Happy and Spooky Halloween

     Tonight's the night when things go bump and the witches fly!  Most of us will close our shops and head home to greet the spooky goblins and ghouls at the door for Trick or Treat.  But there are some, mostly witches and warlocks, who will be open for Halloween business if you care to visit them.

     This image is from The Paper Shelter and I've had it since last year but had never used it.  I thought it would be perfect for a post on Halloween itself.  It's colored with ProMarkers and cut with a QuicKutz circle die.  I printed the sentiment before I cut the circle.

     I used three different papers all layered onto one another, plus some luscious mesh ribbon that is oh, so sparkly and gives some great texture!  I added a sheer ribbon bow with a pearl.  All of those seemed to really work with the vintage image.

     Challenges:
Crafty Creations
DL.ART
Fussy and Fancy
Outlawz Festive Friday
Outlawz Greetings
Star Stampz

     That's all I have for today but tomorrow starts a new month and new monthly challenges so be sure to stop by for a couple of DT posts from me.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Feed the Squirrels

     It's time for another challenge over at Createful Heart, #5 this time and, as usual, our theme is Anything Goes.  I've used this darling Ms.Scarecrow with Squirrels, which you can find here.  She was a dream to color!

     I colored with a combination of ProMarkers and polychromos pencils, then cut the image with a die from Sue Wilson.  The frame is actually an insert cut from a scrap bit of dp, using another die from that same Sue Wilson set.  That got mounted onto another scrap from my stash of leftover scrap booking papers. Whenever I am looking for a larger piece, I go search the scrap booking scraps because they tend to be larger, having been larger papers to start.

     I love the textured golden yellow ribbon and I paired it up a bow I tied using a darker gold ribbon.  The pumpkins (die cuts - Impression Obsession) were added to balance off the side with the ribbon embellishment.

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy
Di's Digi Designs
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jo's Scrap Shack
Morgan's Artworld
Outlawz Festive Friday
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Pixie's Snippets
Polkadoodles
Victorine Originals

     Please come play in our challenge this month.  You can use any image from any company but if you use one from Createful Heart, you'll have a larger prize.  :-D  Hope to see you there.  NanaConnie

October 29 is National Cat Day!

     Just in case you have never looked at the sidebar photos on my blog --

     This is a perfect representation of the reason we even have a National Cat Day!

     Sweet Cleo is no longer with us but the memories of the time I shared with her are still in my heart and mind.  She was the sweetest, cuddliest, most adorable and loveable feline ever but she definitely understood the pecking order (er, ah, chain of command, I mean.)

     So, all you enslaved humans, join me in wishing our feline friends a most Happy National Cat Day.   Salute appropriately and go dig out the catnip and tuna!  :-D NanaConnie

Asian Doll Birthday Card

     I have a very dear friend whom I've not seen since college days but I send her birthday greetings each year and she does the same for me.  Shortly after graduating from college, she married and her husband was transferred almost immediately to a foreign field office in Taiwan.  They were there for nearly 10 years and she grew to love all things oriental.  I thought this image would be perfect for her.

     The image is from Heart Song, a company for whom I designed almost 7 years ago, when I first started blogging.  They have since closed the shop but I still love Leah's images and use them whenever I can.  This one is "Asian Doll."

     I used my Promarkers to color, then cut it and the frame with a die from Spellbinders.  I trimmed a scrap of burlap to fit behind the image, pulling threads to get the fringed edges.  The black CS was a left over scrap, cut with another Spellbinders die.  The "birthday" sentiment was done with a die from Sizzix.  The bow tie bow was tied using my bow maker.

     Challenges:
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Friends
Dream Valley
Incy Wincy
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Scrapper's Delights
Send a Smile 4 Kids

     I can't believe my weekend is half over and I still have so much to do.  Monday starts another week of full days and busy evenings and I'll be glad when I can just "be retired" again.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Another Mystery Snowman

     Today I have another Christmas card with a delightful snowman on it but it's one of those a friend stamped and mailed to me without telling me who made the stamp.  If anyone recognizes it and can tell me, I'd love to edit this post and give full credit to the artist.  :-D

     I colored the snowman and little bird with my ProMarkers, trying something a bit different this time in that I wanted the sun to be shining from behind and slightly to the left of the snowman. For some reason, I tend to put my light source to the direct left or right (or off center to the front left or right) on most of the things I color.

     The reason I had to do it differently this time is because I dropped my gray ProMarker as I was coloring his top hat and it put a small gray smudge midway between his arm and his scarf.  While it was small, it was large enough to see and there was no way to cover it with an embellishment.  So, I added a shadow from his arm and worked on the rest of the image to add shading as if the sunlight was behind him and to his left.  Did it work?  I'm not really certain because all I can see is the mistake.  :-D

     I found a scrap of red and white, polka dot, CS, wrapped it with very narrow white ribbon, and then made the bow with the help of my Zutter Bow It All.  The card base was pre-printed and the little penguin with the North Pole sign is on the card front, not stamped by me.   I die cut and matted my image, then went back and added some snowflakes to the background using a glitter gel pen.  Because I wanted the little penguin to show, I adjusted the placement of my image over to the very edge of the card so the penguin not be covered.

     The sentiment is from QKR Stampede.

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy
Crafting by Designs
Crafting with Friends
Inspiration Destination
Mod Squad
Outlawz Festive Friday

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

When Witches Go Riding...

     Another Friday, another challenge at QKR Stampede.  We always have an "Anything Goes" theme but we also give you an optional twist if you want to use it and this week is pretty easy - "Halloween" - and it's right around the corner.  Next Tuesday, in fact.

     I used the twist this week and made this spooky Halloween card using the "Witch - 19605 " image  and "Boo - 12902" sentiment, both from QKR.

I based this on the sketch at The Outlawz

but took some liberties once I got started, 

especially running my diagonal differently.

     I used my ProMarkers to color the witch and then tore the paper on which she had been printed.  I curled the left hand side of it.  I added some sparkle to her skirt with a bit of loose glitter.  Then, I die cut the cat (Unbranded Die) from sparkly, glittered CS and added it to the broom.  He's mounted on dimensional tape but that doesn't show up very well in the photo.  Instead, he looks more like part of the image but he's a totally separate piece.

     I dug through my paper scraps and found the papers I used on the background, then added the polka dot ribbon, the orange bow, and the little groupings of gemstones.  Finally, I printed the sentiment, tore the edges around it and added it to the lower corner.

     Challenges:
Crafty Creations
Crafty Gals Corner
House that Stamps Built
Inky Chicks
Kraftin' Kimmie
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Paper Shelter
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Simon Says Stamp
Sisterhood of Crafters

     Yay, it's Friday and the weekend begins!  OK, I have another several hours before it's actually the weekend for me but my mind is already basking in the idea of sleeping in half the day tomorrow if I choose!   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

When Witches Party

     Everybody loves a good Halloween party but have you ever thought about whether witches party on Halloween?  What kind of costumes do they wear?  Do they put on human people masks?   Well, here's a sneak peek into at least 1 witch celebrating.

I started with the color combo at Outlawz Color.

     The witch image is by Rick St. Dennis and I colored her with my ProMarkers, then fussy cut her with some very sharp scissors to get really clean cutting lines.  The haunted house is die cut with an Unbranded die (new to me as of yesterday.)

     The house is adhered flat onto the card front and the witch is mounted on Pop Dots for some dimension.  Two of the bats in the sky have texture because I cut the house three times, took bats from those cuts and added them as layers to two of the bats here.  It doesn't show up in the photo, but IRL it's both visible and "feel"-able.

     Challenges:
Cuttlebug Mania
Die Cuttin' Divas
Ike's World ( Celebrate your 100th! Hooray!!)
Lemon Shortbread
Passion for ProMarkers
{PIN}spirational
Sparkle n Glitter
TTCRD
Tuesday Throwdown

     It's almost the weekend and I'm so ready!  I've been retired long enough that the idea of getting up every morning and heading off for an 8 hour day, day after day and week after week, is totally foreign and leaves me feeling exhausted.  I'll be so glad when everything is back to my normal routine which often includes an afternoon nap. lol

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Warm Hearted Snowman

     This is my second post of the day but I'm trying to get Mother Nature to change her ways so ...

     This adorable snowman is a Penny Black stamp which I colored last weekend.  Since California is having an unseasonable heat wave (just in time for the start of the World Series in Los Angeles), I decided that it was time for more Christmas cards with snow and cold weather reflected on them.  Mother Nature being what she is, maybe she'll decide to cool things off if she sees us getting back to nature with beautiful snow all around.  :-D

     I used cool greens and icy blues and colored the image with my ProMarkers.  I die cut the image and a frame for it using dies from Spellbinders.  I found a scrap of winter blue lace, cut it in two, and added it to the card front before layering on the image.

     I made pale pink poinsettias by trimming the flowers off of a flower stem die by Memory Makers and stacking them together.  Then I added teeny, tiny pearls to the center of the flowers.  To offset those itsy bitsy pearls, I added some large ones to the top and bottom of the frame and along the side, next to the sentiment.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Color Inspiration Monday
Crafty Hazelnut's
Outlawz Festive Friday
Penny Black and More
Penny Black Saturday
Ribbon Girl
Scrapy Land
Winter Wonderland

     I really hope this cools down the weather.  103F in Los Angeles is too hot for any time of year, but is certainly abnormal for late October!  

Cat Lovers Hop - Again

     Today I have another card I'm going to post for the Cat Lovers Hop.

     I wish I could tell you who drew the image but it's one of those I colored probably 2 years ago then tossed in my file of colored-images-ready-to-use and never used it.  I actually remember coloring it (which is why I know it's been 2 years) because I was on my holiday travels and I took my colored pencils and gamsol with me plus a few dozen images.  

     I cut the image and the orange frame with simple rectangle dies from Spellbinders. then added a scrap of dp to frame that.  The background dp was also a scrap, just big enough to cover a 5 x 5 card.

     Both ribbons are from my stash of Really Reasonable Ribbon (and I have lots of it.)  I tied the bow by hand and, although the photo doesn't do it justice, the ribbon is sparkly beyond imagination but it's brown, not black.

     Challenges:

Crafty Sentiments

Digi Choosday

SUYP Cats

     So glad you stopped by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Scared of Spiders!

     It's true, I'm a real 'fraidy cat when it comes to spiders so making this card was perfect in that I know exactly what's going through that little, kitty-witch's mind.  lol

     The image is from AuroraWings and if it isn't big enough for you to find the spider, click on the image to enlarge it.  Or, if you're like me and you hate and fear spiders, just take my word for it that there's a loathsome, black, spider lurking on the jack-o-lantern.

     I colored with my ProMarkers and used white gel pen to add a few highlights.  I cut the image by hand and added the printed sentiment (also hand cut.)  I used a black card base, added the corner punched (Fiskars) strip of purple CS, and then die cut the black cat behind the image with a die from Cheery Lynn.  Come to think of it, he doesn't look too happy about the spider either!  I'm sure he's giving out a spooky yowl of warning.

     Challenges:
AuroraWings FB
Cards in Envy
Crafting from the Heart
Glitter n Sparkle
Incy Wincy
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Paper Girls
Sugar Pea Designs

SUYP Cats
Tuesday Throwdown

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cat Lovers Hop

     Well, there's no question that I qualify as a cat lover if not quite yet a 'crazy cat lady' so I'm playing along in the 2017 Cat Lovers Hop.

     Here's my project featuring a cat.

     This is an image from Aurora Wings, colored with my ProMarkers, and cut with a simple, rectangle die from Spellbinders.  I adhered it to a colored card front, then wrapped it with gold ribbon and added on of the tiny bows I make by the dozens and toss in my stash for future use.  Again, a usual, this bow started out white but I 'dyed" it with a ProMarker to get that golden orange color I wanted.  I kept it pretty CAS so that it would mail easily.

     Challenges:
Crafty Friends
Outlawz CAS
Southern Girls

     I'm still struggling with my cold but must get some rest and toddle off to my duties later this morning.  I'll take some OTC meds and hope that keeps me from feeling too miserable.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Buggy and Bats

     Ever since I spent an afternoon crafting and card making with my friend who introduced me to stamps from Victorine Originals, I've looked for reasons to buy some of their stamps.  I went on a spending spree right after I discovered them and now have stamps by them for most holidays or at least seasons.

     For this card, I combined two totally unrelated stamps but I thought they made a great Halloween scene right out of a Dickens or Poe novel.  What do you think?  Can't you just imagine an old, Victorian hearse on its way to the cemetery right at sunset with the bats swooping past?

     The "hearse" stamp is actually called "Buggy" and the bats stamp is called "Flying Bats" (I think -- not sure as I borrowed that one from my friend and the name is a bit worn off.)   I used both stamps as silhouettes, stamping them with Tuxedo black ink.  I used my ProMarkers to color the sunset sky.

     Then I started digging through my stash of paper scraps, building layers in alternating dark and light shades of autumn colors as I went.  I put everything onto a colored card blank, including the textured ribbon wrapped around the card front.  The sentiment is another Victorine stamp, also colored with ProMarkers, then hand-cut and mounted on dimensional dots.

     For final touches, I did a few die cuts (Cottage Cutz - Bird on the Branch plus Impression Obsession - the pumpkins) and added them along the bottom corners.  When it comes to die cuts (or even silhouettes), I much prefer animals to people.  Even the simplest shape of an animal, like the birds and bats above, are so easy to recognize regardless of what they might be doing.  :-D

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Aloha Friday
As You Like It
Aud Sentiments
Di's Digi Designs
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jo's Scrap Shack
Morgan's Artworld
Take It, Make It

     I seem to be coming down with a cold and am doing my best to fight it off.  What I thought was going to be fun crafting time turned into a day spent tucked under the covers, sipping hot tea with honey and lemon.  That's part of the reason today's post is so late but I'm staying up to get a post ready for tomorrow so it should be posted at a normal time (which for me usually means midnight my time. :-D)  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Under A Spell

     Once more, I'm sharing a card using one of the Sasayaki Glitter Progressive Challenge images over on their FB page.  I've been really consistent in playing in the FB progressive challenges and don't want to miss any of them.  :-D

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, then cut it with a die from Gina Marie.  I printed the sentiment and cut it with a die from Die-namics. 

     While I was trying to decide what I was going to do design-wise, I ran across some scraps of burlap in my stash which I had originally cut for some fall cards last year.  I had scraps in green, beige, red, and dark brown and thought I'd combine the green and brown as background for this card.  Since the green scrap was already a wonky shape, I pulled a few more threads from it to accentuate the 'shabby' look, then did the same with the brown scrap, after which I layered them onto each other on the card front.

     I added the image piece, then some ribbon with spiders and webs, and on top of that, I added the sentiment piece.  A hand-tied bow made from sheer orange ribbon (with a black fringed edging) made a perfect embellishment, standing alone for great dimension and texture.

     Challenges:
Aloha Friday
A Vintage Journey
Colour Crazy
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Catz
Creative Fingers
Pattie's Creations
Polkadoodles
Sasayaki Glitter

     That's what I have for you this morning.  I'm planning a half-day of laundry, house cleaning, and grocery shopping, then I'm diving into the craft room for the rest of the weekend to work on some DT cards for November and December.  Maybe I'll find time for one or two cards to post next week.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bats on a Full Moon Night

     Another Halloween card today, showcasing one of my most favorite ever spooky/fun images from QKR Stampede, where we're starting a new "Anything Goes" challenge and this week we don't even have an optional twist.  Just Anything Goes!

     This image is called "Bat and Moon" and the sentiment (can you believe it?) is called "Eeeeek."

     I colored with my ProMarkers and cut the image with a die from Sizzix.  The outer circle is cut with a QuicKutz die.  I should tell you that the image is only the bat and moon -- the other little bats are all die cuts (Impression Obsession) which I added to give the image more depth.

     The sentiment is hand cut and added to the image piece.  I embellished it using velvet ribbon tied into a bow.  I wanted this one really CAS and I think I accomplished that.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps & More
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Inspirations
Paper Shelter
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scrappy Land

     Come and play with us this week, won't you?  Remember, you can use any image by any company to enter.  However, if you choose to use a QKR Stampede image, you'll be entered into a separate draw just for QKR users, increasing your chances of winning by a huge percent!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Fat Cat Steals a Present

     Switching from Autumn/Halloween back to Christmas once again, I want to share a perfect image which could easily be my own Honey cat absconding with one of the presents from under the tree!  Look at the expression on that face.  Does that say totally self-satisfied or what?  I know absolutely that expression means, "It's the biggest one so it must be mine!"  lol

     The image (stamped and sent to me by a friend so I don't know the artist) is colored with ProMarkers, then cut into a square, and corner punched with a Fiskars punch.  I cut and punched some scrap red CS for the mat.  I found that scrap of red and white dp in my stash of Christmas papers and added it to the card front at an angle.  I layered on the matted image then hand cut the sentiment, matted it with another scrap of red CS, and hand cut it again before adding it.

     The only embellishment needed was that bow made from sparkly ribbon and adhered to the upper corner.  A pretty simple card with a masculine flavor to it and most of it was done with scraps!

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy
Creates and Makes
Creative Moments
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jo's Scrap Shack
Kraftin' Kimmie
Morgan's Artworld
Polkadoodles
Send a Smile 4 Kids
Word Art Weds.

     That's all I have for today but tomorrow I'll be posting my card for another fab challenge over at QKR Stampede and you all know how much I love QKR images.  :-D  See you then.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Give a Hoot

     Good Morning, all.  I hope your week is going well and if it isn't, just think of today as being halfway to the weekend.  :-D  I'm sharing an owl which is a freebie image for the Progressive Challenge on the FB page over at Limited Runs.

     I just knew he deserved rich, warm, fall colors so I grabbed my ProMarkers and started coloring.  When I finished that, I cut him with a scalloped circle die from Spellbinders and used a die one size larger to make the golden frame.  I layered those together, then added Stickles to his eyes and to the eyebrow feathers and tummy.

     I printed and cut the sentiment, then matted it with a larger die cut (also Spellbinders), echoing the shape of the image.  To add just a bit more sparkle, I cut a strip of orange sparkle CS, trimmed the end into a point and added it to the sentiment piece.

     Everything was layered onto a dark brown card base.  I thought it needed one last touch so I dug through my ribbon stash and found that lovely gold ribbon, tied it into a bow, and adhered it above the image.

     Challenges:
Crafty Addicts
Creative Inspirations
Digi Choosday
DL.ART
Passion for ProMarkers
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD
Tuesday Throwdown

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Kitty Noel

     Let me tell you a Christmas story.  Once Upon a Time there was a baby kitten who was born on a cold, December night and the family promptly dubbed him "Noel" and wrapped him in a Santa cap to keep him warm.  For all their good intentions, Noel turned out to be a female but the family kept the name, changing the pronunciation to the more feminine "NoEl" and loved the bright orange fur ball just as much as ever, despite the fact that she pulled ornaments off the tree at every opportunity.

     Here's her portrait, caught red handed (red-pawed?) with the ornament in her grasp.  :-D

     Colored with pencils and ProMarkers, then cut with a Gina Marie die.  Papers from my Christmas stash and I have no idea how long I've had them but more than 4 years, I guarantee it.

     I double wrapped narrow, green ribbon around the Noel paper and tied a double loop bow.

     Challenges:
Christmas with the Cuties
Crafting with an Attitude
Inspiration Destination
Lemon Shortbread
Merry Monday Christmas
Outlawz Festive Friday
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
SUYP Cats

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Two'fer Trick or Treat

     This weekend, I worked a lot with die sets and die cuts and did several really cute but quick cards.  Today, I'm sharing two of them.

     For this first one, I used a die from Cheery Lynn, cut once each on black, green, and orange polka dot card stock.  I trimmed off the frame from the orange polka dot die cut and adhered it to the black pumpkin frame.  I cut the stem off the green die cut and added it to the top of the black die cut, leaving only the costumed kids in black silhouette.

     The sentiments are part of that same Cheery Lynn set and I used one cut from the green card stock and the "Boo" cut from black.  Everything is mounted onto a white card base and left very simple.

     This second card could also be called CAS but it's a bit more complex in design and embellishment.

     This time, I used the costumed kids which had been left over after I trimmed away the pumpkin shape frame of the orange polka dot die cut.  I cut brown card stock with two scalloped dies from Sizzix, inset them, and adhered the kids to the inner die cut.  I added a green "Boo" and used the black "Trick or Treat" sentiment at the very top of the card.

     I found golden polka dot washi tape and bright orange, polka dot, ribbon which I tied into a bow.

     All the die cuts on these two cards came from scrap pieces of card stock which would have otherwise ended up in the trash!  Even the bow was a bit of leftover ribbon too small to be anything other than that little bow.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Craft-Dee BowZ
Digi Choosday
Glitter n Sparkle
Ike's World
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz CAS
Pile It On
Pixie's Snippets
Ribbon Girl (second card)

      Have a great day and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie  

Focus on the Sentiment

     It's been a long time since I did a card where the focus was on the sentiment rather than a hand colored image and, since I've been hiding out in my craft room most of the day today, I want to share this one with you.  It's pretty simple and straight-forward with some texture and dimension.

     The sentiment and the yellow mat for it are cut with dies from Spellbinders and the daisies are stickers made 3D with large Pop Dots.  I added the sentiment and flowers to a deep brown, stitched die cut, rectangle (Die-Namics) then put everything onto a pre-made, yellow card blank and called it finished.  :-D

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps
Creates and Makes
Creative Moments
Inspiration Destination
Lemon Shortbread
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD

     Back to my craft room for the rest of the day.  If I haven't visited your blog yet this week, I'll be around to see all of you this evening.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Winter Wolf

     I got an early start on the weekend yesterday when it turned out that we had the afternoon off and, as I promised myself, I'm doing all crafting and no housework for the next two days.  I need the wind down and re-energizing time.

     The first thing I did was to look through my folder of already colored images and I found this gorgeous wolf which hadn't been colored!  It just appealed to me so I dug out the polychromos pencils and the ProMarkers and started coloring.

     Unfortunately, I hadn't put the artist's name on the back of the image so I can't tell you who drew it but I think it's magnificent.  If you recognize it, please let me know.  I'd love to edit this post and give the artist full credit.

     I haven't yet decided if it's going to be a Christmas birthday card or just a Christmas card (I have one or two of those among my family and friends) but I definitely gave it a winter feel with the slate and blue CS layers plus the snowflakes.  After I finished coloring the wolf, I cut it with a stitched rectangle die from Die-namics.  I also cut the slate blue CS with dies from that same set before layering in the wolf.

     I found deep blue CS for the card front, wrapped it with silver ribbon, and then added the image piece.  I die cut the snowflakes with a set from Art Impressions and added them along the borders of the image. Finally, I hand tied a bow using the same silver ribbon.  I think this will make a great masculine card.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Crafty Creations
Crafty Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
CHNC Extra
I {heart} ProMarkers
Jo's Scrap Shack
Penny's Paper Crafty
Scrappy Land
Word Art Weds.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Ain't Scared !

     Isn't it usually the one who's shouting the loudest about "I ain't scared" who's actually the most scared?  :-D  Well, over at QKR Stampede this week, I'm not at all sure who's doing the shouting - the jack-o-lantern or the ghost but I know we have a new challenge starting today with a theme of "Anything Goes" and an optional twist of "Pumpkins" but only if you want to follow it.

     The image and the sentiment are both from QKR; the image is "Carved Pumpkin 17304" and the sentiment is called "Ain't Scared." 

     I did the coloring with ProMarkers, including the shading on the ghost.  I wanted him to seem transparent so colored the sections of pumpkin behind his arm and his fingers with a pale shade of yellow instead of shades of orange. 

     I cut the image into a square and punched the corners (Fiskars punch), then added the sentiment piece to the lower corner.  I found two scraps bits of dp and used them on the background.  The bow is hand tied from a scrap of sheer ribbon and I deliberately frayed the tail ends.

     Challenges:
Brown Sugar
Catch the Bug
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Catz
Crafty Gals Corner
Double D
Hiding in My Craft Room
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Pattie's Creations
Scrapper's Delights
Take It, Make It

     I'm so glad the weekend is coming up.  I plan to do a bit of laundry and then I'll hide out in my craft room both days.  I'm not going to pick up a broom or push the vacuum; I'll use paper plates all weekend and cook only in the microwave with disposable dishes.  I need craft time!!  The last two weekends, I've done a couple of cards but did mostly housework.  This week, I really need the down time to recharge emotionally. 

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Autumn at the General Store

     I love being on the DT at Createful Hearts and I have been playing in the Progressive Freebie challenge at The Outlawz since it began nearly two and a half years ago so imagine how pleased I was to see one of Mary's fab designs offered as the freebie this month.  Don't you just love this old time "General Store" with the dog lazing on the foot-worn porch?

     I colored with my ProMarkers and cut it with a rectangle die from QuicKutz.  I inked the edges to make it stand out from the background.  I embossed an orange scrap of CS using a "trees" folder from Darice.  The red background CS is distressed along the top edge.

     The butterfly was cut with a die from Spellbinders and the little pile of leaves was made with die cuts from Dies R Us.  I added a couple of pumpkins to the porch to complement the ones in the image and for those I used a die from Impression Obsession.   There was so much going on with the die cuts, the embossing, and the bright orange colors that I decided there just didn't need to be any other embellishment so no ribbons or flowers or sparkly gems on this one.

     Challenges:
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Sentiments
DL.ART
Inspiration Destination
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Sasayaki Glitter
Time Out
Words to Craft by

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thankful Raccoon

     Isn't this the most adorable little raccoon ever?  It's for the progressive challenge this month at Gerda Steiner Designs.

     Because it's already October (where DID this year go?), I chose a fall color palette and colored the image with my ProMarkers.  The entire card is made from scraps and bits.  The bottom border piece was cut with a die from Spellbinder.  The pumpkin were done with an Impression Obsession die and the leaves are cut with a die from Dies R Us.

     Both the sheer ribbon and the yellow gingham ribbon were left over bits in my stash.  I printed, hand cut, and added the sentiment to the sign, turning this into a Thanksgiving card.

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Crafty Creations
I {heart} ProMarkers
Mod Squad
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scrapy Land
Word Art Weds.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Mr. Froggy's Christmas Party

     This card is one of the ones I made over the weekend for a progressive challenge, this one on the Sasayaki Glitter FB page.  I've never thought about frogs celebrating but why not?  lol

     I used my ProMarkers to color the froggy and used a silver paint pen to color the present.  The image is cut with an Unbranded die - one of my favorite rectangles because of the rounded corners.  I added silver ribbon from my stash and a red bow, then used a set of snowflake dies from Art Impressions to cut the snowflakes.  They seemed so perfect with the snowflakes already in the ribbon.

     Challenges:
Crafting from the Heart
Digi Choosday
Incy Wincy
Inspiration Destination
Kraftin' Kimmie
Lemon Shortbread
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD

     I've pre-scheduled my posts for this week and will be catching up on my commenting and blog visits over the weekend but I'm always happy to see your comments when I get home in the evenings.  If I'm lucky, I can get online during the lunch break and link up to the challenges I'm entering but when I can't get a connection, I have to wait until I'm back home in the evenings.  Hmmmm, this really doesn't feel like retirement!  Hope you're all doing well.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Harvest Days

     A friend and I were crafting together yesterday and I used one of her fall stamps.  It turns out she bought it from Victorine Originals and she had a link to their website.  Can you believe I've never heard of them before and they even have a challenge!   This time they have a beautiful inspiration photo and that's the reason I chose this particular image to stamp and use on my card.  Let me show both of them to you and you can tell me what you think.

                               

I also used the sketch from Die Cuttin' Divas.

     I used Copics and colored pencils to color it, then die cut both the image and the frame using dies from Tattered Lace.  All the papers are from SU and the little Bird on a Branch was cut with a Cottage Cutz die.

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
Color Inspiration Monday
Crafting by Designs
Cuttlebug Mania
Glitter n Sparkle
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Mod Squad
Stamping Sensations
TTCRD

     I hope those of you in the US are enjoying your Columbus Day holiday and that you'll find time to relax and enjoy the extra 'weekend' day.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Spooky Owl

     I've spent most of my crafting time this weekend doing cards for progressive challenges but this one is for the blog challenge at Sasayaki Glitter rather than the progressive challenge on their FB page.

     I love this adorable owl but am not sure he's really very spooky.  As long as he thinks he's spooking the world, I guess that's what matters.  :-D

     He's been printed directly onto the card front and then colored with ProMarkers.  I made a shaped card with one of my newest Tattered Lace die sets.  It has multiple dies, all for making shaped cards, and all of them round with various lacy edges.  This is the largest one of the set and the first one I've used.  I colored the scallops with a Bright Orange ProMarker.  This is a one layer card and totally without any embellishment other than the scalloped edge.  Talk about CAS !

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
A Perfect Time to Craft
Card Mania
Crafts Galore Encore
Crea Chicky's
Delicious Doodles
Die Cut Divas
Do Al(l) Kreatives
House of Cards

     An extra day off is coming up tomorrow as Americans celebrate Columbus Day; a strange holiday when you realize the amount of evidence that he was anything but the first European to set foot on the North American continent.  But, I'll take any excuse to have another day to stay home and craft.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Stag

     I've shared mostly Halloween cards in my most recent posts so it's time to show you something for Christmas.  This gorgeous stag is one of the stamps sent by my friend way back last spring when I was bemoaning my lack of compliance with my New Year's resolution to do 2 cards per month until September and then one per week or more thereafter.  By mid-April, I still had done none at all so she stamped up a dozen or so images and sent them to me in the mail.  That got me started!  :-D

     This is the first airbrushed image I've been willing to share.  All the rest were practice and simply not worth sharing.  This one pleases me enough to share and to even mail to a friend or family member in December.

     My airbrush is the system from Copics (purchased from a friend who used it gently) and it has taken some getting used to it.  I'm still not really pleased with every result because sometimes there's just too much ink and other times not enough but I will probably learn to get consistent results.  I did add the snowflakes to the sky and the deer with a white, gel ink, pen, and I added some strokes of it to the white parts of the deer's fur for better definition.

     The sentiment is from QKR Stampede.  The image is cut with a stitched, scalloped die from Memory Box and it's layered onto some white, satin ribbon with gold trim.  I decided to use one of my little satin bows and this time, I left it white instead of dying it wait a marker.

     I thought about using flowers for embellishment but for Christmas cards I prefer to use ribbon over flowers.  It's usually flatter and since so many of my Christmas cards are mailed, flat is best.  :-D

     While I know it's not a common color for Christmas cards, I thought the black card front made everything else pop.

     Challenges:
Allsorts
As You Like It
Aud Sentiments
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafting with Friends
Creative Fingers
Jo's Scrap Shack
Morgan's Artworld
Outlawz Festive Friday
Winter Wonderland

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie    

Pumpkin Stack

     It's Friday and a new challenge has begun at QKR Stampede.  As usual, our theme is "Anything Goes" but we also have our optional theme for you if you want to use it and this week we'd love to see "Leaves."  My leaves are part of this fun "Pumpkin Stack" image.  The sentiment is also a QKR image called "Halloween High."

     I colored the image with ProMarkers, then cut it along one side with a curved border die from Poppy Stamps and used a corner punch from Fiskars on the other side.  I did the same with the scrap of candy corn dp.  I added the sentiment and then layered everything onto another patterned dp which I found in my stash of autumn papers. 

     I wrapped the entire card front with orange and white baker's twine and called it finished.

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy
Crafting from the Heart
Crafting with Friends
Di's Digi Designs
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz Greetings
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Polkadoodles
Stamping Sensations
Take It, Make It

     Come play along with us, won't you?  We'd love to see your creations and be inspired by them.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

In Autumn Beauty

     We're at the first Friday in October and that means a new challenge over at Emerald City Crafts.  This month I used a beautiful bird image from the "Les Beaux Oiseaux" ephemera collection by Linda Simpson Designs.  I love all the images in this particular collection (see at the bottom) but this one seemed so perfect for an autumn card.

     I also decided that this image called for a shabby chic card with lots of layers and plenty of laces, ribbons, and paper flowers for embellishment.  There are several layers to the image piece, then a twill ribbon, plus strips of gray lace all laid on top of a delightful vintage paper.

     The multi-loop bow was made on my bow maker and I added a wooden bead to it, matching the ones in the centers of the paper flowers.  I really love the final look of this card!

     Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments
Crazy Challenge
Creates and Makes
Digi Choosday
Dragonfly Dreams
Fussy and Fancy
Paper Girls
Ribbon Girl
TTCRD

     There will be another post in about 3 hours so be sure to stop by again for that one.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

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