We are back and we had a lovely time celebrating our anniversary with the kidlets, as you will see by the collage of pictures at the end. Unfortunately, on the last day I came down with some kind of crudski in and about my breathing passages. I've almost totally lost my voice which Mister is luxuriating in, bless me. No, I don't mean because I'm so tolerable, I mean because I sneezed.
So I comforted myself by making a simple CAS card for the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge. It made me feel better to keep up my resolution about making Christmas cards all year long. This week's challenge is one of those challenges that make me hungry while I'm being creative because the recipe is red vanilla, kraft chocolate, and ribbon. Ya gotta love commas. I once had a cake made with red vanilla, but I've never eaten kraft chocolate. It's prolly the only kind of chocolate I've never tried and if someone sends me some, I will happily eat it.
Here's the beautiful photo inspiration:
And here's my card:
And speaking of texture, thanks to my sweet friend, Geri, I am also entering the Card Concept Challenge, which is to use texture on your card. I am entering in the Clean and Layered style category. (I was quite thrilled and appreciative when my card for the inaugural first challenge at CCC was chosen as a winner!)
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And I am so pleased to introduce you to two new ladies in Our New Friends Corner. (Sorry, sometimes the photos don't want to cooperate when it comes to sizing.)
Welcome, Barb and Sathya, and thank you for joining us at the Playhouse!
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Just a few photos to share of our lovely weekend away:
Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy. LITS!*
As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to leave a comment and/or join as a follower! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!
*Life Is Too Short!
94 comments:
Darnell, your red vanilla, kraft chocolate card is deliciously scrumptious! That ribbon treatment is divine. An all-round gorgeous card! Thanks so much for joining us at Merry Monday.
Lovely card...Thanks for this lovely welcome message. Glad to visit here :)
Beautiful CAS card Darnell, the bow looks fab as does the fancy red ornament. Glad you had a lovely break, hope your voice is back to it's usual self soon!, Cathy x
I am pleased you had a good weekend away but sorry to hear that you have been unwell, I hope you are feeling better soon.
Your card is stunning. I love the papers and the poinsettia with the added ribbon looks amazing.
hugs Sue xx
Oh my goodness Darnell! That is stunning! So, so beautiful.
I do hope you will feel better soon... Crudski is not a good thing! x
Great these flowers combined with this background! Love the scoring! Have a great day, Gerrina
The flower and ribbon are just perfect on your card! Glad you had a fabulous weekend!
And forever more, I shall be saying "from wench it came" - AWESOME. Pure dee awesome. I love that poinsettia - definitely the star of your awesome card. Glad you had a beautiful anniversary weekend!
Darnell
I am so glad you had a wonderful celebrating - hope you feel better soon. Your card is deliciously simple and striking!
Love this beautiful card Darnell and congrats on your anniversary:) Your photos look amazing and I hope you both had a lovely time. Thanks for the lovely comments on my blog today - you always make me smile - hugs xx
p.s hope you feel better soon xx
Your Christmas card is simply gorgeous Darnell. Your celebratory photos look like you had a fabulous time - what about that sunset!!
So sorry to hear you came home with a touch of the CRUDS! and hope you will soon be feeling better
Kathyk
Sumptious and scrumptious Darnell. I love the tasteful simplicity but still loaded with details. The flower is just gorgeous. Thanks for your Christmas wishes and hope you had a fun time over the festive. Your weekend away looks lovely. x
Oh this is lovely, Darnell! I love the contrast of the beautiful, shiny poinsettia and the sheer ribbon. Just gorgeous.
Oh this is lovely, Darnell! I love the contrast of the beautiful, shiny poinsettia and the sheer ribbon. Just gorgeous.
Darnell you knocked the Merry Monday challenge out of the park with this scrumptious card. I love it's CASness!!! That poinsettia is divine! Thank you so much for joining us at Merry Monday!!!
Ooh, a most beautiful card...what a yummy ribbon.
So glad you enjoyed your weekend. I'm green with envy as I want to be at the beach....right now!!!!
Absolutely beautiful Darnell, I love the scoring and your WOW flower spray.
luv
irene
xxxx
This card is just so effective. The neutral shades with that glass like red Poinsettia go just perfectly, and the lines and the text with the shape you have given the bow is beautiful. Glad you had a lovely weekend with the family, the photos are fab. x
Love the big loopy bow - that sheer ribbon is perfect with the sheer poinsettia!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! Wonderful card Darnell!! Very elegant.
Glad y'all had a good trip - looks like fun.
Lynn
Whoa, the card is a stunner! Beautiful bow, and love the warm, cozy, rustic feel of it (hope I got my commas in the right places there ;) !!). SO glad you had a lovely anniversary celebration...at the beach!!! NICE!!!
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
You rocked that challenge with your gorgeous card!! And love your photos ... hope you will soon be feeling better ..
Card is gorgeous Darnell and so glad you had a wonderful time and fab photo's !!! huggles Sue xx
Hmmm, Kraft chocolate? Not sure I would want to eat that kind of chocolate..... Your card is exquisite! The poinsettia is just gorgeous against the beautiful white background. Now if that packet was mine, it would stay unopened just so I could look at it - a lot...
Great pics, glad you enjoyed it but so sorry about your throat, hope it gets better real soon. Big healing hugs, Annie xx
This card almost took my breath away when I first saw it and said awwwww Oh this is such an elegant card Darnell !!!! Love that bow and flower.
Welcome back. Looks like you had a wonderful time.
Hope you're feeling better! Your card is just stunning! Great pics! Thanks for sharing.
Ooh, Darnell, this is stunning! I love the subtle background - it shows that poinsettia off so well.
Gorgeous Yummy card, Vanilla, Chocolate..well it has to be yummy!
Beautiful poinsettia too.
Great weekend photo's, seems a good time was had by all xx
Hugs Mau xx
Oh, I just love your card! Those colors look so nice together! Hope you're feeling better soon, my friend!
Gorgeous card!!Love the flower!!!
Beautiful card Darnell! And until I read all the fine print, I did think you made that flower and was a little bit jealous! Love your sheer brown ribbon too...everything came together beautifully! :0)
Another lovely card. When I had the virus last month I could not taste or smell for three days. So Miss Iowa what a pleasant surprise to see my face and my mister.
When are you starting your cooking blog?
Definitely a yummo card Dippy - absolutely love that "to die for" poinsettia.......scrumilicious! Sorry that you got taken down with a naughty bug at the end of your anniversary celebrations but am sure Mister will welcome the return of your deep and meaningful vocal chords!!! Honest.....hehe
Hugs.
Karendipity xxx
The most scrumptious non-edible eye candy ever!!! First question in my wee noggin was 'how did she make that flower?'...so thanks for the 'splanation! Love the textured text paper! Speaking of 'texture'...did you see the CCC #2 is all about texture? Uh Huh! AND, have you visited CCC today yet? Best scoot over there :)
The beach pictures are beautiful! My heart aches for warm weather, a beach, and grandkidlets! Just came back from my walk 'on the beach' and it is -39C with the windchill. A tad bit chilly walking in my bikini! (bikini...as if!)
Lovely card, I love the idea of scoring the top half and love the idea of making Christmas cards all year! C x
Love it, looks lush with that bow and flower.
Kath x
Deliciously and delectably elegant Darnell wonderful photographs lovely memories of a splendid weekend
Gave up punctuating to see how it felt hope youre feeling on top form soon
Anita :)
Oh my goodness Darnell what a stunning design and yes that poinsettia is yummy.
Hugs Diane
Beautiful card Dolly. LOVE the poinsettia! ... and love the way you've looped your ribbon - very creative and pretty. Looks like you had a fun weekend celebrating your anniversary! Congrats! Lolly xx
mmmm that beach looks so good. I'm sick of cold, snowy weather. Speaking of cold, I'm sorry you caught one. I've been fighting a sinus thing for two weeks now.
Your card is grand. That poinsettia is gorgeous and I did wonder at first how you made it. The big chocolate bow sets if off perfectly.
Love your elegant Poinsettia Christmas card Darnell, please let me know if or what meds you were taking for the crudski, cos I got ta get me some of that, then maybe I will be able to create a thing of beauty too !! Lovely pics of your anniversary weekend. Hope your soon on the mend.
Hugs Lottie x
This makes my jaw drop, Darnell! I LOVE that pretty flower and the looped sheer ribbon is gorgeous with it! Love the simple background too! When I go on vacation, my mojo usually forgets to come home. Glad to see that yours was ready to go! Feel better.
Sure hope that the URI/flu/cold/nastiness has been expelled to a whole 'nother dimension. Second, YUMMO is right!! That flower looks like stained glass candy. Your whole card looks delicious...from the perfectly scored panel to the chocolaty ribbon. Seriously cool, my friend. Feel better real soon hunny. Bev
Darnell, your card is gorgeous!!!!! I love that poinsettia with the chocolate ribbon! And the scoring is the perfect touch!
That card is simply gorgeous, Darnell! And that bow!!! Beautiful!!!
Darnell I am so glad that Blogger has added the 'jump to comment form' link because my poor finger gets so tired trying to find the end of the line to put in my comment--LOL!! Your card has the best textures embossing, ribbon, accent and it is so darn pretty. Thank you so much for joining us at the Card Concept!
Your card looks so yummy--and positively gorgeous! Love the poinsettia and the lovely sheer ribbon. TFS your photos--looks like you had a wonderful time.
Love the rich color of that poinsettia and the ribbon against the subtle background. Very yummy card!
I sure hope you feel better soon Darnell, take care of yourself! Your card is simple and sweet, love that bloom!
Congrats on the win at CCC! This card is perfect for MM--gotta get going on mine! Looks like the anniversary celebration was so much fun. Sorry about the bug--hope you're better soon.
Lovely pop of color with that flower. When I saw it I thought you might have made it from that shrinky plastic stuff. Feel better!
Don't you just love NBUS! It is like going shopping all over again! lol
This is a stunning card. Love the colour combination...it is yummy bit the flower steals the show!!!
What a tribute to your talent that you get so many comments!! What can I say that is new or original...beautiful family, looks like it was a wonder family time...your card is very clean and layered...that would be my guess too. That poinsettia is definitely the star of the show!
Firstly, CONGRATS on your win at the Card Concept Challenge...such a beautiful card, Darnell!
Love your card today, too! Your chocolate ribbon and Poinsettia candy are so striking, and I love your embossed background...Stunning card!
Thanks so much for sharing those lovely pics from your getaway...looks like you had a relaxing break!
Really beautiful card Darnell - great take on the colours and the ribbon and poinsetties are just perfect!
Sorry to hear you've been unwell - hope you're fine now, well enough to at least play on the swings :)
Hugs, Di xx
Hope you feel better soon Darnell.
Love your gorgeous card.
Good job you were unwell on the LAST day of your anniversary trip, not the first! xxx
YUMMO card! Belated Happy Anniversary, Darnell.
Lully card there Darnell. You have made me feel quite hungry with all this talk of vanilla and chocolate.
Sowwy you are feeling poorly. I am sure you will be back to yourself shortly.
Hugs
xx
Such a gorgeous creation, Darnell! Something about that pretty poinsettia and yummy chocolate ribbon melts my heart! So sorry to hear your under the weather. Hope you get to feeling better soon! Hugs~
Thanks for playing along with us this week over at Merry Mondays! :)
Darnell, I love the loopy ribbon behind that gorgeous poinsettia! Lovely design! Feel better!
Very pretty card Darnell, I love the scored lines and the delicate DP. Your poinsettia is stunning with the loopy bow. Thank you for joining us for Merry Monday.
Stunning card dear Darnell!
Congrats on your win and thank you for yet another lovely post!
Bless YOU for making this luscious red vanilla, kraft chocolate card (kraft chocolate...reminds me carmel on the outside, chocolate blob inside candies that my mom often has stashed at her place. I'd like on immediately...good thing we're heading that way tomorrow - candies and kidlets. Excited!). Your anniversary collage reveals a most wonderful celebration! Hope you're feeling better asap - and to help nudge the 'ickiness' to relocate elsewhere, I'll send wishes on the wind, which is blowing merrily here today. You should receive them about....now! Hugs~c
Sorry to hear that you've caught the crud. It's a doozy and not a lick of fun. I really like your yummy card! You did this challenge proud. I admit that it flummoxed me. I could maybe come up with something if it weren't the first few days of school and my mind blown. You never know though. Bless you!
Very beautiful, love the flower very much, the ribbon is awesome with it. Glad you have fun celebrating. Cheers, Shirleyx ps... great to get started on Christmas cards :)
Oh how I miss the ocean and the sunsets over it! However, I don't miss CA traffic! Thanks for sharing your pictures and belated congrats on your anniversary.
Oh Darnell! this is so Gorgeous! Love the ribbon and the flower, I really love the whole card :)
Darnell, this is so beautiful and really elegant.
gorgeous!
sparkle & shine *~*
Hello Miss Sweetness, really happy you had a great celebration, phoyie to that darn bug who got you, no voice that's a bummer, it certainly hasn't hurt your creating spirit, I love your card, beautiful paper, gorgeous flower, gorgeous ribbon and bow,lots of lovely texture. koodoos to you for wining at CCC, I see Geri is Canadian, kool :O), 5 challenges, you go Woman, good on ya for making Christmas card, I must start :O).. Love your photos, love the sunset and the lights on in the night, gorgeous, thanks for sharing those wonderful card makers, it's been a wonderful visiting you, have a healing weekend, lots of rest... ((( BIG HUGS)))..
Darnell your card is fabulous!! I love love that nifty poinsettia!! You're so clever ;) And you got to spend the weekend at the beach, while I'm shivering here in Missouri with a high of 15 degrees today! Something's gotta give soon here! Love your card and so happy you joined us again at The Card Concept!
Ooh, Darnell! This is absolutely stunning! Your ribbon treatment is divine and I love how it pops off the card with that darling poinsettia.
Oh, this is beautiful!
Hi Darnell
Belated anniversary wishes to you. It looks like you had a great time from the photographs.
Sorry you got a bit of lurgy though. I hope it is heading off now!
Fabulous card and I love the embellishment very much.
I hoped you were going to show me how to make it!!!
Hope you have a good weekend.
Love Jules xx
What an amazing card, Darnell!! I love those poinsettias! Sorry you are under the weather. There is a lot of flu going around here and so far we've managed to avoid it. (Knock on wood. Seriously, I just did! ). Take care and I send you healing hugs! :-)
hi darnell I'm reading your post s out of sequence in a bid to catch up not been around fora wee bit .what stunning simple yet elegant card ,im so pleased you had a great weekend away some fab photos looked like you all had a lovely time..and one impressive sandcastle made.thanks for your visit and sorry to hear you have been poorly(next post)... hope your better now . crafty hugs Andrea x
As your 79th commenter I am not sure if I can say anything new!! :-) I agree with all of the above. I love the embossed background and that gorgeous looped bow. While you didn't make the flower you did choose it for this gorgeous card. It looks like edible raspberry taffy to me. Hope you are feeling better. I have the pleasure of thanking you for joining us at Merry Monday and The Card Concept.
Stunning card. Love that pointsettia with the ribbon.
Beautiful card, Darnell! Love that gorgeous poinsettia candy and your beautiful sheer chocolate ribbon. Hope you are feeling better soon.
Lovely card Darnell, the poinsettia looks beautiful.
Great set of photos too, that sunset looks stunning! Enjoy the rest of the weekend ...... Linda xx
This is the kind of card that I fall totally in love with! I love everything about it, from your choice of colors to the clean design. Love how you tied the ribbon too. Gorgeous!!!
Look at the comments here! Wow!
Love this sheer poinsettia, Darnell. It's stunning! Saw this at the Card Concept, and also saw your CAS and CAL question posted by Lesley there. Glad you brought it up!
This is so beautiful Darnell...I love your ribbon and flower, so classy and very elegant! Love your weekend away photos, looks so relaxing!
I think I'm throwing the towel in on this challenge. I've sat down twice to work on it and both times have gotten interrupted to the point that I not only want to don't want to craft, I don't want to live. Ominous sign.
Gorgeous, elegant, understated, wonderful card! Love the score lines for added interest.
You are going to cause me to get arthritis in my right index finger from scrolling down for so long to leave a comment. Your card is gorgeous and I love it. I do like clean and simple but I am very disappointed in that I thought oh wow! I am going to learn how to make that gorgeous Poinsettia. Year right - it's not nice to fool old ladies!!
Sandy xx
Absolutely FABULOUS - pretty enuff for a kraft chocolate box I'm sure!!!
So sorry you got some bug on your lovely trip, but so happy you still had a grand time with your loved ones. TFS the pictures too. I'm so glad you shared the pkg, cause I'm looking at this bew-ti-fool card wondering "How'd she make that flower?". So very pretty and lovely bow too. Hope you feel better real soon. Hugs
Lovely and rustic and old fashioned Christmasy feeling! That poinsettia is fabulous and I love the scoring and yummy ribbon. :)
Gorgeous card for sure!!
Those embellies you added are stunners -- & I think it's really cool that just by scoring the upper portion -- it all of a sudden looks "fancy"!!
Hope you are feeling much better now!! :)) one of my girls had the flu this weekend & missed school today... No fun !! The winter has been the worst -- ever !!!! Take good care!!
Congrats on the shout-out at Merry Monday!
Shame to see Mister celebrating on his own was hoping to see you both together but the photo's are just beautiful, so lovely to se your gorgeous family. Love that card so rich and warm and christmassy. Hope you are feeling much much better by now, take care.
Marie
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