Monday, April 29, 2013

This Is My Happy Place

Gosh the weekend just flew by . . .  Saturday was beautiful, warm and sunny.  Spent lots of time out side working in the yard.  Sunday on the other hand was quite the opposite, cloudy and chilly, a perfect day to stay in doors and scrap.  I actually got 3 layouts done and here is one I'd like to share with you.
I created this layout for the Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs:  Doilies + Sketch.
I had a wonderful sketch to work with designed by one of my fellow DT members, Brenshevia:

I titled my layout "This Is My Happy Place" as I so enjoy working in my flower gardens.  Beautiful flowers bring a smile to my face.

Here are a few close ups:



I used Crate Paper's new Maggie Holmes collection along with some flowers from my stash and lots of Purple Pumpkin embellishments!

Hope you have time to join in on the Fabulous Friday Challenge.  You have until noon, Wednesday May 9th to enter for a chance to win a great prize from our sponsor Vintage Street Market.  Check out all of the details here!

Thanks for stopping by!
. . . Debbie

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Dare To Believe In Yourself

For those of you that know me and follow my blog, the past couple of years have been extremely 
difficult for me.  I lost my job back in 2010 and am still out of work.  It seems the older you get the more "unemployable" you are.  Factor that in along with my Mom's diagnosis of Alzheimers in the summer of 2011 and all I can say is life has been a struggle.  I've dealt with emotions that I never knew I had and so much of me is lost.  Not quite sure what has held me together, but I am still here.   The April Challenge at Zeus and Zoe - Life As It Is Now was my inspiration for my layout.  Create and journal a project about 'life as it is now', the subject being 'you as an individual'.  My journaling is very private ("note to self") and is on the back of my layout.

The left hand side of my layout represents me the past couple of years, dark and non dimensional.  I used some Tim Holtz and Teresa Collins stamps along with rub ons from my stash.

The right hand side of my layout represents my future, colorful and dimensional and a reminder of how life was before, colorful, happy, full of life and love, something to reach for and hold onto.  

 I used some buttons,  K & Company stickers and rub ons from my stash along with some gorgeous flowers and hexagon chipboard I purchased from UmWow Studio.  I purchased the flowers a while back from DeeDee at UmWow.  Since my purchase she has taken a new direction in her shop and no longer carries flowers, but does carry some amazing chipboard.

I look forward in the years to come to look at this layout and see where I am in life and the changes that have taken place.  One can only look towards the future with hope and dreams, taking it one day at a time.

Thank you for stopping by and allowing me to share a little bit about me.
. . . Debbie


Sunday, April 21, 2013

Love This Moment

I know I've been a bad blogger . . .  just been busy and all.  I won't rattle on with the details as most of you know what's going on in my life.  I did have a little free time and used it wisely creating this layout using my April kit  from Artful Delight along with the April sketch
and the new word "Moment" challenge at Bird is the Word.
There are still a couple of days left to enter the sketch challenge at Artful Delight. Create a project using the layout sketch, card sketch or both for a chance to win your choice of the May Scrapbook kit or Card Kit. Check out all of the details here.

Thanks for stopping by!
. . . Debbie

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Spring Blossoms

Good morning!  
I'm excited to share that I will be staying on for another term at Purple Pumpkin as their sketch designer.  Here is my layout for the April sketch challenge.
I live about an hour from Washington DC, known for its Cherry Blossom trees in the Spring.  This year the weather has been cold and the blossoms have not opened yet.  Thousands of people visit this time of year to see the spectacular site along the Tidal Basin.  I have to admit that I have lived in Maryland my whole life and have never been downtown to see the trees.  The picture in my layout was taken years ago by my daughter.

I got a little creative with my background and did some misting, inking and stamping.  To create the sky effect I combined some blue acrylic paint with water in a spray bottle.  Just as effective as mists, but a lot cheaper!

Love this cute cloud fabric button from Purple Pumpkin
I inked it a little to blend in with my blue background.

I added some sead beads to my flowers and added a touch of yellow paint.

My cluster includes a pink doily and fabric flower button from Purple Pumpkin.

I hope you will join us for the April Sketch Challenge.  Here is the sketch I created:
Check out all of the details and prizes here.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  
It's been chilly here, but today temps are suppose to reach the 60's and tomorrow the 70's!

Thanks for stopping by!
. . . Debbie

Monday, April 1, 2013

Love Blooms Here

I'm hosting the April Challenge this month at Berry71bleu!  You all know how much I love to work outside in the Spring and Summer in my flower gardens, so my challenge for you is to create a project using lots of flowers!  Our main sponsor for the challenge is Inkido, who provided the DT with a set of their Beautiful Memories papers to work with.
If you're wondering, yes that's me in the picture.


Here are a few closeups:
A beautiful handmade tag from Berry71bleu's etsy store.

Lots of misting and stamping:

And of course, flowers:

I made a home made rub on for my title and will be sharing a tutorial 
for this next week on the Berry71bleu blog.

We  have lots of prizes up for grab:
1st place will win the Beautiful Memories Collection from Inkido:

2nd Place will win this chipboard collection from Um Wow Studio:

And one random winner will receive their choice of 3 Pearly Mists from 13 Arts:

Looking forward to seeing what you create.  
Make sure you check out my blog post here on Berry71bleu!

Thanks for stopping by!
. . . Debbie