So Slow!

I have been meaning to post for about a week or so but to no avail! Whenever I planned to do just that, something would happen and then I wouldn't have the time or when I remembered, it would be to late at night to post. So here I am sticking to my guns and getting it done! Lol

It has been a long time since I have done much card making and even longer for scrapbooking, but lately I am feeling much better and thought that I would make some cards. I haven't been checking in with the gals at LCOM for such a long time, but this past week I popped in to see what all the news was over there. I was happy to find that they had a contest being hosted bye the well-known Canadian Scrapbooker and Sketch Artist Allison Cope. She had challenged us to create a card using an image that was coloured. I was so happy to find out that she picked three of the participants to be winners. And I was one of them. She is so generous and her sketches are amazing. I hope to link to her site and some other fab sketch artists in the next few days, as I am adding more content to this blog. Make sure to checkout the Monday card challenges over there because they do have some great ones.

Making this card was so much fun. I haven't coloured my cards before and this was an interesting activity. It reminded me of my school days. I always loved colouring and if I was ever bored, you could always find me with crayons and a colouring book or note pad.

I was so encouraged to give this a go after getting many tips from my amazing and wonderful friend Dorcas. I have asked her so many questions about watercolours and all the things that go along with colouring images, especially digitals. Digitals can be tricky because you have to use the right kind of printer ink and paper or the whole thing will be messy. So thanks to her I rolled up my sleeves and gave this a whirl and I must say that I am happy with the results. I used the ever famous Mo Manning Design She has so much to choose from. You could go broke in a split second in her digi shop! Lol! Anyway here it is!



I am not overly excited about how the sentiment came out and I might change it later but overall I am pleased with it! This was so much fun and very therapeutic! And also I wanted to share that the gals over at Sweet & Sassy also had a challenge last week that was a biggie for me. You see I don't do well with the colour purple and they did a challenge based on that colour along with green. So because I am so slow these days I did combine this challenge with the one over at Hero Arts. They are having a contest that last all month long and you have two chances to enter. So I posted in my HA group thinking that it really wasn't something that I could submit for the contest. I was so happy to hear from my friend Virginia who encouraged me to tag it and submit it for the Digital Kit Contest. So we will see what happens. Lol! If I win I will be shocked. There are so many amazing and talented ladies in our Hero Arts Flickr group that some are very hard to contend with! Lol! I really like going there to be inspired, but some freebies from time to time would be great too! Lol! So here is the card that I combined for both of these challenges.

And a side view of butterfly with all of it's glitter and bling.

Make sure to check out the Hero Arts store to see all of their stamps and digi kits. I will be dropping back in the next day or so to share some pics of some raks that I have recieved. I was suppose to share this a long time ago and didn't get around to it. Just like the rak I was suppose to draw for here, on this blog. I haven't forgotten! I just need to pull all of my prizes together and take a pic and post.

I will do that soon too! I know that this was a long post. Sorry! So I am going to try to have shorter post and post more often! For those of you who know me, your having a good chuckle right about now! Lol! go ahead .... laugh! Lol!

Thanks for dropping bye! Remember - A memory is only that, if you store it in a safe place! Not your head, but your heart!

Love & Prayers
Dana

Happy Easter

With Easter, comes the opportunity to make great gifts for the little ones and also a time to make cards to celebrate this special time and the coming of Spring. I haven't been very creative for a while but now that I am feeling much better I have been making a few cards.

I love Hero Arts and Jennifer McQuire who is my inspiration for all of my card making, was so generous and sent me some Hero Arts stamps. I was touched that she would send me some of these yummy treats and so to show my appreciation, I figured it was time for me to check out the Hero Arts blog and challenges. In doing so, I found out about their contest that they have each month. So the theme for March was "Spring "and so I made some Easter cards for some family and friends.

Here are some of the cards that I made using the Hero Arts stamp called "Friends Definition" and an "Alpha Set". I really had a great time making these. Some of these cards was made using my svg files for my Cricuit and Digital Stamp Images from Whimise Doodle stamps. Please see side panel for their store. These turned out much better than I had anticipated and I am so happy they did! So here they are and I hope you like them. If you have any questions regarding these cards feel free to email me at any time.

This special weekend does seem to bring out that longing for Spring and the need to buy chocolate! Lol! The season brings about bunnies, chicks and Spring flowers and they are wonderful too, but the real meaning for Easter, really does resonate with most of us. I am not sure what you do over this long weekend, but for me and my family we celebrate Easter for it's Biblical meaning, for what Jesus has done for us. So today we headed out to a united city church service and it was wonderful. There were many churches represented there but the thing that was so amazing, is that it really didn't matter what church or denomination you attended, but that we were all there to reflect on what Christ did for us so many years ago. I know lots of folks think this is just another long weekend, with a few days off work, but for those who believe in the power of Christ and what he did to redeem the world, today is just the precursor for a greater event that will take place three days later. The death, burial and resurrection is so important to so many and has we take this time to reflect, may we find ourselves drawing closer to the One who did draw close to us on that special day.

I remember when I was little that in my town when Good Friday came, it was really like someone in our town had actually died. My parents would go around the house talking in hushed voices and reminding us not to be so loud. The stores were all closed and there did seem to be a really sad feeling in the air. Then three days later, it was like everything broke loose!Lol! Most of the town would get up bright and early and we would have a march declaring that "Jesus Is Alive" There would be a great church service and a pot-luck after. Each year brought a whole new respect for my parents and for that first day of the Easter Weekend. Things are not the same back there now and it is sad to see that, but with things becoming so busy and these once meaningful things becoming more like a formality, the meaning seems harder to see and sometimes harder to share.

So this Easter may there be something that you did in Easters past that remind you of something wonderful. Maybe it wasn't a spiritual event but an opportunity for you to share in the love of family. Maybe you gave of yourself to those less fortunate or just needed a shoulder to lean on. Whatever the case, may those Easter memories remind you of how great this weekend can be and share it with someone around you.

I so do appreciate your dropping bye and be sure to come again. May you have a Blessed Easter filled with many great memories. Ones to hold on to for a life time, to help you live a better tomorrow.

Blessings Always

Dana

Soooo Excited!

Okay this is a quick post but I just had to share! So I was checking in with the gals at LCOM because they were having their SpringFling Crop. So I had already checked my email early Friday Morning and thought after I checked things out at LCOM, to check them again. So I did! I was floored!! I started crying and kept saying " I've been picked, I've been picked" Lol! My two guys looked at me like I was crazy! Hubby comes over to see what all the fuss was about and sees the email. It was from Canadian Scrapbooker! I had submitted some pages and was so excited to see that they had picked up one of my layouts so far, for their Summer Call! I had two automatic replies back for two layouts but nothing for the other three. Automatic replies mean they will not be chosen for that call. It doens't say that, but that is what it really means. So now I have heard back about one out of those three! And who knows! Maybe the other two might make it and maybe not. All I know is that this means a lot to me. I thank God first and formost for giving me the ablity to be creative and secondly for having the confidence to submit in the first place. Funny thing is that the layouts are from 2007 & 2008! Just goes to show that it isn't all about the new product, but about the style, the techniques used, and the layout presentation itself. It can be difficult sometimes to know what they are going for and it can be very dissappointing when you don't hear back from them. But they have a certain thing they are looking for, and what didn't make it this time, may make it next time. So to those of you who don't submit, do it! I finally listened to some of my friends and it paid off! Lol! I wasn't gonna say anything until I actually heard back from them saying they got my package, but I have been bursting at the seems and just couldn't keep it in any longer. Lol! Thanks for reading! This will be a memory for me to treasure for always and a reminder that what memories I created on paper yesterday, can still bring much joy to me tomorrow. Hope your having a great week. Sleep tight!!

Quick Post

Just dropping bye for a minute to tell you about some amazing things going on over at LCOM. They are having an amazing treasure hunt. All you have to do is check in with Miss Snow White to see what challenges she and her crew of 7 short guys have for you! Lol! Make sure to click on blinkie on my side panel and your off to some great fun.

Back again later.

Have a great afternoon!

Haven't Forgotten

Just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about you. Things here have been really crazy and with having some medical issues lately, I haven't been doing much with scrapbooking or card making. I have been having back pain and some days I can manage, other days are unbearable. So my apologies to those of you who follow this blog. I am hoping that things change and that through physio exercise and taking better care of myself, that things turn around real soon. With this being an issue, planning and getting things ready for Christmas was a very slow process. Your gonna laugh, but I still have my Christmas tree up and gifts are still under it. Lol! It took me so long to get things done, that we decided that we would keep things up for a while longer than most others. The plan is to get it all put away this weekend. We are having a snow storm today and I am glad I still have the decorations up. Still reminds me of Christmas.

There are many things to share with you though! High Hopes Stamps are having a blog hop today and there are many prizes to be won. So why not click on their blinkie on my side panel and check out all that they have to offer. With a new catalogue with new products I am sure there is something for everyone.

For those of you who may havae noticed, I am no longer on the Card Design Team at LCOM. I decided to take a step back from things for awhile due to the above issue. And also due to upcoming surgery, which is now postponed until Febuary. Once all is well, I do hope to go back to this great place and work with the amazing ladies who are a part of their Design Team. I want to tell you a few things about what is happening over there. Check out here for all that is going on over at Let's Capture Our Memories Site. There are so many things to chose from. They are having a "So You Think You Can Scrap" Contest right now and also "52 Pick Up Sketch Challenge". These are great to get involved with because it will really help you stay on track with completing those albums this year.

I have more things to share in the next few days. I have a few racks that I have received from some great ladies. Also I want to remind you about my blog give away. Yes I haven't forgotten. I had a birthday back in December and due to some uncontrollable issue I couldn't post about it. So I will be adding it this month instead. So check back in again this week and see what I have to share. Trusting that this Christmas was wonderful and that many new great memories were made. Memories that you can look on today and maybe want to make a yearly tradition. Memories are such wonderful things. The good ones reminds us of God's goodness and the not so good, help us to make our tomorrows a better place to hang out. We can get so caught up in the material things that we forget sometimes that the most simplest things can make a great memory. Trusting that this new year of 2010 will be filled with great memories for today and tomorrow. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Blessings