Vintage

 For those of us in the U.S. Michaels has been selling some of their own brand of ephemera, embossing folders, dies, I have bought a few of them and this ephemera pack was just my style, it  has a Vintage feel to the ephemera and it is both images like this bird and the pack also had acetate pieces like this lace piece that I mounted onto some cardstock that I did a little faux stitching on.

• Recollections - Ephemera pack
• Spellbinders - A2 Matting basics A dies
• Crafter's Companion - Advent calendar paper

Just incase you decide to go looking at their new stuff, the backs of the packs show a few pictures of what is inside, but there are many more that they don't show.

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

Connie

Vase of Flowers

 For the next birthday card I needed I thought it was time to use more from my Advent calendar, I have a lot yet to use before the next one comes out :)  I found this vase with flowers that I thought would be very pretty.  I had recently had a box with some nice corrugated and thought I hadn't used that in a long time on my cards, and I like the look, I left some of the pieces of white that was over it and inked it up a bit.

• Teresa Collins - Tell your story papers
• Spellbinders Advent calendar 2024 (flowers and vase dies) sentiment banner
• Enamel dots
• Torn cardboard, bits of paper left on with some inking

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope you have a great week,

Connie

Distressed Florals

 Oh my goodness when I saw this paper pack I kept telling myself I don't need any paper but the bad side of me kept saying but you love this look, LOL!! So yep I bought some more paper, I just loved the vintage look of it. I also had to use the new little birdie I got, isn't he cute with his chubbiness :)

• Crafter's Companion - Distressed Florals paper
• PoppyStamps - Nordic Petalpoint bird die
• Recollections - Bling on a roll
• Gemini - Opulent Swirls die
• Spellbinders - Advent calendar sentiment die

I hope you all are enjoying the start of your weekend, we certainly are, we have made a break in those terrible temperatures, we have been enjoying our time outdoors once again!!

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

Connie

Faux Tear

 Our group gets together on teams now once a month and this month we did a faux tear technique.  We tore some strips of scrap paper, place it over our card and then inked in the space between them and then stamped some images. Out of the same set we were to stamp an image we could cut out and pop on top. I added some die cut leaves with it. We also cut a strip to add our sentiment on, scored a bit of it to wrap around the card, even laying acrylic blocks on it all night it doesn't lay flat so I laid it down to get a picture.

• BoBunny - Flower Garden stamp set. colored with markers and Diamond stickles for the center
• Faux torn background inked with Faded Jeans and Tumbled Glass Distress inks
• Martha Stewart - Butterfly punch
• Tim Holtz - Funky Florals #3 (leaves die)
• Crafter's Square - Birthday Sentiment stamp

I was thinking about just adding a little removeable tape to the sentiment flap to keep it down, one of the girls mentioned magnets but I will be mailing this and not sure about the weight.  If you have any ideas, let me know, I don't have to get this out in the mail until a couple weeks.

Thanks for stopping by,

Connie

Jazz

 Our Pastors daughter is in the Jazz band which she has had a solo part singing also and also has performed in two school plays this past year, so I went with the theme of Jazz and performing for her birthday card this year.

• Graphic 45 - Curtain Call papers

All this was in the paper pack, I just cut things out and layered them.  I cut a circle in the black piece of paper and popped it up with foam tape to give a frame around the singer.

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

Connie

Dog Sympathy

 When my friend lost her Furbaby she posted on Facebook some pictures of her.  Since my hubby has been using AI to use with his drawings and picture taking he does, I asked him if he could take one of the pictures she posted and make her dog look like she is in a bed of flowers, and this is the one we liked the best.  I added some butterflies to the scene.

• AI image of a dog
• Crafter's companion - Advent calendar paper
• Hot off the press - 4 Lacy Rectangle Frames die
• Martha Stewart - Butterfly punch
• Paper studio - gems

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

Connie

Plaids

 Our Groups challenge for this month is Plaids. I had bought a plaid folder awhile back and have tried it out but never used it on a card yet, so I thought this was the perfect time to get it out and give it a try. The first two cards use the stencil for the background, using distress inks.

• Spellbinders, Wendy Vecchi - Build A Plaid Stencil, using Gathered Twigs, Rustic Wilderness, Lumber Jack Plaid distress inks and gold pen
• Spellbinders - Floral Die cut shapes
• Starform - Merry Christmas stickers 

This next one I didn't use the brown ink like I did on the first plaid.

Spellbinders, Wendy Vecchi - Build A Plaid Stencil, using Rustic Wilderness, Lumber Jack Plaid distress inks and gold pen

Spellbinders - Tweet Cardinal die and Floral Die cut shapes (wreath)

• Echo park - Christmas magic Ephemera
• Paper Studio - Cozy Christmas paper
• Candy Button

• Paper Pizzazz - Christmas plaid paper
• 49 and Market - Christmas Spectacular & ephemera bits

• Paper Studio - Die cuts (mittens) and Cozy Christmas papers
• Fiskar - Corner punch
• Foil paper

• 
  Simple Stories - Bits & Pieces Simple Vintage Dear Santa Ephemera
• Paper Pizazz - Christmas Plaid paper
• Stampin up - Home for Christmas enamel dots

And there we have July's cards done :)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Don't forget to fly

 I was going for a vintage garden feel to this one for my friend who has an amazing yard full of flowers. I would love it but I know it takes more work than I can do anymore so I will just enjoy hers :)

• Crafter's Companion - Distressed Florals paper
• Elizabeth Crafts - Planner Film Strip die
• Memory Box - Dogwood Blossom colored w/markers
• Tim Holtz - Small Talk sentiment stamp
• Recollection - butterfly stickers

I wish now looking at it  that I would have added a bit of shading on the flower, the close up picture is closer to how it really looks. But I have already given it to her. I colored the flower with markers and added some dots to the center with fine tip pen.

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

Connie

Coloring images

 I broke out my coloring calendar again, I was in need of a birthday card that started me looking through the images to see if one would work for me but also found some that I thought would work for some thinking of you cards I want to send to a couple people.

• Cheerful Journey- 2018 coloring calendar image, colored w/ pencils
• BasicGrey - Periphery paper
• Spellbinders - A2 Matting basics A &B dies

Cheerful Journey- 2018 coloring calendar image, colored w/ pencils

Tim Holtz - Small talk sentiment

• Cheerful Journey- 2018 coloring calendar image, colored w/ pencils
• BasicGrey - Periphery Papers
• Scallop frame die
• PPD - Stitched Curvy coved Rectangle dies
• Sticker sentiment from sticker calendar

Thanks for stopping by,

Connie

Sending Sunshine

 I have had this die set for awhile now but I was saving the first time using it for my sisters birthday card, she looks at my blog and I wanted her to see it for the first time in person :)  I picked it up because I loved the look of old wagon wheels, don't know what it is about them but I like them.  Had to add a pot of flowers, and a little birdie is always around, he is from wood. Added a bit of clouds and grass on the background.

• Spellbinders - Rustic Garden die set and Romantic Rectangles two die
• Recollections - Wood bird, colored w/markers
• Impression Obsession - Small grass die
• Rubbernecker - Wide Terracotta pot die
• EK Success - Flower punch
• Stickles - Worn Lipstick (Flower centers)
• Hero Arts - Everyday Sayings, sentiment stamp
• Altenew - Nature's wonder enamel dots

I would like to share my card today with A cut above Challenge 

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, and hope all those in the states under this extreme heat watch stay safe.

Connie

Birds and Blooms

 I used another piece of clipart from the Graphics Fairy for this card, loved the image and since I was hand delivering I could add a button to the punched flower, which I added some floss to.

• Graphics Fairy - Printed bird image
• Memory Box - Stitched Rectangle layers dies
• Fiskars -  Flower punch shaped and added a button w/floss
• Simon Says stamps - Tiny words birthday sentiment stamp

I would like to share today's card with Triple B Challenge 

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

Connie

Bouquet

 I found these stickers they were on sale, I am thinking they may be meant to use in a planner but I thought they would be pretty on cards too, the other things in the pack I figured I could use in my junk journals :)

I also added some faux tape to it also, I saw this on You tube HERE. She does a lot of things for journals I have made quite a few of her things. I thought if I could make some faux aged tape (the girl doing the video calls it washi but to me it looks like the stuff from old photos) I could be making my own :)

• Spellbinders - Romantic Rectangles  and A2 Matting basics B dies
• Paper Studio - Agenda 52 Wildflower stickers
• DCWV - Once upon a time paper
• Hero Arts - Birthday messages sentiment stamp
• Faux aged tape
• Gems

Here is a picture of my faux tape I made, I used Vellum since I didn't have any Glassine. I used a few colors of alcohol inks and applied them just like she did, pretty much wiping it on then pouncing. I forgot to write down the colors but I know for sure Butterscotch was one, the other two were a light orange and a light brown or tan. I used some smaller pieces of score tape and the wider ones I think were from Scrapbook.com, their brand of double sided tape. As you can see I did tear a little chunk off the wider strip and it worked fine tearing it.

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

Connie

16th Birthday

 Another great nephew has turned 16 so it was time again for another car card :) Using the car die from an old advent calendar :) The paper pack had cut out tags in it and that is what I used to stamp the sentiment and add his name with stickers.

• Spellbinders - Advent calendar 2023 - Car die
• We R Memory keepers - For the record Papers and tag
• Letter and numbers stickers
• Stamped sentiment

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

Connie

Dandelion Shower

 One of the ladies in our group told us about a little girl in her town that has had cancer in the past and sadly is dealing with it again and has lost one leg already. She is turning 10 and she asked if any of us would like to make her a card and send it.  I decided on this cute little girl.  I have had her for a lot of years now and this is the first time using her, I am thinking what took me so long is she is on purple rubber with no padding and sticky on the back so I ended up using double stick tape to add to the back of the stamp and used it in my stamp positioner, let me just say that the double sided scotch tape worked great, too great as I had a heck of a time removing it from my Misti after I was done stamping.

• Little Darlings Rubber Stamps - Penny's Dandelion Shower stamp, colored w/markers
• Spellbinders - A2 Devine Eloquence die
• Simon Says stamps - Tiny Words Birthday stamp set

I am sharing my card with NBUS Challenge never before used schtuff

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

Connie

Barrel Planter

 It has been awhile since I did some die cuts with flowers and I hadn't used this pot in some time so why not combine them :) I cut a frame with the arch dies by putting two sizes of them together and cutting them at the same time. The stencil is thinner than my card base so I had to try and piece it together to cover the front, can you see the seam?

• Impression Obsession - Whiskey Barrel Planter die
• Spellbinders - Be Bold Blooms dies
• Sizzix - Rounded Tags die (cut a frame)
• Tim Holtz - Brick and stone stencil using Lost shadow distress ink
• Martha Stewart - tag punch
• Taylored Expressions - Many Minis occasions sentiment stamp

I would like to share my card today with the following challenges:

Double D Challenge Pots

A cut above Challenge Use die cuts

Stencil Fun Challenge Optional use your flag colors

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

Connie

Birthday Bouquet

 I went with a digital stamp for my next card, I hadn't done one for awhile and thought this would be nice for my friend. I used a stencil to add a bit of inking to ground it.

• Power Poppy - Pure Prairie Bouquet digital stamp, colored w/markers
• Penny Black Background Basics Stencil w/Antique Linen Distress inks
• Honbay - Sentiment stamp
• Pearls

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, Have a great week,

Connie

Cat with Balloon

 I am determined to use the goodies once again from the advent calendars this past year and so today I brought out the cat die and sentiment for this card for our great niece.  I cut the cat from some paper I had that I smooshed ink onto, thought it would make a great spotted cat :) The background is a scrap of pattern paper that I stenciled the clouds onto and the heart is from another scrap.

• Spellbinders - Advent Calendar 2024 - Cat w/balloon die and sentiment stamp
• Spellbinders - Labels trio die and Scallop Classic ovals lg.
• Papertrey ink - Hodge Podge paper
• Impression Obsession - Classic corners die
• My favorite things - cloud stencil
• Hot off the press - Butterfly stickers

Hope all those in the states enjoy a great 4th of July, making it a nice long weekend this year.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Birthday wishes

 I made this one for my teenage great niece. My sister said when she went over to her house her son asked what is that on the front, my sister said that is like the view master picture slides, the family thought it was a movie reel. When I first saw them too I thought view master, I guess it depends on when you grew up and if you ever played with a view master, LOL!  Hope she liked it either way :)

• Tim Holtz - Vault Picture show die set
• Papertrey ink - Hodge Podge paper
• Gina K - Sentiment stamp
• Park Lane - Text stamps (splotches)
• Winter time - Mini decorative & Art Journals (butterfly stamp)
• Flower Gem
• Scrap papers for reel

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

Connie

Field Notes

 My little brother loved this card, using the clipboard die, I put a couple of pieces of paper under the clip, stamping on both, so he could flip and see what was under.

• Tim Holtz - Vault Noteworthy dies (clipboard, arrow clip and tab) Field Notes stamp set
• 49 and Market - Curators Meadow Paper and Vintage Blushed Sage Rub ons

So fun to play with those clipboards :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, Hope you have a great week ahead,

Connie

Florals

 It was time to do some coloring again, using an older stamp that was in one of the cardmaking magazines.

• Scrapbooking made simple - A simple Hello, great day stamp, colored w/markers
• Crafter's companion - Advent calendar paper
• Spellbinders - Floral Ovals die (from scrap paper)
• Open Studio - Gold foiled greet tab
• Gems

I would like to share my card with the Beautiful Blossoms Challenge 

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, Hope you all have a great weekend and get some relief for those in the heat of it all.

Connie

Masculine Blessings

 It is not hard to find things that have been neglected in my room of goodies, so I went looking for something for our friends birthday and found this classic stamp that looks like an old chalkboard, I haven't used it in like 7 years, that is just a shame.

• ODBD - Chalkboard Birthday stamp
• Spellbinders - Classic Rectangle Lg. die
• Basic Grey - Periphery Paper
• Pebbles - Glitter candy dots

I am sharing today's card with Neglected Stuff Challenge (chalkboard stamp)

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope the rest of you are making it through this HOT weather with heat index in the 100's.  I have been limiting my time outdoors, just going out to check on my plants quick and water them and then back in the house for a shower, crazy, hope our whole summer isn't like this.

Connie