Bear-ly Old

      Today we begin our latest challenge at FarmQuest and our theme is "Things Found in a Forest."   I interpreted that very broadly and decided to find an animal that would inhabit the forest instead of just trees or plants.  This image of a bear is pencil sketched clip art.  I wish I knew the name of the artist but it came from a book of clip art coloring pages available online and there is no company or artist names on any of them.

     Although it may be difficult to see in the photo, after I printed the image I used a very pale, blue wash of watercolor paint over the entire image, then darkened the sketch using blue colored pencils and gamsol.  

     I cut the finished image with a Tonic Studios die, then printed the 2-part sentiment and cut those with dies from Avery Elle.  Everything was mounted onto a dark blue card front which I had embossed using my 'Linen' EF.  I made this as a birthday card for one of my grandsons who celebrated just a week ago.

      Challenges:

Addicted to CAS

Can You Handle ...?

Crafty Calendar

Lil Patch of ...

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

WordArt Weds

     It would be wonderful if you'd come and play in our challenge.  Think of a forest, choose something you might find there, let it inspire your creativity, and enter it into our challenge.  We can't wait to see what you create!  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sketch, Panda, and QKR Stampede

     Good Friday morning to all of you!  Another new challenge is starting at QKR Stampede this morning and this week we have a sketch challenge.  It's a great sketch; very versatile and fun to use.



     Here's my version and I used QKR Stampede Digi 24320 Panda and Digi 15810 Huggable for the sentiment.

     It may be a bit hard to tell in the photo but this is an easel card.   I left the image black and white, cut it with one of my oval dies from Spellbinders, and added an oval mat, also die cut.  The leaves are cut with my favorite die from my collection of Cheery Lynn dies.  The striped background dp is from SU and has been in my stash more or less forever!  :-D  I added a few green sequins for some sparkle and bling.  Can you believe there are 5 different layers on this otherwise CAS design, not counting the leaves or sequins?  

     Challenges:

613 Avenue Create

Artistic Inspirations

Crafting from the Heart

Craft Your Passion

Crafty Addicts

Creative Moments

Dragonfly Dreams

Inspiration Destination

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends

Love to Scrap

Scrapy Land

Sweet Stamps

     That's all for today but we do hope you're going to play along at QKR Stampede this week.  Use the sketch as your basic design and remember you can use any image you like.  If you happen to use an image by QKR, your card will be entered to a separate drawing just for those who used QKR images and that means your chances of winning increase dramatically.  See you there.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

New DT Member at 613 Avenue Create

     I'm so excited that I get to announce a new DT position I have with 613 Avenue Create.  What a wonderful group of ladies over there.  Some of them I already know and share other teams with them, and others are new to me but they are all so full of inspiration and encouragement.  Thanks for inviting me, Kathi and Chana!

     A new challenge goes up every Sunday morning and this week we have a sketch for you.  I love this sketch and stayed pretty close to it, though I have learned that sometimes interpreting sketches not quite so literally is also OK.  ;-D  Our sponsor is the wonderful Bugaboo Stamps, a company I simply adore, and they generously supplied images for the DT to use.  I happened to use one I already had in my collection (I have tons of Bugaboos!), called "Ava Swing."  I don't know who's more adorable, Ava or her kitten.

Here's the sketch, drawn by Kathi.

  

     I took my colors from Ooh La La where the challenge is to use 'Orange and Green.'  This time my image is colored completely with Promarkers, then die cut with a die from Spellbinders.  The lacy mat is also made with a die from Spellbinders.  Can you believe that all the papers and card stock on this card were cut from stuff in my scrap pile?  I'm on a mission to get scraps used up and to actually throw out the pieces which truly are too small for any effective purpose.  I've managed to get myself into that "only-4-square-inches-of-working-space" on my desktop again so I need a remedy.  lol

     Challenges:
Artistic Inspirations -- Anything goes
Creative Creations -- Spring
Cupcake Craft -- Cats or dogs
Forever Friends Biweekly -- Die cuts &/or punches
Marker POP -- Anything goes
Mema's Crafts Monday -- Anything goes
Pink Elephant -- Spring colors
Sarah Hurley -- Projects with Character
Stamp and Create -- At least 1 die cut

     So, if you've never played at 613 Avenue Create, why not come join in.  If you have played there before, you'll love this week's challenge.  It's a fun and fanciful sketch and you can be as literal or as interpretive as you like, as long as we can see the basic sketch in there somewhere.  :-D  Hope to see you over there.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie