Santa's Cookies - House Mouse Style

     A really fast post this because I've been crafting and at the computer since 5:00 this morning and it's nearly midnight now.  I dug through my House Mouse collection and found this adorable stamp.  I'm sure this is what happens to lots of Santa's cookies.  :-D

I used the colors in the challenge at Color My Heart.

     I stamped with stone gray distress ink and colored with ProMarkers, then die cut with dies from Spellbinders.  I actually used the frames from the outside of the die cuts instead of cutting the image piece itself.  It gives some great texture and dimension.  The bow is made with satin ribbon from my stash.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
Christmas Card
Crafting with Dragonflies
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Fussy and Fancy
Glitter n Sparkle
Graph'It
Gruffies & Guests
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jo's Scrap Shack
Lacy Sunshine
One Stitch at a Time
Outlawz Coloring
Outlawz PAM
Pile It On (waving to my former teamies!)

     I'll have to finish this post a bit later.  Right now, it's late enough that I'm about to fall asleep right here and now.  The bed is calling me and I'm going to answer by strolling down the hallway and taking advantage of the fact the the felines have been sleeping there for long enough to warm the covers with their little bodies.  Good night and Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Away in a Manger

     I've been on a Deedee's Digis kick all weekend and have used several different sets to make Christmas cards and tags.  Just as I was thinking that I was pretty well caught up on the number of cards I need this year, I got another commission for eight cards.  Then my neighbor, who loves all my cards and has ordered several from me over the last year, wants ten MORE Christmas cards!  So now I'm hopping like a bunny to get everything done.

     I also want to let you know that Deedee's Digis is having a year end sale of 75% off all sets in the store!!  Nothing over $.88!  Can you believe those prices?  

     Since Deedee has so many pre-colored images, and since those make cards go really quickly, I printed out 4 images for tags, and another 4 for cards.  Here's the first one I finished from the "Away in a Manger" set.  Both the image and the sentiment are from that set.

     I used my newest scalloped dies (Memory Box) and I love the stitching on them.  The background embossing is done with a folder from Darice used on red CS which has stars on it.  The sentiment is also cut with one of the stitched dies.  The bow is tied with my bow maker.

     Challenges:
Christmas Card
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Moments
Dream Valley
Fab n Funky
Inky Impressions
Lemon Shortbread
Our Daily Bread
Paper Shelter

     That's it for me today but I'll be posting cards and tags all week long so that I can share what I've done with all the things I printed (and colored on many of them.)  Less than 4 weeks to Christmas now and I have even more to do than I did before the Thanksgiving holiday.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Angels Watching Over Us

     For those of you in the USA, I hope your Thanksgiving was warm and wonderful and that you counted all your blessings.  We have so much in this country and others have so little.

     Today starts the real Christmas rush but I simply refuse to participate in 'Black Friday.'  I'd rather be crafting than fighting the crowds.  Today at QKR Stampede, we're starting a new challenge and our theme is "Angels," so appropriate for yet another Christmas card.  If you haven't started yet, Christmas is exactly 4 weeks away.  Yikes!

I based my design on the sketch from The Sweetest Thing.

     I used Digi 14809 "Sitting on the Moon" for the image and Digi 10804 "Angels Watching" for the top sentiment.  I colored the image with my ProMarkers, then added glitter to her wings and the moon.  It doesn't show very well in the main photo but here's a closeup that shows how much it actually sparkles.

     I used one of my newer die sets to cut the image and the frame for it.  The background dp with the 'polka dot' stars is from DCWV and the ribbon came from my stash.

     Challenges:
Always Playing with Paper
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'
Christmas Card
Clear It Out
Colour Your World
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafting by Designs
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Boots
Eureka Stamps
Great Impressions
Lacy Sunshine
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Passion for ProMarkers
Ribbon Girl
Through the Craft Room Door
WordArt Wednesday

     I hope you'll find time to craft something with an angel and come play with us at QKR Stampede.  Remember, you can use any image but if you use something from QKR Stampede, your card will be entered into a draw just for those who used one of our images and that significantly increases your chances of winning.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Happy Thanksgiving

To all of my Blogland Friends

and especially those who are celebrating Thanksgiving today:

Many Blessings on you and yours.  

NanaConnie

Wrapping it Up for Christmas

     It was finally time to do something other then a card for Christmas so I started on my gift bags.  This is the first one but I have some others I may get done in time to share them over the weekend.  This is a re-cycled vellum bag; originally it held a birthday gift but I wanted to combine the polka dots on the bag with the polka dots in the dp I chose.  I thought the white dots looked a bit like snow and that made it perfect for a Christmas theme.

     This is a fun image from Aurora Wings (Anything but a Card) and I wanted to stay very CAS on this bag.  I colored the kitten and lights image with my ProMarkers, then cut the image into a square and added the sparkly twine before adhering it onto the dp (SU.)  That entire piece went onto the bag and it was done.  I'll make a matching tag for it before using it this year.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
A Gem of a Challenge ("Deck the Halls")
CAS on Sunday
Christmas Challenge
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Boots
Di's Digi Designs
Fairy Tale
Love to Scrap
Not Just Cards
Paper Minutes
Passion for ProMarkers
Quirky Crafts

     Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm wishing all my USA friends warm blessings and good time spent with family and friends.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Christmas Mail

     Many of us can still remember the days when postal lines were long and tiresome during the holidays and how we all waited by the mailbox to see who had sent us cards with lovely Christmas greetings.  Except for those of us who still love actual cards instead of email or text greetings, the lines now are mostly filled with those who must mail packages.  This card is in honor of post office lines of days gone by.

     This darling House Mouse stamp wasn't designed to be a Christmas stamp but after coloring it with my ProMarkers, I used a white gel pen to add snow to the fence and rooftop.  Suddenly, it WAS a Christmas image.  :-D

     I used punches and dies to frame out the image and the little bow is one of those I sew up by the dozens.  This one was made from white ribbon and I used a ProMarker to get it the particular shade of dark blue that I wanted.   I've almost quit using colored ribbon for making these because it's so easy to use white and then just "dye" them the color I need for any card on which I'm using them.

     Challenges:
Always Playing with Paper
Brown Sugar
Cardz 4 Guyz
Crafting-with-Friends
Crazy Challenge
Cutie Pie
Fairy Tale
Fan-Tastic Tuesday
Graph'It
House Mouse
Incy Wincy (diagonal: pearl/free/die)
Inky Chicks
Lemon Shortbread
Melonheadz Friends
My Time to Craft
Outlawz Greetings
Passion for ProMarkers
Quirky Crafts
Where the HeART Is

     I'm in a mad rush out the door right now but will hopefully have another post for you tomorrow.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie        

Oh, Deer!

     Today's card utilizes an image from one of MHK Designs' new releases and I think it's a perfect masculine card.  Hopefully, I'll have another card card this week featuring another deer but you'll have to wait on that one.  No more hints.  :-D

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image and used one of my Darice embossing folders on the background.  The sentiment is also part of that same MHK set.  I added the bow and pearl for simple embellishment.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
A Snowflakes Promise
Aud Sentiments
Brown Sugar
Craft Rocket
Crafting for all Seasons
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Girls
Graph'It
I {heart} ProMarkers
Inkspirational
Inspiration Destination
Morgan's Artworld
Pencil Case
Scrap & Craft
Through the Craft Room Door

     We managed to get the costumes finished which was a real feat considering sewing machine problems with 3 different machines!  We worked on them until midnight last night and the girls finished the last piece of one costume early this morning.  If they get some good photos, I'll share them with you later.  I'm really proud of my granddaughter and her friend about how quickly they have progressed with their sewing.  It's been fun teaching again.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Polar Peace at Christmas

     This adorable image is from Deedee's Digis "Polar Peace" set and I just love it!

I based this on the sketch at Everybody-Art

turned sideways 1/4 turn.

     I started with a pre-colored image, then added my own sky, some shading on the ice flow and under the critters, and also a bit of sparkle gel ink on the ice.  The image is die cut and corner punched, then layered onto a die cut mat.  That piece is layered onto a darker purple mat and corner punched again.

