delicious Easter brunch......

Thanks for stopping by ~ Hugs ~LJ

For the Dogs!

Hello! 

I'm finally here with this months Duel Challenge - from Carol and Shelly, this month's theme is "For the Dogs". I had so much fun playing with this kit! This Whipper Snapper stamp (Good News Puppy) is one of my favorites! I picked out a sentient from one of my Kraftin Kimmie sets to go with it. 

the bonus was to share if we had any pets growing up. Throughout the years, I had a few pets that I loved so much! My first pet was a cat named Sparky. Sparky was a friendly cat. I also had few other cats (Smokey and Dolly) when I lived with my aunt and grandma. Dolly was adopted from the Vet Tech Program at the college I went to. She was very sick when we got her, and the school allowed students to take them home on the weekends so that they weren't alone. I used to take her home every Friday on the city bus in a cardboard box. Finally we were able to keep her for good.  My parents have had two dogs, Buddy, and more recently Tippy. 

here's dolly (she was a fat kitty - yes!) 

and here's Tippy, the current family dog (he's mid-sized - about 25 lbs) 

thanks for stopping by today! Hugs ! LJ

Hello Mickey!

Hello ~ Hello 

It's the 15th of the month so it's time for another duel between the divas and darlings. Our theme this month (chosen by Paola and Kadie) is "Being a Kid At Heart" I totally love this theme - Kadie sent us a fun & bright kit to play with, much of it Disney themed...Which made me even more happier! I have a soft spot for Disney - DisneyWorld especially! It's one of my favorite places to vacation.....such a happy place! 

Please excuse the poor photography this time - I took the photo last night with my iPhone and it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped :( My camera battery is dead so that is what I was stuck with. :) 

All of the items on the card with the exception of the solid cardstock (real red and white) were included in the kit. We had received some black Mickey Ear cutouts, I adhered one of them to the blue patterned paper and then cut it out for the balloon. I colored Mickey in with copics and then fussy-cut him out. He's so cute! (who doesn't love a mouse right???) 

I plan to give this card to my niece in the upcoming weeks - just because :) 

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs~ LJ

Freshly Made Sketches

Hello Hello - 

Sharing a card I created today for the latest Freshly Made Sketch Challenge  This card is really simple for me - I usually use many more layers than this, but I really love the simplicity of the design. 

Stamps: Oh Happy Day (Taylored Expressions) 

Ink: Basic Black, Pool Party (sponged background) 

Paper: Recollections white, Basic Grey Fiction 6X6 Pad (I am going to sooo miss Basic Grey!) 

Pink Bling,  Circle Spellbinders, coordinating dies for stamp set, copics, sponge,  label die from MFT. 

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs - LJ