Vintage Dragonfly

 Last July when hubby took me over to Missouri to the stamp store over there he saw these images and said oh hey these are cool, and I said yep, he said are you going to get them, I thought they were pretty big, would take up most of an A2 size card and wasn't sure what else to do with them, then he said those magical words " I would love a card with one of these on it".  It took me half a year and his birthday to come up to actually break them out.  I decided to make a bigger card so that I could add a little more to it.

First I started with inking the base of the card with inks that would go with the image.  Then I took some paper that looked older and crumbled it up, laid it out flat and ran my ink pad over the raised bits, the tore around the edges and inked them, then applied the image to that.  

The little tab at the top is a Tim Holtz die that you ink to give the border before die cutting and then I stamped an image inside, the sentiment is from Tim's sticker collection.

• Vintage Dragonfly and Bees Ephemera
• Wintertime - Old Papers, Vol. 1 and Clear Stamp for art Journal
• Background using distressed inks
• Tim Holtz - Vintage Labels die and Small Talk sentiment sticker

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

Connie

Flowers and pearls

 I usually use pattern paper for my background in my cards because I have so much of it, but I had just bought some stamps from the dollar store that I thought might make a nice background.  The flower sticker is also from the dollar store.

• Forever in time - Flower glitter sticker
• Crafter's Square - Stamps for Background ( butterflies and words)
• Distress inks - Old Paper, Gathered twigs and Forest moss
• Spellbinders - Labels 3 die
• Martha Stewart - Tag punch and pearl
• Paper Studio - Pearl border
• Taylored Expressions - Many minis occasions sentiment stamps

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

Connie

Merry Christmas

 May your Christmas sparkle with moment of Love, Laughter and goodwill. And may the year ahead be full of Contentment, peace and Joy!

Thought I would share a project I have been working on for a week I think it was, just a couple hours a day since my neck would start hurting :(  But I got it done the evening before Christmas eve, so I was very happy.

It was a Crystal Art 3D Buildable scene kit, the company is Craft Buddy.  I bought from HSN Channel on one of their craft days, There is 3 panels to give it that dimensional look. It measures 8 1/4 high by 7 3/4 inches wide.  It really sparkles when the lights are off and the Christmas tree lights hit them.

I thought they did a pretty good job on the faces too.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Hugs,

Connie

Snowmen

 I forgot to post this last month, the challenge in my card making group was to use a snowman. I started out stamping the first one and then I used stickers for the last two, I have had them for a few years and thought it was time to use them. I didn't make any Christmas cards this month, I had made enough throughout the year to give me enough, that sure was nice.

• Crafter's companion advent calendar - Snowman and snowflake stamp used on right panel, snowman colored w/markers
• BasicGrey - Picadilly paper
• Spellbinders - Labels 23 die
• Stickles - Diamond on hat

• Me & my big idea - Snowman stickers
• Spellbinders - Lattice Rectangle die
• Simon says stamps - Tiny words Christmas sentiment stamp

This last one I did a bit of scoring of the paper at the top and bottom to give it a little something extra. Made a mini slimline card for this tall Snowman.

• Me & my big ideas - Snowman sticker
• Kat Scrappiness - Double stitch mini slimline die
• Fiskars - Essential Sayings sentiment stamp
• Scoring of the card base on top and bottom of card

I would like to share my card today with Simon Says Monday challenge Cold and Frosty

Hope you are all well, Thanks for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Winter Birthday

 I thought these papers would make a pretty winter birthday card, I went through my embellishments and saw these gold foiled pieces and thought they would go with the gold in the paper, but now posting I realize in the North anyway we don't see butterflies this time of year, but somewhere around the world has them right :) I took a little sandpaper to them to give them a bit of distressed look.

• Hot off the press - Mystic Garden - Foiled Fancies, sanded
• Park Lane - Old World Paper and sentiment tag
• Sequins

As you see I popped up the sentiment panel and gold embellishments with foam adhesive.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie 

Skype card

 Here is another card we made during our stamp groups skype meeting. This was a month or so ago and I already can't remember quite what we did that is why I hadn't shared it here on my blog, but I believe we inked the portion of the embossing folder and then after it was out of the embossing folder went over it with another color of ink. Then we put it on another piece of cardstock, we did this fold on two separate pieces of cardstock, added whatever we wanted to pop up when the card was opened between the two pieces, and then glued those two pieces together, so the fold would be at the top of the card.  Sorry I don't have measurements, I sent this card to my hubby's niece already.

• Cuttlebug - Embossing folder, inked with Candied apple Distress Oxide, then embossed once out of the folder went over the raised areas with Old Paper Distress Oxide ink
• Anna Griffin - Advent calendar 2024  Day 2 Oval and bow dies
• Flower stamp, colored w/markers
• Tim Holtz - Clippings sticker book for sentiment
• Inside card - Spellbinders - Asters& Poppies dies and DCWV - Timeless Treasures paper

I cut the flowers 4 times and turned my paper when die cutting to get the opposite sides so I could glue them together so the flowers would be stiffer and pop up nicely.

I do love how this turned out, the colors I used on the embossing folder were just what I was imagining to go with the stamped flowers.

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

Connie

Sympathies

 I haven't posted these sympathy cards I have had to make over the past couple of months, the first two were shocking, this first one was for one of the girls in our church whose mom passed unexpectantly, she was my age so it really lets you know that at anytime you can be gone from this world.

I used watercolor based markers directly onto the stamp and spritzed with water before stamping. The I took a stencil and went around it to frame it.

• Penny Black - Effulgent stamp using watercolor markers to color then stamp
• Penny Black - Background Basics Stencil
• Stampendous - Orchid Greetings sentiment stamp

I will be adding this card to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge anything goes

The next was for the husband of my cardmaking friend who also died suddenly. I tried adding my white ink to the raised portions of this embossing folder but it didn't turn out as white as I had liked even though I added a lot of layers to it.

• Gemini - Regency Swirls 3D embossing folder/ white ink
• Elizabeth craft designs - With Sympathy die
• Martha Stewart - Pearls

The last was from a lady in our church who lost her mother that was in her late 90's.  To me she lived a good long life and was ready to be with her Lord and Savior, so I made the card cheerful, although she will be missed she is happy now :) I used a watercolor page that was already embossed with these butterflies, I used my Aqua pencils to color them and an Aqua pen for the blue background.

• Spectrum Noir - Simply Beautiful, Colorista Aqua watercolor pad, colored using watercolor pencils for butterflies and Aqua pen for blue background
• Taylored Expressions - Care & Comfort sentiment stamp

Thanks for stopping by today,

Connie

Love

 My hubby's niece remarried last month, they eloped in Hawaii, she loves the warm so that was her ideal place to get married, they had been together for awhile but it still came as a surprise to us, so happy for them. The love sentiment was in the paper pack, I rounded the edges and placed it on a tag. 

I love the gold in this paper, so I thought gold ribbon would go with it well.

• Park Lane - Old World Paper
• Spellbinders - A2 Curved Border One die
• Hero Arts - Tag die
• Fiskars - Corner Punch
• Crafter's Companion - Ribbon
• Queen & Co. - Twinkle  Goosebumps gem
• String

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

Connie

Flower Tea pot

 I couldn't resist this paper pack with ephemera, I love the distressed , romantic feel it has.  I thought it would be perfect for the friend I met in England while we were stationed at the Air Force base there.

• Stamperia - Casa Granada 12x 12 paper pack and Die Cut image
• Spellbinders - Big Scalloped Ovals small die
• Stamps of Life - Postmarks2stamp sentiment
• Martha Stewart - Scalloped circle punch

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

Connie

Hooray

 Still posting cards I made last month, I used this same owl stamp I used on my hubbies anniversary card, although this circle sentiment is birthday related not love related, so it went well for my girlfriends card :)

• sentiment digital unknown
• Art Imperssions - Whoots stamp, colored w/markers
• Memory Box - Stitched Circles layers die
• Melissa Frances - Wreath die

Hope you are all doing well, Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Framed flowers

 This pretty die set was in last years advent calendar, I made this card last month thinking I needed to use everything from the prior years calendar before I started opening this years the first of December :)

• Spellbinders - Advent calendar 2023 dies
• Hero Arts - Birthday messages sentiment stamp
• DCWV - Rustic paper
• Ribbon

I have fallen a bit behind again visiting blogs, hope to catch up soon, so much to do!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Sunflower

 I used my Diamond Art kit that I bought at Michaels again to use on my card, I think there is still 3 more left, this is my second one I have done and they work up pretty quickly.

• Make Market - Diamond Art kit 4x6  inch pieces
• Simon Says - Tiny words Birthday sentiment stamp
• Pink and Main - Sentiment Strip die
• Momenta - Patterned cardstock

I would like to add my flower to the Flower Challenge which is add sparkle, these diamond pieces have pretty sparkle. 

Hope you are enjoying a great weekend,

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Pop up box

 I haven't used my pop up box die in quite awhile, so I thought it would be nice to get it out and make a little scene with it for my niece (which is also my godchild) I used a lot of die cuts to make this so I will be sharing with A cut above challenge which this month is anything goes.

• Spellbinders - Scalloped Pop up box die
• Spellbinders - Mushrooms dies from Advent calendar 2023
• Spellbinders - Ferns, Delicate Asters and Foliage Flourish dies
• Fiskars - grass punch
• Washi tape - Amazon
• K&co. - Sentiment sticker
• Crafters Companion- Butterfly stamp and dies set from Crafter's companion Advent calendar

It all folds up flat and fits in the envelope, she received it a few days ago and loved it!

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

Connie

With Love

 I still have a couple Autumn cards to post :)  I die cut the flowers and the leaf border and while the cardstock was still in the die I did a little bit of inking of the flowers  with my dauber and inked the rest after taking out of the die cut. I saved a few of the strings from my tea bags for my junk journals but thought they would be nice with these flowers.

• Memory Box - Autumn border die w/Distress inks Gathered twig, worn lipstick and abandoned coral
• Spellbinders - Asters and Poppies die set
• Graphic Fairy - Postcard digital
• String

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

Connie

Perfect day

 I love this image from Graphics Fairy, such pretty bird in an Autumn scene, I found this paper pack at JoAnn's on sale, couldn't pass it up, thought it went very well with the image.

• Graphics Fairy - digital image
• Spellbinders - Candlewick Rectangle die
• Park Lane - Old World paper
• Wintertime crafts - Vintage collection sticker book (sentiment)
• Sequins

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend, we are getting our first measurable snow as they are calling it, everything is white and pretty, so far we have an inch and should be around for awhile since we don't get above freezing.

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

Connie

Happy Thanksgiving

 My last card that went to my daughter, I have had this sticker for quite some time but every year forgot to use it, well this year I finally remembered :)  To make it a little extra special I cut the base of the card out with a die by placing the die just under the cutting line at the top and then cut the die once again out of pattern paper and glued it over the base.  

I had to laugh when I went to stand it up it just tilted to the side because the bottom had one little spot in the middle that stuck down lower then the rest so I just cut enough off so it would sit flat to the table :) After die cutting the frame for the sticker I inked all around to bring out the rope look to the die.

• Miss Elizabeth's - Fall leaves sticker set (cornucopia)
• Kat Scrappiness - Mini Slimline Stitched Rope
• Spellbinders - Labels 29 die
• DCWV - Natural Stack paper
• Cloud 9 design - Rain dots

Wishing all of you in the States a very Happy Thanksgiving, so thankful for the friends I have made throughout the world :)

Hugs,

Connie

Twofer Background

 I made two cards using the same stamp and also the same die cut for the background.  The cardstock was a little lighter then I wanted so I decided to ink it up, as I was getting ready to ink it after die cutting, I thought how it looked like a stencil and then thought I need to make my second background at the same time, so I took a piece of cardstock a little bigger then the die cut and added my die cut over it and did my inking over the die cut, when I pulled it away I thought it looked great.

I added some pattern paper behind the die cut on the first one.

• Tim Holtz - Simple Plaid background die
• Crafter's Companion - Advent Calendar Stamped pumpkins in barrel color w/markers
• Memory Box - Stitched Circle layers die
• Poppystamps - Nordic Rings die
• EK success - Pumpkin and Leaf punches
• JoAnn Scrapbook - Vellum Sentiment

I decided to do the card horizontal this time and change up the dies behind the stamped image.

I think I actually like this background better than the original :)

• Tim Holtz - Simple plaid die used as a stencil for background
• Crafter's companion - Advent calendar stamp, colored w/markers
• Spellbinders - Labels 4
• PPD - A2 Stitched banner die
• JoAnn Scrapbook - Vellum Sentiment sticker
• EK Success - Pumpkin and leaf punches

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

Connie

Pumpkin flowers

 Using another stamp from previous advent calendar, I was bummed to find out that Crafter's companion didn't come out with an advent calendar this year, but I found others to get, hope I like them as well.

• Crafter's companion advent calendar - Pumpkin s/flowers stamp, colored w/markers
• Gemini - Torn Edge Circle die
• Spellbinders - Blossom die
• American Crafts - Ephemera (sentiment tag)
• Scrap pieces

I have a few more Thanksgiving cards to share, wow time is just flying by, another year almost over.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Our Anniversary

 I am a little late posting but hubby and I celebrated our anniversary last month and I decided to go with a Fall theme, I usually do :)  I embossed some pattern paper with a square leaves embossing folder (I believe they are 2 1/2 inches square) in two opposite corners and then went over them with some inks to highlight them using a little sponge dauber. Stamped the owl and colored him, then felt it needed a little more so die cut some leaves.  I am not sure where I got the round sentiment from but I think it was a free digital.

• Art Impressions - Whoots stamp, colored w/markers
• Crafter's companion advent calendar - Mini square leaf embossing folder, sponged ink over the leaves
• Gemini - Torn Edge circle die
• Memory Box- Marvelous maple leaves dies
• Tim Holtz - Funky Foliage dies

Close up of the embossing.

Next is my card from hubby, he said he told AI what he wanted the card to look like and this is how it turned out, he printed it out from his phone I think he said, then he cut the numbers from foil cardstock.

He also gave me some flowers, I thought I would share since some people are already getting snow here in the states and you might like to see some pretty flowers :)

Lastly the other day hubby was in his office cleaning it up and the next thing I know he comes out with this drawing he did for me, said he did it on a page from a book.  His green marker had dried up, so he had to blend yellow and blue to get the green for the leaves, I thought it was pretty cool so I thought I would share that too.

He use to draw all the time but his photography has taken over and he does that more than drawing now so this was a surprise :)

Hope you all enjoy your weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by,

Connie