Warm Winter Quilts

      We have a new challenge beginning over at FarmQuest, where all entries must have a "farm or country" feel plus use a specific theme.  This month, the theme is "Quilts" - anything to do with quilts or quilting.  

     I chose to use one of my quilting dies from Spellbinders.  It's a 2.75" die and I used it 4 times to make the background.  All of the dp I cut came from scraps of a winter stack of papers by DCWV, plus plain dark & light blue CS.  Think of the stars as snowflakes and you'll definitely get the chilly winter feel.  :-D

     The moose is an image from QKR Stampede and I colored it with my Sanjoki markers.  I fussy cut the image with scissors and mounted it onto Pop Dots before layering it onto the background.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Digi Choosday

Double D

Double Trouble

I Love Markers

Lil Patch of ...

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Simon Says Stamp

Snippets Playground

Word Art Weds

     That's it for today.  Feel free to come and play in our challenge this month.  It runs until the 13th of January so you have plenty of time.  Happy Crafting and Happy New Year.  NanaConnie

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas

to all my online friends and family.

May the Reason for the Season be part of your celebration.

Snow Cowboy

      Time for the next challenge at FarmQuest, which always has a requirement that your projects have a "country" feel to them, plus a theme and this fortnight the theme is "Decorated Farmhouse Exterior or other structure."  I decided to combine a barn with Christmas decorations and a cowboy snowman; now I have one more family Christmas card finished.

     I printed the image in very light grayscale, then colored it with my Sanjoki markers and with white gel pen on the snow.  I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and made the frame for it from two scraps of CS which were on the desk.

     The background piece is dp I made myself using a red work embroidery pattern, sized down and then did copy/paste procedures several times to scatter the image over the paper.  I used the last bit of a washi tape roll as decorative ribbon, then added the image piece on top of it all.  I think it makes a great masculine card with a wonderful country flair.

     Challenges:

     That's it for this time.  Come play in our challenge, won't you?  It runs until December 26 and we love seeing what you create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Merry Cow-mas

      Another card for my cow-obsessed Texas Tech, granddaughter, who should be too busy taking finals and getting ready for a plane flight home to care about visiting my blog so I'm not too worried about her seeing it before she's here for Christmas.

     The image is another clip art I found and printed in grayscale before coloring it with water colors.  The 'spatter' was part of the original clip art and I loved it so much, I enhanced it with a Sanjoki marker.  I cut the image with an old Spellbinders die and found a scrap of Recollections dp to use for the background, then hand tied a tiny bow and added that to the cow's stocking cap.  Cute, but simple.

     Challenges:

     I'll have another post very, very late tonight for the newest challenge starting at FarmQuest.  Be sure to come back (tomorrow is fine - keeping in mind that with time zone differences, your tomorrow could well be my middle of the night!) and check out that post as well.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

A Corgi Christmas

     I have a granddaughter-in-law who absolutely adores Corgis, nearly as much as I do.  The instant I spotted this AI clip art image, I knew it had to be used for her Christmas card.  

     I wish I could take credit for the coloring on this clip art but it's a pre-colored image.  I couldn't have done any better even if I'd printed it in gray scale and colored it myself.  :-D  I cut the image using a die from QuicKutz, then printed and cut the sentiment with an Avery Elle die.  I used a leftover bit of dp from Doodlebug and added a bit of glitter to the skates.  Unfortunately, the sparkle doesn't show in the photo.

     Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart

Cutie Pie

Digi Choosday

Double Trouble

Dragonfly Dreams

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Santa Sketch

      This is our last challenge for the year at Crafty Catz and our next one will begin on Friday, January 12.  Our theme is always Anything Goes and usually we have an optional theme to go with that, but this time it's just Anything Goes.

     I chose to use this delightful, clip art sketch of Santa and I printed it in a very light grayscale.  I colored with Sanjoki markers, then cut the image with a large die from QuicKutz.  The sentiment was added before printing the image.  I hand tied the bow, using 1/8" ribbon.  The background has embossed gold stripes.

     Challenges:

Crafty Calendar

Double Trouble

Dragonfly Dreams

Gem of a Challenge

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

Peace on Earth

Polkadoodles

Use Your Stuff

     Come play along with us this week if you can pull yourself away from the the madhouse of the holiday preparations.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Fir Cone

      Today's card features a digital image from Eureka Stamps, called "Fir Cone" and I thought it was perfect for a Country Christmas card.  It's my DT card for our latest challenge over at FarmQuest Country Christmas.  There are only two requirements to enter that challenge: your project MUST be Christmas and it MUST reflect a country world.  No cityscapes or high rise buildings, no streets clogged with traffic and buildings, no city shopping malls -- you get the idea.  Country, farm land or animals, woodland, trees, open fields, even Santa in the woods with non-domestic animals.

     The fir cone and branch are definitely about the country and they were colored with Sanjoki markers, then I added glitter to frame the image.  Everything was layered onto a black card front.  The bow was hand sewn and a pearl was stitched on.  A nice, simple design.

     Challenges:

12 Months

CCAYR

Crafting Challenge

Friendship

Happy...Stampers

Happy Li'l Stampers

Let's Craft & ...

YSP

     I hope we're going to see you playing along in our Country Christmas challenge this month.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Woodland Deer

      I have two posts today and this is the first of the two.  We're starting a new challenge over at FarmQuest General Store where we always have an underlying theme of 'country' or 'farm' but beyond that, it's always "Anything Goes."  Challenges begin on the 7th of each month, and end on the 5th of the following month.

     Today I've done a card using a beautiful clip art image of deer in a winter woodland.  I printed it in grayscale, then colored it with a combination of Sanjoki and ProMarkers.  I cut the image and the navy blue frame for it with dies from QuicKutz.  The papers are from a very old DCWV stack ("Winter Magic") which I've had in my Christmas stash for at least 10 years and I'm still using scraps from it.  I loved it so much the first time I used a piece, I rushed back to the store and bought 2 more stacks.  I'm glad I did.  I've never gotten tired of it.  :-D

     I added a bit of wrapped, glittery twine and tied it in such a way that I made a tassel at the tie-off. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

Crafts Galore ...

Critter Crazy

Kerst Christmas

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

Rabisco

     We'd love to see you playing in our challenge this month.  If you've created something with a country feel to it, come enter it.  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie   

A Gnome's Christmas Tree

      This adorable image is from Anne Fenton and she gave it to us for the Outlawz Progressive challenge.  I colored it with my Sanjoki markers, cut it with a Spellbinders square die, and cut the green frame with another die from that same set.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     I found an old stack of Christmas papers from Recollections in my stash and chose the background paper from it.  Although it doesn't show very well in the photo, the ornaments on the background paper have glitter on them for a bit of sparkle on the card.  Beyond that, it's a very CAS card, very flat and suitable for mailing.

Tuesday Morning - sketch turned 1/4 turn

     Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Happy...Stampers

I Love Markers

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Winter Snow

      I'm giving you a sneak preview of the Progressive Challenge at LeAnn's World 101 which starts tomorrow on the Facebook page.  The image for the month is "Winter Friends" and, if you played last month, it will be sent to you free of charge during the day tomorrow, December 5th.  For each month that you use the chosen monthly image, you will get the following month's image free.

     If you haven't been playing along but would like to start, click on the name of the image up above and that will take you right to the image in the store.  You can purchase it, use it this month, and then start getting the free images in January.

     I actually reduced the sides of the image when I cut it into the oval shape but you can see the full image if you click on the store link above.  I colored the image with Sanjoki markers, and cut it with the Poppy Stamps snowflakes die and the center oval is cut free of the snowflakes.  Next, I used that same die to cut silver glitter paper, this time keeping the outer frame to surround the image.

     I made a background of red and metallic gold CS scraps.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  That Poppy Stamps die was so fancy and delicate that I decided the card needed no additional embellishment.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Bastel-Traum

Crafter's Cafe

Double Trouble

Dream Valley

Jan's Digi Stamps

Pammie's IP

Poppystamps

Star Stampz

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Season of Peace

      Our December challenge has started over at 613 Avenue Create where the theme is "Anything Goes" and our optional theme this time is "Any Winter Holiday."  My holiday is Christmas, the Season of Peace.

     I used a clip art image, printed in gray scale and colored with water color paints.  I cut both the image and the white mat behind it with dies from Spellbinders.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The matted scrap of dp is from an old Doodlebug stack. Everything was layered onto a deep red scrap of CS.

     Challenges:

Aloha Friday

CCAYR

Crazy for Cats

Dragonfly Dreams

Friendship

Most Magical ...

Outlawz Fri

Outlawz SAR (...the whitened world...)

Peace on Earth

SUYP Cats

     Come play with us in our challenge.  We love seeing what you create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Gift Card and Money Gift Holders

      Here it is the 3rd of December and a new blog challenge has begun at LeAnn's World 101, where our theme is always "Anything Goes" and where you can win fun and fabulous images from LeAnn's World.  For my DT card this time, I've used one of my favorite LeAnn's images, called "Abigail."

     I've been really focused on Christmas cards and have been trying a new style of card which incorporates a spot for either a gift card or cash inside the card.  I followed a tutorial which my daughter found for me on Facebook and have modified it on a few of the cards but all have the same basics.  Here's the first one I did which will work for Christmas but also for birthdays or other occasions where a gift card or cash seems appropriate.

     I colored the image with Altenew alcohol markers, then fussy cut it with scissors.  I added a black CS mat and fussy cut that to outline the image.  The silver glitter paper was cut with an oval Spellbinders die and I also added a 1 inch strip of it to the left edge of the inside of the card but since the card front is shorter than the card back, the glittery strip looks like it's part of the card front until you open the card.

     The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

Here's a photo of the inside left of the card, showing the slot for cash or a gift card.

     Challenges:

Altenew (colors from Feb 2023)

Creative Fingers

Gem of a Challenge

Inkspirational

Lil Patch of ...

Pattie's Creations

Polkadoodles

     I hope we're going to see you playing along in our blog challenge this month.  Don't forget that we also have a Progressive Challenge starting on December 5 over on our Facebook site.  If you haven't played before this month but are interested in joining in so that you can get a free image each month hereafter, just purchase the December image at the store, use it on a card, post it into the FB album for December, then in January, you'll get the newest image for that month's Progressive Challenge, at no charge!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Santa Takes a Break

      Anyone Santa's age (or even near it) can certainly understand the need for a quick rest break during a long night of delivering presents to all the kids in the world!  This cute image from SheepSki Designs (our sponsor at the Crafty Catz challenge this week) brought a smile to my face, and "Make us Smile" is our optional theme for this challenge.  Of course, you can always do just the Anything Goes theme, but it's almost Christmas - make someone smile.  :-D  SheepSki Designs provided the DT with images to use and this one is called "Taking a Break."  Isn't it a delight?

     To color the image, I used my new set of markers from Altenew (purchased with a challenge prize gift certificate!), then I cut it with a die from Tonic Studios.  Both background papers are from Doodlebug, and the sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I tied a tiny, double loop bow and called it finished.

     Challenges:

    Come play in our challenge this week.  We love seeing what you create.  Then, take yourself a little rest break before the holiday hustle and bustle wear you down!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie