Birthday Wishes

     I know you've already seen my DT card for SheepSki Designs if you visited on Wednesday, but this morning I'm sharing a card with a stunning (and fun to color) image from SheepSki called "Peonies" because SheepSki is sponsoring the challenge over at Crafty Friends and I was lucky enough to be a Guest Designer.  :-D  The theme for the Crafty Friends challenge this fortnight is "Use 2 or more dies." 

   

I pulled all my colors from the inspiration board

at Color My Heart Color Dare #341.

     I colored the peonies with ProMarkers, then used a die from Sue Wilson to cut the image.  I trimmed one end of it so that there would be a straight side on the left.  I chose a golden yellow CS for the background and cut the butterflies into it with a Memory Box die.  

     I mounted that onto a kraft card base, then added the image and one of my signature, hand sewn, bows with a tiny pearl.  The bow was 'dyed' with a ProMarker to match the color of the sentiment.  The sentiment was cut with Tim Holtz word dies by Sizzix.

     This is one of those fun cards where I get to combine ribbon (for the bow) and flowers (in the image) and still have a flat card for easy mailing.  If I have to choose between ribbons and flowers as embellies, I'll almost always go with ribbon because the bulk of flower embellies make cards difficult to mail.  When I do use dimensional flowers, I almost always am giving the card personally, not mailing it.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Crafty Catz

Digi Choosday

Dream Valley

Happy Craft

Outlawz Greetings

Paperbabe Stamps

Passion for ProMarkers

Southern Girls

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Time for May Flowers

     We've had the April Showers (more than we usually get where I live) and now I want to see the May Flowers.   My garden is growing strong and healthy plants and in another month, we'll be harvesting the first of the tomatoes and maybe even a summer squash or two.  Watermelons should follow in early July, and it's beginning to look like we may have a bumper crop of beans and peas.

     But I want flowers!  :-D  This is the best I can have right now, I guess.

     The image is from Bugaboo Stamps and I colored with ProMarkers.  The frame was cut with a die from Amy's Designs and I layered it directly onto the image.  That entire thing was placed onto a scrap of dp from a Bo Bunny stack.  It has a hole in it from a die cut done for another project but it's hidden underneath the image.

     I added grosgrain ribbon and 'dyed' my handmade bow with a marker to get just the shade of golden yellow I wanted.  The sentiment was printed, hand cut, and inked on the edges before adding it to the top of the card front.  I took one of the flower piece negatives which fell out after cutting and added it on top of the ribbon.

     As a final touch of embellishment, I added tiny pearls to each of the large flowers in the die cut frame. My handmade bow already had a pearl.

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Allsorts
Brown Sugar
Catch the Bug (1st column)
Crafty Friends
Creative Moments
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds.
Jo's Scrap Shack
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scrappy Land
Send a Smile 4 Kids

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Friendships

      I have had such a hectic week this past week that I completely forgot to post my card I did for the Card Chain Challenge in April.  I was supposed to post on  May 2 when they did the big reveal of who sent what to whom but that whole day escaped me.  Maybe it was because I didn't have my post written and pre-scheduled, and the card had already been mailed so it wasn't in the stack of cards to be posted.  In any case, here it is, late but not completely forgotten.

     We had options of using any of the things shown below and I think I managed all four:

Color Palette  

OR Sketch  

OR a theme of: Fruit&Vegetables or Rabbits or Friendship 

OR One of the following products: Perfect Pearls/Die Cuts/Stencils and Embossing Paste.  I managed to do all four.

     I hand colored the image with my ProMarkers, hand cut it and the mat, then used a Spellbinders die to cut the "fish tail" in the beige CS behind the image.  My blogger friend, Christi, (see her blog post with instructions HERE) showed me how to make that kind of cut.  Thanks, Christi.

     A little ribbon, a few glittery flowers and it was ready to mail.

     Challenges:
Aurora Wings
Crafting by Designs
Crafting from the Heart
Creates and Makes
Creative Moments
Fab n' Funky
House that Stamps Built
{PIN}spirational
Word Art Weds.   

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Serenity

     The fairy in this image just seems so serene and wise.  Wish I could be dipping my toes in a pond somewhere.  Of course, I also wish I was small enough to sit on a waterlily.  :-D

I based this on the sketch from the Outlawz.

 

     I used ProMarkers on the fairy, chalks on the flower and water, and her wings are done with loose purple glitter.  The frames are cut using a die set from Spellbinders.  I backed the stacked frame layers with navy blue CS and added royal blue, satin ribbon, lacing it through one of the frames.   All those layers went onto the card front.  The sentiment is mine, printed, hand cut and added to the ribbon.  The multi-color ribbon for the bow came from my stash of bits and pieces.

     Challenges:

Chalk n Stock

Craft Rocket

Crafty Addicts

Crafty Gals Corner

Crafty Girls Creations

Creative Moments

I {heart} ProMarkers

Inspiration Destination

Little Miss Muffet

Little Red Wagon

Outlawz Twisted Thursday

Scrapy Land

Time Out

Whoopsi Daisy

Word Art Weds.

     I wish you well as your new week takes hold.  So glad you stopped by for a visit, however brief.  If you  have a bit of time, feel free to browse around while you're here.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

MHK Designs Tulips and Butterflies

     Today starts the May/June challenge over at MHK Designs and here's our inspiration photo:

Remember, you can use the colors, the photo, 

a specific thing within the photo, 

or a combination of everything.

If you use an image from MHK Designs

then the theme is "Anything Goes"

whether you use the inspiration photo or not.

Here's what I did using "Tulip of Thanks."

     I printed two of  the flowers, die cutting one and fussy cutting the other.  I colored with ProMarkers and, though it doesn't show very well in the photo (try enlarging it for a better look), added glitter to the top one.  I mounted that flower on dimensional dots after cutting away the leaf and adhering it so that it pointed in the other direction.  

     The three, green, CS rectangles are also all die cut with my Pinpoint Rectangles die set from Memory Box.  I scattered die cut butterflies (also Memory Box) across the card, adding pearls to them for the bodies.  The final touch, making this almost a vintage card, was the lace and stitched ribbon.

     Challenges:

2 Creative Chicks

A Bit More Time to Craft

Artistic Inspirations

Card and Scrap

Card Mania

Crafting from the Heart

Craft Your Passion

Crafts Galore Encore

Crafty Enjoyments

Crazy Challenge

Creatalicious

Digistamps 4 Joy

Incy Wincy

Our Crafty Corner

Outlawz Twisted Thursday
Pearly Sparkles
Really Reasonable Ribbon
Scrapy Land

     I hope you'll come and play in our challenge this month.  It runs through June 15 and you can use any image from any company with the inspiration photo or you can do "Anything Goes" if you use an image from MHK Designs.  Hope to see you there.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

 Tulip of Thanks

Double Spotlight on Flowers

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR MY TUESDAY THROWDOWN CARD TODAY, 

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN ONE POST.

     Our challenge for May over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun has four sponsors; Dr. Digi's, Julia Spiri, Lemon Shortbread, and Scribbles Designs.   We have a fun theme of "Using Your Favorite Technique."   There are several I really like to use but doing a Spotlight Technique has been a favorite ever since I first tried it.  Recently, I learned how to do a Double Spotlight and I love that even more!

     The image I used is "Flower Pot 2" from Scribbles Designs.

I took my colors mostly from the inspirational photo at

Make My Monday.

     After the image was printed, I printed a second one and colored only the flowers (ProMarkers.)  I cut it with a Scalloped Stitched Circle die from Memory Box, then cut out the center of that piece with another, smaller die from that same set.  I mounted the center piece onto Pop Dots so that it was raised above the main spotlight piece.  Lining up the spotlight pieces with the black and white image underneath resulted in an out-of-the-box technique also.

     With so much detail from the two techniques, I used a very CAS design for the overall card.  The sentiment was printed, hand cut, and adhered to the background dp which I found in my scrap basket.  I thought the tiny dots in the dp pattern complemented the stitches in the die cuts.

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Artistic Inspirations
Card Mania
CAS on Sunday
Classic DT
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Dragonfly Dreams
Eureka Stamps
Incy Wincy
My Crafting Stories
One Stitch at a Time
Scrapy Land

     I hope we're going to see you entering the challenge this month.  Just decide on a technique and make something you can enter.  We can hardly wait to have you inspire us.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Thinking of You

     Our newest challenge at Tuesday Throwdown this week is sponsored by our very own Crafty Girl, whose marvelous images can be found here.  Our theme is a very simple one, "Thinking of You."  I used her Flower Trio image.

     I've been on a kraft kick lately and this time I combined it to get my favorite 'kraft and...' combo, kraft and pink.  I colored the image with my Promarkers and cut it out.  I embossed bright pink CS and added it to the bottom of the card front.  The ribbon is from my stash and I made the bow using that same ribbon plus a narrow, grosgrain so that it's a double layer bow.  The flower is a kraft paper embellie with a bead in the center.

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Catch the Bug
Color Your World
Come and Get It
Corrosive Challenge
Glitter n Sparkle
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Ribbon Girls
Scrapper's Delights
Sweet Stampin'

     Come play along with us this week, won't you?  A "Thinking of You" theme is almost as good as an Anything Goes.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Happy Mother's Day

     This is my last Mother's Day card for this year and I made it for my daughter's mother-in-law who loves pink so much she did her entire Christmas decorating one year in pink, including the tree!  The whole family is getting together over lunch to celebrate all the moms in the family so I'll give it to her then.

     When I first decided to make a card for her, I was inspired by the photo in the challenge at Sparkle and Shine and decided that flowers would be a good subject.  

     I have this delightful Rubber Stampede tulip stamp which I used the other day on a very CAS card but this time I wanted something a bit more detailed.  I stamped and heat embossed the tulips in white onto a scrap piece of dp.  There's a story behind that scrap.  It was a pale, pastel pink and I wanted something deep pink, yet bright.  I grabbed some of my pink ProMarkers and colored over the entire piece of dp.   The original pattern in the dp still showed through but it was now the deeper shade of pink that I wanted.  :-D 

     I stamped one more tulip onto white CS and colored it with my ProMarkers.  I fussy cut just the blossom and offset it slightly on top of one of the embossed tulips.  The black lace is from my stash and the little bunting die cuts are from a die set by Spellbinders.  I added three sequins in two corners for a bit of sparkle.

     Challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Card Crew

Deep Ocean

Double D

Going Grey with Scrap Creations

I{heart} ProMarkers

Inspiration Destination

Lemon Shortbread

Mod Squad
Outlawz PAM

Paper Minutes

Passion for ProMarkers

{PIN}spirational

Stampotique

Through the Craft Room Door

     Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Tall and Skinny Bouquet

     Hmmm, tall and skinny -- I think that's what I wish I was!   In any case, this is my first ever Tall and Skinny card.  I've avoided making them because I never can find tall and skinny envelopes for them and don't want to try to make one.  However, I found some suitable envelopes in a box of old greeting cards and they are still good enough to use.

Colors in the image are from Crazy 4 Challenges.

     I dug out a stamp set by Stampendous and used different pieces of it to stamp this Bouquet in a Jar which I thought would be great for celebrating Mother's Day.  This time, I colored it with watercolors and used chalk markers (after it dried well) to give some shading for more depth.

     Since the watercolor paper I used for the image had some texture to it, I embossed the colored CS layers with my Linen folder.  Very hard to see it in the photo but it adds almost the same texture throughout all the layers.

     This is a tri-fold card and I added polka dot dp to the right side fold.  The CS I used for the card base is white which makes it white inside where one can write a message.

     Challenges:
Artistic Inspirations
Cards in Envy
Chalk n Stock
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Dragonfly Journeys
Just Us Girls
Let's Color Saturday
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Little Claire's
MFP Stamps
Outlawz Greetings
Penny Black and More
Stamping Sensations

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie  

May Flowers the 'Quirky' Way

     New month, so new challenge at Quirky Crafts and since it's May, we're doing "May Flowers" for our theme.  How much better can you get than a festive flowery card?  With Mother's Day right around the corner, it's a great way to get those cards done and to have something to enter into our monthly challenge.  We have three sponsors this month:  Bloobel Stamps, Delicious Doodles, and Ike's Art.

     My first card this month uses an image from Bloobel Stamps called "Thanks for the Flowers."  That was such a fun and funny image that I had to add that silly sentiment.  :-D
   

I started with Sketch #249

from Sketch Saturday, turned sideways

and was inspired by the colors

at Just Add Ink.

  

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, then cut it and the offset mat with a die from Spellbinders.  I used ribbon and twine along the side, then added two butterflies.  The bottom one is colored with ProMarker and the top one is glittered.

     Challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge

Crafting with Friends

Di's Digi Designs

Hannah and Friends

Hiding in My Craft Room

Outlawz PAM

Scrapy Land

     I've also done a second card using an image from another sponsor, Delicious Doodles, called "Daisies + Butterfly."

     On this card, I colored with ProMarkers and Copics, then hand cut the image.  The flowers, the butterfly and the frame all make up the image.  I added it to yellow polka dot paper and made that the card front.  Very CAS design, just the image and the background but I really like showcasing the image instead of a pile of embellies.  :-D  

     Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More

ArtbyMiRan

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Fingers

Delicious Doodles

Double D

Inspiration Destination

Kitty Bee Designs

Outlawz CAS

     This will be my last month on the DT for Quirky and I want to say a warm goodbye to my Teamies.  Waving to all of you.  :-D  Happy Stamping,  NanaConnie

Stencilled Rose

 It's my day to do the Designer Inspiration Post at MHK Designs and I hope everyone gets some kind of inspiration from this delicious card on which I used papers from the "Easter Flowers" digi paper set and an image from Mynn's lovely "Stencil in the Roses" set.  After the fabulous release of five new sets this month, I wanted to use an older set which is one of my 'go to' sets for all kinds of occasions.

     Since purple is my favorite color, you could have guessed that would be in use.  :-D

     I used a different printing technique than what I usually do and I really like the way it turned out.  I selected my digital paper, printed it and then put that sheet of paper back into the printer tray.  Then I went back, selected the rose image and printed it onto the original sheet of printed paper.

     Didn't that make a spectacular silhouette?  I trimmed the paper to size, turned it slightly on an angle, then trimmed off the corners which overlapped the edges of the card.   I added one bit of black lace before mounting everything onto a lavender card front.   I printed the sentiment  ("Tulip of Thanks" set) separately, cut it by hand, and adhered it last.

     Challenges:
A Vintage Journey
Brown Sugar
Catch the Bug
Corrosive Challenge
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Catz
Creative Fingers
Fussy and Fancy
Glitter n Sparkle
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
MFP Stamps
Morgan's ArtWorld
Moving Along with the Times
Outlawz Tuesday

     Don't forget that our new challenge for April/May started last Thursday and you have until May 20th to get a card in.  We have an inspiration photo which you can use (colors, photo, whatever),
or, if you use any MHK Designs image, then the challenge theme for you is "Anything Goes."  Hope we see you playing along.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie