Holiday Chaos - Shopping Humbug!

     I know this is my third post of the day but the Holiday Chaos at Catch the Bug ends today and we have to have our projects posted within the next few hours.  I spent the morning sporadically getting this card made, interrupted by many other things that kept cropping up.  Now, in the middle of writing up this blog, I find out that my daughter is on her way over with my grandson and I'll delay one more time in order to visit with them.  :-D  Sorry, but being a Nana always comes first!

     The image I used is the Friday Freebie from Bugaboo Stamps which we are supposed to use along with this BINGO board.

I used the diagonal from bottom left to top right: Plaid/ Die Cut/ Sentiment but I also used a Bugaboo image.  :-D

     I colored with ProMarkers, then die cut the image and the frame with dies from Bo Bunny.  The plaid dp came from a stack by My Favorite Things.  I printed and hand cut the sentiment, inked the edges with red, and adhered it with dimensional dots.  The red bow is one of my hand-sewn, signature bows with a pearl.

     Challenges:
Art Impressions
Cardz TV
Creative Fingers
Pattie's Creations
Penny's Paper Crafty
Take It, Make It
Winter Wonderland

     I've had a ton of fun playing each day this week and I now have an additional 7 cards in my Christmas stash.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Fancy Sunbonnet's Thanksgiving

     One more quick post for you today because the rest of the week I have a ton of posts lined up, including 4 tomorrow for the first of the month! 

     For this one, I used a cute image from Bugaboo Stamps; one of their sweet Fancy Sunbonnet images, and this one is perfect for Thanksgiving.

I started with the sketch from the Outlawz

and color inspiration from Catch the Bug.

  

     I  love using autumn colors because they reflect my favorite season, mirroring the leaves drifting off the trees and the clear skies of a crisp fall day.

     I used ProMarkers to color the image and a die from QuicKutz to cut it.  The sentiment was also cut with an oval die from QuicKutz.  I embossed the golden CS with my Linen folder.  The bits of dp above and below the sentiment were scraps left on my table from some other project.

     The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons and the bow is one of my hand-sewn bows, made by the dozens and put into my stash for future use.  I added the pearl when I was making the bow.

      Challenges:
Art Impressions
As You Like It
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Friends
Cutie Pie
Hiding in My Craft Room
Time Out

     That's it for today and I hope you'll visit all my posts tomorrow.  Feel free to take your time.  No need to rush though all of them in the morning.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

New Sketch at Catch the Bug

     Every other Sunday, Catch the Bug has a new sketch in their "Stella Says Sketch" challenge.  Since I'm a Guest Designer with them this month, and since I love sketches, I jumped right in and used the sketch which starts today.  Of course, I had to use my favorite color - purple - and make something that shouts "Spring!"

Here's the sketch.  

     I printed the image ("5 Flowers") twice and colored both of them with ProMarkers.  Because I needed three "inchies" squares for the sketch, I cut the two end flowers off one of my printed/colored images and cut the center flower out of the other one.  That way, I could lay them out and mat them with dark purple CS.

     For the background papers, I chose one with flowery paisleys (DCWV) and a leftover scrap of hand bleached CS.  I did that myself many months ago using a Q-Tip and dabbing it onto a saucer of bleach and then onto the CS.  Time consuming but since I save every unused scrap of it, easy to grab out of the stash as needed.

     I added grosgrain ribbon which is stitched with pink embroidery floss.  I love real stitching but rarely have the time to do it so I end up being happy with hand-drawn stitches.  But this time, those are real stitches!

     Finally, I added the lilac satin bow (it was white but I 'dyed' it with my ProMarkers.)  The sentiment (Is It Spring Yet?) somehow says it all.  :-D

     Challenges:
As You Like It
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafty Friends
Crafty Sentiments
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD
Tuesday Throwdown

    Thanks for visiting and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Naughty List

     This is the next in the daily cards I'm making for the Catch the Bug Christmas-in-July challenges going on through Friday.  Today's theme is "Make us Laugh" and I hope this one does it for you.  :-D

Sketch is from Try Stampin' on Tuesday.

     This Bugaboo image is called "Christmas Cheer" and I'd say she's had a bit more than necessary.  I colored her with a combination of Copics, Promarkers and glitter gel ink.  The die cut is done with a Cheery Lynn frame/border die.  The die cut itself was so fancy that I left the card without any additional embellishments.  I figured the sparkle and fancy borders were enough.

     Challenges:
Cheery Lynn Dies -- Beautiful borders
Delightful Challenges -- Glitter, bling and sparkle
Eureka Stamps -- Christmas in July
Graph'It Colour -- Candy colors (peppermint and wintergreen)
Loves Rubber Stamps -- Christmas in July
My Craft Spot -- Christmas in July
Oozak -- Texture
Outlawz GCC -- Christmas in July
Stamp and Create -- Christmas in July

     I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday and remember, that means we're half-way to the weekend.  Not that I like wishing my life away but I do love the free time I get on the weekends for fun and play.  However, most of it will be spent indoors this weekend if what the weatherman is predicting comes true -- high temps in the 100s once again.  Oh, yuck!  I so do NOT like hot weather, at least, not that hot.  Enjoy the rest of your week and Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Summer, Flowers, and Bears, Oh, My!

     This delightful little "Tall Flower Bear" is a freebie I found last Friday at Bugaboo Stamps (Catch the Bug --Anything Goes.)  Isn't he just the most precious thing holding his big summer flower?  One look at him, and I decided it was time for another card done in my favorite color of purple.

My sketch is from Incy Wincy

and, as if I needed more inspiration to use purple, 

I took my colors from {Pin}spirational.

 

     The image is colored with a combination of markers, mostly ProMarkers.  The it's die cut and matted (dies from QuicKutz) and mounted on a black card base.  The inside has white paper for a hand written notation.

     The dp is from Recollections and is also used as the mat for the image.  I used sheer ribbon and purple ribbon with a sheen from my stash (could be Really Reasonable Ribbon) to make the dove tail strip, then I found a last scrap of purple gingham ribbon to tie that bow.  I added a pearl to the flower center and then added three more to the lower corner. Despite the patterned paper, the design is still pretty CAS with lots of open space.

     Challenges:
C is for Challenge -- Flowers
Card Makin' Mamas -- Monochromatic
Colour Me Creative -- Anything goes
Cutie Pie -- Cute and Cuddly
Fairy Tale -- Favorite colors
Friends of Speedy TV -- Monochromatic
Graph'It Markers -- Bright and bold
Love to Create -- Ribbon & bling
No Matter Which Challenge -- Anything goes
Outlawz PAM -- Summer
Send a Smile 4 Kids -- Diecuts
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner -- Animals
The Ribbon Girl -- Add a bow
There She Goes -- Animals

     I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday!  We're halfway to the weekend and that's fun time.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Cat Bath

     It's another beautiful Bugaboo summer day and today I want to share an image called "Cat Birdbath" which I used for my Guest DT card.  The theme at Catch the Bug this week is the easiest in the world -- Anything Goes!  So, I want to see you playing along.

      Isn't this the cutest little digi stamp?  I'm not sure kitty planned on getting wet when he went sneaking around the birdbath, but he probably deserves whatever he gets!  :-D

    Sketch (with some slight modifications) came from Digi Darla's and this is the second time I've used it.
 
      I colored the image with water color pencils and alcohol markers, die cut the circle and the black CS mat, then framed it with a doily (Spellbinders.)  The ribbon is sparkly and comes from Really Reasonable Ribbon.  All the flowers are Prima.  Clean and simple design with flower embellishments.  The card came together pretty quickly once the coloring was done.

     Challenges:
Creative Craft -- Tweet, Tweets
Flourishes -- Summer
Jackson's Digital Expressions -- Anything goes w/ optional flowers
LEJ Designs -- Fabulous flowers
Paper Pretties -- Summer fun
Scrapbook Sisters -- Use only 1 stamp on your card
Shopping Our Stash -- Triple Threat: ribbon, die cut doily, flowers
The Paper Girls -- Colors from the photo inspiration

     Don't forget that Bugaboo's "Christmas in July" starts in just another week and there will be ooodles of games, mini-challenges, and prizes.  I hope you're going to play along as much as possible.  I'm going to use it as an excuse to finally get a start on my Christmas cards.  Hope we see you at our Anything Goes challenge this week.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie