Jellyfish

     I'm having fun today.  I woke up with a smile, smelled the coffee already brewing, and immediately decided it was a good day to be alive!   I took coffee in hand, went to the computer, scrolled through my digi files, and found this humorous image from Bugaboo Stamps.  It tickled my funny bone so I printed it and headed right to the craft desk.

I used the sketch from Stella Says Sketch.

Colored with ProMarkers

Image cut with QuicKutz die

Scalloped circle cut w/ Sizzix die

Grosgrain ribbon

Mulberry flowers w/ Nuvo centers

     Challenges:

2 Sisters ... Blog

A Bit More Time...

Catch the Bug

Classic Design

Crafty Sentiments

Ike's World

Morgan's ArtWorld

TTCRD

Your Scrapbook Place

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

An Irish Fairy!

     Welcome!  Today I'm sharing a DT card I made for the newest challenge at Crafting with an Attitude.  Our theme is "Anything Goes" (as always) and we're being sponsored by Digi Doodle Studios.  They generously supplied images for the DT to use, and I chose "Pepper Bella Flora."

     Although she wasn't intended to be a St. Patrick's image, I colored her in greens (all pulled from their challenge color palette - see below) and suddenly she passes for an Irish fairy!  Isn't she adorable?

Here's the Digi Doodles color palette for their challenge.

I used all the greens and the palest pink for her skin,

plus bits of gold here and there.

     I colored the image with ProMarkers, and each of the gold flowers has a center made with golden Nuvo Crystal Drops.  The image and the darker frame are each cut with dies from Cottage Cutz, one stitched and the other pinpoint.  The lighter green square behind those was cut with a stitched, square die from Lawn Fawn.  The lattice piece was cut with one of my newest dies, one from the Memory Box "Distressed Windham Collage" set.

     I printed the sentiment and used one of smaller Cottage Cutz dies to cut it, adjusting the die after I cut the top edge so that I could cut the bottom edge.  The die is actually square (with rounded corners) but I managed to get that shape for the sentiment piece simply by moving the die and cutting twice.  I matted that piece with green CS, hand cut it and added it to the lower corner of the card front.

     Challenges:
Creative Inspirations
Double Trouble  (all 3)
Heart 2 Heart
House that Stamps Built
I {heart} ProMarkers
Outlawz Greetings
Scrappy Land
Tales from the Craft Room
Work It Weds.

     Come play along with us this month.  We love being inspired by you.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Lady

     This image, from Delicious Doodles, has been one of my favorites for a few Christmases now and I'm using it again this year.  I think I've colored her in greens each year so maybe next year I should think about using reds.  :-D

I was inspired by the sketch this week at Sketch Saturday.

     I colored her with ProMarkers, then cut a green oval with a die from Spellbinders.  I hand cut the image and mounted it onto the oval.  I backed that oval with another die cut shape (also Spellbinders) which had been cut from white CS.  It gave a little pop since the image piece tended to fade into that lovely Christmas dp. 

     The branch and pine cone were cut with a Memory Box die, and I added white Nuvo Crystal Drops to it.  I printed and hand cut the sentiment, then grabbed one of my hand-sewn, signature bows and added it below the pine cone.  The pine cone and the bow take the place of the stars in the sketch.

      Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Brown Sugar
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned dp
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz PAM

     It's been a busy morning but I'm finally finished with my chores and can now head to the craft room to play.  I'll see you tomorrow with a GDT project I hope you'll love.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Light in the Window

     The alphabet prompt today at Beccy's Place is the letter "L" and I used one of Beccy's Seasonal Window images to make my card.  This is the winter window and it gave me another chance to focus on being home for the holidays - Thanksgiving or Christmas.

     I played with a pre-colored image but used a Lemon ProMarker to cast the glow on the window pane and a pale green to color the candle.  I also used a couple of gray ProMarkers to enhance the bricks a bit, and used a white gel pen on the snow.

     I added Lemon yellow, Nuvo Crystal Drops to the flame which gave it both shine and texture.  I know that's hard to see but if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you'll get a good look at it.

     The image piece was cut on my Fiskars paper cutter, then I distressed the edges.  I cut scrap pieces of gray CS with a Bo Bunny die and made Layers with them, adding the image piece on top.  I printed the sentiment, getting two more Ls, Light and Leading.  The bow is one of those I sew up by the dozens using white ribbon, then I dye them the color I want with ProMarkers.  The bow is the same color as the candle, and that complementary pop of color in the bow makes the candle more visible to the eye.

     Challenges:
Crafting with Friends
Creative Inspirations
Creative Moments
Hiding in My Craft Room
I {Heart} ProMarkers
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz Festive Fri.
Take It, Make It
Time Out
Winter Wonderland

     Can you believe it - a day with only 1 post!  Ooops, I forgot that I'm posting for World Wide Open DT challenge later today.  lol  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Candle

     This is it!  Fourth post of the day and the last one.  :-D

     One last DT card for another new monthly challenge and this time it's at the SheepSki Designs blog!  We have a theme this month, "Anything Christmas."  Since you are a bit over 6 weeks away from Christmas (yes, it's true, and I don't know how that happened either!), it's a great time to add a couple more holiday cards to your stash.  You know you're going to need them.

     I used one of Andrea's newer images, Christmas Candle, and it really inspired me to use traditional colors.  It reminds me of all the holiday references to candles in the windows for those who are making their way home, hence the sentiment.,

     I colored with ProMarkers and Copics and used dies from QuicKutz to cut the image and the mat behind it, plus the aperture in the card front.  I added golden Nuvo Crystal Drops to the centers of the poinsettias.  The leaves I used for the 'wreath' frame were cut with a Cheery Lynn die.  The background paper was in my stash of Christmas papers and I've had it for so long I'm not absolutely sure but I think it came from one of my Bo Bunny stacks.

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
Beccy's Place (aperture & avocado green)
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Creations
Die Cut Divas
Fabrika Fantasy
Joy Clair
Not Just Cards
Simon Says Stamp
Word Art Weds.
   
     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Poinsettia Girl

     Look, after all the Halloween and Thanksgiving cards this month, I've actually done a Christmas card!   That beautiful image is from Lemon Shortbread.

I used the sketch at Try Stamping on Tuesday 

for inspiration, but turned it sideways.

     I colored with ProMarkers, added yellow Nuvo Crystal Drops to the centers of the poinsettias, then used a Memory Box die to cut the image.  The dp is from an old stack by K & Co. found in my stash, and the deep, forest green is CS which I embossed with my "Linen" folder.  The leaves were cut with a Cheery Lynn die and I added glitter to them for some Christmas sparkle.

     The card base is made from kraft CS and, after the papers were added but before the leaves or image, I wrapped sparkly, golden, ribbon around the bottom, then added all the other pieces, including the sentiment.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps
Angie's Digital Stamps
Crafty Sentiments Designs
Digi Choosday
I {heart} ProMarkers
Outlawz Festive Fri.
Scrappy Land
Tuesday Throwdown

     OMGoodness, it's nearly the weekend!  I have lots of crafting planned because the first of the month is almost here and I have DT projects which will be posting that day.

     Happy Crafting, my friends.  NanaConnie

Dandelions in the Wind

     I remember as a child discovering how much fun it was to blow on dandelions and watch their delicate seeds drift all over the yard.  I also remember my mom telling me not to do that because she hated having to dig the dandelion plants out of the lawn.  But the temptation was just soooo great.  lol

     Anyway, when I first saw the Dandelion Sprite image at AuroraWings, I bought it and I'm using it on this card today to celebrate a friend's birthday. 

AuroraWings has a sketch challenge this month.

      I colored with ProMarkers, added glitter to the dandelion and seeds, and used Nuvo Crystal Drops on the sprite's flower petals.  The image was cut with stitched dies from Die-Namics.  I also cut the yellow background CS with the largest of those dies and inlaid the image.

     The leaves were cut with a Cheery Lynn die, and the butterfly was cut from burlap paper with a Cottage Cuts die.  I added a strip of Nuvo Crystal Drops for the butterfly's body and added little touches of it to the flowers, too.  The flowers were in  my stash as was the net 'ribbon.' 

     I printed and hand cut the sentiment, inked the edges and adhered it to the card.  I added the birthday sentiment to the inside but forgot to photograph it and the card is already in the mail.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More
Crafting by Designs
Creates and Makes
Outlawz Greetings
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Paper Shelter
Passion for ProMarkers
TTCRD
Tuesday Throwdown

     Hey, do you realize that we're halfway to the weekend?  Only 2 more days to go.  Woohoo!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Make Your Own Shade

     This is my second post of the day and, in my first post, I promised you wonderful news if you stopped by again.  So here it is:  I've rejoined the DT at SheepSki Designs!!   And, yes, I'm excited to say Andrea took pity on me and said "Yes" when I begged to return.  :-D  Thanks, Andrea.

     Our challenges are always "Anything Goes" but we also offer an optional theme with each challenge, which you can use or not, your choice.  I followed the theme this month "For Someone Special."  I'm sending this to a friend who needs some emotional support and encouragement, and that in itself makes her very special.

     I used this beautiful image, "Becca."  How fun that I have a granddaughter who goes by Becca.  :-D

     My first card today was very CAS so with this card, I went to the other extreme.

     The image was colored with ProMarkers, the cut with a die from Spellbinders.  The darker pink frame was also cut with another die from that same set.  The lighter pink CS was embossed and pinpoint punched around the frame.

     I added lace to the bottom of the light pink CS, then I added the image piece.  I printed and hand cut the sentiment, matting it with a scrap of the same light pink CS.

     I covered the card front with embossed, metallic paper and then added the framed and matted image on top of that.   Looking for embellishment on this already 'fancy' design, I dug through my box of flower and leaf dies, found a flower die from Spellbinders and a leaf die from Cheery Lynn.  I used those cut the flowers and leaves.  I added pink glitter to the top layer of flower petals and put a tiny dot of yellow Nuvo Crystal Drops in the center of each flower.

     I apologize for the photo quality but the metallic paper, which is so gorgeous IRL, made it very hard to photograph so this is the best I could do, even with photo editing.

     Challenges:
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Catz
Creative Inspirations
Fussy and Fancy
Crafty Gals Corner
I {heart} ProMarkers
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz PAM
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp

     Come play along this month, won't you?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Rare Breed

     It's time for the latest challenge to start at World Wide Open DT and our theme is always "Anything Goes."   Our challenges are sponsored by Julia Spiri and she is generous enough to give images to the DT members to use on their projects.

     This month I've used "Spirit Dreamer."  I created the sentiment as a tribute to my younger granddaughter who adores unicorns.  :-D

     The image is colored with ProMarkers, polychromos pencils, and gel pen.  Although it's difficult to see in the photo, the unicorn's horn is silver but the reflection from it makes it look white in the photo.

     I fussy cut the image and set it inside a die cut frame (Amy Designs) which I trimmed to eliminate the bottom portion.  I put the image inside the frame when I mounted them onto the green card front.
I used white gel pen to highlight the flowers, then added tiny dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops to the flower centers and butterfly wings.  Finally, I sewed together a tiny, purple bow and added it.

     I love this card!

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Butterfly Challenge (hunter green)
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Creations
Cute Card Weds.
Elliebelle's Crafty Weds.
Pammie's Inky Pinkie
Sasayaki Glitter
Sisterhood of Crafters

     I hope you're going to come and play with us this month.  Remember, our challenges run from the 15th of the month to the 14th of the following month but that's Australia time!  That means my posts always go up on the 14th since I'm in the USA.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Ladybug Summer

     Our weather last week felt more like early summer than spring so I'm beginning to work on summer cards.  I had fun with this Bugaboo Stamps image which is actually 2 different images, merged together.  Fancy Sunbonnet is one of my favorite Bugaboo characters and I use her every chance I get.  I think I have nearly every image which features her.

I started with the sketch from Stella Says Sketch 

but turned sideways to accommodate the shape of my image.

     I colored with ProMarkers and added the two flowers on each side of the image.  They are from the second image, cut in half with a middle flower removed.  After they were adhered, I used a die from Spellbinders to cut the image piece.

     I printed the sentiment, hand-cut it, and added it to the bottom of the image. 

     Making the card base was a bit more complex.  The pink CS part was left over from a die cut I did last week.  It was a large enough scrap to make and A2 size back flap plus enough of the decorative edge to fold over and adhere to a front flap.  I used a scrap of navy blue CS which is smaller than an A2 size but worked as a short front flap to which I could attach the image piece.

     I added tiny, dark blue, Nuvo Crystal Drops along the decorative edge and called it finished.

     I'm sending this one to a dear friend who still lives in my old hometown and I know she'll love it.  She was always the one searching my annual garden for the first ladybugs of summer.  :-D

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More
Angie's Digital Stamps
Catch the Bug
Create and Makes
Get Creative 
Incy Wincy
Lemon Shortbread
Paper Girls
TTCRD

     Thanks for stopping by.  This is all I have for today but I'll be back with another post tomorrow.  Hope to see you then.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Prince Charming must be Lost

     When the Outlawz sketch came out last Wednesday, I knew right away I wanted to use it on one of my projects.  I just had to decide what and how.  Then, as I was scrolling through my TLC collection, I found this delightfully funny sentiment and knew exactly how I wanted to put together a card.  And you thought Prince Charming was a myth!  lol

Here's the sketch from Outlawz.

     I started with the paper scraps which were on my crafting table, cutting and trimming them to the sizes I wanted, keeping the sketch in mind.  While I took a couple of liberties, I stayed pretty close to the original this time.  I inked the edges of each piece with a purple ProMarker, setting them off from the lavender and red violet colors.

     I printed out the sentiment image and cut it with a Gina Marie die, then inked the edges of that piece.  I began layering everything together and decided to put them onto an embossed piece of white CS.  I had used my "Linen" embossing folder on several pieces of CS and one of them was still on the desk so I used it.

     I dug out my Nuvo Crystal Drops and added three tiny dots of it to the bottom corner of the gingham check dp.  That was it - almost CAS with all the open space, except for the patterns in the dp.  Still, it's very flat and will mail easily.
   
     Challenges:
Create with TLC
Creative Moments
Dream Valley
Get Creative
Incy Wincy
Paper Girls
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scrappy Land
Unicorn

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Flowers for You

     This sweet little boy (image for Progressive Challenge at Sasayaki Glitter FB) is bringing flowers for his Valentine, although I think it would also make a great image on a Mother's Day card.  I wanted to keep this one CAS but with a bit of visual interest.

      I colored him with my ProMarkers and colored the flowers using Nuvo Crystal Drops (a new acquisition for me.)   I cut the image with one of my older dies from Spellbinders and I inked the edges using an old ink pad.  I die cut the sentiment piece and inked it the same way. 

     The plaid paper is from the DCWV Linen Closet stack (my favorite ever of all their stacks) and that was a scrap leftover from another project.  The background was in my stash of scraps I've saved from 12" X 12" papers and I don't remember the company.

     I added one of my hand-sewn bows and I made a tiny flower instead of my usual pearl.  Again, I used the Novo Drops to mimic the flowers in the image.  Despite the dp, the design is pretty CAS.

     Challenges:
Cards in Envy
Color Inspiration Mon.
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Sentiments
Crazy Challenge
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Passion for ProMarkers
Simon Says Stamp
Unicorn Challenge

     Happy Crafting, my friends.  NanaConnie