Winter Gnomes

      My screen time on electronics, including my cell phone, is very limited and that's a big part of the reason you aren't getting daily posts from me.  My crafting time is also somewhat limited so I don't have as many things to post as I had a couple of months ago.  But today, I want to share two gnomes I managed to complete, although the larger, white one took me more than 3 weeks to complete.  I'll share it first.

     This is my first gnome with boots and legs and I loved making them.  I must have watched boot making videos on YouTube 100 times (many of which were repeats, watched over and over again until I got the basics down pat.)  On the gnome itself, I used 3 different faux fur trims and 4 different fabrics (fleece, satin, faux leather, and felt.)  The little pocket bag at his waist is similar to one you might find on a man wearing a kilt.  The gold trim is metallic.  I added a glittery snowflake to the piece of gold trim on his hat and it sparkles madly IRL.  

     He's a good 24 inches tall from the bottom of his boots to the tip of his hat.  Next time, I think I'll consider a gray beard or at least a beard sprinkled with gray for a bit more contrast against all the white.

    

     I also finished a cute Santa-style gnome.  He's about 15 inches tall and made with a cone body, red and black plaid fleece, faux fur trim, and a burlap toy sack.

 

     Must run - 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

Winter Birds

      Here it is, time for the first challenge of the new year over at Inspiration Station.  We always give you a photo for inspiration and you may create anything you like but be sure to tell us what from the photo inspired you.  Here's the photo for this month and I was inspired by the wintery scene and the bird.

     I found a clip art image from Trendy Clipart which I reversed, printed in grayscale, & then colored with my new set of water colors (thank you, Santa.)  White highlights were added with gel pen.  I cut the image with a die from QuicKutz, inked the edges, and layered it onto glitter paper.  All of that went onto an A2 card front and the sentiment was added when all else was finished.  It really was a quick and easy card, taking less than 25 minutes, including coloring time.

     Challenges:

AAA Cards

Aud Sentiments (new watercolors)

Di's Digi Designs

Let's Craft and Create

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

Simon Says Stamp (new watercolors)

Triple B

     Come play with us this month.  Just find something in the photo that inspires you, create a ard, and enter it into the challenge.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Angel & Letter "W"

     It's the day for "W" over at the 30 Days of Holidays for Beccy's Place and I've managed to play along each day.  I started the month of November thinking that I'd get maybe 14 or 15 cards done so I'm really proud of myself for being this far through the alphabet and having done a card for each letter and each of the theme challenges.  My "W"s are: White, Wings, Winter, & Webbing (the 'ribbon.')

     This is another card that's a collaboration with my sis-in-law, who colored this gorgeous little angel and then had me put together the card.  It's not that I don't do my own coloring any more but she just isn't into the card making side of things (not yet, anyway!) so we've fallen into a lovely pattern of taking her coloring and turning it into cards.  In between, I color my own images and make those into cards, too.

     Lainy hand-colored the angel (from Monsoon Publishing) with water color pencils, and I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die.  The sentiment (from Beccy's Place,) was cut with a QuicKutz die.  I inked the edges of both using an alcohol marker.  The wintery background dp came from an old (very old!) DCWV stack. The glittered webbing seem perfect to use as a wide ribbon and the glitter added wonderful sparkle (oooh, another "W"!)

     Challenges:

52 Christmas Card

613 Avenue Create

Aud Sentiments

Christmas w Cuties

Dream Valley

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

     I'll have another post tomorrow.  Until then, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Winter Mice for the Letter "E"

     Today's card is going to be entered for Day 5 in the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place so we're using the letter "E" as the theme.  My "E"s are: Embossing, Ecru (the stars), & Embellishments. (and a little Eeek for all of you who are afraid of mice!)

     I'm also playing again in the challenge over at Conjuror of Dreams and this month their optional theme is "Winter Critters."  The image I used is from Conjuror of Dreams and I adore these little mice.  I just know they are perched on that log, singing Christmas Carols from their tiny hearts.

     The image and its white frame were die cut with dies from QuicKutz and Tonic Studios.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die. I embossed the gray CS background, using my 'Linen' EF.   I found a strip of red dp in the scrap basket and added it to the left side, then put the angels and snowflake embellishments along the left side.

     Challenges:

4 Season

Digi Choosday

Make My Monday

Peace on Earth

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

FarmQuest and Double Trouble Collaborate

      Our newest challenge at FarmQuest starts today and tomorrow (January 15), we collaborate with Double Trouble through the end of the month (January 31.)  Our theme at FarmQuest is "Winter Activities," things like skating, skiing, sledding, or even sleigh rides.  In addition to that, Double Trouble wants you to use embossing folders or stencils.  (See below)

THING  1:  Trouble Maker 

says, "It's Wintertime and I'm just chillin' so I don't want to make things complicated. That's why I'm asking you to pull embossing folders and/or stencils from your stash to create a project with a wintry country feeling."   

You can stop here... 

OR  

play along with Twisted Sister's optional twist to help you earn another chance in our random drawing.  

THING  3:  Twisted Sister 

says, "Remember the song, "Playmate, Come Out and Play with Me"?  If you come out and play with me, be ready to enjoy skiing, sledding, sleigh riding, tobogganing, or skating. My optional twist is to include one of these winter sports in your project to earn an additional chance in our random drawing.   

"And let's not forget National Hat Day is January 15th. This is a fun observance when you wear and enjoy any hat of your choice and style. If you also include a hat in your project we have a 'January Special' for you - a second random drawing in addition to our usual one." 

THING  2:  Double Dare 

says, "If you have met Thing 1's requirement to create a wintry theme and have included a winter sport, you are eligible to enter your project HERE at Farm Quest Challenge #44 and you will qualify for an additional chance in our random drawing."                   

January Special:  While not a requirement don't forget if you have included a hat in your project you are eligible for our 'January Special' - another drawing in addition to our usual random drawing.

 

     For my card, I used an Ice skate image from Jan's Digi Stamps, colored with Sanjoki markers, and fussy cut with scissors.  The winter themed frame was made using a die from Amy Designs and it has embossing on it.  The background is Swiss Dot embossed on sparkly, glitter paper.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The image, the frame, and the sentiment are all mounted onto dimensional tape for a raised effect and visual interest.

     Challenges:

Can You Handle...?

Christmas Bingo (I - Image, Free, Square)

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

Friendship

Outlawz Friday

Pattie's Creations

Peace on Earth

Polkadoodles

Star Stampz

     Come play in our challenge this week and if you use an embossing folder or a stencil, then enter it over at Double Trouble, too.  We look forward to seeing what you create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

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

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   

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

Kitten's First Snow

      I have a dear friend who adores cats and kittens as much as I do and each Christmas I make her a card with kittens.  So, when I saw this adorable clip art image, I 'pounced' on it and made her Christmas card for this year.  Once again, I took a color image and printed it in light gray scale before coloring it myself.  The great thing about printing in gray scale is that you get all the shading and highlights which were in the original but you choose your own color palette.

     I colored with a combo of Sanjoki markers (sky and wall) and polychromos pencils (kittens, birds, and cherries on tree), plus white gel pen for snowflakes.  I cut the image with a square QuicKutz die and framed it with white CS, also cut with a Quickutz die.  The holly paper came from the scrap basket and I think it was from DCWV.  The sentiment is from Beccy's Place and I cut it with an Avery Elle die.

     Because this one has to be mailed, I left it very flat and without fancy embellishment.

     Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart

(In honor of Janis and her Cat Lovers Hop)

Digi Choosday

Happy...Stampers

Let's Craft & Create

Lil Patch of ...

My Favorite Things

Pattie's Creations

Peace on Earth

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie    

North Pole Express

     Welcome to my blog.  So good to see you visiting today.  It's Friday so that mean another challenge has begun at Crafty Catz  where our theme is always "Anything Goes" but with an OPTIONAL twist.  This week the twist is to use more than 1 fold.  Our sponsor is Last Minute Miranda.  They supplied image for the DT to use and I chose the one called "North Pole Express."

     I did a Gate Fold card and used three of the images which came with the set.  I started by coloring the images with by Sanjoki markers and a gold paint pen, then added highlights with a white gel pen.  I cut the three images using either QuicKutz dies (outside images) or a die from Tonic Studios (inside image.)  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.  I cut plain red CS to mat the images and sentiment.

Card front

Inside

     Challenges:

ABC Christmas

Creative Creases

Creative Fingers

I Love Markers

My Favorite Things

Outlawz Friday

Paper Funday

Paper Shelter

Pattie's Creations

Penny's P-C

     This is my second post today and if you scroll down, you'll see the first one.  I'll be posting the third one later today so come back and see it, too.

     I hope you'll be inspired to make something and come enter it into our challenge.  If you get truly inspired, make a card with more than 1 fold but if not, Anything Goes is perfectly fine.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Snowman in July?

      In keeping with all the "Christmas in July" themes, I just had to do at least one snowman card for Christmas.  I adore snowmen images and I'd use them year-round if I could find an excuse.  But I do feel sorry for those snowmen who have to tolerate our heat wave temperatures (anything 100 F or above for 3 or more days!) in July.  Although this one, and his little friend, seem to be holding up pretty well.  :-D

     I have to share a quick, childhood story before I share about my card.  This particular snowman, with the little bird on his arm, always reminds me of a theme park called "Santa's Village" which was up in the mountains in California.  Where I grew up in southern California, we didn't have winter snow so a trip to Santa's Village was a treat.  It happened to be near my grandfather's cabin and we always spent at least a week during the winter at that cabin so it was a short trip over to Santa's Village.  One of the things available in the park was a town square with lots of fresh snow (often machine made) where kids could build snowmen.  The only ones I ever built were at that square.  I remember watching winter birds perch on the stick arms of the snowmen, waiting to be fed seeds which were sold in small bags for the kids to scatter around for the birds.

     This snowman is from QKR Stampede and it's called "Winter Friends."  I wish I could give you a link in case you fell in love and wanted to buy it, but the QKR Stampede rubber stamps and digis are currently on hold while the brand is up for sale.  We all have our fingers crossed that a buyer will grab them up because they're just too cute and quirky to never be seen again.  

     I colored this one with Sanjoki alcohol markers and cut the image with a square die from QuicKutz,  The three papers in the background are all scraps and they all came from a DCWV stack, "Winter Magic" which I've had for more than a decade!  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

12 Months...Christmas

Creatalicious

Creative Fingers

Dragonfly Dreams

Gem of a Challenge

Kerst Christmas

My Favorite Things

Outlawz Friday

Park Hopping

Peace on Earth

     Tomorrow I'll have a total of 3 posts, all featuring DT work.  It's not usual for me to have that many posts in one day but somehow they just all piled up because the 7th of the month fell on a Friday.  :-D  I hope you'll stop by and check things out.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Mid-Winter

      I made today's card to help celebrate a college exchange-student's first ever look at snow!  He's from Nigeria and is studying at a college in Texas, and late last month there was an unexpected snow storm which shut down the entire campus.  All of the students were excited about the event to one degree or another, but he perhaps most of all.  :-D

     I found this image online, reversed it, and printed it in grayscale.  Then I colored the buildings, trees and fence with polychromos pencils and used ProMarkers to color the sky and snow.  I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, cut the sentiment with an Avery Elle die, and inked the edges of both of those before layering them onto the dp from Paper Studio.

     Challenges:

Coloring w Pencils

Country View ...

CRAFT-alnica

C.R.A.F.T.

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's IP

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

     Enjoy your own mid-winter day, even if there's no snow at all.  For those of you in the southern hemisphere, winter is closer than you think and then you can begin celebrating your own Mid-Winter Deep with piles of snow.  lol  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Outdoor Snow Events

      I'm not sure we need to tell anyone is the USA about outdoor snow (or just plain cold) events this month but that's the theme for our latest challenge over at FarmQuest which starts today.  Of course, it needs a country flair as the standard FarmQuest requirement, but that's pretty easy to accomplish if you're focusing on outdoor events.  :-D

     I sorted through my collection of winter-y images and found these two in my QKR Stampede collection.  The girl is called "Sledding" (which I reversed before printing) and the Dog is called "Cross Country Skiing."  I wanted to use both images so I designed a slimline card.  The images were colored with water color paints and shaded with ProMarkers, then fussy cut with scissors.  The snowflake papers are from an old DCWV stack which I've had for at least a decade and it tends to come out each winter.  The stack is getting very thin these days but I still have some really great papers in it.  The sentiment is mine and it was also fussy cut.

     Challenges:

Ally's Angels

Colour Crazy

Crafty Calendar

Creatalicious

Happy Li'l Stampers

Lil Patch of ...

Pattie's Creations

There's a Stamp ...

Word Art Weds

     Are we going to see you playing along in our challenge?  I sure hope so.  We love seeing what you've created and being inspired by it.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Ice Fishing

     Most of you who follow my blog regularly already know that I'm having some vision problems which affect my ability to color images and, while I'm figuring out ways to color successfully - enlarging images so that I can see them well enough to color, then photographing and reducing them with my photo editing software - I've also found that using die cuts to make the entire card is another way to continue with my love of card making.

     Today's card uses a die set from Cuts to create this fun ice fishing card.  The glitter paper (for the hole in the ice, the frozen fish, and the strip under the bears) is from Recollections, and dp for the sky came from a DCWV stack.  I used my Linen embossing folder on the blue CS.  Everything was done using scraps.  The sentiment was made with another Cuts die.

I used the Tic Tac Toe board at Outlawz Color challenge

to do blue sky, white, and snow from the right hand column.

(Sorry, I can't seem to copy and paste their board)

     Challenges:

Can You Handle ...

Christmas Kickstart

Di's Digi Designs

Dream Valley

Gem of a Challenge

Tues Morning Sketches

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Snowman Presents

      This is my last Conie Fong DT card for December and I've used one of the images from a set called Snowman Presents.  The image also comes inside a snow globe and the set has secondary images of pine branches included.  Good news, it's ON SALE right now.  Grab it quick!

     This one is colored with water color paints and was cut with a border die from Your Next Die.  The image was backed with burgundy CS and then framed with red metallic paper from DCWV.  The white glitter paper for the background is from Doodlebug.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I added one tiny embellishment - a satin, hand-tied bow.

     Challenges:

Colorful Options

   (Rainbow of colors)

Colour Crazy

Craftlandia

Creative Moments

Di's Digi Designs

Double Trouble

   (Kaleidoscope colors)

Inspiration Station

    (The snowman obviously.  :-D)

Outlawz Festive Fri

Peace on Earth

There's a Stamp ...

Your Next Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Winter in the Country

      I'm late getting this card posted but it's my DT card for the latest challenge at FarmQuest which started today.  Our theme this time is Anything Goes as long as it has a country flair.  I thought this beautiful image of winter birds on the corral gate, from Jan's Digi Stamps, was perfect for a Christmas card.

     Merged images of the birds and the black and white grapevine wreath, with dp scraps in red and green.  The sentiment and the image are both fussy cut.  The only embellishment I added are the three little gemstones.

     Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart

Cupcake Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Inspiration Station

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

     I really hope we're going to see you playing along this time.  You have until December 27th to enter, and then our next challenge begins on December 28th.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

30 Days of Holidays - Letter W

      My second post of the day and this one serves two purposes just as my previous post did.   The image is from Wink Wink Ink, and it's for the November Progressive Challenge at the Outlawz.  But it also serves as my Letter "W" entry at Beccy's Place in the 30 Days of Holidays challenge.

     Other "W"s are:  Winter, Wonder (on the snowman's face), Weaving (the background), and Watermark (mine.)  I used ProMarkers and gel pens, and cut the image with a Spellbinders square die.  I used scrap papers from the basket of leftover pieces to put together the woven background.  The sentiment is a sticker and the glittery snowflakes are from Recollections.

     Challenges:

    Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Laughing with Dragonflies

      Yesterday I saw a post on one of the blogs I follow (Her Peaceful Garden) and Janis had shared about a new challenge blog she'd discovered, Paper Dragonfly, where entries must feature Dragonflies (and follow a theme.)  Janis shared that she wasn't crazy about crawly bugs of any kind, nor did she much like dragonflies, but she did have a dragonfly die she wanted to use so she made a card and shared about the challenge.  Thanks, Janis, for the information and the inspiration!

     I dug out three different dragonfly dies from my stash (Impression Obsession, Cutz, and Memory Box), and got to work cutting scrap bits of dp and CS, plus some glitter CS.  (I chose icy blue and white papers for the Winter Dragonflies theme at the Paper Dragonfly challenge.)  I have a little basket of paper scraps sitting on my desk with left over pieces from all the cards I've created in the last six months.  I've been digging through it, using up whatever I can, and everything on this card came out of that basket.

     Even the sentiment had previously been stamped onto a scrap but not used, so it ended up in the basket.  Talk about serendipity!  :-D

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Outlawz PAM

Paperbabe

Paper Dragonfly

Simon Says Stamp

TTCRD

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie