Thursday, October 31, 2019

Happy Halloween!

My card today is my greeting to all of you on this Halloween day.


     I've used an image that's been in my Halloween collection 
for so long I have no idea which company made it.

Moon & witch legs colored with ProMarkers
Image cut with MFT Die-namics die
Yellow frame was a scrap cut with Sue Wilson die
Embossed card front - Birch Trees

     Challenges:


Crafty Creations
Crafty Gals Corner
Digi Choosday
Double Trouble (orange, yellow, purple + bats flying)
Lemon Shortbread
Outlawz Twisted Thurs
Passion for ProMarker
Pattie's Creations
TTCRD

     Enjoy your Halloween day, and be safe tonight when the witches and goblins fly!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Saturday Night Cat Bath

     We've all heard of the Saturday night bath and we've all heard of a cat bath but this is a Saturday Night Cat Bath!  Come to think of it, this may actually be an annual, autumn bath!  Only in House Mouse land.  lol


I took colors from the challenge at Scribbles Designs.


ProMarkers for coloring
Die-versions stitched die
Sheer, hand-tied bow

     Challenges:
Bastel-Traum
Coloring in Scrapland
Creatalicious
Creative Moments
Die Cut Divas
House Mouse
Outlawz Greetings
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
World Wide Open DT

     That's it for today.  Unfortunately, the first cold germ of the season has found me and my poor sinuses are so stuffed, I can hardy breath.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get my posts done for Halloween and for Friday when the first of the month rolls around.  Can you believe I'll have 5 posts that day?   Be sure to come see them all.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Monday, October 28, 2019

Silhouette Witch - Second Take

     A couple of weeks ago I shared a card with this same silhouette image done in Harvest Yellow.  This time I've done it in another Halloween color - my favorite, purple.  I used gray-blue instead of purple on the moon and tied an orange bow to add to the Halloween feel.


Background colored with ProMarkers
Purple sheer ribbon
Black signature bow with pearl
Sentiment is 3D and adhered with Pop Dots
Orange bow is hand-tied

     Challenges:
Double Trouble
  (purple/orange/blue + flying bats & witch + Crafting Happiness)
Dragonfly Dreams
Dream Valley
Lemon Shortbread
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz SAR
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Tues Throwdown

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Warm Hat Girl

     This sweet image is from All Dressed Up and it's a wonderful image for staying warm on a cold, winter-y day.  I love the play in the sentiment (which is part of the image) on the old saying "Cold hands, warm heart."  This time, both are warm.  :-D


Colored with ProMarkers
Image and frame cut with  Tonic Studio dies
Glitter paper from Recollections
Everything die cut came from scraps
Doodlebug dp - also scraps (My favorite designer papers always have small prints so that they enhance the image instead of overwhelming it.  If they are somewhat monochromatic, that's even better.)
White CS embossed with Linen EF
Signature bow with snowflake gems

    Challenges:

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Feline Nativity

  This is the last day of the 2019 Cat Lovers Hop.
 Haven't played before but interested?
Click HERE.

     Feeling that I nearly cheated on yesterday's post because it only had one tiny cat in a die cut, I went a little crazy with die cut cats for this Christmas card.  For those of you who know me and the kinds of cards I enjoy making, you'll see right away that this is outside my "normal" creation.  Still, I do occasionally do cards that are filled with only die cuts so it's not a completely new venture.


Background is dry embossed with "Linen" folder
Manger & star cut with Die-versions die
Cats are cut with Poppy Stamps and Impression Obsession dies
Sentiment cut with Cheery Lynn die
Sparkle paper for manger is from Recollections

     Challenges:

     That wraps up the Cat Lovers Hop for this year but I'm sure we'll all be hopping along next year at this same time.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Cat Nip Buddies

It's Day 4 of the Cat Lovers Blog Hop.
Haven't played before and interested in joining?
Click HERE.

     I'm back to another of the House Mouse images which have a cat (and mouse, of course) and I think Maxwell is doing his best to get as excited about the cat nip as the cat.  It's never going to happen, Max.  lol


I used colors from the challenge over at The Outlawz
adding yellow and green from the inspiration photo
and doing lots of layers for my twist.


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with a Memory Box pinpoint die
Layered with QuicKutz rectangles
Scraps of dp at the corners
Card base embossed with Linen EF
Hand wrapped burlap twine bow

     Challenges:

     Have you played in the Cat Lovers Hop yet?  If not, it's time to get going!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

It's All About the Stretch

     This is one of those cards that 'shows up' unexpectedly and drives you crazy for hours!  Let me tell you the story and you'll see why.  I got up this morning and was going to work in the craft room on some additional cards for the Cat Lovers Blog Hop going on between now and Saturday.

Haven't played before and interested in joining?
Click HERE.

     I looked at the desktop and there's a card lying on it which wasn't there yesterday when I finished playing.  I remember very clearly making the card but it was back a ways, maybe even six or seven months ago.  So I searched back through the posts on my blog and it wasn't there.  

     Hmmm, could it have been as much as a year ago?  I search back further, all the way back to last year's Cat Lovers Hop but nothing.  OK, go back even further - I covered every post for the last two years and more (wasting a good two hours of what could have been productive time - grrrrr.)  I have never blogged about this card!  

     Well, lucky you, folks.  You get to see it today and I get to enter one more card into the Hop.  :-D  This card was done in honor of one of my childhood cats who was named "Stretch."  He was black and always stretched before every activity.  Even when he awoke hungry and thirsty, he had to take time to stretch every muscle and tendon in his sleek body.  

     Please don't ask me who made the cat image because I don't remember.  I do remember sizing the two cat images and reversing one to print them both on the same piece of CS.


Eyes done with red glitter
Cut with square die (QuicKutz) and distressed
Red mulberry paper
Ribbon scrap from Crafty Ribbons
Hand tied bow tie bow
Sentiment hand cut and mounted on dimensional tape

     Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments
Cutie Pie

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Get Well Kitty

     Hey, the 2019 Cat Lovers Hop started yesterday.
 This is year #5 and I'm going to play each day
between now and Saturday, when it ends.
Haven't played before and interested in joining?
Click HERE.

     No Halloween today but a cute Get Well card using an image from House Mouse.  I love how tenderly s/he's being treated by the mice.  Or maybe they just know s/he can't outrun them with a broken paw.  :-D



Colored with ProMarkers and gel inks
Image and mat cut with Spellbinders rectangle dies
Papers & CS mat are scraps from the basket
Sentiment printed, hand cut and matted
Double bow hand-tied
3 die cut, mulberry flowers with gem centers

     Challenges:

     That's it for today but I'll be back with another car lovers card tomorrow.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Monday, October 21, 2019

Meowl-loween

     Hey, the 2019 Cat Lovers Hop starts today
 and this is my first project for it!
This is year #5.
Haven't played before and interested in joining?
Click HERE.

     Ready for another silhouette card?  This one was pretty quick and simple, and qualifies as a CAS card, I'm sure.  Have you noticed a fascination for cats in these silhouettes?   Back in the days when I was still buying rubber stamps instead of using digis (a looooong time ago!), I think I bought every single stamp I saw that had a cat in it.  Of course, when it comes to Halloween stamps, cats are easy to find, especially black cats which makes silhouettes a natural.  :-D


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with a Sizzix die
Stitched black ribbon from Crafty Ribbons
Bow tie bow added to the middle cat
Embossing on card front - Darice EF

     Challenges:
Crafty Catz
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Knockouts
Double D
Dragonfly Dreams
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds
I {heart} ProMarkers
LeighSB Designs
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
SUYP Cats

     Happy Monday and Happy Crafting!  NanaConnie

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Cat, Bats, and a Full Moon

     Back to Halloween silhouettes.  I played a bit with my ProMarkers to create the background on this one.  I used a scrap piece of watercolor paper which lets alcohol inks spread naturally.  After applying the colors with ProMarkers, I wet a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol (damp, not sopping) and rubbed the entire background.  After that dried, I went back over just the moon with a yellow ProMarker to define it a bit more.

     The silhouette cat and bats, plus the sentiment went on after the background was completely dry.  I ironed the paper to make sure it was completely flat and that took the texture out of it and made it very smooth.  I colored the eyes, then added a sheer ribbon and bow, and finally adhered the image piece to a card base and trimmed the top and bottom to fit.


     Challenges:
Cute N Crafty
Cutie Pie
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
Outlawz Greetings
Papercraft
Paperminutes
Passion for ProMarkers
SUYP Cats
TTCRD

     Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and wake up creative on Monday.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Cutest Purple Witch, Ever!

     When I was growing up, when we talked about "Halloween colors" we meant black and orange - only black and orange. Somewhere along the way, Ooze Green got added and then Purple.  Once Purple became a Halloween color, I was ecstatic!  It's my favorite color whatever time of the year, and getting to use it for Halloween was the greatest bonus ever.

     This little witch is following good advice when she digs out and dons her purple dress and purple hat.  :-D  The image is the freebie for the Progressive Challenge at LeAnn's World 101.


Colored with ProMarkers
Image and sentiment cut with Tonic Studios dies
Background embossing w/ Darice EF
Sparkle ribbon
Signature bow w/ pearl

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
Colour Crazy
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Catz
Creative Fingers
Creative Knockouts
Dragonfly Dreams
LeAnne's World 101
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Scrapper's Delights

     That's it for today but more Halloween fun tomorrow.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Friday, October 18, 2019

Are You Batty?

     Happy Friday!  The weekend is right around the corner and we have a new challenge this week at QKR Stampede.  As always, our theme is "Anything Goes" and you may use any image from any company to enter our weekly challenge.  However, if you choose to use an image by QKR (or our sister company, Eureka Stamps), your entry will go into a separate draw and your chances of winning are increased tremendously!

     For today's card, I chose to make a Halloween card and used both QKR (Bat and Moon) and Eureka (Bat - used 4 times) images, plus a sentiment from QKR (Happy Halloween.)


ProMarkers used for coloring
White gel ink for eyes and highlights
Textured ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon
Accordion bow 'dyed' with ProMarker
Black CS frame
Kraft card base
Sentiment was fussy cut

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Aud Sentiments
Cardz TV 
Colour Crazy
Creative Fingers
Creative Knockouts
Outlawz Festive Friday
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Southern Girls
Take It, Make It

     Come play along with us this week, won't you?  We love  being inspired by what you enter.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Fright Night

     Another silhouette card today and this one started as a silhouette.  I printed it onto golden CS to give the moon its glow.  I loved it because it had 2 of my favorite Halloween animals - cats and bats.


Distressed edges on the image
Hand curled corners
Grosgrain ribbon scrap
Sentiment sticker (edges colored w ProMarkers)
Spider in the tree is 3D

     Challenges:
2 Sisters on the Blog
A Bit More Time ...
Archi-Scraps
Bastel-Traum
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafts Galore Encore
Creatalicious
Die Cut Divas
Fabrika Fantasy
Your Scrapbook Place

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Creepy Graveyard

     I got inspired by the "Silhouettes" theme at Double D this fortnight and dug through old stamps and digi images I have which either were silhouettes or could be used as silhouettes with a little help from a black ProMarker or paint brush.  This was a rubber stamp (maker unknown due to its age) but not a silhouette stamp.  I had to make it a silhouette by coloring the open parts of the stamp with black.


Colored with ProMarkers and gel inks
Sentiment backing is 3 layers cut with a Spellbinders die
"Creepy" cut with Die-namics die
Eyelets used on sentiment layers
Bottom edge cut with Cheery Lynn die

     Challenges:
Crafter's Cafe
Creative Inspirations
Creative Moments
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds.
I {heart} ProMarkers
Paper Shelter
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
Words to Craft By

     I have a few more Halloween cards coming over the next 3 or 4 days because I discovered that one of my friends, who is a social worker, has a need for several more to give to some of her clients.  What a great excuse for me to make another dozen Halloween cards!  Yippee.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Keeping Warm

     This lovely image from the Scrapper's Delights Progressive Challenge should make anyone feel warm and cozy this winter.  Since the temperatures where I live have dropped from "hot, hot, HOT" all the way down to autumn comfortable with delightfully cool nights, I'm more than willing to start making "keep warm" cards.  :-D  I don't know if she's drinking tea, coffee, hot chocolate, hot cider, or a hot toddy, but whatever it is, it seems to be working!


I used colors from the top row of the color board at
I also used Lemonade for her hair and Ballerina for her skin.


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with QuicKutz circles
Background paper from Doodlebug
Sentiment also from Scrapper's Delights
Glittered snowflake embellies

     Challenges:
Cardz TV
Colour Crazy
Crafty Creations
Lemon Shortbread
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Tuesday Throwdown
Word Art Weds.

     Thanks for visiting.  I do appreciate the comment you leave.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Monday, October 14, 2019

Bountiful Blessings

     One more really quick post because I want to get this entered at Double D in their Orange and White challenge before it closes.  The acorn and leaves image is by Anne Fenton and the sentiment is from Eureka Stamps.


Colored with ProMarkers
Sentiment cut with Tonic Studios die
Edges inked with ProMarker
Sheer ribbon with pumpkins

     Challenges:
Cute N Crafty
Cuttlebug Mania
Digi Choosday
Dream Valley
Outlawz Greetings
Papercraft
Stamping Sensations
TTCRD

     Have a great week and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Pilgrims on Thanksgiving

     Bugaboo Stamps has some of the cutest Thanksgiving images and these two Bobbleheads are no exception.  There are a total of 3 images on this card and I simply put them together, adjusting the size of each one to make a single, CAS design.


ProMarkers using fall colors
Cut with a Spellbinders rectangle die
Hand-tied, raffia bow

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
Catch the Bug
Cute N Crafty
Dream Valley
Incy Wincy
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Passion for ProMarkers
Simon Says Stamp & Show
Stamping Sensations

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Grateful Elf

     I love this Harvest Elf image from AuroraWings and I plan to use this as a Thanksgiving card.


I used the sketch from Cheerful Sketches.


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with Sue Wilson dies
Papers and CS from the scrap basket
Hand tied bow made with satin polka dot ribbon

     Challenges:
2 Sisters on  the Blog
a2z Scrapbooking
A Perfect Time to Craft
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafty Hazelnut's
Die Cut Divas
Dies R Us
Morgan's ArtWorld

     Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you tomorrow.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Friday, October 11, 2019

Silhouette Ghosts

     I'm racing the clock to get this post written and pre-scheduled so that I don't miss out on showing you my DT card for the new weekly challenge at QKR Stampede.  I live in California and our power may be shut off any minute now for an unknown length of time - hours or even days.  The power company says it's for 'fire danger prevention.'  Yeah, I know - I've never heard of that in all the years I've lived in California but a good share of the northern end of the state is already without power.

     Anyway, my card today features 2 images from our sister company, Eureka Stamps, and each one is called "Dark Ghost" (4007) and "Dark Ghost" (4002).  The sentiment is from QKR Stampede and is called "Boo" (how appropriate!)


     The two silhouette images were printed as they are and the sentiment was colored with ProMarkers.  I wanted a very CAS card so did no embellishments at all.  I did ink the edges of the card front with purple.

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Crafty Creations
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Fingers
Creative Inspirations
Cute Card Thurs.
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Pattie's Creations
Take It, Make It
Tales from the Craft Room

     Edited at midnight on Thursday - we have power right now and it looks like we'll have power during the day on Friday if the wind diminishes as predicted.  Strangely enough, there are wild fires to the east and the south of us started by downed power lines!  I guess they shut down the wrong power grids.  :-D
 
     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, October 10, 2019

A Doggone Good Halloween !

    I'm sharing a quick and easy Halloween card today which I finished in record time because I wanted to get the post written before our power goes off.  It may be off for anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  Long story and you can read more about it in tomorrow's QKR Stampede DT post.  I just finished that one and pre-scheduled it to post tomorrow.

     Today's card has a pre-colored image from Fabrika Fantasy where the theme is "Halloween."  I've had this image for a while now but have never used it.  The fact that's it's pre-colored means that it took me about 15 minutes to get this card finished.

The sketch came from Sweet Sketch Weds
and the color from the inspiration photo at Paperbabe Stamps.

    

Kraft card base
Image cut with Memory Box die
Scraps of dp from the basket
Sentiment printed and hand cut
Wrapped burlap twine bow

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Calendar
Creative Inspirations
Dare 2B Artsy
Scrappy Land

     I hope the power is on when this posts so that I can link up to those fun challenges.  In case I'm MIA for a few days, it's because of the power situation.    Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie 

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Mushroom Fairy for Fall

     This adorable little fairy, sitting in her mushroom garden enjoying the cooler days of fall, is from All Dressed Up. 

     The weather has stayed pretty hot where I live until today when they are predicting 83 instead of 93, and my blogging buddy, Lynn, a Texan from head to toe, says it's stayed awfully warm in her area, too.  So this card celebrates the arrival of fall and if it hasn't cooled off for her yet, maybe the weather is heading from my house to hers.  Hang in there, Lynn!


I chose colors from the middle column of color board #363
at Color My Heart Color Dare, plus I used "Ballerina"
for her face and arms.


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut image & frame with Sizzix dies
Gold CS base
Gold, glittered flower
CAS design

     Challenges:

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Counting Blessings

     Fooled you!  No Halloween card today; instead I'm heading on down the road to Thanksgiving with this adorable image from Bugaboo Stamps.  Don't you just love that cute little owl sitting on his harvested pumpkins?


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangle die
Wide satin ribbon and sheer ribbon from Crafty Ribbons
Jute cord added to bow

     Challenges:
Addicted to CAS
Allsorts
Catch the Bug
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Calender
Dare 2B Artsy
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz SAR
Passion for ProMarkers
Stamping Sensations

     Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Monday, October 7, 2019

Orange and White Halloween

     I took to heart the challenge theme at Double D - to use nothing but orange and white on a project with an allowable neutral for a sentiment.  So, did I choose something easy like a sunflower image or leaves, or just a focal sentiment done in orange on a white background?  No, I chose an image from Mo's Digital Pencil, complete with Little Witch Henrietta and her farm kitten sitting there in the pumpkin patch.  What could I possibly do with just orange and white?  lol

     I used 9 different shades of orange ProMarkers and Copics, everything from Pale Orange to Deep Mango.  Nobody ever said I took the easy road to the destination!  What do you think?  Can you find the patch job I had to do?


Colored with Copics & ProMarkers
Die cut with Memory Box Scalloped Frames
DP from the scrap pile
Card front done with Rust CS
Sentiment is also Mo's Digital Pencil

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Crafting by Designs
Cute Card Thurs.
House that Stamps Built
Mo's Digital Pencil

Papercraft
Paper Funday
Paper Shelter
Scrappy Land
Southern Girls

     I hope you'll leave me a comment on this.  I'd really love feedback on the Orange and White.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Meow-lloween !

     This adorable image is a freebie from the SUYP Cats challenge and is by Ike's Art.  I tried to use as many shades of orange as I could as a salute to the color palette option offered by Ike's World.


My card design is based on one of the 
sketches at Sweet Sketch Weds.


Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with Sizzix die
Background "bats" die cut piece was a gift - die unknown
Paper is a scrap from my basket
Hand tied bows 'dyed' with ProMarker

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Creative Inspirations
Creative Knockouts
Ike's World
Paper Funday
Scrappy Land
Word Art Weds.
Work It Weds.

     Have a great day and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Batdog to the Rescue!

     OK, OK, I know there's no "Batdog" in real life or even in the comics but think of him as a recent, mythical creature!  I adore the cute image we received this month from Polkadoodles for the Outlawz Progressive Challenge.  Perfect for another Halloween card with her little pup all dressed in his bat costume.  :-D


I pulled my colors from the
Ike's World challenge.


Colored with ProMarkers & gel pens
Cut with an Unbranded die
Ribbons (black sparkle and orange/white stripes) - both are scraps
Gemstone bling on the bow
Sentiment printed and hand cut

     Challenges:
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Creations
Crafty Sentiments
Digi Choosday
I {heart} ProMarkers
Passion for ProMarkers
TTCRD

     That's all for today and I hope your weekend is going well.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Jan's Digi Stamps Challenges - COMING SOON!

Hello, blogging friends!
You may remember that Sparkle N Sprinkle presented rubber and digital stamps created by a variety of international digital artists we all know and love.

Jan Mahew was one of those artists.
Her eclectic style of fun, whimsical, beautiful, and vintage style images were a hit with crafters then, and are still in demand.
After SNS closed its doors,
Jan embarked on a new endeavor and opened her own store!

WELCOME

Jan's Digi Stamps - Digital Stamp Shop



Facebook - Shopping - Pinterest - Challenges

To help promote her store AND to have fun, Jan's Digi Challenge Blog begins November 4, with a true Anything Goes challenge on the first and third Monday each month. 

Please stop by and join us in welcoming Jan to the international digital community.