Fishing for a Valentine

      I'm going a little crazy this month with Penny Black stamps but a neighbor was clearing out  her craft room and doing an early "spring" cleaning, and she decided that her stamping days were over.  Consequently, I was the happy recipient of a load of stamps, many of which had cute Penny Black critters suitable for Valentine cards.  Can you believe this one had never been used?  How could anyone resist?  I guess  in a way that makes it not only 'new to me' but actually new.  :-D

     The image was colored with a combo of water color paints and ProMarkers, then cut with a stitched and scalloped die from Memory Box.  The sentiment was fussy cut.  I found a crap of that sparkly, mesh ribbon in my stash, wrapped it around a red card blank, and added both the image and the sentiment.  A really simple and fast card.

I chose colors from My Favorite Things and 

used all of them in coloring the image.

     Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Catz

Outlawz Thurs

Pammie's IP

Penny Black Sat

Penny's P-C

Simon Says Stamp

Simon Says Weds

Word Art Weds

     That's it for today!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hedgehog's Love Letter

      Yesterday, I promised to post the second card, with another Penny Black hedgie image, made for the moms of college kids to ship off in the "care package" boxes with a Valentine theme.   I think this little guy is even cuter than the one yesterday (which you can find by scrolling down one post.)  The hedgies are new stamps for me, and I have another 3 which I'll be sharing through the month of January.

     On this one, also water colored, I used QuicKutz dies to cut the image and the paper frame, then added a glitter paper strip from the scrap basket.  The image is mounted on dimensional dots.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, and the edges were inked to make it stand out from the white card front.

     Challenges:

Crafter's Cafe

Creative Knockouts

Outlawz Thurs Twist

Paper Funday

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

World Wide DT

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Love on a Fence

     I'm doing Valentine cards as well as birthday cards this month and I want to share this one with you before I forget to post it.  I'm making a total of 18 of these (and 18 of another hedgie Valentine card) because they are going to go into "care package" boxes sent by a local group of moms who have sons and daughters away at college.  

     Each month, they get together as a group and fill boxes with goodies each person has brought, then they ship the boxes off to their college kids.  There are 36 moms in our group (although I make #37 because my youngest granddaughter is away at college but my daughter is the 'mom' sending her box.)  I make different cards each month and the moms can pick one to include in their box if they choose.

     This is the first design and tomorrow I'll share the second one.  I chose images and sentiments which would work for a parent sending Valentines to a college kid.  The sweet hedgie painting the fence is a Penny Black stamp, watercolored, and distress cut using an old blade on my Fiskars paper cutter.  All the CS and papers are from the scrap basket.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die and I mounted the image on dimensional dots.

     Challenges:

Double Trouble

LeAnn's World 101

Lil Patch of ...

Penny Black Sat

There's a Stamp ...

Word Art Weds

     See you tomorrow.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Easter Hedgehog

      (Edited to add:  So sorry.  Somehow my post, instead of being pre-scheduled, reverted to a draft. I've fixed it now.  :-D)

     Another challenge has started today over at Paper Funday.  We are sponsored by Jan's Digi Stamps and by Lee Holland Art, whose image I used on my card.  The image is called "Hedgehog with a Daffodil."  I turned it into an Easter card.

     Colored with ProMarkers and cut with a Sue Wilson framing die.  I colored all the ivy pieces and inlaid them back into the frame.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I added pearls to two of the corners and called it finished.

My card design was inspired by Sketch #227 at Sweet Sketch Weds 2.

     Challenges:

Creative Inspiration

Double D

Mod Squad

Outlawz Thurs Twist

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Word Art Weds

     We'd really love to see you playing along with us this challenge.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hedgie Laundry

     I'm sending this card to a recently-divorced, 30-something, dad-of-young-kids who suddenly became aware that he had no idea how to do laundry!  Inside I added a cute but very vintage list of which days were for which housekeeping chores.

     How many of you remember the old song called "Rest on Sunday?"  My mother and my Grammy taught it to me when I was very young.  It went like this:

Rest on Sunday 

Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, 

Market on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday. 

Then you have all day to Rest on Sunday.

      I remember we had dish towels in our kitchen with the chores embroidered on them, too.  :-D

      This adorable image is from Penny Black.

Colored with water colors & gel pens

Cut with Spellbinders deckle die

Ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon

Raffia bow

Green CS background is a scrap

    Challenges:

A Bit More Time...

Carlin's Card Paradise

Craft-Dee BowZ

Crafter's Cafe

Crafts Galore Encore

Crafty Friends

Dies R Us

Friendship

Penny Black & More

Penny Black Saturday

     I'll have another cute Penny Black image to share with you later this week but for today. this is all I have.  After three separate posts yesterday, I'm tired!  lol  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Summertime Treats

     Out here where I live, we've been feeling temperatures which are 10 to almost 20 degrees F above normal for the end of April/early May.  The grandkids (and the dog!) are already enjoying the swimming pool in the back yard while I've been sitting inside with the air conditioning on.  So my DT card for the latest monthly challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies this week is a perfect preview of what we're going to be enjoying this weekend.  :-D

     Our sponsor is Fabrika Fantasy and I used their image called "Sweet Tooth Hedgehog."

Colored with ProMarkers & gel pens
Quickutz dies for image & frame
Avery Elle die for sentiment
Ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon
CAS design

     Challenges:
A Gem of a ...
Arty Divas
Crafty Friends
Dream Valley
Pammie's Inky ...
Paperminutes
Passion for ProMarkers
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD

     I hope you're gong to come and play with us this month.  Remember, our themes are always "Anything Goes featuring a Critter."  We love being inspired by you.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Dandelion Hedgie

     I had so much fun playing with this Penny Black image.  I don't know how long this has been in my collection but I'm sorting through supplies and tools, including wood mounted stamps, in order to clean out and trim down.  When I ran across this one, I couldn't remember ever using it before so the sorting and cleaning came to an abrupt halt and crafty play began. 

     I stamped several of these for future use, photographed the best one, and saved it into a file.  The wood mounted rubber stamp is going into the 'donate' pile.

Colored with ProMarkers
Highlights added w/ white gel pen
Stickles added to dandelion seeds
Image cut with QuicKutz die
Corner butterflies cut from Recollections glitter paper
        & embossed w/ Memory Box die
Sentiment cut  & embossed w/ Avery Elle die
Signature, hand-sewn bow w/ drop of Stickles
Yellow CS base hand-bleached with cotton swab

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Crafter's Castle
Dare 2B Artzy
Dragonfly Dreams
Dream Valley
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Paper Girls
Penny Black and More
Stamping Sensations

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hedgehog Gratitude

     Can hedgehogs be grateful?  Sure, why not?  Give them a few leaves to line their nests before winter hits and their gratitude knows no bounds.  :-D

     I did this sweet card using an image from Lemon Shortbread.

I started with the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

and the autumn colors from Time Out.

  

     I colored with ProMarkers and water colors, then cut the image with an Unbranded die.  The glittery dots which make up the flourish along the left side and the three on the top right I made by hand punching the dots out of paper which I had glittered and let dry before punching.

     I printed the sentiment, inked the edges and added it above the image.  The bow was hand sewn from sheer ribbon and I put one of the glittered dots on it.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

House that Stamps Built

I {heart} ProMarkers

Mod Squad

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds.

Words to Craft By

     That's all I have for today but I'll be back tomorrow with something else for you to see.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie 

Father's Day Celebration !

Happy Father's Day to all the dads!

     Today I have another Father's Day card made with a Penny Black stamp.  I love this stamp and have used it several times for either gal or guys cards.  Today, it's on a very simple, masculine, card.

     This little hedgie just seems so content and happy sitting in his garden, communing with the bees about his daisy.  Wonderful summer fun.  :-D  

     I colored him with a combination of water colors and ProMarkers.  I wanted a really CAS design which would be easy to put in an envelope and mail so all I did was cut the colored image with a die from QuicKutz and mount it onto a turquoise card front.

     I printed and hand cut the sentiment, then added it.  A perfect masculine card.  :-D

     Challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers

Crafty Creations

Die Cuttin' Divas

Digi Choosday

Di's Digi Designs

Passion for ProMarkers

Penny Black & More

Penny Black Saturday

TTCRD

Unicorn

     Have a marvelous day and celebrate all the dads in your life!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Be Irish

     St. Patrick's Day in America is the one day each year when everyone wants to be Irish (or at least join in the parties which flourish.)  I have the honor of actually having an Irish heritage along with celebrating my birthday each March 17th.  Life is good! :-D

     When I saw this darling March Hedgie with his shamrocks from Bugaboo Stamps, I grabbed it right away. 

I used the sketch from Stella Says Sketch.

        I started by coloring the image with my ProMarkers , then I cut it with an octagon die from Spellbinders.  I inked the edges with a ProMarker.  I dug through my stash of green papers until I found that gorgeous plaid.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the perfect paper for a monochromatic, green, St. Patrick's card.  I checked my basket of scraps and found the striped paper which went across the middle.

     I printed, hand cut, and inked the sentiment before applying it.  The final touch was the quadruple loop bow which I made using my bow maker. 

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft Extra
Catch the Bug
Craft-Dee Bowz
Crafty Animals
Crafty Awesomeness Bugaboo
Crafty Creations
Cuttlebug Mania
Hiding in My Craft Room
Outlawz PAM

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Holly Hedgie

     Time for another Christmas card.  I'm not yet caught up on my promise to myself to do one card per week between January and August, then 2 or more from September to Christmas, but that's because I simply did none at all in January, February and March.  So much for promises to self.  lol  But once I started in, I've been pretty consistent and have made several to make up for the missing 12 weeks.

     This darling little hedgie (Penny Black), prancing about with the holly branch, dropping berries everywhere, in sheer love of the season, is a favorite stamp of mine and perfect for a sweet but simple Christmas card.  I wanted to be able to use it for one of the many men/boys in my family so I held back on the embellies.

     The image is colored with ProMarkers and gel inks, then the oval is cut with an Unbranded die.  Both the papers are from the scrap basket and the green ribbon is also a tail-end left over.  The sentiment is from QKR Stampede and it's cut by hand.

     I must tell you that after I photographed the "finished" card, I kept looking at how flat it was and I went back and added tiny, red, pom poms to each of the holly berries.  It gave it great dimension and texture but I didn't have time to re-photograph it.  You'll just have to imagine it in your mind.  :-D

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
A Snowflakes Promise
Crafting by Designs
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Crafty Sentiments
Holly & Ivy
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Penny Black and More
Penny Black Saturday

     I'll have another post this afternoon, much more appropriate to our summer activities, but I did want to slip in one of the Christmas cards I've been doing.  I must have about 10 now that I've not yet shared but you'll see most of them as pre-scheduled posts when I'm traveling away from my blog this summer.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie