Happy Halloween
A fun place for card making, crafting, playing, sharing creativity, and maybe a little inspiration now and then.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Spider, Spider in the Pot
I couldn't resist this spider who clearly fears for his life! Spiders are my most unfavorite creatures on earth - just looking at pictures of most spiders makes my stomach shudder and turn over. I don't even take down cobwebs until there are so filled with dust and grime that I'm sure no self-respecting spider would live there any more. So, seeing a spider about to be boiled bothers me not at all ! lol
This image is from a collection by Zigi Design Studio which I bought recently and many were used this Halloween, including this one on another card which I posted earlier. All the images come pre-colored but they can easily be printed in grayscale and colored with Ohuhu markers &/or colored pencils. Printing in grayscale means that you already have all the shadows and highlights and that allows you to shade in exactly the right spots.
The image was cut with a QuicKutz die, the edges were inked, and I matted it with a scrap of orange CS. The striped paper is from a Recollections stack. The sentiment was printed and then cut with an Avery Elle die. Simple, quick, and easy to mail.
Challenges:
I should have two more Halloween cards between now and the start of November. I made so many cards this year, I had to mail Halloween greetings to everyone in my family and a few friends besides. :-D
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Besties
I absolutely adore the image I used on this card today! I also love the idea of a cat and a mouse being besties. :-D The sentiment was printed along with the image, then the image was colored with Ohuhu alcohol markers. After coloring, I cut it using my Fiskars paper cutter. (Reminder to self - it's time to replace the blade. lol) I rounded the corners with a Uchida punch from Marvy.
I found a dark green CS in my stash and cut it to size for the card front, then added a wide strip of dp to the left hand side (scrap from a DCWV stack.) The bow is one of my hand sewn, butterfly-shape bows with a pearl. I spend an entire afternoon hand sewing those by the dozen and tossing them into my stash for future use, sometimes with a pearl, sometimes without. Over the years, I've learned to buy only white ribbon to make those because it's so easy to 'dye' them with markers to get the exact color I want, matching up one of the colors used on the image. This time, I kept the bow white.
Challenges:
Monday, October 28, 2024
Pheasant Flight
We have a new theme starting today for our latest FarmQuest challenge and the theme is "Turkeys, Pheasants, Peacocks, &/or Feathers." Obviously, I opted for a pheasant. :-D
This clip art image was printed in grayscale onto pale blue CS, then colored with water color paints and pencils. Once dry, I ironed the image flat (it curled a bit with the water color paints), then cut it with a QuicKutz die. The plaid dp for the background came from a digital paper file which I sized to an A2 card size, then printed. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. I left it without embellishments because it's such a perfect masculine card.
Challenges:
Lil Patch of ...
Outlawz SAR (pheasant in the sky?)
Come play with us this fortnight. We love seeing what you create and being inspired by it. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Christmas Sparkle
Today I'm sharing a Christmas card, maybe the first one I've done since my few "Christmas in July" cards. This one is little different in that only three markers were used (yellow ProMarker on the glow of the candle flame, green ProMarker on the fir foliage, and light gray ProMarker for the shadow behind the swag), then the rest of the coloring was done by layering on sparkle gel pens over the greenery and the flame. It gives a very soft, sparkly, glow to the image. White gel pen was used for adding highlights to the ornaments, too.
Once colored, I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, then inked the edges with a green ProMarker. The sentiment came from a scrap of Christmas CS, probably from K & Co., and I cut it with the smallest die from that same set of Tonic Studios rectangle dies, & again inked the edges with a ProMarker. The background dp is from a Recollections stack. I found the strip of holly & berries dp in the scrap basket. applied it across the top of the card, and trimmed it to size.
Challenges:
Word Art Weds That's it for today. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Friday, October 25, 2024
Great (Hair) Day
My granddaughter, the one who's away at college in Texas and who has a thing about cows - especially highland heifers, is having a birthday next month. I haven't been able to decide which cow image I want to use for her card so I've done a couple of collaboration cards with my sis-in-law in which she colors and I turn her colored images into cards. This is one of them and it's definitely in the running to be the birthday card!
After Lainy colored the image with Ohuhu markers and colored pencils, I cut it with a large QuicKutz die. I rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch. I dug through the scrap basket and found the bits I used for the background; a dp strip from a Recollections stack, some orange CS, and a rectangle of beige which had been run through an embossing folder making a leather-look embossed pattern.
I hand-sewed a small bow, 'dyed' orange with a marker. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.
Challenges:
Double Trouble (green, blue, orange, brown, yellow)
Thursday, October 24, 2024
All About Halloween
I'm playing catch-up today because I haven't posted in nearly a week and because Halloween is only a week away. I have three Halloween witches to share with you and one scared dragoon! lol Can dragons actually be scared of anything? Let's see.
This is another collaboration card (in fact, all the ones in this post are collaboration cards), with coloring by my sis-in-law, Lainy, and card making by yours truly. We found this silly image of a dragon hiding in a trunk on a clip art site and printed it for coloring. Unfortunately, it was a very small image and when we enlarged it to color it, the image got a bit blurry. We corrected as much as we could before printing but it's not really sharp.
Lainy colored it using Ohuhu markers, then hand drew the spider and colored it with Ohuhus. There is a string of web from which the spider is hanging but it's hard to see in the photo. I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, inked the edges and layered it onto the embossed CS I selected for the background (Recollections.) The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. I added a wrap of glitter ribbon for a touch of sparkle.
Challenges:
This next card (our first witch for the day) has an image that's actually from a digital coloring book, reduced in size to fit an A2 card. Again, colored with Ohuhu markers but a few details & highlights were added with gel pens. Image was cut with a QuicKutz die, and matted with orange CS. The spiderweb dp is from a Recollections stack and the bow was hand sewn, then 'dyed' with a marker, and a pearl was added to the center of it. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.
Second witch card, an adorable mouse witch, and this time the image came from a friend who printed it for Lainy and asked her to color it, so we have no info on the artist. If anyone knows, please leave a comment and let us know because we love giving proper credit. The image had been printed in grayscale and Lainy used colored pencils on it. I cut the image and the black mat with Tonic Studios dies. Sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then I added a mat of orange, hand trimmed to size. The background was made with CS and a strip of dp from the scrap basket. I tied the bow with a scrap of ribbon lying on the desk from another project.
Challenges:
This last witch is from my AuroraWings collection of images, and Lainy fell in love with her and her cat the instant she saw her so I printed it for her to color. The black background is actually part of the image. Lainy used Ohuhu markers to color this one, adding white gel pen to the whites of the eyes. Once she finished, I cut the image on my Fiskars paper cutter, and matted it with white CS. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. The background dp came from a Recollections stack and I added ribbon and a triple loop bow to the top of the card. I love using ribbon because it allows me to make fancy bows with a shiny glow from the satin, unlike twine or cord which always seems flat or dull (but that works well on masculine cards, I guess.)
Challenges:
OK, now I feel like I'm getting caught up on posting and I'll try to have another post tomorrow,
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Friday, October 18, 2024
Lady of the Roses
No Halloween cards today, no Thanksgiving, & no Christmas, just a birthday card for a young princess. :-) The image came from Moondrea Designs and she's called "Lady of the Roses."
I used Ohuhu alcohol markers to color her, then cut her with one of my first dies from QuicKutz. I inked the edges, then printed and cut the sentiment with a die from Avery Elle. I wanted a very CAS card so added only a hand-sewn bow for embellishment. The ribbon for the bow was originally white but I 'dyed' it with a marker, then added the tiny half-pearl.
While I use both on my cards, I find myself reaching for ribbon much more often than I reach for and use twine or cord. I think it's because I can tie so many different kinds of bows with ribbon and I have the advantage of being able to make white ribbon any color I like to more closely match a color in the image or on the card. Either way, ribbon is my "go to" for feminine cards!
Challenges:
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Boiled Spider w Peas & Carrots
I just had to share this card today which features another of the silly spiders (creatures I despise IRL) from Zigi Designs and which is going to the dietician at our local senior center. She's the one in charge of menu planning and she supervises the entire kitchen staff. Fortunately, she has a tremendous sense of humor and I know she'll love it!
The sentiment came out of my head when I wads thinking about a card for her and this spider dipping himself in the boiling cauldron lent itself well to the spirit of this card. The image was cut with a Cottage Cutz die and I put the background together with paper scraps left over from a Recollections Halloween stack. I printed and cut the sentiment with a small Tonic Studios die.
Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
If the Shoe Fits ...
One more Halloween card which is another collaboration between my sis-in-law's coloring and my card making. Everything I used on the card today came from my stash - no new products, not even the image! I think this is an old Bugaboo Stamps image but I printed it so long ago that I can't really remember. I found it in a file folder of things waiting to be colored. I miss Bugboo! :-(
Colored with Ohuhu markers (with a salute to Pink for October Breast Cancer Awareness), cut with a Tonic Studios die, and inked on the edges with a black stamp pad. I used black glitter CS on the card front and layered on the image, adhering it with double stick tape and a bit of craft glue to make sure it was secure. I find that even the stickiest of double sided tapes doesn't always hold on glitter paper.
I decided that the glitter was spectacular enough so went without any embellishments, just a CAS style card.
Challenges:
Try It on Tuesday That's it for today. Maybe another post tomorrow depending on how much I get done today. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Hansel & Gretel's Fat Old Witch
I found a whole coloring book of ridiculous witches, called "Fat Old Witches" and I was laughing so hard as I went through them, I simply had to buy the entire book of them. When I saw the expression on the face of this particular witch, I immediately thought of the double sentiment about Hansel and Gretel. The company selling the set is called LovelyJPG.
This one is pre-colored. I was so excited about using it right away, I didn't even take the time to print it in grayscale to color it myself. I will do that with some of the others but for now, I wanted to post this as soon as possible. lol
I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch. I inked the edges with a black ink pad. I found scraps of two Halloween papers from a Recollections stack and used them for the background. The sentiments were printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then matted with black glitter CS scraps.
Challenges:
Monday, October 14, 2024
Honey Bee
The next challenge is starting over at FarmQuest, where we always want to see farm/country influenced creations but where we also have a specific theme for each challenge. The specific theme this fortnight is "All About Bees." That could be bees, honey, beehives, honeycomb, honey jars, even hexagons!
I chose this delightful image from SheepSki Designs showing the very first step in the process of making honey, a bee collecting nectar. I colored the image with Ohuhu markers, then cut it with a QuicKutz die, and rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch. The two papers for the background came from the scrap basket and they just worked so well together to give it that country flair, like a good old calico print paired with stripes. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.
Challenges:
Lil Patch of ...
Come play with us in this challenge. We'd love to see what you create. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Sunday, October 13, 2024
A Night of Witches
One more Conjurer of Dreams witch, this one printed in grayscale and colored with my old ProMarkers. I'm slowly shifting over to Ohuhu markers but I do love my ProMarkers and tend to grab them for certain projects. My love affair with ProMarkers is more than a decade old but I wish they had brush tips and when I want brush tips, I go to my Ohuhus.
Once colored, I cut the image with a large die from QuicKutz, then added a white frame because I knew I was going to put it against a dark background and I wanted the image to pop off the background. I printed the sentiment onto the white frame before I cut it. The background is dp from a Recollections Halloween stack. I added no embellishments of any kind since I figured the dp was more than enough. So, a really CAS card design that doesn't look CAS.
Challenges:
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Witches and Spells
I'm playing along in the Progressive Challenge at Moondrea Designs each month and this is the image given for October. Isn't she a fabulous witch? Colored with Ohuhu markers and cut with a Tonic Studios die, then the corners were done with a punch from Recollections.
The blue background was textured with my Linen EF. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. The bow was made with white ribbon, dyed purple with a marker, then hand sewn. A tiny half-pearl was added to the bow.
Colors were pulled from the Outlawz Tuesday challenge.
Challenges:
Friday, October 11, 2024
Silver Fox
Maya Silvercat is one of my favorite artists and I've introduced my sis-in-law to her artwork and digital images. The image on this card was colored by my SIL, using Ohuhu markers (she has so thoroughly mastered alcohol markers in less than 2 months!) I love how she decided to make the fox a silvery white. Really masterful !
I still haven't gotten her to actually make cards (or even scrapbook pages) with her colored images but we have this marvelous collaboration going, and I make cards out of her colored images. Of course, I continue to color images myself, but this one is another of our collaborations. :-D
The image, once colored, was cut with a Tonic Studios die, and I inked the edges. The background for the image was made by running a piece of charcoal gray CS through my Linen embossing folder. That added a delightful bit of texture. The birthday sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. For the bow, I used white ribbon, dyed green with a marker, then hand sewn into the butterfly shape.
Challenges:
Word Art WedsThat's all for today but check back tomorrow for another post. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Trick or Treat Cats
When I ran across this adorable clip art image, I just had to see how it would look printed in grayscale and colored. That's exactly what I did! I colored with Ohuhu markers, added white highlights to their eyes and collars with a gel pen, then cut the image with a Spellbinders die. I used a Fiskars punch on the corners.
Although it's hard to see in the photo, I used my Linen EF to emboss the background, charcoal gray, CS. The sentiment was printed and trimmed on my paper trimmer. I sewed the little bow and dyed it orange, using a marker. Bows have to be my favorite embellishment, partly because it's so easy to use them as the only embellishment. There's a tiny, half-pearl in the center of the bow. Very CAS design.
I pulled colors from AAA Colourful.
Challenges:
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Monday, October 7, 2024
Bedtime on Christmas Eve
Welcome to another challenge at FarmQuest General Store where our theme is always "Anything Farm/Country Goes." We are sponsored by QKR Stampede and the prize is the QKR Stampede images which have been used by the DT in their inspiration cards. The challenge runs until the November 6th so you have plenty of time to get an entry done.
For my card today, I used 'Night Time Owl' and decided to color him appropriately for a Christmas card. The image is colored with Sanjoki markers and water colors. I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and also cut the green CS frame around the image with a die one size larger. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.
The striped and polka dot dp, which looks like one piece, is actually made using scrap strips of two different papers. The sparkly CS was also a leftover found in the basket of holiday scraps.
My "country" elements are: the owl, polka dots, & stripes.
Challenges:
52 Weeks to Christmas
Come join our challenge this month. We love seeing what you create! Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Cockadoodle Christmas
This is my second post of the day and it features my DT card for the newest challenge at FarmQuest Country Christmas. This challenge runs from today through November 5 so you have plenty of time to enter. Remember we always require a farm or country flair to your entries, and they must be for Christmas.
When I found this clip art image of the rooster with his holly and the gingham ribbon he seemed perfect for a farmyard Christmas card! I first printed the image in grayscale, then colored the image with Ohuhu markers. I used a round Spellbinders die to cut the image. The sentiment was printed and cut using my Fiskars paper cutter. The dp for the card front came from DCWV.
Challenges:
MirtillamenteSheepSki Designs
Be sure to check out my first post today which is about the new challenge over at FarmQuest General Store. We look forward to seeing what you create for either of those challenges.
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Zombie Scarecrow
It's been such a long time since I joined a new DT but today, I'm excited to announce that I'm now on the team for Inspiration Station! We are a monthly challenge and our challenges start on the first Monday of each month. For inspiration, we give you a photo or a photo collage and ask you to create based on something in the photo that inspires you. We really want you to let your imagination flow; you might be inspired by the colors, the season, some specific item in the photo, or just an emotion you feel when looking at the inspiration photo. When you enter the challenge, tell us what it was that inspired you.
Here's the inspiration photo for this month. I took inspiration from the jack-o-lanterns and the colors, including the black background (see the bats and moons paper.)
and here's my DT card.
This cute zombie scarecrow is a digital coloring book image, printed in grayscale and colored with watercolors, pencils, and Ohuhu markers. I cut the image and the white frame with dies from a QuicKutz set. The papers both came from a Recollections paper stack. The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.
Challenges:
Won't you please get inspired by something in the photo and come play with us this month? We love being inspired by your creations, too. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Garden Cat
I needed a birthday card this past week and found this delightful digital coloring book image, which I reduced in size to fit onto a card. Colored with Ohuhu markers and colored pencils, then cut with a QuicKutz die. I used the next size larger die to cut the navy blue frame for the image. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.
The background dp is from a DCWV stack. The butterfly-shape bow is hand-tied and dyed with an old marker.
Challenges:
Lil Patch of ...
That's all I have for today but tomorrow will bring you three DT post! Be sure to stop by then. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Friday, October 4, 2024
Witch Wisdom
I've discovered not only a new artist (new to me, anyway) but also a new challenge. The company is called Conjurer of Dreams and Kim, the artist, does incredible things with AI ! I have to admit that I have already gone on a shopping spree in her Etsy shop. :-D
Today's card is an A2 size, a standard rectangle which happens to be the shape I make most often. It's a favorite of mine simply because it fits easily into a regular size envelope and I don't have to go on a search for odd size envelopes or make my own envelopes (something I truly detest!) I do make the occasional round or other shaped card and then I find myself scrambling for an envelope to fit. Grrrr
This is actually a pre-colored image which I printed in grayscale, and my sis-in-law did the coloring with Ohuhu markers so this is another collaboration. I have another version of the image printed and I'll color it later this afternoon. If I find the time, I'll edit this post and you can see both of them.
The image and the frame were each cut with a Tonic Studios die. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. The background dp is from a Recollections stack and has gold embossing on the stars. I left the card unembellished beyond that paper because I really wanted the image to have center stage.
Challenges:
Edited to add: Yesterday I promised you that I would edit this post to share with you my version of coloring this image after printing it in grayscale. I chose to use watercolors and colored her with a more purple palette, that being one of the modern Halloween colors. I used ProMarkers to add orange to the flowers and the potion pots, and to color her skin. I kept this card design very CAS with just the colored image on a white card front and I inked the edges of the card with a Tim Holtz inkpad.
I'm going to enter this version into these challenges:
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Family Togetherness
This is another collaboration card with my sis-in-law, Lainy. A few weeks back, I introduced her to alcohol markers (a medium she had never used before) and her grasp of how to use them effectively came so quickly! She is truly a fantastic colorist. But the actual card making, layout, and design has become my end of the collaboration because she really loves the coloring more than the card making, which I love both ends of that particular crafting endeavor. :-D
The image on this card is clip art, printed in grayscale, and colored with Ohuhu mrkers. I notice those are the markers she tends to grab first though I also have a wonderful array of ProMarkers and Sanjoki markers, plus a scattered few Copics. Eventually, as the markers run dry, instead of refilling any of them, I'm shifting over to the Ohuhu markers altogether.
I cut the image with a die from QuicKutz, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch. I inked the edges of the image and layered it onto a piece of Recollections dp. The black bow is a triple-loop bow made on my Zutter Bow-It-All and I used ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon. I have two of those bow makers (version 2.0 and version 3.0) and I wouldn't give them up for anything.
The only place I can find them anymore is on Amazon but having both of them means that Lainy and I can get work together making some good-sized bows for the holiday wreaths we are going to make for family. We've been going through old crafting stash and scouring local craft stores for ribbons, wreath bases (all kinds), Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas 'foliage' picks, and small decorative bits that will enhance the wreaths.
Ok, now for a look at the card. I'm going to use this one for a Thanksgiving card.
Challenges:
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Broom Flying - Pass or Fail
Did you know that witches of any sort must take and pass a test before they are allowed to fly their brooms on Halloween? That's true and I suppose it includes Harry Potter, too, but it certainly includes these little House Mouse critters. :-D
This image was colored with Ohuhu Pastels for the leaves and grass and ProMarkers for the mice, the sky, and the brooms, then cut with a QuicKutz die. Both of the white and orange frames were also cut with QuicKutz dies from that same set. The background dp came from a Recollections Halloween stack. I used my bow maker to tie the sheer bow with ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon. I used that same ribbon to wrap around the card front.
Challenges:
I Spy with My ...
That's it for today. I may have another post tomorrow if I finish the card I have underway right now.
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
The Hat that Doesn't Fit
There's a story behind this card today and I will share with you the short version. Belladona, the cat image from Beccy's Place, really wanted his own witch hat to wear on Halloween. But his witch was so busy preparing potions and spells for the big, spooky night that she had no time to make one for him. So she found one of her old hats (also a Beccy's Place image and it's a freebie on the challenge post today) and tossed it over to Belladona.
You can see Belladona's reaction in both his expression and in the sentiment. :-D
I merged the images together before printing it. Even though the images are mostly silhouettes, I used Sanjoki markers to color the cat's eyes and the flowers on the hat. They are from different sets but I think they work perfectly together. I cut the merged images with a QuicKutz die, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.
The dp is from Recollections, the glitter CS is a scrap, and the bow is hand-tied, then dyed with a marker to get the exact orange I wanted. The ribbon started out white. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. I inked the edges of both the image piece and the sentiment with a marker.
Challenges:
A Perfect Time ...
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
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