Olyvia at Thanksgiving

     It's Friday and that means another new challenge at Delicious Doodles.  Our theme this week is to do a card with "No Designer Paper."  Much as I love patterned dp and often as I use it, I also do a lot of cards with just colored CS so this one was fairly easy for me.  I chose Teri's magnificent image, "Olyvia." However, I spent quite a bit of time trying to decide if "Olyvia" wanted to be a Christmas image or a Thanksgiving image and just couldn't decide.  So I did two cards, coloring her differently for each one, and today I'm sharing the Thanksgiving image since it's the closest to being here.  I'll share the Christmas "Olyvia" with you later on.

I used a sketch from Stella Says Sketch, 

modified a bit for the size of my image,

and I used colors from Outlawz.

  

     The image is colored with my favorite ProMarkers, then die cut with a simple rectangle die and matted with two different colors of CS.  I did the long 'flag' pieces with ribbon from my stash, all of which came from Really Reasonable Ribbon.  The entire thing is done on a kraft card base.

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments -- Any sentiment
Crafty Creations -- Thanksgiving or Christmas
Die Cuttin' Divas -- Thanksgiving
Divas by Design -- Make it pretty
House That Stamps Built -- Thanks or Thanksgiving
Inspired by Stamping -- Ribbon or crochet trim
MilkCoffee Challenge -- Thanks,/ Thanksgiving/ Thank you
Shelly's Images -- Give Thanks

     Pretty simple card this time but I felt like I was running out of time to get it done so finished it as quickly as I could.  I barely have time to get this posted to my blog before the challenge starts, and I really need some sleep so I'll edit it a bit later on to add the links to all the challenges I had in mind while making the card.  Hope to see you playing along at Delicious Doodles this time.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Priscilla Pilgrim

     Welcome to another challenge at The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog.  Our fabulous sponsor (whose images I just love) is Rick St. Dennis and our theme this time is "Heavy Metal" -- use something metal on your card.  I chose an image which happened to be the freebie for Rick St. Dennis challenge but "Priscilla Pilgrim" was just what I needed for the "ear of corn " charm I wanted to use.  That charm was sent to me by a dear blogging friend, Cely, from "Creating in Carolina."  Thanks so much, Cely.  It was absolutely perfect for this Thanksgiving card.

     The image itself is colored with a combination of ProMarkers and Graph'It pens (which a friend loaned me so I could try them), then die cut with a lacy frame and matted with another plain circle die cut.  To add a bit more metal, the image is mounted onto a sheet of embossed, sparkly metallic gift wrap, the good, heavy-duty kind which embosses so well.  What a glittery shine it has!  I matted that with brown CS and added it to the card after I stippled the front with both brown and gray ink.  The gold ribbon, from Really Reasonable Ribbon, had a fine, metallic border on each edge and I added a sheer ribbon to it before making the double bow.   The corn charm is tied on with hemp cord.

     Challenges:

2 Creative Chicks -- Thanksgiving

A Creative Need -- Ribbons or buttons

A Little Bit Crafty -- Sparkle & shine
Brown Sugar -- Thanksgiving
Cards Galore -- Animals
Craftitude -- Anything goes/falling leaves
Die Cut Divas -- Holidays & celebrations
Digi Haven -- Fall
Digitally Sweet -- Ribbon or lace
Graph'It -- Anything goes
Hiding in My Craft Room -- Die cuts
Jo's Scrap Shack -- Anything goes
Ladybug Crafts -- Autumn colors
Mema's -- Anything goes
Outlawz Alcohol Markers -- Thanksgiving
Really Reasonable Ribbon -- Gift packaging (metallic gift wrap) & ribbon
Sister Act -- Anything goes
So Artful -- Trees (in the embossing)
The Stamping Boutique -- Fall colors

     I know there's a ton of challenges on my list today but there are just so many with fall, fall colors, or Thanksgiving variations, to say nothing of the 'Anything Goes' themes, how could I not play in every one of them?  :-D  With that, I hope we're going to see you playing along with us at The Crafter's Cafe and remember, our theme is "Heavy Metal" so lets see some metal on your cards!  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie  

Thanking the Hostess

     It's been several years since I played hostess over the holidays, due mainly to the fact that my kids and their families all lived so far away from me.  It was easier for me, as just one person, to travel to their homes over the holidays than for all of them to pack up kids, pets and packages, and come home.  So, I've become pretty good at doing Thank You cards for the hostess.

     When my DT duties at 613 Avenue Create called for a Thank You card for a hostess, I jumped right on that one!  Our wonderful sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps and they provided images for the team to use.  I used one called "FANSB Thanksgiving."  That stands for Fancy Sunbonnet, and she's always a favorite of mine.       :-D

I chose the sketch from the Wednesday challenge at The Outlawz

and the colors came from the Tuesday challenge at The Outlawz.

  

     I colored Fancy Sunbonnet with ProMarkers, then die cut her using one of my favorite frame dies from Spellbinders.  I matted that with charcoal CS.  I found gold CS to match her dress and layered a square of it onto the dark brown card base, after adding the two bits of lace ribbon to it.  I put just a touch of Stickles in each corner of the frame and the lace has its own glittery sparkle.

     The flower is hand made by piling up punched layers of flower petals, adding a metal flower charm to the center and using glitter on the largest layer of petals.  The swirl is done with Stickles Ice, then I added pearls to it.  I put one final pearl in the upper corner.  The sparkle and shine don't show as well in the photo but IRL, it will just knock your socks off!

     Challenges:
Crafting by Designs -- Anything goes
Crafting for all Seasons -- Autumn colors
Crafty Creations -- Autumn colors
Cuttlebug Mania -- Autumn
Divas by Design -- Use a Digi
Everybody Art -- Autumn
I {heart} ProMarkers -- All That Glitters
Inky Impressions -- Dies & punches
Just Inspirational -- Glitter
Moving Along with the Times -- Pearly, swirly, girly
Nutcrafters -- Autumn Splendor
Penny's Paper Crafty -- Lots of layers
Ribbon Carousel -- Holidays/celebrations
Top Tip Tuesday -- Seasons

     Well, I hope we're going to see you playing along at 613 Avenue Create this week.  Remember, our challenges are always "Anything Goes" but you can use the optional weekly twist if you like.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Remembering Our Veterans

     Next Monday, November 11, we celebrate Veterans' Day here in the US and in other parts of the world it's often called Remembrance Day.  Whatever the title, it's a time for remembering and honoring those who served their countries.  So, our theme for the challenge this week at Delicious Doodles is "Remembrance."  For those of you too young to know the significance of the red poppies (and that's most of us out by now), they came to symbolize the casualties on Flander's Field in WWI.  I still remember getting little paper poppies in grammar school on November 11 and that was many years after WWI, and even some years after WWII, for that matter.

     My card today uses a new digi from Teri at Delicious Doodles called "Poppies and Butterflies," just perfect for remembering and honoring those service men and women of the entire past century.  Honoring them is near and dear to my heart.  My grandfather was a veteran of WWI, my dad served in WWII, my brother served along with many of my cousins between 1955 and 1975, and I have a wonderful grandson who is a career Marine, who has served two tours in Iraq and is currently stationed in Japan.  I'm grateful for each and every one of them.

     I did a spotlight technique by printing the image twice, then coloring a portion of one and die cutting it with a circle die.  I adhered that to the black and white image, being careful to line it up as perfectly as possible.  Then I used scissors to fussy cut the B&W image.  I chose to use a black card base because it really made the spotlight and the red bow 'pop'.

     I used a computer font to print the sentiment, outlined it with black marker and layered it onto the image piece.  Very CAS this week.  :-D

     Challenges:
Catch the Bug -- Anything goes
Crazy 4 Challenges -- Black, white, plus 1 color
Heck of a Challenge -- In the frame
Going Grey w/ Scrap Creations -- Give thanks
House of Gilli -- Thanks
LEJ Designs -- Monochromatic
Love to Scrap -- Anything goes
Male Room -- Remembrance
Mema's Crafts -- Anything with Thank in the sentiment
Oozak -- Anything goes with Thanks
Operation Write Home -- Any Hero cards
Party Time Tuesdays -- Thanks or Thanksgiving
Path of Positivity -- Thankfulness
The Paper Girls -- Fussy cutting
Whoopsi Daisy -- Monochromatic
Word Play Saturday -- Anything

     It's definitely fall around here.  The weather is getting chilly and I've added two blankets to my bed.  Both of the fur babies now think they should be allowed to sleep UNDER the covers instead of draping themselves across my feet or shoulder as I try to sleep.  I've dug out the sweatshirts and pants for lounging around or going outside, though I'm not doing much of either of those things the last few days, preferring to stay in and tackle the remaining boxes.  Soon, all will be unpacked and then I can truly get to organizing the craft room.  I might even take a few pictures and share them with you (the first and only time!)  In the meantime, Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Friends Across the Miles

     It's so good to be back posting with The Crafter's Cafe again after taking a leave while I was doing all that moving.  Having gotten the craft room into a manageable state (which is not to say it's organized or even completely unpacked), I'm excited to be fulfilling my DT obligations again.

     This challenge our theme is "Friends" and our wonderful sponsor is QKR Stampede.  I love QKR digis and I found this image in my own collection, although QKR provided images to the team.  I wanted to do something that would celebrate all those friends and loved ones who are so many miles away but are still counted among those dear to us.

I chose to use the sketch at CAS on Sunday.

     I really love coloring QKR digis and watching them come to life.  I used my favorite ProMarkers, and then added Metallic Silver EP from WOW! to the mailbox and the larger gift.   I used a glitter gel pen to make the snowflakes and shadow the snow on which the snowman is standing.

     I used a VersaMark pen on the bits I wanted to emboss, then sprinkled on the EP and used my heat gun. That's one of my favorite ways to heat emboss digital images.  I always color the image first, then use an Embossing Buddy to powder the image before applying the EP.  That way,  I don't get unwanted spots of EP on the digi.  Here's a tip for you:  When you want to heat emboss really small areas of a digital image, use a very small 'spotter' type paint brush, stroke it across your embossing ink pad (or dip it into your refill bottle if you have one) and then 'paint' the area you want to emboss.  The embossing ink sticks to the paper and you can emboss smaller areas than the VersaMark pen tip would allow.  The biggest problem with VersaMark pens, I think, is the relatively large size of the nibs.

     The bow is one of those I sew and I used ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon to make it.  Paper came from DCWV, their "Winter Magic" stack from a couple of years ago.  I used a strip of washi tape and mounted the sentiment on it.  The rhinestone bling was in my stash.  (It's amazing what you can find when you have to pack and then unpack due to a move!!)   After all I've done on this card (or should I say "haven't done" -- meaning I left off most of the embellishments I wanted to use), I certainly hope it has a CAS feel to it.  I know the open space isn't 'white' space but there was so much white in the image piece, it just needed a patterned background to showcase it.  At least the bow & rhinestones are the only embellishments and it will definitely fit in to a standard envelope.

     Challenges:
2 Sisters -- Christmas with no red or green
A&T Emerald Faeries -- Ribbon/lace & bling
A Little Bit Crafty -- Sparkle and shine
Card and Scrap -- Christmas cards
Catered Crop -- Washi tape
Challenges 4 Everybody -- Anything goes
Christmas Card Challenge -- Dimension
Christmas Cards All Year Round -- Winter wonderland
Corrosive Challenges -- TicTacToe: bling/ image/ layers
Crafting Cafe -- Winter blues
Die Cut Divas -- Holidays and celebrations
Flat Friends -- Christmas cards
Great Impressions -- Holiday card or tag
Hobbycutz -- Song inspired (Blue Christmas)
One Crazy Stamper -- Christmas
Outlawz PAM -- Snowmen
Really Reasonable  Ribbon -- Christmas + ribbon
Tok Bobok -- Christmas
Whoopsi Daisy -- Monochromatic
WOW Embossing Powders -- Christmas/Winter

     Goodness, I haven't done a single card for that many challenges in many months!  But this week/month seems to have so many challenges with Christmas or winter themes, how could I resist?  :-D  I hope we're going to see you playing in our challenge at The Crafter's Cafe.  Remember, it doesn't have to be Christmas -- just anything that fits our "Friends" theme.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie