A site for my handmade cards, accompanied by my photos and written meanderings which are occasionally witty, often tongue-in-cheek, and rarely profound. Beginning in June 2013, you'll also see lots of NBUS, which is an acronym I coined for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Note: my Privacy Policy can be found at a tab below and you can find my NBUS Challenge online. I hope you'll join in the fun there! Thanks for coming by! Have a beverage and enjoy!

August 28, 2014

Sparkle Over the Holidays ~ NBUS #150

Happy Thursday!

We just learned that we are having unexpected company arriving later today, so I'm glad I got this card finished for the current Merry Monday Christmas Challenge. The hostess for the week is your friend and mine, the bonnie and talented Bonnie of Stamping With Klass! Her theme is for us to use wreaths on our cards, so I did as I was inspired:
It's tough to photograph, but hopefully you can make out how I did that. While it is dashing and sparkly, I just realized well, wheeze, how do you write anything on the inside without marring the looks of the whole card? Hmmm? Thus, perchance it's not a card after all, but a tabletop decoration?

First, I used the fun and NBUS-to-me circular star die that I received in a Mystery Box to cut the circle. (I have no idea who the manufacturer is.) Then I took a piece of acetate transparency film that I stole from the office have in my stash and heat-embossed the sediment onto it with SU cherry cobbler e/p. I taped the transparency to the back of the front. I added three clear dots from Hero Arts for the propheticised sparkle and, boom, you have an aqua and red starry night see-through wreath Christmas card.

Aside

Reading back that last sentence, I'll bet you are surprised that our son is not named Michael James Winston Delaney Sugarfield McSimpson, aren't you? Me, too. Luckily for our son, the Mister is a man of few words,  so Dan doesn't have six names in his name; however, we did give him the middle name of Jedediah. Did I ever tell you that story?

The Mister and I had a hard time agreeing on names, but we both loved the name Jedediah ("Jed") and had agreed to use that for a first name if our child was a boy. But then we shared our plans with the Mister's family and they set about disabusing us of the ideah. "Just picture the poor lad in school," they cried, "trying to write his name across the page while next to him are Joe and Pam and Bill! Why, by the time he has finished pushing that pencil through all the letters of Jedediah, the rest of the kids will have finished the task and be outside playing!"

We tried to explain that he would be known as "Jed," but it was no use. Okay, okay. We acquiyessed and compromised by using it as his middle name. Daniel Jedediah does have a nice ring to it. I should ask him, now that he's an adult, whether he likes it. Or, no, maybe it's better not to ask!

~~~

Does anybody remember what we were talking about before that field trip? I do! The Merry Monday Challenge! Here is the lovely inspiration photo.
Just remember that standing behind your bathroom door waiting to pounce on you is the first day of September. Tick Tock says the Train to Christmas.

I'm also entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they are playing our song: Anything Goes!!
Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog
The links will take you to the challenges where you can find all the information regarding rules, sponsors, and prizes. Join in!!

~~~

I was going to introduce my new friends to you, but this is getting too long to hold your interest, so I'll do so in my next post, which is a scheduled one for Saturday. We are fortunate to have the twins with us again, so I will be busy doing a lot of offline activities between now and next Tuesday. Please forgive me if I don't get a chance to visit you for several days. I wish all my American friends a lovely long holiday weekend!

~~~

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87 comments:

Stamps and Paper said...

Love your use of acetate on your Christmas card Darnell your star circle die

Anne

Sarah said...

Great card Darnell and fabulous photography to get that shadow!! xx

Sammy said...

Oh that's such a beautiful card! I suggest writing on the back instead! :-)

Ah, families, they have no idea, do they? But sometimes husbands don't either. Our daughter was easy, as I had decided years before that if I ever had a daughter, her name would be "Kayleigh". As luck would have it, hubby turned out to be a huge Marillion fan, so no issues with the name there. (Even though my dad insisted on calling her "Kylie" for the first couple of years...)
But when it came to our son, we had problems. We couldn't settle on anything (I had my heart set on "Kieran", but he was having none of it.) It got to a couple of weeks before the birth, and we were still no closer to finding a name. We were watching The Fellowship of the Ring, and hubby quipped "How about Frodo?"
Nooooooooo!! I had a friend called - I kid you not - Gandalf in school. His life was a misery back then... I can only imagine how much worse it must have gotten after the books were finally put to film! I told him cast names were also out (Not to put down "Viggo" or "Orlando", but no thank you), when Boromir burst onto the screen and died rather heroically, and hubby asked "How about Sean?"
Perfect! It fit with my love for Irish names, and wasn't so unusual he'd get bullied. Hurrah!

Oops... sorry about the essay, I only meant to say I loved the card, lol. x

Veerle said...

Great card Darnell, love the way you used the acetate.
Greetings from Veerle x

Sue said...

Such a gorgeous card Darnell. I love your design using the acetate aperture and the colours are wonderful.
I hope you have a fabulous weekend.
hugs Sue xx

Sue - said...

Lovely card. I love the red and turquoise together. We had no problems choosing names for my 3 boys but if I'd had a girl it would have been difficult as we didn't agree on any girls names. Have a lovely long weekend with your guests and the twins, hugs Sue

Di said...

Oh this is totally brilliant Darnell! You cracked it yet again.

Hugs and have a great weekend!

Di xx

Granmargaret said...

Lovely card. I saw it on Merry Monday

Pat said...

A gorgeous card Darnell and love that die and the see through panel - excellent idea. Our DS is Stewart which is mostly spelt with a 'ua', but I preferred the look of the 'ew' spelling which is more often a surname. Needless to say DS gets a bit cross sometimes that people get it wrong on numerous occasions, so I suppose I should have done him a favour and spelt it the normal way.lol. Have a lovely weekend. x

Aileen said...

Love your card Darnell, those stars look brilliant and the little sparkles just perfect. Only a couple more days till Spring is sprung here, ohhh joy.

Mary Anne / MA54K said...

I do love your wreath of stars, and the whole card, but I must tell you, every time I see that die, it reminds me of the stars going around a characters head when he gets bonked in a cartoon! LOL! I know I am silly. Sowwy.

Carol L said...

What a beautiful idea to surround an embossed acetate panel with a wreath of stars! I love it!
If you and the Mr liked the name "Jed" you could have just skipped the longer version and named him "Jed!" I like it!
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Linda said...

Beautiful card for MM Darnell ... just love that wreath of stars.
Have a great weekend .... hugs Linda xx

Lisa Elton said...

What a pretty pretty card Darnell. Looks like there might be just enough room to sign you names inside along the bottom. OR...you could draw a little arrow and write away on the back of the card LOL!!! Either way the recipient would LOVE this beauty. It's easy to understand why some chose not to reveal the names until the actual birth of the baby!!

Lyn said...

That is a really beautiful card you have going on there <3

Deepti said...

What a stunner!! This so looks like a winner to me :) and the sentiment is so perfectly placed :)

Liz said...

Stunning card! Love how you've used the acetate.

I had a chuckle reading the story of how you decided on your son's middle name. x

Benzi said...

Oh, beautiful, and now I have to look for that star die. It is absolutely gorgeous. I read your comments hoping someone would know...and say. The search is on!!!!!!!! LOL

Notes by Nina said...

Fabulous card Darnell, I love your "star" of a wreath :). Thank you for joining us for Merry Monday.

Sue said...

Beautiful card Darnell! huggles Sue xx

Ros Crawford said...

As always you brighten my day!! Love your pretty card - acetate is a nightmare to photo - usually it takes me longer to take the photo than make the card! However I've just done one with a circle of acetate and amazingly it worked first time!
Have a great day ... Oh and I love Jedidiah.. I wish I'd called my cat that now

Shelly said...

Such a pretty card! Love the use of acetate and colors!

alexandra s.m. said...

Fabulous card Darnell and I agree very well photographed ;)

jimlynn said...

Beautiful table decoration and what a cute idea too. Fantastic!
Love your son's middle name.
Have fun with your company and a great weekend.
Lynn

conil said...

I rike it. Especially the see through acetate, thus the shadow bouncing off the inside of your card in the foto. Thanks for the heads up on the challenge. I'm gonna use it and, hopefully, attempt to get enough Christmas spirit to make some cards earlier this year (right now, I have none). As to families and name choices, I had the opposite problem with my Mom. We would have a daughter named Rachael had my Mom not said, "What are you going to call her for short...Rache". I said yes. The subsequent conversation is not worth repeating but I think said daughter, is happy with the outcome. Her name is not Rachael, by the way. Yes, I folded like a house of cards. Anyway...I'm going to go iron and try to get my Yule magic going. Bye.

Casandra Bennett said...

It's funny how a beautiful Christmas card in August segued into a talk of names. In the spirit of said humor, I will share how my son got his name. It started out in a traditional way. My husband's grandfather lost a brother in WWII, and his name was Jack. Upon recollection, there were very few "Jack's" in our family. But considering this little guy was going to have parents with long names of Jeremiah and Casandra, I felt we had to give him a longer name. After several debates, when the ultrasound revealed we were indeed having a little boy, and upon the spot asked of names, it was mutually delivered that he would be Jackson but we would call him Jack. On to the rest of the story: The night Jack was born, we got a call in the hospital from Grandpa to wish us congratulations on our "little Jack Daniel". Psst. His name is Jackson Nathaniel. I'm guessing Grandpa thought it was great fun that he would be named after a whiskey company. ;)

Loll said...

Hi Dolly. Beautiful CAS design for your sparkly Christmas card. Love the star wreath ... and the red embossing on the acetate ... fabulous design. Lolly xx

Jean said...

Super card, the star wreath is lovely and I like the red sentiment.
Jean x

Canonbury creations said...

Stunning card Darnell, love the design and the embossed acetate is fab!
Such a responsibility choosing a child's name, I couldn't think past one name each but they both had to pick a middle name when they were confirmed. Dominic went with his dad's name of James but Keir went totally off piste and chose XAVIER!! So at least I can't be blamed :-) love the name Jedidiah by the way xx

Petra Swart said...

Ohhhh, I love your card, Darnell!!! Your starry wreath looks great and I love the red embossing!! Beautiful!!! (...and yes, September is upon us, hey - where did the first 8 months of the year go???)

Both our sons have only one short name that is not coming from any family member on either side. ...but...ooooo hubby's parents weren't happy at all!!! They all have at least 2 family names dating back form about the 17th century!!! Luckily hubby agreed with me on one short name we actually like!!! ...and I think (hope) the boys are happy with their names (have not really asked them!!!)

Enjoy your long weekend and have fun with the twins!!

Vicki Dutcher said...

Super fun "table top" ;) card. Great wreath of stars. you have fun with your company and those twins!

Kristie Goulet said...

This is the perfect wreath card, Darnell. I LOVE the color choices. So happy to see this over at Merry Monday this week. :) Have a wonderful weekend! xo

Sandy said...

Stunning Christmas card. There is nothing like a Christmas wreath except for a big fat snowman! T haven't made any thing in so long I hope I haven't forgotten what to do!!
Sandy xx

Sheri said...

So pretty! And the star die is a Memory Box or Poppy die. Love your story.

Sybrina K said...

Hi, Darnell.

Sparkle is the perfect word to describe this card -- WOW!

Kathleen said...

Gorgeous star die and looks stunning with red embossed sentiment. Fab card.
Kath x

Barb Ghig said...

Brilliant and Gorgeous, Darnell! I really love this wreath, and will have to get one...I also love how your sentiment reflects off the inside of the card, too ~ It's really Stunning!!!

Love how you and the Mister decided on your sons' name...we went through the same thing, and kept it simple! But, at least you win keeping your fave for his middle name!

Enjoy your company, and have a great weekend ~ Barb xoxo

Redanne said...

Wouldn't you think that our countries would have ling weekends at the same time....ours was last week... Love your card, the star circle is fantastic!

Like the story of your son's name, Jed is a great name. I never, ever tell anyone my middle name..... Having been named after my uncle! Hugs, Anne xx

Kay Miller said...

Oh wow! That's beautiful Darnell, as a card or a table top decoration! haha! You could always write the message real low down :) I like the name Jedediah! All I can think of though is The Beverly Hillbillies! Daniel is a very handsome classic name for a boy though :)

OH Babs said...

Pretty doggone clever. The star die is fantastic and I love the color combo.

MRS DUCK said...

Hi Darnell
Super doopah card matey. Love the shadow of the 'sediment".
You could always write on the inside of the front page, so that wouldn't be seen through he aperture. . . . . .apologies if 20 folk have suggested that already but I was to tired to read all of your comments lol!
Bet your son is glad your in laws had a little chat. Were you fans of The Walton's? lol!
Best wishes.
Ang x

Carole Pollard said...

Great card great story great blog. Enjoy the holiday weekend Love and Happy crafting Hugs Carole x

Bonnie said...

Card or tabletop decoration, this is AWESOME! I'm impressed that you used the dreaded acetate! Love the name Jedediah but would probably have trouble spelling it. Daniel Jedediah sounds very classy! Have fun with the twins. I know you will.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous card!! I love the turquoise wreath! Have a great time with your company!

Sarah G said...

Love this, Darnell! A great colour combo and that star wreath is fab. Perfect stamping on the acetate panel too. Enjoy your weekend of mayhem with the twins :)

Verna Angerhofer said...

I love your wreath of stars and the idea of the acetate. Nice touch having the saying peek through.

Anonymous said...

Not enough words to tell you how much I love this card/table decoration! Cx

Nancy Penir said...

What? only 47 comments ahead of me? You're slipping, Darnell (Ha!)
Beautiful and clever to create a wreath of stars! No need for a lot of script on the inside with the beautiful sentiment on the window.
Not one of my sweet grandchildren were given names grandma suggested. The latest, Eli, was frowned on by my mister and me. Lot of good it did!

Laurie Unger said...

Wonderful Holiday - really like how you used the acetate! I also really like your Son's middle name! All of my fur baby's have had normal people names because I don't have kids. It's always fun to reminisce how they came about!

Lin said...

Nicely done, Darnell! I love wreaths of all kinds! Thanks so much for playing along with us at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!

Bobby said...

So trains are saying "tick tock" now? And don't get me started of names, since I have several and never know for sure who I am. lol But I'm here to comment on the card, aren't I. And it fabulous. Embossing on acetate is something I thought was difficult but yours looks wonderful and I love the wreath of stars. Whoever said you could write on the bottom of the card is right. Have a great holiday weekend.

Lindsey said...

Silly Darnell, you've created the perfect excuse to keep your card writing to a minimum. :D Gorgeous card!

Susanne Vargas said...

Love that star wreath and the colors you chose!
Ahh, baby names! That's why my sister and we also didn't tell anybody ahead of the names we were thinking... To use it as a middle name is a good compromise! Our kids only have one name because we were lucky to find one that we both liked...
Enjoy your weekend with the kiddos!

Denise Price said...

Great effect with the transparent section in the middle of that star wreath! I suppose you could just write on the back of the card, so that you wouldn't have to worry about any writing showing through the transparency.

Have a good Labor Day weekend!

Lindsey said...

Love, love, love this! And I totally agree...anything clear is nearly impossible to photograph. Hope you enjoyed your unexpected company!

Taunya Butler said...

What a fun and cool looking Christmas card - the circle of stars makes a perfect wreath!! Love the acetate and how you stamped on it!! Way to go, I think this card deserves a place on the mantel not in a box or anywhere else!! Enjoy your time with the twins and we will visit with you soon!!

Donna Nuce said...

Lovely star card Darnell. Could you do me a favor and post this over at the Operation write home August ODBD chsllenge? They need50 star cards for Our daily bread designs to pay for shipping 2boxes of cards overseas to our troops. The link to the challenge is on my blog right now. Thanks if you see this before the last day of the month.

Unknown said...

Beautiful card Dippy - love the acetate behind the starry wreath. It looks stunning as you can see the shadow of the heat embossed words on the inside of the card. I would suggest writing on the back as well but maybe you could use the negative of the star wreath to hang behind the aperture and write on the back of that instead???? Whatever, it's lovely. I also love the name Jedidiah and it's a shame you were dissuaded from using it for Dan as the shortened version of Jed is great as well. Heyho, families eh? lol

Hugs.

Karendipity xxx

Craftychris said...

Ooh such a gorgeous card! I love the star wreath! You could write on the back of the card maybe? I love the name you chose for your son and I am sure he does too! Have a fab day with your visitors xxxxx

Brenda said...

Oh Darnell, I am loving this card!!! I say there is plenty of room at the bottom of the card inside to write a little something without messing up the beauty of this card. lol I love it and would find a way of making it work! Love the story on your son's name and it reminds me of when our youngest was born and the name we had picked out. lol People in the family set up straight too and no do not ask him if he likes his name. My son's all complain about their names. And they have normal names, Lance, Josh, Corey, Evan, Brian and Bret-what's not to love with their names?!! lol Hugs, Brenda

Brenda in IN said...

Wow, this is so pretty. I love the embossing on acetate. Really cool starry die cut too. Love the story of naming your son. Jedediah is a great name!

Chris Dring said...

Beautiful card, Darnell! Hope you have fun with your guests!

Viv said...

What a beautiful Xmassy card Dee. I love the pretty stars and all that clever embossing on acetate.Mine would have gone wrong if I had tried that I'm certain.Names.....oh what a whole big can of worms that is lol! We settled on Luisa Dawn for our first,without the O.Then Andrew James for our second and also just James again for our third lol....OH's father was called that and he died just 2 weeks after James was born so he was thrilled we chose it.Our last grandbaby didn't have a name until she was born as we all hated the choices.Lana they declared.....and we all loved it..result :)hugs Vee xx

Jenny L said...

Hi Darnell,
super wreath card.
Fab designing of your unusual wreath.
Good luck with the challenge.
Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

Carole Z said...

Fab card Darnell, I love the starry wreath and embossed acetate! Hugs Carole Z X

laurie said...

That was a fun idea for the middle of the wreath. I really like the star die,too!

have fun with your family!

Patti said...

Very pretty! one of my favorite color combos. The acetate with your sentiment is clever! : )

Patti

Kelly Latevola said...

Love this gorgeous card Darnell! We had a similar situation except we wanted to name our son Miles and my mother hated it. We gave in and ended up with Nathaniel Craig. Miles is still an option if we have another boy though ;)

Tracey McNeely said...

Fantastic card Darnell, I love the window the star frame is awesome! Now I love your story, and Daniel Jed is perfect! ;) There is always a story when naming children. Like my daughter Samantha Brooklyn who was magically born born Brooklyn Sara--yes score one for mama!!

Karen M said...

Love this card Darnell - your wreath looks amazing and I love that cute window:) I hope your enjoying time with the boys - hugs xx

Pia S said...

Heat embossing on acetate is something I haven't tried yet, but that's now on my to do list! A great idea for a sentiment only CAS card!

Sheila H said...

Cute and fun - beautiful wreath!

Anita in France said...

Wow, this is beautiful, Darnell ... love how the shadow of the sentiment shows on the inside! Hugs, Anita :)

Sharron said...

Gorgeous--love the embossing on acetate! And the wreath makes a fabulous window. With such a lovely card, just a signature would work and the recipient would have a table decoration!

Peggy in Mentone said...

As usual your card is genius....Love the see though Starz wreath...I was thinking its maker is Memory Box...I did not read your other comments so maybe someone has already told you who the maker is. Love that you embossed on the clear, and the shadow it creates on the card underneath (good photography by the way!)

All in all a very COOL Christmas card in non traditional colors...

Hugs!
Peggy

P.S. I forgot to tell you in the first comment on your most recent post that I loved seeing pictures of the twinz at the beach.. I am so happy for the opportunity of the time you are getting to spend with them. Golden memories are in the making!

Greta said...

I love your wreath & creative design, Darnell!

Nancy said...

Such a creative design! I love the way you used the acetate!

Monika Reeck said...

wooow the star looks adorable in blue and the sentiment in red at acetate wooowww your embossing is adorable Darnell..I love your christmas card..this is Stunning card..big hugs, Monika

Marie Bingaman said...

I really like your stolen... ummm, acetate from your stash, attached to the back of the front of your card! Heheheheheeeeee! You make me chuckle! :)

Katie Melhus said...

Hey there Darnell - what a beauty of a wreath you've created - I say just tuck a handwritten note in your card or just SMOOOOSH all those well wishes down to the bottom. This card is too great and mail-friendly not to send out, anyone would love to get it! So glad to see you playing along with us at Merry Monday!

nwilliams6 said...

Not sure how I missed this fun card. Love the window and I love the sentiment. Beautifully done. Hugz

Gerrina said...

Doing a little bit of catching up... Love your card; that star-round with the folie is beautiful! Hugs, Gerrina

JD/ Jill said...

Great design with this Christmas card! I never really cared for my middle name...but I ended up giving to my daughter...she told me she didn't like it either...along comes my grandduaughter and My daughter gave her the same middle name. I was really surprise and said to her. "I thought you didn't like your middle name?" She told me that she didn't but she didn't want to break a family tradition!

Kim Heggins said...

I always love hearing stories of where babies names come from and yours is so sweet. My daughters name has 27 letters in it and I figured it was good way to learn her alphabet, LOL. Your card is amazing and I love that blue star wreath too, and your sentiment embossed in red is just perfect.

1CardCreator said...

Gorgeous card, love how you chose stars for your wreathe too. I am sure Daniel is happy with his name. ~Diane

Andrea said...

great card darnell and great story im sure he loves his name. I hope you are having a great week and had a lovely holiday weekend( I'm a bit behind with posts as you know but catching up )

looking forward to seeing more crafty hugs Andrea x

cm said...

Swooning over this stunning 'table top' decoration, though if someone from the 'office' were to come over, you might have to hide it, just in case the transparency is recognized. I *ahem* may have acquired certain stash 'essentials' in a similar fashion. May be...Daniel Jedediah...LOVE it!! The most 'unusual' middle name in our family belongs to my sweetie-pie niece: Zenovia. It was the first name of one of my sister-in-law's aunts, who didn't have any children. It's certainly unique as is Ms. T!
Hugs~c