For you

Power Poppy has a free for all challenge right now and I used one of their stamp sets for my daughters birthday card. I have already used one of the others in past birthdays :)

I really like pairing it with my wood frame die.

Power Poppy - Short Stacks stamp set, colored w/markers
Basic Grey - Porcelain papers
Hero Arts - wood frame die
Spellbinders - A2 matting basics A and B dies
Prima - 8 point doily die

You have until January 6th to play along in the challenge, if you don't own any of her stamps she has a great selection of digital stamps you can print off and get started right away.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a Happy and safe New Years eve!

Connie

Relaxing day

I wanted to do a little scene for my friends birthday card, and I decided to add her dog into it, he is a german shepherd dog, my hubby laughed at the coloring but my girlfriend recognized that it was her dog :)

Sizzix - Basic Step ups die for base of the card
Crafters companion- Flower stamp, colored w/markers
Basic Grey - Picadilly  papers
Spellbinders - Classic rectangle die
Poppystamps - Picket fence and leafy sprig dies
Impression Obsession - Bare Tree, Dog set and Oak leaves dies
Memory box - bird die
Hot off the press - Tiny words and Phrases Dazzle stickers sentiment

Tried to take a picture more from the top to show the different layers on the step portion of the card.

Hope you had a nice weekend, we are heading into the 40's Monday with wind chills in the 20's, quite a jump for us, so it is back to winter weather after our spring like temps we have been having.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today!!

Connie

HB2U

For my nephew, I thought I would use a sentiment for his birthday that just used letters, like some do when texting on their phones.  I will have to say I am very limited on knowing what a bunch of letters stand for, no I am not that hip, or do they even say that anymore. The phone was cut from my silhoutte cameo machine. The letters are small dies of my hubby's and I am not sure what company they are from.

DCWV - Earth prints paper
Phone cut from Silhouette cameo
Letters and numbers - dies
Paper studio - washi tape
Stampin up - enamel shapes

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

Connie

Party time

Sharing a couple cards I made before Christmas that never made it to a post. First for a great nephew who is 15, wow are these cards hard for me to do, especially when I don't know them really well. I went with a background I had made for a challenge in my stamp group some time ago, I believe it was spreading paint with a credit card, I really need to write on the back of these so I can remember the techniques.  I added part of a word search stamp instead of using the whole thing for the sentiment and high lighted my sentiment, and added a few die cut balloons using my sparkle paper. Added a bit of string for the balloons and tied in a knot and added some border stickers along the sentiment.

Taylored Expressions - word search Birthday and balloon dies
Jute
Starform - Silver Border stickers
background using credit card swipe technique

The next was for my great niece who I believe has turned 20.  I used some scraps for my background and added the Dazzle stickers to it. I love this sentiment for someone who is starting off their life as an adult, so much of their life ahead of them.  I backed the butterfly with some paper  and popped it up a bit.

Scraps background
Hot off the press - Floral Dazzle stickers

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

Connie

For unto you is born

this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!!!

Our most precious gift we could ever be given is Jesus coming down to live among us, showing us how to live our lives and then saving us from our sins and giving us eternal life with him!!

I hope you all enjoy the day with family and friends and take out the time to reflect on that first Christmas gift that was given to us so many years ago, the gift of our Savior!!

I stamped my Nativity with gold embossing powder inside my poinsettia die, then thought it would look nice with some embossing around the flower also, adding it to my diecut leaves also.

I am sharing this today with Flower challenge blog the challenge is to use a die.

Spellbinders - Nested Poinsettia die Bitty Blossom leaves die
Inkadinkado - Christmas season stamp set w/gold embossing
Paper Studio - Cozy Christmas paper

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Connie

Candy Canes and more

I have a few more cards to share that I did using more of my calendar coloring images. The first card was colored with markers and I added some crystal glaze to the berries.

Coloring for Calm Calendar 2017 image colored w/markers
My Mind's Eye - O Christmas tree Paper
Nuvo Crystal Glaze on berries
Sequins

Coloring for Calm Calendar 2017 image colored w/pencils
Bobunny - Father Christmas paper collection
Spellbinders - Holly and Poinsettia die, cut from tissue box
Sentiment tag from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine

Coloring for Calm Calendar 2017 image colored w/pencils
Paper Studio - Cozy Christmas paper
Starfoam - Glitter/gold stickers on tree

Coloring for Calm Calendar 2017 image colored w/pencils
PPD - Stitched Mini Scallop Borders die
Paper Studio - Cozy Christmas papers

Are you all caught up on your cards?  I have received a couple from people I don't normally get a card from, so they will be getting New Year cards :)

Hope you are all well and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by at this busy time.

Connie

Remembering

I am sad to say I am in need of another sympathy card for a friend who lost her mom. It's never a good time to lose a parent but around the holidays is even harder, I lost my Dad on Christmas a few years back and I remember that last phone call with him.

I used one of the Tim Holtz ephemera botanical pieces for this, adding a bit of color to it with my markers.

K&co. - K-ology HannahK paper pad
Tim Holtz - Idea-ology Ephemera botanicals, colored w/markers
Martha Stewart - Border punch
Our Daily Bread design - All Occasion sentiment stamp

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

Connie

Snowman

I have been seeing a lot of these snowmen done with circles on Pinterest and I just had to give it a try, I love snowmen and after doing these I think I may do a little wall hanging for myself.

I am linking today's cards with the Sisterhood of Crafters anything Christmas challenge.

I used circle dies, the first I went a little vintage looking, which is my favorite, I love all things vintage. I cut a little triangle out of cardstock for his nose and drew in a smile and with pen and added rosy cheeks with a marker.

Spellbinders - Standard circles lg. and ribbon banner dies
Simple Stories - 25 days of Christmas papers
Sizzix - Tim Holtz - small tattered florals die (arms)
Black enamel dots

On this one I had him holding a sentiment tag, I didn't add dots to his belly since that is the kind of paper I used for his mid section.  On this one I also popped up his head and middle section with some foam tape, I think it works well either way.

Spellbinders - Standard circles lg die
My Mind's Eye - O Christmas tree papers
Sizzix - Tim Holtz - small tattered florals die (arms)
Martha Stewart - tag punch
Our daily bread design - mini tag sentiment stamp

Our temps are above freezing and the snow is starting to melt in the pretty sun that is shinning :)

Hope all is well where you are, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Fancy Pants

This little one went to my great niece, not sure if she likes to play dress up or not but thought this was just too cute.

You can see the crystal glaze I put on the pearl necklace a little easier in the close up, and I had to add a little gem to the purse :)

Stampabilities - Fancy pants stamp, colored w/markers
Spellbinders - Labels 23 and Classic Rectangles Lg. dies
Crate Paper - Party day paper
Stamps of life - Postmarks 2 stamp sentiment
Nuvo Crystal glaze on necklace
Gem 

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, I have more Christmas cards to share next post :)

Connie

Gold Ornaments

This past fall on HSN (home shopping network)  craft day, Crafter's companion had an advent box filled with dies, 25 dies for I believe it was $25, I didn't do it the year before but I thought it would be fun to have something to open every day leading up to Christmas so why not.  Well this cute little ornament was in one of the days and I just had to give it a try on my card.  I used some of Tim Holtz's gold metallic paper to cut it with and when I was going through my papers I thought they would look great against a dark background, now I am not one to use black with Christmas cards but I just thought this looked so elegant, and I ended up loving the results.

I used some of my gold thin line border stickers to hang them with.  It was so hard to get a good picture of the gold in these and I just love the hammered look that is in these ornaments too, I thought they have great details in them, maybe you can see that in the next picture.

And now I have the snowflake insides I can use in another card :)

Crafters Companion - Snowflake ornament
Graphic 45 - Christmas Emporium paper
Hot off the press - Thin line border dazzle stickers

Next card I have saved on my pinterest board to try, and it is using a flower or snowflake instead of the "O" in Joy, well I think it would look much nicer with a bigger font but this is the biggest letter die I have. I have cut 3 layers of the letters and I believe 2 of the snowflake for more dimension.

Spellbinders - Font one die
Poppystamps - Valley Snowflake die
Simon says - Tiny words Christmas stamp sentiment
Cuttlebug - snowflake embossing folder

We ended up with about 7 inches of snow yesterday. Just when we were thinking about how hard it was going to be to shovel all of that snow, especially the pile at the end of our driveway that the plow added to it our neighbor boy and his friend came over and asked us if we wanted them to shovel our driveway and sidewalk for $10, it took them almost an hour to do it and I was ever so thankful we didn't have to try because it would have taken us much longer so they both got $10, all the cash we had, it's those times that you know God is watching over you, because they have never asked before.  The schools are all closed again today, so the kids are truly loving this snowfall we had.  I am also thankful that my hubby was able to work from home and didn't have to get out in all that mess.

Hope you all are well and enjoying your days leading up to Christmas,
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Robin

I mentioned before I won a gift certificate over at The Greetery a few months back and I took some time out right after I got them to test out different inks together to see what would work well together and when I showed my hubby he really liked this combo and said he really liked it so I saved my first time using it for his birthday card.

I did it a little backwards I should have stamped the bird first and then added the branches but I did the branches first so when it went to lining up the bird to sit on the branch, I was a tad off so I had to do some fixing but hubby liked it so that's all that matters.  I think I am going to purchase the die for these, it comes with four birds two larger and two smaller, and Betsy shows on her blog how to line them up for stamping using the dies, think it will make things even easier, but as you can see her layered stamps line up wonderfully, it takes 4 layers of stamping to make up this bird.

I didn't buy her branch set but used one I already had. It looked a little plain so I took some very small clear gems and colored them with markers to bring a little more color to the card.

The Greetery - Robin and Wren stamp set, layered stamps
Scrappy Cat - Vine Flourish, colored w/markers
Mark Richards - Crystal gems, colored w/markers


We made it home from church yesterday with no problem but hubby had to go to work in the afternoon and it was a very slippery ride, thankfully they worked on the roads while he was working and the drive home last night was much better he said, we are getting round 2 of snow and then mix of rain and snow, then back to snow this evening, so it will be another interesting day. Thankfully we don't have to get out :)

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

O Holy Night

I think I bought these pre printed water color panels last year but I am not sure.  I colored them using my Aqua markers by rubbing them onto my glass mat and then picking up the colors with my watercolor brush.  They color up quickly using that technique.

Taylored Expressions - Christmas water color panels, colored with Spectrum Aqua markers
Glittered star
My Mind's Eye - O Christmas tree paper

Around some of the panels I took a gold pen and went along the edges and on the one above my pen went right up into the panel, my heart skipped a beat, then I thought well it is on the bottom I can add a little extra and make it look like sand, hope I saved it ok.


Taylored Expressions - Christmas water color panels, colored with Spectrum Aqua markers
My Mind's Eye - O Christmas tree paper
Poppystamps - Colonade Corner die

Taylored Expressions - Christmas water color panels, colored with Spectrum Aqua markers
My Mind's Eye - O Christmas tree paper
Memory Box - Fabulous Phlox die for leaf

Taylored Expressions - Christmas water color panels, colored with Spectrum Aqua markers
My Mind's Eye - O Christmas tree paper
Wink of Stella gold pen over the words and frame

We have a storm headed our way, just to our north and west they are getting snow, it looks like our area is going to get the freezing rain and sleet starting tomorrow, so it looks like the drive home from church maybe very interesting. 

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

Connie

Jumping for Joy

I have had this pocket die for quite some time now and finally decided to give it a go using these frogs jumping out to celebrate with the birthday boy :) Hope my great nephew thought of it that way anyway :)

Tore the corner to add the sentiment and cut the frogs out of pattern paper to give the look of texture to them. I put a piece of foam tape behind the pocket hoping it would make it look like there were more frogs still inside.  Inked around the edges of the background piece to dirty it up a bit.

Frantic stamper - Jeans Pocket die
Poppystamps - Pond Frogs die
Spellbinder - Distressed edges die
DCWV - Scrapbook kit Travel paper
Hero Arts - It's your day sentiment stamp
Scrap paper for pocket and frog

Back with more Christmas cards next time.
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Forest Dream

I had already made a card using this sheet of designs but I decided to use the whole sheet and make up the rest of the cards.  HERE is a link of what the sheets look like, you have to cut them out but they are easy shapes to cut.

Marianne Design - Forest dream decoupage sheet
Martha Stewart - border punch
Spellbinders - Circle delight
Happy Holidays - Epoxy sticker
My Mind's eye - O Christmas tree paper

Marianne Design - Forest dream decoupage sheet
PPD - A2 stitched banner die
My Mind's eye - O Christmas tree paper

I did tell myself no more buying any Christmas paper until I use up what I have but then I was in Hobby Lobby and I saw this pack and it was on a good sale, and it just jumped in my cart :)

Marianne Design - Forest dream decoupage sheet
Memory Box - Stitched circle layers
K& co. - Paper Ribbon, smitten white
Snow flakes from border punch
Paper Studio - Have a cozy Christmas paper

Marianne Design - Forest dream decoupage sheet
Spellbinders - Scalloped Squares small die
Paper Studio - Have a cozy Christmas paper

In this last card looking at the paper I thought I think I might have a die that looks like my background and I added some pearls to look like the berries on them :)

Marianne Design - Forest dream decoupage sheet
Tim Holtz - Wildflowers stem #2 die
Spellbinders - Lacey Ovals die
Ms. Sparkle & co. Glitter paper
Paper studio pearls

Over the year I made 30 some cards so that's not bad and I am up to 40 something now and in need of a few more, so I will make sure that I make them ahead of time like I did this past year and hopefully I can be even more prepared next Christmas :)

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

Connie

Deepest Sympathy

I have been making way to many sympathy cards lately, this one is for a long time card making friend whose sister passed away.  I came across these pearls and thought they would make a pretty trail for a butterfly in a card.  I decided to use this wooden butterfly on this card and I actually remembered that I was going to use these pearls for a trail.  The sympathy was some foil transfers that I received free in an order I placed with Crafter's companion.

Ms. Sparkle & co.- Wood Veneers (butterfly)
Recollections - Pearls
Crate Paper - DIY Shop
Crafters Companions - foil transfers

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Peace on Earth

I had this digital stamp printed out from last year that I never used so all I had to do this year was coloring it up, and apply it to the patterned paper and I called it done.

Power Poppy - Peace on Earth digital stamp, colored w/markers

Have a lot to do today so I need to just have a quick post.  Hope you are all well and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today!

Connie

Purple Hues

I took a trip over to the stamp store in Missouri not to long ago and they had this tan mixed media paper and it showed a pretty colored pencil drawing on the front and I thought I should give that a try and see how I do with coloring on it.  I need a lot more practice but I do like the results I got on my first try with it.  I used shades of purple and white.

Stamp - unknown, colored w/ colored pencils
Strathmore - Toned Tan mixed media card stock
Tim Holtz - Crochet die
My Favorite things - Label Maker sentiment stamp
Stampin up - enamel dots

Esther has been using her Tim Holtz crochet dies quite a bit and I finally broke down and bought the set myself :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and I hope you are enjoying a nice weekend.

Connie

Joy

I was gifted this stamp set from a fellow cardmaker last year, so I had to use it this year :)
Colored the bird with markers. I used stickles over the berries on the tree, they are so tiny it was hard to get small amounts of the glitter glue to come out so some of them kind of went together into one big berry.

Flora & Fauna - Mini Aviary stamp set, colored w/markers
Stickles - Burgundy on berries
PPD - Mini Stitched square
My Mind's eye - O Christmas tree paper

I decided to make two cards with this stamp set.

I think I did a little better on the berries on this one.

Flora & Fauna - Mini Aviary stamp set, colored w/markers
Stickles - Burgundy on berries
PPD - Mini Stitched square
My Mind's eye - O Christmas tree paper
Christmas tree Washi tape

I still haven't counted how many Christmas cards I have made so far but will be doing that later today because I need to start getting these in the mail :)

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

Connie

Memory

My hubby's coworker Mom passed away and my hubby asked if I could make him a card. I was coming up blank on what to do so I went through the challenges that are out there in blogland and came up with using Sisterhood of Crafters Tree challenge.  I used some of the Core'dinations cardstock, that has the lighter version of the top cardstock in the center so when you sand the top layer away you are left with the a lighter color, I went with the color green.

When looking for a sentiment I came across some of my epoxy sticker sentiments and thought this is so true for our loved ones that pass on, our life here is temporary but the memories we have of those we have lost will always be with us.

Since these stickers are clear epoxy I was afraid that the black lettering wouldn't show up well on the green cardstock so I first applied it to some white card stock and cut around it and then applied that to the card.

Darice - Leafy Tree Trunk embossing folder, sanded
Cloud 9 design - Simple thoughts clear epoxy sticker

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and say Hi,

Connie

Anniversary

I am a bit late on sharing these cards, Hubby and I had our anniversary the end of October but I realized I never shared the cards.

I loved the saying on this coloring calendar image and since we both love Autumn I thought it would be perfect.  Do you see the two birds?  I added a punched border instead of my normal framing.

Cheerful Journey daily coloring calendar 2019, colored w/markers
Ms. Sparkle & co. - Paper
Martha Stewart - leaf border punch

My hubby did this card for me, the sentiment was done from using a stencil, he was able to get the lettering pretty straight didn't he :)  He put two pumpkins on his, I told you we love Autumn :)

I think that is actually all my Autumn themed cards to share, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, I know how busy this time of year can be,

Connie

Sodus Point Light

I have some pictures to share of our trip out east this past October but first I will share another Autumn card I made using the coloring calendar images.

Have you noticed I have been using more of my ribbons lately :)  I forget to use some of my goodies when I am making my cards, if it isn't right in front of me it tends to be forgotten.  I added one of my die cut leaves to it and a tag, with a pattern paper background.

Coloring for calm daily coloring calendar image, colored w/markers
Sassafras - mix and mend paper
Sizzix - Branch w/leaves die
Our daily bread designs - mini tag sentiment stamp
Martha Stewart - Tag punch
Wink of stella clear sparkle pen

On our way out to see our daughter in Connecticut we decided to take the upper New York route and we stopped in Sodus Point New York to check out the light house there.  It wasn't open when we came we were a bit early but we did get to check out the grounds of the lighthouse,

They did a beautiful job of landscaping the yard here.

Above is the view you would see from the water.

This light was out farther in the water and just as we were looking out over the water a sailboat was leaving the harbor. It is a little grainy I had my lens zoomed as far as it could go.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, hope you enjoy your weekend.

Connie