     The sentiment is from that same set, hand cut and inked on the edge.  I added ribbon scraps to wrap around the card front and to make the bow.  In fact, now that I think about it, everything is done with scraps including the white CS on which I printed the image and sentiment.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
ABC Christmas
Aud Sentiments
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Rocket
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Moments
Fan-Tastic Tuesday
Incy Wincy
Inspiration Destination
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Love to Scrap
Papertake Weekly
Simon Says Stamp
Sweet Stamps
Vintage Stamping/Flonz

      One more darling card to add to my Christmas stash, which is growing nicely and I'm confident I'll have all I need plus some to donate to the Senior Center so that their participants have cards to give to family even though they can't get out to buy cards.  Each year I donate cards and you should see the looks on their faces when they get to go through the box and choose the ones they want!  Makes me feel good just seeing their smiles.  :-D

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie  

Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

     Friday morning, only a week before Thanksgiving here in the US, and many states and cities have already had snow.  That seemed to be a good reason to celebrate "Snowmen" in our new weekly challenge at QKR Stampede.

I used colors from the inspiration photo at City Crafter.

     QKR has so many adorable snowmen in its collection but I chose this one, Digi 13004 "Winter Friends" and paired it with Digi 13804 "Cold Hands" for the sentiment.   I used my ProMarkers to color the image and then used a scalloped border die from Spellbinders to cut one side of it.  The sentiment is hand cut and inked on the edges.

     The background dp is from the "Winter Magic" stack by DCWV.  I added the striped ribbon, lacing it through the scallops and then added the sentiment piece over the ribbon by using dimensional dots.  It's a pretty simple design which looks more complex because of the patterns in the dp and the ribbon.

     Challenges:
A Snowflakes Promise
Colour Your World
Crafting with Dragonflies
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Sentiments Designs
Love to Scrap
Papertake Weekly
Scrapy Land
Sweet Stamps
Through the Craft Room Door
Where the HeART Is
WordArt Wednesday

     The weekend is here already - can you believe it?  This will be the last one I have to get things ready for Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow, I'm spending the day (and night) with my granddaughters, getting the last bits and final touches of costumes sewn for their big day at our local Comicon.

     It's been a project which has taken up the greater part of two weekends and several weekday afternoons but I've had so much fun spending that time teaching the first steps in sewing.  Nothing like picking a very complex costume pattern for the first sewing project!  But, then, that's my granddaughter.  Tackle big projects with absolute faith that they can be accomplished. :-D   Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

No Bah, Humbug Here!

     My dear blogging friend, Teresa of Tickell Expressions, drew this sweet little skunk (yes, skunks can be sweet!) and the first time I saw it, I just knew it belonged on a Christmas card. The sentiment popped into my head instantly.  Today was the first time I had the opportunity to get that envisioned card made and here it is.

     The image is colored with ProMarkers and a white gel pen, then die cut with a rectangle die from Spellbinders.  The mat was cut from dp with a larger die.  The bow is also a die cut (die from Cottage Cuts) and I cut three layers of it (white, navy blue, and patterned) for some dimension.  Both papers are from DCWV.  The Christmas tree charm was in my stash.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
A Gem of a Challenge
Come and Get It
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Friends
Cutie Pie
Di's Digi Designs (bow, digi, sentiment)
I (heart) ProMarkers
Incy Wincy
Inky Chicks
Lemon Shortbread
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Not Just Cards
Our Daily Bread
Paper Shelter
Scrapper's Delights
Sisterhood of Crafters

     I hope your week is going well and that the weather is being decent.  If the weather is nasty, then I hope you're warm and toasty inside, playing with your favorite crafty things.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Silhouette Christmas

     Lately, I'm finding myself really intrigued with silhouette images.  I did a couple of Halloween cards with them and now I've found this delightful set from MHK Designs just in time for Christmas.  I love the way Mynn has reversed the positive and negative on the silhouette!  The sentiment is also from that same set.

     This is a pretty CAS design.  I chalked the background before printing the image and then used an eraser to remove some of the chalk from the white silhouettes.  I added a button snowflake and made a 3-D poinsettia for the corner.  I also found a pinecone shank button, removed the shank, and added it next to the poinsettia.  Done!  The whole thing took less than 25 minutes, including making the flower.

     Challenges:
A Snowflakes Promise
Christmas Challenge
Come and Get It
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Cutie Pie
Inky Chicks
One Layer Christmas
Scrapbook Blessings
Send a Smile 4 Kids
Vintage Stamping

     Countdown to Thanksgiving is on in my family and Christmas follows so quickly thereafter I can hardly believe it.  This year, I'll be spending time with my oldest grandson and his family so that means getting to spend Christmas with the great-grands for the first time ever.  :-D  I'm really looking forward to that.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Last GDT card for Path of Positivity

     I love this "Pumpkin Topiary" image from Scribbles Designs and am so tickled that I got to use it for creating my last GDT card for Path of Positivity's "Thankful" theme this month.  There are two wonderful sponsors; Kitten Scraps and Scribbles Designs and this image is from Scribbles.

     I colored the image with my ProMarkers and I love the way the fall colors make such a warm color combo.  One of my favorite combos for the harvest season and Thanksgiving.  Everything on the card was found in my scrap pile, including the sparkly ribbon.  Nothing makes me feel better than using up scraps instead of cutting into new pieces of paper or spools of ribbon.

     I used punches and dies to get the shape on the image and mat but the sentiments are hand cut and matted.  I left it without embellishment except for the ribbon because it was so sparkly that it was just enough.

     Challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks
Brown Sugar
Catch the Bug
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Creations
Creative Moments
Fussy and Fancy
Hiding in My Craft Room
Inspiration Destination
Jo's Scrap Shack
Julia Spiri
Little Red Wagon
Morgan's ArtWorld
Pencil Case
Simon Says Stamp
Stamping Boutique
Word Art Wednesday
Your Scrapbook Place

     I've really enjoyed working with the Path of Positivity team this month and look forward to playing in their challenges in future months.  Thanks for having me as a Guest Designer.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Santa with Sparkles

     This cheerful Santa is another image which I found in my stash, already printed/stamped and ready to color.  Like the turkey image on the card I posted a couple of days ago, I have no idea who drew it.  I forgot to label it when I printed it and my memory fails me today.  If anybody knows, please tell me because I'd love to give proper credit.  Edited:  Mystery solved thanks to Vicki!  It's a retired SU stamp which I no longer have.  I sold or gave away all but about a dozen of my rubber stamps when I was packing to move to my current home.  :-D

I used the sketch from the Outlawz Sketch Challenge.

   

    Santa is colored with ProMarkers and I added glitter to the fur and pompom on his hat.  I wish I could figure out what's going on with my camera that I can't seem to photograph sparkle very well.  This photo (and all the others I tried) is so disappointing but IRL, his sparkle is fabulous.  :-D  Edited to add:  I finally managed to get a shot of the sparkle and here it is:

     I fussy cut Santa and mounted him on dimensional dots to red CS, die cut that and added it to a black die cut a size larger.  I put that entire piece onto the card after using two different papers to make the background and the diamond shape dp, and put on the wrapped twine.

     My favorite things on this card are the reindeer and sleigh plus the tree and snowman in the corners.  Can you believe those are all buttons?  I had to cut off the shanks and sand down the left over little bumps but I love the depth and dimension they give to the card without being 'too much' by way of embellishment.  Those have been in my stash for longer than I care to admit.  :-D

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
Ching-chou Kuik
Christmas Stampin'; All Year Long
C.R.A.F.T.
Craft for the Craic
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Crafty Time
Crimbo Crackers
Graph'It
Great Impressions
Julia Spiri
Moving Along with the Times
Sisterhood of Crafters
Unicorn Challenge

     Less than two weeks 'til Thanksgiving and only four more after that until Christmas!  Yikes!!  I have more to do than I realized but at least the Christmas shopping has been done for more than a month.  I have a couple of sewing projects I have to finish and I need to start wrapping things but that can wait until Thanksgiving weekend.  In the meantime, I'm going to craft my heart out.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Celebrate Any Holiday with Pile It On

     It's time to "Celebrate Any Holiday," the theme for the newest challenge at Pile It On this fortnight.  We are sponsored by Doodle Pantry, one of my favorite places to find images, sentiments, and papers, all in the same set.  Having once served on the DT over there, I was so delighted to get this image out of my stash and use it.  These are the pumpkins from the "Pumpkin Birdie" set, and the "Happy Fall Y'all" sentiment is also from that same set.

I used colors I found at Outlawz Color Challenge.

 

     This is a pre-colored image, die cut with a framing die by Spellbinders and matted with another framing die a size larger.  The larger frame is colored with chalks which I applied using a cotton ball.  The diagonal strips are washi tape.  The bottom sentiment is computer printed and punched.  I added wooden leaves colored with ProMarkers, a hand tied bow which was 'dyed' with a ProMarker, and a punched, layered flower also colored with ProMarkers.  The sparkly gold mesh was a leftover scrap found in my stash.

     Challenges:

613 Avenue Create

Corrosive Challenge

Craft-Dee BowZ 

Crafty Creations  

Crafty Gals Corner 

Crafty Time 

Fan-Tastic Tuesday (brown)

Inspiration Destination 

Lacy Sunshine (1st column)

Lemon Shortbread 

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends 

Little Red Wagon 

Lunagirl Moonbeam 

Melonheadz Friends (top row)

Not Just Cards 

Scrapy Land 

Through the Craft Room Door 

WordArt Wednesday 

     I hope we'll see you playing with us this challenge.  Just decide on a holiday, any holiday, and make a project to celebrate it.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Gathering Acorns

     I just noticed there's a new challenge on the FB page for AuroraWings and their theme is "Holiday Sprites."  I love this little Acorn Sprite but have never used it before so I decided on Thanksgiving as my holiday.

I chose to use the sketch from STAMPlorations

and took my colors from the Friday Coloring challenge at The Outlawz.

  

     The Acorn Sprite is colored with my ProMarkers, then die cut with a die from QuicKutz.  The papers are from my stash and the yellow paper is embossed with Swiss Dots.  The sentiment is computer printed and matted with CS.  The "Thankful" sentiment is hand-printed on woodgrain paper, mounted on chipboard, and cut with a banner die.  Finally, I added a bow, the flower (punched pieces layered together with a gem), and the three gems below the bottom sentiment.

     Challenges:
ArtbyMiran
Corrosive Challenge
Crafting from the Heart
Crafting with Friends
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Creations
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Fingers
Creative Moments
Di's Digi Designs (top row)
DL.ART
DRS Designs
Fussy and Fancy
Inspiration Destination
Jo's Scrap Shack
Lacy Sunshine (top row)
Love to Scrap
Morgan's ArtWorld
Not Just Cards
Passion for ProMarkers
Scrapper's Delight
Stamping Boutique

     I'm getting toward the end of my Thanksgiving cards but still have a few to share.  Many of mine will have to be in the mail by mid-week if they are to arrive at their destinations on time.  I hope your crafting time isn't suffering from all the necessary holiday prep and that you're enjoying your weekend.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

1st Place Thanks at QKR Stampede

     We've started a new challenge this morning over at QKR Stampede and our theme is "Give Thanks."  My image this week is another crow, but not an albino one this time.  To understand that reference, you'll have to check out this card I did some weeks back.  :-D  He looks nearly delirious to have taken a First Place award so I thought he'd be perfect for a "Thankful" card during this Thanksgiving season.  Image is Digi 14306 "Prize Pumpkin."

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, die cut it with my largest square die, and matted it with background paper I made with chalks.   The leaf ribbon was in my autumn stash and the ribbons I used for the double bow both I think came from Really Reasonable Ribbon but it could have been The Ribbon Girl.  The leaves are punched and the sentiment is done with a banner die cut and a corner punched mat behind it.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
AAA Cards
Chalk n Stock
Corrosive Challenge
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafting from the Heart
Creatalicious
Cuttlebug Mania
Digistamps 4 Joy
Dragonfly Journeys
Eureka Stamps
Fan-Tastic Tuesday (Bird)
Lemon Shortbread
Passion for ProMarkers
Ribbon Girl
Sisters of Craft
Sweet Stampin'
Through the Craft Room Door

     We here in the US are getting really close to Thanksgiving, only a couple of weeks away now. Our family is busy finalizing plans for a shared dinner and lots of shared gratitude.  I hope yours is, too.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Old Gobbler

     

Happy Veteran's Day!

Take some time to Salute a Veteran today.

     As I was cleaning and re-organizing the craft room over the weekend, I ran across this turkey image in my stash of Thanksgiving things.  I have no idea when I printed it (it could have been 2 or even 3 years ago) or who should get credit for drawing it, but I decided to get it colored up and use it for one of my cards this year.

My colors came from the challenge at 

Color My Heart.

(Chocolate and Gold Rush plus kraft)

     Interestingly, I had adjusted the printing so that the outline on the image was printed in dark brown instead of  black.   Looked really nice.  The image was printed on kraft paper and I used ProMarkers to color it.  The kraft paper made some of my browns turn more red than brown but I actually like it that way.  It was a nice contrast to the chocolate brown outline on the image.

     The polka dot paper for the background is heat embossed so IRL that paper has some shine and sparkle.  The striped paper is from DCWV.  I tied a double bow from deep chocolate ribbon using my bow maker and added two bits of yellow ribbon for contrast.  The final touch is the three metal brads I added.  Very simple design even with the patterned paper.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
AAA Cards
Allsorts
ArtbyMiran
Catch the Bug
Crafting-with-Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Crazy for Challenges
Creative Fingers
Dragonfly Dreams
Dragonfly Journeys
Just Us Girls
Ribbon Girl
Scrapper's Delights
Your Scrapbook Place

      Hey, we're halfway through the week already and it's getting too close to the holidays for the days to be flying by that quickly!  Come to think of it, I feel that way about how fast time flies even when it's not the holiday season.  Maybe my age is showing.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

A Leafy Thanks

     Today we start a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and the theme is "Thanks." Our wonderful sponsor is Deedee's Digis.  I just happen to be on both of those DTs so this was a really happy card for me.  I used the fun bear from Deedee's "Leave me Smiling" set and chose the pre-colored image which made it a much faster card to make.

     This theme fit perfectly because I needed one more Thank You card for a local non-profit group and, since they raise funds for Juvenile Diabetes education, awareness, and for scholarships to the summer camps for diabetic kids they put on, it's an agency near and dear to my heart.  My grandson is now 9 years old and was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes 18 months ago.  One of the Board Members had to resign from the organization because he and his family were moving out of town and the Board Chairman needed a card to say thanks for his service on the Board.  Since the name of the organization is "Smiles for Diabetics," I thought this would be a great sentiment.

I used the sketch I found at Cheerful Sketches.

     I embossed the orange CS with one of my newer folders before adding the image piece to it.  I used a Fiskars corner punch on the image, the orange mat, and the gray background CS.  I added one small metal brad as an embellishment and found the yellow leaf sticker in my stash so added it.  The top sentiment is part of Deedee's set and the bottom one I printed with a computer font.  Each one is hand cut and inked on the edges.

     Challenges:
Crafts Galore Encore
Creatalicious
CCC Digi
Digistamps 4 Joy
Dragonfly Journey
Lunagirl Moonbeam
Nordsalten Hobbyklubb
Petal Lu
Sisters of Craft
Sweet Stampin'
Tinker Dream

     I hope we're going to see you playing along in our "Thank You" challenge at Tuesday Throwdown this week.  Remember, November is the month for "Thanks."  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Deck the Halls

     Good morning.  I'm doing a card for the Progressive Challenge at From the Heart using their Bird Brain image for this month.  I think the look on his face is hysterical!  That's probably what I look like when trying to get everything decorated and ready for Christmas.  :-D

     I colored this little Birdbrain with my ProMarkers and used one of my new dies from Spellbinders.  To balance off using something brand new, I dug out my collection of Stickles (unused since last Christmas season -- I've recently been doing mostly loose glitter for some reason) and used three of them on the ornaments and on the negative spaces of the die cut frame.

     I matted the image with red and mounted it onto a black card front, then added the snowflake button embellies from my stash (also from last year.)  The sentiment is computer printed, cut and embossed.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
A Snowflakes Promise
Art Impressions
Aud Sentiments - bottom row
Craft for the Craic
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Girls Creations
Graph' It
Inspiration Destination
Julie Spiri
Little Miss Muffet
Male Room
Paper Shelter
Outlawz Twisted Thursday
Scrapy Land
Unicorn Challenge

     I had a fantastic day sewing with my granddaughter yesterday, but spent so much time there that I didn't get my post written and scheduled.  So, I had to do it this morning.  Now I'm off to run some errands, do some grocery shopping, pick up a few forgotten items to finish the sewing project(s) on Wednesday, and wait for the next round of rain to wash my car for me.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Christmas Fairy

     This sweet little Christmas Fairy comes from Sweet Pea Stamps and is for their Progressive Challenge.  Sadly, this may be the last of the challenges since Sweet Pea Stamps is going to be closing this month.  But it gives me a chance to get one more Christmas card done so I'm happy to use it.  :-D

     I colored her with ProMarkers, a touch of watercolor on her hair, and added sparkle gel ink to her fairy wand, her wings, to the little stars and to the Shiney Stuff can.  Unfortunately, the sparkle doesn't show up very well in the photo but it's really wonderful IRL.

     I used one of my framing dies from Spellbinders to cut out the image and also to die cut the sentiment.  After I embossed both of those, I rounded the corners of a red card blank and mounted the image directly onto the card front.  I tied the lovely little red bow and adhered it to the top corner.  I really wanted to let that fancy die cut do all the work so I did no other embellishment.

     I'm not sure if this little fairy travels by flying or by a wave of her magic wand but I'm sure happy she traveled to my house this month.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
ABC Christmas
Allsorts
Cardz for Galz
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'
Craft for the Craic
Crafting for all Seasons
Crafting with an Attitude
Crafty Girls Creations
Graph'It
Inspiration Destination
Outlawz Twisted Thursday
Papertake Weekly
Passion for Promarkers
Quick Quotes
Scrapy Land

     I hope your weekend is going well.  I'm spending lots of time with my oldest granddaughter doing fabric shopping and then starting on a sewing project for her.  She's just learning to sew and I'm having the time of my life teaching her some of the tricks and techniques that I learned over the many years of sewing I've done.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Mrs. Frosty Dressed for Christmas

     Time for the next part of the Progressive Challenge over at Sparkle and Glitter where Rick St Dennis' art is shown off so magnificently.  I do love his images!  This month we get to use any RSD image and I chose something that works for Christmas.  It's called "Mrs. Frosty" and she reminds me of the animated Christmas film for kids, "Frosty the Snowman."  Can't you just hear everyone singing "Winter Wonderland" all over the open meadow?

I started with the sketch from The Outlawz. 

     I colored the image with my ProMarkers and die cut it with one of my scalloped dies from Spellbinders.  Then I framed the scallop oval with a cut from a Spellbinders' framing die.  The sentiment is also cut with a die from Spellbinders.  I mounted everything onto dark green CS, then added the ribbon.

    I hand cut the holly leaves from CS which I had already colored with watercolors and embossed them with a stylus.  I punched out three little dots of red CS and added red glitter to them.  I also added a tiny bit of glitter to the rose on her hat.  Not completely CAS but close.  :-D

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas (+ DT Call!)
A Snowflakes Promise
Art Impressions Stamps
Card and Scrap
Christmas Challenge
Colouring in Scrapland
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Extra
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz PAM
Paper Shelter
Passion for ProMarkers
Scrapy Land
Through the Craft Room Door
Unicorn Challenge
Whimsy Inspirations

     That's all for today but I do have posts scheduled for the entire weekend and all the way through Tuesday. Aren't you impressed?  After more than 2 weeks with only spotty posting, I've managed an entire week with a post each day and three more still to come.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie