My blog is called "Creative Smiles" because my designs are the result of incorporating mistakes. With fumble fingers that drop whatever they are holding - repeatedly, it takes a lot of giggles, smiles and creative patience during my crafting process. xx

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Hope and the Blessings of Heart

Hello, Blogging Friends. I hope this finds you well and happy. 


Today I'm sharing a newer image from Sherry Baldy's Besties Collection - "Bless Your Heart". Darling with her stripes and dots, and a pocket full of blessings, she reminds us that we always have something for which to be thankful.


Miss Blessing is sweetly sporting orange, bringing her heart to a Halloween Party sponsored by Glitter N Sprinkle Challenge. I still have not mastered how to make "shine" in hair, but I boldly forged with black and gave it a shot.


The theme this month at the Path of Positivity Challenge is 
"Hope"
especially fitting for me this year.

This year I've been "diligently experiencing" that Hope does not always reward us with what we think we need or want,
        consciously
             or
                subconsciously;
                      but rather,
                   Hope assures
 that regardless of what happens,
             regardless of the circumstances...
               "Everything will be Alright".

Hope encourages us to face Reality,
     with Strength,
          Contentment,
                 Courage
                       and
                            Peace.

Hope lets us know that Love will be the strongest of Forces always, as long as we are open to it.
I'd love hearing your thoughts about Hope.





Wonderful Challenges this card is submitted to:


  1. Path of Positivity - #7 "Hope" - see my paragraph in the post please (Nov 7)
  2. Glitter N Sprinkle Challenge - #54 Add Some Orange - (Oct 18)
  3. Created With Love Challenge - #62 Sewing - (Oct 18)
  4. Challenges4Everybody - #31 Anything Goes - (Oct 25)
  5. Scribble and Scrap Crafts - #3 Always Anything Goes - (Oct 23)
  6. 2 Sisters Challenge - #165 Anything Goes (Oct 17)
  7. Clear It Out Challenge - #Oct 15 Halloween (Stash must be Orange) - I used several orange Copic Markers which have never been used, Sunset Orange Ink which has been in my stash for years and not used, and orange cardstock which had never been opened. (Nov 4)
  8. The Pink Elephant - TPE221 Photo Inspiration (above) (Oct 21)


Products Used:

Scrapbook Stamp Society "Bless Your Heart Besties"
SB Labels One
SB Grand Labels One
SB Grand Decorative Labels One
MS Spider Web
CL Fanciful Flourish
MB Riviera Corner
Copic Markers
Memento Black Ink, Sunset Orange ink, Tea Dye ink, Crushed Olive, VersaMark
SNS Moss Star embossing powder
SNS Cappuccino Star embossing powder
Cardstock: Neenah White, White, Orange, Celery, Olive, Black

Thanks for stopping by today!
hugs,

68 comments:

Chris Hanselman said...

Love all the die cuts and embellishments. Thanks for joining our Stitching Challenge at Created With Love Challenges

~~Chris

Chris Hanselman said...

Love all the die cuts and embellishments. Thanks for joining our Stitching Challenge at Created With Love Challenges

~~Chris

Brenda said...

what an adorable image!!! great job as always :)

Sharon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharon said...

I loved reading your beautiful sentiments regarding Hope Donna and it brought a tear to my eye. As you may have read, Russ and I are having a very worrying time at the moment with regard to his health. I have to be very courageous going to work wondering if I will get a phone call to say he is in A&E as I did last Wednesday. I have to really believe he will be fine or the worrying will take its toll on my health also.

Your card is as gorgeous as ever. A beautifully coloured Bestie and the design and embellies are stunning.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Hugs Sharon. x

Sharon said...

Sorry Donna. Don't know what happened but my comment added 4 times which is why I have deleted some.
Hugs Sharon. x

Andree said...

A wonderfully colourful card. The layers and sentiment are lovely.

Thank you for joining in with the Scribble & Scrap challenge. Please make sure you're a follower x

Unknown said...

Gorgeous! Love all the colors and layers and die cuts. Fabulous. Thanks for joining us at Glitter N Sparkle.

craftieodmae said...

WOW! Absolutely gorgeous, love all the sparkle!!!!

Lady Bug Stampers said...

wow this is a beautiful card. Love it all.
Thanks for joining us this week at Created with Love Challenge.
Linda K. DT

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Gorgeous Donna ! Love your sweet image and your colouring. The layers in your design are all so beautiful, love it ! I HOPE you are doing well:) Hugs, Shirleyx

Olena said...

Very Beautiful card! Great job with coloring! Olena

maria's knutselplezier said...

What a gorgeous card, such a sweet little lady with a golden hart, I really love your beautiful picture!!!thanks for sharing with us!!

Greetings
Maria

Unknown said...

Donna, this is fabulous card, hun, love the detail in your colouring of the stunning image, and all the warm colours xxx

SD pooja said...

WOw! I loved the shape of card, stitching,pps ,glitter n the lovely image.fantastic card !!

Abfabdesigns said...

Lovely as always and you have the hair just perfect
Big hugs xxx

Alyx said...

Gorgeous card Donna. Really fabulous colours and layout, great embellies and beautiful colouring.

Thank you for joining us over at the Scribble and Scrap Challenge. Good luck.
xx

jane stillman said...

Fabulous colours and design. Thank you for joining us over at Glitter n Sparkle, good luck

Blossom Cards said...

what a cute card love the stitching and the image thanks for sharing with CWLC this week Rachel DT

cotnob said...

This is a beautiful card Donna, such a gorgeous image and beautifully coloured. I love your rich colour choices and fabulous die cut details - a brilliantly crafted card.
Pauline
x

KT Fit Kitty said...

This is such a sweet image, Donna, I love how you coloured her. I also love how you have woven those die-cut vines and swirls in and around the image - so well done. It would be a pleasure to receive this card. I also enjoyed reading your post about hope.

Kitty

McCrafty's Cards said...

Hi Donna, this is fabulous I like the image the sparkle those spiders webs the stitching and the swirls.
Kevin xx

KarinsArtScrap said...

what a beautiful card Donna, great stitching to.

gr karin

Donna Maligno said...

Such an adorable image! Your coloring, my dear, is terrific, but I would expect nothing less from you. The layers add so much interest to your cards with little things peeking out here and there. Love it!

Silvis Kreativstube said...

Hallo liebe Donna,

ja die Hoffnung...... sie stirbt zuletzt sagt man bei uns. Wenn man nicht mehr hofft, dann kann man auch nichts verändern denke ich.
Es gibt so viele Menschen die eine körperliche oder auch seelische Schwäche haben. All diese Menschen brauchen ganz viel Hoffnung und es wird ganz sicher vieles wieder besser werden. Wer die Hoffnung aufgibt, hat verloren.
So lebe ich trotz meiner so vielen Erkrankungen voller Hoffnung, das es irgendwann mal wieder besser gehen wird.

Mein Leitfaden:

"Denke positiv und du wirst sehen, morgen wird es wieder besser gehen." "So wie es ist so soll es auch sein."

Zu deiner wundervollen Karte brauche ich eigentlich nur noch sagen, ich bin wie immer von deiner Gestaltung total begeistert.

Ganz liebe Grüße Hugs Silvi

JoanieMc said...

Bless Your Heart.... another southern gal like me. LOL Your card is awesome and I just love everything about it. Fantastic creation!! Hope to see more of your cards here,

Thanks for joining Challenges 4 Everybody.

Hugs
Joanie

Kat W said...

This is just beautiful - such fabulous colours and the shaped layers look amazing! I love all the sweet die cuts and the lovely stitching :-) And of course, your image is such a little cutie!
Big hugs, Kat xx

Katherine Clayton said...

What a GREAT card! Love the image and all the different layers. Thanks for joining us at Clear It Out Challenge...hope to see you join us again soon. (and Good Luck!!!)

Kathy CIO DT
UpintheNightwithKat.blogspot.com

pam said...

fantastic creation Donna, love the beautifully coloured image, all those layers and colours, gorgeous embellishments.
pam

Shona Erlenborn said...

How precious is this little number? Very! Too too darling, in her Halloween colors! I think you got the hair down really well too Donna.

Bernardine Cuttino said...

DE, this is so cute and delightful lovin the colors and that image is fabulous, beautiful design, so perfect for the holidays.
Hugs my friend
Berni

Dawn said...

Your card is gorgeous Donna; so many beautiful layers, sparkle and pretty details. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on hope. I think these days I spend most of my hope on my three year old. I hope he finds a path that makes him happy and fills his life with people who love and support him and that he can do the same for them. I sure hope I don't mess him up! Typical mom...

Hugs, Dawn

Dawn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Desire Fourie said...

Such a beautiful and cheerful creation and I love your inspirational thoughts on Hope. This is so perfect for our HOPE theme this month. Thanks for sharing your talent with us and good luck.
Hugs
Desíre
{Path of Positivity DT Member}
{Doing Life – my personal blog}

Debi said...

Sweet card. Love the colors you chose, very seasonal. I especially like the lovely post about Hope. Wonderful.

Amy Martin said...

Hello sweet Donna. It's been a little while and as I go over your blog... Wow. I am amazed all over again. Your projects are so very stunning. The love and appreciation of each piece you choose and apply to your projects always brings a smile to my face. Your card is Beautiful. I love the layers. And you did a wonderful job trying to achieve shine in the hair (Im still working on that myself.) HOPE.... You pretty well summed that one up. You put it in words better than I could. I feel that no matter what, Hope gives us the strength to keep moving forward. Weather we get the things we hope for or not. It still brought us through whatever battles we are faced with. It opens the positive ways of life or helps us to stay positive. There have been times when Hope is all I had. But I am here today. It helped me get here, to this point in my life and I have so much more to be thankful for. I am Thankful for you. Your encouraging words, Beautiful projects that have brought me so much inspiration. Yes... I am so very Thankful for that and you.
Sending hugs to you my friend.

DeBe said...

Absolutely gorgeous, so detailed and everything perfect :) Thank you for joining in with the Scribble & Scrap Challenge Anything goes! Denyse x

Leslie Miller said...

Oh! Love the colors, the sparkle, design, sweet image! Hands down the prettiest Halloween-themed card I've seen this year. I have to look and savor for a good long while so I can take in all the little details that make this so amazing. It's just pretty all over!

Sue from Oregon said...

Hello Her Glitterness! Such a sweet little thing all decked out for the season. Love those little additions of webs and leaves-nice touches with the sewing too! I am always so happy to hear from you-so thanks for popping in to say Hello!

Anonymous said...

This is such a beautiful card Donna. Lovely color combination, image and die cuts. Love the sentiment.
Amelia

Stampsnob. said...

I love how her green eyes make me travel through the whole piece of art Wonderful little treasure............
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and many more.............Lis

Unknown said...

Bless your heart too De, you always pop in to say hello and a warmth flows through your words...lovely card and hope you are well and happy.xxx

Planetsusie said...

Hi there De - you do have lovely things to say on your blog - it is really delightful to read. Your cards are always superb as well and this one is no exception, I have just started using a little bit of orange myself. Funny how everything orange sits there for ages until there is a challenge or something like that to take part in. And ...... what happens .. you have made a simply amazing card!!!

Big hugs to you Sue Pxxx

~*Joni said...

Donna what a sweetie! I love your interpretation of our theme this week, the card came out just perfect. Hope is a great word to hold on to - thank you for the reminder! Thank you so much for joining in on our Photo Inspiration Challenge over at The Pink Elephant this week!
~*Joni TPE DT

Judy McKay said...

Beautiful card Donna. It is so sweet. Judy

Anonymous said...

You did it again! Love this card!

Eleanor
craftsbyej

Shirley said...

Yet another beautiful card Donna you breathe life into these gorgeous images with your amazing colouring.

Crafty hugs from Shirl x x

Sue said...

Love that you used this sweet image for a Halloween card! What fun! I struggle with black hair too, need to take a class, but you did a great job on this image. Love all your sparkle.

Hugs
Sue

Mayras Designs said...

Stunning Donna!!! I love everything you make !!!

hugs,
Mayra
Mayrasdesigns.blogspot.com

America said...

Gorgeous coloring and adorable image.

Carol Hurlock said...

Donna you are such a sweet friend encouraging me with your faithful comments on my creations. Today I am delighted to return the favor and be greeted with this gorgeous girl. Coloring hair is so difficult, but I can see you will be coming around with just a tinsey bit of practice. I myself have not tried it yet but you are doing good. I can see the highlights. I love her Orange outfit- perfect for Halloween. So sweet and so cute. My thoughts on Hope....well The opposite of Hope is Despair. Can you imagine living without hope and only having despair. That's a bitter pill to swallow. It's so much easier to live with Hope because it is our desire to seek that which is a pleasant and happy outcome. It gives us the will to move forward and see things greater than ourselves. Like Forest Gump I will end with "That's all I have to say about that!!" lol
Bear Hugs,
Carol

Keep It Sweet and Simple said...

Really terrific Halloween card. LOVE your colouring - and your stitching is a great touch.
Caroline xx

Eret said...

Donna, this card is so adorable. Love the shaped layers all different colors and pretty swirls around the image. Your coloring is beautiful. All Halloween cards should be like this one - cute and pretty.
Hugs,
Eret

Pat K said...

Hi Donna, thanks for your visit tonight and kind words. Love your new blog header...gorgeous picture.

Beautiful card, great shape, cute image and love the stitching. Have a good night. Pat K x

Viv said...

Fabulous card Donna and I love the sweet image too :) Viv xx

Laura W said...

Thank you for joining us at the Clear it Out Challenge blog. You card is very cute, love the colours you chose. I think you definition of hope is perfect :)

Gerlinde said...

What a sweet card! You did great with the hair - looks very natural. I love all the details you always incorporate - just gorgeous!

Monica said...

Hello dearest Donna,
This is so sweet... love her to bits and the colour combo is lovely. I like her big bow and her eyes are the prettiest as are her shoes.
My headaches are better... Donna, thanks for your comments - they are always so expressive and that makes my heart smile.
Hope your health is okay.
Much love,
M

Shirley said...

God Bless you for your patience with challenges. LOLOL and even more for your beautiful cards! It's good to be back where I can enjoy hopping and not missing them. She is adorable and pretty at the same time, Donna!!

Stampsnob. said...

She is just adorable . You do such a beautiful job on these cards Donna and I love the face of your blog............Lis

vic said...

This is soooo pretty wow!!!!!! :)

Vic x

vic said...

aww thank you for leaving me such a beautiful comment you really made my day :)Im so happy you your following me you have a new follower too :)

I cant wait to see more of your gorgeous creations :)

vic :)

Cat's sCrap said...

Adorable and wonderful realization ! fine and delicate work. Bravo !

Hugs from France.
Catherine.

Path of Positivity said...

The things that we hope for, just like prayers, don't always go our way or get answered to our satisfaction. We aren't the ones in control. However, while what we hope for may not always come to fruition we must continuously keep hope alive in our hearts. Without hope we have no chance of survival in the emotional sense and sometimes in the physical sense as well. It can be difficult and there are those that just can't hold on. Then there are those that after living in the dark for so long find the tiny glimmer that has been holding on waiting for them and the person is once again able to grasp on. HOPE is always there waiting for us but we must reach out and grab it and make it our lifeline.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful thoughts on hope and of course for sharing this beautiful card. Maybe her pocket full of blessings can rain down on all those struggling to hold on to hope!

It is lovely to see you on our Path this month. The Path of Positivity is always blessed by your presence.

May you, yourself, always be able to draw on hope when you need it!

Hugs,
Lisa D., Owner

Pat said...

I love how you bring so many elements together to create a gorgeous work of art!

Shirley said...

Forgot to tell you that your thoughts on hope are so correct and thank you. The voice of experience and willingness to share is beautiful!!!