Thanksgiving Wish

      I'm working on Thanksgiving cards these days, as well as Halloween and Christmas.  This adorable mouse is one of my favorite QKR Stampede images and I've used him on birthday cards, good luck cards, thinking of you cards, but I wanted to see if I could turn him into a cute Thanksgiving card and I think he's perfect!

     I colored with my Sanjoki markers, then fussy cut him with tiny scissors.  That cutting took ore time than either the coloring or putting all the pieces together to create the actual card.  :-D  I grabbed a Hero Arts die which was still lying on the craft desk and used it on a piece of orange CS.

     That die only cuts the interior part of a piece of paper (usually a rectangle 4.25" X 5.5"), not the edges, so I took my scissors again and fussy cut what is now the exterior shape of that orange piece, following the die cut bits.  I mounted the image onto it with dimensional dots, lifting the image off the background.  I found a wonderful piece of dp in an old DCWV 'Tres Chic' stack and trimmed it to size for the card front.  The sentiment was printed and fussy cut.

     Challenges:

Bastel-Traum

Classic Design

Crafty Calendar

Creatalicious

Di's Digi Designs

Dragonfly Dreams

Gem of a Challenge

Lil Patch of ...

Polkadoodles

Worldwide Crafters ...

     Thanks for visiting.  If you have time, and if you played in the September challenge at LeAnn's World 101, check out the winners post which went live today.  You could be the winner or even a Top 3!  While you're there, think about entering something into our "Anything Goes" challenge.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Strawberry Time !

      I love summer!  Not so much the miserable heat but for the fact that it's berry season; blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, huckleberries, loganberries, but most of all STRAWBERRIES!!!  In celebration of strawberries, I played with images from different Beccy's Place sets.  

     Before printing, I reversed the sweet mouse and then merged him with the basket of strawberries (also reversed.)  I have to say that when that sweet mouse was by himself (not yet merged with the basket), he looked like an industrious little guy, harvesting a berry from his carefully tended strawberry patch to take home for a delicious dinner.  Once merged, he looks more like a sneak thief  running off with berries which came from my garden!  lol

     I colored with ProMarkers, then did the intricate fussy cutting with scissors.  The green background is plain CS which has been cut and embossed with a Hero Arts die.  I love how the white card front peeps through, accentuating the dimension of the embossed and lifted leaves, flower petals, and butterflies.  

     After fussy cutting the mouse and his strawberry, I mounted it onto dimensional tape so that it would stand above the green background.  The sentiment was also fussy cut and adhered directly onto the card front.  I didn't want anything interfering with the cut background so I did without any added embellishments.

     Challenges:

4 Season

Can You Handle ... ?

Crafty Calendar

Digi Choosday

Di's Digi Designs

Dream Valley

Gem of a Challenge

Pammie's IP

Simon Says Stamp

     Wishing you a lovely day on this start of a new week and thanks for stopping by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

2 Year Old's Birthday

      I have a great granddaughter who is turning 2 at the end of this month, and although I've not yet met her (being in different states and nearly 1,000 miles apart), she knows that her NanaConnie is the one who sends hand made cards.  This is the card I'm sending this time.

     It's another card put together with all die cuts and this time, I used some negative portions of dies, things which either fall our of the die's design or what's left behind when the original die cut piece has already been used for another project.

     On this one, I stared by using my 'Linen' EF to dry emboss the card front.  The sentiment is the 'left behind' negative which I just couldn't bear to toss out.  It's from a Sizzix - Tim Holtz set of word dies.   The 'happy' and the 'birthday' are individual dies which I laid out, cut, and used on another birthday card but the way I laid them out meant that I had a scrap which could be trimmed into an interesting shape and used for this card.

     The giraffe die is from Cuts, and I cut them from orange and pink CS, then layered them onto the card front for a double exposure look.  The little stars are bits which fell out of a Hero Arts background die and I kept them for future use instead of throwing them away.  The final touch was to add the teeny-tiny gems (Recollections) to the center of the stars.

     Pretty quick and easy but a card which will be loved by a 2 year old.   :-D

       Challenges: 

Crafter's Cafe

Creations in Pink

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday

Happy...Stampers Birthday

Happy...Stampers Dies

Outlawz Friday

Pammie's IP

     That's it for today.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hug Your Teddy

      In our challenges over on the Conie Fong FB page, we always have an Anything Goes theme as long as you are using a Conie Fong image.  (Haven't joined the Facebook page?  Do it now.  It's quick, easy, and free.  Plus, you can find freebies there, too, so that you can join the challenge if you haven't already purchased some of Conie's images. :-D )  But this month, the DT ladies decided that we'd all do cards using some of Conie's fairies.  There are several and they're all simply darling!  I used one called "Precious" and I love how she's hugging her teddy so sweetly.  I reversed the image before printing it.

      I colored her with my Sanjoki markers, cut the image with a QuicKutz die, and then used a Uchida punch on the corners.  I found two scraps of CS in different shades of blue, both of which are reflected in the coloring, and I used my newest die from Hero Arts to cut and emboss the pieces I used for the background.  When I assembled the card, I tucked the edges of the image under some of the cut leaves and flower petals.  

     The sentiment is also from Conie Fong and I merged it with the image before printing.  My final touch was a hand-sewn bow with a pearl sewn onto it.  It was made with white ribbon, but I 'dyed' it with one of my markers.

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

Classic Design

Digi Choosday

Friendship

I Love Markers

Lil Patch of ...

Mirtillamente

Pammie's IP (center column)

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     Come play in our June challenge.  You may use any Conie Fong image - it doesn't have to be a fairy.  We love being inspired by you.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Perfect Age or Aged to Perfection?

     It's time to begin stocking up on birthday cards again.  My stash seems to get really low about this time every year and, in my family, we have lots of summer birthdays.  Since I bought that set of rubber stamps the other day, I have been inspired to look through my collection of rubber and use a couple of them.  I also wanted to try coloring on kraft again, not something which has been all that successful for me in the past but I'm satisfied with this one.

     This time, I started with kraft card stock for the card base, stamped the flower and the sentiments with Stazon ink, and began my coloring using gel pens.  After I got the basic lines colored with gel; ink, I went over it with ProMarkers.  The tulip stamp is from Rubber Stampede, and the sentiments are from Hero Arts and Stampabilities.

     I knew I wanted something CAS but decided on a couple of  embellishments; paper ribbon and paper embellishments - staying with the kraft theme.  The paper ribbon was the last of something I had in my scrap basket.

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
Addicted to Stamps
Amusing Challenges
Artistic Inspirations
Cards in Envy
Come and Get It
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Incy Wincy
Inky Chicks
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Paper Girls
Penny Black and More
Stamping Sensations
Where the HeART Is

     Thanks for stopping by and feel free to browse around while you're here.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie