Golden Day

      Golden days are those days which have a touch of sweetness to them, either from sunshine or just a sunny disposition that allows us to see the beauty in our surroundings, no matter what or where they are.  This honey-filled image made me think of golden days spent tending beehives in my (much) younger days.  :-D

     I used water color paints on the image, then cut it with a QuicKutz die.  The edges were inked with ProMarkers.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The gold CS for the card front was dry embossed with a 'Linen' embossing folder.

     Challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday 

Di's Digi Designs

Dragonfly Dreams

Happy Little Stamper

Paperbabe

Paper Dragonfly

TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Who, Me?

      I have to start today's post with an abject apology to all my followers and to one or more artists who still remain unknown to me.  I got myself into trouble by relying on a friend of mine who sent me dozens and dozens of stamped or printed images over a period of a few months nearly 2 years ago.  

     I had suffered a flash drive crash and lost all my digital images which had been collected over a period of more than 10 years.  Needless to say, I was devastated.  My friend, who was concerned that I might stop card making altogether, undertook to stamp (or print, in the case of digital) images and actually mail them to me in batches over a period of a few weeks.  Many of the digital images were printed in grayscale and that was my introduction to that particular style of image.  I learned to love grayscale because of the wonderful shading and highlights they provide when they are colored.

     I really appreciated her efforts and undertook to use many of those over the last 20+ months.  This week, I learned that at least some of the digital images she sent me were copyright protected and I therefore had no right to use them.  Unfortunately, when she mailed them to me, she gave me no information regarding what company or artist created or owned them.  I HAVE NOW REMOVED THE POSTS FROM MY BLOG which were referenced when I was notified of the copyright violation and I don't intend to use any more of the unused digital images she had sent me.

     All of that in order to say that I have no idea if the image I used for this card was one she sent me or not.  It was lying on my craft desk (as opposed to being in the file of things she sent me), colored up and waiting to be used, before I was notified about the copyright issue.  I turned it into this card and then realized that it might well be something she had sent me.  I have no information regarding the artist or company but that's true of a lot of images I had gotten at a crafting group where we each stamped an image and then shared them when the group met to make cards or scrapbook pages together.  However, I think this one was a rubber stamped image.

     So, if anyone can identify the artist, please let me know and I will immediately give them credit for the image.

     I used ProMarkers to color the image and add the colored border around the edges.  I cut it with a QuicKutz die.  The plaid paper came from a Lawn Fawn stack.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The ribbon and the fabric flowers came from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Crafty Calendar

Crafty Hazelnut's

Di's Digi Designs

I Love ProMarkers

Incy Wincy

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Heart Hugs

      Today I'm sharing another DT card done using a sweet Conie Fong gnome, this one with a heart shaped balloon.  The set of images and sentiments is called "Gnome with Balloon" and he comes with both a round balloon and a heart balloon, with or without the grass at the bottom, plus 5 sentiment options.  I think he's adorable and very versatile; think birthday, Valentine, anniversary, or like I'm doing, just a simple "Miss You" card for someone who recently moved out of state.

     I merged the sentiment onto the balloon before printing.  I used my ProMarkers to color the image, then cut it with a QuicKutz die, and punched the corner with a Fiskars punch.  I cut the frame shape out of an old scrap of water colored paper I had done for another project, using a fancy die from Spellbinders.  I dry embossed the dark blue background piece with my 'Linen' EF and added it to the card front before layering on the image piece (dimensional dots) and adding the hand-tied bow.

     Challenges:

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Outlawz Festive Fri

Paper Funday

Paperminutes

Penny's Paper-Crafty

TTCRD

Word Art Weds

     I hope we're going to see you  playing in our challenges over on our Facebook site.  The August Challenge is combined with our September challenge so you have plenty of time to find that perfect Conie Fong image you want to use and get something made.  There are also some wonderful freebies available if you don't yet have any Conie Fong images. You're going to fall in love with Conie's darling images!  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Lazy Days

      I got so intrigued with the challenge options at the Butterfly Challenge that I decided to try a Faux Stepper card using all four of the color options (Fandango, Fulvos, Forest Green, and Flirt), plus faux stitching.  I followed the instructions available on the Butterfly website for the faux stepper shaped card, then colored my image and added the faux stitching.  I've played before but this is the first time I've used all the options and it really was fun!

     The image was colored with ProMarkers, pencils, and watercolors on the background, then cut with a Tonic Studios die.  Papers are from a Recollections stack.  I did the faux stitching with a purple gel pen.  The sentiment was cut with an Avrey Elle die.

Here's a shot which shows the faux step better.

     Challenges:

As You Like It  (Cats are my favs because there is so much you can do in coloring their fur)

Colour Crazy

Creative Creases

Creative Fingers

Paper Dragonfly

Scor-Pal

There's a Stamp ...

Word Art Weds.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Mystic Journey

      This card was so easy, I almost hesitate to write up a blog post about it, but then, easy is sometimes exactly what we need !  I printed the digital stamp onto lavender CS, cut it with rectangle die from QuicKutz, and matted it with white CS.  The purple background was dry embossed with an embossing folder (but I don't remember the name of it - something about waffles) from Darice.  I wrapped the card front with dark blue, sheer ribbon and used purple sheer ribbon to sew one of my signature bows.  

I spend an afternoon & evening sewing up those bows and have them handy to just grab from the stash.  That allows me to combine my two biggest passions, sewing and card making.  :-D

The sentiment was printed and cut with another QuicKutz die.  

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Can You Handle ...

Crafting Techniques

Creative Fingers

Creative Knockouts

Di's Digi Designs

Paperbabe

Polkadoodles

Taylormade ...

There's a Stamp ...

     Have yourself a fantastic weekend !  I'm headed back to the craft room where I'm going to have myself a 2 day coloring binge.  I may even get another card done before the weekend is over but mostly, I want to color and color and color ...

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Spoooky!

      I'm starting on my Halloween cards for this year.  Can you believe October is just 2 months away?  I mail a lot of Halloween cards, till sending them to all the kids, grandkids (yes, even the adult ones!) and great-grands, a total of 15 this year.  I did one over the weekend and this is the next one, very CAS.

     The image is colored with ProMarkers, then cut with a Tonic Studios die.  The sentiment was cut with a die from Avery Elle.  I put white mats behind both the image and the sentiment, and mounted everything on a black CS card front.

     Challenges:

Digi Choosday

Stamping Sensations

Star Stamps

TTCRD

Two Old Bats

     That's all for today.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie    

Summer Greeting

      It's the 15th of the month and a new challenge is starting over at QKR Stampede.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and you can play in as many other challenges in addition to ours as you choose to enter.  Remember, while you may use any image from any company, if you use a QKR (or Eureka) image, your entry goes into a separate challenge just for those entries.  That means your chances of being a winner are much higher!

     For my DT card today, I used an image from our sister company, Eureka Stamps, called Butterfly & Daisy Flower.  The image was colored using water colors and cut with a QuicKutz large square die.  I merged the sentiment before printing the image.  I inked the edges of the image to give it some definition before layering it onto the pink CS background.  That pink CS was embossed using my old 'Linen' EF.  

     I had already decided on a very CAS design before I ever started water coloring, primarily because most of my supplies were still stored away in preparation for a move out of state.  That's now behind us and I can unpack all the crafty things I've been missing.  But first, I'm going to celebrate "National Relaxation Day" with a stroll through my garden to smell the flowers and watch the butterflies.  :-D

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Crafter's Cafe

Creative Inspirations

Double Trouble

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Paper Funday

We Love Stamping

Word Art Weds

     I hope to see your projects entered into our challenge these next two weeks.  We love visiting your blogs and social media sites.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Angels Heard on High

      We're sharing the mid-August inspiration for the challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps and our theme is always "Anything Goes."  Jan had some really sweet new releases this month (which are on sale right now!) and I've used "Angels Heard on High" for my DT card.  

     The image is one of the pre-colored ones in the set and the sentiment is also part of the set.  I used a die from QuicKutz to cut the image ad one from Tonic Studios to cut the sentiment.  The polka dot dp is a scrap from the basket and I used my 'Linen' EF on the golden background piece.  

     Challenges:

12 Months Christmas

Christmas Craft ...

Christmas Kickstart

Kerst

Outlawz SAR

Peace on Earth

     Be sure to come and play in our challenge.  Remember, the theme is "Anything Goes" and you can use any image from any company.  BUT, if you chose to use an image from Jan's Digital Stamps, you entry goes into a separate draw which increases your chance of winning by a huge amount!  

      Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Dragon's Breath

      This is another of the stamped images snail-mailed to me by a friend after I lost my entire collection of digital images in a flash drive crash.  I'm not sure how she did the circle behind the wizard but it's a fantastic addition to the image.

     I used water colors, ProMarkers, and added white gel pen to his beard and on the dragon smoke.  The image was cut with a Tonic Studios die and I inked the edges.  I first tried the image on a white card front but it just didn't give the nighttime look I wanted, so I swapped that out with black CS and thought it was perfect!

     The sentiment was printed and cut by hand.  I wanted a completely simple card because it's intended for a male recipient who just isn't into fuss or frou-frou of any kind.

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Colour Crazy

Crafty Calendar

Creative Inspirations

Gem of a Challenge

LeAnn's World

Paperbabe Stamps

Taylormadecards ...

TTCRD

Two Old Bats

     I'll have another post tomorrow so be sure to stop by again.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Summer Buzz

      Here's a fun card which was inspired by the challenge theme over at Paper Dragonfly, "Summertime Buzz."  I saw this image in a coloring book so I scanned it, reduced the size, and used it for this CAS card.

     I colored just the bees because I wanted to enhance the "buzz" theme and I colored with ProMarkers.  Both the image and the mat were cut with dies from QuicKutz. The turquoise background was embossed using my old (old, old, very old) "Linen" folder.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a Tonic Studios die.  No embellishments because I wanted this to be a CAS design.  I'm using it for a masculine birthday card.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Colorful Options

Digi Choosday

Happy Little ...

I Love ProMarkers

Outlawz Thurs Twist

Passion for Markers

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

TTCRD

     That's all I have for today but I've been busy in the craft room so look for more posts over the weekend.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bookshelf Treasures

      If you're a person who adores books, despite everything now being on electronic readers or in audio formats, you'll understand why a full bookshelf can feel like a treasure trove.  I've loved books and reading since I was a child, when bedtime meant one parent or the other reading a story.  As I grew older, I loved the feel of the paper pages, the hard cover, and the creaky binding as one opened and closed the book.  No electronic reader can replace those things.

     This delightful fantasy image of a pixie perched on a shelf with book in hand intrigued me right away and I had to use it for a card which I'll be sending to my youngest granddaughter, who just moved several states away for college.  I miss her already!

     I thought a monochrome, sepia-brown would work and stamped the image in coffee brown ink.  I added shading using colored pencil.  I cut it with a Tonic Studios die, then sponged the sides and corners using the same ink pad.  I found the striped dp in a DCWV "Basics" stack and chose it because it made the image pop off the background while maintaining the monochrome color combo.  The hand sewn bow is the only embellishment.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Crafts Galore Encore

Crafty Hazelnut's

Digi Choosday

Incy Wincy

Let's Craft & ...

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

TTCRD

Your Scrapbook ...

     Have yourself a wonderful day and see if you can find some time to enjoy an old fashion book.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Comforting Thoughts

      I hate to say it but this is my last DT post for Pammie's Inky Pinkies.  I have had to resign from most of my Design Teams due to the vision problems I've had over the last 3 months.  There is slow improvement but it takes me a long time to get images colored and ready to make into cards or other projects.  This particular card I had prepared and ready before I resigned from the team.

     Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and this week our sponsor is Varada Sharma.  The image I used is called "Comforting Thoughts."  The image was used twice, with one resized, reversed, and merged with the first one, plus merging the sentiment which is also part of the set.  

     Colored with ProMarkers, then cut with a QuicKutz die and the edges were inked with an ink pad.  The butterflies were cut with Memory Box dies.  The purple rectangle was a scrap which I ran through my 'Linen' EF.  I left it rather CAS so that the flowers were the focal point.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

C.R.A.F.T.

Creative Fingers

Gem of a Challenge

Paperbabe

Paper Dragonfly

Penny's Paper-Crafty

We Love Stamping

Word Art Weds

     I do hope we're going to see you playing along with us this week.  There's a wonderful prize available from Varada Sharma and you'll fall in love with her images!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bunny Tale

      This image harkens back a couple of years to when I lost my entire collection of digital images (nearly 10,000 of them gathered over a decade) due to a flash drive crash, and a dear friend took the time to print or stamp images and snail mail them to me so that I'd continue making cards.  She was so afraid I'd give it up.  I did spend a lot of time thinking about how much it would cost to replace all of those but instead I simply started collecting new images.

     Anyway, this is one she sent me which I simply never used.  (I still have probably 15 or 20 in the folder waiting to be colored and used.)  Unfortunately, when she sent them, she didn't give me any information as to what company or artist made the image but if anybody knows and can identify this one for me, I'll gladly edit this post and give full credit to the artist.

     I colored this one using both ProMarkers and pencils.  Once colored, I used a die from Spellbinders to cut the image.  The plaid papers are from a Lawn Fawn stack.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die, then matted with a tiny scrap of the blue plaid dp.  The gingham bow was hand-tied.

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Colour Crazy

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

Outlawz Festive Fri

Paperbabe

Pattie's Creations

Polkadoodles

Taylormade ...

     Have yourself a great weekend, and be sure to find some time for yourself.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Book Learnin'

      As my Grandpa used to say, "There's a time for book learnin' and a time for doin'."  By that, he meant hands on learning instead of studying books.  Since the start of school is right around the corner, I decided to use this delightful House Mouse stamp to celebrate going 'back to school' during the hottest month of summer but the warm, summer colors take care of that aspect.  :-D

     Colored with ProMarkers and pencils, then cut with a CUTplorations stitched die.  The papers came from DCWV's "Basics" stack (both polka dot dp), and one of their (very old) 12" x 12" scrapbooking paper stacks (the flowery dp) and all were scraps.  I inked the edges of the image and the sentiment with ProMarkers.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges: 

Aud Sentiments

Classic Design

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafts Galore Encore

Crafty Friends

Crafty Hazelnut's

Dies R Us

SheepSki Designs

There's a Stamp ...

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Scarecrow Needs a Story

      Today I'm playing with an old, old, who-knows-how-old image which comes from Whimsy Stamps.  It's called Scarecrow and Friend and I don't even know if it's still in their store.  I know I got it more than 5 years ago, maybe longer.  I made it for a new challenge I found several days ago, There's a Stamp for That, and they have 3 concurrent themes for their challenge.  I chose the one about books and/or reading.

     I colored with ProMarkers, then cut the image and the mat with dies from Tonic Studios.  The mat was cut from a scrap of dp in the basket.  The books were hand drawn and fussy cut with scissors.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

I Love ProMarkers

Paper Funday

Passion for Markers

Penny's Paper-Crafty

TTCRD

Whimsey Inspiration

Word Art Weds

     That's all for today but check back this weekend for another post.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Butterflies are Free

      I really love the way this card looks now that it's finished.  I had a few moments of doubt when I was deciding on what to use for background and when I was choosing the die for cutting the image.  

     The image is from Ching-Chou Kuik and it's called "Fern & Butterflies."  I'm still doing water colors for painting my images and this was actually one of the first ones I did.  I think my painting has improved over the few weeks I've been doing it but this one was good enough to turn into a card even though it was an early effort.

     The image was cut with a Spellbinders fancy die, embossed along the edges.  The green dp on the right side is from Recollections and the flowery dp with butterflies was in a prize package I received from the Butterfly Challenge.  The bow is one of my signature bows, shaped like a butterfly, and hand sewn with a pearl.  The sentiment was printed, cut with an Avery Elle die, and added near the top corner.

     Challenges:

Butterfly (sky blue/salmon/sage)

Ching-Chou Kuik

Colour Crazy

Creative Fingers

Creative Knockouts

Paperbabe

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Apple Snacks

      It's time to start another challenge at QKR Stampede and the theme is always Anything Goes.     

      I was having a text conversation with a young teenager shortly before I started making this card and we were talking about the kinds of things people could accomplish in just 5 minutes.  Half way down her list, she said she could eat an apple in 5 minutes.  That triggered the sentiment on this card. lol

     Both images are from our sister company, Eureka Stamps, and they are called "Apple" and "Apple Core" of course.  :-D  Most of the images from either QKR or Eureka are available in both rubber and digital, whichever your preference.  They are also amazingly priced without any need for sales.  Typically, digis run about $2 and rubber comes in at $3 to $3.50.

     I printed the images together, but used a die from Cottage Cutz to cut them into rounded, stitched squares.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.  I used ProMarkers to color the stems, leaves, and apple flesh on the core image.  The chevron dp was a scrap from the basket and I'm sure it originally came from a Recollections stack.  I know this is pretty CAS but once I had the images laid out on top of the scrap dp and put the sentiment on top of that, it just looked 'finished' so I adhered everything and left it without embellishment.

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

Carlin's Card Paradise

Classic Design

Crafts Galore Encore

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

Passion for Markers

TTCRD

     I hope you're going to come and play with us this week.  Remember, it's Anything Goes and you can win delightful images from QKR Stampede!  See you there.  NanaConnie

Crafty Friends

     How did it get to be August?  I'm simply not ready to face what is usually the hottest month of the summer out where I live, especially after we've already had 26 days in a row of temperatures over 100F!  But these delightful ladies from Jan's Digi Stamps (called "Crafty Friends") have the right idea - stay indoors and craft!

     This is a pre-colored image, cut with a Spellbinders die, and adhered with dimensional dots.  The striped pink background paper is from Recollections.  The sentiment is part of the Crafty Friends set and I printed it, then fussy cut it before adding it to an upper corner of the image.  Very CAS but still pleasing because of the die cut shape of the image.

     Challenges:

Crafty Hazelnut's

Dies R Us

Outlawz Monday

     Remember, the theme at Jan's Digi Stamps challenges is always "Anything Goes" and we always have 2 winners; 1 from those who use one of Jan's images and another from all the other entries.  Clearly, it pays off to use a JDS image because your chance of wining the prize is so much higher.  :-D

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie