GDT at Connie Can Crop

HAPPY LABOR DAY !     

     Good morning!   Today I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the Anything Goes challenge at Connie Can Crop - September challenge.  

     The sponsor for this challenge is Treasure Box and they have some really marvelous digital stamps, papers, and cutting files.  You can learn more about them and find a link to their website on the challenge post at Connie Can Crop.  

     I chose to use this darling little kitten from the "Pound Pals One" set of images.  They also have some cute little birds in some of their sets, but when it came to a choice between fur or feathers, I had to go with fur or my own feline fur babies would have been pouting.  Besides, it's easier to color fur than it is to get really good feathers.  :-D

     From the look on his face, I just knew that he was feeling alone and left behind when his human kids went back to school and didn't take him along and that generated the sentiment.

     This card took off in an unplanned direction while I was working on it.  Ever have that happen to you?  I got it all colored using my ProMarkers, cut it with a simple rectangle die (Spellbinders), and then saw a scad of bits and pieces which were on my desk, left over from a previous project.  Because the golden yellow seemed to fit right in with his calico colors, I added the die cuts (all Impression Obsession dies), framed out the printed sentiment, and added the corner triangle.  Voila'!  The card layout was done and all it needed was a bit of ribbon for a bow.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps & More
As You Like It
City Crafter
Creative Moments
Cute Card Thurs.
Outlawz Festive Fridays
Paper Shelter
Polkadoodles
Star Stampz
Take It, Make It

Enjoy, and come play at Connie Can Crop this month, won't you?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Rose Girl for a Birthday

     I haven't colored up an ArtbyMiRan image in a while but this one was such a delight and she's going into my stash of birthday cards.

I started with the color challenge at Connie Can Crop.

     I colored this image with my Koh-I-Noor pencils and gamsol.  I learned some real lessons about blending and shading.  I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with it but maybe in my head I'm still just comparing it to coloring with alcohol markers.

     The two papers are both from the same Authentique pad and I used sparkly, black ribbon over the join point.  The image is cut with a die on the top and two sides, and then hand cut across the bottom to keep the sentiment where it was printed.

     I matted the image with seafoam CS and tied a "bowtie" bow from satin ribbon to pull out some of the darker salmon shades in the paper.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Crafty Sentiments
Deep Ocean
Fab 'n Funky
Lemon Shortbread
Penny's Paper-Crafty

     That's it for me today.  Hope your weekend is going well and that you've found some wonderful "me" time for restoring your soul and feeding the creative muse.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Please continue to leave comments.  The "Word Verification" really isn't on.  BLOGGER INSISTS ON SHOWING THE "CAPTCHA" ICON BUT IF YOU IGNORE IT AND JUST PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT, IT WILL POST JUST FINE.  I WISH I COULD GET RID OF IT BUT THERE'S NO OPTION FOR THAT WHEN THE COMMENTS ARE WRITTEN IN A SEPARATE BOX.  SORRY.

Music for the Soul

     This is my second card as Guest Designer for the CAS challenge at The Outlawz.  Our theme this week is "Musical" -- and that can have a wide interpretation.  I chose to use a rubber stamp image from Sparkle n Sprinkle, one I've had for a long, long time (before I even started blogging!) but still love.  In fact, this card is overwhelmingly filled with Sparkle n Sprinkle goodies -- embossing powder, glitter, and image.

I started with the sketch from The Outlawz

and colors came from Connie Can Crop.

    

     Before stamping my image, I used chalks to color and blend the background and then I stamped the image with embossing ink, used black EP and heat set it.  I used ProMarkers to add a bit of color to the butterfly in the image.  I die cut it with one of my favorite types of dies (framing) from Spellbinders, making a fancy frame for it.  The three little butterflies are die cut negatives and I added glitter to two of them.  I mounted the image onto a pre-made, colored card front, added the bit of sheer ribbon and the corner brads.  Another lovely, CAS design.

     Challenges:
AAA Cards
Cards in Envy
City Crafter
Crafty Gals Corner (mid row)
Everybody Art
Inspiration Destination
Not Just Cards
Papertake Weekly
Pencil Case
{Pin}spirational
Scrap & Craft
Scrapy Land
Simon Says Stamp
Stamplorations

     Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll have another Guest Designer post in a few hours.  Shhhh, it's a secret until then.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie