Thinking of You

      In the midst of all the Valentine themed cards I've been doing for the last couple of weeks, I took the time to do this one which features an image by Christine Karron, the January sponsor for the Thursday Twist challenge over on the Outlawz.  I have the honor of being a Guest Designer this month and it was through that GDT spot that I first learned of Christine Karron and her lovely art work.

     Thursday Twist challenges always have an "Anything goes" theme but they also give an optional twist which you can use if you want to enter twice.  The optional theme this fortnight is "Fantasy."

     I used ProMarkers and polychromos pencils to color the image, then cut it with a stitched die from Die-namics.  The black frame was cut with a QuicKutz die.  The background was done with watercolors.  I tried for an ombre effect but watercolor is often hard to control and I'm not sure I really got the proper definition between light and dark.  But I did love how it turned out so I ironed it dry (medium cotton setting) and used it for the background.  I printed the sentiment and cut it with an Avery Elle die, added a black mat, and sewed one of my signature, satin bows with a pearl for embellishment.

This is based on Sketch 221 at Sweet Sketch Weds,

turned a quarter turn.

     Challenges:

Colour Crazy

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspiration

Dies R Us

Get Creative

Outlawz Festive Fri

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Word Art Weds

Your Next Stamp

     See you at The Outlawz!   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Very Cherry Birthday

     I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the Thursday challenge at The Outlawz.  The theme is always "Anything Goes" and there's always an optional twist which you can use if you want to enter twice instead of just once.  The twist this time is "Feminine."  

     There's always a sponsor for the entire month and challenges run for 2 weeks at a time.  This month the sponsor is Christine Karron, a new-to-me artist (whose images and coloring pages I adore) and, as soon as I saw her artwork, I went on a shopping spree at her shop!

     For this card, I used an image called "Sweet Temptation" which was supplied by Christine for the DT to use.  (It's a freebie available on her website - just click on the name of the image above.)  I colored it using my ProMarkers, then cut the image with a circle die from Dare 2B Artzy.  The pink frame was cut with a larger die from that same set.  The background was made with glitter CS from Recollections.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, and the bow is one of my signature, hand-sewn bows.

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Colour Crazy

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

LeAnn's World

Let's Craft & Create

Lil Patch of ...

Pattie's Creations

Polkadoodles

     If you're not yet a member of  The Outlawz, you can join in about 1 minute and it's FREE!   You can play in a different challenge each day of the week ('join' each daily challenge individually from the main home page, then you can play in them whenever), plus there are both a progressive monthly challenge and another one for using up old stash items which are lying about, forgotten, and which need to be used.  Yes, you have lots of those, you know you do!  :-D  

    

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie