Sealed

 I love the look of the wax seals but with all the bulk of them I have never bought them, well I saw these stamped ones and I was able to buy the kit that also had dies with them to cut the flowers and the faux string, so I bought it.  I added some crystal glaze to the seal to make it look more like wax.

• LDRS - Sealed with Good wishes stamps and dies Kit 274
• Nuvo Crystal Glaze on Seal

If you are interested in the stamps and dies, I purchased them from HSN, but I am thinking they may be sold elsewhere, I just haven't seen them anywhere else.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, Have a great weekend, Summer is HERE!!

Connie

Young boy

 One of my fellow cardmakers sent me a few stickers to use on my cards and I am finally getting around to using some of them, I thought this one would be cute for a great nephew on my hubby's side of the family, I like the vintage look of the image but decided to go with more fun papers with it.

• Playtime kitties sticker
• Carta Bella - Alphabet Junction papers
• Kat Scrappiness - Mini Slimline Double stitch die
• Spellbinders - A2 Distressed Edges die
• Honbay - Sentiment stamp

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

Connie

Stitching

 When I saw this challenge from the Penny Black Saturday challenge blog I thought it would be a great addition for the card I wanted to make for a friend of mine. I used a Paper piercing template for the design, I used the small scallop and the straight edges to make up a frame for these flowers. I stitched it using 2 strands of floss. 

• Penny Black - Rose Bowl stamp, colored w/Spectrum noir Sparkle pens
• Stampin up - Paper Piercing Pack Essentials w/ 2 strands of floss for the stitching
• Gina K - Sentiment stamp
• Memory Box - Paper

I tried to get a close up picture of the sparkle the pens left behind but it still doesn't show up well. I hope the sparkle at least last until my friend receives this in the mail.

A friend that is a substitute teacher gave me that stampin up piercing set when a fellow coworker was retiring from teaching and she was getting rid of all the stuff that was in her classroom, I hope to be using more of them in the future for stitching on cards. I had never heard of them so I googled it and the few you tubes I have watched of them they just used them for piercing with no stitching, but I like the idea of using them as templates to stitch.

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

Connie

Wander and Wonder

 Playing with more ephemera and washi tape postage and used some scraps of paper from my scraps bin.

• 49 and Market - Nature Study General Elements (mushrooms, butterfly and sentiment) Ticket Essentials and Curator Meadow Postage washi tape
• Scrap paper, dotted and ledger

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend,

Connie

Flowers and bird

 I don't know that there is a better combo than birds and flowers :)  Using some ephemera pieces once again and since it was being hand delivered I was able to use more of my big gems and pearls with it :)

• Tim Holtz - Organic Layers Ephemera (bird and Flowers) and Rose Design tape
• Crafter's Companion - Paper from Advent Calendar
• Memory Box - Sentiment tag
• Queen & co. - Pave Gem
• Kaiser - Pearls

I am sharing my card today with Simon Says Monday  Monochrome challenge There is pink in the flowers, bird and paper 

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

Connie

Branch Frame

 When I saw this die set I just loved the possibilities with it, and it comes with so many dies. I loved that it came with it's own bird too :)

• Honeybee - Lovely Layers Seasonal Frame die set
• Craft Consortium - Wood Textures paper
• Papercraft Inspriation - Greetings stamp
• Tim Holtz - Vintage Labels die
• Diamond Dotz (along the vine)

I am sharing todays card with the following challenges:

Double D Challenge frames

Word Art Wednesday 

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

Connie

Graduation

 I have 3 great nephews graduating this year. I don't have anything for just that is strictly for graduation so I went looking through my stuff to see what I could use and found a few things to put together.

• Close to my heart - Frames, tags, borders stamp set (adding a gem at the graduation on the list)
• Spellbinders - Labels one die
• Memory Box - Contour Typewriter Keys dies (for grad)
• Old number stickers I have with no name on them for the year

• Lawn Fawn - Big scripty words stamp and die set
• Inkadinkado - Curly Q Alphabet stamp set (numbers)
• Spellbinders - Back to Basics Tag die w/ gold brads
• BasicGrey - Basics White paper

• Crafter's companion - Foil Transfer sentiment using silver foil
• My sentiments exactly - Little birdie stamp set (so proud of you, stamped with silver ink)
• Sequins

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

Connie

Bees and Butterflies

 Sharing a paper pack I saw the last time I went to the Stamp store over in Missouri, all the pretty yellows jumped out at me so pretty, I am just a sucker for these pretty paper packs with ephemera. The sentiment and the little butterfly tag are old things but all the rest is new.

• Paper Rose studio - Bees & Butterflies Quick card collection
• Memory Box - Greeting tab
• Cardmaking magazine - Butterfly rag
• Brad and Diamond Dotz

I would like to share my card with the following Challenges:

NBUS Challenge Never before used Schtuff

Four Seasons Challenge

Sisterhood of Crafters Flowers challenge

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

Connie

New goodies

 I had to have the new die set from Tim Holtz with the mini clip board, when I saw his video of it, I had to order it. I can see a lot of fun things to do  with it.  I also used some other goodies from him.

• Tim Holtz - Vault Noteworthy dies, Field Notes stamp set and Cello Tape
• Recollections - Mixed Media paper

I am sharing todays card with Simon Says Monday Challenge Tim Holtz products

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

Connie

Blue Bird

 Hubby and I have been very surprised in the amount of Blue Jays we have been seeing this spring, gave me inspiration for this card, even though he isn't a blue jay he is a blue bird :)  I used some dimensional stickers from Hobby Lobby for the bird to rest upon and framed it all with a wooden die cut frame. Had to add some stenciled clouds to the background :)

• Tim Holtz - Feathered Friends die and small talk sticker sentiment
• Paper Studio - Dimensional stickers
• Hero Arts - Wood Frame infinity die
• My Favorite things - Cloud Stencil

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. We have warmer temps now, sure feels like summer but our skies are hazed over by all the smoke coming down from Canada's fires.  I sure hope that the firefighters are able to get it under control, I can't imagine what it must be like up North.

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

Connie

Silhouettes

 In our cardmaking group the challenge this month for Christmas cards was to use silhouette's. I actually found more than I thought I had both in stamps and dies.

My first card uses both.

• Inkadinkado - Silhouette's stamp set
• PPD - Scalloped Snowflake Frame

With this stamp, I colored the red rubber with Aqua markers and stamped each section at a time, using my Misti stamping platform. When I was all done stamping them all, I very lightly misted the stamp with water and stamped one more time, it really gave it a nice look I think.

• Inkadinkado - Folk Wreath stamp set w/Aqua Markers
• Inkadinkado - Christmas Season stamp set for sentiment
• Stampendous - Stickers (in the corner)

I made two of these, the actual nativity was cut again using sparkle paper and the top part of the ornament was done with gold glitter cardstock. I realized just now posting that I didn't add a sentiment, will have to decide if I think it needs one.

• Die Versions - Starry Nativity Ornament die, gold glitter and sparkle cardstocks
• Impression Obsession - Pine Branch die
• Anna Griffin - Christmas Scrapbook paper

The next one I will share the side view too, so you can see the embossing better.  I am thinking I need some new gold embossing powder, or maybe it is the way I am stamping, it just seems to come out bumpy instead of smooth.

• Inkadinkado - Holiday Silhouettes w/gold embossing powder
• Spellbinders - Matting Basics A dies
• Elizabeth Craft designs - Merry Christmas sticker, colored w/gold pen

This last one is from a set of border stamps.

• Recollections - Christmas Borders stamp set
• Spellbinders - A2 matting basics A dies
• Hot off the press - 63 Thin line Border stickers

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

Connie

On your Special day

 It had been awhile since I have used this set, I had to get it out and play with it again.  The set has the stamps and stencil together. I popped up just the flower portion, the leaves and stem are glued to the background.

• Tim Holtz - THMM107 Stamp and Stencil set, colored w/markers and fussy cut,  Stencil used Antique Linen and Mowed Lawn inks
• Card Making Magic - Birthday Verses sentiment stamp
• Martha Stewart - Pearls
• String

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

Beautiful Blossom challenge I used the colors in the mood board

Stencil Fun Challenge 

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

Connie

Sending a hug

 My friends brother died recently and when trying to figure out what to do for him, I went and read his obituary and found he was in the military and with Memorial day coming up, it made me think of the Poppies they use to sell downtown where I grew up around memorial day, my mom would always be one from the gentleman.

 I have this paper pack and tags from a Card making magazine with poppies so that is where I started.  I added the tag to a die cut tag to separate all that pattern of poppies.

•  Country Diary of an Edwardian lady - Paper and tag collection from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine
• Spellbinders - A2 matting basics A die
• Anna Griffin Advent calendar - Tag die
• Recollections - Brad and lace
• Inky Antics - Simple Sentiments, embossed with white embossing powder

May we never forget the cost for our freedom, those men and women who gave up their lives for our freedom, and to the families who miss them.

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

Connie

Sending Good thoughts

 Our group got together again on line and made embossed panels together. I chose what I hoped would be good ones for my brother in law who is now fighting cancer once again. We were to emboss a panel, I chose one that I had stencil or stamped, I can't remember I took it from my pile of backgrounds I have that I made a while ago. I used the debossed side in the panel in the back and we added two different kinds of embossing powder to it and heated the back side of the panel, you can't heat from the top because we didn't use any medium to keep it on the top.  Then she gave us some measurements to make the front fold, sorry I don't have the measurements we made. 

She had in her example an image half on the folded part so it stuck up from the fold, I asked my hubby if the Slide Frame I had made a couple days earlier would be ok to add to it, he liked the frame but he wanted me to put it on the bottom half because he felt it took away from the embossing I had done if it stuck up higher.

I know the gold embossing powder looks black in the first photo but in the side picture it just show up better.

• Darcie - Brick wall embossing folder w/ gold and green embossing powders sprinkle on and heated from the back side of the panel to melt
• Cuttlebug - Script embossing folder on front panel
• Tim Holtz - Specimen die and Field Notes Stamps (numbers)
• Spellbinders - Advent Calendar sentiment stamp
• Stamped text behind the bee ephemera piece

I am sharing my card today with Can you handle the pressure? Blog 

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

Connie

Happy B-day

 I try every now and then to use my older goodies on my cards, we bought them for a reason right :)  Today I am sharing my card with The Neglected Stuff Challenge  The base die cut is from 2015, I couldn't see a date on the sticker I used with it but they have been in my sticker drawer for quite some time.

• Spellbinders - Tudor Rose Card front die, cut from smooshed background
• Stamps of Life - Mini for circles sentiment stamp
• Eyelet outlet & Brads - Butterfly corner Brad w/tag
• Crafter's Square - Pop up stickers
• Paper Studio - Enamel Dots
• Scrap paper behind the die cut

I am sure most of us have neglected goodies to share in the challenge :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and hope you all have a great and safe weekend!

Connie

Happy Everything

 Wow I have been so busy and trying to keep up with things that I totally forgot about posting on my blog. Is time just going by way too fast for everyone else too.

• Dare 2 B Artzy - Bee-utiful Stamp and die set, colored w/markers and Spectrum clear sparkle marker on bee's wing-- Fussy cut around sentiment
• Paper Doily
• Diamond Dotz

We found out after my last post that our friends Uncle that lives North of us had his house hit by the tornado that went through St. Louis.  He had a shelving unit behind him and it fell on him and then the rest of the house fell on him, he feels like the shelf falling on him saved him.  To see the pictures of his place you wouldn't think anyone could survive that.  

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

Connie

Birthday Wreath

 I seem to be a sucker these days for ephemera, if I see a pack with what looks to be some neat ephemera it is hard for me to pass them up, these set was from Walmart. I was hand delivering this one to our church's secretary so I could use some bigger gems on it :)  I popped up the wreath to give it more dimension too.

• Hello Hobby - Die cuts (Walmart)
• Best Occasion - Paper
• Crafter's Companion - Sentiment stamp and die set from Advent calendar
• Queen & Co. - Twinkle Goosebump gems

As you can see it even had foil on them.

As some of you know we are just on the other side of the river from St, Louis and they were hit by a couple tornadoes yesterday 5 people died in different areas of the city and many were injured. They could use prayer in the coming days.

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

Connie

Flowers just for you

 Using this kit again for another cute card.  I love the little background scenes they have to pair with their pieces of ephemera. The background is the card base, all comes together quickly and nicely, .the sentiment was on sheet that you cut out, so I just used a die to cut it out.  I bought this set off of HSN craft day, it is a company from England.

• Stamps by Me - Create a card kit
• Memory Box - Stitched Rectangle Layers

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

Connie

Healing Wishes

 I went with a Graphic Fairy image for this get well for a friend. I so need to take more pictures, this was the best head on picture I had and it is still tilted bad. But I think you can get it :)

• Ms. Sparkle & Co. - Water color paper pad
• Graphics Fairy - Image
• Martha Stewart - Border punch
• Spellbinders - Candlewick Rectangle die
• Words to the Rescue - Get well stamp set
• Diamond Dotz - yellow

I am sharing this with Fourseasons Challenge Spring.

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

Connie

Jar of flowers

 One of the girls in my group did some cards using library cards and I thought what she did was pretty cool, she said she wanted to see what I would do, so here is my take on it.

I used a stencil on my library card that I printed on my computer, honestly I downloaded this years ago from a free site but back then I wasn't concerned with documenting where I got things from, they are just in my free folder :)  The jar and flowers are stamps with dies.

• Tim Holtz - Doily Layering Stencils w/Kitsch Flamingo ink, mowed Lawn and Forest moss around the edges of the library card
• Printed Library card
• Tim Holtz - Flower Jar stamps and dies, colored w/markers
• Crafter's Companion - Advent Calendar paper
• Hero Arts -  All Occasions message sentiment stamp

I would like to share my card in these challenges:
Stencil Fun Challenge Bouquet

Retro Rubber Challenge Spring flowers 2018

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you have a great weekend!

Connie

High Score 25

 I made a card using these dies a little while ago for a great nephew, when hubby saw it, he said oh that would be perfect for his co worker that had just bought these flying games for his system, so I made a note of that and when it was time to figure out what to say on the computer screen he wanted High Score 25, because he won't let anyone know his age, he just tells everyone each year that he is turning 25.

I had some cork ribbon I used for the table and I made up a bag of chips and cola that he likes to snack on.

• Spellbinders - You've got game die
• Die Versions - Alphabet & numbers die
• Michaels - Cork ribbon
• Starform - Silver border out line sticker
• Hand made the chips and cola
• Home made cloud stencil

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

Connie

Nature

 It was time once again for a bird card don't you think, and my nephew hadn't had one yet, so out he came to play.  Do you see that gray piece for the body of the bird, that is a piece of tissue box, I have so many of them saved I thought I had better start using some of them, LOL!

• Sizzix - Feathered Friends die
• Spellbinders - Mushroom die
• The Grettery - Wood slices die
• Memory Box - Sentiment greeting tag
• All papers were from my scrap bin except for the bird body base that was a tissue box

We went to the garden center and bought more dirt for our raised garden beds and some peppers, tomatoes, and I also picked up a lavender plant and some hanging baskets of pretty flowers.  I have wildflower seeds to plant too, thankful we have had a break in the rain to get some stuff done outdoors.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a good week!

Connie