Most Magical Time of the Year

      Today is the kickoff for Most Magical Time of the Year, a new challenge blog which features any combination of Fall-o-Ween, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Christmas, Christmas in July, Creepmas, Winter, Hanukkah, Diwali - Festival of Lights, Kwanzaa, etc. throughout the year!  We are a monthly challenge and we have a series of delightful sponsors who offer prizes to the winners. 

     Today, I've done both a Halloween card and a Christmas card, featuring images from our October sponsor, LeighSB Designs.  The first image, on the Halloween card, is Witch of Furness Forest and the second is Santa Whiskers.

     I colored this image with water color paints (and a very fine brush), then fussy cut it with scissors.  I went over the face color with a ProMarker to give her skin a greenish cast.  The background was made by die cutting purple CS with an Altenew die and then layering it over paper which had been water colored to create an orange ombre.

 

     The baker's twine came from Ellen Hutson and the black cat is a Poppystamps die cut.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

This is also my Day 1 entry into the 

LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop. 

     This one was colored with ProMarkers and glitter pen on the fur cuff and pompom on the Santa hat.  I cut the image with a scallop die from Sizzix.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.  I hand-sewed the red satin bow.  The background dp is from a Recollections stack (and it's been in my Christmas stash for at least 10 years!)

     Challenges for Witch:

Colour Crazy

Outlawz Festive Fri

LeighSBDesigns

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

    Challenges for Cat:

Aud Sentiments

I Love ProMarkers

Outlawz Festive Fri

Paperbabe

Winter Wonderland

Word Art Weds

     We'd love to see you playing along in our new challenges, this month and every month.  We're planning on having plenty of fun and it would be great if you'd come play along.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Flowery Thank You

     I've already shared a few of my post-Christmas, Thank You, cards this month and today I have two more.  This first one will most likely get used this spring or summer.  The image is a stamp from House Mouse and I think it's one of the sweetest and most versatile of all the HM stamps I own.

I used colors from the inspiration photo at Ellen Hutson.

     I colored the image with polychromos pencils and blended them with the blender included in the pencil set.  I cut the image and the frame with stitched dies from Cottage Cutz.

     I dug out some royal purple CS and used that on the front of the card base.  I cut the Thank You with a die set from Memory Box.  Memory Box has some really fantastic "Thank You" dies and this one is probably my favorite of all of them.  I like that it's not capitalized and therefore looks more casual and less formal so it works with almost any card design. 

     I wrapped the card front with  black, satin ribbon, then began layering on the sentiment and image pieces.  I left the card very CAS because it will probably have to be mailed.

     Challenges:
As You Like It
Aud Sentiments
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Catz
DL.ART
Polkadoodles


     My second card also uses a House Mouse rubber stamp but this time with a cute bunny rather than a mouse.  It seems to be more of a fall or harvest image with that huge bushel of apples.  It's another one that I've used many times and still love.

     This one is colored with ProMarkers, then cut with an Unbranded die.  I used another die from that same set to cut the mat.  The sentiment was cut with another of my Memory Box dies. 

     This time I kept the white card base and just added more of that same black, satin, ribbon.  I added the sentiment right on top of the ribbon, then added the image piece and mat.  Again, CAS seemed the best design and I really liked the striking contrast of the black ribbon and rich orange colors so didn't want to detract from that with more embellishment.

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Allsorts
Aloha Friday
Artistic Stamper
Colour Crazy
Create and Inspire
Do-Al(l) Kreatives
Send a Smile 4 Kids

     Thanks for stopping by and feel free to browse around while you're here.  There's a pot of coffee on the stove and cookies just out of the oven on the tray right over there.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Last Flamingo on the Beach

     It's a sure thing that summer is coming to a close when you find only one flamingo on the beach, looking for that last drop of sunshine to tan his pink feathers.  Or maybe all the rest of them just got scared away by yesterday's solar eclipse?

I used colors from the Ellen Hutson Pin Sights challenge.

     The image is from the Sasayaki Glitter FB progressive challenge.  I colored with my ProMarkers and cut it with an Unbranded die.  The paper is from an old DCWV stack.  I printed the sentiment and fussy cut it.  I added ribbon from my stash, plus one of the bows I make up by the dozens and have ready as needed, and found an anchor charm which seemed good for the beach theme.

     Challenges:
Brown Sugar
Crafty Creations
Crazy Challenge
Creative Inspirations
Incy Wincy
Lemon Shortbread
Outlawz Festive Friday

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie