Class Card

The end of March I will be teaching my first card making class at a Library my friend works at in her small town.  Her boss was trying to think of different crafts they could have classes for craft month and who they could have come in to teach and my friend told her that she knew a girl that makes pretty cards, so she told her to ask me if I would like to do it.  Since it is a small library we are only signing up 6 people for this class, so it shouldn't be too overwhelming.

I tried to come up with a design that beginners could do but that used a few different techniques so they could get a feel for them and see what they might like.  So I will be showing stamping, die cutting and punching, there were so many things running through my head that I could show but I tried to keep it simple, something they could all finish in an hours class time.  It was very hard not to shape the flower, but thought that may be too much at this time.

Here is the card that I made that they will put on display to show what they will be doing in class.

Cosmo Cricket -- Everafter paper
Bazzill -- Textured cardstock, has a little glimmer to it
Stampendous-- Birthday Assortment stamp set
Spellbinders -- A2 Matting Basics A, Lacey Circles and Standard Circles Lg
Fiskars -- Border punch, punched twice
EK Success-- Flower punches
Forever in time -- Gems

I used dimensional Adhesive on the sentiment and flower

I have never taken a card making, so I am not really sure how to go about it, but figured I would do it like I did the demo's I did for Spellbinders.  If anyone has taught a class and you have any tips for me I would love to hear them, Thanks.

We have up to 3 inches of snow coming on Friday and then we have a winter storm coming in Saturday evening and will end sometime Monday, that never sounds good, they haven't said snow totals for that one but it sounds like it maybe another on of those sleet, ice and snow mix ones, I so hate those.

Hope your area will have a better weekend.
Thanks so much for stopping by,

Connie

Time to Celebrate

My card today is hopefully masculine, at least that is what I was going for, I hope he likes it anyway :)  I was going for a look of sunrise in this one.

I placed the two dies inside of one another and cut them out at the same time to get that framing.  I did the same technique on my last card too, I forgot to mention that.

Taylored Expressions-- Whimsical wishes, from my window, colored w/markers
Spellbinders -- Labels 22 and Classic Rectangles dies
My Mind's eye-- Indie chic
DCWV -- mat stack in neutrals
Torn strip is unknown
SRM Stickers-- Happy birthday set

Hope your week is starting off well, it is a bit chilly here but the sun is shining and that is always a good thing,

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Connie

ODBDSLC 191 Secret Admirer

A lady at church just lost her Grandmother that was in her 90's and she sounds like she was quite the woman as is this lady at our church, so when I saw this sentiment I thought it would fit perfectly at this time, hope it is appropriate for a sympathy card.

Here is the card I made:

Here is the card I Cased from Grace:

I loved the shape card idea with the Quatrefoil die in the background, if you would like to know what Grace used in her card you can find it on her BLOG HERE .

Here is what I used on mine:

Our Daily Bread designs -- Morning Glory stamp set, colored w/markers and Quatrefoil pattern die
Spellbinders -- Curved Rectangles die
Country diary of an Edwardian lady paper from Cardmaking and Papercrafts magazine
Ribbon and Flower shaped button

This was my first time using this stamp and I want to thank Grace for the great inspiration to use it!

The challenge ends tomorrow the 23rd at 8pm est.  You can find out all the details HERE on the Our Daily Bread Designs blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Connie

Thinking of you

Today's card went out to my Hubby's coworker who had surgery to remove a tumor that was pushing on a nerve in the back of her neck causing her arm and hand to go numb.  She had a really rough time, ended up back in the hospital with an infection, but is now home recovering.

Martha Stewart -- Corner and border punches
Memory box -- Wrought Iron fence and Butterfly delights dies
Poppystamps  -- Leafy Sprig die
DCWV-- The Primrose papers
Spellbinders -- A2 Matting Basics A die
Impression Obsession -- Spiral Flowers die
Distress inks -- Forest Moss, Tumbled glass and Broken China for the background
My Sentiments Exactly -- Thinking of you
Fiskar -- Cloud punches

Wow we had quite the storms blow through yesterday, heavy rains, winds gusting to 55 mph, but it was warm and that was nice to feel again :)  We are turning back to cold but it sure is nice to get those warm days thrown in there every once in awhile.

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Hope you have a wonderful weekend,
Connie

Fore!

My Brother in law likes to golf so when I found this sticker set I thought it would be perfect!

Joy Marie -- Fore Sticker set
DCWV-- Tattered time paper
Spellbinders -- Classic Ovals, Labels 25 and A2 mattng basics A
Fiskar -- grass punch

We had a beautiful day yesterday, it actually hit 62 degrees and we had some major melting, there is still some areas that have snow but that is mainly in the shaded areas and places the snow was piled high but it is so nice to get out and not have to be all bundled up, today is suppose to be 50 degrees so we are going to get out again and walk outside now that the roads are all clear.  We live just outside the city limit so no sidewalks here.

Wishing you a sun shine day!!
Thanks for stopping by,
Connie

Pirate Boy

This card went out to my great nephew, my nephew emailed me to let me know that his son said "this is cool I am going to keep this forever", that made my day.  I always try to make them fun for the kids and hope they like them, I don't always hear if they do so this was a treat for me :)

My Favorite Things -- Pirate Boy stamp set, colored w/markers
My Mind's eye-- Boy Crazy paper
Spellbinders -- A2 distressed edges dies
Distress inks

We are getting more freezing rain today, glad I don't have to get out in this.  They are saying because of the holiday they are thinking the roads won't be so full of people so that is good, my hubby still has to get out and go to work he is working the holiday.  I am looking forward to the middle of the week when we are suppose to warm up!

Wishing you all a Fantastic week,
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and leaving your comments, it is much appreciated!

Connie

Linda Inspired

Wow posting 3 days in a row, that doesn't happen all the time :)
Well today is the 15th of the month and I have another Inspired card for you.  I am not sure how long I have been following Linda, but she inspires me with her great coloring and such neat designs of her cards.  Here is a Link to her Blog and the card that inspired the one I made for today.

Instead of a tag I used a folder tab and painted it with 2 coats of distress paints, with a little distress inks around the edge.

7 gypsies-- Naked tabs
Basic Grey-- Two scoops papers
Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby papers for big flower
Stampendous -- Birthday assortment stamp
Spellbinders -- Rose Creations die, flower and leaves shaped with stylus
McGill - branch punch
EK Success -- flower and small circle punches
Stickles-- Worn Lipstick (small flower centers)

My cat Anna will not leave me alone, I guess she feels like she deserves some one on one time with me :) 
Hope you all are safe and well, there has been some really crazy weather all over.
Don't forget to drop by Linda's blog,

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,
Connie

Happy Valentine's Day

Well this has been quite the crazy day for us. Both of us needed some medication so we went and picked up our prescriptions at the Doctors office, headed out to the base to get them filled at the Pharmacy and we arrived 2 minutes after they had closed.  We have had off and on freezing rain, sleet and snow and they were closing early so people could get home.  I was thankful my hubby came with me because it was like an ice skating rink out there, most roads ok, but the parking lots and sidewalks are terrible.

The story on this card is after I had it made my hubby mentioned he didn't really like that chalkboard look and I thought OH NO.... well after seeing my card he said he didn't like the look of it cut out with fancy dies because it didn't look right, but he liked it just cut straight this way. He saved himself anyway, LOL!

 

Spellbinders -- Lace hearts dies

DCWV -- Metallic Stack

Basic Grey -- Sugar Rush paper

Papertrey ink -- Live Love Life stamp set, embossed w/white embossing powder and chalk smeared over top of the embossing

Hand stitching

Prima-- Tiny Junkyard Findings

He told me the story behind his card for me.... he waited until I went to bed last night to make his card, and he checked his email and he got an email from Gamestop and it said something like "Is valentine cutting into your game time? , we got you covered"  and he said well yes, yes it is a little bit...  they had 4 different cards to choose from and he said this had two nice things to say and the others only had one...LOL!  He was able to put the image into photoshop and add my name to it.

Of course I am not going to share the sweet sentiment he had inside, it is a bit personal but he thought I would laugh at the story behind the image he chose and I did :)

I have a miniature rose bush to enjoy inside, hopefully I don't kill it like my last plant, but I can enjoy a bit of spring early on this cold and icy day :)

Hope you are all enjoying your day,
Thanks so much for stopping by,
Connie

Sunset

Sorry I missed posting yesterday I try to post at least every other day, but I went grocery shopping yesterday morning and I picked up 2- 20 pound containers of cat litter and a 20 pound bag of bird seed, and with that and 2 weeks of groceries the cart was very hard to push and I think I may have over done it or something, my chest hurt pretty bad and I couldn't seem to catch my breathe, it really tired me out so after coming home putting all the groceries away, I sat down and talked with my hubby for awhile until we both were getting a bit hungry, I made our dinner and then we sat down again and watched a couple of shows that we had on the DVR.  I never made it back to my computer for the rest of the day, but I am feeling a whole lot better this morning after a good nights sleep :)

The story behind this card, my hubby and I were coming home one evening and the sunset was just beautiful, and with the shadows of the bare trees it looked so cool, we were commenting on the color of blue in the skies, along with the suns colors and I told Greg I am getting ready to do your Dad's birthday card and I have a stamp that I can give that a try.  So this one went out to my Father in law and today is his birthday, we will be calling him later so I don't know what he thought of this yet.

Inkadinkado-- trees stamp embossed with Black embossing powder
Distress inks for under stamp and for the sky and sun
Spellbinders-- Labels 25, Resplendant Rectangles and Standard Circles dies
Hero Arts -- Birthday messages sentiment stamp
Paper piercing in corners
Silver Rhinestones

We will be above freezing today which is very exciting!!  My daughter and son in law are getting hit with snow and ice in North Carolina.  They were told that they had Wednesday and Thursday classes off for sure, maybe even Friday and they didn't have to come in for work either which is going to hurt their pocket book but they both said that this semester at Duke has been overwhelming so I am sure they could use a break.  Will be calling them later to see if they still have power.  Praying everyone keeps safe.

Thanks so much for stopping by, will post my hubby's valentine card either tomorrow or Saturday, there is a funny story behind that one too :)

Take Care,

Connie

Free Digi

I have bought all the sets with six colors of Spectrum Noir markers, I was buying the copics one at a time but they are a bit pricey for me and so I went with buying the sets. I joined their site on Facebook to get ideas and such and they were offering this free digi  from Crafters Companion and thought it would be perfect for my Daughter and son in laws Valentine card.  Here is the LINK .

Image-- Crafters Companion digi stamp, colored w/markers
Basic Grey -- Sugar Rush papers
Martha Stewart-- Swirling lace punch
Hallmark -- Heart Doily
Heart button w/thread
Forever in time-- Gems

I tried to do that cutting outside the die technique, can't remember what it is called and as you can see I need more practice, and not on something that it just took me a long time to color.  I thought I had remembered how to do it but obviously I need to go back and find the link and watch the video again :)

Hope you enjoyed a good weekend.  We are being told that next week we may just see some 60's in our forecast, oh how that puts a smile on my face :)  So if we can just get past the next 7 days we will be good.  We are at 8 right now, with a high of 15 today, we are normally in the 40's this time of year... brrr.  I am sure this year more than any other we will be very thankful for spring.

We had lost power at Church yesterday so no lights or heat.  It was a very chilly time during Sunday School, everyone left their coats on, but with the doors closed and the body heat we were able to do ok.  We headed into the sanctuary wondering how that was going to go, we only have small stained glass windows in there, very dark,  but just a few minutes before we were to start we got our power back, the Lord just filled that room and through our Pastor gave us a wonderful message of his grace.

Hope your week is filled with joy!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Friends

My girlfriend is going through a really rough time right now, so I when I saw this image on my daily calendar by Mary Engelbreit, I just had to make a card for her and hopefully bring a smile in midst of all that is going on.  She REALLY LOVES the color pink, so that is why this is filled with pink.

The flowers on the side were  fussy cut from a separate piece of paper in the pack, thought it helped to frame it.

Image and sentiment -- Mary Engelbreit's daily calendar 2014
Spellbinders -- Labels Eight and Decorative Labels Eight
g.c.d. -- Melody Ross Designer collections paper
Lace

Wishing you all a great weekend, stay warm and safe :)

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Connie

Wish

My great nephew is quite the little monkey, I can remember when he was younger he would climb right up his mother until he was on her shoulders, it was the funniest thing to see, he is quite fearless. So that is what brought me to using this Monkey image that came from a daily scrapbook calendar I had a couple years ago, I don't think they make them anymore or at least I haven't seen any in the past couple of years.

Monkey image -- diecut from scrapbook calendar
My mind's eye -- boy crazy paper
Spellbinders -- Square swatches and font one lowercase dies
Martha Stewart - Border punch
Stickles -- yellow (on candle flame)

All of our snow had finally just melted and now we have about 4 more inches out there again, this is the most times we have had snow in one winter since we have moved here, a lot of accidents in the area yesterday. 
I did a little bit of reorganizing in my craft room yesterday, a lot still needs to be done but it feels good, better to tackle a little at a time, doesn't feel too overwhelming that way I think.  I was good though, usually what happens is I get started see something that gives me an idea for a card and I quit cleaning up and just make another card, but not this time I stuck to it!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Connie

Owl Birthday

This card is going out to our nieces husband, he surprised her by coming home the other day with a puppy.  He heard that someone was going to take it to the pound and he couldn't let it happen, it is a dachshund like ours so she has been writing me asking for tips on things.

Darcie's -- JCS 0158 stamp set, stamp colored with Distress markers and memento inks
Spellbinders -- Large Deckled Rectangles and Curved Rectangles dies
Fiskars -- border punch
DCWV -- Wild Splendor paper
DMC -- Thread
Liquid Pearls -- Copper Pearl
Button

Hope you all enjoyed a great weekend and that the week ahead brings many blessings,
Thanks so much for stopping by,
Connie

Kittie's Inspiration

Today is the first and that means I am sharing another project from someone who inspires me.  Today it is Kittie and you can check out the inspiration HERE .

I just love everything about this card, she does such amazing work with dies, she is the reason I am hooked on Memory Box dies, if you look through her blog she does such wonderful scenes both with dies and her stamping, always gives great tips too.  Hope you get the chance to sit down and just have a look through her blog.

My girlfriend lost her brother a couple days after I saw Kittie's card and I thought that would make a nice design for a sympathy card.

I inked the embossing folder with Distress ink and then embossed it to give it the black background.

Paper Studio -- A2 Quatrefoil embossing folder
Martha Stewart -- Border punch
Stampendous -- Sincere sentiments
Memory Box-- Fabulous Philox die (a little inking around the flower with the black soot ink)
Poppy Stamps -- leaf sprig die
Distress ink-- Black soot

We had freezing rain last night but this morning it is warming up so it is just regular rain, guess they are getting snow north of us, cold week ahead, counting down the days until spring.
Wishing you all a very safe and warm weekend,
Thanks so much for stopping by,

Connie