Roses in a Milk Bottle

     I was so lucky last week, winning some digi images from Pattie's Creations!  Pattie has a challenge going on, too, and she wants us to either alter or recycle something.  Well, of course, I had to get one of the digis I won colored up right away and turned into a birthday card.  (I keep trying to get my stock of birthday cards above one or two but I seem to be sending them out as fast as I get them made.   This is another of those which will be going to a sweet gal with a February birthday. :-D )

     I want  you to look carefully because I took apart three cards I had done a few months back but they just didn't please me.  Rather than throw them away whole, I saved as much as I could from them, then tossed them.  The butterflies and the bow are recycled onto this card.  I had to add pearls to cover up a tiny tear at the head of one of the butterflies.  I also had to make them into 2 layers to cover other tiny blemishes (there had originally been 4 butterflies.)

My sketch is from Seize the Birthday.  In addition to the sketch, 

it has to be a feminine birthday card. 

     Don't you just love those roses in a simple milk bottle?  I thought they were so gorgeous and could be used for so many things, even a Valentine card.  Maybe next time.   I took my color cue from DL.ART Thankful Thursday -- red or pink.  I colored the image with Promarkers (Passion for Promarkers -- fav color combo) and, since I just love pink and red together, I used both colors.    The die set is from Spellbinders and the butterflies were cut with a Cheery Lynn die.  Everything else is from my stash of CS.

     Challenges:
Can You Digi It?  -- Getting girly
Digistamps 4 Joy -- Anything goes
Forever Friends -- Birthdays
Inky Chicks -- Bingo: Sentiment, Image, Bow
Moving Along with the Times -- Bling it on
My Time to Craft -- Things with Wings
Oozak -- Anything goes with pink and bling
Outlawz Copics/Promarkers -- Anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey -- For a girl
Sparkles Forum -- Die cuts and flowers
Top Tip Tuesday -- Lavishly luscious layers

     Well, it's a great Monday morning here on the West Coast.  Temps are supposed to warm a bit so that there will be no need to bundle up so completely that one cannot see past the end of one's nose.  lol  It's a work day for me so I'll be indoors anyway and need only brave the weather to go out to check and post the mail.  Have a good day, whatever your weather.  Happy stamping.  NanaConnie 

Wolf Moon

     A card this morning with a new image I got over at Delicious Doodles.  I just thought this winter wolf was so gorgeous, and it seemed time to give canines a little time to play on this blog which seems to be overrun with felines.  :-D

My sketch came from There She Goes.

     Although the image didn't required a lot of coloring, I used my Promarkers to add blue to the sky, a touch of green to the tree, pale yellow to the moon, and gray to the wolf.  I added gel sparkle pen to the snow on the tree and a few of the snowflakes in the sky.

     The papers are from DCWV, either Linen Closet or Trade Winds stacks.  The 'ribbon' is actually jute cord, which seemed to work better on a masculine, CAS card.  I used an EK Success corner punch at top and bottom, and then added the punched out leaves to the bracket the image.

     Challenges:
Cards und More -- Ice and snow
Crafts 4 Eternity -- TicTacToe: blue, ribbon(twine), snowflakes
Creative Creations -- Keep it simple
Creative Stamp Friends -- Winter
I [heart] Promarkers  -- Anything goes
Lady Anne's Challenges (Weds.) -- Anything goes
Ribbon Carousel -- Winter spirit
Tuesday Alchemy -- Winter wonder
Without Words -- Baby, it's cold outside

     Have a great Saturday and check back this afternoon for the latest challenge from Eclectic Ellapu.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie  

Encouraging Words at Perfect Sentiment Challenge

     I wasn't sure I was going to have a post today because of printer problems and a glitch in my camera's downloading software.  I couldn't get anything out of the camera and into the computer hard drive.  But that's resolved now, and so I get to tell you about the new challenge today over at Perfect Sentiment.  We have two magnificent sponsors this week; Crafty City, which will have a Gift Certificate for one winner (US only) and Pattie's Creations, which is giving away 3 free digis!

     For our theme, we want to see you do a card with a sentiment of encouragement for someone and also use ribbon.  Pattie's Creations supplied images for the DT to use and I chose Mom and Baby Polar Bear for my card.  Nothing is more encouraging than a parent teaching a child.  :-D

My card is based on the sketch from Hanna and Friends this week.

     I feel like every card I've done in January is blue and white, but it's such a perfect color combo for anything depicting chilly weather.  Besides, my friend, Lynn, will absolutely love it!  She's the queen of blue combos.  :-D

     The snow/ice, sky, and dusty white on the bears are done using chalks, and the shadowing on the polar bears is done with markers.  The sentiment was printed with a computer font.  The ovals and circles are die cut and matted with black.  The papers are from my stash and I don't even know how long they've been there.  I used two different ribbons, layered together, and they are both from Really Reasonable Ribbon.  The flower embellishments are either hand punched and layered together or from my stash of Prima roses.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create -- Anything goes
Allsorts -- Dies or Punches
Card Makin' Mamas -- Anything goes
Crafts 4 Eternity -- Moody blues
Dream Valley -- Anything goes
Gingerloft -- Let it snow
Jellypark Friends -- Winter animals
One Stitch at a Time -- Anything goes
Pattie's Creations -- Fun in the Snow
{Pin}spirational  -- Photo inspiration (colors)
Tammy's Scrapin Corner -- Punch cards (dies and punches)
Totally Papercrafts -- Ribbon

     I have one more post today but it's running late because of the camera problems so check back later for my post using the Outlawz Wednesday sketch.

     In the meantime, won't you come along and play in our "Encouragement with a Ribbon" challenge at Perfect Sentiment this week?  I'd really love to see what you create and share with us.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie