Be a Unicorn

      I made two DT cards this month for Star Stampz, where our OPTIONAL theme is "Inspired by a Song."  My first card was inspired by "Puff, the Magic Dragon" and this one is inspired by "The Unicorn Song," sung by the Irish Rovers.  If you click on the song name, it will take you to a YouTube site where you can hear the song (and see all the lyrics) if you're not familiar with it.

     And if you are familiar with it, I can just about guarantee that the refrain is running through your head right now and it will be hours before you can get rid of it!  lol 

     Anyway, my card features the Star Stampz image called "Unicorn Princess" and I think she's adorable.  I colored the image with Sanjoki markers, then cut it with a QuicKutz die.  I used a Fiskars punch on the corners for some visual interest, then layered the image onto a square of purple CS and rounded those corners with a punch from Uchida.

     The plaid dp came from a DCWV stack and the ribbon was in my stash.  The gold butterfly is a sticker from Stamp On It.

     Challenges:

     That's all for today.  You still have almost a week to join in our challenge and we'd love to see you playing there.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Hug

      I adore this image and as soon as I printed it for coloring, my sweet (and very talented!) sis-in-law laid claim to it for coloring.  It's a clip art image and I don't even remember where I got it but she colored it with a mix of Ohuhu and ProMarkers.  Isn't her coloring fabulous?

     Once colored, she gave it back to me because making the actual cards seems to be my portion of the collaborations we do.  I haven't gotten her into that side of the creative process but it works out well when she colors and I turn those images into cards.  

     I cut the image with a QuicKutz die, then used a Fiskars punch on the four corners.  I framed that with a piece of scrap, gray CS, and I inked the edges of the frame.  For the background, I found bits of dp in the Christmas scrap basket, layered them one above another and thought they worked really well together.  I wrapped a snippet of very narrow ribbon around the card front and also tied another scrap of it into a simple bow.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart

Outlawz Tues (bottom left to top right)

Paperminutes

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

Snippets Playground (background papers, gray image frame, & ribbon scraps)

Tues Morning

     It's Christmas Eve and I wish each  and every one of you a very Merry Christmas!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Girl

      For all my promises last week about having posts each day for the past 7 days, the "To Do" list just got the best of me and, even though I've been very busy creating in the midst of the Christmas preparations, I didn't have time to sit down and write posts.  But today, I finally finished the Progressive Challenge image from Moondrea Designs and I want to get her posted to the Challenge.

     I colored with my Ohuhu markers, then added Stickles to the holly leaves, the berries, and the candle flame in the lantern.  After it all dried, I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, and decorated the corners with Fiskars and Uchida punches.  I framed the image with a die cut rectangle of green CS (Spellbinders die.)  The background dp is a scrap from the Christmas stash (probably DCWV) and the sentiment was printed and cut with another Tonic Studios die.

     Challenges:

4 Season

613 Ave Create

Double Trouble

Dragonfly Dreams

Dream Valley

Lil Patch of ...

Peace on Earth

     Hopefully, I'll have additional posts this week.  We aren't celebrating our Christmas holiday until Saturday when my college-attending, granddaughter gets home for her Christmas holidays.  Maybe I'll have posts all week long of Christmas cards I've made even though Christmas will be on Wednesday.  You won't mind, will you?  The Christmas holidays don't really end until the New Year, right?

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

A Steampunk-y Christmas

      It's been ages since I did anything steampunk but my sis-in-law has a grandson who adores steampunk and when she saw this steampunk rabbit image in my collection of images from SheepSki Designs, she wanted to turn it into a Christmas image, even though it wasn't drawn as one.  I think she did a fantastic job by using traditional Christmas colors to get the effect she wanted.

     I took her colored image (pencils), cut it and the red frame with QuicKutz dies, and decorated the corners of each with Fiskars punches.  I found a scrap of dp for the background in my Christmas papers stash and thought it worked well with the steampunk aspect.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a Tonic Studios die.

     For embellishment that heightened the steampunk, I dug through my drawer full of charms and found a little baggie filled with tiny gears and cogs and other metal bits, many of them actual old watch parts.  I bought those more than a dozen years ago at a Michael's store and haven't used them in longer than I can remember.  But they were perfect for this card!

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

Crafts Galore Encore

Do Al(l) Kreatives

Kerst / Christmas

Lil Patch of ...

Peace on Earth

Sheepski Designs

     I may have an additional post today if I can find the time to sit down and write it.  My list of things still be be done before Christmas arrives grows longer and the number of hours I have to accomplish all of them grows shorter, and desperation is setting in!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Snowflake Santa

      I have to share a card with a spectacular image which was colored by my sis-in-law using pastel Ohuhu markers and white gel pens.  Didn't she do an incredible job?  The image is clip art and I think originally it was a digital coloring book page but I sized it for a card before printing it.  

     After she colored it, I cut it with a QuicKutz die, then used a Fiskars punch on the corners.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a Tonic Studios die.  I decided to use blue glitter paper on the card front to enhance the soft blues in the image.  The two snowflake embellies are die cut foam and the dies were from Cottage Cuts.

     Challenges:

CRAFT-alnica

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

I Spy ...

Passion for Markers

Male Room

Penny's P-C

     Christmas is less than 2 weeks away and I'm still making cards!  Yikes!  Have you finished all of yours?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

"Santa" on Vacation?

      This adorable little "Santa" cat has no intention of staying up all night on Christmas Eve, delivering presents to children all around the world.  In fact, if he is assigned that particular Santa chore, he's heading off on vacation the day before!

     The image is from Conjuror of Dreams and their challenge theme this month is, as always, Anything Goes but the optional theme is "Santa on Vacation."  This is my take on the vacation option.  :-D  

     The image is pre-colored, and I cut both it and the mat with dies from QuicKutz.   The sentiment was printed and cut with my Fiskars paper cutter.  I chose the glittery, red, card stock for background because I wanted a monochromatic look for this particular card.

I was inspired by the sketch at AAA Cards.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Double Trouble

Dragonfly Dreams

Dream Valley

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz SAR  (St. Nick & 'won't stay awake')

Pammie's PIP

Simon Says Stamp

     I may have a second post today but if not, I'll post tomorrow.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Last Day of 30 Days of Holidays

      Here it is, my final card for the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place.  The last day theme is always "Do What You Love," kind of like Anything Goes but better because we get to use things we love.  For me, there are so many things I love to put on Christmas cards, but I think snowmen have to be at the top of the list.  Actually, if I could find a good reason, I'd do snowmen cards all year round.  :-D

     Today's card features one of Beccy's new snowmen, named Winston and released this year.  I thought he'd look great dressed in a burgundy hat and scarf with gold fringe and earmuffs.  I colored him with ProMarkers and added gold Stickles to the star.  I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, then trimmed the corners with a Fiskars punch.  

     I wanted the card to sparkle so I dug through my stash of glitter CS scraps and pieced together the background on the card.  I love glitter and when it comes to Christmas cards, I always debate with myself about whether silver glitter or gold glitter is best.  In this case, I was able to use mostly silver glitter but the star has gold sparkle, so a combination of them is the absolute best!

     The image and the "Snowball Fight" sentiment were layered on, using a good amount of craft glue (which I've found is the most effective for attaching CS to glitter.)  Even the stickiest of double sided tapes tends to come loose and peel off of glittered CS after just a short time so glue it is.  

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Di's Digi Designs

Jingle Bells (sparkle & colors)

My Time to Craft

Polkadoodles

Send a Smile ...

     The Christmas season is really on top of us now but it's nice to have another 30 cards in my stash.  Ok, maybe 25 instead of 30 since I did use Thanksgiving as the holiday on 4 or 5 of my cards this month.  Still, my Christmas card stash is looking good this year because of all the other cards I've done between January and October.  I still have colored Christmas images waiting to be made into cards so I'll have several additional posts throughout December.

  

    In the meantime, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

"N" is for Nutcracker - 30 Days of Holidays

      One more card for the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place and today we're working with the letter "N" so a Nutcracker was a Natural.  Because I'm still fighting that nasty respiratory virus, I decided on something really quick and printed out a pre-colored version of one of Beccy's Nutcrackers. 

      I cut the image with a die from Tonic Studios, then punched the corners of the image piece with a Fiskars corner punch.  After that, I began searching through my Christmas ribbons.  I was looking for a plaid ribbon and  was found in the scrap basket.  I really love the plaid on Christmas cards and I think it goes well with the masculine Nutcracker image.  I think ribbon is my favorite embellishment because it works so well with both feminine and masculine cards.

     I used an Art Impressions die to cut the snowflakes, made the center one with 2 layers, and added glitter and a gem to the top snowflake.  The NOEL sentiment was cut with a Die-Versions die and it gave me one more "N."

     Challenges:

52 Weeks Christmas

As You Like It

C.R.A.F.T.

Creative Friday

Krafty Chicks

Outlawz Thurs (The Nutcracker, of course!)

Pattie's Creations

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

30 Days of Holidays - "F"

      Back to Halloween for this card but on it, I used all Beccy's Place images and sentiment.  The 3 images and the sentiment are all from different sets but they merged perfectly together for a fun card for the letter "F."  The witch is a silhouette, the potion bottles were sized to hang on the wall (I drew in the shelf myself, that's not part of the image) behind the witch, and the frog was colored with pencils.  Of course, we reference the flying monkeys for one extra "F".  

     Once merged and colored, I cut the image piece with a Spellbinders die, and cut the corners with a Fiskars punch.  The mat behind the image piece was cut on my paper cutter and the corners were rounded with another Fiskars punch.  The card front is a piece of orange CS and I added the snippet bits of dp, all of which came from the scrap basket.  The tiny flying bats add yet another "F." 

     I love this card!!  It came together so perfectly and I hate that I have to wait almost a full year to use it but that's what I get for making Halloween cards in November.  :-D

     Challenges:

A Cut Above

A Perfect Time ...

Critter Crazy

Do Al(l) Kreatives

Let's Craft & Create

Make My Monday  (Do frogs & flying monkeys count? lol)

Polkadoodles

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Wheel in the Blessings

      Here it is, the first Monday of November and Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, at least here in the USA.  Once again, Inspiration Station has a new challenge and a new inspiration photo for you.  Find something in the photo which inspires your creative juices and enter a creation into our challenge before the end of the month.

     Here's the inspiration photo for this month: 

Here's my card.  I was inspired by the autumn colors, the pumpkin in the background, the leaves, and the overall harvest season feel.

     The image is from Jan's Digi Stamps and it was colored with a combination of Ohuhu and ProMarkers.  I cut the image using a Spellbinders rectangle die, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.  The sentiment was also from Jan's Digi Stamps and is part of the set for this image.  I cut it with another die, this one from QuicKutz, then inked the edges before adding it to the image piece (which also has inked edges.)  

     The plaid paper is from a fabulous stack by DCWV, called very simply "Stack 9."  I can't even tell you how long I've had that stack but I found it when I was going through my stash of 12" x  12" papers.  It was in an overlooked plastic storage container, along with at least 4 other stacks, none of which had been touched in at least 3 years!  This one was in pristine condition with none of the papers ever having been used!   Sigh... yes, I do hoard and forget to use things.

     Note about Double Trouble  We're partnering with Double Trouble this challenge and if you do layers - at least 3 - and are inspired by our photo, you can enter both challenges!  I did 3 layers and was inspired by the photo, obviously.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Di's Digi Designs

Gem of a Challenge

Inkspirational

Love Those ... Papers

Outlawz Monday

Outlawz Color

Pammie's IP

     Hope we see you playing long this month.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Besties

      I absolutely adore the image I used on this card today!  I also love the idea of a cat and a mouse being besties.  :-D   The sentiment was printed along with the image, then the image was colored with Ohuhu alcohol markers.  After coloring, I cut it using my Fiskars paper cutter.  (Reminder to self - it's time to replace the blade.  lol)  I rounded the corners with a Uchida punch from Marvy.  

     I found a dark green CS in my stash and cut it to size for the card front, then added a wide strip of dp to the left hand side (scrap from a DCWV stack.)  The bow is one of my hand sewn, butterfly-shape bows with a pearl.  I spend an entire afternoon hand sewing those by the dozen and tossing them into my stash for future use, sometimes with a pearl, sometimes without.  Over the years, I've learned to buy only white ribbon to make those because it's so easy to 'dye' them with markers to get the exact color I want,  matching up one of the colors used on the image.  This time, I kept the bow white.

     Challenges:

613 Avenue Create

Creative Fingers

Double Trouble

Gem of a Challenge

Pammie's IP

SUYP Cats

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Great (Hair) Day

      My granddaughter, the one who's away at college in Texas and who has a thing about cows - especially highland heifers, is having a birthday soon.  I haven't been able to decide which cow image I wanted to use for her card so I've done a couple of collaboration cards with my sis-in-law in which she colors and I turn her colored images into cards.  This is one of them and it's definitely in the running to be the birthday card!

     After Lainy colored the image with Ohuhu markers and colored pencils, I cut it with a large QuicKutz die.  I rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.   I dug through the scrap basket and found the bits I used for the background; a dp strip from a Recollections stack, some orange CS, and a rectangle of beige which had been run through an embossing folder making a leather-look embossed pattern.

     I hand-sewed a small bow, 'dyed' orange with a marker.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

Double Trouble (green, blue, orange, brown, yellow)

Night Owls

Pammie's IP

Passion for Makers

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

All About Halloween

      I'm playing catch-up today because I haven't posted in nearly a week and because Halloween is only a week away.  I have three Halloween witches to share with you and one scared dragoon!  lol  Can dragons actually be scared of anything?  Let's see.

     This is another collaboration card (in fact, all the ones in this post are collaboration cards), with coloring by my sis-in-law, Lainy, and card making by yours truly. We found this silly image of a dragon hiding in a trunk on a clip art site and printed it for coloring.  Unfortunately, it was a very small image and when we enlarged it to color it, the image got a bit blurry.  We corrected as much as we could before printing but it's not really sharp.

     Lainy colored it using Ohuhu markers, then hand drew the spider and colored it with Ohuhus.  There is a string of web from which the spider is hanging but it's hard to see in the photo.  I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, inked the edges and layered it onto the embossed CS I selected for the background (Recollections.)  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I added a wrap of glitter ribbon for a touch of sparkle.

     Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.

Digi Choosday

DL Art

     This next card (our first witch for the day) has an image that's actually from a digital coloring book, reduced in size to fit an A2 card.  Again, colored with Ohuhu markers but a few details & highlights were added with gel pens.  Image was cut with a QuicKutz die, and matted with orange CS.  The spiderweb dp is from a Recollections stack and the bow was hand sewn, then 'dyed' with a marker, and a pearl was added to the center of it.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Krafty Chicks

Outlawz Thursday

Try It on Tuesday

     Second witch card, an adorable mouse witch, and this time the image came from a friend who printed it for Lainy and asked her to color it, so we have no info on the artist.  If anyone knows, please leave a comment and let us know because we love giving proper credit.  The image had been printed in grayscale and Lainy used colored pencils on it.  I cut the image and the black mat with Tonic Studios dies.  Sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then I added a mat of orange, hand trimmed to size.  The background was made with CS and a strip of dp from the scrap basket.  I tied the bow with a scrap of ribbon lying on the desk from another project.

     Challenges:

Craft Rocket

Creative Knockouts

Penny's P-C

     This last witch is from my AuroraWings collection of images, and Lainy fell in love with her and her cat the instant she saw her so I printed it for her to color.  The black background is actually part of the image.  Lainy used Ohuhu markers to color this one, adding white gel pen to the whites of the eyes.  Once she finished, I cut the image on my Fiskars paper cutter, and matted it with white CS.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The background dp came from a Recollections stack and I added ribbon and a triple loop bow to the top of the card.  I love using ribbon because it allows me to make fancy bows with a shiny glow from the satin, unlike twine or cord which always seems flat or dull (but that works well on masculine cards, I guess.)

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Cardz 4 Galz

Double D

Paper Shelter

     OK, now I feel like I'm getting caught up on posting and I'll try to have another post tomorrow,  

Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hansel & Gretel's Fat Old Witch

      I found a whole coloring book of ridiculous witches, called "Fat Old Witches" and I was laughing so hard as I went through them, I simply had to buy the entire book of them.  When I saw the expression on the face of this particular witch, I immediately thought of the double sentiment about Hansel and Gretel.  The company selling the set is called LovelyJPG.

     This one is pre-colored.  I was so excited about using it right away, I didn't even take the time to print it in grayscale to color it myself.  I will do that with some of the others but for now, I wanted to post this as soon as possible.  lol

     I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.  I inked the edges with a black ink pad.  I found scraps of two Halloween papers from a Recollections stack and used them for the background.  The sentiments were printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then matted with black glitter CS scraps.

     Challenges:

4 Season

Classic Design

Crafter's Cafe

Creataliciou

Creative...Uncles

Dream Valley

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie    

Honey Bee

      The next challenge is starting over at FarmQuest, where we always want to see farm/country influenced creations but where we also have a specific theme for each challenge.  The specific theme this fortnight is "All About Bees."  That could be bees, honey, beehives, honeycomb, honey jars, even hexagons!  

     I chose this delightful image from SheepSki Designs showing the very first step in the process of making honey, a bee collecting nectar.  I colored the image with Ohuhu markers, then cut it with a QuicKutz die, and rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.  The two papers for the background came from the scrap basket and they just worked so well together to give it that country flair, like a good old calico print paired with stripes.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore

Do-Al(l) Kreatives

Lil Patch of ...

Love Those...Papers

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

Polkadoodles

SheepSki Designs

     Come play with us in this challenge.  We'd love to see what you create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Trick or Treat Cats

      When I ran across this adorable clip art image, I just had to see how it would look printed in grayscale and colored.  That's exactly what I did!  I colored with Ohuhu markers, added white highlights to their eyes and collars with a gel pen, then cut the image with a Spellbinders die.  I used a Fiskars punch on the corners.

     Although it's hard to see in the photo, I used my Linen EF to emboss the background, charcoal gray, CS.  The sentiment was printed and trimmed on my paper trimmer.  I sewed the little bow and dyed it orange, using a marker.  Bows have to be my favorite embellishment, partly because it's so easy to use them as the only embellishment.  There's a tiny, half-pearl in the center of the bow.  Very CAS design.

I pulled colors from AAA Colourful.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Crafter's Cafe

Creatalicious

Creative Knockouts

Inspired By

Outlawz Thursday

Starz Stamps

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cockadoodle Christmas

      This is my second post of the day and it features my DT card for the newest challenge at FarmQuest Country Christmas.  This challenge runs from today through November 5 so you have plenty of time to enter.  Remember we always require a farm or country flair to your entries, and they must be for Christmas.

     When I found this clip art image of the rooster with his holly and the gingham ribbon he seemed perfect for a farmyard Christmas card!   I first printed the image in grayscale, then colored the image with Ohuhu markers.  I used a round Spellbinders die to cut the image. The sentiment was printed and cut using my Fiskars paper cutter.  The dp for the card front came from DCWV.

     Challenges:

12 Months of Christmas

Crafts Galore Encore

Kerst Christmas

Let's Craft & Create

Love Those...Papers

Mirtillamente

SheepSki Designs

     Be sure to check out my first post today which is about the new challenge over at FarmQuest General Store.  We look forward to seeing what you create for either of those challenges.  

     Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Family Togetherness

      This is another collaboration card with my sis-in-law, Lainy.  A few weeks back, I introduced her to alcohol markers (a medium she had never used before) and her grasp of how to use them effectively came so quickly!  She is truly a fantastic colorist.  But the actual card making, layout, and design has become my end of the collaboration because she really loves the coloring more than the card making, which I love both ends of that particular crafting endeavor.  :-D

     The image on this card is clip art, printed in grayscale, and colored with Ohuhu mrkers.  I notice those are the markers she tends to grab first though I also have a wonderful array of ProMarkers and Sanjoki markers, plus a scattered few Copics.  Eventually, as the markers run dry, instead of refilling any of them, I'm shifting over to the Ohuhu markers altogether.

     I cut the image with a die from QuicKutz, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.  I inked the edges of the image and layered it onto a piece of Recollections dp.  The black bow is a triple-loop bow made on my Zutter Bow-It-All and I used ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon.  I have two of those bow makers (version 2.0 and version 3.0) and I wouldn't give them up for anything.  

     The only place I can find them anymore is on Amazon but having both of them means that Lainy and I can get work together making some good-sized bows for the holiday wreaths we are going to make for family.  We've been going through old crafting stash and scouring local craft stores for ribbons, wreath bases (all kinds), Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas 'foliage' picks, and small decorative bits that will enhance the wreaths.

     Ok, now for a look at the card.  I'm going to use this one for a Thanksgiving card.

     Challenges:

Colorful Options

Crafting Challenge

Crafty Gals Corner

Incy Wincy

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

Outlawz Weds

Penny's P-C

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Hat that Doesn't Fit

      There's a story behind this card today and I will share with you the short version.  Belladona, the cat image from Beccy's Place, really wanted his own witch hat to wear on Halloween.  But his witch was so busy preparing potions and spells for the big, spooky night that she had no time to make one for him.  So she found one of her old hats (also a Beccy's Place image and it's a freebie on the challenge post today) and tossed it over to Belladona.  

     You can see Belladona's reaction in both his expression and in the sentiment.  :-D

     I merged the images together before printing it.  Even though the images are mostly silhouettes, I used Sanjoki markers to color the cat's eyes and the flowers on the hat.  They are from different sets but I think they work perfectly together.  I cut the merged images with a QuicKutz die, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.

     The dp is from Recollections, the glitter CS is a scrap, and the bow is hand-tied, then dyed with a marker to get the exact orange I wanted.  The ribbon started out white.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I inked the edges of both the image piece and the sentiment with a marker.

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

Conjurer of Dreams

Crafting Challenge

Crafts Galore Encore

Critter Crazy

Die Cut Divas

Passion for Markers

SUYP Cats

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

In the Pumpkin Patch

      Well, yesterday I shared a Thanksgiving card with you and today I've reverted back to another Halloween card, this one with an image from QKR Stampede.  Over the years that I was on the QKR Stampede DT, I'll bet I used this image every Halloween for at least 8 years (which is pretty much every year I was on the team!)  It's a favorite of mine but this time I get to share it as another collaboration with my sis-in-law doing the coloring of the image with Ohuhu markers and me putting the card together.

     The colored image was cut with a Spellbinders rectangle die but I rounded the corners with one of my Fiskars punches.  I did the same thing with the frame around the image, cut with a Spellbinders die and corners rounded with the Fiskars punch.  My sis-in-law loved the shape and asked me to cut more of her colored images that way when turning them into a card.  lol  She's getting hooked on the card making process, ... slooowly.  Just not yet ready to try her own hand at it.  

     (I made another card yesterday afternoon as a birthday card for one of her granddaughters but I made her choose the image, the size and shape of it, plus the paper for the background and all I did was choose one little embellishment.  Maybe I'll share that card tomorrow.)

     I used paper scraps which originally came from a Recollections Halloween stack to make the background.  I combined the two of them because neither was large enough to cover the entire card front but even with different size stripes, they worked together so well.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a small Tonic Studios die, then framed with a scrap bit of CS.

     Challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore

Do Al(l) Kreatives

Four Seasons

Halloween AYR

Krafty Chicks

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

SheepSki Designs

Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie