Happy Fall Cat

     I was so lucky in a game over on the Facebook page of Sheepski Designs and I won this darling image!  I won in the very next game, also, and another digi was my prize.  You'll see that one in a day or two.

I started this card with the sketch at Mojo Monday,

where they want to see tall and skinny cards.

Mine is 7 1/4" x 4 1/2" and I had 

to make the envelope myself.

     While it doesn't show really well in the photo, this is a lapped, gatefold card.  The left flap is wider than the one on the right (but narrower than the overall width of the card) and the right flap tucks inside, under the left flap.  What you see as a colored strip on the right side is actually the outside edge of the right flap.

     I colored that darling cat with my ProMarkers, then cut him with one of my stitched rectangle dies from Die-namics.  I cut another piece with the next size larger die from that same set and used it to mat the image.  All the papers came from different stacks by DCWV and most of those are matted with kraft brown CS.

     Challenges:
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Sentiments
Die Cuttin' Divas
Everybody Art
I {heart} ProMarkers
Outlawz Greetings
Simon Says Stamp
SUYP Cats
Through the Craft Room Door

     Middle of the week so it's down hill to the weekend.  I'm celebrating because we haven't had a 100 degree day in a week and none are predicted for at least another week.  I'm not going to say they are totally gone but September started tomorrow and then it's only another three weeks until autumn begins.  Can we at least hope?  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Earth's Bounty

     Today I did a card all in wonderful fall sepia tones and it's very different from my normal, inside-the-box, coloring ideas.  :-D  The image is "Earth Fairy" by Fabrika Fantasy.

     I used my polychromos pencils again but colored the fruits with my ProMarkers and added highlights to her wings with a white gel pen.  I knew I wanted it to be really CAS so I cut the image into a simple but fairly large square, inked the edges, then added it to a kraft card base, tilting it at an angle.   

     I do love large, square cards because they give lots of room for writing personal notes inside or even letting a group of people sign the card without having to squeeze their greetings and signatures into tiny spaces.  Square cards also make CAS look even more CAS because there's more 'white space' on the front.  :-D

     I used a scrap of paper lace and added die cut leaves (Die-namites) stacked together, and three tiny, hand-cut acorns to make an autumn embellishment.  It's CAS and flat, so it will be easy to mail.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Di's Digi Designs

Double D

Julia Spiri

Moving Along with the Times

Outlawz Twisted Thursday

Pencil Case

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Pile It On

Pixie's Crafty Workshop

Simon Says Stamp

Sweet Stampin'

     Happy Monday everyone.  I understand that my friends in the UK are on a Bank Holiday today and I know my friends in the US are looking forward to a long weekend coming up with Labor Day being next Monday.  I'm going to be stamping and coloring both of those days.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Things that Go Bump in the Night

     I'm on a Halloween kick this week and have made no Christmas cards for my stash in over 10 days!  Pretty bad when I'm going to need at least 2 per week in order to have enough done for my Christmas needs.  Ah, well, that just means two weeks with four Christmas cards.

     This card uses a silhouette image from Bugaboo Stamps which is one of those fun, fun, fun images.

     I used ProMarkers to color the sky, the ground, the faces on the pumpkins, and the moon.  I put it on a black card base and added the strip of ribbon which was a scrap left on my craft table.  I dug out one golden topaz gemstone for embellishment, then left it alone.  This card will have to be mailed so flatter is better.

     Challenges:
Addicted to CAS
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Sentiments
Mod Squad
One Stitch at a Time
Outlawz PAM
Passion for ProMarkers
Send a Smile 4 Kids
Sweet Stampin'

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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The Potion Mistress

     One more Halloween card for the stash and this one is using an image from The East Wind.  I did it for their Facebook challenge "R U Kidding Me?" which is all about kids.  I love this darling little witch, though she's hardly scary.  Maybe that's why I love her.  :-D

     I'm working with my new poly pencils again and, while I've gotten better at shading and highlighting, I can't seem to get away from a pastel look with my coloring.  More practice needed, obviously.   Her hair looks bluish in the photo but IRL, it's gray-green and her face is a pasty, witch-y, yellow-green.  My camera lens has a mind of its own!

     The image is fussy cut and mounted onto a black pumpkin doily from Recollections.  I added that to an orange, die cut, doily (Cheery Lynn), then put everything onto a warm gray card base.  The only embellishment I added was the black, satin ribbon, bow.

     Challenges:
Cheery Lynn
Kraftin' Kimmie
Melonheadz Friends
MFP Stamps
Outlawz Twisted Thursday
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Sasayaki Glitter
Send a Smile 4 Kids
Simon Says Stamp

     I hope your week went well and that you are enjoying your weekend already.  I'm going to be lazy for a couple of days and then get back to my routine.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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MHK Designer Inspiration Post

     This is my second post today.  If you're looking for my QKR Stampede DT card, click HERE.


    Well, by now you've had a chance to see all the new releases for this month at MHK Designs and to check out the latest challenge inspiration photo so today I want to give you another way to be inspired by another of the images in the "Thankful Thoughts" set.   I used the cornucopia image last week and now this is the fabulous turkey.  I made a plain Thank You card but it could just as well have been a masculine birthday.  It would definitely make a great Thanksgiving card.

     I wanted to stick with monochromatic, fall neutrals but no matter what I did photographically, all the light browns in the dp turned to rust.  Hmmm, don't know how to correct that so you'll have to trust me that they are more brown and less rust than they look here.

     I colored with polychromos pencils but used ProMarker on his wattle for a deeper color.  I fussy cut the turkey and mounted him on dimensional tape.  I used satin lace to make the bow and the ribbon is velveteen.  The corners are decorated with sequins and pearls.

     Challenges:
Cards in Envy
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Sentiments
Creative Fingers
Digi Choosday
One Stitch at a Time
Pattie's Creations
Pixie's Crafty Workshop
Robyn's Fetish
Through the Craft Room Door

     I hope we're going to see you playing along in the August/September challenge which runs through until September 20.  Remember, if you use an MHK Designs image, then the theme is Anything Goes and you don't need to use the inspiration photo at all.  :-D  You can find the challenge on the main MHK Designs page by clicking on the tab at the top which says "Current Challenge."

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Keep Your Eye on the Ball

     This week at the QKR Stampede challenge, we want you to "Keep Your Eye on the Ball."   In other words, do cards showcasing any sport that uses a ball.  I chose golf because I love this darling 'Old Golfer' (Digi 16103.)  I also used the sentiment 'My Wife Said' (Digi 16409.)

     I've returned to using my ProMarkers to color, then I fussy cut the image and layered it with dimensional dots on top of a stitched, scalloped circle, die cut.  I also used another die cut of circles in the background.  Both die sets are from Memory Box.  The polka dot "bowtie" was added for embellishment but after that I left it alone.  I wanted a masculine card and it just didn't need any further embellishment.

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
A Gem of a Challenge
Aud Sentiments
CCC Digi
Classic Design Team Open
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafts and Me
Cut It Up
Die Cut Divas
Not Just Cards
Oddball Art
Paper Creator's Crafts
Sasayaki Glitter
Sisters of Craft

     I hope we're going to see you playing in our challenge this week.  Remember, it's any sport, any at all, as long as it uses some kind of ball.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Soft Autumn

     I was over browsing around the Ching-Chou Kuik blog, then strolled over to their Etsy shop and found this image which jumped in my cart without even asking!  lol  I brought it home and made this early autumn card.

     The image is printed directly onto the card front.  I colored her with my ProMarkers, then inked the edges of the card front to give it a bit of a frame.  I printed the sentiment, hand cut it and inked the edges of it.  I added the dark brown pearls and decided it was finished.  A nicely CAS design.

     Challenges:
AAA Cards
Ching-Chou Kuik
Color Crazy Craft
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Catz
Craft Your Passion
Creative Moments
Double D
Outlawz PAM
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
WordArt Weds.

     I do hope fall is truly right around the corner.  We've suffered through the longest, hottest summer recorded in the last 25 years!   We've had more than 50 days over 100 degrees F when we normally have 30 or 31.  At least yesterday and today we've been in the highest 90s but haven't broken into triple digits so there's hope.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Last Days of Summer

     When I first got this image from Sheepski Designs, I just knew it would make a perfect tribute to the last days of summer.  She reminds me so much of myself when I was a mid-teen, hating that summer was almost over; I would have to put away the comfy jeans with holes in the knees and put on new, not-yet-washed-the-first-time, back-to-school clothes.  Yes, back when I was a teen, there was a dress code and all girls wore dresses, even in public schools.     :-D

I based this on the sketch at Outlawz,

adjusted for the shape of my image,

and colors came from the challenge at DRS Designs.

  

         
     I colored with my ProMarkers again since I'm more comfortable shading and adding highlights with them than with my new pencils.   I die cut it with one of my very first dies, from a Spellbinders set, I think, but since the packaging was tossed out long ago, I can't be sure.   I trimmed one corner just for a different effect.

     I matted it with sparkle CS in both light blue and darker blue, rounding the corners of the darker blue with a hand punch before mounting that onto kraft CS which was also cut with another die from that same set.  I put everything onto a dark brown card blank.

     The striped ribbon was a scrap in my stash and I added fabric and mulberry paper flowers to the bow.

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafty Calendar
Sasayaki Glitter
Sheepski Designs
Tuesday Throwdown
Word Art Weds.

     That's all I have for today and I hope you enjoy it and maybe even find a bit of inspiration.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Miss Mummy Beauty Contest

     I had so much fun making this card !  Each mummy is the exact same image but I flipped some of them and adjusted the size to get the row of beauties participating in the contest.  It's amazing what can be done with digital images.  :-D  Of course, I'm going to use this as a Halloween card.

Colors are from Color My Heart

and the sketch is from Kraftin' Kimmie.

    

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image (freebie from Scrapper's Delights for their FB Progressive Challenge) and the background.  The sentiment was printed at the same time I printed the image.  I added the ribbon (which is actually deep, apricot gold, not orange!  It matches the sand color in the image) before I matted it with black CS.   That entire piece is adhered with Pop Dots.

     I added the polka dot bow (also not orange!) and slipped a piece of torn cheesecloth behind the upper corner, then added the three embellie dots to the top corner.  Those are teeny pom poms so they give the card some great texture, as well as visual interest.

     Challenges:
Art Impressions
Cards in Envy
Colour Crazy Craft
Crafty Catz
Creative Corner
Creative Moments
Cutie Pie
Lemon Shortbread
Scrapper's Delights FB

     I do love fun Halloween cards.  Not too crazy about the dark and truly spooky ones.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Butterfly Wisdom and New Challenge at MHK Designs

     Today is the first day of the August/September challenge starting at MHK Designs.  We always have an inspiration photo for you to use but the fun part is if you use an image from MHK Designs, our theme is "Anything Goes" and you are not required to use the photo.   Want a quick look at the photo?  Here it is:

     Now, it would have been so simple to use the "Pansy Corner" image from yesterday's new release (click here to see my card for that) and it would have certainly been perfect for those colors or the flower inspiration, but I chose to use an older MHK set, "Butterfly Wisdom."  (Photo of the set is at the bottom of the post.)

     Here's my DT card and I was definitely influenced by the colors in the inspiration photo.

     I'm really into my new polychromos pencils this last week and, while I will return to my ProMarkers for most of my coloring, I'm still practicing and learning about these pencils.  They're different from the watercolor pencils and Gamsol I've used before and it takes some time to figure out how to blend and shade the colors.  On this image, I didn't do much of either of those, preferring to have something that looked more vintage.  I wanted it to look like it was a hand-colored illustration plate in a book from the late 1800s.

     I cut the image with a rectangle die and then punched the corners.  The doily was cut with a die from Spellbinders.  I cut two different colors of CS and inlaid the butterflies from one cut into the doily from the second cut to get the contrasting colors.  

     I then added three of the butterflies from the lavender CS cut to the upper corner and decorated them with pearls.  They made me think about adding black pearls to the butterflies inlaid into the doily so I went back and did those.

     The lace enhanced the vintage charm of the card and it was a scrap from my stash which was begging to be used.

     Now, I want to show you the inside of the card.  Since it was made with a black cardstock base, it would be very difficult to write anything inside.  I put the sentiment inside and added a square of white CS on which a personal note can be added.  The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is matted with glittery silver CS and, boy! does it sparkle IRL!

     Challenges:
Brown Sugar
Cards in Envy
Crafty Addicts
Crazy Challenge
Delicious Doodles
Dies R Us
Inky Chicks
Kraftin' Kimmie
Mod Squad
Paper Shelter
Pearly Sparkles

     Come play along with us, won't you?  You've got a long four weeks (until September 20) to enter and you can use any images from any company as long as you use the inspiration photo, being inspired by either the flower or the colors.  If you choose to use one of the fabulous images from MHK Designs, then you can enter anything without considering the inspiration photo.  :-D  Hope to see you there.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

 Butterfly Wisdom

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Fifth and Final Release Set for August - MHK Designs

     Here's the fifth and last set in this August release from MHK Designs and I can't tell you how much I love the gorgeous pansies in "Pansy Corner."  You can see a photo of the complete set at the bottom of this post.  For now, here's a card showcasing the image and one of the sentiments.

     This time I used my new Lyra pencils to color the image because I wanted a very soft-looking pallette.  The image is printed right onto the card front and that means another really CAS design.

     I decided to use the sentiment as the only 'embellishment' so I cut it with a scalloped, stitched die (Memory Box), and then cut two more of those shapes with the same die, this time cutting from scraps of lavender and red violet CS.  I layered those together in an interesting pattern and adhered them to the card front.  Voila!, the sentiment looks like an embellishment.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Classic Design Team Open
Crafts and Me
Crafty Awesomeness
Lunagirl Moonbeam
Not Just Cards
Paper Creator's Crafts
Petal Lu
Stempelsonnen
Sunsational Stamps

    Tomorrow our latest challenge begins and I hope you're going to come over to the MHK Designs blog to see what our inspiration is for this next challenge month.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

 Pansy Corner

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Day Four MHK Designs Release - Halloween Party

     Another fabulous release from MHK Designs this month and now we have a delightful Halloween set, called "Halloween Party."  A photo of the complete set is at the bottom of this post.  Here's my card showcasing the image and one of the sentiments.  I think this one will be perfect for party invitations.

I used colors from the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments

but also added orange for the traditional

 Halloween Jack-O-Lantern.

     I colored the image with my ProMarkers and cut it with a rectangle die from Spellbinders.  I added a rectangle mat and then cut and double matted the sentiment, also using rectangle dies but this time from QuicKutz.

     I thought a Halloween card was a perfect opportunity to use up some of my favorite-color-purple scraps of CS and dp.  I love purple so much, I find it very difficult to throw out any scrap of paper that has purple on it so I'm always thrilled when I can find a use for some of those scraps.

     The polka dot ribbon is also a scrap from my stash.  I tied a black bow and added the fabric pumpkin for my embellishments.

     Challenges:
Art Impressions
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Gals Corner (middle row)
Cute Card Thursday
Digi Choosday
Fab 'n' Funky
Julia Spiri
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Pixie's Crafty Workshop
Scrapper's Delights
Southern Girls
Tuesday Throwdown

     I hope you're enjoying the new releases and seeing what each DT member has done with the sets as we showcase a different set each day.  If you've missed the first three sets, just scroll down or go visit the MHK Designs blog.  We still have one more really lovely set to show you tomorrow and then, on Sunday, our new challenge begins.  You don't want to miss the inspiration photo for that one!   You still have another day to play in the July/Aug challenge.  Check that one out, too.  Hope to see you again on both of those days.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Halloween Party

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Home Tweet Home

    I don't do shaped cards very often because I only have a few dies which lend themselves to card shapes but for today's card, I cut the card by hand to loosely fit the shape of the birdhouse image.  It comes from QKR Stampede (Digi 23601 "Birdhouse") and today starts our latest weekly challenge with a theme of "Shaped Cards."

     I colored the image with my brand new, never-before-had, Lyra Rembrandt Polychromos colored pencils.  OK, so I have quite a bit to learn about blending polychromos pencils and maybe even about color selections but I remember back when I was first learning about alcohol markers, and I think I'll get it with more practice.  :-D  Pencil coloring gives a much softer, more pastel look to the finished product and sometimes, for what I want to do, that's perfect.

     Everything is hand cut this time and the only embellishment is the one mulberry paper flower.  Very CAS design.  It fits into a standard square envelope and since I had some black envelopes on hand, I used one of those.

     Challenges:
AAA Cards
Addicted to Stamps and More
Colour Your World
Crafting from the Heart
Crafting with an Attitude
Craft Your Passion
Glitter n Sparkle
Lemon Shortbread
Pencil Case

     Come play with us this week!

     I'll have another post in about an hour so be sure to check back.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Designing for Morgan's Art World !

     Woohoo!  If you had told me that I was going to pick up another DT position, I would have laughed but then I got an invitation from Morgan's ArtWorld and I just couldn't turn it down since I love her artwork so much!   I'm honored to be asked and this is my first project as a DT member.

     It's for the August 19 challenge which runs for two weeks and our theme is "Anything But a Card."  I do mostly cards so sometimes it's difficult for me to switch gears and think in terms of something else but not this time.  I had just picked up a new 16 month calendar/planner for the rest of 2016 and all of 2017.  It was very plain and just cried out to have something beautiful decorating it.  What do you think?

The image is "Kitty in Garden" and

you know how perfect that is for me.  :-D

     I colored with ProMarkers, trimmed the image to fit the front of the planner book, and was very pleased with the fact that I'll get to look at that from now until the end of 2017.

     Because I didn't want it to get worn or dirty being slipped in and out of my purse or briefcase, after I photographed it I laminated it.  I also tied some ribbons to the top of  the spiral binding after I took this photo so there's some texture and I can use them to mark a particular page.  It's perfect now!

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
Crafty Boots
Creative Moments
Delicious Doodles
Outlawz PAM
Sisterhood of Crafters
SUYP Cats
Through the Craft Room Door
Tuesday Throwdown
Unicorn

     While this is getting posted late on a Thursday evening because I live in the Pacific Time Zone, the challenge starts officially at midnight, August 18/19, Eastern Time Zone and will run for a fortnight.  We'd love to see you playing along - just enter Anything But a Card.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Thankful Thoughts - Next MHK Design Release

     Day Three in the August release from MHK Designs and Mynn has given us a fantastic set perfect for Thanksgiving or any other "thank"ful occasion, including sentiments for simple Thank You cards.  We all know we're going to need those over the holidays.  :-D  You can see a photo of the complete set at the bottom of this post.  Here's my card using an image and a sentiment from the "Thankful Thoughts" set.

     I colored the cornucopia with a combination of ProMarkers and Copics, then die cut it with an oval die from QuicKutz.  I used oval dies from that same set to cut the mat, the sentiment and the mats for it.  I found a die that's been in  my collection for a while but which I'd never used and decided this was the perfect card design for it.  The leaf die is made by Die-namics.  I used it to cut two different colors of CS and then offset them.

     Both the ribbon and the dp are scraps from my stash.

     Challenges:
Colour Your World
Crafting From the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Creative Fingers
Die Cuttin' Divas
Glitter n Sparkle
Kraftin' Kimmie
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Polkadoodles
Scrapper's Delights

     I haven't used the turkey image yet, but I already have plans for it bouncing around in my head.  At the moment, I think it would make a fabulous sepia tone, vintage card for Thanksgiving.  Don't you agree?  Maybe I'll do that card for one of my Designer Inspiration posts on the main MHK Designs blog.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

  Thankful Thoughts

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Beautiful Bottles - Second Day Release from MHK Designs

     When the title says "Beautiful Bottles," I know some of you are looking for beautiful wine bottles (you know who you are!) but that's not what we have for you today.  These are gorgeous vintage bottles from MHK Designs that are so versatile you'll want to have a whole stash of cards made with the bottles from this "Beautiful Bottles" set.  You can see a photo of the entire set at the end of this post.

     I used two of the bottles from the set for this card and I do believe I went a little crazy with design.  Both bottles are colored with my ProMarkers and the front bottle is fussy cut, while the other bottle is cut with a die.  The green mat behind it is first embossed with my "Linen" folder and then cut with another die.  The sentiment is printed and cut with another die, and all three of those dies are from the same Spellbinders set, "Radiant Rectangles."  All of those were cut from various scrap pieces lying on the table.

     The two bottles, the sentiment, and the mats behind them make up one half of the card front and they are actually layered onto the left side of a gatefold, overlapping the right hand gatefold which has the dp, ribbon strip, and bow.

     I found another scrap of dp on my desk, cut it with a plain, rectangle die and matted it with dark green CS.  The green ribbon was a leftover piece found in my stash and the white bow is one of those I make by the dozens and toss in the stash for later use.  On that one, I cut dovetails instead of just a diagonal slant. I may start doing that on all of them since I like it better.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Classic Design Team Open
Crafts and Me
Crafty Awesomeness
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Lunagirl Moonbeam
Petal Lu
SLS Lines
Sparkles Forum
Stempelsonnen

     You still have a few days left to play in our July/August challenge.  The new one begins on August 21.  Check the MHK Designs blog for more information on it.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie



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A Robin's Christmas

     I have two posts today and the next one will be live in about an hour so be sure to check back, won't you?  I don't want you to miss either one of these.  :-D

     This card was made for my GDT post for the new challenge starting this morning at Scrapy Land where the theme is to "Use an Image" (digi or rubber.)   My image is from Delicious Doodles and is called "A Robin's Christmas."  Remember, in order to play along, you can use any image by any company but you do have to use at least one die from the more than 40 brands carried in the Scrapy Land store.

     I had so much fun playing with the die cuts and it must have taken me an hour just to decide which ones I was going to use.  I actually cut with several different dies, then laid them out with the image to see how they looked.  I decided on two wonderful Spellbinder's dies, Romantic Rose (white CS) and Medallion Five (blue CS.)

     I colored the image with my ProMarkers, then rounded the corners with a hand punch.  I layered on all the die cuts, added the satin ribbon (which has snowflakes in it) and bow, and used glittered snowflakes with gems for embellishment.

     I printed the sentiment with red ink, picking up the tiny spot of red on the robin's chest.  I like this so much, I'm going to do several more like it and donate them to the senior center near me.  I do that each year and the cards are so appreciated by the seniors since they can use them for family and friends at Christmas.  It's so very difficult for them to get out and buy cards and, after seeing me bring cards around the last three years, a few of the ladies now give me ideas for cards they'd like to see.  What fun!

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra
Delicious Doodles
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
Noor! Designs
Not Just Cards
Oddball Art
Sisterhood of Crafters
Through the Craft Room Door
Tinker-Dream
Tuesday Throwdown
Word Art Weds.

     Come back a bit later to see the latest in the August releases from MHK Designs.  You're going to love it!  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Tweet, Tweet - Starting New Release Week at MHK Designs

     It's the start of five new releases this month at MHK Designs and the first one we want to share is a set with delightful bird designs called "Tweet, Tweet."  I chose just one of them for this card but you can see the full set with all the images and sentiments at the bottom of this post.

     He's colored with my ProMarkers and fussy cut.  I mounted him onto a black die cut (Spellbinders) and then put that piece onto an ombre paper.  I hand cut the sentiment and added the big bow for texture and some 3D effect.  I really love this totally simple card!  :-D

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
CASual Friday
Come and Get It
Glitter n Sparkle
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Pencil Case
Sisterhood of Crafters
Unicorn

     Enjoy your day and Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie



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Classy Lady

     I didn't have a card to post yesterday and I won't have another one until Tuesday because this month has been so busy for me!  I'll be away from my computer for several days at the end of the month, too, but I hope you'll bear with me.  I have two or three days of double posts this coming week so that should make up for it, right?

     I managed to get this card made early this morning, using the August Progressive Challenge image from the ArtbyMiRan FB page.  Isn't she darling?  I used her for a Thank You card because my stash of those is getting low.

     I colored her with my ProMarkers, then die cut her with a die from Spellbinders.  I mounted that onto another die cut (same set) and layered that onto a piece of silver glittered paper which had been die cut and embossed.  Everything went onto a black card base.  Obviously, I loved using my favorite purples and I adore how they worked so well with the silver!  What a great combo.  :-D

     I added the three tiny butterflies in the upper corner and the sheer ribbon bow with the purple pearl at the bottom.  Very complex looking but really rather simple and fast to make.

     Challenges:

ArtbyMiRan

Brown Sugar

Color Crazy Craft

Crafting by Designs

Crafty Addicts

Crafty Sentiments
Creative Corner
Creative Fingers
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
Paper Shelter
Penny's Paper-Crafty

     I'll be sharing five new releases from MHK Designs this week, starting on Tuesday.  Come by and check them out.  They're gorgeous!   Then on Thursday, in the evening *(my time), I'll have a post with some wonderful news to share.  Friday is another new challenge at QKR Stampede and I'll have my DT card for that one.  Finally, next Sunday, August 21, the new challenge will begin at MHK Designs but for now you still have time to enter the current one before it closes on Aug. 20.  Hope to see you there.

Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie  

Kickin' Back

     Is it Friday morning already?  Where did this week go?  I woke up on Monday and now it's four days later.  lol  OK, well, Friday means a new challenge at QKR Stampede and our theme this week is "Monochromatic" so we want to see cards done in various shades of only one color.  Here's mine using Digi 9106 "Relaxing."

     I started by choosing blue-gray colors and used my ProMarkers to color the image which was printed directly onto the front of a tent card.  I die cut a frame from a leftover scrap of CS and laid it over the image.  I added a scrap of ribbon to the bottom and a bow to the top and called it finished.  A nicely simple design that shows off the image to its best advantage.  :-D

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
Colour Crazy Craft
Colour Your World
Corrosive
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Boots
Crafty Calendar
Cutie Pie
Di's Digi Designs
Great Impressions
Incy Wincy
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Twisted Thursday
Pattie's Creations
Pencil Case
Pixie's Crafty Workshop

       Come play in our challenge this week.   Even though it's "Monochromatic," you can still use normal skin tones in coloring your image, if needed.  You're not required to use an image from QKR, but they are all so cute, why wouldn't you?  Besides, if you do use a QKR image, your card is put into a separate drawing and that really increases your chances of winning.  That means more images from QKR so it's a win-win!  See you there.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie
 
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Happy Day Under the Sea

     This is my first image from Cute as a Button but probably not my last.  :-D  I've just discovered them and I can feel a shopping spree coming on.  Oh, well, feeling a shopping spree is more fun than feeling a summer cold coming on!

    Speaking of summer, what could be better than celebrating a cool day under the sea?  I think I'll use this for a birthday card.

     I colored the image with ProMarkers and chalks, then added a bit of glitter to her hips and upper tail.  I used a die from Sue Wilson to cut the piece that frames her.  On this card, I cut the blue CS and laid it over the image.  On top of that I layered the undersea die cut from Memory Box.  I used the little negative circles that dropped out to make the bubbles on the image.  The little fish is also a negative piece.  I thought that would be a great way to use those tiny scraps instead of just tossing them away.

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Animal Friends
CCC Digi
Country View
Crafty Awesomeness
Creatalicious
Cute as a Button
Die Cut Divas
Dream Factory
Petal Lu
Sisters of Craft

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

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Outlawz Progressive Challenge for August

     I've been pretty faithful about playing in the monthly progressive challenge at The Outlawz since it started nearly 2 years ago and this month we get to use an image called "August" by Andrea Norris at Sheepski Designs.  I have to tell you that every time I look at this image, it brings back memories of my Grammy's summer garden.  She loved Freesias, Fiddlenecks, and Bleeding Hearts.  Seeing any of those flowers always reminds me of early childhood and summer days spent in her garden.

     I wanted to do something CAS but with a fancy die cut frame so I'm not sure this really is a CAS design but it certainly isn't over-the-top with embellies and froo-froo.

     I colored the image with my ProMarkers and had to do a little finagling with the frame die.  It's by Cheery Lynn but it's a rectangular die and the image is square.  I cut the frame from white CS and then cut a piece out of each side to make it into a square.  I added the flowers at the point on each side where the top and bottom halves of the frame meet.

     I colored the frame with watercolors, trying for an ombre effect but I couldn't get the top part of the frame pale enough so I'm not sure it really worked.  IRL, it's still very lovely and there is a delightful mix of purple shades.

     The background is completely glittered and I also glittered the little punched butterfly on the right hand side.  I added the bow at the bottom because it needed something to draw the eye down and anchor it.

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy Craft
Crafting with Friends
Cut It Up
Fussy and Fancy
Outlawz CAS
Pile It On
Polkadoodles
Quick Quotes
Scrapper's Delights

    Whether it qualifies as CAS or not, I'm very happy with this card.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie 

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