Two Years, a Million Tears

Just thought I'd acknowledge my beautiful Mum, who left us at 9.46am two years ago today
I miss her every day, I can't believe two years have gone already, and I can't believe I'm still struggling as I am... ah well, this too shall pass
This photo was taken by my son Chris (her favourite Grandson, not that she had favourites... but we all knew, lol) on her 80th birthday,.

It was such a great day, she loved every minute - but then, she WAS easily pleased :-). My sister and I took her for a "girly" treat, the only one we ever did all three together, having her nails, hair and makeup done ready for our stretch-limousine ride to a winery for lunch with family... this was post-lunch... not looking too bad - all things considered, hic

Devastated

 have no craft to share today, only terrible news.

My Mum, New Year 2016

My Darling Mum, who is my best friend, died yesterday morning
My father and she were going for a quick drive to the bank on Friday - despite their advanced age they are fiercely independent - and in a horrendous sequence of events the car rolled into my Mum as she was getting into it on their driveway, the door knocked her to the ground where she hit her head.
She managed to ring my sister Fiona (We live two minutes away but had gone Down South 300km away for a few days, my sister was en route to her home 400km away - she had been up for one of her regular visits, leaving my Mum and Dad's only 40 minutes before.)  Mum managed to dial my sister's number, Dad (who is very confused sometimes these days) told her that Mum had hurt her head.  My sister got her son to go to my folk's house. he was there in five minutes - the ambulance was called and arrived five minutes later.  Mum was still conscious at that point.  My sister had arrived back at their place by then, she didn't get a chance to talk to Mum as she was being put in the ambulance - when she got to the hospital with my Dad my Mum was unconscious.  she had a CT scan which showed a large bleed in her brain.  She never woke again
My husband and I had packed up at the cabin and came back up as fast as we could, we knew by that point there was no hope, I prayed only that Mum would wait for me.  Such was her love and consideration for others, she did.
 My sister and I stayed the night with Mum, playing her favourite Nat King Cole songs and slow swing music. My husband brought my Dad, who has gone to pieces, back up to the hospital at 7am.  Mum took her last breath at 9.46am, she was certified as dead at 11.12
My heart is broken
Mum has bravely battled in the minefield that is old age, with her own health problems and Dad's, she has done this with dignity, grace and love and totally without complaint. She was the most amazing of people; the more so because she really didn't realize just how special she was
I know this terrible pain will pass, we all have so many beautiful memories of her... but right now it's not enough and I am bereft
My sister is staying with my Dad for the foreseeable future; I don't think she is aware of just how much my Mum's life was dedicated to his wellbeing, but for the time being she will do her best to keep Dad in his own home... I have done the lion's share of helping them for the last four years at least, I am tired. I hope I can cope with this next challenging time
I don't know how much time or inclination I will have for my Blog, time will tell
Until then, love your parents... tell them you love them, give them an extra kiss and try not to roll your eyes... ever.  One minute you have all the time in the world to do those things, the next minute the chance is gone, forever

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere - at Di's Digis

Here we are again with a new challenge starting at Di's Digis Challenge Blog, the theme this time around is "Flowers Everywhere".  I made a card for my lovely Mum for Mother's Day... which is tomorrow here in Australia!  

It's a "Magic" card... or that's what Marianne called it in her fabulous tutorial here... it uses the "winged sides to stand up and has a "secret" panel that shows when you lift up the front panel.

The oh-so-sweet image is called Hide and Seek Mice (I do love Di's mice images!) and you can get it here.  I coloured with Copics, adding some depth to the shading with Prismacolor pencils and some gold gel pen to the base of the petals... it ties in with the gold on the paper and actually looks a bit more subtle in real life, quite effective if I do say so myself :-)I used some beautiful handmade Cherry Blossom patterned Chiyogami paper from my beloved Starfish Lane - special paper for my very special Mum :-)  It's a pain to cut cleanly, you do have to spend a bit of time cleaning up the cut edges but it's SO worth it; this paper is GORGEOUS in real life, with a tissue-y texture, gold detail and rich colours.
I punched the edges of the "wings" that help the card to stand with a Martha Stewart Edge punch - "Doily Lace", I sponged some dusky pink Kaisercraft ink on the edges to soften the effect. 

I've been drooling over Stitched Mat type dies all over blogland, I finally treated myself to a couple of sets - Stitched Mats circles and squares - from L'il Inkers (the largest one in each of their sets is the biggest of all the brands I looked at) they stitch "inside and outside" of the cut line; giving a stitched line on the outer edge of the mat and around the outside of the "hole", which gives a useful negative :-)  I'm really impressed with how nicely they cut, and their customer service was excellent too.  I inked the edges of all the circles to match the punched edges.
The flowers on the front are from my stash... they came on a branch and as they weren't the right colour I just touched them up with a Copic marker to suit.  The sentiment is a sticker, it was all joined together in three rows, I snipped them apart and voila!

The poem inside the card was one I found on Pinterest... click on the pic to see it up close and personal :-) I typed it out using Precosia font, I haven't added it to my freebies page as this font was free for Personal Use only. 
Another stitched mat circle for a jotting panel and a strip of the Doily Lace to tie that in (and to compensate for the fact that I didn't have enough of the chiyogama paper to cover the whole of that panel) and done... it looks okay I think.
Well that's it for today's card, pop over to the blog and check out the rest of the DT's work; truly Flowers Everywhere, lol.  I hope you get a chance to enter the challenge this time around... there's a great prize on offer as always (from Magnalicious this challenge) woohoo! If you use one of Di's sweet images you get to go into an extra draw too don't forget!
 I'll be sharing my card at Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge, as I'm on the DT I won't be entering the prize draw - just "show and tell", lol, but I WILL be entering Mum's card in the following challenges.  

Cute Card Thursday Secrets (a hidden something) hidden panel behind the front flap

Pile It On Garden Creatures

Tuesday Throwdown Welcome Spring

Hanna and Friends Flowers

Card Mania Challenges  Flowers

Aud Sentiments  Animals + a sentiment

As You Like It Favourite; Patterned or Embossed Paper - well I DO love patterned :-) especially when it's so lush as this

Creatalicious Challenges Mother's Day/Special Lady My Mum is VERY special

The Paper Shelter Love (any kind of love) I love my Mum, that's some kind of love

Animal Friends Love

Fab'n'funky Challenges 3 or More Layers

Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends, Paper Creator Crafts, Cute As A Button, Little Miss Muffet, Create and Inspire, Creative Fingers, Art by Miran, Simply Papercrafts, Crafting With Friends #20, Craft Your Passion and Through the Craftroom Door

I'll be back soon... still got that pile in my Draft folder, lol.  Until then Happy Crafting, Donna

My First DT Card For Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge

Well, as I said the other day... not that anyone was probably listening - 'tis the story of my life, lol - Hazel has decided to gather a Design Team for her Patterned Paper Challenge. 
As she gets a HUGE number of entries (it's so easy to enter, all you have to do is use some patterned paper on your creation!) I can see why she needs a DT!!  Here's my offering; not as "uncluttered" as my usual, it was in fact my first Criss Cross Card, I made it for my Mum's birthday last August (geez, we're nearly there again!) and it's been sitting in my Drafts waiting for a special occassion - which I've deemed this is :-)
My Mum LOVES these sweet images from Sugar Nellie.  This is one of the Vintage Adorable Collection (Digital of course, I'm a Digi Kinda Gal!) available here.  I printed the image on linen card, it just seems to say "vintage" to me better than smooth card, and coloured with some Copics and mainly Prismacolor pencils.  I've coloured her with "my" hair and eye colour... well when I was this age my hair was naturally this colour... now I have a little help :-))
I made the card base with Kraft... for its vintage feel... The all important papers (and there's a LOT of paper on this creation, trust me) are from Kaisercraft's Vintage Timeless pad and a Digital set "Basic Vintage", there's this and lots of goodies at Michelle R Designs I bought the matching insert set, but ended up just mix and matching my papers instead.  I can't believe how many times the word "vintage" is coming up in this post... so NOT me, lol.
The scalloped mats are Nestabilities Scalloped Circles, the rest of the mats are all cut from Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Circles dies.. there's so many in the set you can get very narrow mats - but it is a a lot of cutting (it was for my lovely Mum, so it didn't matter) 
The lace is from my stash, as are the pearls.  I used Viva Pearl Pen to add the "pearls" around the scalloped circle... I didn't have that many pearls left - and the pen is QUICK!

The gold embellishments are chipboard, from Make It Crafty... but Zoe doesn't sell them anymore, lucky I stocked up! - I embossed them with some Vintage Gold EP from Ranger
I added a sheer bow with a pearl brad to the insert, so you could pull it out (it was a bit snug, lol) I put a smaller version at the bottom of the image to tie it in.

I added a die cut from the Kaisercraft pad to some more of the nested circles and stamped Happy Birthday on it (ancient stamp of unknown origin) more of the Pearl pen... then I added MORE circles to the back of the insert and a jotting panel, finished the scalloped circle with, you guessed it, more Pearl pen.  There are "only" 12 circles cut for this card, but I kept trying to get more out of my coloured cardstock so I was cutting middles out and all sorts... like I said, a lot of cutting - glad it wasn't by hand!!

I added a stand to the back of the card to help it stand up "nicely", I didn't take a pic but it's the same as the one I used on the last Criss Cross card I posted here (which was actually made AFTER this one - I used the stand from this card as a template)

Well that's it for my inaugural Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge DT card.  Pop over to the blog and check out the rest of the new team... plenty of talent there, I am honoured to be in such "good company".  I hope you get a chance to enter the challenge as well... it runs for the whole month and all you have to do is use Patterned Paper... TOO EASY!!  As a bonus, there's always a great prize on offer too, woohoo!! 
I am entering the following challenges:

Sparkles Monthly Challenge Vintage or Shabby Chic

Cuttlebug Mania Use a Sentiment

Crafty Cardmakers Sentiment

Whimsy Inspirations Challenge Ribbon, Lace or Twine

Creatalicious Challenges Ribbon and Pearls

That Craft Place Layers

Papertake Weekly Take Your Pick (Product: Pearls)

Sugar Bowl Challenges Anything Goes (with a SN image)

Through the Craftroom Door Anything Goes

Art by Miran Anything Goes

Simon Says Challenge Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps Bingo Board:I've used Lace Sentiment/Ribbon, or Ribbon/Punches or Dies/Layers or Lace/Stamped Image/Layers ... depending on whether a digi is a "stamped image" or not :-) and/or if the two bows and a loop qualify as "ribbonrow Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Thanks Mum

The new challenge starting today at Di's Digis Challenge Blog has "Load on the Flowers" as it's theme.  As it's Mother's Day here in Australia tomorrow I thought I'd take the opportunity to make a card for my lovely Mum.  Happy Moither's Day to all those who celebrate this weekend too :-) 

The reference may be subtle, as to why I used this image, but the message I wrote on the back of the card says in essence thanks for showing me the right path, and for always being by my side.  I made a diorama card, Mum likes the cards I make that are a little bit different, and she doesn't like too much "stuff" on them, so I kept the flowers to a small "load" :-))  Another good thing about diorama cards is how they fold flat for postage... in this instance I made sure the flowers didn't protrude past the edge of the card when it was flattened, then thought about the fact that I won't be posting it anyway, lol

Both the images I've used are from Di's Digi Downloads... the background is Path and Fields and the little girl and her dogs is a new image called Daydream Izzy.  I inked the clouds and coloured the background image with Prismacolor pencils, Izzy was printed on textured card and coloured with Copics... with a few Prismacolor details.

It's hard to see, but I added another layer between the background and the front (which has acetate in it, I discovered last time I made a diorama that they're a bit wobbly with such a narrow frame, acetate helps a lot!) On the mid layer (which I just coloured green to look like low hills, I added small gemstone flowers.  The flowers on the front are Joycraft dies, the leaves are a new die I just got; Creative Expressions Faux Quilled Leaves.  I coloured some pearls from my stash with a Copic to add to the centres of the flowers and added some yellow ricrac from my stash.

The gorgeous patterned paper from a digital pack I got from My Memories... called Impressionists Canvas.  The back of the card is where I wrote my message, I just added a strip of the DP and some ricrac to jazz it up.  

Anyway that's it for today's card, hope you get a chance to check out the rest of the Design Team's flowery offerings.  Hope you enter the challenge too, great prize on offer as always, and an extra opportunity if you use one of Di's images too!!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges: 

Hiding in my Craft Room	Let's Get Digital
Tuesday Throwdown	Flowers for Her
Great Impressions	Celebrate Spring
Pile It On	Mother's Day/For a Lady
Fab'n'funky Challenges	May Flowers
Addicted to  Stamps	Flowers
OSAAT	Anything Goes Special Lady
Craft Your Passion	Always Anything Goes
Art by Miran	Anything Goes
Catch The Bug	Anything Goes
Through the Craftroom Door	Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly	Anything Goes

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Use Those Markers

Lucky I'm on Di's Digidesigns Challenge DT or I'd never get anything posted on my poor old Blog!  There's a new challenge starting today, the theme is "Use Those Markers", lucky for me as I LOVE my markers :-)  

It's Mother's Day here in Australia tomorrow so I made a card for my Mum, Tuesday Throwdown has "Special Lady" for their challenge, so I'm in and The Paper Shelter has Love is in the Air (not just romantic love) so I'm in there too.
 I made an aperture card, I did one for my hubby's birthday but that's one of the many cards I haven't had a chance to blog yet... surely I'll get a chance to do some soon!  What I really like about these is that when you decorate the inside, you decorate the outside too - or vice versa :-)  I used this fab tutorial from Great Impressions and that means I can enter their challenge, excellent! 

The image is Kitty Cuddles, Di had removed it from the shop but has seen the error of her ways, lol, and is going to put it back in - why wouldn't you, it's so cute, and perfect for Mother's Day, I think.  Cute Card Thursday has Paw Pals as their challenge theme, my cute Paw Pals get me in for sure.
As it says "on the tin" the challenge is to use markers, I've used Copics; because it's a special occasion I made a list of the markers I used: RV04, RV13, RV16, R000, R01, R20, R22, Y21, Y28, Y32, YR31,C0, C2, C5, C7, T4, W1, W3.  Mmm, sounds like a lot, but some were just a touch and the Toner was used to desaturate the kitten, who was way too orange.  
The papers are from Nitwits, the Stuffed Love collection.  I scaled the paper I used on the front down and used it as a background for the image; the heart paper on the inside is from the same collection as are the horizontal strips. Delightful Challenges, Bearly Mine Challenges and the Simon Says Challenge all have Flower themes, so I'm entering them all and Colour Me Copic has a Pastel Colours challenge, Divas by Design has In the Pink and  Gem of a Challenge has Favourite Colour Combo for theirs... I love all colour, seriously ALL, so I'm in. 

The aperture was cut using Nestabilities Standard Circles and the edge detail with Nestabilities Lacey Circles.  The corner dies are Cheery Lynn the pearls are from my stash and the sentiments are gold stickers I've had for yonks that I'm trying to get some use from.  I don't use a lot of embellishments on my cards, I do use die cuts a lot but really love the colouring aspect the most; Clear It Out wants to see our Style, I guess this is mine, and our Favourite Product... gotta be Copics and Dies.  My Mums Craft Shop has Lots of Layers... there were so many layers for the aperture I could hardly get it to go through my Big Shot, in the end it went through the Cuttlebug (those plates are less warped, which probably helped!)
Through the Craftroom Door, That Craft Place, Stamping Sensations and Papertake Weekly  all have Anything Goes challenges, so I'm entering them too.
That's it for today's card, pop over to the blog and check out my teamies work, fab as always.  I hope you get a chance to join in the challenge, such an easy theme :-)  Great prize on offer too from Marker Pop, and don't forget if you use one of Di's fab images (plenty of new ones in the shop, and available as Candibean Rubber Stamps for the ink lovers among you too) you go in an extra draw, WooHoo!! 
I will try to get back soon, I have had more dramas - the gallstones found in the CT when I had the kidney stone (which I have to go for another scan to see where it's at, though it's given me no more trouble) have caused two gallbladder attacks last week, they are very painful, though not I think as painful as the kidney stone, still very unpleasant as they bring other symptoms.  I've only had one attack prior, last year, and didn't realise what it was - the pain went after about an hour and a half so I thought it was just killer indigestion. I've been told the gallbladder has to come out, I'm not keen but can't do too many of those attacks, I'm in a quandry that's for sure!  I'm going to the Orthopedic Surgeon and the Rheumatologist this week seeking solutions for my hip, which has been literally a pain for a whole lot longer. It's all started getting me down a bit to be honest, quite a bit.  
Just when I was feeling particularly sorry for myself, I read of one of fellow DT's Lorraine's son's friends dying of cancer at the age of only 9; man, did that make me wake up or what?!  I hear client's saying all the time "it's a nightmare" when they're describing the mess their pool excavation has made, the crane being a few hours late or the cost exceeding their expectations and I always say that your child having cancer is a nightmare, those other things are, in the end only inconveniences; I've decided to regroup and try to heed my own advice, the pain and mobility issues I have are certainly unpleasant and unwelcome, but "a nightmare" they are NOT, I am so grateful that we as parents have never had that nightmare.  Even Matt's accident last year, while serious, could not, in retrospect be considered a nightmare as we still have him almost whole and hearty - just minus a few minor appendages :-)
Anyway, enough of my waffle.  I'll be back soon, after all it's Mother's Day tomorrow so my time will be my own (ha, as if!) Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna xx

Kraft and Blue for You, Mum

Today I thought I'd show you the card I made for my Mum's 83rd birthday recently. 

I'm really happy with the card generally but couldn't get the hair right (I was going for a particular shade of red/blonde that my hair was when I was young... when I couldn't get it I bailed on the "mini me" theme and gave her blue eyes - mine are brown!)  I've ended up over blending, but as I was going for a soft look it's not too bad.  The image is "Rachael", one of Sugar Nellie's Simply Adorable range, available here.  Sugar Bowl Challenges have an Anything Goes theme, so I'm entering there.  I've used Copics for colouring, adding gloss accents to her earrings and glitter then gloss to her hair slide.

I love the Kraft colour with the wispy sort of background paper, which is digital; from Bearly Mine Designs - Spring Blossoms set.  I said in my last post that I was going to be using Kraft a lot more... but I had in fact already made this card, so I had insider knowledge, lol.  Sweet Stampin' want us to Use Kraft, Great Impressions want a Square Card, and Bearly Mine Challenges have Anything Goes, so I'm entering them all too!
The off-centre panel is blue cardstock from my stash, embossed with Cuttlebug's Divine Swirl folder.  I distressed over the embossing with Cloud White ink, it really lifted it.  Cuttlebug Mania have an Embossing challenge so I'm entering there.  Paper Crafting Journey have Distressed or Vintage for their challenge, so I'm in.
The image panel was cut with Nestabilities Standard Circles and the mat cut with Nestabilities Lacey Circles.  The horizontal strip was cut with Martha Stewart's Double Edge Punch "Diamond Fence".  
The swirl is a laser die cut I got from Make It Crafty... Zoe has decided to stop selling her laser cuts, boo hoo, I had a few sets of these and bought a whole bunch of others to stock up - in fact when I went to put my latest order away, I found whole sheets I forgot I had - could be the curse of the tidy crafter, putting things "away", lol.
I coloured it with some Kaiser ink, several coats, then embossed it with iridescent EP - my favourite type :-)  It's very glittery IRL;  Creative Belli have Glitter for their challenge and both Card Mania Challenges and 2 Sisters Challenge have "Favourite Embellishment" as their theme... I don't use a lot of embellishments, but I do like die cuts... oh, and pearls - I've used teeny tiny ones here at the top and bottom corners, they're actually silver and look really nice (it's the first time I've used them since I put them in my "stick ons" storage box the day I received them from Bunny Zoe Crafts, again, I sort of forgot about them!  The sentiment is from Sentiments 4 U and the little blue heart is from my stash.  Crafty Cardmakers has 1 image, tick, 2 papers (well I have 2 patterned papers) tick, and 3 embellishments (die cut, silver pearls and little blue heart) tick - I'm in!!

I decorated the inside to match the front, as usual :-)  softening the edge of the jotting panel with a little blue ink but not popping the layers up like the front. Simon Says Challenge and That Craft Place both have Monochrome challenges (I hope my Kraft card doesn't make it NOT monochrome!) so I'm entering there. Through the Craftroom Door, The Crazy Challenge and Crafty Calendar have Anything Goes challenges running so I'm entering there and Seize the Birthday has Anything (Birthday) Goes, so in there too.
Well that's about it for today's card, my Mum had a lovely day celebrating her birthday - my youngest son gave her a pamper package and taxied her around for the day (Mum loves spending time with Chris!) and then he took her to the Hyatt where we were waiting to have "high tea" with her;  Matt and Elaine brought the twins, which was a surpise for us as Chris has a bit of a cold and they didn't want him to share it with the babies.  Any of us being there was a surprise for Mum, and she loved it!  Dad even managed to dress appropriately, without her overseeing every step, lol.  I didn't take my camera, but snapped a couple of pics on the iPhone... not great quality but better than nothing :-)  If I can get them off my phone (it's not playing nice, lol) I'll add them next time.
I'll be back tomorrow with my DT card for Di's Digis Challenge.  Until then Happy Crafting, Donna

Flowers for Mum

Today I have another Mother's Day card... this is the one I made for my Mother In Law; as it's technically from her son I used a "boy" image :)

I've only made one Centre Stepper card before, and that didn't have the extra "step" in it... I think I like this one better :) Penny´s Paper have Step card or Easel card for their challenge, and the Anything Goes Challenge is Shaped Not Square so I'm entering there. Cuttin' and Stampin' has Shaped and Divas by Design has Shaped (not square or rectangle)  so I'm hoping my rectangle-with-a-bump gets me in there too; I know I can enter the Hobbycutz challenge which is More Than One Fold - this thing took longer to cut and fold than all the rest of the making!

As I said I used a "boy" image because the card is from my hubby, this is Joe With Flowers from Digistamp Boutique coloured with Copics.  I'll be entering Left of Center Creative Challenges who want us to use a digi image, Digistamp Boutique's monthly challenge as I've used one of their images and Tuesday Throwdown's challenge Smell the Roses (flowers in the image or paper, I have both) Colour Me Copic and Great Impressions both have Celebrations as their challenge theme, so I'm entering them too.

The papers are from Kaisercraft - Peachy Keen, I love these colours and we're heading into autumn here so they are season appropriate; My Mums Craft Shop has Spots or Stripes for their challenge (I have stripes), Oozak has Anything Goes with Earth Tones for their challenge, Clear It Out has Anything Goes, Use Stash and 2 or more papers; the papers and the cardstock (DCWV) are most definitely from stash, as are the paper flowers that I got from a discount store right at the beginning of my card making journey, so I'm in.  Stamping With The Dragon has A Flower for Mum while Crafty Calendar, Without Words, By the Cute and Girly, Simon Says Challenge, 

Card Mania Challenges, and My Sheri Crafts all have some sort of "Flower" challenge so I'm entering them.

I've used two dies from Memory Box, Puffy Clouds and Wrought Iron Fence - this is their first outing, I LOVE them!   I think the fence is really effective in this brown colour, it looks kinda rusty :)  I used the largest of the clouds on the "inside" (back?) of the card to decorate the jotting panel, My Time to Craft has Show Us Your Inside for their challenge, I'm in!

I created the sentiment on the computer, feel free to grab it if you like (it will be on my Freebies page for later anyway).  Aud Sentiments wants us to use a Sentiment for mother and child, I think this is suitable so I'm in there,2 Sisters Challenge, Creative Belli, Creative Inspirations, Going Grey with Scrap-Creations, Hanna and Friends and The Squirrel and the Fox  all have Mother's Day themes so I'm entering there too.  

Crafty Creations want us to KISS - Keep It Sweet and Simple that is ;)  This card really is quite simple (folding aside, lol) so I think it can go there, Love to Scrap, The Paper Shelter, Whimsy Stamps and Forever Friends all have Anything Goes challenges - I KNOW it can go there!

Well, that's it for today's card, I'll be back on the weekend with a DT card, until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Show Us Your Bling at Di's Digi Designs

Well it's that time of the fortnight again... time for a new challenge at Di's Digis Challenge Blog, the theme this time is sure to be popular; Show Us Your Bling!  I made a card for my Mum for Mother's Day, which is tomorrow here in Australia (and in the US, I believe)

I've given myself an extra challenge this time around; to see how many challenges I could enter with one card, I've listed them at the end of this post... I've got to say it's been more time consuming making links and checking rules than it was to make my card!  Talking of which....
I used the super sweet new image from Di's Digi Stamps called "Decisions".  It reminded me of when I was a little girl (a looooong time ago!) and I liked to dress up just like my Mum - which led me to ponder the fact that when I became a mother I wanted to be the sort of mother she was and that now I've become a grandmother that I still want to be like her; hence the sentiment (which I did on the computer and will pop on to my freebies page shortly)
I used the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday, I do like a nice sketch :-) 
I printed the image on linen paper and coloured with Copics, it being a "bling" challenge I embossed the gold necklace with Golden Sparkle EP and added Liquid Pearls to the pearl necklace.  I added gloss to the mirror too.
The papers (also printed on linen paper) are from  Nitwit Collections Romance and Roses FQB, I was surprised how few floral papers I had in my stash so I bought a couple of digi sets last week.  
The matting card is Kaiser (I think, it's been in my stash for a while)  The mat behind the image panel is cut using Nestabilities Fleur De Lis Rectangles, from a beautiful (and impossible to photograph!) handmade paper  with silk threads, I used the same paper on the "inside" of the card.
The acrylic and crystal trim is from my stash, I got it in Malaysia last year, the swirls on the base of the easel and above the top sentiment are stickers I didn't I think I'd use and now wish I had more of!  The blue pearls are Kaiser. 
That's about it for today's card.  Pop over to the Di's Digis Challenge Blog and check out the rest of the DT inspiration, it's awesome!  Hope to see you join in the challenge too, there's a great prize from Digi Darla and of course if you use one of the many fabulous Di's Digis you're in with a chance at winning two more!
Now here's that list of challenges I'm entering:
Left of Center Creative Challenges Use a digi image

Deep Ocean Challenge Sparkle

Penny´s Paper Die Cuts and/or Punches

Sweet Sketch Wednesday Sketch

Digi Makeover Favourite colour combo (Pink and blue are my favourite combo - especially since the twins were born, lol

Bunny Zoes Crafts Fave colour (I love all colour!)

One Sweet challenge May - Spring Colors

Forever Friends Pastel Colours

Crafty Creations Something Old (the card + the bling) Something New (Image and papers)

Delightful Sketches Use Stash (card and bling)

Clear It Out Theme Anything Goes Stash; Use 2+ papers

Joanna Sheen Music and Lyrics (Dressing Up by The Cure)

Colour Me Copic Celebrate Something (Mother's Day)

Great Impressions Celebrations (Mother's Day)

Crafty Sentiments Use a Sentiment 

Aud Sentiments Sentiment suitable for Mother and Child (to my Mother, from HER child :) )

Stamping With The Dragon A Flower for Mother (Floral paper)

Card Mania Challenges Flower Power (Floral paper)

Fresh BrewedFresh Brewed Designs Flowers (Floral paper)

Digi Stamps 4 Joy Women are Special - My Mum sure is special!

Kaboodle Doodles For the Ladies

Inky Impressions Mother's Day/For a lady

WhoopsiDaisy  - Mother´s Day or for a Special Lady

Little Red Wagon  All About Mom

Tuesday Throwdown My Mother, My Friend  (She sure is!)

Hobbycutz Mother's Day

Pile It On  For a Mother

The Pink Elephant Mother's Day

Celebrate the Occassion Mother's Day

Chocolate Coffee Cards Mother's Day

Creative Belli #169 Mother's Day

Creative Inspirations Mother's Day

Cuttin' and Stampin' Mother's Day

Going Grey with Scrap-Creations Mother's Day

Sweet Stamps  For Mom

Hanna and Friends Mother's Day

Corrosive Challenge Mother's Day

The Squirrel and the Fox  Mother´s Day

V´s Sweet Ideas  Mother´s Day

Papertake Weekly Anything Goes

Divas by Design Anything Goes

Paper Crafting Journey Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create Anything Goes

Eclectic Ellapu Anything Goes 

Fussy and Fancy Anything Goes

Love to Scrap Anything Goes

Loves Rubber Stamps Anything Goes

One Stitch at a Time Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes

Whimsy Stamps Anything Goes

eta: Phew, finished entering into the challenges - won't be repeating this feat any time soon!

Until next time, Happy Mother's Day to those who are celebrating and Happy Crafting to everyone! Donna