The Mystery is Solved! I was Thinking of You!

Hello everybody!

I have my card from the latest Mystery swap to post today.

I am loving the image Linda sent us to create with.

Here's what I came up with:

Isn't that SU! Koala the cutest thing you've ever seen?!!!

I love small, simple images and Linda really made me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY with this one!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Please visit the other Mystery gals. There blogs are listed in my right sidebar.

 

Until next time...

Blessings...

 

 

Dueling Darlings ~ I Picked a Flower for You!

Hello everyone!

I'm so happy to say it is time to post another creation for the Dueling Darlings group. This round Tami was the hostess for the Divas and I was for the Dazzlers. We had fun coming up with what we were to challenge the ladies with and we even threw in a little twist.

Our kits consisted of an image with flowers and of course papers, card stocks and embellishments but one embellishment in particular the ladies HAD to include in their creations......a piece of green ribbon.

Here's what I came up with:

 This cute little image is from Whimsy Stamps called Fistful of Flowers.

I colored her with my Spectrum markers. I then went crazy with my sprays on the image and the sentiment (CTMH set Sweet & Lovely) piece.....both were stamped on white card stock. :)

I can't wait to check out all the other Darlings creations!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog.

Until next time...

Blessings...

Finally! It's Time for "What's Your Brew?"

Don't even get me started on what I have gone through the last two months with our home internet provider! I've been bewildered, angry and livid.......it seems like all in the same moment. I don't like being taken advantage of (as I'm sure no one does) and I wish I didn't get so upset but GOODNESS! They were taking me away from my online crafty community! Hello?!! Do they not know I need my blog and SCS and chat time? LOL

Anyway, I've had my card ready from the kit Sweet P sent us for our March Dueling Darling challenge, but I didn't have access to the internet (unless I would have brought it to work to load and that would have been frowned upon, I'm sure. Hee! Hee!).

So, with my deepest apologies to Sweet P and the other Dazzlers and Divas, I present my "What's Your Brew?" creation!

 I LOOOOOOVED the papers and image that Sweet P sent us! Oh my! this was soooooo fun!

I used the baker's twine she sent all together at the top of my card.....just gave it a twist and taped it on the inside :)

I colored my image with my Spectrum makers.

I mean really, who has seen a coffee bag with a pink label? But, my image.....I can make it whatever I like, right?!! LOL

Thank you so much Sweet P! I loved working with this image and the kit you sent. I'm sorry it took me so long to post it to my blog. Thank you Dazzlers and Divas for having patience with me.

Until next time...

Blessings...

What a Glamorous Babe!

Hi all!

I'm posting my latest Mystery card! This mysterious image was toooooo funny!

I love it Carol! Thank you so much for hosting this round!

Have you ever seen a more glamorous image??? hee! hee!

 For this round, I made a 4x6 pocket card with a matching Kraft envelope (which I forgot to take a picture of). The image I colored with my Spectrum markers.

The card base is a 12x12 piece of card stock that I cut at 4", then I place the 4x12 inch piece of c/s on my Scor Pal and scored at 3" and 9" to make the opening in the middle of the card base. 

 I added some solid c/s to the middle of the card to hide where the patterned paper came together (there is a slight space if you don't score the base exact so this helps to cover any imperfections).

After I cut out the image with my Spellbinders die and Big Shot machine, I placed a piece of cornered kraft c/s behind it so when you lift the top up.......

 You don't see the ink that bled through when coloring.

I hid the sentiment behind the top lift of the card......

 Here's the inside of the card with the sentiment. With this striped fold, I made a pocket so that the sender can place money, a note or gift card in the card.

 The sentiment was plain white.....I decided it needed to be sprayed a few times. Of course, doing that meant I had to go over the font with a black gel pen to darken the words a little.

Here's a close up of the pocket. I just added some 1/8" scor tape to the left and right sides.

Well, that took quite a bit of explaining. LOL

I hope you will try this yourself!

Until next time...

Blessings...



Don't Forget Your Umbrella!

Here I am again, late as usual and again I apologize to all my crafty friends with whom these creations mean the most to.

 

Our last Dueling Darling kit was too cute! Darlene sent the kits for the Dazzlers. She sent two different images and well, I used them both. LOL

 

Here's what I created:

 

A 5x5 card....

 

 Darlene's kit was so bright and cheerful! Thank you Sweetie!

I loved using the patterned papers and rick rack, too fun!

 

 

So this card should have been on my blog last month on the 15th. Well, in true Melina style, it's not.

Now, I get to visit all my other Dueling Darling Sisters' blogs to see what they created for this rainy challenge!

 

Thanks for visiting my blog!

 

Until next time...

Blessings...

 

 



I'm Late Showing My Love!

Hello all!

 

My last Mystery image swap card.....well, pictures were took, the package was mailed and I received the swap cards back in the mail. BUT, the card never made it to my blog! Good grief, I'm so behind.

 

Oh well, so sorry you had to wait for this one, even though, there isn't much traffic to my blog lately since I haven't been keeping it up like I should, so I know there aren't that many that missed it. :(

But, I know my Mysterious Sisters missed it and for that I apologize to the group. I currently don't have home internet (I'm at my Mom's making my blog post today) we are at odds with our provider and trying to get a new one. Anyway, that is my reasoning for my tardiness. I hope all is well with my crafty friends!!!

 

Here's what I made with Barb's image she sent us last round.

 

 I loved coloring this image! That bear is the cutest!

I had fun with my punches too. :)

Here's the inside of the card. Very simple

 

Barb! Thanks for being our Mysterious hostess!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

 

Until next time...

Blessings...

 

 

 



The Dueling Darling Gals Wish You a Happy Birthday!

Hello everyone! I'm back with a cool Dueling Darling creation!

Deb (the hostess of the Dazzlers) sent the kit this month. Oh my! I'm in love with this image. It colored so beautifully and it was very simple to get the sections blended! I love when that happens.

Here's my 5"x7" card:

(sorry for the poor lighting...it's been very dreary here today....the sun has been hiding)

Here's Deb's kit details:

DP - American Crafts, Confetti - Banana Cream Brady and Peanut Butter Benny.
Images - Whippersnappers "Little Girl and Dotted Present

Button - SU!
Ribbons - SU! Rose, crushed curry, orange, bermuda bay

I love this size card. I do believe this is my new "go to" card size. ;)

Thank you Deb for such a wonderful kit!

I can't wait to see what all my other Dueling Sisters created.

Please visit their blogs. The list is located in my left sidebar.

Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Until next time...

Blessings...

 

Giving Thanks with the Dueling Darlings!

Hi all!

I'm a few days late posting my November card for the Dueling Darling challenge.

I had so much fun with this kit.

Our hostesses were Kadie (for the Divas) and April (for the Dazzlers). The kit was full of goodies! I have enough for at least 2 more cards. The theme was give thanks, make a thank you card. Also, there was no image to really color....they wanted us to focus on the sentiment. That is right up my alley. I love clean and simple crafting and not having to color an image is well............simple :)

Here's what I made:

Isn't that paper gorgeous?!!!

I cut my sentiment out with a Spellbinders die. I think it fit around it perfectly.

My card is 6"x6" square.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

Until next time...

Blessings...

Happy Fall Harvest from the Darlings!

Hi everyone!

I'm so neglectful to my blog. Poor little bloggy woggy. :(

I'm crafting quite a bit...just can't find the time to blog about it. Ugh....

Oh well, I'm super late with the Dueling Darlings October challenge.

Terry was the Dazzlers hostess. She and LJ decided on a Halloween theme. Now, my family doesn't celebrate Halloween in regard to ghosts, spooks and gore. Our children do dress up (in Disney or Marvel costumes normally or they may be a cat or dog or football player, etc.) and we do take them out to local churches for their fall festivals and truck or treats. So, we do celebrate the holiday, we just do it more in celebration of the fall season. :)

With that being said, this kit was not hard for me to work with at all! I just trimmed off the Halloween sentiment at the bottom of the image and went with it. 

Here's what I created:

I love using my distress inks to give an aged look to crafty projects. I did that with this image (Haunted Forest from SU!). I created the moon with my white Gelly marker. I only colored the pumpkin (colored with Spectrum Noir markers). The papers Terry sent in the kit were wonderful! I picked two of them. The boots and candy corn are too cute. I added some candy dots and a brad from the kit. Then, I doodled around with my Gelly markers.

Thank you Terry and LJ for hostessing this round!

You wanted to know what my favorite candy is......oh my....to pick just one.....I CAN'T!

sweet n' salty - PayDay candy bar

mint n' chocolate - York Peppermint Patty

cream n' caramel - Cow Tails

chocolate n' caramel - Rolos

I guess I can safely say that caramel is my favorite go to sweet treat. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time....

Blessings....

Ahoy! The Mystery is Solved!

I'm sharing my card I created for the latest Mystery Image swap.

Kelly was our hostess....sent us a very cute Bella image.......

Here's what I created:

I colored my image with Spectrum markers, then cut it out with a Spellbinders die and popped it up.

I left the embellishments simple with the more mustard card stock background helping the image pop!

 

I can't wait to see what the next image will be! :)

 

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

Until next time...

Blessings...

 

 

My Recipe Took Longer Than I Thought!

Well, I'm so late I'm embarrassed.

I'm just now posting my Dueling Darling creation. What?!!! Yep, I'm 2 weeks late posting!

So sorry!

Debbie sent such a cute kit! I'm sorry it took me so long to make my recipe card. I loved everything you sent!

Here's my recipe for Creamy Crockpot Corn.......

 I colored the image Debbie sent with my Spectrum markers.

I also colored the chipboard spoon that was in the kit with the same markers.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I hope to be more active now that my life settling down and everyone is getting used to their new school and work schedules.

Until next time...

Blessings...

Friends are the Family We Pick! ~ with the Dueling Darlings

Hello!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

The dueling darlings are at it again. This round, Carol (for the Divas) and I (for the Dazzlers) are hosting. We love our friends we have been crafting with for 4 years now. So, our theme is "Friends are the Family We Pick Ourselves". There is not another group of ladies I would pick to be my crafty family!

Here's the card I made with the kit I put together and sent all the Dazzlers:

The image is from Whimsy stamps called "I Will Carry You".

I thought this image fit perfectly with our theme. These two cute critters picked one another as family to help them along. That's the Dueling Darlings!!!!

Thanks girls for being a great support in my life.

BIG HUGS!

Until next time...

Blessings...

The Darlings are Birds of a Feather...............

...........we flock together!!!

The Dueling Darlings group (crafting sistahs over on Split coast Stampers) have been dueling for 4 years now! I can't believe it has been that long. It seems like yesterday I joined this fun-loving, sometimes nutty group of women. I love this group!

This round our fearless leaders were our hostesses. Jeanette for the Dazzlers and Kelly for the Divas.

The kit that Jeanette sent is soooooooooooooooo cute!

She and Kelly wanted us to use 4 of something on our card. So, 4 flowers, 4 gems, 4 brads, etc.

Here's what I did:

Is that Penny Black image (called Chicky Work Out) not the cutest thing?!!

I love it!

I colored my image with Spectrum/Noir markers.

I used the 4 yellow gems Jeanette sent in the kit as my 4 items. I love the sentiment she sent also (from Great Impressions). It reminds me of the show "The Wonder Years". Even though I wasn't allowed to watch the show (ha ha), I do remember listening to the theme song any chance I got.

I can't wait to see what all the other Darlings did with their kits and what the Divas' kits included.

You can find their blogs listed in my left sidebar.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...

Blessings...

My Mysterious Card is Now Uploaded!

Hi all!

I didn't get a chance to load my Mystery cards from last month's swap. Darlene was our hostess. She sent us a very challenging image. I was stumped for a while on this one. But, in the end, decided to go with a school theme all together to make the sentiment cohesive.

I cut out the sentiment Darlene sent us with one of my Spellbinders die.

I love how it turned out, even though I was so unsure of what to do in the beginning. :)

Thank you Darlene!

I got some great cards back with this swap. I can't wait to get started on the next round!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Blessings...

The Darlings are Gardening!

Hello all!

Long time not blog post. I'm bad........

Here is my June "Duel" card made with the Dazzler team's Leader for the month, Darlene. :)

We are gardening this time around. Darlene sent such a cute image!

Here's what I made:

Isn't that a cute image? It's from Stamps Happen. I love it.

I added the sentiment from a SU! stamp set.

We were supposed to share a gardening tip along with our card.

Well, my tip is if you plant a squash plant in a 5 gallon bucket, be sure to poke a few holes in the bottom of the bucket to let the water drain. With all the rain we've been having, my plant is floating in the bucket! hahahahahahaha! It's very water logged! LOL

Have a great day

Until next time....

Blessings.....

I'm Double Dueling

Hello All

Long time no see. I have 2 cards to show you today. The first is from our current "Duel" with the Dueling Darling Group. Sweet P is our hostess.

I'm loving the kit she sent us. I love music, our daughter plays the piano, it is just a great kit!

Here's what I made with it:

I made my card kind of abstract. I loved the quote stamped image she sent and also loved the single music note and found a way to use them together.

Thank you Sweet P for a great kit! I still have enough images and papers to make another card :)

Now, on to the card that has been sitting on my desk, all laid out for weeks, just needing to be put together. I haven't been in a crafty "place" for the last couple months. I'm still not there 100%. Last time the Dueling Darlings posted, I didn't. I couldn't. I just didn't have it in me. I'm sorry ladies that I let you down.

I'm very late but here is my card I made using the FABULOUS kit that April sent us.

I loved all the pink papers and card stocks April sent. So, I decided to go wild with pink. :)

{She is drinking fruit punch by the way! with a cherry in it. No "hard stuff" allowed in this house. LOL}

I decided to make her a little more mature than I usually color my girl images. 

Thanks April for sending such a fun kit! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this posted.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog!

I hope to post more often, as our situation at home is looking up.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, we are still in need of them.

Until next time...

Blessings...

The Mystery is....Where is Spring?!

Hi all!

I'm back with my card for the current round of Mystery Swappers....a group of happy card makers on Split Coast Stampers website.

The real Mystery around here though is..........GOSH! Where is the Spring weather?! The high today was like 35* and it spit snow! It's almost April and it feels like it is still January. Oh me!

For this Mysterious round of card making, Ms. Mae was our hostess. She sent us an adorable SU! image.

This is what I made:

I made a super simple card (gasp! I know you can't believe that) with her cute image. I wanted it to be the spotlight.

Here's the inside:

I can't wait to see what everyone else did with this image.

Thanks Mae for a great round of Mystery Swappers!

Until next time...

Blessings...