A new challenge has started over at FarmQuest General Store and our theme is always "Anything Goes."
Challenges:
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
A fun place for card making, crafting, playing, sharing creativity, and maybe a little inspiration now and then.
Showing posts with label hand tied bow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hand tied bow. Show all posts
Friday, February 7, 2025
Owl Always Love You
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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:
I hope we see you playing in the challenge this time around. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Paths, Trails, or Walkways
Oh, my gosh! The year is nearly over and today we start our last challenge of 2024 over at FarmQuest. As usual, we have a theme - a specific one in addition to the "Farm or Country" which is part of every challenge we have - and today that theme is "Paths, Trails, or Walkways." I suppose I could have searched for a winter pathway but they all seemed to be buried under snow. :-D also, you should know that, starting with this challenge, we are going to a monthly challenge instead of the 7th and the 28th. So, this challenge will run through January 27, 2025!
This image is clip art, printed in grayscale, then colored with water colors and pencil. I cut the image piece with a QuicKutz die, and inked the edges. The background dp came from my scrap basket. I used jute cord to wrap the card front and tie a bow.
Challenges:
That's all I have for today. I'm off for the final Christmas family dinner which we delayed until my granddaughter could get home from college in Texas. I hope all of your holiday celebrations went well and that you're resting from all the hustle and bustle.
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Christmas Hug
I adore this image and as soon as I printed it for coloring, my sweet (and very talented!) sis-in-law laid claim to it for coloring. It's a clip art image and I don't even remember where I got it but she colored it with a mix of Ohuhu and ProMarkers. Isn't her coloring fabulous?
Once colored, she gave it back to me because making the actual cards seems to be my portion of the collaborations we do. I haven't gotten her into that side of the creative process but it works out well when she colors and I turn those images into cards.
I cut the image with a QuicKutz die, then used a Fiskars punch on the four corners. I framed that with a piece of scrap, gray CS, and I inked the edges of the frame. For the background, I found bits of dp in the Christmas scrap basket, layered them one above another and thought they worked really well together. I wrapped a snippet of very narrow ribbon around the card front and also tied another scrap of it into a simple bow. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.
Challenges:
Outlawz Tues (bottom left to top right)
Snippets Playground (background papers, gray image frame, & ribbon scraps)
Tues MorningIt's Christmas Eve and I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas! Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
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
Saturday, September 21, 2024
All About Halloween COWS???
I know after that title on this post, I'm going to have to do some explaining. We don't automatically associate cows with Halloween. But my granddaughter invented this silly game to be played on long car trips (or train journeys) the object of which is to count (and thereby 'collect') cows seen from the windows. The person with the most cows at the end of the trip wins. What they win is still uncertain, but win they do!
Somewhere along the way, additional rules got added, things like the first person to spot a graveyard (ah ha! a connection to Halloween!) or a sign pointing out the road to one, gets to keep all their cows but everyone else's cows die and are gone forever.
Out of that game, came a love for cows of all kinds but mostly the adorable Highland cows with the moppy hair or at least black and white cows. Her apartment is now decorated with all kinds of cow decor, including a black and white spotted refrigerator. lol Her boyfriend is barely tolerant of all the cows, mostly rolling his eyes when they are mentioned or when some new addition arrives to join the herd. I don't know if the fact that she attends college in Texas makes it better or worse, but I make and send her cow related cards for all occasions and sometimes for no occasion at all.
Of course, Halloween is right around the corner and I was fully prepared to find another Halloween Cow image but then I discovered some hilarious digital images from Zigi Design Studio, fell in love, and all plans changed. I knew I'd get feedback from her demanding to know why there were no cows this time, so I built in the answer in card sentiments on both her card and her boyfriend's card.
I used my favorite Halloween greens and oranges, and of course the standard black. See below, where I share both of them.
Her card.
Challenges (Her Card):
His card.
She'll giggle and he'll be very satisfied over winning one. lol
Challenges (for His Card):
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
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
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Fall Roses
Last month, I won a challenge over at LeighSBDesigns and the prize was a coupon to their store and a chance to be a Guest Designer, using an image purchased with that coupon. Today's card was made for my daughter's birthday which is in late October and I'm using the beautiful LeighSBDesigns image called Fall Roses. My daughter loves yellow roses and the image just called for some autumn colors to enhance them.
I used water color paints to color the image, let it dry over night, then cut it with a QuicKutz square die. The brown CS frame was embossed using my 'Linen' EF. The sentiment was printed and cut with a Tonic Studios die. I added two hand-tied bows, one made from yellow gingham ribbon and the other from brown satin ribbon. I layered them together with fabric glue. Everything was put onto a 5.5" x 5.5" card base made from heavy duty white CS.
Challenges:
Can You Handle ...?
Lil Patch of ...
Outlawz Tuesday (orange/yellow/green)
Check out Leigh's Etsy shop. You might fall in love with some of her lovely (or even the more quirky) images. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Ice Cream Summer
This fun image is the one given to us for the Progressive Challenge at The Outlawz. I admit that when I first saw the plain outline image, I wasn't all that enamored with it but as I began to color it, giving it strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla scoops, it suddenly looked really cute (and refreshing!)
I used Sanjoki alcohol markers to color it, then fussy cut the cone with scissors. I looked through a box of long-stored, paper stacks and found two papers I thought really worked well together and which set off the image. The polka dot paper from Paper Studio I cut with a Tonic Studios die. The argyle paper is from Authentique and I cut it to size for an A2 card with my largest rectangle die from QuicKutz.
I printed and cut the sentiment with the smallest QuicKitz die from that same rectangle set. I inked the edges of the sentiment and the polka dot paper using an ink pad. I hand-tied a very simple bow, using white satin ribbon, and I 'dyed' the bow using a Sanjoki marker so that I had the exact color I wanted.
I based the card design on the sketch from Tuesday Morning.
Challenges:
Handstamped Sentiments
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Puppy Walking
How about a reminder that LeAnn's World 101 has a monthly Progressive Challenge over on their FB page and the freebie (if you played last month) image is Dog Walker Annie? If you didn't play last month, you can purchase the image, make a card, enter it into the album on FB, and next month, you'll get a free image to play again. Each month that you play, you get the image free the following month.
I did a card with a lot more embellishment than is my normal "style" (if I even have a style!) but after mostly CAS or near CAS cards over the last couple of weeks, I just wanted to create something different.
I colored the image with ProMarkers, and cut it with a QuicKutz die. I inked the edges on both the image and the sentiment (cut with an Avery Elle die), using a deep purple marker. The background papers are both from Stampin' Up and they've been in my stash for at least 5 years, probably longer. I found scraps of them in a folder and used a Darice EF on each one, carefully matching the embossed design when I layered them together on the card front.
The ivy vine was cut with a Sue Wilson die. I decided on a bow and found the lovely, sparkly, copper ribbon, then used my bow maker to tie a triple-loop bow. I thought the copper color was a great compliment to the color of the butterflies in the image.
Challenges:
We'd love to see you playing along in the Progressive Challenge at LeAnne's World 101. If you played last month, this image has already been sent to you. If you didn't play, head over to the store (see link to the image up above) and grab it. Then play with us and get the image for next month free!
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Back to School
The three most dreaded words for any school kid who hasn't yet drained the last drops out of summer are "Back to School"!! My youngest granddaughter claims to be ready for school instead of summer but then, she's in college and has spent her summer working to earn money to come home for a few days this month and again at Christmas break.
I'm going to give her this card right before she heads back into classes. It's my DT card for the August blog challenge starting today over at LeAnn's World 101. The image is called "Bookworm" and you can find it in the store by clicking on the name.
I colored the image with my Sanjoki markers, cut it and the frame behind it with QuicKutz dies. I used 2 pieces of embossed CS to make the background and I used a Darice EF on the top piece with the diamond pattern, and a Sizzix EF for the leaves on the bottom. The sentiment was printed and fussy cut, then "framed" by inking the edges.
I used some fall ribbon from my stash to wrap the card front and to hand tie the bow.
I pulled colors from the challenge at My Favorite Things
Challenges:
Can You Handle ...?
Thru...Purple Haze (center column)
I hope we're going to see you playing in our Blog Challenge. Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and it runs until the end of the month. Don't forget that our Progressive Challenge has also restarted on our FB site and it goes live on the 5th of each month. Go check out the post and you'll find all the rules in the August Progressive album.
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Christmas Candles
I was lucky enough to have won a challenge over at Simon Says Stamp earlier this month, and I spent my prize certificate on some new Christmas dies (as if I didn't already have 200 Christmas dies!) I used one of them on this card, the Christmas Candles from Paper Rose Dies.
I cut a white square first, then used the die to cut both red and green CS scraps. I cut away the candles and then the green branch, and glued those to the already cut, white square. I used a gold paint pen on the candle flames. I also added a red CS mat behind the candles.
The sentiment is from QKR Stampede, printed and fussy cut, then the edges were inked with a Copic marker. I found a scrap of gold, sparkly ribbon and hand-tied the bow.
My design was influenced by the sketch at My Favorite Things,
but I adapted it for a larger, square card.
Challenges:
Lil Patch of ...
This card is #36 in my stash of Christmas cards, all made just this month. I'd say that's a pretty good start on cards for this holiday season. :-D Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Friday, June 9, 2023
Time for Purple & Pink
We have a new challenge starting over at Crafty Catz this morning and our theme is always Anything Goes but we also offer you an OPTIONAL theme if you want to use it. This week the option is: Purple and Pink! I love this combo and purple is my favorite color regardless of theme or season or subject matter so this worked perfectly for me.
Our sponsor this week is Di's Digi Designs and, while they weren't able to supply the DT with images to use, I did have this one in my collection so used it to do pink and purple. Aren't those hedgies adorable?
I colored with my Sanjoki markers and cut the image with a QuicKutz die. The sentiment was cut with a Die-namics die. The diagonal strip of dp came from the scrap basket and I'm pretty sure it's made by Doodlebug. The lace bow was hand tied and added as the primary embellishment.
This one goes in my birthday stash!
I chose colors from My Favorite Things.
Challenges:
Lil Patch of ...
I hope you'll come and play in our challenge this week. We love being inspired by you. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
See a Country Mile
Here comes our latest challenge at FarmQuest General Store, where our theme is always "Anything Country Goes." Just country, rural, farm, and open spaces - no cityscapes, high rises, shopping malls, nightclubs, or other 'citified' nonsense. :-D
The image I used today is from Anne Fenton and it's such a perfect country lane gate that it was perfect for turning into a country view of wide, open spaces. I colored it with water colors and ProMarkers, then cut it with a square, QuicKutz die. I use a Fiskars punch on all four corners.
I used a scrap piece of Paper Studio dp to make the frame for the image, die cutting and corner punching it the same way as the image piece. The background dp is from that same Paper Studio stack. I seem to have used it a lot these past few days but it's been lying on my crafting desk so it was within reach and has some really great masculine papers in it.
I added a wrap of black, organza ribbon and used it for the hand tied bow, too. The sentiment was printed as part of the image. I think the black and brown make the card very masculine.
Challenges:
A Perfect Time ...
Carlin's Card ...
Come play with us this month. Just make something with a country flavor and enter it into our challenge. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Butterfly Birthday
The other day I made a card with a butterfly gem on it and, as I was photographing that card, a butterfly landed momentarily on my windowpane. That reminded me that despite the really hot weather we're having this week (including 1 official day over 100 degree F!), it is still a month before spring turns into summer and I wanted to use a few more butterflies before spring was gone.
I dug through my stash of cutting dies and came up with this die set from Brutus Monroe - relatively new but so far unused. I decided then and there on a card with all die cuts and no stamping of any kind. I went and checked on the theme options at The Butterfly Challenge. What I love most about that challenge is that there are always lots of options, including colors, a theme, and a different card fold. This time, I've used all 4 of the color options (plum, persimmon, pistachio, & pink), plus the theme (Pearls), plus butterflies, although I skipped the fancy card fold.
All the papers and CS came from my scrap basket. The pink dp for the first butterfly came from Stampin' Up, and the pistachio CS for the second butterfly was from Recollections. I ran it through my 'Linen' EF before cutting it with the dies. The butterflies themselves were cut from a plum CS scrap. The sentiment was also part of the Brutus Monroe die set.
The persimmon paper is a scrap from a Lawn Fawn stack, the back side of a dp with leaves but for this card, I preferred the solid side. I added a row of small pearls to each butterfly body and then used 3 larger pearls at the top of the persimmon strip. My final touch was to hand tie a bow using stitched, grosgrain ribbon. Quite a lot done for such a CAS card with lots of white space.
I based this on the sketch from There's a Stamp for That.
Challenges:
Lil Patch of ...
Outlawz SAR ("Butterfly and bug")
Have yourself a wonderful spring day. Unfortunately, we're set for another hot, hot, HOT day in my part of the country, but maybe our weather will cool down again before summer actually arrives. The weather forecasters say we might be back in the low 80s for a short while in another 10 days or so. I'm hoping they're right!
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
24 "Carat"
For my DT card today, I'm using one of Conie Fong's new releases "Bunny with Carrot," which can be found on sale in the store.
This may be my last Easter card (last made; I still have quite a few to post) but it could also be used for a birthday, for Mother's Day, or nearly any occasion for a special person.
What fun this was to color! I used my Sanjoki markers to color the image, then cut it and the frame with dies from Tonic Studio. The background was made using paper scrap (Recollections) and I hand tied the bow using grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment was printed and cut with another Tonic Studio die.
I may have another post today but it may have to wait until tomorrow. I'm still a bit under the weather. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Don't Egg Me On
When the Easter bunny says, "Don't egg me on," he's 'punny'! This guy seems to be only half listening to the 'egging on.' But at least he's attentive with one ear. :-D
The image was printed on a scrap of beige dp which has a 'linen' texture to it. I colored his ears with ProMarkers, then cut the image with a QuicKutz die. The frame was also cut with another QuicKutz die, then run through my "Linen" EF.
The butterfly dp was a scrap from the basket, as was the deep burgundy CS strip at the bottom. The sentiment is from QKR Stampede and I colored it with my new Sanjoki markers and gel pens. The bow was hand tied and stitched in the middle to give it more of a butterfly shape. I wanted the butterflies to emphasize the spring colors and theme.
Challenges:
Butterfly (Tent fold, Tango Pink)
That's it for today. Check back tomorrow when I'll have more Easter to share. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Friday, February 3, 2023
Blowing Bubble Hearts
One more Penny Black stamp from those given to me by my neighbor and, happily, it's another hedgie! What could be cuter for Valentine's Day than a little hedgie blowing bubble hearts?
Water colored and then cut with stitched, circle die from Tutti Designs. The background papers were saved from the scrap pile and the sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die. The hand tied bow was made with sparkly, metallic ribbon.
Challenges:
2 Sisters ... Blog (red/lavender/blue)
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
The Missing Bird
Today we start a new challenge at QKR Stampede, where our theme is always "Anything Goes" and where you can win two different ways; use a QKR Stampede image (or Eureka Stamps, our sister digi company) and be entered into a drawing just for those who used those images or use any image from any company and have your entry put into the general drawing. Both winners are chosen by Random.org but DT members have some input on which QKR/Eureka entries are put into the drawing.
I absolutely adore this image from QKR Stampede, called "What Bird?" It's just so true to feline character when caught doing something they ought not! Obviously, this cat has too much time on his hands when he's forced to stay inside during the cold winter months. This is his version of 'winter fun.' I doubt that his people truly believe his "What Bird" answer when the family canary is missing from his cage! lol
I colored the image with water color paints and cut it with a Dare 2B Artsy pinpoint circle die. The brown frame was also cut with another die from that same set, making pinpoints on the inside of the circle instead of the outside, and the frame circle was cut on the outside with a QuicKutz die. The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. The background paper is a scrap from K & Co. I used polka dot, grosgrain ribbon for the hand-tied bow. This is going into my birthday card stash for one of the grandkids. :-D
Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp (food? lol)
I hope we're going to see you playing along in our challenge this fortnight. We love being inspired by you.
And, don't forget that we have a DT call going until mid-February and we're still looking for a couple more people to join the team. Check out the details on the blog.
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
Friday, December 23, 2022
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:
(Rainbow of colors)
Double Trouble
(Kaleidoscope colors)
(The snowman obviously. :-D)
There's a Stamp ...
Happy Crafting. NanaConnie
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