Friday, March 7, 2025

Happy Snow Couple

      Last week, I would have told you that this cute snow couple might be in danger of melting but our weather has turned chilly again and that now seems less likely.  I guess the groundhog was right about 6 more weeks of winter!  

     My card today is my DT inspiration piece for the challenge at FarmQuest Country Christmas.  Our theme is always "Anything Country and Christmas Goes."  We want to see outdoor, country, Christmas scenes on your projects but beyond that, anything is OK.  I think 2 snow people in the woods qualifies, right?

     The image came from Anet Art Store (I have a growing collection of her art) and it was colored with watercolor pencils, plus white gel pen for the snowflakes and highlights..  I used a Spellbinders die to cut the image, and I inked the edges with a red ProMarker.  The background dp came from Recollections.  That's been a favorite of mine and I've been hoarding scraps of it, using bits and pieces to patch together backgrounds for cards.  I'm not completely out of it yet, but the scrap stash is getting thin and I think I have only one full sheet of it left uncut.  

     I printed out the sentiment, cut it with an Avery Elle die, and added it to the bottom corner.  Overall, a very CAS card but the dp makes it look busy.  :-D



     Challenges:

    
     This is my second post today and my first one was for the challenge at FarmQuest General Store.  If you'd like to see that one, just scroll down one post.  For either challenge, we'd love to see you playing along this month.  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Welcome Country

      Our newest challenge has begun at FarmQuest General Store, where our theme is always "Anything Country Goes."  No cityscapes, shopping malls, crowded freeways, or high rises; just calm and lovely country scenes.

     The image I used on my DT card today is a clip art image, colored with Sanjoki markers to give it a sepia effect, with yellow and white gel pens used to give the lights their warm glow.  The sentiments at top and bottom were originally white but I used a beige marker to tone things down a bit.

     The image was cut with a Tonic Studios die, then I cut a white CS frame for it (also a Tonic Studios die from the same set.)  I inked the edges of that before adding the piece to the background dp, which came from an old DCWV stack.  That pad of papers has been in my stash for probably 5 years, unused, and that page seemed to be perfect for this "country" card!


     Challenges:


     I'll have a second post today for FQ Country Christmas so be sure to scroll up to see it, too.  Hope you'll come over and play in our challenge this month.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Monday, March 3, 2025

Easter in Blue

      Hey, guess what?  There's a new challenge starting today at Inspiration Station where we offer a different picture each month for inspiration.  Our challenges begin on the first Monday of each month and  ends on the Saturday before the next challenge begins.

     Here's our inspiration picture this month:


     Of course, it made me think of Easter and Easter bunnies so when I found the delightful image of Mrs. Bunny sporting her Easter bonnet, I had to use it (see card below.)  

     The image was originally a grayscale line drawing but I used blue colored pencil to go over each line and added white gel pen to each of the flowers for a highlighting effect. My favorite technique these days is to color grayscale images!  

     I added the sentiment to a scrap of white CS and mounted the colored image onto it.   Both of those were cut with QuicKutz dies.  That went onto a layer of gray, cross hatch dp.  I doodled around two edges of the dp and added everything to the card front.

     

     Challenges:

     That's all I have for today but I hope to see you playing along in our challenge.  Let us know what in the photo inspired you.  Was it the bunnies, or maybe the sense of spring?  the colors?  maybe the sweet little bunny kiss?  Make something and enter it into the challenge before Saturday, April 5.  Because of the way the dates fall, you get almost a week of extra time before the March challenge closes.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie