Woodland Birthday

I had a tree left over after making my hubby's birthday card and I had no idea what I was going to do for our Pastor's birthday card and I ended up going with another woodland based card.

Frantic Stamper -- Oregon Fir die
Taylored Expressions -- Evergreens die (smaller tree)
Impression Obsession -- small deer die
Tim Holtz -- Vintage Shabby papers (blue background)
Poppy Stamps -- Stitched landscapes die
Fiskars -- Cloud punches
Our Daily Bread designs -- mini tag sentiments stamp

We took down all the decorations at church last night and today we are getting new chairs delivered for the sanctuary, so next Sunday we will have an all new look to the church.

Hope you all are transitioning into the new year well.
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and all your sweet and encouraging comments, I really do appreciate them,

Connie

Sympathy

One of the ladies in my cardmaking group that I have known for almost 10 years now has lost her sister in law that she has known for over 50 years.  This card went out to her.

This is my first time using this stamp and I really love it, I think it would work nicely for a birthday card also.  I stamped this three times with my Misti to get the deep black color you see.  Have you seen that they have a mini Misti now, not half the price but it is cheaper and smaller than the original, just in case you have been on the fence about getting one :)

I am linking this with Wen's Simply Neutral post .  Stop by and check out all the pretty neutral projects.

Crafters Companion -- Silhouette Grass stamp
My minds eye -- Lost and found 2 paper
Martha Stewart -- border punch
Hero Arts -- Everyday sayings
Ranger -- black enamel accents

I know a lot of you have already done it but today is the day I take down all my Christmas decorations and get out my collection of Snowmen, I have received so many wonderful snowmen over the years that I only put out a couple at Christmas time and save all the others to put out after Christmas, that way I can transition myself slowly out of having the whole house decorated for Christmas into winter wonderland :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope your week is going well,

Connie

Ahoy Matey

This was for my great nephew who turned 9.

The blue background was from the back of a calendar, it felt almost like linen, very thick paper so I cut it out with the die and then sanded the sides, thought that gave it a neat touch.

My Favorite things -- Pirate Boy, image and sentiments colored w/markers
Spellbinders -- Lg. Deckled Rectangle, A2 matting basics A and Labels trio dies
DCWV -- Brown paper

I thought I would share a picture we took while our daughter and son in law were home.  I liked all our smiles in this one but my hubby doesn't like his hair, this was before I cut it :)

Hope your year is off to a good start.  Things are looking up around here, more roads are opening up again and the water seems to be receding in a lot of places.

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

Connie

Close to nature

My hubby's niece's birthday is a couple days from Christmas so I always try and do something far removed from Christmas so that her birthday feels extra special.  I stamped and colored the flower twice so that I could pop it up to give a little more dimension to the card.

I sanded the embossed area so that it would stand out a little more. I kept the cardstock in the folder while sanding it.  Tied the tag onto the ribbon with a bit of twine.

Here is a side view to show a bit of the dimension.

Stampin up -- Close to nature stamp set, colored w/markers
Quickutz -- Vines embossing folder
Spellbinders -- Captivating Squares dies
Stamps of life -- minis 4 circles sentiment stamp
Martha Stewart -- tag punch
Offray ribbon
American crafts twine

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment, it means a lot!!  Hope your enjoying your weekend.

Connie

Happy New Year

Wow it was rough getting up this morning, I am an early to bed early to rise, mainly because Peanut is an early to rise dog, but last night we went to a party with our friends and I stayed out way past my normal bed time.  Hope you all had a good evening, and are looking forward to what the year ahead has in store for us :)

My first card of the year is one I made earlier last month for my hubby's birthday.  Just prior to making his card he had gone out on a hike and took his camera along, he was telling me when he got home how when it was getting dark and he was trying to capture some good night sky shots a bunch of deer came and where all around him, they didn't seem bothered by him being there.  So I made this card to remind him of that trip he took.  He loved it.

The sunset was done using distress inks and sponging them on the background.

Impression Obsession -- small deer dies, sponged with ink
Frantic Stamper -- Oregon fir and small Oregon fir dies
Taylored Expressions -- Evergreens die (smallest tree)
Spellbinders -- A2 matting basics A die
Memory Box - flying bird dies

May the Lord Bless you all in the year ahead!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop in and say Hi :)

Connie