Dance Like No One is Watching

Well hello! I have had so much going on - appointments at the hospital mainly in preparation for my Total Hip Replacement next Friday.   I decided this evening to drag one of my cards out of my drafts... this was the card I gave our Daughter-in-law for her birthday (last December!! 

The gorgeous image is Abi Ballerina from All Dressed Up, there are two versions I think, a freebie with Abi's eyes open and this one with her eyes closed - I can't see any other differences. The All Dressed Up challenge wants to see our Favourite Colour, Turquoise is my DIL's favourite colour, and I'm surprised how much I use it... I do like most colours, but the combinations in this paper from Kaisercraft's Chapter One just "work" extra well for me :-) so I'm entering the challenge.  The floral paper has gloss accents, it really is lush IRL, Clear It Out has a Birthday Theme and wants to see some Glossy Accents, definitely in there, Pile It On has Shiny so in there too.  Papertake Weekly have Oh So Cute, I'm in!  Without Words has a Celebration theme, while this card is not exactly CAS, there are NO embellishments... not so much as a pearl, so I'm hoping it's in the spirit of the challenge and I'm trying it out there.

The Creative Colors Challenge this time is to use at least three of the colours in the inspiration pic, and Polka Dots... I have the three shades of turquoise so I'm in, Whimsy Inspirations Challenge is Monochrome, so (apart from the skin tones, which I think are allowed) I'm in there too.There's a new Sketch challenge on the block... Die Sketchanten or the Sketch Aunt's (cute name!) I think this fits their sketch pretty well (flipped) so I'm entering there in their very first challenge; even though this card was made before the date it hasn't been "blogged" until today so I think it should be okay.

I coloured the image with Copics, and Prismacolor pencils, adding loads of Stickles to the tutu, Crafty Little Fairies have Sparkle and Bling so I'm entering there.  I used Nestabilities Scalloped Circles to cut the Kraft mat for the image panel, which was cut with a Standard Circle Nestie; My Mums Craft Shop has Punches or Dies and Cuttlebug Mania has Anything Die Cut, so I'm entering there.  The sentiment is from Craftworks cards.

The card was also a gift card holder... the card we bought for her from one of her favourite shops came in it's own box, so I made a gusseted pocket on the inside front to hold it - and made sure I had a gusset in the fold of the card to accommodate it when shut.  

I followed the same sketch for the inside proper, adding a Marianne Design die cut flourish as an embellishment to the jotting panel.  This card is "me on a plate"; I like to make my hand coloured image the focus, tend to use patterned paper in rich or strong tones and add very little in the way of embellishments - even though I've got a scrap room full of them, lol, so I absolutely am entering Crafts 4 Eternity's "My Style" challenge :-)) Allsorts Challenges theme this time around is Movie Titles, my movie title is simply Ballerina (which was a fascinating film about the Kirov ballet) so I'm in there and  I'll be entering Through the Craftroom Door, Crafty Girls Challenge and Inky Chicks Anything Goes challenges too.

That's it for today's card.  I'm trying hard to get some DT cards up for the next few weeks.  I anticipate being in hospital for four or five days, though I have been quoted anywhere from four to eight... I sincerely hope it's not eight as I have cajoled my hubby into not working for a week with the idea that he be home with me when I most need help and he being home while I'm in hospital is a bit pointless  I am an absolute wreck about this operation, almost sick with nerves.  

By all accounts the first two weeks are the hardest, with pain and disability being at their worst and the narcotics wreaking havoc with your system.  I sincerely hope it's all worth it, I have already "stressed off" two kilos.  The recovery seems very arduous, my surgeon wants me to observe "hip precautions" for twelve weeks - which is twice what my original surgeon wanted.  These include sleeping on my back, which I can't do so God knows how I'll cope, not bending more than 90 degrees, so no bending to get things from low shelves, no stretching up, no crossing the midline, no sitting on soft or low (substitute "comfortable"!) seats, etc etc etc  I've been practicing using my "reacher" but it's incredible the impact these restrictions have.  I should be able to use my laptop (some of the forums I've read say they were up to that by the third week, I'm hoping for sooner of course!) The one thing you are allowed, in fact encouraged to do is WALK, so that'll be me.... wistfully WALKING around my craft room looking at all the things I can't reach, lol.

Well now I've shared (perhaps over-shared) I'll say good night, I'll be back on the weekend with a DT card for Di's Digis.... not that I've made it yet!  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna