Double D

                                                              'BEE' Inspired

Use bees and/or anything that inspires you on the mood board.

(honeycomb, yellow, black, hexagon etc)

Welcome to the second Double D Challenge  for the month.  I took my inspiration from the colors and the framed bumble bee pictures. 

I used a Tutti Design Honeycomb and Impression Obsession wooden fame  frame.

I only used part of the die behind the frame. I mounted it on a black card base. I finished it with a flower. 

 I don't know why I have to put a flower on everything.  Looking at it now, I realize it did not need it.   I probably need to join a support group.  I'll look into it. Anyway, if you play along, you will have a chance to win this Sunny Studio stamp set. 

You are going to love what the DD Team did for this challenge.  We hope you will join us at Double D Challenge. 

Dies R Us Noel

Time for another Anything Goes challenge at DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG . Just remember to use a brand of die sold by Dies R Us.  I decided to get another Christmas card done. 

I found this Noel die already layered together when I was looking at my Christmas Supplies so this card came together quickly.  I layered some matching glitter paper behind the Tutti Designs Rose die. Then put the center cut back in.  I framed it with a Lawn Fawn reverse scalloped frame. 

Tutti Design Rose Frame

Poppy Stamps Noel

Lawn Fawn Reverse Scalloped Frame

We hope you will join us for this Anything Goes Challenge at DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG .

Double D Month of Flowers Holly

It is time for another fabulous Mood Board and Challenge at  Double D Challenge Blog.  This is the second of the series of a month of  flower challenges.  We hope you will play along with us. 

(July through December)

July Larkspur - Delphinium, or Water Lily
August - Poppy or Gladiolus
September - Aster or Morning Glory
October - Cosmos or Marigold
November - Chrysanthemum
December - Paper White Narcissus or Holly

For this challenge,  I chose holly.  The  holly die die is from Memory Box  I added a candle that  I have had for years, but don't remember the manufacturer.  The two dies were added to a Spellbinders oval and put in the center of one of my favorite Poppy Stamps which  I like to pair with the Lawn Fawn scalloped frame. 

We hope you will join us for this fun challenge and we hope to see lots of beautiful flowers.  The team has some fabulous inspiration for you so check it out on Double D Challenge Blog.

 

Dies R Us Just a Note

A new Anything Goes Challenge starts today at Dies R Us Challenge Blog.  I just got the Memory Box Just a Note and Sylvan Butterfly from the Dies R Us Store  and was anxious to put them to use.  

I cut the largest die part from white card and then embossed it with a Swiss dot folder.  I put the die cut back in the embossed background.  The smaller inside of the die was also cut in white and placed inside the larger frame that was backed with black card stock. A homemade daisy, a butterfly and the sentiment completed the card. 

Sue Wilson Daisy Frame

 

Memory Box Sylvan Butterfly

Memory Box Just a Note

The  Dies R Us Store just got a shipment of new dies, embossing folders and stamps.  Head on over and check it out.  Don't forget to visit the Dies R Us Challenge Blog and check out the inspiration from the team and then join us for this Anything Goes Challenge. 

Double D Flowers of the Month Daisy

Our new inspiration  board at Double D Challenge Blog offers so many possibilities. The daffodils caught my eye and my hubby loved carnations, but daisies are always such a happy flowers so that is the flower I chose for my card.  

                                             

                                                

The pretty frame is from Poppy Stamps, and the sentiment is from PTI.  I embossed the sentiment in gold and sponged around with Stormy Sky Distress ink. I used a scalloped frame by Lawn Fawn to add another layer and placed that on some blue card stock. A couple of butterflies from a butterfly punch and of course a daisy and greenery from my stash.

                                   

 

The team has some wonderful flower designs for you. Head over to Double D Challenge Blog to get some fabulous inspiration. 

If you enter our challenge you will have a chance to win this daisy die from Memory Box. 

I will also enter this in Poppy Stamps Challenge Flowers and Butterflies. 

Dies R Us Basket of Flowers Calendar

 My life has had some sudden changes.  My husband of 51 years had been failing for some time from severe edema which caused open wounds in his legs. He had been treated at the wound center for some time but it never got much better. Eventually his legs gave out and he was not able to stand or walk on his own.  This meant some drastic changes in our life style, and my time was spent caring for him.  The wounds would get better and then worse so it was a constant battle.  Last month, he developed an  infection that necessitated an amputation. Unfortunately, he never recovered from the surgery and passed away in  mid-April. He is missed by many friends and family, but because he was a man of faith and believed death was graduation from this life to a better one, we all know that he is in the presence of his LORD.        

I am thankful to my team mates and  team leaders at Dies R Us and Double D for giving me some time to process my grief and move on to a new phase of my life.  Our card and craft community is populated with so many caring and understanding friends. Steve, my husband, was a great fan of all of you who sent me cards over the years.  He was impressed with the talent but more with the friendships I developed over the years.  We are truly blessed to be surrounded with so many loving and caring crafters.

Now on to my card for the Dies R Us Challenge . So many people have told me how they hate to throw my cards away so I have tried different ways to make them something that they can use and display for awhile.  I decided to use this basket shaped easel die from POPPYSTAMPS and make it a calendar that can sit on a desk or by the phone.  I chose to fill my basket with spring flowers, but I can see it filled with pumpkins, leaves, holly, poinsettias, hearts, eggs, fruit etc. 

This die set is versatile because it embosses the basket pattern and the die can also be used as a stencil to add some inked detail. The grass, leaves and bow all come with the die so you can complete a card without using anything else.  I love making homemade paper flowers so I added them to my basket.  The calendars are from Taylored Expressions. 

You will want to see what the team at Dies R Us Challenge  has done to inspire you this month. As always, it is amazing.   We look forward to seeing what you create. 

Double D My Little Unicorn

 

Anything with a Rainbow~Unicorn~Mermaid

Look at this colorful imaginative Mood Board Diane created for us this week.  It has to make you smile. So the challenge is to use a rainbow, unicorn or a mermaid. 

                                          

I took my inspiration from the color of the mermaids tail in the bottom right corner.  This card is definitely out of my wheelhouse, but that is why I love Double D Challenges.  They often push you out of your comfort zone.  I have never before now taken a finished card and spattered it with ink or paint.  I do this with backgrounds frequently,  but never after the card is done. I must say it was fun and I like how it turned out. 

              

We hope you will come and join us for this challenge at Double D Challenge Blog.  Your designs always inspire us. As usual, the team has some fabulous inspiration for you. 

Dies R Us Double Z Fold

 April 1st  and time for another Dies R Us Anything Goes Challenge . I decided to create a spring birthday card. 

I don't know why, but I buy pretty papers and then I look at them and decide they are too pretty to use.  Now I have all these papers taking up valuable space so I decided I needed to start using them.  One of the best ways, in my humble opinion, is  a double Z fold card which allows the papers to take center stage.  What perfect spring colors too. 

       

The papers are several years old.  I bought two sets when PTI had a fabulous sale.  It is time to make some cards from them and let someone enjoy them. As you can see,  I did very little embellishment. A few Poppy Stamps Little Humming Birds and an Impression Obsession Stitched Flower.  I used a little greenery from my stash and I had a completed card. 

We hope you will join us for this challenge at Dies R Us Anything Goes Challenge .  Just remember to use a metal die manufactured by a company that DRU sells. 

Double D Challenge Blog Skies

Let the sky be your inspiration for this challenge at DOUBLE D CHALLENGE BLOG.  To begin with I have some fabulous paper from Lavina Stamps that has a full moon in the background that was perfect for the challenge.  I also needed a male birthday card so I went searching for an appropriate die.  I liked the purple haze to the sky in the bottom right corner so I used that as my inspiration.  

My card is relatively simple, but I am pleased with it.  I have paired this paper with blue card stock before and I am sorry I did not think of lavender before because I like it much better. 

If you link up with this challenge, you will have a chance to win this paper pack from Lavina stamps.  

                                                         

We hope you will join us for this challenge at DOUBLE D CHALLENGE BLOG. 

Dies R Us Happy Birthday Gnomes

 Here we are 15 days into March and time for new challenge at DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG. 

This card comes with a story. My sister's family is always playing practical jokes on each other and a gnome was the central character of one practical joke.

 It all started with an ugly garden gnome that my sister found at a garage sale. She bought it as a gag Christmas gift for Tina, her eldest daughter.  She started the hype about the fabulous gift she found for Tina’s “ special ” Christmas gift.  When Tina opened the package, her expression was priceless and so was her language.  Of course, my sister found said gnome in her stack of gifts the following Christmas.  Stephanie, my sister’s youngest, feared she would be the next recipient, so she heisted the gnome and sent it to gnome land.  This sparked the mischievous little gnome that lives in my sister' s heart, and she started buying and making gnomes at a feverish pace… 250 to be exact.

  The next year my BIL and sister broke into Stephanie’s house while she was at work and hid the 250 gnomes with little gnome notes especially written for Stephanie. Every once in awhile she finds one that was overlooked.  I suspect that my sister will get them all back at some point when she has nearly forgotten about them. In the meantime, this gnome card is for Stephanie.  I think it will make her smile. 

I used the following dies from the Dies R Us Store.

                                                                  Impression Obsession Gnomes

                                                                Frantic Stamper Birthday Candles 

The DRU Team is doing something a little different today! 

We're partnering up with the Double Trouble Challenge Blog and having a joint challenge collaboration.  It's fun and easy and you have a chance to win prizes both here on the DRU Challenge as well as the Double Trouble Challenge!

The theme for this challenge will be A Magical Day:

In order to qualify for the prizes offered at Double Trouble Challenge, you'll need to follow these guidelines. 

 

So if you used a metal die to join our DRU Challenge and you've included the Magical theme, you have already completed all the requirements for both challenges.  If you've only used a die (but not the Magical theme), you are still eligible for our DRU Challenge, but it won't qualify for the Double Trouble Challenge.

(remember, you MUST use at least 1 metal die to qualify for the DRU prize... and please tell us the die company you have used in your project.)

You can find more information about the Double Trouble Challenge on their blog or on the DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG. 

Double D Book Covers

 The Double D Challenge starts today and here is the Fabulous Mood Board.  

My inspiration came from the layout of all of the BOOK  covers.  The titles are centered and surrounded by art work.  I had a couple of dies that would work, but I chose the butterflies.  I did not have a sentiment that was large enough to fit the center so I typed this one.  I did some shading on both the typed paper and the frame while it was still in the die.  I backed it with blue cardstock and put it on a white card base.  I pulled a flower and some greenery from my stash to finish it. 

We hope you will join us at Double D Challenge Blog.  Our team has done remarkable work with this challenge, and I am sure they will inspire you too.  YOU could win this fun stamp! 

Dies R Us Much Thanks

 I always have a need for thank you cards and I also love to give friends gifts of cards that are all occasion and easy to mail. All you need to do is change the sentiment on this design and it could be used for any occasion. I love making watercolor backgrounds and when I take time to get out the inks and brushes I usually make several backgrounds in different colors.  I love frame dies, and have several styles to change up the look of this design. It doesn't need to be a flower in the center... how about a fern, butterfly, birds, balloons, trees, etc. The DRU Store has DRU Store has so many dies and stamps that work for this simple card. 

Impression Obsession Woodgrain  Frame

Memory Box Blushing Flower Branch

Other cards using this design. 

By the way, if you love working with die cuts and inspiring others the 

Dies R Us Inspiration Team is accepting applications. Open only to the US at this time due to long delays in shipping internationally. If you are interested you can find more information about qualifications and responsibilities at  http://www.diesrusblog.com/.../dru-inspiration-dt-call...

If you're not familiar with our Dies R Us Inspiration Blog please pop over and check it out.

Double D Anything with Hearts

Anything with Hearts is our new challenge at Double D Challenge Blog.  This mood board by Dar is a perfect inspiration piece. I was drawn to all for pictures, but decided upon the tree with the heart notch.  

    

 I started with some Mintay designer paper and  added the Impression Obsession tree ring and shaded with distress inks. I have this cute heart die with some squirrels from Tutti designs that I thought was a perfect addition to my design. Some dogwood flowers left from another project  completed the design.  Sometimes you have a vision of a card in your mind that does not turn out to be what you wanted and other times it turns out better.  This card is one of those better times for me and I needed that boost to my mojo. 

 

We hope you will link up with us at  Double D Challenge Blog =. The team is always inspired by what YOU create. 

Dies R Us Dogwood Birthday

The Dies R Us Challenge Blog has a new challenge starting today.  It is an Anything Goes Challenge so you can have some fun creating your favorite type of card for any occasion.  Just remember to use a die from one of the many companies that is sold at the Dies R Us Store

For some reason, I tend to think of hearts as just For Valentine's Day, but it is really just another geometrical shape like a circle, square, rectangle, or triangle so I decided to make a birthday card from a pretty heart die from Impression Obsession. 

I started with a Lawn Fawn scalloped frame and backed it with some pretty foiled paper from Honey Bee Stamps.  The floral heart from Impression Obsession came next with the happy birthday, which is a combination from Sue Wilson and Karen Burniston added on top.  A few Elizabeth Craft Dogwoods completed the card. We hope you will join us for this challenge at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog. 

