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

Butterfly Kind of Day

      Is anyone else out there looking forward to spring?  Yesterday,  the groundhog said another 6 weeks of Winter but I'm thinking of spring and butterflies and buds on the trees.  This challenge inspiration photo from Inspiration Station pretty much says it all.  :-D

     A new challenge starts today and, as always, we give you a photo for inspiration.  You can do nearly anything but we do want to know how you were inspired.  Was it the butterfly?  The colors?  The season?  A memory?  Tell us and add your project to the link up for the entries.

     Here's my card ad I've already told you that the butterfly was my inspiration.  The image is a clip art photo, edited so that the background stayed pre-colored but the butterfly was gray scale, and I colored it with ProMarkers and gel pens.  I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, and added a frame made with pumpkin CS and trimmed to fit.  I layered that onto two pieces of kraft CS, added to diagonal corners top and bottom.  

     The plaid background dp came from a Recollections stack which has been in my stash almost forever!  I ran across the stack last month, hidden away in a craft room cabinet, and decided it was time to start using the papers before they got brittle and crumbled to bits.  :-D

     Challenges:

Lil Patch of ...

Love ...Pretty Papers

Neglected Stuff

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

Simon Says Stamp

Triple B

     Come play in our challenge, won't you?  We love being inspired by what you create and enter.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cozy, Country Home

      Good morning and welcome to our latest challenge at FarmQuest.  

     Our theme for the next month is "Hibernating Animals."  I chose a bear and found this adorable clip art image which I printed in gray scale before coloring with my ProMarkers.  The sentiment was merged with the image before printing.

     I cut it with a die from QuicKutz, leaving a tiny white border, and then inking the edges with a marker.  I added chunky glitter to a piece of white CS and used that for the background.  I thought it gave the entire card a nice, 'wintery-nap' feel.

     Challenges:

Crafty Calendar

Creative Moments

Di's Digi Designs

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

     Remember that this challenge runs until February 27 so you have lots of time to find that perfect image of a hibernating animal (squirrels? chipmunks? burrowing owls? polar bears?) and enter a card into our challenge.  Hope to see you playing along.

    

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Feed the Birds

      I'm honored to be a guest designer for Penny's Paper-Crafty this fortnight and the sponsor of the image I used is All Dressed Up.  They supplied images for the DT and GD to use.  I used an image called "Feeding the Birds."  I thought it made a perfect winter card.  

     Colour of Love is the second sponsor for the challenge this month.

     I colored the image with a combination of Sanjoki and ProMarkers, then cut it with a die from Tonic Studios.  I used a Fiskars punch on the four corners.  That piece was mounted onto a rectangle of deep blue CS.  I cut the sentiment with a QuicKutz die and framed it with a scrap of the blue CS that framed the image.

     The snowflake dp came from a DCWV stack and I added some texture by dry embossing it with a brand new folder from Sizzix (thank you, Santa!)  My final touch was to embellish the card with a hand-tied, double loop bow made with simple red twine.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Creative Moments

Dream Valley

Make My Monday

Outlawz Tues

Pammie's IP

Paper Shelter

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     I hope we see you playing in the challenge this time around.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Village Crier

     It's another fortnight and that means a new challenge at FarmQuest General Store, where our theme is always "Anything Farm or Country Goes" and, for one more month, we are sponsored by QKR Stampede.  Since we're well into the Christmas Season, I decided it would be fun to celebrate an old English, country Christmas where the Crier went through the country streets of the village, sharing news and stories.

     The QKR image is called "Hear ye, Hear ye."  I printed the image and colored it with ProMarkers.  I cut it with a QuicKutz square die and then I inked the edges.  I thought that cute gingerbread dp made a great background with the added benefit of the kraft and red country colors.  It's from the Christmas scrap basket and I truly don't remember who made it.  I printed the sentiment, cut each piece with an Avery Elle die and then layered it onto the Crier's banner.

     Challenges:

CRAFT-alnica

Creative Fingers

Creative Knockouts

DL Art

Krafty Chicks

Let's Craft & Create

Outlawz Thurs

Pattie's Creations

     Happy Crafting and come play in our challenge.  You could win the 3 QKR Stampede images used by the DT in this challenge.  Be sure to check out the FQGS challenge blog to see all three of them.

     NanaConnie

Last Day of 30 Days of Holidays

      Here it is, my final card for the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place.  The last day theme is always "Do What You Love," kind of like Anything Goes but better because we get to use things we love.  For me, there are so many things I love to put on Christmas cards, but I think snowmen have to be at the top of the list.  Actually, if I could find a good reason, I'd do snowmen cards all year round.  :-D

     Today's card features one of Beccy's new snowmen, named Winston and released this year.  I thought he'd look great dressed in a burgundy hat and scarf with gold fringe and earmuffs.  I colored him with ProMarkers and added gold Stickles to the star.  I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, then trimmed the corners with a Fiskars punch.  

     I wanted the card to sparkle so I dug through my stash of glitter CS scraps and pieced together the background on the card.  I love glitter and when it comes to Christmas cards, I always debate with myself about whether silver glitter or gold glitter is best.  In this case, I was able to use mostly silver glitter but the star has gold sparkle, so a combination of them is the absolute best!

     The image and the "Snowball Fight" sentiment were layered on, using a good amount of craft glue (which I've found is the most effective for attaching CS to glitter.)  Even the stickiest of double sided tapes tends to come loose and peel off of glittered CS after just a short time so glue it is.  

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Di's Digi Designs

Jingle Bells (sparkle & colors)

My Time to Craft

Polkadoodles

Send a Smile ...

     The Christmas season is really on top of us now but it's nice to have another 30 cards in my stash.  Ok, maybe 25 instead of 30 since I did use Thanksgiving as the holiday on 4 or 5 of my cards this month.  Still, my Christmas card stash is looking good this year because of all the other cards I've done between January and October.  I still have colored Christmas images waiting to be made into cards so I'll have several additional posts throughout December.

  

    In the meantime, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Letter "Z" - 30 Days of Holidays

       Last letter of the alphabet and tomorrow is the last day of the Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas challenges.  "Z" is another one of those difficult prompts because very few Z words relate easily to Christmas but I did use a tutorial at Beccy's and made a Double Z Fold Card.  This one isn't in the  A - Z Folds tab but I did give you a link to the blog post where Beccy showed us the Double Z Fold.  There is a tutorial for a single Z fold in the A - Z Folds tab and it's much easier but I wanted the challenge of doing the Double Z fold.

     The candy cane image is from Beccy's Place and everything was done using up scraps, including the piece of CS on which the image was printed.  I colored the canes with ProMarkers (I used 'Vanilla' instead of white on the candy canes so it would better match the beige in the papers), then cut the image with a Die-namics stitched die.  I used my Scor-Pal board to make all the scores for fold lines, much more precise than trying to make the folds by hand without first scoring.  

     All the paper scraps were in the Christmas scrap stash and originally came from a stack by Graphic 45.  That particular stack of Christmas papers had to be one of my all time favorites. Unfortunately, that stack is used up except for the few scraps left in the basket, but then, it was probably 8 or 9 years old!

 

Here's a shot from the top showing the Z folds.

     Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.
Crafty Catz

Creative Creases

Creative Fingers

Cut It Up

Rudolph Days

Paper Shelter

Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Letter "P" for Partridge in a Pear Tree

      Yep, you guessed it - we're doing the letter "P" in the 30 Days of Holiday cards at Beccy's Place today.  I've used Beccy's Partridge in a Pear Tree image from her 12 Days of Christmas set.  I've had this set for at least 7 Christmases and have used some portion of it each year.  I think this image is my favorite.

     I used ProMarkers to color the image, including the Pears and the Partridge, giving her Pink tail feathers!   I used Pine green ribbon for the strip at the top and added Pearls on each end.  The same ribbon was used to tie the bow.

     The image and the scalloped frame were both cut with dies from QuicKutz.  Before assembling the tent card, I tapped on a Paint brush to spatter Peach, Poppy and green watercolors on the card front.  On the sentiment piece, I used dots which were Punched out of the the same CS I used for the frame piece.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Crafty Animals

Dream Factory

Dream Valley
Pammie's IP

     Thanks for visiting and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cinnamon Mitten

      I've completed my "M" card for the 30 Days of Holidays over at Beccy's Place and this time I used Beccy's Mitten image.  I love how it's stuffed with all the wintery, Christmas goodies like cinnamon, hearts and stars, berry branches, and has Mistletoe hanging on it.

     I printed the black and white image, then colored it with ProMarkers.  I used the colors Magenta and Melon green for my Christmas colors; not strictly 'traditional' but at least in the red and green family.  

     Once colored, I went to Beccy's A - Z Folds tab at the top of her blog and checked out the possible fancy card folds under "M."  I found a tutorial for a Matchbook card but I turned it 1/4 turn so that the 'matchbook' opens from the right hand side instead of the bottom.  It fits my image better that way.

     I fussy cut the image with scissors (not an easy thing to do with all those tiny spots between the berries and the loops & tails of the ribbon that's on the mitten.  An Exacto knife helped on the smallest bits.)  The Merry Christmas sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I left the card very plain, as CAS as I could get it because I wanted a Masculine look since it will be going to one of my grandsons, or maybe even a great-grandson. 

     Challenges:

CRAFT-alnica

I Love ProMarkers

Outlawz Weds

Paper Funday

Paper Shelter

     I may take a break from card making and posting for a day or two.  This respiratory virus doesn't seem to be getting better as quickly as I'd like and I really think complete bed rest (not counting trips to the bathroom) might be the answer.  I'm going to try it and see what transpires.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Wheel in the Blessings

      Here it is, the first Monday of November and Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, at least here in the USA.  Once again, Inspiration Station has a new challenge and a new inspiration photo for you.  Find something in the photo which inspires your creative juices and enter a creation into our challenge before the end of the month.

     Here's the inspiration photo for this month: 

Here's my card.  I was inspired by the autumn colors, the pumpkin in the background, the leaves, and the overall harvest season feel.

     The image is from Jan's Digi Stamps and it was colored with a combination of Ohuhu and ProMarkers.  I cut the image using a Spellbinders rectangle die, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.  The sentiment was also from Jan's Digi Stamps and is part of the set for this image.  I cut it with another die, this one from QuicKutz, then inked the edges before adding it to the image piece (which also has inked edges.)  

     The plaid paper is from a fabulous stack by DCWV, called very simply "Stack 9."  I can't even tell you how long I've had that stack but I found it when I was going through my stash of 12" x  12" papers.  It was in an overlooked plastic storage container, along with at least 4 other stacks, none of which had been touched in at least 3 years!  This one was in pristine condition with none of the papers ever having been used!   Sigh... yes, I do hoard and forget to use things.

     Note about Double Trouble  We're partnering with Double Trouble this challenge and if you do layers - at least 3 - and are inspired by our photo, you can enter both challenges!  I did 3 layers and was inspired by the photo, obviously.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Di's Digi Designs

Gem of a Challenge

Inkspirational

Love Those ... Papers

Outlawz Monday

Outlawz Color

Pammie's IP

     Hope we see you playing long this month.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

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:

Gem of a Challenge

I Love ProMarkers

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     That's it for today.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

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:

Crafty Calendar

Crafty Catz

Di's Digi Stamps

Gem of a Challenge

I Love ProMarkers

Love Those...Papers

Sisterhood oSS

     Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Waiting for Halloween

      Today I'm sharing another of the Halloween cards I've made and we've made a lot of them in this household this year.  As I shared yesterday, my sis-in-law and I are sharing a house now and since we're both crafty people, we're delighted with the arrangement.  But between the two of us, we now have nearly 50 family members, including grands and great-grands (and a few extra friends) who will get cards from us for holidays, birthdays, etc. so she's coloring like mad and I'm turning those colored images into cards.  So far, we have about 36 Halloween cards made, some of which she colored, some of which I colored.  I colored the QKR Stampede image on today's card.

     I dearly love this old broom and have used it before on non-Halloween cards but this year it just seemed to speak out as a witch's broom so I colored it with my ProMarkers, cut it with a QuicKutz die, inked the edges with a marker, and added the sentiment (cut with an Avery Elle die.)  I made the background by using a scrap of dp which came from a Recollections stack.  I just thought all the mummy eyes peeking out added to the sense of waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the witches to arrive.  (Kind of like waiting for the cooler fall temperatures to arrive out here where I live!)  :-D

 

     Challenges:

Double Trouble

Inspired By (theme & colors)

I Love ProMarkers

Krafty Chicks

Pammie's IP

Paperminutes

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     Enjoy your day and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

I Know, I Know !

      Time for another challenge at FarmQuest General Store where our theme is always "Anything Goes" and where we are always sponsored by QKR Stampede.  The prize is always the three QKR images used by the DT for their inspiration cards, and you can be certain they are cute, cute, cute.  Occasionally, we are given realistic animal images and even those are 'cute' in their own way.  

     Be sure to check out the main challenge blog to see all the images we used this month.

     I chose the image called "Got the Answer" and colored it with ProMarkers and gold paint pen.  I cut the image with an old Spellbinders rectangle die.  I sorted through my scrap basket and found two patterned papers which I trimmed to size, plus a scrap of purple CS, then I layered all those together with the image.  I printed and cut the sentiment with an Avery Elle die, and layered it onto the purple scrap.  I thought the plaid and the old sheet music added an extra bit of country flair.

      Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Creative Fingers

Love ... Pretty Papers

Paperminutes

Pixie's Snippets

Polkadoodles

     Come play with us this month, won't you?  We love being inspired by you and what you make.  Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Carpenters & Handymen

      Time for a new challenge at FarmQuest General Store, sponsored by QKR Stampede, and the 3 images supplied by them will be the prize for this challenge.  Check out the main challenge post to see both of the Carpenter images (one person, one rabbit) and the adorable "Couch Potato" image.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes."

    I used both of the Carpenter images on separate cards so you get a double treat in this post.  The first one is the Carpenter Rabbit.  I colored the image with Sanjoki markers, then cut it with a Tonic Studios die.  The blue CS background for it was embossed with my "Linen" EF.  I had a strip of plaid dp (Your Next Stamp) in the scrap basket and I thought it worked perfectly to enhance the color palette on the card.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

      Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.

Creative Inspiration

Krafty Chicks

Not Too Shabby (color)

Outlawz Thurs

     The second card features the other Carpenter image (one of my oldest digital images), and I colored it with my newest ProMarkers and some gel pens.  I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and, again, I embossed the background card front with my "Linen" folder.  In case you haven't figured it out, I much prefer dry embossing to wet embossing and that's because it's so much quicker and much less messy!  lol  

     The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The striped strip of dp was another scrap from the basket and I have no idea what company made it.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Colorful Options

Double D (old, new, blue)

Double Trouble

Simon Says Stamp

     I hope we're going to see you playing along in our challenge this month.  Remember, it runs until the 5th of July and the next challenge starts on the 7th of July.  We love seeing what you create so come and inspire us.  Remember, it's Anything Goes!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Beach-y Keen

      Welcome to a new Crafty Catz challenge, where our theme is always "Anything Goes" but we also give you the OPTION of using a specific theme.  This time, the optional theme is "Dots and Stripes."  As you can see, I managed to work in the dots and stripes in both the image and the background papers.

     Our sponsor for this challenge is LeAnn's World 101 and I used a cute image called "Annette."  I used Sanjoki markers to color her, adding the polka dots to her bathing suit with a white gel pen.  The image was cut with a Tonic Studios die, then I inked the edges.  I printed the sentiment and cut it with an Avery Elle die.  

     Both the polka dot and striped papers came from an old DCWV stack.  I added a little enamel dot (Sweet Dots) to the scrunchie around her pony tail.  Sweet and easy card.

Colors from the challenge at My Favorite Things.

     Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspirations

Double D

I Love Markers

Paper Shelter

Penny's P-C

Outlawz Monday

Simon Says Stamp

    I hope we see you playing with us sometime over the next 2 weeks.   You could win some great images from LeAnn's World 101!  Remember, it's "Anything Goes" unless you decide to use the option of Dots & Stripes.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

New Way to Roller Skate

      My daughter called and asked me to make a Get Well card for a neighbor of hers who fell while roller skating with her grandkids.  She has a serious hip break and it'll take a while for her to heal up completely.   Much as I would love to take credit for the sentiment, when my daughter saw this image in my collection, she suggested a reference to roller skating.  lol

      The image is from QKR Stampede and I colored it with ProMarkers & water color pencils.  I cut the image with a stitched die from Memory Box, and I inked the edges of it before adhering it to the background.  The background piece was cut and embossed with a plate die from Poppystamps.  I inked the edges of that so that I had little pops of red in the image, around the cut image, and around the edge of the background.  I did the same with the sentiment which I printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  Inside it has a simple, "Get Well Soon."

     Challenges:

Can You Handle ...

Crafts Galore Encore

Crafty Calendar

Do Al(l) Kreatives

Gem of a Challenge

Incy Wincy 

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

Sheepski Designs

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Fortune Cookie Birthday

      Here we are with the Crafty Catz new challenge which starts today.  As usual, our overall theme is "Anything Goes" but we offer you an OPTIONAL theme and for this challenge the option is "Masculine."  Those themes are always good for me because we have a ratio of about 3 to 1, boys over girls in our family and that's true for the last 3 generations!  So, today I've done another birthday card for a boy.

     We don't have a sponsor this week so I pulled out one of my favorite House Mouse stamps and stamped it in brown ink.  I colored it with ProMarkers and watercolors, then cut it with a small, rectangle die from QuicKutz.  I framed it with brown CS which had been dry embossed using my Linen EF.  The two papers I used to make the background were in the scrap basket and I thought they worked well together for a simple, masculine card.  They're from an old Recollections stack.

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

     Challenges:

As You Like It (I love clean cards because they are easier to mail and most of my cards go to out-of-state family.)

Creative Fingers

I Love Markers

Outlawz Thursday

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Word Art Weds

     Come play in our challenge this week.  Make something masculine if you want, but remember you can always enter under the Anything Goes theme so no excuse for not entering.  :-D  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hello Butterfly !

      I absolutely adore the image on today's card!  Of course, I also love the nod to cathood.  :-D  The image is a grayscale, digital, photo which I colored with my ProMarkers and white gel pen.  I cut the image with a large Tonic Studios die.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     The background was made by using a scrap of lavender CS laid diagonally across the card front and then trimmed at the corners.  I liked it in that CAS format so added no other embellishments.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Classic Design

Digi Choosday

Dream Valley

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's IP

Passion for Markers

SUYP Cats

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Spring Birthday

      We're at the mid-way point in our current challenge at FarmQuest where our theme this fortnight is "Bird Nests or Bird Houses" and, of course, every challenge entry must always feature a farm or country feel.  This time, I've done a second card using an image from Jan's Digi Stamps (now closed - sniff sniff) called Early Spring Nest.  I love this image!  I just know those are robin's eggs in the nest.  :-D

     I colored the image with Sanjoki and ProMarkers, then cut the image with a Cottage Cutz die.  I printed the sentiment and cut it with an Avery Elle die.  The background paper is a scrap from an old DCWV scrapbooking stack.  Pretty CAS overall, though it looks more complex because of the background.

     Challenges:

     Please come play with us during this upcoming week.  We love being inspired by what you create and enter.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie