Sunday, July 31, 2016

Glittered wishes

I made a mistake I read my list of cards wrong and ended up making my Great nephew a card a whole month early and so I needed a quick card to go out the next day for my Great niece instead.  I still had my Martha Stewart glitter kit out from the last time I used it so I opened it up to see what was left in the pack and I had these 3 stems.  I had used the other flowers on the wreath I had made earlier, so I went to my punches and found this heart and flower that looked like a good size and ran it through my Xyron so I could add the glitter to it.

I couldn't find a paper that didn't seem too busy for the background so instead a did a little watercolor wash of the background instead of using paper. She is turning 21 this year, hope she likes it.


Spellbinders -- A2 Matting basics A die
Distress inks for watercoloring -- Tumbled glass, cracked pistachio and fossilized amber
Martha Stewart -- Glittered Botanical card kit and Heart and flower punches
SRM -- Thinking of you sentiment stickers

Do stop in tomorrow I have another Post for the Dies R Us blog, I think you will like it :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, hope you have a blessed Sunday,

Connie

Friday, July 29, 2016

Pleated

I have seen these type cards quite a bit lately so I had to give it a try. They are sometimes called draped cards and there are all kinds of tutorials out there to try, just google it.  If you would like to try the one I did, you can find the tutorial HERE.

The big flower came from an old Daisy D's paper, there were many flowers on a page with some extra circles and you punched them out.  I have one flower left on that paper pack.  I did cut into the flower so I could shape the petals a bit and added an extra circle center to it with some foam tape to give it some lift.  The ribbon is paper I cut with die, link is below in the list of supplies.


K&co. --- Classic Designer paper
Daisy D's -- Attic Flowers
Cheery Lynn Designs - Alison's ribbons
Stampendous -- Orchid greetings sentiment stamp

It was fun to do and I really creased the folds and taped them down with my scor-tape that is heavy duty and the card was really flat for mailing.

Wishing you a creative and fun weekend ahead.
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop in today,

Connie

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Dragonfly and Roses

Linda mentioned in one of her comments recently where do my ideas come from.  Well I if it comes from Pinterest or a blog I share the link with you, but mostly I am thinking of the person it is going to and I start looking through my supplies and when I come across a stamp, paper or die that I think would work for them it just goes from there.  That is how this card came about.  I found these acetate sheets that I had bought at the Scrapbook convention a few years ago and I hadn't used any from this set. They are images printed on Acetate and at the convention they showed putting glitter behind them and they were all so pretty.  You can see the set this one came from HERE.


Since there was roses in the image I decided to go with rose paper for my background, now how to frame it?  I decided to go fancy and that led me to this die, which I cut out of metallic paper to go along with the dragonfly, it needed something else so that is when the ribbon and tag came along.

Here is a close up of the shimmer with the glitter I added to the backside of the acetate.



Since the acetate is clear I needed some light behind before I added it to the green die cut frame so I ran the acetate image through my Xyron sticker machine to mount it onto some white cardstock.

Stamp on it -- Vintage Hues Dragon fly squares Acetate sheets
Damask Rose paper from Cardmaking and papercraft magazine
Elizabeth craft designs -- Diamond glitter
Spellbinders -- Classic square and marvelous squares dies
Our Daily Bread designs-- Mini tag sentiments stamp and die
Martha Stewart -- seam binding
Pin

Wishing you a day filled with roses and dragonflies :)
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving comments to let me know you did,

Connie

Monday, July 25, 2016

Gothic window

This window is one of those dies that my hubby bought to use with his art work and well now I am using it :)  I decided to go with metallic papers for the window and added some layered florals. I like the embossing that is already on these flowers.  The embossing folder has been inked with some gray ink before embossing.  The little flowers were scraps from left over die cutting that I saved to use for small flowers, I added stickles to the centers.


Poppystamps -- Grand Gothic Luminary and Lovely Trendils dies
Impression Obsession -- Layered Floral dies
DCWV -- Metallic stack papers
Sizzix -- Bricked embossing folder inked with London fog memento ink
Stickles -- Diamond

We have rain last night and this morning and it was just in time the garden was ready for a good drink. They said the humidity was going to be better this morning, can't say I can tell a difference but we are down to 77 this morning so that is better than the 80's.  Hope you all enjoyed a great weekend and that the week ahead is a great one!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Stamped Frame

I was able to get around to another challenge from my stamping group.  This time we were to make a frame using at least two different stamps. So I reached for my Rubber stamp tapestry test and after cutting out the shape with my die, leaving the paper in the die, I went around it stamping the frame.  When done stamping the frame, I stamped my inside image and colored with my markers.  I totally love the way this turned out, and will be doing more in the future :)


The paper already came with some embossing on it, you can see a bit of the shine from it on the right side of the card.

Rubber stamp tapestry -- Butterfly blooms stamps (for framing)
Pink Petticoat -- Pretty Potties stamp colored w/markers
Spellbinders -- Labels one and Decorative labels one dies
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp
Stickles -- Vintage Photo (flower centers)
Wink of Stella -- Clear glitter pen on stamped flowers

We had a little break from the excessive heat after a bit of rain and clouds came through yesterday but it is already warming up this morning so we will be back to the HOT temps with heat index's as high as 116 that said, OH MY!  Looks like indoor cleaning today with a bit of afternoon crafting is in the plans :)

Hope you all are staying cool.  Thanks so much for taking the time to stop in today, so good to hear from you,

Connie

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Embroidery card

I so enjoy looking at all the beautiful stitchings that Christine does that I just had to give it a try and do some embroidery on a card for her.  I have done cross-stitching many times on cards but had not tried embroidery.  Well I couldn't find a pattern that I was sure of so I drew one myself and went to work stitching it.  I do feel bad that it took me so long to finish this card, I imagine that she thought she was never going to really get one, but it kept changing on me from time to time but this is what I ended up with.

Here it is closed, sorry it was hard to get good pics of it and get close up pictures at the same time.


Here is of just the stitching


As you can see when I taped it down to the cardstock I got a lot of buckling and you can see all my stitches underneath.  I am thinking maybe I should have put some stuffing down first, if I ever do this again I am thinking I may go that way.

Here it is open


Here is the side view


After applying it to the cardstock I cut around it with pinking shears.
The stars are Martha Stewart punch, I scored them to give them some lift.

Pattern drawn by myself
Stars -- Martha Stewart punch around the page
My mind's eye -- Wild Asparagus paper
Handmade paper under the stars
Memory Box -- Woodland branch
Stampendous -- Geo shapes stickers (berries on  the branch)
Cheery Lynn Designs -- Alison's Ribbons

Now I have to figure out who I will be making a card for next :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, I do really appreciate it!

Connie

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Beach Gals

When trying to decide what to do for some upcoming birthdays in my cardmaking group I came across this Graphic 45 paper pack with some fun swim pics, beach clipart and old postcard so I decided to use them for a couple of cards.



Graphics 45 -- On the boardwalk paper pack
Taylored expressions -- Many mini's occasions sentiment stamp (1st card)
Spellbinders -- Square die (1st card)
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp (2nd card) and gems

My toe is doing so much better today, what a difference a couple of days can make, I was just getting discouraged because I didn't think I was going to have any problems with it.

Hope your week is off to a good start, Thanks ever so much for stopping by and leaving a comment to let me know you did,

Connie

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Cut away card

I love changing cards up by using different shapes and such and when I came across this card on Pinterest I just had to give it a try.  You can find the card HERE.  She did a whole set just beautiful!!

Here is my version


I cut the base 4 1/4 by 11 inches, then scored the card at 5 1/2 inches, cut half way up the card to the score line and then down the score to my cut line.  I used diecut  flowers that I shaped with my stylus and pad and added the punched leaves.  There was still room on the inside to write a sentiment :)

Here it is laying down so you can see what it looks like closed.



Spellbinders -- Carnation creation dies
Martha Stewart -- leaf punch
Paper smooches -- Happy Birthday stamp sentiment
Bazzill -- Brads on flowers
Gems

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, Hope your enjoying a nice weekend.

Connie

Friday, July 15, 2016

ODBDSLC276

I haven't done an Our Daily Bread challenge in quite some time, but this month's theme is anything grows and I was in need of a Sympathy card for my Brother in law who lost his mother and thought these two stamp sets would be perfect.  You can find out all the details HERE on their blog.


I used Our Daily Bread Designs -- Fragrance and Amazing Grace Hymn Stamp sets, I colored the flowers with Spectrum Aqua markers, added a little stickles to the center of one of them. I hand cut the flower and shaped the flowers a little bit with a stylus and pad and mounted them with foam tape. I also used the Vintage Ephemera collection papers from Our Daily Bread also.  Distress inks Old Paper and Tea Dye were used on the Music sheet stamp.

Cherry Lynn Designs -- Fanciful Flourish die
Craftaroo -- Clear Rhinestones

You have until the end of the month if you would like to join in on the challenge.

I injured my toe nail a little while back and had to have it removed this past Monday, it still hurts a bit to walk on it and I am suppose to wear my shoes with inserts in them all the time because of foot problems I have and I have not been able to do that, so I have been quite the home body this week.  I did get out and pick up some medicine and food that was needed to get by for another week, but that's it.  I had to stay home while my hubby went out and took pictures south of us, but I will have to say, I did get some cardmaking done so that is nice :)

Hope all is well with you, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, and have a terrific weekend!

Connie

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Paper Piecing

I was able to get around to another challenge from my stamping group and today it is paper piecing.  I do like the way it turned out but my eyes are not like they use to be and cutting those tiny shorts out wasn't the easiest. I used paper for the shirt, shorts and skateboard but I did color in the wheels instead of paper piecing those.  This is for my great nephew who turned 10 a couple days ago.



I still need more work on my coloring, did a little shading with distress inks around the edges of the image and center of the sentiment tag.

Stampendous -- Skateboard kiddo stamp
We R memory keepers -- Anthologie papers
Spellbinders -- Lg. Deckled rectangles, and Labels trio dies
Distressing on the red piece of paper
Distress ink -- Frayed burlap
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp

Hope your mid week is going well.  Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and letting me know you have, so good to hear from you all,

Connie



Stampendous -- Skateboard kiddo stamp, shirt, pants and skateboard, paper pieced all the rest colored w/markers
We R memory keepers -- Anthologie papers
Spellbinders -- g. Deckled rectangles and labels trio dies
distressed red piece of paper
Distress ink-- frayed burlap
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp

Stampendous -- Skateboard kiddo stamp, shirt, pants and skateboard, paper pieced all the rest colored w/markers
We R memory keepers -- Anthologie papers
Spellbinders -- g. Deckled rectangles and labels trio dies
distressed red piece of paper
Distress ink-- frayed burlap
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp

Stampendous -- Skateboard kiddo stamp, shirt, pants and skateboard, paper pieced all the rest colored w/markers
We R memory keepers -- Anthologie papers
Spellbinders -- g. Deckled rectangles and labels trio dies
distressed red piece of paper
Distress ink-- frayed burlap
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp

Monday, July 11, 2016

Wonderful Day

Hello, welcome to another Dies R Us Post .

 Today I am sharing the Poppystamps Small Madison Window set . I think this set is just perfect for cardmaking. I like that it comes with everything you would need, the window, shutters and window box, complete with flowers.  HERE is a link to a card I made using the same window but I did't use the shutters or the window box this time, so you can make all different looking scenes with this one die set.

 I cut a piece of light blue designer paper to put behind the window and just had to add a black cat like our Jip we lost a year ago, using the Impression Obsession cat set dies., this set also has many cats in different poses.  I also added a little Doxie out of the Impression Obsession Dog set, this set has so many breeds in it, I colored mine to match my dog Peanut, well not exactly but she is white and black.


Of course you need some grass for the dog to enjoy his time outside in, so I added some Impression Obsession small grass, sometimes this is what our dog looks like when she is out in the tall grass, poor thing is so short :)  I added some Wood background, so this is more like a cabin with Crate Paper, DIY shop papers.  To make my sentiment I wanted it to look like a sign hanging under the window so I cut some small strips of black paper to make it look like it is being held up by some wrought iron, and stamped my sentiment on a cream piece of cardstock.

Here are pictures of the dies and the links to them in the store are all above in my description.


I hope you check these out and make your own scene with them.

Follow Dies R Us!


 
Click below for:
Remember, there is a new inspiration sample shared each and every day of the month
on our Dies R Us Inspiration Blog using a variety of dies from several different companies.
Then of course you'll want to come join us at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.
There's a new challenge theme offered on the 1st & 15th of each month with
a gift voucher prize to one lucky winner each challenge!

OH!  And did you know we have a FB Page and PINTEREST Page?

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Connie

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Coloring stamps

I saw these coloring stamps by all the coloring books at Michaels a little while ago and thought they were cute, they came with two picture stamps and a lot of sentiments, I didn't use one of theirs on this card though.  I decided to give them a try on this card I made for our Youth pastors wife.


I tried to match the papers I was using for the coloring, but I don't know if I like the combo or not, but once again I was making it at the last moment.  Doesn't this stamp look like something you would find in those coloring books, and I can use it as many times as I would like :)

Hampton Art -- Coloring clear stamps, colored w/markers
Crate paper -- Party day paper
Gina Marie stamps-- Birthday words sentiment stamp set
Spellbinders -- Labels 25 for sentiment
Gems
Wink of stella clear glitter pen

We moved our daughter and son in law into their apartment yesterday and boy does my body feel it today. I think they are really going to like the area and they are so close to a good park to walk, so that has my daughter especially happy.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and Please stop by again Monday for my next Dies R us post, See you then,

Connie

Friday, July 8, 2016

Shaker card

I haven't done a shaker card in forever and on one of our little get aways not to long ago we stopped on the way home at a Stamp store and she had these shaped foam tapes for shaker cards so I bought a couple different shapes.  We use to have to cut out our shapes from foam tape.  You can see the collection HERE on their site .  While googling it I see they have card fronts too :)

My first shaker went to my little great niece, she is 7 now, wow it is amazing how fast they are all growing, wish we lived closer so I could get to know them better.  I am thankful for facebook, it sure helps keep you closer with family :)


I will have to say about these is you have to make sure you put them down exactly straight or whatever you use for the top will not fit correctly, yes that is why you see two different circle shapes on the top, my first did not line up correctly so I made a larger one to cover my mistake.

The wooden flower decoration was given to me by my sister, more craft supplies she was getting rid of. :)

Queen & co. -- pop up shakers
Crate Paper -- Party day paper
Sizzix -- Happy Birthday to you
K&co.-- paper for frame
Spellbinders -- Classic circle dies and Baby buntings dies

Queen and company also sells goodies to put inside your shaker but I just used items I had in my stash.

I have some good news to share, the kids have found an apartment that they like and are moving in this weekend. I will miss seeing them everyday but I know it will be nice to get back to our normal around here again too, life is full of give and take isn't it. Our son in law has another job interview this morning so it would be the end of a great week if he can get the job.

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Connie

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Pillowtop technique challenge

My stamping group had a week of challenges while I was gone on my trip to Michigan.  So bummed I couldn't play along with them but I have decided to still do a few of the challenges they did.  This one was called Pillowtop technique. If you would like to try this technique yourself  HERE is the link to the video .


I couldn't get the color correct of the background, it is a little darker in these pictures.  The coloring of the flower was done with the same inks.  I used plain cardstock for the background and stamped and watercolored the flower and dragonfly on watercolor paper.
I stamped the butterfly with a green ink onto the watercolor paper and then went over it a little with my waterbrush to blend the color a little bit, after it dried I added a lot of stickles to the wings and let that all dry over night, came back the next day and cut the dragonfly out, I like that better than how I would normally cut it out and then add the stickles, this way the paper was even thicker and made for cutting out a small stamp a little easier. Stickles were also added to the flower center for more sparkle.  I did two of these backgrounds but I haven't used the other one yet, but I am sure you will be seeing that soon :)

Inkadinkado -- Beauty Stems from here, stamp set, water color with distress inks
Distress ink -- Dried Marigold, Tumbled glass and two greens that I forgot to right down
Dashes Dots and checks -- Ribbon
Stickles -- Diamond
David Tutera - Celebrate sentiment

I am entering this card in the Sisterhood of Crafters Background challenge.

Hope you all enjoyed a nice 4th of July weekend.
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and your comments,

Connie

Monday, July 4, 2016

Make a wish

Good Morning, I have another post for you today featured on the Dies R Us blog.

I wish I had a stamp that said Wish upon a Star, I think that would have went better with this, and after I had the card all done I thought I could have done a sentiment on my computer for it, but there is always next time, right :)


My background was done using the Memory Box, Starry night background die.  I cut it out twice, once in the blue and then again using DCWV Foil paper in silver, so that I could inlay them in the stars that pop out.  Next I cut out the Impression Obsessions, City Landscape layer dies there are two dies in the set, one I cut from a gray that had a texture look to it and then the background one I cut from black cardstock.

Here is a close up picture of the background.  I love how it cuts and embosses so you get cut outs of the stars and also embossed stars.


Instead of adding back in all those tiny dots that cut out I added Diamond Stickles in those holes to give it more shimmer.  Lastly I added the sentiment stamp from Gina Marie stamps, Birthday words stamp set.

Here are the dies used in this card (links above in the description)


Follow Dies R Us!


 
Click below for:
Remember, there is a new inspiration sample shared each and every day of the month
on our Dies R Us Inspiration Blog using a variety of dies from several different companies.
Then of course you'll want to come join us at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.
There's a new challenge theme offered on the 1st & 15th of each month with
a gift voucher prize to one lucky winner each challenge!

OH!  And did you know we have a FB Page and PINTEREST Page?

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Connie

Friday, July 1, 2016

Cottage

I saw these tri fold cards at the Scrapbook convention this spring and they looked so neat I had to give them a try, so I saved my first time trying it out for my sisters card.

I used watercolor paper on this one, colored it with Distress inks, Distress markers and Spectrum Aqua markers.


Once again I had to use a paper clip to keep it closed to get this first shot, the card does not stay like this on it's own.  I didn't notice this until I was cutting the last panel but I stamped the left side panel over to the right too far, it should have been up against the fold more, but I needed to get this out in the mail so I had to just let it go.  The stamp set gives you the measurements of where to line the stamps up as far as up and down it was my fault I didn't stamp closer to the fold.

Here it is semi open.


And here it is all the way open, I like how you have an area at the bottom to add your sentiment to it.


I bought two of these type stamps, you may be seeing the other one in a couple months for my other sisters birthday :)

Art Impressions -- Cottage Tryfolds stamp set.
Water colored using Distress ink, Distress markers and Spectrum Aqua Markers
Stickles -- Shabby shutters on the flower centers

Hope you all enjoy your weekend ahead, my next post will be on Monday, I will have another Dies R us post then.

Thanks so much for stopping by today,
Connie