Grateful Piggie

      We're starting a new challenge at Angie's Digital Stamps this morning and the theme is "Anything Goes" (no twist this month.)  This is our last challenge of the year because the DT takes a 2 month break over the holidays.

     I thought this sweet little piggie (Pig Eating from Trough) would be perfect for a Thanksgiving card.  Doesn't he look completely grateful for his holiday corn?  :-D

     I colored him with my ProMarkers and cut the image with a Cottage Cuts stitched die.  I found scraps bits of dp, including the strip of leaves, in my basket, and I think they are all from a DCWV stack.  Although it's difficult t see in the photo, the small leaves along that strip are sparkly and embossed.  I printed my own sentiment and cut it with an Avery Elle die.  The large leaf is cut from silk and the polka dot bow is hand tied.

I pulled these colors from the photo at

Color My Heart Color Dare #463:

pink, yellow, orange, red, beige, brown + pale blue from shadows on the tree trunks

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

Colour Crazy

Crafter's Castle

Crafty Catz

Gem of a Challenge

Lil Patch of ...

Pattie's Creations

Simon Says Stamp

TTCRD

     Come play with us since this is our last challenge this year.  We love seeing what you create and also being inspired by your creations.  Since we won't see you in November or December, may I wish you the happiest of holidays now?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Is it a Pond or a Puddle?

      I'm sharing with you my first DT card for Angie's Digital Stamps and this darling little girl, playing in the (is it a pond or a puddle?) is called Daisy Mae Playing in Water.  Isn't she superb?  :-D  The  theme for our fun challenge is "Anything Goes" but you may use the twist of "Fall Colors" if you like.

     I colored with my favorite ProMarkers, then cut her with a square die from Cottage Cutz turned 'on point', as they say in quilting.  The square of purple CS was a scrap I found in the basket and it worked so perfectly with the dots in her dress that it simply had to decorate the card front.  I printed out the sentiment, cut it with a QuicKutz rectangle die, and added it to the CS just below where I had printed the first part of the sentiment using white gel pen.

     I added a few wraps of sparkle twine tied into a bow to finish it.  The background is ombre on water color paper.  Although it has quite few pieces, it still looks rather clean if not completely simple.  :-)

     Challenges:

Addicted to CAS

Crafty Calendar

Crafty Sentiments

Dare 2B Artzy

Gem of a Challenge

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz Greetings

Passion for Markers

Taylormade ...

TTCRD 

     Please come and play in our challenge this month.  We love seeing what you create and you could win some fabulous images from Angie's.  :-D   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

In Time for Easter

     Some things arrive just in time, like Santa on Christmas Eve or a surprise gift in the mail on the morning of your birthday.  Today, I'm sharing an image from Angie's Digital Stamps featuring a tiny chick who arrived just in time for Easter.  :-D 

Colored with ProMarkers
Yellow frame cut w/ Sue Wilson die
   (scrap left over from another project)
Paper scrap from DCWV
Machine embroidered flowers
Sentiment printed, then cut & embossed w/ Avery Elle die

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time...Extra
Classic Design
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Hazelnut's
Creative Moments
Die Cut Divas
Friendship
SheepSki Designs
Stamping Sensations

     Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Chick or Duckling?

     I just had to give you a second post today.  I fell in love with this adorable image.

     Remember the age-old question about which came first, the chicken or the egg?  Well, for today, we want to know if what's in the egg is a chick or a duckling?  I'm doing more Easter cards, some of them for a friend who needs 8 cards total, and she and I are having a debate over which this is.  I think it's a little chicken but maybe it's the way I colored the beak that makes it look like it could be a duck.

     The image is from Angie's Digital Stamps.

     I colored with ProMarkers and polychromos pencils, then cut the image with a Tonic Studios die.  The background is a piece of scrap dp as is the plaid strip across the bottom.  I printed and hand cut the sentiment, inking the edges before applying it on top of the plaid strip.

     I found another scrap of yellow, gingham, ribbon and tied the bow using my bow maker.

     Challenges:
Crafty Cardmakers
Crafty Creations
Crafty Sentiments
Creative Inspirations
Cute N Crafty
Get Creative
Happy Craft
House that Stamps Built (middle row)
Work It Weds.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Birthday Bonnet

     Still working on my stash of birthday cards and for this one I dug through my collection of stamps from Angie's.  What's more perfect for a feminine card than a kitten in her best frock and bonnet?

     I used ProMarkers to color the image and used Sizzix dies to cut it and the two layers behind it.  The plaid dp was from my scrap basket and I don't remember the maker.  The satin ribbon has an interesting pattern in it which is textured.

     I printed and hand cut the sentiment, matting it with a tiny scrap left over from the bright pink CS.  I had a scrap of gingham ribbon which I used to tie the little bow.  I love using up scrap bits.  It always make me feel justified in heading out to buy more goodies.  :-D

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Crafty Friends (Birthday, Bonnet, Bow)
DL.ART
If You Give a Crafter a Cookie
Ike's World
Jo's Scrap Shack
Send a Smile 4 Kids
SUYP Cats
TTCRD

     Have a perfectly wonderful week!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thanksgiving Ham?

     I've been working on Christmas cards all weekend long but this is a Thanksgiving card for today.  I know, I know - no turkey, no Pilgrims, no Indians but if you read the sentiment, you'll see that it's all about being thankful.  :-D     

This is my take on the sketch from The Outlawz

but I shifted the horizontal piece upward.

     This image is from Angie's Digital Stamps and I colored it with my ProMarkers.  Both the image and the beige frame were cut with a stitched die from Die-namics and the image is inlaid into the frame.  I matted that with some olive green CS which I ran through my "Linen " embossing folder.  Both papers are from the "Autumn Leaves" stack by DCWV and the yellow leaves dp is also matted with die cut beige CS.  With the exception of the green background paper, everything else on the card was cut from scraps.

     Finally, I added a hand tied bow made from burlap ribbon.

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Crafty Friends
Glitter 'N' Sparkle
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jo's Scrap Schack
Polkadoodles
Quick Quotes
Ribbon Girl

     Happy Monday and Happy Crafting!   NanaConnie

Hatched Just in Time

     I've been working on Easter cards since it does arrive in  April this year and I want to make sure I have enough done to get them in the mail on time.  Here's another one for today's post, using a stamp from Angie's Digital Stamps.  Doesn't he look like he hatched out just in time to be an Easter chick?

I used the sketch from Crafter's Cafe.

     The image is colored with a combination of polychromos pencils and ProMarkers, and I cut it with stitched circle dies from Die-namics.  The dp for the background strips all came from scraps and I matted them with dark green CS.

     The flowers are some of those I made up a few weeks ago by pulling up a running stitch I had sewn through one side of sheer ribbon.  There are beaded pearls in the centers. I also added three pearls beside the sentiment piece.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps
Color Sisters (center column)
Crafting When We Can
House of Cards
Path of Positivity
Pixie's Snippets
Ribbon Girl
Stamping Sensations

     I hope your weekend so far has been filled with good weather and creativity, and that you find plenty of time to rest and recharge.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie  

Best Friends

     This card combines two of the cutest images I've ever seen and they are from Angie's Digital Stamps.  I chose to print them separately so that I could fussy cut the mouse and add it to the card with dimensional dots.

     Both images are colored with my ProMarkers, then cut, matted and layered together.  I added them to the front of a pre-made card front and dug through my box of die cut 'negatives' (leftovers from other cuts I've done.)  I found these corner cuts (Bird Scrolls from Spellbinders) which aren't exactly the negatives, but I had used the dies to cut decorative corner spaces on another card, letting the inside show through so I saved these pieces for future use.  The yellow was perfect for this card's color combo.

     I tied the bow from polka dot ribbon and added it for another bit of whimsy.  I do like the end result of this one.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
A Perfect Time to Craft
Animal Friends
Aussie Digital Artists
Crafting When We Can
Crafts and Me
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Ribbon Girl
Stamping Sensations

     Wow, you got 2 posts yesterday and 2 posts today and I'm exhausted!  I think I'll veg out the rest of the day and watch all the Super Bowl hoopla.  I don't really care who wins this year since my team lost out during the playoffs but I hope there are some great commercials this year.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Christmas Baking

     One of the best parts of the holidays is the baking of dessert goodies.  The whole house smells so fabulous, baked goods are eaten while they're still warm, and the kitchen is the favorite room of family and guests alike.

     Our family has an award winning fudge recipe which has been passed down from Mother to Oldest Daughter through at least 5 generations now, and I can remember my mother whipping it into fudge frosting for cupcakes.  Mmmmm, so good, but the fudge all by itself was pretty wonderful, too!  So I'm celebrating those childhood candy and baking memories with this one little card.

     The image is from Angie's Digital Stamps and I'm entering their challenge this month.

     I colored that darling little baker mouse with my ProMarkers, then cut him and the mat/frame with my newest die set, "Double Running Stitch" from STAMPlorations.  I love that die set and you're going to see it getting lots of use.

     I dug out a scrap of ribbon and tied it diagonally across one corner of the image, then added the bow.  The background dp was done with left over scraps which came from my 12 x 12 scrapbooking papers.  I'm not sure how long the scraps have been waiting to be used but I know I bought the papers more than 2 years ago.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Sentiments
Crazy Challenge
Digi Chooseday
Incy Wincy
Pile It On
Send a Smile 4 Kids
TTCRD

     I think fall weather is finally settling in.  I'm absolutely delighted because now it's cool enough to start baking and making candy for the holidays.  I have tons of recipes for make-ahead cookie doughs which can be tossed in the freezer without any harm to the texture of the finished cookies and now is the time to start making those so that it's an easy job later during the holiday rush to get freshed baked cookies in a really short time with little fuss.  That leaves more time for crafting and that can't be a bad thing.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie