Window to the World

Today's challenge in my cardmaking group was to use either a stamp or a die of a window and what you usually see outside.  I have french doors that lead out to our deck and we have trees at the end of our deck that a lot of birds hang out in because we have a bird feeder close by.  That is why I picked this stamp set, of course I had to go further and make a table with some flowers and a frame on it to top  it off :)

Poppy stamps -- Grand Gothic arch die
American crafts -- seed stamp set (birds on branch)
Distress inks -- tumbled glass, mustard seed, tea dye and walnut stain
Cosmo cricket -- paper
Inkadinkado -- Florals stamp set for vase stems and flowers, colored w/markers
Spellbinders -- Labels trio (table) classic scalloped square small (frame) die
Sizzix -- Woodgrain embossing folder
Stamps of life -- minis 4 circles sentiment stamp

They are once again predicting more snow for tomorrow, but they are talking we will get in the 50's on Tuesday, one day of warmer weather even though it is suppose to rain but I will take it.

I am quite sore this morning our Church is redoing our sanctuary, new carpeting, painting, molding, platform, rewiring of the sound.  Our church family is doing all the work except the carpeting and we did it all in this past week.  It has been great to see us all come together and work hard to bring new life to our Lord's house.  This girl is done tired out and hurting all over, but I haven't put in nearly the hours the men who rebuilt the whole platform, they did a wonderful job too.  So needless to say today I am taking the day off except to do dishes. I also have a few more challenges I need to finish up with my cardmaking group.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend, and get a little time to create!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, I love hearing from you,

Connie

Sailing Birthday

My father in law loves boats, he even built a 36 foot sailboat from scratch, he has since sold it, couldn't do it anymore, but hope he likes his card.

Recollections -- boat & rope stamp, colored w/markers
Spellbinders -- classic circle, Labels 22, A2matting basics A and grommet tags dies
DCWV -- Rustic stack paper
Hero Arts -- It's your day sentiment stamp
Recollections -- button brads

We are getting more snow fall today and all this coming weekend. it just feels like winter is going to be here forever, My daughter is even getting snow in North Carolina, she sent a picture today, she said it is nice to be able to stay home and do her college courses from home in her pj's :)

I have more cards coming for the challenges I just have been quite busy the last couple of days so I am still working on them.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Gesso Resist Challenge

I am linking up today's post once again with Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration , stop by and check out the others inspiration for today.

Like I said yesterday I am doing a week of challenges with my on line cardmaking group and we are to use gesso as a resist, apply gesso to your stamp with either paint brush or foam brush, I used a sponge. I didn't end up having any gesso like I thought I did so I had to use Liquitex Gel medium in Glossy heavy gel.  It took all night to dry, then I added my distress inks to the different areas, it sure is a different look then I have ever done before, I may try it again if I ever actually get gesso, I am sure it would probably go on a little smoother than the gel medium did but it worked.  You take a baby wipe after your done inking over the gesso and it reveals you stamped image.

Rubber Stampede -- Lily, colored w/distress inks
Distress inks -- picked rasberry, mustard seed, peeled paint
Liquitex -- Gel medium, glossy heavy gel
DCWV -- Primrose paper
Spellbinders -- curved rectangles die
Stamps of life -- mini 4 circles sentiment stamp
Taylored Expressions -- Designer mini tags die
Queen&co. -- snowflake pearls

Hope you all are having a good week, enjoying whatever weather you are having, ours is still very cold, but I am dreaming of spring :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, Love hearing from you,

Connie

Faux Patina Challenge

My online cardmaking group is having a week of challenges, using different techniques, the first one I tried was Faux Patina Background, using a embossing folder and embossing powder. This card was my first attempt :

Cuttlebug -- Leafy branch embossing folder w/ silver embossing powder
Memento -- Desert sand ink
Distress inks -- Tumbled glass, peeled paint, tea dye and Walnut stain inks
Design co. -- Black eyed chickadee stamp, colored w/markers
Inkadinkado -- All occasions sentiment stamp

Then I tried another one this time not using traditional colors for my background, I accidentally used the deboss side of the folder but I think it still turned out neat:

Sizzix -- leaf embossing folder w/ copper embossing powder
Memento -- Desert Sand ink
Distress inks -- Mustard seed, Spiced Mamalade and Dusty Concord
Stampin up -- leaf punch embossed with copper embossing powder and colored with distress inks
Stamps of life -- Praise 4 Him sentiment stamp

Hope you enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend, and have a wonderful week,
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

With Sympathy

A friend at church lost her husband to cancer.

Our Daily Bread deisngs -- Bird and butterfly Labels stamp, embossed with black embossing powder
Spellbinders -- Labels 18, Labels 4 and Decorative Labels 8 dies
Lilybeedesign-- head over heels paper
Elizabeth craft designs -- with sympathy die
Martha Stewart -- border punch
Hot off the press -- Black Jewel stickers

We had an ice storm come through last night, was so thankful my hubby made it home ok from work. The sun isn't coming out yet so nothing seems to be melting but our temps are around freezing, hoping for melting before church tomorrow.  Thankfully no need to get out today.

Hope you all are staying safe where you are and you have a fun weekend creating!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Masculine

I have another masculine card for you today, this one went to my Brother in law.    Since I wasn't sure how I would color this one I decided to just go with embossing and I do like the look.

Stampin up -- Provencal stamp set, embossed with black embossing powder
Distress ink -- Walnut stain
Spellbinders -- Classic Sq. lg. and A2 Distressed Edges dies
Tim Holtz -- Vintage shabby papers
Bazzill-- Brads
I believe the sentiment is Inkadinkado?

We have more snow, but not alot... I can't believe how much of the country is getting hit with these way below normal temps.  Poor East Coast getting hit so hard with all that snow too.  We will be even more appreciative for Spring when it finally arrives :)

Praying that everyone is staying safe and warm, especially the homeless, I pray for them everyday.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop in and chat,

Connie

Simple Joys

I had forgotten to post this earlier, I usually don't take pictures of my husbands cards until after I have given them to him or he will either see them on the camera or on the computer ahead of time, sometimes I get them done just in the nick of time also, since his birthday is in December I had forgotten all about it with the rush of Christmas coming and trying to get Christmas cards made.

I liked being able to combine the dies with the stamped image on this one.

Northwoods -- Hammock stamp, colored w/markers
Spellbinders -- A2 matting basics A die
Impression Obsession -- Cattails dies
Hot off the press -- tiny words & phrases sentiment colored w/markers
Stickles -- Shabby shutters ( on dragonflies wings)
Wink of stella, clear glitter pen on sun and water

I am linking this up with Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration . Stop by and check out all the wonderful blogs.

Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know what you think,
Connie

Letters for Gracie

Hi, today I am sharing a card I made for an 11 year old girl named Gracie, who is going through a very challenging health situation, and could use some uplifting cards.  You can read all about her  HERE .  If you have an extra card you could send her, or would like to make one just for her, or write an encouraging note, you can find out at that link also.

Usually I know the person I am sending the card too, so I think that makes it easier to decide on what to do, I hope Gracie likes dogs, this just looked like a very cute image I hope will bring smile to her face, thought this sentiment was cute too.

Stampavie -- Daisy Chain stamp colored w/markers
BasicGrey -- Sugar Rush papers
Hero Arts -- Every day sayings sentiment stamp set
K&co. -- Paper ribbon

We are getting our first real snow fall this year, I would say it is about 3 inches already and they are saying 6-10 by this evening.  I can only imagine the North east is ready for a break from snow.  I hope you all enjoyed a nice weekend and the week ahead brings you a little time to create :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Happy Valentine's day

Wow this year is just flying by isn't it, can't believe next Wednesday is already Ash Wednesday.  Time just seems to fly by, reminds me how precious it really is.

My hubby and I have exchanged our Valentine cards this morning so I am now able to post, he looks at my blog so I can't post ahead of time .  It is really funny that we both ended up using the same die cut this year and the inside words were quite close.

Here is the one I gave to him, he picked up this die cut set when we were on vacation, the scrapbook store we went to had them on clearance, so I decided to use it since it was one he picked out.  I have been really liking the look of the white on kraft but didn't want to go all white.  The key and lock at the bottom are those modge podge molds, done with the gold glue.

DCWV -- Metallic paper
Martha Stewart -- Frame border punch, Flourish scroll
Spellbinders -- Fallen Angel die
Modge Podge, molds and glue
David Tutera -- Celebrate sentiment

Here is the one my hubby made me:

Used the same Spellbinder set for the heart and sword, Martha Stewart punch all over the page star punch.  Not sure about the paper.  The inside is really neat too, he did some die cuts inside but I can't show that without showing what he wrote and that is personal :)

Here is the one I made for our daughter and Son in law:

Mary Engelbret -- Daily calendar for image
Spellbinders -- A2 matting basics A
BasicGrey -- Sugar rush paper
The ribbon, buttons and heart(on the bottom right) were all given to me from three different fellow cardmaking friends

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.  We are having very lightly falling snow, looks real pretty.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Paper Tole

My friend lost her Grandmother, I thought this set would be nice for a card for her.  These all come on a sheet and they are numbered so you know how to layer them, just punch them out add your foam tape to give it dimension.  The foiling on it is very pretty.  The bee by the sentiment was some extra diecuts they put on the sheets.

Hot off the press -- Enchanted Garden 3-D Paper Tole foil die cuts
My mind's eye -- Signature life papers
Spellbinders -- Exquiste Circles
Cardmaking & papercraft mag -- sentiment
Lace -- Sabrina

Here is a view of it from the side so you can see the dimension

Well winter is back, the temperature was slowly dropping all day and last night when we came out of bible study it was quite a shock how cold it was.  I so feel for the east coast with all the snow they are getting, hope they can get a little relief soon.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, so good to hear from you,

Connie

Friendship heart

I am linking this post once again to Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration link up . Stephanie had done some sweet hearts for her cousin and you can read about that HERE . She mentioned at the end of the post that maybe someone you know is struggling with something and my friend came to mind right away and I thought yes I am going to make her a heart and hopefully every time she looks at it she is reminded of all those that love her.

My first idea was to stamp on the fabric and then stitch the lettering in..... well because of how small the stamp was and I had stamped it a little thick at points when I tried to go over the letters with the stitching it did not work at all, so I took the stitching out and used my ultra fine sharpie pen to at least highlight the word heart.

My friend Loves pink, so that is what made me go with this fabric and then when I found this already made flower in my stash I thought that would be perfect with how I was going to stitch up the hearts, it has stuffing inside too.

I stamped on the fabric first, cut out the heart shapes, I sewed the stamped heart to the front of the top heart, then put the two hearts wrong sides together and started stitching them all together, adding the stuffing when I had it almost stitched together, the last bit I added the piece of lace so she could hang it if she wanted too, and then stitched the remaining hole shut with the lace inside.

Here is a close up of the stamping.

Stampin up  sentiment from 2002 ( sorry I don't have the name of this stamp set bought it at a flea market
Memento Luxe ink
Sharpie ultra fine point marker (word heart)
Ki -- puffies flower stickers

There is still time before Valentines if you want to make one of these it went together in one evening for me.  But who wouldn't love it at any time :)

Your friendships warm my heart too, thanks for sharing your lives with me.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Connie

Teen

Needed another boy teen card, I am loving this paper pack for them, they do most of the work for me :)

Just a little coloring to the sentiment stamp and some stickles added to the flame for some sparkle.  Like these jewel stickers too to add a touch of something without the bulk.

Hero Arts -- Birthday wishes stamp set, colored w/markers
Stickeles -- yellow
Recollections -- Awesome boy papers
Hot off the press -- Jewel stickers
Distress inks -- Old paper and walnut stain, just around the sentiment

So enjoying the extra ordinary warm weather we are having, we hit our record of 70 yesterday and we are suppose to have a nice day today before winter comes back on Monday.  Hope whatever the weather is where you are that you are enjoying your day!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Thank you

I want to thank all of you that have signed up to follow my blog, it is so nice to have you here.  Kelly Deal do you have a blog I could visit?  I don't see anything when I click on your name?

This thank you went to my Secret Sister I had last year, after the reveal she had went to help get her son settled into a new area and so I waited until she got back to send this to her.

The glitter heart wasn't quite that dark in person.  The paper came with it's own glitter, which gave me the idea to add more with the ribbon and heart :)

DCWV -- Linen Closet paper
JoAnn Crafts Essentials -- Layered Sentiment
Spellbinders -- Lables 18, Rose creations dies
Glittered heart and ribbon was from two separate cardmaking friends
Craftaroo -- Rhinestones
Jolee's -- mini flower gem pearls (flower centers)

Our temps will be warming up again for a couple of days, hope to get outside and do some walking now that I am feeling a little better.  Hope if you have been hit by one of these bugs going around that you are quickly recovering.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

86th birthday

A friend from one of my cardmaking groups asked if we had some time if we could make her Mom a birthday card, she is moving into an apartment from living in her home and thought she would love to get some cards.

My glasses broke yesterday and I had to use an old pair and I was having problems seeing through those bifocals, so I didn't do anything that I needed to see detail coloring. Thankfully my hubby was able to get them working well enough until I get my cataract surgery and get a new pair of glasses.

Lilybeedesigns -- Head over heels paper
Close to my heart -- brads
Spellbinders -- Labels 4 die
Hot off the press -- tiny words & phrases stickers (sentiment)
Martha Stewart -- Flower, leaf and butterfly punches
Enamel Accents -- White (on butterfly)

We are getting snow in just a few hours, our first measurable snowfall of the season.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Make a wish

My niece is turning 18, we have such a big family that I have great nieces older than my niece. There is 18 years between the oldest and the youngest of my siblings. This card is for her.

I am linking up to Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration blog hop once again, come along and play is you can.

After I had all the stickles on the banner to match my background I realized that I have a little mini flower that would have fit on the banner and I could have put the stickles inside and it really would have matched the paper.  I guess that is what I get for not taking more time to think out the card, maybe next time :)

My favorite things -- Make a wish stamp set, colored w/markers
Cosmo cricket -- Girl Friday papers
Spellbinders -- A2 matting basics B die
Silhoutte -- Banners
Fiskars -- Ribbon
DMC -- Thread
Stickles -- Diamond on the Dandelion, multi colors on the banner

Hope you are all doing well.  I am still fighting a cold, although I will say last night and this morning were the best so far so I am encouraged I am on my way to feeling better :)  If you are were you are getting lots of snow, I hope your staying safe on the roads.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, I love hearing from you,

Connie