Path of Positivity Midway

We are now half way through the month at Path of Positivity with the theme 'Achievement'. In my first post I talked about the achievement of our youngest daughter in getting her degree in spite of going through a difficult period in her life. Today I am thinking more of the achievment that is more common, in fact if you are reading this then you have achieved it yourself! I am, of course, talking about reading. Having worked for some years at a Teaching Assistant in a Reception Class I have a lot of respect for the shear effort it takes to learn to read, especially English. The weeks of struggling to make sense of the black squiggles on a page to the realisation that they connect and make words and finally to being able to put those words together and read them. During that first year at school the children achieve so much, possibly more than during the rest of their schooling. Without the ability to read and to write the rest of the curriculum remains closed to a large extent, so it is a wonderful feeling, both for the child and for the teacher, when the mysteries of reading are finally unravelled.

My card today features a little reader!



Materials used:Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps - Book Worm
Deedee's Digis - Little Readers set (no longer trading)designer papers from Gorgussscalloped edge rectangle dies
X-Press It card
Copic pens
DL card blank (side fold)

The image has been coloured with Copics then cut with the die and matted onto a piece of designer paper also cut with a die.

The quote from Dr Seuss is from Deedee's Digis, unfortunately they are no longer trading.

The card blank is the cut off part from making the large square card in my first post.

If my card has inspired you then why not pop on over to the Path of Positivity and have a go yourself.  There are just a couple of things we request:

Don't forget when you link up your project and/or post, to please leave a comment letting us know how your creation relates to the theme if it isn't readily clear within the design itself or clearly written somewhere else in your post. While you may easily see how your creation relates to the theme, it may not be as apparent to the DT members.  That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere, whether here or in your blogpost.  You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge, if it would be easier.  We just need to know how your project ties into the theme.  Letting us know, clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

Remember, the creation must be positive/inspirational/motivational AND adhere to the theme in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.

SPONSOR & PRIZE INFORMATION:

• 3 Digital Stamps from Robyn's Fetish, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that deems most inspiring of the bunch.


• A $20 gift certificate from Kitten Scraps, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge time frame.


• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Finally  Path of Positivity is looking for guest designers so if this is something you think you would like to have a go at please put a comment on the Path of Positivity blog post to let Lisa know.

I look forward to seeing you there. Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #282 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Animal Magic
Create and Inspire #48 - Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #234 -235
Inspiration Destination #90 - Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Creations #21 - Anything Goes
2 Creative Chicks Showcase #11
Crafting From The Heart #117 - Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations #159 - Anything Goes (Just for fun)

Dragons Liar Designs 3rd Monthly Challenge

I just have a day to post my entry to the Dragons Lair Designs 3rd Monthly Challenge using the Infinite Love Mini Kit. Recently I have been trying to understand the ins and outs of digital scrapbooking and using grahics programmes. I have the original Serif Craft Artist installed on  my computer but hardly ever use it! So with my involvement with Dragons Lair Designs and as they are geared more to scrapbooking than stamping I thought it high time I experimented a bit more. It's not wonderful but it is a start!



Materials used: 
Dragons Lair Designs - Infinite Love (available to download from the Facebook Fan Group Page
Craft Artist software

I have used a few elements from the kit to make up my 12x12 page. As the name of the kit is Infinite Love and since Rachel and Richard are aproaching their wedding I decided to feature them on this page.

I have to say it does seem strange not actually stamping or colouring on something but on the plus side it was a much quicker project to put together. I think I may be more inclined to do a mixture, putting the backgrounds and photos together digitally and adding stamped and coloured images to it.

Thanks for popping in. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my scrapbook page into the following challenges:
Dragons Lair Designs 3rd Monthly Facebook Fan Group Challenge
Crafting From The Heart #16 - Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations #158 - Anything Goes
2 Creative Chicks Showcase #11 

 

It started with a video!

Rather a long time ago, to far back to admit, I bought a tin of shaving foam in order to have a go at the shaving foam and ink technique to make backing papers. Well that tin of foam has been languishing in my craft room for so long that I hid it in shame behind some craft dvds. A couple of days ago Susan Renshaw posted a video on her Facebook page  where she was demonstrating the technique and as a result I finally got out the foam and had a very enjoyable if messy time.





All of this just to get one background piece for a card!

You can find Susan's video here and her wonderful blog here. Do go and have a look, she is so inspirational.



Materials used: Aliciabel Digi Stamp - Curious Fairy
X-Press It card
A5 card blank
Copic pens
printer card
shimmer paperpurple and yellow card
Britannia flower petal die
text dies
small purple fluffy feather
white flat base pearl gem
Wink of Stella brush - Shimmer Clear

For the backing paper: 
cheap shaving foam
very old calligraphy ink (I am sure new ink would work just as well!  Reinkers are good too but I do not have any).

The curious fairy is printed on X -Press It card and coloured with copics with Wink of Stella on the wings then matted and layered onto yellow and purple card.

The backing paper is made using shaving foam and ink.  If you need a more detailed explaination go and see Susan's video, she can explain it much better than I can and you get to see how it is done.

The flower is cut from shimmer paper and coloured with a Copic pen. The words are cut out of yellow and purple and stuck together slightly off set.
This card is heading off to my great niece who will be three at the end of the week. Hopefully she is not one of the rare little girls that does not like fairies!

Thanks for dropping by. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:2 Creative Chicks Showcase #11
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #282 - Anything Goes
Where The HeART Is #10 - Anything Goes
A Beautiful Mess #10 - Anything Goes
Crafting With Friends #22 - Anything Goes
Chocolate, Coffee and Cards #111 - Use A Die Cut
Creative Fingers #111 -Anything Goes 
Simply Papercraft #30 - Anything Goes
Imagine That! Creative Playground #5 - Tic-Tac-Toe (Gems, Sentiment, Flowers or Die cut, Patterned Paper, Flowers)
Let's Colour Linky Party #10
A Bit More Time To Craft #22 - Anything Goes
Digi Stamps 4 Joy #125 - Anything Goes/ Optional Twist: Fairies
Not Just Cards June - Anything Goes
Our Creative Corner #June - A Beautiful Mess
Sisters Of Craft #June - Anything Goes
Your Scrapbook Place #June - Anything Goes
Lacy Sunshine's Colour Your World - Anything Goes 
Create and Inspire #48 - Anything Goes

From the Heart Stamp of the Month

Ohh lookie here, a progressive challenge finished before the final few days! This month the image for the From the Heart Challenge is great for the long hot summer we are hoping for!



Materials used:
From the Heart Stamps - Ice Cream Lineup (free if you participated in last month's challenge)
Imagine That! digis by Kris - Ice Cream Parlour Digi Papers
acrylic ice cream cone stamp (magazine freebie)
white printer card
X-Press It card
snippet of frosted shrink plastic
Copic pens
polychromo pencils
archival ink pad
white A5 card blank

The image and sentiment are printed out together then a second copy of just the ice creams is fussy cut and stuck over the top with gel glue.

The ice cream cones are stamped onto a snippet of shrink plastic, coloured with pencils, cut out and shrunk.

The backing paper is printed from the Ice Cream Parlour set and used to cover the front of the card blank. A black pen has bee run around the edges  and also around the edges of the main image.

We have been enjoying a few days of lovely sunny weather here and I have manage a couple of walks around our local reservoir/nature reserve. The coots, swans and ducks are now showing off their youngsters and a few days ago I was luck enough to spot a kingfisher flashing by. There is no mistaking the bright blue streak as it skims over the water.

I hope that if you are in the same hemispere you are also enjoying good weather. If you are heading into winter I hope it is not too harsh.

Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:
From the Heart Stamp of the Month - June
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #35
2 Creative Chicks Showcase #11
Crafting From The Heart #115
Craft Your Passion #315
Artistic Inspirations #158 - Anything Goes (Just for fun)
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #281 - Anything Goes
Lemon Shortbread #17 - Anything Goes
A Bit More Time To Craft #21
A Gem of A Challenge #170 - Weather (my card just has to be summer!)

Achievement along the Path of Positivity

Time for the start of a new challenge at Path of Positivity and this time the theme is achievement. I am sure if we thought about it we all achieve things every day, some small day to day ones and some bigger ones. The single mother struggling to make ends meet reaching the end of the day with her children happy and contented, the injured person managing to stand for the first time since their illness or accident, the child understanding that the group of blobs on the page actually form words that can be read, all of these achievements happen around us daily.

My youngest daughter went to university to study Psychology and successfully completed the three years with a 2:1 in 2012. For the last 18 months and especially the last few month leading up to and including her finals, she struggled with confidence and developed an over emphasis on healthy living and exercise resulting in drastic weight loss. The fact that she actually managed to do her finals and get her dissertation done on time was a huge achievement and to get such a good degree at the end was amazing. We were so proud of her.

Happily she is now well on the road to recovery having found someone who gave her the right advice rather than her GP who gave her a leaflet designed for people trying to lose weight - the exact

opposite of what she needed help with! She still has peculiar eating habits but she is in control of it. This August she is getting married and her fiance is very supportive of her. They are going to be a fantastic team.

She now works as a church Youth Worker but eventually wants to look into youth counseling and her own experiences will be a big help for her in this.

It's no surprise then that for my card I have gone with a graduation theme. With the summer approaching the next lot of students will be hard at work preparing for their exams and later on hopefully celebrating their own achievements.



Materials used: 
Kitten Scraps - Graduation Day Digi Stamp Set
Dragons Lair Designs - Definitions Happy Themed Mini Kit
X-Press It card
printer card
white 8inch square card blank
decorative edge square die
Copic pens
grey designer paper

The image has been printed on X-Press It card (the message added by computer before printing) and coloured with Copics.

The frame is cut from Dragons Lair Designs Definitions Smile paper and attached over the image.

The card front had a black pen run around the edges to give a black border before being  covered with the grey designer paper (source unknown). The designer paper was already cut to 8 inch square but I was concerned that the card base might be slightly larger which is why I edged it with the black pen.

If my card has inspired you then why not pop on over to the Path of Positivity and have a go yourself.  There are just a couple of things we request:

Don't forget when you link up your project and/or post, to please leave a comment letting us know how your creation relates to the theme if it isn't readily clear within the design itself or clearly written somewhere else in your post. While you may easily see how your creation relates to the theme, it may not be as apparent to the DT members.  That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere, whether here or in your blogpost.  You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge, if it would be easier.  We just need to know how your project ties into the theme.  Letting us know, clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

Remember, the creation must be positive/inspirational/motivational AND adhere to the theme in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.

SPONSOR & PRIZE INFORMATION:

• 3 Digital Stamps from Robyn's Fetish, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that deems most inspiring of the bunch.


• A $20 gift certificate from Kitten Scraps, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge time frame.


• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

I look forward to seeing you there. Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:
Pattie's Creations #123 - Fathers Day or Graduation
Crafting With An Attitude #16
Crafty Girls Creations #20
2 Creative Chicks Showcase #11 
A Bit More Time To Craft #21
Crafts Galore Encore  - June
Crafting With Friends #22
Simply Papercraft #30
Where The HeART Is #10
Our Crafty Corner #10 

Dragons Lair Designs For The Men

Time for the start of a new monthly challenge at Dragons Lair Designs. This month the theme is 'One For The Men'. I managed to find a couple of pirate themed set to use.



Materials used: 
Dragons Lair Designs - Billy's Dress Up Pirate
Dragons Lair Designs - Walking The Plank Mini Kit
pirate map acrylic stamp
birthday greeting and Ahoy acrylic stamps
metal ship charm
X-Press It card
printer card
Copic pens
Polychromo pencils
5inch square card blank folded to make an easel card

From the Walking the Plank kit I used the double frame and two of the papers.

Billy has been resized to fit the larger of the two frames, coloured with Copics and fussy cut. The Pirate Map was stamped onto the lighter paper and coloured with pencils before being attached behind the smaller frame. It took a bit of careful measureing and cutting but I did manage to back the frames without the problem of overlap!

The card blank has been lined with the darker of the papers. I used a spare snippet of the lighter paper to make up the card stopper.

The challenge runs until the end of June so why not give it a go, you could win a prize! There are lots of ideas on the blog and Facebook page and plenty of kits to choose from in the shop. All the relevant links are below.

Thank you for visiting today. Take care.

Why not visit some of the other areas in the Dragons Lair Designs family of sites?

• Dragons Lair Designs Store - A fantastic range of digital downloads


• Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog - Bookmark us and come back regularly for inspiration


• Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog - Challenges starting the 1st Friday of every month with different themes, please come along and take part


• Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group - Even more inspiration, challenges, freebies and fun activities


• Dragons Lair Designs Facebook Page - Please do pop over and "Like" our page


• Dragons Lair Designs Etsy Store  - Another location to get hold of our range of digital downloads


• Janette Padley's Creations on craftsUprint - Yet another location to get hold of our digital downloads


• Dragons Lair Designs Crafts Group - selling buttons and bits and bobs

 

I would like to enter my card in to the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create #178 - Anything Goes
A Bit More Time To Craft #21 - Anything Goes
2 Creative Chicks #11 - Anything Goes
Cards Calore Encore #June - Anything Goes
Creative Ladybirds Creations #16 - Anything Goes
Lil  Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #34 - Anything Goes
Crafting From The Heart #114 - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion Challenge #314 - Anything Goes
Our Crafty Corner 9 - Anything Goes
Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge #196 - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #280 - Anything Goes