 Elizabeth Craft Dogwood

Impression Obsession Floral Heart Frame

Lawn Fawn Frame

Double D Valentine Love

             Today at Double D we are celebrating

               Valentine Love and we would LOVE to see

                                                                your Valentine Love creations.

Valentine Love is a perfect challenge with Valentine day only 11 days away.  Diane created this Fabulous Mood Board for us this time.  I took my inspiration from the wreath and the pink drinks.

                             

I uses different shades  of green distress ink on water color paper.  I cut the Adriana wreath by Poppy Stamps three times then applied some Nuvo Drops on each of the berries.  While they dried I layered up the front of the card with a layer of black and some decorative paper, I cut the rest of my pieces for the card and went through my flower stash for my pink daisy.  The Bird House is from IO and so are the small hearts.  The Hugs is an old die from Cheery Lynn. I played with the arrangement a bit until I got one I liked and then glued the pieces together.

We hope you will take some inspiration from the board and join us for the Double D Challenge Valentine Love and a chance to win this Poppy Stamp die. 

  

                                                         

Dies R Us Butterfly Friend

A new Anything Goes Challenge starts today at Dies R Us Challenge Blog .  Just remember to use a die from any of the many of the companies they sell at the store.

The butterfly, the sentiment and the frame all from Impression Obsession. I have not used the butterfly in a long time.  I  don't know why because I think it is beautiful.  I decided to keep the card simple and let the butterfly steal the show. I was not planning to use the purple sequin but it was on my desk so  I put it on the butterfly and liked it so it stayed. 

Impression Obsession Butterfly

Impression Obsession Frame

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We hope you will join us for this fun challenge and a chance to win a gift certificate at the Dies R Us Store.  As usual the team has done some wonderful inspiration pieces for you at Dies R Us Challenge Blog .

Double D Flowers in Containers

 Flowers in containers is the new challenge at Double D Challenge Blog. What a wonderful array of containers... buckets of tulips, glass vase of forsythia, an old boot with snapdragons,and a tea kettle of  daisies. 

                                 

I just purchased a new die from Honey Bee that makes a shaped flower pot easy.  I cut the main die from white card stock and then cut it two more times with decorative paper. I added the decorative paper to the top of the card. The die comes with flowers to use for the insert and I will use them to make bunches of flowers later, but I still have quite a few flowers I made last year in my stash so I used them.

                        

  

The insert for the flower pot provides a space for a personal or stamped message. This is an easy die to use and adds a WOW factor for the recipient. 

A tag could be added to the front of the card with a variety of different sentiments. Mine will probably be a birthday card.   

                              

Hope you will join us for this Flowers in Containers Challenge.  Check out the work from the team over at Double D Challenge Blog.  Once again, they have out done themselves. 

We hope you will join us ar 

Dies R Us Bee Shaker

It is time for a new challenge at Dies R Us and again the theme is Anything Goes, but be sure to use one die from a company sold at the Dies R Us Store.  I was having trouble coming up with an idea for a card for this challenge and then I saw this video by Jennifer Mc Quire.  I have this Tutti Designs honey comb that I thought would be perfect.  

 

I love the idea of the tulle shaker card, if you look real close, you can see the tulle. 

                   

Tutti Design honey comb 

I love to frame my cards, but this time the frame covered up some errors I made while I was cutting my layers.  I am no Jennifer McQuire lol. 

Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles

I also used the Elizabeth Craft Daisy die and Sue Wilson's Festive Garland for the leaves.  

Now it is your turn,  Create a card using at least one die cut  from a company carried at the DRU Store. We know we will be inspired with what you create. 

Double D 5th Anniversary Cupcake

Double D Challenge Blog is celebrating its 5th birthday this month with cupcakes.... lots of cupcakes, and we hope you will join us for the challenge. Diane and Darlene  have created one of the most inspiring blogs in Blogland and have chosen a team of designers that all have a different style or styles that inspire creativity.  The team is fortunate because we have great leaders who encourage us in everything.  We have become a virtual family and support each other in good and bad times.  We all feel blessed.  Thanks Diane and Dar. 

Here is the Mood Board.  

I liked the pink and green in the first photo and the sprinkles on all of them.  I have several cupcake dies, but I decided to pull out one  from PTI that I have not used for a couple of years.  The background PTI paper was cut with Spellbinder's hemstitched rectangles.  I cut the cup cake from glitter paper and decorated it with some Nuvo drops. The number 5 is a Karen Burniston die.  

Head on over to the Double D Challenge Blog.  The team has some wonderful inspiration for you.  If you take time to link up, you could win these fun stamps and dies. 

 

Hope