Easter Hedgehog

      (Edited to add:  So sorry.  Somehow my post, instead of being pre-scheduled, reverted to a draft. I've fixed it now.  :-D)

     Another challenge has started today over at Paper Funday.  We are sponsored by Jan's Digi Stamps and by Lee Holland Art, whose image I used on my card.  The image is called "Hedgehog with a Daffodil."  I turned it into an Easter card.

     Colored with ProMarkers and cut with a Sue Wilson framing die.  I colored all the ivy pieces and inlaid them back into the frame.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I added pearls to two of the corners and called it finished.

My card design was inspired by Sketch #227 at Sweet Sketch Weds 2.

     Challenges:

Creative Inspiration

Double D

Mod Squad

Outlawz Thurs Twist

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Word Art Weds

     We'd really love to see you playing along with us this challenge.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tulip & Pansy Spring

      Welcome to my DT post for the Paper Funday March challenge.  This month our theme is a color combo, "Green and Gold" which you can use for lovely spring projects, or you can focus on St. Patrick's Day, or just create something wonderful with those colors .  They are a delicious combination!  

     Our sponsor this month is Eureka Stamps and I used a lovely image from Eureka called "Tulip and Pansy Frame."   I colored the image with my ProMarkers, adding a few highlights with gel pens.  I hand cut the image for an 'outside the frame' appearance, then mounted it onto a black rectangle which was cut with a QuicKutz die.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The background dp is from Recollections.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspirations

Double Trouble

Outlawz SAR

Paperbabe

Paperminutes

Passion for Markers

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

     Happy Crafting and come play in our challenge.  NanaConnie

Heart full of Love

     We're starting our new monthly challenge at Paper Funday today and our theme is always "Anything Goes" with the optional twist for February being "Hugs & Kisses."  Our fun and fabulous sponsors are Polkadoodles and All Dressed Up.  I am using an image from Polkadoodles called "Love You Bunches."

     I used my ProMarkers to color the sweet bunny image, then fussy cut it with scissors.  I used a circle die from Dare 2B Artzy to cut a circle in silver glitter CS and layered a scrap of  pink dp behind it.  I mounted the image onto dimensional dots and put that in the circle.  The sentiment was printed, cut with an Avery Elle die, and matted with another scrap of the pink dp.  Sparkly and fun but still pretty CAS.

     Challenges:

Butterfly (circle, coral, cardinal + butterflies)

Creative Inspirations

Double D

Paper Shelter

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

    Come play with us in our February challenge.  You are free to do Anything Goes or to follow the option of Hugs and Kisses, but either way,. we'd love to see you entering our challenge.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Ready for Christmas

      My second "1st of the Month" post and this time I'm sharing my DT card for the new challenge at Paper Funday.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and this time we have an Optional theme of "Holidays."  We have two sponsors: My Besties and Polkadoodles.  I was given an image from My Besties called "Oh, Christmas Tree."   I have to admit I haven't used a My Besties image in a long time but this one was generously provided by the sponsor.

     I colored with my ProMarkers and added a few highlights with gel pens.  The image was cut with a Spellbinders die.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The background dp came from an old, old, very old (!) Graphic 45 stack.  I used one of my hand-sewn, signature bows with a pearl this time.  It was a white bow and I 'dyed' it red with one of my Copic markers.  Everything was mounted onto a burgundy card front which I had dry embossed using my 'Linen' EF.

     Challenges:

Colour It, Create It ...

Clever Dexter

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafter's Cafe

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Lemon Shortbread

My Besties International

     Are you going to come and play with us at Paper Funday this month?    We'd love to see what you create and we get as inspired by your creations as you might be from seeing our samples.  :-D  Come play!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Autumn Gourds

      What is it about fancy gourds for decoration that just screams autumn and Thanksgiving?  Today, my DT card for Paper Funday has merged images from The Artsy Stamper featuring gourds.  The set is called "Autumn Gifts" and there are a total of 54 different pieces in the set.

     I colored with ProMarkers and watercolors and stamped the sentiment with an old, old, really old (!) rubber stamp from SU.  The secret to combining alcohol markers with water colors is to do the water coloring first, let it dry completely, and then use the alcohol markers.  

     I cut the image and the frame with QuicKutz octagon dies.  The card front is embossed and I wrapped it with mesh ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon.  The bow was hand-tied using a scrap of sparkly brown ribbon from my stash.

     Challenges:

Clever Dexter

Colour Crazy

Crafter's Cafe

Creative Craft Cottage

Outlawz Stash

Polkadoodles

Scrapping4Fun

Simon Says Stamp

The Four Seasons

     Did I forget to say that our theme is Always Anything Goes but we also have an optional twist each time and this month the twist is "Give Thanks or Grateful."   Hope to see you playing along with us.  We really do appreciate your support of our little challenge.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Magical Halloween

      Our next challenge at Paper Funday starts today and our theme is "Halloween or Use Purple."  I love making Halloween cards and purple is my favorite color so I was in heaven with either option on this theme!  Our fun sponsor is Paper Nest Dolls and they generously provided the team with images to use for our inspiration cards.  I chose to use "Wizard Avery" and used standard Halloween colors of purple, green and black.

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, then added a bit of glitter to the light of her magic wand (difficult to see but if you enlarge the photo it might show) and Liquid Pearls (gold) to the teeny stars surrounding it.  The image was cut with an Unbranded die, then the sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I used two different ribbons from my stash, (wide satin and shimmery 1/2") layered one on top of the other.  Everything went onto a black card front which helps the image to pop off the card front.  

     Challenges:

Crafty Catz

Crafty Creations

Crafty Sentiments

Digi Choosday

Ike's World

Incy Wincy

Lemon Shortbread

Outlawz Festive Fri

TTCRD

     I certainly hope we're going to see you playing along this month.  For those of you who don't do Halloween cards, just grab your purple markers, pencils, or  paper and ribbon, and show us what you  create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cat, Skull, & Pumpkin

      This first card for September (I have a total of 4 posts today!) is doing double duty for both Paper Funday and for Jan's Digi Stamps.  Although Jan's Digi Stamps is still on a break from their own challenges, they are sponsoring Paper Funday this month.  They will start their monthly challenges again in November.

     For Paper Funday, our September theme is "Autumn/Fall" and I chose to do a Halloween card which features autumn colors.  I merged images from three of Jan's sets; the black cat (reversed) is from a new set called "Pumpkin People," the skull is from "Hocus Pocus," and the pumpkin is from "Autumn Corn Sheaves."  All of them are secondary images to the main image in each set.  The sentiment is from the new Pumpkin People set.

     I colored with ProMarkers, then used my Fiskars paper cutter to cut the image square.  I inked the edges with a marker, added polka dot washi tape diagonally across two corners, and tied a double-loop bow from satin ribbon.  The card front was embossed with my "Linen" EF.  

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

Colour Crazy 

Crafty Sentiments

Double D

Passion for Markers

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

SUYP Cats

     Come play in our 'Autumn/Fall' challenge at Paper Funday this month and check out what some of the Jan's DT have done in the interim before the challenges begin again in November.  Jan's Digi Stamps.

      Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Driving Your Enemies Crazy

      Here it is, time for another new challenge at Paper Funday.  Our theme this month is "Cute Critters" and we have two delightful sponsors:  Eureka Stamps and Polkadoodles Stamps.  I used an image from Eureka Stamps called "Leaning Cat."  Isn't that smile fantastic?  

     Did you know that next Sunday, August 8, is International Cat Day?  My cats are already planning the biggest party of the year, with cans of tuna and packets of fishy treats included!  lol  While I am truly an animal person, I tend to make many more cat than dog cards and I think it's because they come in such a wide variety of colors.  I know this one is pretty simple in his black fur with pink nose and mouth, but I love coloring calicos and tabby cats!  Who ever saw a calico dog?  lol

     Colored with ProMarkers and white gel pen, then cut with a QuicKutz square die.  The die cut CS piece behind the image was cut with a die from Gina Marie.  The satin ribbons are both from Really Reasonable Ribbon and I added flower/sequin to the hand-tied bow.  I really love how the black and pink color combo worked out.

     What I love most about this card is that everything on it (including the CS on which the image was printed) was put together all from scraps.  Even the flower bit inside the sequin on the bow was a leftover from punched holographic CS!  The bow was tied from a scrap bit of ribbon and the ribbon 'wrap' around the card front was a scrap barely long enough to tuck behind the image piece.  If you notice the pink die cut piece has a flat edge because the scrap wasn't big enough to fill the entire die. 

I used sketch #554 from Sketch Saturday,

turned to better utilize the shape of my image and die cut.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Aud Sentiments

Creative Fingers

Cute Card Thurs

Dare 2B Artzy

Ike's World 

Paperbabe

Pixie's Snippets

SUYP Cats

     I hope your week is going well and that you're looking forward to the weekend.  Hopefully, you'll have lots of "me" time and then you can craft up a card with a cute critter and enter it into our challenge.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Pug who Wanted to be a Reindeer

      New month-long challenge starting today at Paper Funday and our theme is Anything Goes with an OPTIONAL twist of  "Summer Fun."  Good thing it's an optional twist since I clearly used this fun "Pugsly" image from our sponsor Dr. Digi to do a Christmas theme.  :-D

     Pugsley is so disappointed to discover that Santa isn't hiring any new reindeer!  He had such high hopes and has been practicing his leaps into the sky (but he needs some additional magic flying dust.)  lol

     Colored with ProMarkers and cut with a die from Dare 2B Artzy.  I used scraps of dp from the basket and have no idea what company made them but one is a patterned dp and the other a soft but shimmery gold dp.  The image is framed with a red, QuicKutz die cut, and it's mounted on Pop Dots for dimension.  The mittens and the stocking are die cuts from Cheery Lynn.  

I used the sketch from My Favorite Things.

Enjoy the rest of your work week and come play with us this weekend (or sooner.)  You might want to check back this Saturday when Paper Funday is holding a "Christmas in July" blog hop with some lovely prizes and fun questions on each hop stop, including mine.  You can check my Saturday post and I'll have links to the staring point of the hop at Paper Funday.  :-D  

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

Christmas Kickstart

Colour Crazy

Cute Card Thurs

Dream Valley

Outlawz Festive Fri

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thinking of Dad

      Lots of news in this post!  I've joined the DT at Paper Funday after playing in their challenges since Day 1!   The monthly challenge always starts on the first Wednesday of the month (11 p.m. on the first Tuesday night if you are in my time zone out here on the West Coast - USA) and our theme is always "Anything Goes" but there's always an Optional Twist.  This month we have two marvelous sponsors, Colour of Love and Jan's Digi Stamps, and our optional twist is "Sparkle/ Shine."

     I'm using an image from Jan's Digi Stamps and it can be found in the #1 Dad set.  If my dad was still living, this is the card I would have done just for him.  He was the dad who always had time for his family and was happiest when he could share time and hobbies with his kids.  Thanks, Dad, and I still miss you after all these years.

Colored w ProMarkers

Image and dark background cut w Gina Marie dies

Gold 'leather' paper cut w Die-namics

Shiny brown CS from Recollections

Sentiment cut w Gina Marie die

Gold paper was a scrap

     Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps ...

Colour Crazy

Creatalicious

Creative Crafters

Creative Moments

Paperbabe

Papercraft

Scrapping4Fun

Word Art Weds

     Come play with us this month.  It's "Anything Goes" but you can use the "Sparkle/ Shine" twist if you so choose.  Hope to see you there.  NanaConnie