Dueling Darlings Catch Up #3: August Duel

The lovely Melina was the hostess for the Dazzlers August Duel and here's what she and her co-hostess for the Divas, Carol, came up with for us:

"Friends are the Family You Pick Yourself"

"We are so happy to call you all our friends. We've been dueling for 4 years now!

My image, the mouse and turtle, just went right along with the theme I thought. 

Friends of a different kind helping each other out! 

We darlings are all different but it works! I'm so glad it does! :)

Image: Whimsy Stamps "I Will Carry You"
Paper: Recollections & Sassafras
Ribbon: Michael's
Buttons: My Favorite Things
Pearls and Brads: from my stash
Melina cut the clouds and embossed them with her Cricut & Big Shot.

...And this is my result after playing with the kit for a while:

The base is a dusty mauve colored CS from DCWV, which matches the cute DP and ribbon that Melina sent.  I added a bit to the yellow flowers she included.

Here's a closer look where I was trying to capture the sparkles added to the fun cloud and to the sky in the image.  The little guys are getting a light shower!

The third DP from Melina's Kit was used to line one of the inside panels of the card. It was too pretty not to use.

Melina & Carol are so right - friends make all the difference, in good times and tough times.  

I am thankful to have each of you to call my friends!

God Bless each of you.

Dueling Darlings Catch Up: September's Recipe Card

Yes, it really is a second post in one day, haha.
September's Dueling Darling kit came from Debbie, clear across the continent from me!

Debbie sent us a MFT image and luscious dark red and deep brown cardstock to work with. (two of my absolute favorite colors!)  I dug out some DP that has been just waiting to be used and before I knew what was up, the card just flew together:

Notice the spatula on the bottom and the oven mitt on the top? Those were incredibly cute chip board shapes that Debbie sent, colored with my Spectrum Noir Markers.  I thought it was pretty fun!

Look at this darling little cook.  Hmmm, it was a long time ago that I was that thin!

In September our church has an International Food Festival.  I head up the table for France.  This year we served a simpler version of Pork and Sausage Cassoulet.  So I thought that it would be a good recipe to use for the Duel.


Anyone who knows me knows that my ingredients are approximate, so feel free to adapt it as you go along.  This is pretty close to what I did, but be warned - it completely fills a LARGE crock pot, so you may want to cut it in half.

We cook for about 300 small servings at the Food Festival, so that's why this makes so much.










Here's the back side with the rest of the recipe:

Very warm and not too unhealthy either.  Makes for great leftovers too!  If any of you want the recipe emailed to you just let me know.

Thank you Debbie for a fun deviation, it was great to 

make a recipe card for a change of pace!

Dueling Darlings Catch Up Weekend! (for me)

In an incredible display of patience, my Darling friends have overlooked my absence.  Well, here it is...My Catch Up Posts!!

First up:  October 15th Duel, hosted by Terry.  Her kit had the most wonderful Halloween papers and an adorable image, great ribbons and candi dots to work with!
Here's what she said:

As Halloween approaches LJ and I decided to put together kits to celebrate the holiday! I know some of you do not celebrate Halloween, and I apologize for the theme, 

but for most of us it's a fun day to watch the kids in the neighborhood 

run house to house looking for the best candy!

In your blog post we would also like you to tell us what

your favorite candy is. If you don't have a favorite, 

let us know what you like to eat....drink....or

 if you like to be scary at this time of year!

Kit Contents:
Image - Haunted Forest (Stampin' Up!)
Papers - Boo! (Flair Designs), Jeepers Creepers (Heidi Grace Designs), Halloween Words (the Paper Studio), Sugar Rush (Heidi Grace Designs), Web (not sure)
Embellishments: Candi Dots (Craftworkcards), Ribbon (miscellaneous from Michaels), mini brads (Recollections)

Here's my card:

I just loved the papers and wanted to feature as many as possible.



The bat, little owl, cat and pumpkin all have some sparkle from Spica glitter pens, it's very subtle.





This panel has a black gross grain ribbon tied in the center, but I couldn't get enough contrast in my photo to show it.




Here's a close up of the top where some glitter was added to the ribbon:

The inside panel shows off one more of the adorable papers:

Growing up I had a whole rotation of favorite candy, Starburst, Sweet Tarts, Tootsie Rolls, Milk Duds...the list went on and on.

Now I seem to have lost my sweet tooth.  But once or twice a year a Reese's Peanut Butter cup can taste really great!


Thanks Terry for a really fun kit.  (Did I say how much I loved the papers? LOL)  The card is going to my adult daughter, who really loves Halloween - and candy!

Dueling Darlings Flock Together

Time to resurrect my crafting time, my blog and my sanity!

Waaaaayyyy back in July the Dueling Darlings had their challenge and here is what our wonderful Jeanette (Forest Ranger on SCS) chose as our monthly challenge:

Through the years, through thick and thin, we've blessed each other in many ways and all these years later, we're still together – like a flock!

And here’s the challenge – Since we are celebrating 4 years together, you must have 4 of SOMETHING on your card - 4 flowers, 4 brads, 4 gems, 4 different designer papers, etc! Those 4 things must be the same ELEMENT (in other words, 4 different gems are okay but not 1 paper, 1 ribbon, 1 brad, 1 button = 4).

Here’s the kit I put together for the Dazzlers:

Image – Penny Black Chicky Work Out stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black (notice there are 4 chicks in the image.)

Sentiment – Great Impressions stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black

Designer Papers (4 of them) – from Paper Studio

•    Happy All Over – Floral

•    Poteeka Stripe

•    Small Polka Dot – Pink/Cream

•    Texture Yellow

Embellishments –

•    Paper Studio – Gemstones (there are 4 of these)

•    Ribbon Boutique – Ruffled Ribbon

•    Sew-Ology – a piece of an actual tape measure

•    Spare Parts - Brads

•    Spare Parts – Clear Starburst Brad

Spare Parts – Flowers (two kinds; 4+ of these)

And here is what I came up with:

3 of the four fun papers in Jeanette's kit are featured on the front, along with 4 yellow gems and the measuring tape.  
Plus: the flower uses 4 pieces and her stunning large rhinestone brad in the center:

The inside shows off 4 of her other flowers and the 4th type of DP.  It also uses the sentiment that Jeanette included:

What an amazing kit this was!  Too bad I am marker-challenged right now.  That's another story, one that we're still working on here...so my coloring isn't quite as good as it should be.

But what IS as good as it should be are the friendships and loyalty that these women have for each other!  It doesn't get any better than that and I am so fortunate to have them in my flock!!

Look for other postings in the coming days as I slowly reassemble my crafting space and unpack all of my toys.  And thank you to all the Dueling Darlings for your patience with my tardiness!