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:

Art Impressions

Cute Card Thurs

Dragonfly Dreams

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends

Outlawz Festive Fri

Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

Winter Wonderland

     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

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:

Bastel-Traum

Craft-Dee BowZ

Crafts Galore Encore

Cuttlebug Mania

Digi Choosday

Lemon Shortbread

SUYP Cats

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

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

Dare 2B Artsy
Double D
Dragonfly Dreams
Dream Valley

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Scrappy Land

TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Laughing Kitty - Cat Lovers Day 4

     Day 4 of the Cat Lovers Hop and today's kitty is so tickled to be part of it, he has an irrepressible laugh going on!  If you can resist this face, check your pulse - you may need to call the undertaker.  :-D

     ProMarkers, Spellbinders dies, ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and a double bow tie bow.  All of those put onto a card front for a CAS design that looks much fancier than it it.  It took less than half an hour to put together.

     Challenges:
Cardz TV
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Creations
House that Stamps Built
Polkadoodles
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Scrappy Land
Word Art Weds.

     Short, sweet, awesomely cute, and all I have for today.   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cat Lovers Hop - Again

     Today I have another card I'm going to post for the Cat Lovers Hop.

     I wish I could tell you who drew the image but it's one of those I colored probably 2 years ago then tossed in my file of colored-images-ready-to-use and never used it.  I actually remember coloring it (which is why I know it's been 2 years) because I was on my holiday travels and I took my colored pencils and gamsol with me plus a few dozen images.  

     I cut the image and the orange frame with simple rectangle dies from Spellbinders. then added a scrap of dp to frame that.  The background dp was also a scrap, just big enough to cover a 5 x 5 card.

     Both ribbons are from my stash of Really Reasonable Ribbon (and I have lots of it.)  I tied the bow by hand and, although the photo doesn't do it justice, the ribbon is sparkly beyond imagination but it's brown, not black.

     Challenges:

Crafty Sentiments

Digi Choosday

SUYP Cats

     So glad you stopped by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Scared of Spiders!

     It's true, I'm a real 'fraidy cat when it comes to spiders so making this card was perfect in that I know exactly what's going through that little, kitty-witch's mind.  lol

     The image is from AuroraWings and if it isn't big enough for you to find the spider, click on the image to enlarge it.  Or, if you're like me and you hate and fear spiders, just take my word for it that there's a loathsome, black, spider lurking on the jack-o-lantern.

     I colored with my ProMarkers and used white gel pen to add a few highlights.  I cut the image by hand and added the printed sentiment (also hand cut.)  I used a black card base, added the corner punched (Fiskars) strip of purple CS, and then die cut the black cat behind the image with a die from Cheery Lynn.  Come to think of it, he doesn't look too happy about the spider either!  I'm sure he's giving out a spooky yowl of warning.

     Challenges:
AuroraWings FB
Cards in Envy
Crafting from the Heart
Glitter n Sparkle
Incy Wincy
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Paper Girls
Sugar Pea Designs

SUYP Cats
Tuesday Throwdown

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cat Lovers Hop

     Well, there's no question that I qualify as a cat lover if not quite yet a 'crazy cat lady' so I'm playing along in the 2017 Cat Lovers Hop.

     Here's my project featuring a cat.

     This is an image from Aurora Wings, colored with my ProMarkers, and cut with a simple, rectangle die from Spellbinders.  I adhered it to a colored card front, then wrapped it with gold ribbon and added on of the tiny bows I make by the dozens and toss in my stash for future use.  Again, a usual, this bow started out white but I 'dyed" it with a ProMarker to get that golden orange color I wanted.  I kept it pretty CAS so that it would mail easily.

     Challenges:
Crafty Friends
Outlawz CAS
Southern Girls

     I'm still struggling with my cold but must get some rest and toddle off to my duties later this morning.  I'll take some OTC meds and hope that keeps me from feeling too miserable.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie