Recent photographs

In the coming year, I decided to turn this blog into my Project 365 spot.  I recently joined Elements Village and they are launching a Project 365 for 2011.  I first started working on a Project 365 back in April of 2009.  I also began 2010 and was going strong taking photos until I decided to open my digi scrapbook shop at DID.  Since then taking photos kind of got put on the backburnner.  With the past 2 year attempts, I have yet to complete a full year of 365 photos.

I'm looking forward to getting back to taking a photo a day and hope you come back soon to see the photos I take in the coming year.

Here are some recent shots that I really like . . .

Taken November 11th on a walk through the neighborhood . . .

Taken November 12th outside my front window . . .

and this one taken on December 4th in my backyard during our first snowfall of the season . . .

Hope you all  have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year!

See you all again soon!

~Connie

Speed Scrap - TONIGHT @ 9 PM EST

For any one who might be interested . . . I am hosting a Speed Scrap at DID.  Here are the details:

Come stop by . . . you could win my newest kit, Art Nouveau, just for creating a layout and uploading it!

Hope to see you soon at Designs in Digital - http://www.designsindigital.com/!

~Connie

Speed Scrap - TONIGHT - 9 pm ET

Come join me over in the chat room at Designs in Digital for a Speed Scrap tonight. Everyone who uploads a layout and posts to the gallery within 24 hours is a winner!

Everyone who participates will receive this add-on pack:

Be the FIRST to upload and you could win this page kit .  . . FREE!

Hope to see you there!

~Connie

New Blog . . .

Please come check out my NEW blog:  CC's digital designs  There are lots of new and fun things happening!  I have another new kit in the store and am hosting the All About Me Challenge over at Designs in Digital.  You can get my latest kit for free!  Check out all the details at my new blog!

Hope to see you there!

~Connie

Grand Opening & a Sale!

I'm really excited!  I've been busy, Busy, BUSY!  Please come join me for the Grand Opening of my store at Designs in Digital

Hope to see you there!

Until next time . . . Happy Scrapping!

~Connie

Where did the week go?

I've been busy creating my monthly SNL kit.  And . . . seeing that it is July . . . there's always the Christmas in July festivities over at DSP.  I made a bow (always good to practice those!) and a background paper for that as well.  I've also been working on another kit of my own.  I found a color palette that I really like . . .

Isn't it pretty??  It definitely has a very bright and summery feel to it and inspires me to create something in bloom!

Speaking of blooms . . . there's lots of things going on in my garden as well.

The mini sunflowers are ready to bloom . . .

and the bee balm and coneflowers are just bursting with color . . .

and even more White Swan coneflowers in another part of the garden are looking great too!

I'm off for now and looking to possibly finish the kit that I am working on . . .

Until next time . . . Happy Creating!

~Connie

Happy Birthday, America!

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Remember to thank all the soldiers today too!

Until next time . . .

~Connie

Announcement: Giveaway Winner!

It's been a long day here as we went to the Cubs game today and were sitting in the hot sun all afternoon.  The Cubbies did horrible (they lost 12-0) but it was a lot of fun going to the park, taking in the atmosphere, and because this was my younger son's first Cub game . . . it was memorable anyway.

With that being said . . . I need to call it a day, but first I promised to announce the winner of my giveaway.  There were only 3 contenders so I put them in a bowl . . .

and I asked my little guy to pick one and open it up . . .

And the winner is . . .

Lisa from Sweet as Sugar Cookies!  Lisa, I will email you so I can get your mailing address and send off your prize.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful beaded necklace!

I want to thank all who participated and hope you will come back again and visit real soon!

Until next time, Happy Creating!

~Connie

Goodies package from Pat has arrived!

I'm so excited!  My package of goodies from Pat Winter's giveaway arrived today!  There's just such a wonderful assortment of ribbons, beads and fabric.  I hope to be able to put my new supplies to good use soon.

Thank you so much Pat . . . everything in this little care package is gorgeous!

When I found out that I won this, I wanted to hunt up the crazy quilt blocks that I knew I had stored in a box in the corner of my studio.  I found them today and took some photographs.  Mind you . . . there are only 2 blocks and they are not even finished.  I think I wasn't really sure where else to go with them at the time, so maybe now I will be encouraged to finish them!

Here's the first block . . .

and details from this block include .  .  .

a spray of roses . . .

and a feather!

And the second block . . .

a spray of tiny flower buds . . .

you can see that I've outlined the key, but have not filled it in yet . . . and finally . . .

my favorite . . . the owl!

Hope you like what you see and have a chance to enter my giveaway as well . . .

Until next time . . . Happy Creating!

~Connie

There's still time . . .

to enter my giveaway!  You can find the link to that post by clicking on the picture at the top righthand sidebar.  I'm so excited that I won Pat's giveaway and am axiously awaiting my package of goodies from her!  I will definitely take some photos and post about that as soon as it gets here.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to be back again soon!

~Connie

Anyone interested in my Giveaway?!

Thought I would of had more responses by now!  If you want a chance to win my lovely handmade beaded necklace, click here to leave a comment and enter!  If you blog about my giveaway on your own blog, I'll add your name again for a second chance to win. . . just leave a link to your blog post in your comment so that I know.

Hope you like my offering!

Good Luck to all who enter and Thanks for stopping by!

~Connie

Beginning of Summer Giveaways!!

I'm not sure if you've seen the gorgeous giveaway that Pat Winter is having!  Please visit Pat Winter Gatherings blog for a chance to win her awesome giveaway!   Good luck to you . . . and to me too.

Since this happens to be my 100th post, I am also having a giveaway of my own!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and a way that I can get in touch with you if you win!  (Please leave your email if you don't have a blog)  For a second chance to win become a follower, if you're not already, and I will enter your name twice.  (Please let me know if you are a NEW follower)  I will be announcing the winner on Friday, July 2nd sometime before 10PM CST.

So with out further ado . . . what I have for you you is a lovely beaded necklace!  It's light and sparkly and I think it's the perfect accessory to wear to any summer party!  (The photos do not do this necklace justice) The beads are clear lined silver and the clasp is a lock and key.  Hope you like it and good luck to you all!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Until next time . . . Happy Summer Days and Nights!

~Connie

Garden Journal

It's been raining off and on for the past 4 or 5 days here so I haven't had much time to get anything done in the garden.  I was able to work on and put together the Garden Journal that I've been wanting to do since last year.  I'm really happy with the results too!

I had a 3 ring binder that I bought last year along with dividers and page protectors for the main pages.  I used 6 x 9 envelopes and punched holes in them to put all the packets of seeds that I have.  I also wrote the name of the seeds on that particular envelope so that they would be easier to find.  I divided the binder and used separate envelopes for the different types of seeds  . . . annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, etc. 

I found this website called Homestead Garden that has templates to print for the main pages.  After printing the main template, I then reinserted the pages into the printer and took a number of the many garden and flower photos that I have, set the opacity to about 25 or 30 percent and printed a background on the pages.  I then was able to write any particulars and information on the page and soon my journal is chock full of terrific information and hopes and dreams for my garden!  I'm really happy to have started this and it was a fun way to pass the time.

This morning I had a bit of a surprise while taking my stroll in the garden . . .

At first I thought that it was a slug, but upon closer look and consulting with hubby, we decided that it was a snail!!  That's the first time I've seen one in my garden . . .

Until next time, Happy Gardening and Creating!

~Connie

The Champs!!!

WOW!  What an unbelievable game the Chicago Blackhawks had last night!  Philly put up such a good fight and gave us a run for the money, but this is just so exciting and a tremendous boost for the city!  I had my doubts when the game was tied late in the 3rd period and going into OT, but Edzo called it at the beginning of the series saying that the Hawks would win in 6 and he was right on the money!  I think everyone was stunned at Patrick Kane's game winning goal.  I saw him shoot the puck and was waiting for it to come out the other side and hit the boards.  And when I started asking my hubby where the puck was . . . he was screaming GOAL!  GOAL!  IT'S A GOAL!

The neighborhood here was pumped as well . . . people were blowing off fireworks and we were screaming at the top of our lungs and shouting at the TV.  It was truly an awesome feeling!

Watching the Blackhawks these past 2 years has been a lot of fun and thanks to them for all their hard work for an awesome, memorable year!

Hmmmm . . . let's see . . . I've seen the Bears, Bulls, White Sox and Blackhawks win championships . . . the only one left would be the Cubs . . . wonder when that will be??????

Until next time . . .

~Connie

Another sign and more blooms

I did manage to finish the other sign I was making . . . this time the color scheme is mauve, brown, cream and green.

I just need to find a place to hang it!   Maybe in the front garden this time.  I'll have to see and get hubby to help with that.

Here's a few other things that are now blooming in the garden as well . . .

This clematis is doing well and has been for a couple of years now.  The white Henryi clematis didn't survive so I have to be on the look out for another.  I have one other purple clematis that is supposed to be the same as the one shown above, but it looks more red and is no where near as big as this one.

The delphiniums are just starting to open as well . . .

And here's what the pink climbing rose looks like fully opened.  Definitely more pink and what I was looking for!

Hope to be back again soon!

~Connie

Oh! How my garden grows . . .

Summer has made it's presence known and it shows throughout the garden.  The weather has been hot and muggy with lots of sunshine.  Yesterday was rainy for a bit, but all in all we have nothing to complain about here.  Things are really taking off in the garden . . .

The Snow in Summer is in bloom and looks just beautiful!

. . . and the pink Oriental Poppy that I started from seed last year and moved to a new location last fall made a come back as well.  It has about 5 or 6 buds total this year where as last year it had only 2 flowers.  The first flower has opened and I can't wait to see the rest . . .

My pink climbing rose is looking good as well.  I was afraid that it would get the black spot as it wasn't looking good last fall so I treated it with Bayer Advance for roses and it's doing great!  I think it's called Eden . . . the flowers open up as white with a hint of pink on the edges and as they mature they turn more pink . . .

I still have some other pictures to upload and organize so I'll have more from the garden again soon!  I've also been working on another sign to hang up in the garden as well and should have that done later today.  Hope to be back again soon.

Until then . . . Happy Gardening!

~Connie

Finally warming up outside

and trying to get back to normal around here.  The birthday party for my son was a big success although the weather could have been a little warmer . . . still everyone had a great time.

Now that the weather has warmed up this week, I once again have been spending time in the garden.  The fountain is finally up and running and the wisteria is in bloom and smells just heavenly!

I even started my herb garden!  I've got rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil and tarragon . . . just to name a few . . .

I was feeling creative and made a sign for the garden too . . . I started with a scrap piece of wood and base coated it with gesso.  I then glued a layer of some tissue paper that had a pretty rose floral motif to it (it's kind of hard to see it from this photo) along with a crumpled piece of paper that says "5c per bunch" that I generated and printed through Photoshop.  I then penciled the outline of the "HERBS" lettering and painted that in with 2 coats of green.  I painted the edges with a dark brown and then stenciled a few vines around the inner edges in a sandy colored acrylic paint.  I dry brushed some areas with the sandy color acrylic paint and inked the inner edges with brown.  Copper wire attached to some cup hooks and some rafia tied in a bow and I'm all set.  I just love the way it turned out!  It's still drying and probably could use a coat or 2 of sealant on it.  I'll hang it up tomorrow since it's starting to rain right now and complete my herb garden theme.

Until next time . . . enjoy and Happy Creating!

~Connie