cards

There are lots of cards with beautiful flower images, soft colours, and feminine touches. They are lovely, but sometimes you need a card that has a definite masculine tone to it. I know there are a lot of people that struggle to make this type of card, so today I offer some masculine inspiration in my masculine moment.

Do you ever hear a favourite tune on the radio and just start dancing to it in your living room? I think that is fairly common, I know I certainly do it. It is the perfect opportunity to hear great music, and dance like no one is watching. My card today reminds me of the fun and carefree moments created by that, not to mention it is good exercise!!!

How many things in life are made better by sharing them with someone, or doing things together? Lots and lots and lots!! Stamping is one of the first things that comes to mind. I love stamping, and spending time in my craft studio, but stamping with friends is the best. We did just that on Saturday at my Stamp-a-Stack. You can see pictures of some of the fun on my Facebook page, Great Stamping With Connie.
For today, I have a card that reflects that same sentiment.

If you are making a birthday card and you want the recipient to have a REALLY happy birthday, what do you do? Well, I used a lot of happy!

I love stamping and making beautiful hand made cards of all types, but one of my favourites is colouring on my cards. When I was little, I loved to colour, and the comfort of colouring remains with me today. I think many people feel the same way, as my colouring classes are very popular, and people look forward to all the creative ways Stampin’ Up! gives us to colour our cards.

In Canada it is Thanksgiving weekend, and I am feeling thankful for the beautiful day yesterday, and the glorious world around me. At all times, but especailly this weekend, take time to celebrate the beauty of the season, and the glorious bounty nature provides.

The Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper has hand painted flowers, giving it soft and delicate images. It is so pretty, it is easy to create beautiful cards when you make it the centre of attention, as is the case with my card today.

It is certainly no secret that I love flowers, and the Pressed Petals Designer Series Paper gives us some lovely flower and greenery images. These are photographic images of pressed petals, and the other side has some great vintage designs.

I have spent most of the summer working and living at my cottage. I am so very grateful to have an opportunity to do this. I work as a server at a local restaurant, and I love it. You meet so many wonderful people, and I have also had an opportunity to sell some of my cards. My card today, reflects my thoughts, I am grateful to be able to live in nature, in such a beautiful part of our province, and my heart overflows with gratitude.

Have you seen the Nature’s Beauty stamp set on the back page of the Holiday catalogue? It is a stunning stamp set with line drawings that include a fox, a deer and a bunny, along with some trees, etc. The images are lovely, but the best thing about this set is a Difference Maker set. That means that $4.00 from each set sold will be donated to a Mental Health Organization. In Canada, money from sales of this set will be donated to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

The Over The Moon stamp set is so much fun, and fantastic for making great cards. If you feel like making a fun card, and are in the mood for some colouring, this is a great Go To set.

I have been having great fun colouring on Designer Series Paper with my Stampin’ Blends. You can see one of my recent posts here. Today I have another card that uses a gorgeous piece of DSP, and I have coloured it to change it up.

Fall has arrived, but (thankfully!) we still have some beautiful summer-like days in store, at least where I am!! Fall inspires us with the beautiful coloured leaves, deeper hues in our clothing, and rich coloured decorations.

Did you see my recent post with the magnolia I coloured with my Balmy Blue Stampin’ Blend? If not, you can see it here. I really like the way it turned out, so I decided to colour a whole garden of them!

It probably isn’t a secret, but blue is my favourite colour. I love the colour blue and would make way too many cards in blue if it weren’t for all the fantastic colours Stampin’ Up! offers, but today my card features Balmy Blue, a colour I love!

I love participating in different card making challenges, I find they push me to try things I wouldn’t think of. Today is another example of that with a colour challenge. So Saffron, Rococco Rose and Mint Macaron. I love all three of these colours, but probably would not put them together in a card if someone didn’t tell me to!

I am truly blessed to have many wonderful girlfriends. I love each of them and am grateful to have them in my life, but there is always room for more! As adults, it can be difficult to make new friends, and to find someone new that you really ‘click’ with, is very special. This summer I have been blessed to find a new girlfriend.

Ever since my daughter was very little, she has loved pigs and cows. I’m not sure why, or where it started, but she still loves them today as an adult. You can imagine how happy I was to see the stamp set This Little Piggy. The cute pigs are so much fun. When the new annual catalogue came out in June my happy level went up another notch, with the Over The Moon stamp set. Now there is a cow stamp set for me to make more fun cards for my daughter.

Today is your day! Each day we have is a gift, so let’s make today your day to shine. We all have our ups and downs, but for today, let’s all be grateful for something wonderful in our life, and let it shine on everyone we meet. A smile, a kind word, a small gesture, can all make a big difference in someone’s day, so let’s all get out there and shine.

What a wonderful, inspirational message - Be Strong, Be Happy, Be You. I have loved this stamp since I first saw it, and today I used it for a Clean and Simple card.

What female doesn’t like diamonds? Not too many I don’t think. To be told we are like a diamond, resilient, strong and beautiful is truly a compliment. That is the message for my card.

How many times have you wished someone their happiest birthday ever? I know I have said it, and written in on birthday cards. I don’t really want this year to be their happiest birthday ever, just the happiest birthday they have had yet. I hope that their next birthday will be even better than this one, but that is for another year. My card today will certainly let someone know I want them to have the happiest birthday thay have had yet. It’s their day, and I want to share in celebrating that.

I love the Over The Moon stamp set, the cute cows are so much fun to create with. I made this card for MSH (My Sweet Husband) to show him how much he means to me, and it is perfect for the Global Design Project theme challenge this week.

My card today is for the Fab Friday Challenge. It is a colour challenge, and I must say, when I saw the colours they gave us I was not sure about them! They certainly are not colours I would generally put together, but trusting the challenge I moved forward, and surprisingly it works!!

I’m having tons of fun colouring my Designer Series Paper with my Stampin’ Blends. Today I coloured a piece of DSP from Garden Lane for a sketch challenge from Case This Sketch.

I love all the pretty flowers in the gardens over the summer. Anywhere you travel, you can pass many houses with beautiful flowers growing. Each one perfect in natures beauty. My card today is part of the Stampin’ Up! Only Challenge, (SUOC), whose theme this time is Summer.

If you are looking for a great Go-To sentiment set, Well Said is sure to hit the mark. It has all sorts of words you can put together to create a unique greeting, along with some phrases that are wonderful. There is also a coordinating die set called Well Written. Together you can say almost anything! I used the Happy and Birthday from the stamp set for my card today.

I’m back with another Designer Series Paper focused card. If you want to create beautiful handmade cards, using DSP for your backdrop is a great way to create cards easily. Today I used some DSP from the Woven Threads Designer Series Paper.

If you follow my blog posts, you know I love my Designer Series Paper! The Garden Lane DSP is one of my new favourites. I don’t think it is possible to make a card that isn’t beautiful if you start with this, and that is what I did today.

I haven’t played with the Country Home stamp set (page 95 in the Annual Catalogue) much lately I love it, so today was the day! Life in the country often means beautiful gardens with bright blooms of heritage flowers. This set has some pretty images, great for colouring.