The Artist

     Hello and welcome to the latest weekly challenge at QKR Stampede.  This week I seem to have been focused on all things artistic so what better idea than to showcase a darling little artist?  This image is called "Artist Bear" and I think he's adorable!

Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with circle die from QuicKutz
Border made with pieces from Sizzix quilt die
Hand tied bow, dyed with ProMarker
Sentiment printed and hand cut

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafty Catz
Creative Knockouts
Cute N Crafty
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Twist Thurs
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Scrapper's Delights
Your Next Stamp

     Come play with us this week.  Our theme is always Anything Goes and you can use any products you choose from any company.  If you do use an image from QKR (or our sister company, Eureka Stamps), your entry will be in a separate draw just for those images.  That increases your chances of winning by a huge margin!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Quilt

     I'm following the letter prompt of "Q" at Beccy's Place for the 30 Days of Holidays but I keep forgetting which letter it is because I have as many "P"s as "Q"s in today's post; maybe even more.  :-D  But I did "P" yesterday so this is all about the Christmas Pudding Quilt.

     I colored the Quilt image with my ProMarkers (my favorite method of coloring) and then replaced the center square with my wish for Peace on Earth - a sentiment which is also from Beccy's Place.  I spent a bit of time sizing it to fit and still had to trim the edges in thin slices but it did fit eventually.

     I used two of my Quilting dies - one from Gina Marie and one from Sizzix - to cut the dp and the glittered paper.  I made that glittered paper by adding loose glitter to sticker paper, burnishing it in, and then cutting it with the die.  I have to give my friend, Donna, credit for jogging my memory and inspiring me to use that technique again.  Here's her post about glittering sticker paper, but I didn't do anything nearly as complex as she did.  I just peeled off one side of the sticker paper (trimmed to the size I needed for the die), added glitter to the entire thing, then cut it with the quilt die.  It made the glittery pieces easy to apply since they already had adhesive on the backs.

     I put the Quilted papers together like a puzzle, then placed them into position on the card front.  The Christmas Pudding Quilt image went on top.  I embellished the corners with two of my signature bows which had been dyed with a Pine ProMarker.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
C.R.A.F.T.
Double Trouble  (all 3)
I {heart} ProMarkers
Outlawz Twisted Thurs
Path of Positivity
Pile It On
Try Stampin' on Tues
Unicorn
Use Your Stuff
Word Art Weds.

     I hope your week is starting well and, if you live in the USA, that you are getting on with all your preparations for Thanksgiving, only 3 more days away!   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

B is for Butterfly

     I found a different challenge the other day and made this card from their inspiration 'wheel.'  It's Called Butterfly Challenge and each time they choose as letter from the alphabet and give three color options and three theme options, and you can choose any one color and one theme to combine plus you must use a butterfly.

     I did this card using all the colors and themes: lavender, lemon, & light blue plus lace, layers & letters.  What do you think?

     The quilt die is from Gina Marie and I used it to cut scrap paper from my stash plus light/medium blue and lavender CS.  I used the light blue as the 'frame' then inset the blue and lavender CS pieces.  I filled the remaining spots with the flowery dp.

     I layered white lace onto lemon yellow CS, then added the quilt piece on top.  I printed the sentiment and hand cut it, layering it onto a banner flag.  The final touch was the embroidered butterfly, done in lemon yellow.  It was quite a challenge getting all 7 items but it felt good when I finished and I really love the result.

     Challenges:
Crafty Creations
Creative Moments
Double D
House that Stamps Built
Mod Squad
Penny's Paper Crafty
Scrappy Land
That's Crafty
WordArt Weds.

      I hope you enjoyed my project for today and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Post Holiday Thank You Cards

     One of the things about the Christmas holidays and all the gifts is that there is an immediate need for Thank You cards.  I usually start making them during the holidays and this year was no exception.  I made more than a dozen, some of which I shared with family members who needed them.  I'm still making a few more and will post those as they are completed.  In the meantime, here are the first two I finished and mailed.

     First card:

     This one was pretty simple to make; it's nothing more than die cuts, dp, and CS.  The background cut was done with one of my newest die sets from Sue Wilson (Merry Christmas to me!), cut from bleached dp.  The sentiment piece is actually the 'negative' piece left over from cutting out the word "Thanks."  That's a die from Memory Box and I think it looks like a cloud.

     I layered the cuts together, and layered them onto a pink card base which had been embossed with my "Linen" folder.

     Challenges:
Crafting by Designs
Digi Choosday
DL.ART
Everybody Art
TTCRD

     Second card:

     This is another card done all with die cuts but it's a bit more complex.  The card base is another pre-made card and, again, I ran the front of it through my "Linen" embossing folder to give it a bit of texture.  The sentiment is cut with the same Memory Box die as I used above but from different color CS.

     The "quilted" star was cut with my other brand new die (from Stampin' Up) and I know I'm going to have tons of fun with this one!   Talk about versatile - more design combinations than you can imagine.  Great value for the money.

     All of that glittered "paper" is actually cut from 6" x 6" sheets of washi tape.  The sheets have a clear backing paper which peals off to expose the adhesive.  I cut 4 different colors of the glittered washi sheets, then pieced together the shapes to make the star.

     That is my first stack of washi sheets and I plan to order more of them right away!  I can see all  kinds of possibilities for that kind of washi 'tape' and I don't want to run out of it in the first week of using it.  lol

     Challenges:
Crafty Gals Corner
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
Word Art Weds.

     That's all I have for today but I am getting back into my routine so I'll probably have a post each day this week.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie