Cute Heart Valentine

      I'm posting my DT card today for the challenge over at Star Stampz.  Our themes are always "Anything Goes" with an optional subtheme, which is "Hearts" this month, in honor of Valentine's Day.

     I used the darling Star Stampz image called "Cute Heart Valentine."  I colored her with Ohuhu and Sanjoki markers, then cut the image with a QuicKutz die.  I added a frame to it, also cut with a QuicKutz die from that same set.  The background dp came from a DCWV stack which has been in my stash for at least 5 years!   The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Aud Sentiments
Cupcake Inspirations

Lil Patch of ...

Neglected Stuff

Outlawz SAR

Pammie's IP

     That's all I have for today.  Wishing you a fun and fabulous Valentine's Day on Friday.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Valentine Penguin

      This precious image from Jan's Digi Stamps, called "Puttin' on the Ritz," has been reversed for this card.  It's a pre-colored image so putting the card together was quicker than usual.  The image was printed, then cut with an Unbranded die.  I added a scrap of red CS behind the die cut and trimmed it to fit the rounded corners.

     I printed and fussy cut the sentiment (also part of the set), inked the edges with neon ProMarker to make it stand out, then added it to the image piece.  I used baker's twine to enhance the red, burlap ribbon, wrapping two pieces on each side of the ribbon.  The Petaloo flower covers the spot where the ribbon and twine ends overlapped.  

     

     Valentine's Day is getting closer by the minute so if you haven't started on your cards yet, let this be an inspiration.  Remember, you can get cards done very quickly with pre-colored images, especially if you do CAS cards (which this one isn't!)  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

You Make Me Smile

      Another fun Valentine card with a Single Rose image and a sentiment which are from Beccy's Place.  I had printed them together but it was quite a while ago and I found them in the folder labeled 'Ready for Coloring.'  I knew I could turn them into a Valentine card so colored with ProMarkers (as close as I could get to the pre-colored image by Beccy but a bit more pastel), then fussy cut them into one piece.

     I looked through the scrap basket and found a left over, negative, die cut (Lawn Cuts from Lawn Fawn) of the hearts.  The pink CS was embossed with my Linen EF.  For the card front, I chose deep, garnet-color, metallic, 'mirror' paper.  Everything was layered together in an eye-pleasing design and that made one more card for my Valentine stash.

     I had a lovely rose bush with roses just this color for several years but I had to leave it behind when I moved into my current home.  Still, it reminds me of the years spent in that house so I do love it.

     Challenges:

Birthstone

Die Cut Divas

Heart's Quest

Lawn Fawnatics

Morgan's ArtWorld

Not2Shabby

Pammie's IP

Papercraft

Your Scrapbook Place

     Well, I certainly have fallen behind on getting my full year's worth of birthday cards made this month, but maybe I'll just get the ones done for the February birthdays, and do the rest of the year next month.  I've just gotten some additional requests for Valentine cards by the batch (to be donated to a group putting together care baskets for local homeless families with children which will be distributed through a shelter on Valentine's Day) so I'm going to have a total of about 50 Valentine cards.  

  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Roses for Love

      I don't know why I was so long in discovering Gecko Gals, both their store and their challenges, but last month was my first time playing and then I ended up winning a challenge which they had sponsored.  Needless to say, I went on a shopping spree and now have their online Etsy shop tagged as a favorite.

     One of the sets I bought (Heart and Soul) had delightful images (many of them vintage) good for Valentine greetings.  This is the first card I did with one of those images.  In keeping with one of the January themes, "Black & White w/ Pop of Color, I colored this rose image with watercolor paints and fussy cut it before layering it onto of a black CS background.  The sentiment was done in red ink and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I think it made a perfect CAS card, although the open "white" space is black instead.

     Challenges:

Ally's Angels

A Perfect Time ...

Birthstone (Garnet)

Creations in Pink

Die Cut Divas

Gecko Gals FB

Let's Craft & Create

Morgan's ArtWorld

Not2Shabby (rose)

Word Art Weds

     Look for another post tomorrow.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Valentines by Die Cut

      I've been playing with another half dozen Valentine cards for my upcoming vendor fair this weekend.  I shared 2 of them yesterday and today I have cards made with die cuts and scrap bits of this and that.  I really cleaned off the craft desk by using only paper scraps which were on the desk.

     On both of these cards, I used Spellbinders dies and scraps from a C C Designs "Smoochie" stack.   The odd shaped hearts were cut with dies which are supposed to be leaves but I've used them several times to make hearts.  The sentiment on the balloon bouquet card was cut with an Avery Elle die.  The XOXO on the other card (along with a few others) was sent to me last year by a friend who has an electronic cutter.  I added glitter to the letters and used it as the sentiment on that card.

  #1 

   #2

     Card #1 Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

Outlawz Twist Thurs

Paperbabe

     Card #2 Challenges:

AAA Cards

Addicted to CAS

Crafty Calendar

Cupcake Inspirations

Di's Digi Designs

Dragonfly Dreams

Dream Valley

Simon Says Stamp

     Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie   

Wanna Be Your Valentine

      This is one more Valentine as I'm getting ready for a Valentine themed vendor event on Saturday.  I used an older image from Lemon Shortbread.  I colored it with my ProMarkers, and added tiny, die cut, red hearts to the stars to make it feel more like a Valentine.  The sentiment was printed at the same time as the image.  I cut the image piece with a pinpoint, rectangle die from Memory Box.

      The framing piece was cut from some Neenah Products dp using a Gina Marie die.  The tiny hearts I used on the stars were the bits which fell out of the die cut.  I’ve had the Neenah papers for at least 5 years!  Everything was put onto a deep burgundy card base.  

     I used one of my signature, hand-sewn bows which I make up by the dozens and toss into my stash for future use.  I have come to the point where I only make them from white satin ribbon and then I use markers to "dye" them the colors I want for a particular card.

     Challenges:

Art Impressions

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Di's Digi Designs

Double D

Dragonfly Dreams

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

Taylormade ...

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie 

Heart full of Love

     We're starting our new monthly challenge at Paper Funday today and our theme is always "Anything Goes" with the optional twist for February being "Hugs & Kisses."  Our fun and fabulous sponsors are Polkadoodles and All Dressed Up.  I am using an image from Polkadoodles called "Love You Bunches."

     I used my ProMarkers to color the sweet bunny image, then fussy cut it with scissors.  I used a circle die from Dare 2B Artzy to cut a circle in silver glitter CS and layered a scrap of  pink dp behind it.  I mounted the image onto dimensional dots and put that in the circle.  The sentiment was printed, cut with an Avery Elle die, and matted with another scrap of the pink dp.  Sparkly and fun but still pretty CAS.

     Challenges:

Butterfly (circle, coral, cardinal + butterflies)

Creative Inspirations

Double D

Paper Shelter

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

    Come play with us in our February challenge.  You are free to do Anything Goes or to follow the option of Hugs and Kisses, but either way,. we'd love to see you entering our challenge.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sweetheart Bella Twins

      Today, I'm sharing another of my DT cards for Conie Fong, on which I've used two images from the Sweetheart Bella set.  There are 3 different image options in the set; one has Bella holding a heart that says 'love,' another with a blank heart, and the third with a heart that says 'hugs.'  I know you're going to think I used the Hugs and Love heart images, but actually, I used Love and the blank heart.

     I knew before I printed the images that I wanted to reverse one of them so that I could position them a bit apart but they would seemingly be facing different directions.  I wanted them to look more like twins than duplicates.  However, if I reversed either the Love or the Hugs image, then the word would print out backwards!   So, I reversed the blank heart image, then wrote in the word "hugs" myself.  I think I did a pretty good job of matching the handwriting on the word "love."  :-D

     I used ProMarkers to color the images, then cut them both with a single die from Cuts.  I mounted the image piece onto mirrored, red CS and trimmed the ends to fit.  That was mounted onto a pink card base and I sewed one of my tiny butterfly bows which I placed just above the image.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I left it rather CAS, with lots of open space.

     Challenges:

Butterfly  (Tickle me pink, Tan)

Colour Crazy

C.R.A.F.T.

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspirations

Let's Craft & Create

Mod Squad

Paperbabe

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     If you haven't joined the Conie Fong FB page yet, you really should do it now.  There are 2 challenges there every month.  All you have to do is use a Conie Fong image and you can enter either the "Coloring Only" challenge or the one for finished projects, like cards or paper crafts.  You can win fabulously cute images.  Come play!  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Only Have Eyes for You

      It's the first Monday in January and time for another new, "Anything Goes" challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps.  Today I'm using one of the NEW (and on sale) JDS releases called "Only Have Eyes for You" and I think that darling little Doxie is too precious for words!  

     My coloring is still a bit limited so I used a pre-colored image from the set, cut it with a die from Spellbinders, and inked the edges with a ProMarker.  I used heart dies from Spellbinders to cut both Neenah dp and Recollections CS.  The sentiment is from the "Only have Eyes for You" set and I cut it with a leaf shaped die (also Spellbinders) that I thought worked with the heart dies.

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

Clever Dexter

Digi Doodle Studios

Double Trouble

Ike's World

Mod Squad

Outlawz Greetings

Scrapping4fun

Simon Says Stamp

Your Next Stamp

     I hope we'll see you playing along in our challenge this month.  It runs through February 6 so you have lots of time.  Also, remember that if you use a JDS image, your entry gets put into a separate draw just for people who use Jan's images and that increases your chances of winning a prize by a huge amount.  Be sure to check the Jan's Digi Stamps shop to see everything that's on sale this month, too!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

My First Valentine for 2021

      I know we all wanted the New Year to arrive and for the whole Covid-19 thing to be over and done with the stroke of midnight, but I fear that a good majority of us will still be suffering from lockdowns and government restrictions on our activities for quite some time yet, so I'm already planning to mail Valentine cards to all the grandkids and great-grands in February.

     For my first one (though I have no idea which kidlet will get it), I used this darling Panda Love Drops from Imagine That!'s Progressive Challenge.

I laid this out to fit the sketch at My Favorite Things

but with the sketch flipped.

Single Layer, tent style, CAS card

Pre-colored image

Baker's twine scrap

I also want to tell you about a fun "challenge-yourself" idea being promoted by my blogging buddy, V.  It's called "Just Stash January" and it involves using nothing but things already in your stash throughout the entire month of January!  There are a few reasonable exceptions (all of which mean that no money has come out of your pocket) and you can read about those on her post.  Just click on the link and find out all about it, then start counting those coins and bills you'll be 'stashing' in your pocket this month instead of crying about even more charges on the credit cards after the holiday season.  :-D  Everything on this card came from the stash!

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Crafty Calendar

Crafty Sentiments

Gem of a Challenge 

Lemon Shortbread

Lil Patch of ...

Mod Squad

Outlawz PAM

     That's all I have for today but here's wishing all of you Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cave Man Love

    HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !

     In days of old... and I mean REALLY old!  Yes, people fell in love way back  then, too.  lol  Today starts a new "Anything Goes" challenge at QKR Stampede and I decided that one more Valentine would be appropriate since today is Valentine's Day.  I merged two QKR images, each called "Cave Man" (yes, even the Cave Woman is titled as a Cave MAN!) but they have different numbering designations: 24292 & 24293.

Colored with ProMarkers and gel pens
Cut with Gina Marie die
    (do you see all the little hearts or do you only see 4 leaf clovers?)
Mounted onto red card stock base
CAS design which looks more complex due to die cut

     Challenges:
Crafty Gals Corner
Creatalicious
Creative Inspirations
Creative Moments
Friendship
I {heart} ProMarkers
Paper Funday
Paper Shelter
SheepSki Designs
Tales from the Craft Room

     Hoping to see you playing along with us this week and in the meantime, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Chocolate Kind of Love

     Catch the Bug has a theme of "Child's Play" and I'm still thinking back to those fun childhood days of Valentine exchanges in school but wishing someone had put chocolates in my Valentine box.  :-D  This adorable little sunbonnet girl is an image from Bugaboo Stamps.

Colored with ProMarkers
Image is fussy cut with scissors & mounted on dimensional dots
Heart doily cut from mulberry paper
Scrap strip of CS added to bottom & gems applied
Pearls added to sunbonnet & apron
Sentiment printed and hand cut

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Brown Sugar
Crafty Friends
Do Al(l) Creatives
Double D
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds.
Friendship
I {heart} ProMarkers
Paper Funday

      Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

A Mousie Kind of Love

     I adore House Mouse stamps but have very few which work as Valentine images.  This one, however, brings back childhood memories of candy hearts with words on them and how we looked forward to the Valentine card exchange in our classrooms.  :-D  Do kids even do that any more?

I pulled color and hearts inspiration from 

this photo at Passion for ProMarkers.

Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with QuicKutz rectangle die
CAS design
Card front is embossed with "Linen" folder
Hand tied bow with sequin

     Challenges:
Arty Divas
Coloring in Scrapland
Cutie Pie
Digi Choosday
Dream Valley
Get Creative
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sweets for a Sweetheart

     Time for a card featuring an image from Beccy's Place where the optional theme is "All About Animals."  I'm doing a few Valentine's since it's early February and I thought this sweet bear was perfect for someone who loves home baked goodies.  All it took was a combo of traditional Valentine colors.  :-D

Colored with ProMarkers
Layered onto rose red and pink CS
Hearts cut with Memory Box dies
Sentiment printed in red and hand cut
Matted with pink CS

     Challenges:
Cuttlebug Mania
Dies R Us
Double D
House that Stamps Built
I {heart} ProMarkers
Memory Box #58
Mod Squad
Paper Funday
Paperminutes
Paper Shelter
Simon Says Stamp

     Have a very Happy Crafting day.  :-D  NanaConnie

Guest Designer at Conie Fong !

     I can hardly tell you how excited I am today.  I've been invited to be a Guest Designer at Conie Fong's Facebook challenges for February and March!!  I discovered and fell in love with Conie's lovely artwork way back when and being a Guest Designer is such a delight.  Maybe some day I can join the team on a more permanent basis and that would be just as exciting but for today, I'm looking forward to the opportunities to share with you my designs as GDT.

     This sweet image is called Bella with Rose and I thought it made a perfect Valentine card.  Of course, a certain member of my family seem to think it should serve as her birthday card but that's not my intention this time.  :-D

Design based on the sketch at Sketch Saturday.

Colored with ProMarkers
Image and mat cut with Spellbinders dies
Sentiment printed and cut with Avery Elle die
Papers are scraps from DCWV
Heart is in the dp but embellished with get ink
Hand tied and sewn bow
Metal brads

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time...
Angie's Digital Stamps
Crafter's Cafe
Crafty Friends
Creatalicious
Dare 2B Artsy
Dragonfly Dreams
Outlawz PAM
Stamping Sensations

     Come visit the Conie Fong Facebook site.  We'd love to see you there.  There are both Coloring Only and Completed Project challenges, but you must use a Conie Fong image.  Check out the Etsy store - you'll fall in love.  :-D  Happy Crafting.

Celebrating Love

     I'm back on track but will be posting only sporadically this month and maybe the first half of next month since my craft room supplies are going to be pretty much packed up during that time.  :-(  In the interests of plain and simple sanity, I'll probably keep a few ProMarkers and a box of watercolor pencils close at hand so that I can do coloring if nothing else.  Sitting and coloring a dozen images over a weekend will go a long way toward making me feel both calm and creative.  :-D

     In the meantime, here's my card for the Progressive Challenge at The Outlawz this month.  The image came from SheepSki Designs.

     I started with scraps of confetti CS, printed the image on one, and trimmed the other piece to the size of the card front so that I could do a twisted easel card.  I colored with ProMarkers and cut the image with a square die from QuicKutz.  I inked the edges of both the image and the confetti CS square for the card front.

     The scattered hearts were all cut with dies from Spellbinders, Memory Box, or Lawn Fawn, all of which are brand new in my stash!  How perfect to now have them for this card.  :-D  I used them to complement the scattered hearts in the image.  The sentiment, together with one heart, is used as the 'stopper' for the easel.  The card base is made with kraft CS and I love the contrast with the confetti CS.

     Challenges:
Crafter's Castle
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Sentiments Designs
Cute N Crafty
Ike's World
Incy Wincy
Lemon Shortbread
Passion for ProMarkers
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting!  NanaConnie

First Valentine of 2018

     When I saw this darling little bear buried in a pile of hearts, I just had to get my first Valentine of the year done.  The image is from the monthly progressive challenge at Gerda Steiner Designs.

I used the sketch from Cheerful Sketches.

     Those two triangular strips are harder to plan than I first imagined when I looked at the sketch.  I ended up using two different types of dp, one glittered and the other with polka dots. 

     After I had already colored him with my ProMarkers, I realized he would have made a perfect little Panda but I was staying with the colors for the February Card Chain Challenge so I'll leave him as is.  Next time, I'll try him as a Panda Bear.

     After coloring, I cut the image with a die from Spellbinders, inked the edges, and added the triangles.  The sentiment was stamped and hand-cut, then layered onto the red CS strip along the bottom.  Since this one is going to get mailed halfway across the world, I left it pretty flat and CAS - no additional, bulky, embellies.

     Challenges:
A Perfect Time to Craft
Card Mania
Dream Valley
Stempelsonnen
World Wide Open

     Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Stealing Hearts

     How could these sweet kittens NOT steal your heart?   The image is from Sasayaki Glitter and is the image this month from the Progressive Challenge over on Facebook.   I think it's called "Valentine Cats."

I started with the sketch from The Outlawz.

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, added two, little, die cut, red hearts to their collars, then cut it with a die from Spellbinders.  The die also pierces holes and embosses the paper.  I added more embossing with a "Hearts" folder from Darice and I used that for the mat behind the image.

     I dug through my stash of 12 x 12 scrapbooking papers, cut four squares (that paper is red, not burnt orange!) and added them to deep red CS, then layered the image piece on top of that.  I decided on two of my hand sewn bows (the ones with pearls) for embellishment and called it finished.  

     Challenges:
Aussie Digital Artists 
CCC Digi
Ching-chou Kuik
Crafty Awesomeness
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Creatalicious
Cute as a Button
Die Cut Divas
Dies R Us
Not Just Cards
Paper Creator's Crafts
Pearly Sparkles
Sasayaki Glitter
World Wide Open DT

     I'm doing more Valentine's this year than usual because I've had some requests from friends who want to share cards with their grandkids or friends.  I hope your week is going well and wish you lots of Happy Stamping.    NanaConnie

Purrr-fect Together

     Open-Minded Crafting Fun starts its February challenge today and it will run throughout February and into March.  New challenges begin there on the 10th of each month.  This month, we have a theme of "Love" or "Valentines."  Even after Valentine's Day is over, we can always do with a bit more Love to share.  We have four great sponsors this month; All Dressed Up, Ppinky Dolls, SLS Lines, and Zuri Artsy.

     I am using a darling image from All Dressed Up called "Purrfect Together."

     I loaded the image once, using MS Word, and then loaded and flipped it for a second image.  I sized one slightly larger than the other so that I could use them as a cute couple.  I printed them onto white CS and then printed them again onto the background dp (I love how it looks almost like wallpaper!), including in that printing the sentiment which came with the image.

     I colored them with ProMarkers, fussy cut them and layered them onto the background, carefully lining up the whiskers and black outlines.  I used my favorite ever sheer ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon and then die cut some heart-shaped leaves (Spellbinders.)   I added punched and glittered flowers, putting wooden beads in the centers.  I think this is a delightful Valentine card but would work just as well for an engagement, an anniversary, for someone who just got a new feline fur baby, or for any occasion which celebrates pets or love.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Animal Friends
Brown Sugar
Catch the Bug
Connie Can Crop
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's Pattern Paper
Creative Corner
Dies R Us
Just Us Girls
My Time to Craft
Oddball Art
One Stitch at a Time
Paper Creator's Crafts
Pattie's Creations
Petal Lu
Really Reasonable Ribbon
Show Us Your Pussy Cats
Sweet Stampin'

     Come play along with us this month, won't you?   We'd love to see what you enter.  Remember, we get as inspired by looking at all the entries as you do by reviewing the DT cards.  See you at Open-Minded!  Happy Stamping.   NanaConnie

Golden Anniversary

     I had a friend ask me if I could make an anniversary card for a couple who got married on Valentine's Day 50 years ago.  I knew that 'Golden Anniversary' would be a great theme and decided on gold embossing powder before I even looked at what I might use image-wise.  Here's the end result.

     In addition to the gold embossing, I decided on a touch of red as a nod to Valentine's Day.  On the gold, what wasn't heat embossed was colored with metallic ProMarkers.  The sentiment was cut with a die from Memory Box.

     Challenges:
Craft Rocket
Crafting for all Seasons
Crafty Creations
Creative Moments
Die Cut Divas
Dies R Us
DL.ART
Just Keep on Creating
Oddball Art
Outlawz Twisted Thursday
Scrapy Land
Scribbles Designs
Simon Says Stamp
Star Stampz
Time Out
Tinker-Dream

     I was very pleased with the way this turned out and so was the friend who ordered it.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie