Christmas Card in February

      Another challenge is starting today at FarmQuest Country Christmas where we always allow entries with Anything Country & Christmas.

     I chose a pre-colored image from Anet Art Store.  I have a ton of images from that artist and I love them all.  Usually, I print them in gray scale and hand color them myself but this time the colors were so fabulous that I used their pre-colored image.  I cut it with a Spellbinders die, then inked the edges.  

     I used green CS for the card front, and added a scrap of dp from a Recollections stack.  I found the two little cardinals and the gold snowflake embellishment (also Recollections) in my Christmas stash.

     Challenges:

     I hope we're going to see you playing in our challenge this month.  Give yourself a good head start on your cards for next December and enter a country Christmas card.  We do love being inspired by what you make.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Holiday Party Time !

      A couple of days ago I did a post in which I mentioned a FB site where certain artistic people create AI clipart, often from specific requests made by members of the site.  It's called Free Printable Clipart and if you're interested, you can get there by clicking on the name above.

     I joined and have had a wonderful time browsing around and downloading clipart images I'll be using on my cards.  Today, I'm sharing two different cards which were made for neighbors who open their hearts and homes to the neighborhood for holiday parties each year.  

     Because I was making these cards more or less at the last minute (party is tomorrow night!), I chose to use the pre-colored version, exactly as I downloaded it.  But I've also used these clipart images printed in gray scale and hand colored by either my sis-in-law or me.

     I used scraps of dp for the background on this first card, carefully pieced together and the image was placed on an angle to cover a bare spot where one scrap was too small.  The image was cut with a Spellbinders die and I added silver and blue snowflakes.  The angel was in my stash of Christmas decorations, the only one I had left and it gave a bright spot of white to the card.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a small die from QuicKutz.

     The second card was also cut with a Spellbinders die and was framed with a scrap of deep blue CS.  The background dp came from an old K & Co stack and it has embossed holly leaves on it.  I added a die cut snowflake (Cottage Cuts), plus a wooden snowflake (Recollections) placed on top of it.  This sentiment was also printed and cut with a die from QuicKutz.

     Challenges: 

Cutie Pie

Dream Valley 

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz Monday

Polkadoodles

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Dragonfly Dreams

Path of Positivity

Simon Says Stamp

ZieloneKoty

     That's it for today.  Happy New Year to you and yours and may yours be safe and same.  NanaConnie

Waiting for Halloween

      Today I'm sharing another of the Halloween cards I've made and we've made a lot of them in this household this year.  As I shared yesterday, my sis-in-law and I are sharing a house now and since we're both crafty people, we're delighted with the arrangement.  But between the two of us, we now have nearly 50 family members, including grands and great-grands (and a few extra friends) who will get cards from us for holidays, birthdays, etc. so she's coloring like mad and I'm turning those colored images into cards.  So far, we have about 36 Halloween cards made, some of which she colored, some of which I colored.  I colored the QKR Stampede image on today's card.

     I dearly love this old broom and have used it before on non-Halloween cards but this year it just seemed to speak out as a witch's broom so I colored it with my ProMarkers, cut it with a QuicKutz die, inked the edges with a marker, and added the sentiment (cut with an Avery Elle die.)  I made the background by using a scrap of dp which came from a Recollections stack.  I just thought all the mummy eyes peeking out added to the sense of waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the witches to arrive.  (Kind of like waiting for the cooler fall temperatures to arrive out here where I live!)  :-D

 

     Challenges:

Double Trouble

Inspired By (theme & colors)

I Love ProMarkers

Krafty Chicks

Pammie's IP

Paperminutes

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     Enjoy your day and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Beauty in the Desert

      There's a new theme for the new challenge at FarmQuest which starts today and the theme is "Things in a Desert or Dry Country."  For my DT card, I used a clip art image, printed in the lightest grayscale, and then colored with water color paints, Sanjoki markers, and white gel for the highlights.

     I used a Tonic Studios die to cut the image and a QuicKutz die to cut the white frame.  The pumpkin colored background is cardstock from Recollections.  The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from Cardz TV.   I was so in love with how the image turned out, I left the card very CAS with no embellishment whatsoever.

     Challenges:

Addicted to CAS

CAS on Friday

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

Gem of a Challenge

I Love Markers

My Time to Craft

Outlawz Friday (summer)

Simply CAS

    Hope to see you playing along in our challenge these next two weeks.  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

Crazy Island

       With our strange weather (high 90 degree F days already and for several days in a row - what happened to Spring???), the OPTIONAL theme of our challenge at Crafty Catz this week is perfect - "Summer."  Of curse, we're always an Anything Goes challenge but we give you a fun optional topic if you want to use it.

     Our sponsor for this challenge is Mirtillamente and the image I used is called "Crazy Island."  They are offering a prize of 2 images of your choice from their store.

     I colored the image with Sanjoki markers and highlights were done with a white gel pen.  I cut the image with a stitched, scalloped die from Memory Box.  The square frame was cut with a die from Lawn Fawn.  I thought the two different stitched dies worked well together and I like the opposition of a circle and a square.

     The background 'denim' dp is a scrap from a Recollections stack and the flowers came from Petaloo.

     Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday

Gem of a Challenge

LeighSBDesigns

Lil Patch of ...

MFT Outside the Box

Pammie's IP

Paper Dragonfly

Passion for Markers

     

     Come play along with us this week.  You could be the winner!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Butterfly Birthday

      The other day I made a card with a butterfly gem on it and, as I was photographing that card, a butterfly landed momentarily on my windowpane.  That reminded me that despite the really hot weather we're having this week (including 1 official day over 100 degree F!), it is still a month before spring turns into summer and I wanted to use a few more butterflies before spring was gone.

     I dug through my stash of cutting dies and came up with this die set from Brutus Monroe - relatively new but so far unused.  I decided then and there on a card with all die cuts and no stamping of any kind.  I went and checked on the theme options at The Butterfly Challenge.  What I love most about that challenge is that there are always lots of options, including colors, a theme, and a different card fold.  This time, I've used all 4 of the color options (plum, persimmon, pistachio, & pink), plus the theme (Pearls), plus butterflies, although I skipped the fancy card fold.

     All the papers and CS came from my scrap basket.  The pink dp for the first butterfly came from Stampin' Up, and the pistachio CS for the second butterfly was from Recollections.  I ran it through my 'Linen' EF before cutting it with the dies.  The butterflies themselves were cut from a plum CS scrap.  The sentiment was also part of the Brutus Monroe die set.

     The persimmon paper is a scrap from a Lawn Fawn stack, the back side of a dp with leaves but for this card, I preferred the solid side.   I added a row of small pearls to each butterfly body and then used 3 larger pearls at the top of the persimmon strip.  My final touch was to hand tie a bow using stitched, grosgrain ribbon.  Quite a lot done for such a CAS card with lots of white space.

I based this on the sketch from There's a Stamp for That.

     Challenges:

Creative Fingers

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz No Stamps

Outlawz SAR ("Butterfly and bug")

Penny's P-C 

Word Art Weds

     Have yourself a wonderful spring day.  Unfortunately, we're set for another hot, hot, HOT day in my part of the country, but maybe our weather will cool down again before summer actually arrives.  The weather forecasters say we might be back in the low 80s for a short while in another 10 days or so.  I'm hoping they're right!   

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Two Roses for Mom

      You folks are going to begin to think I work for Mariola Budek or that I represent her in some way but I don't.  I have no affiliation with her whatsoever, other than having discovered and fallen in love with her magnificent artwork!  Today's card features one of her images which I turned into another Mother's Day card.

     This image was colored with Sanjoki markers, then cut with a die from Tonic Studios.  The sentiment was cut with a die from Avery Elle.  Both of the background CS came from Recollections and I had already chosen them before I started coloring the roses.  That made it easy to choose the color palette for them.

     I added no embellishments to this card, wanting the roses to take center stage, unobscured by anything that might have been put on or around them.  A nice, CAS card, flat for mailing.

      

     Challenges:

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Outlawz SAR

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

Simon Says

WordArt Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sweet Peas

      Another flower image from Beccy's Place, but this time it's Sweet Peas and I used the pre-colored image for a fast-to-assemble card.  I've done a lot of  Easter cards in the past 2 weeks, sold most of them at the craft fair, including ones like this which were quick and easy to make.  Thanks, Beccy, for the lovey coloring.

     I fussy cut this image and cut the sentiment (also from Beccy's Place) with a Tonic Studios die.  The purple CS came from a pack by Recollections.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Crafts Galore ...

Friendship

Happy...Stampers

Incy Wincy

Morgan's ArtWorld

Rabisco

Your Scrapbook Place

     Easter is only 2 days away now, and I'm running out of time to post all the cards I made.  Oh, well, I guess some can wait until next year.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Set My Heart Awhirl

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !      

     I made another card with this image from Jan's Digi Stamps last month but the penguin with his top hat and his handful of roses is just so precious, he had to be seen again!  He's from a set called "Putting on the Ritz" and this time I took a shortcut and used the pre-colored image, which I reversed before printing.

     I love making card for my friends and family but cards about Love made for special people (the kind we celebrate on Valentine's Day) are my favorites, primarily because I make fewer of them so they are even more special.  :-D

     I cut the image with a Sizzix scalloped die and added a tiny Petaloo flower with a gemstone in the center.  The background dp is a scrap from an old Recollections 12x12 stack.  Aside from the busy design in the paper, it's a pretty CAS card and took less than 15 minutes to make.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Catz

Creative Knockouts

Cutie Pie

Double Trouble

Inspiration Station

Jan's Digi Stamps

Outlawz Color

Outlawz Thursday (1st Column)

     Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and hug everyone you love!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

30 Days of Holidays - Letter W

      My second post of the day and this one serves two purposes just as my previous post did.   The image is from Wink Wink Ink, and it's for the November Progressive Challenge at the Outlawz.  But it also serves as my Letter "W" entry at Beccy's Place in the 30 Days of Holidays challenge.

     Other "W"s are:  Winter, Wonder (on the snowman's face), Weaving (the background), and Watermark (mine.)  I used ProMarkers and gel pens, and cut the image with a Spellbinders square die.  I used scrap papers from the basket of leftover pieces to put together the woven background.  The sentiment is a sticker and the glittery snowflakes are from Recollections.

     Challenges:

    Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Autumn Cat

      I'm excited to announce that I have joined the DT at the Crazy for Cats Challenges!  Our first challenge launches today even though it is technically our November challenge.  From now on, the monthly challenges will start on the First Friday of each month.

     But starting today means that we cat lovers on the DT can post our inspiration projects on the Cat Lovers Hop 2022, a fun hop I've played in for a good number of years now.  :-D  

Today is the second day of the six day Cat Lovers Hop 2022.

     For our own challenge, our sponsor is Lawn Fawn and for my card I used Lawn Fawn metallic hologram paper and the image was cut with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Square die.

      I colored with ProMarkers and water color paints.  The image piece was framed with orange CS after I used a ProMarker to ink the edges.  The leafy ribbon came from Really Reasonable Ribbon and the sentiment leaf is a chipboard piece from Recollections which has been in my collection of embellishments for at least 6 years.

     Challenges:

A Perfect Time

Classic Design

Crafts Galore Encore

Creative Inspirations

LeAnn's World

Outlawz Thurs Twist

There's a Stamp ...

Word Art Weds

Your Scrapbook Place

     Come play in our new challenge!  We feature felines, of course, and all the rules are on the new blog.  Think about joining in the Cat Lovers Hop, too.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bunnies and Eggs

      I'm sharing one of Conie Fong's newest images which is only available as a freebie over at Kit & Clowder.  Please go check it out before it's gone!  :-D  For my card, I merged the darling "Bunny with Egg" with one of the smaller bunnies which can be found in Conie's set called "Easter Bunny Gnome" and that set is on sale throughout April.  The sentiment is also one of Conie's.

      I colored with ProMarkers, then used my largest QuicKutz square die to cut it.  The background paper is from a Recollections stack.  I found the sparkly sheer ribbon in my stash and used the last of it to wrap the card front and make the knotted bow.

I chose my colors from My Favorite Things.

     Challenges:

Art Impressions

CCC Digi

Colour Crazy

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

LeAnn's World

Outlawz Thurs Twist

Paperbabe

Taylormadecards ...

     Be sure to checkout our challenges on the Conie Fong FB site.  You do need to use a Conie Fong image but the freebie is available at Kit & Clowder so you have no excuse.  :-D  Come play with us.   NanaConnie

Very Cherry Birthday

     I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the Thursday challenge at The Outlawz.  The theme is always "Anything Goes" and there's always an optional twist which you can use if you want to enter twice instead of just once.  The twist this time is "Feminine."  

     There's always a sponsor for the entire month and challenges run for 2 weeks at a time.  This month the sponsor is Christine Karron, a new-to-me artist (whose images and coloring pages I adore) and, as soon as I saw her artwork, I went on a shopping spree at her shop!

     For this card, I used an image called "Sweet Temptation" which was supplied by Christine for the DT to use.  (It's a freebie available on her website - just click on the name of the image above.)  I colored it using my ProMarkers, then cut the image with a circle die from Dare 2B Artzy.  The pink frame was cut with a larger die from that same set.  The background was made with glitter CS from Recollections.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, and the bow is one of my signature, hand-sewn bows.

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Colour Crazy

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

LeAnn's World

Let's Craft & Create

Lil Patch of ...

Pattie's Creations

Polkadoodles

     If you're not yet a member of  The Outlawz, you can join in about 1 minute and it's FREE!   You can play in a different challenge each day of the week ('join' each daily challenge individually from the main home page, then you can play in them whenever), plus there are both a progressive monthly challenge and another one for using up old stash items which are lying about, forgotten, and which need to be used.  Yes, you have lots of those, you know you do!  :-D  

    

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Dress Up Day

      Sorry this post for the new Your Scrapbook Place challenge is late but there was a mix up as to whether I was sharing it for the start of the challenge month or as a mid-month reminder.  :-D  I'm posting it now and will do another card for the mid-month.  

     Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and our sponsor this month is Paper Nest Dolls.  They generously provided images to the DT and I'm using "Dress Up Avery."  I remember those long ago, childhood, days of playing dress up.  My Grammy had a fabulous attic with trunks of old clothing and the attic was given over to being a playroom for the grandkids.  The trunks were always available to us as long as we put things back in them when we were finished.

     My blog is named for that wonderful space.  :-D

     I colored with ProMarkers, then found the frame in a stack of scraps which I save just for things like this.  The frame is on top of the image and it's the leftover negative of a Dare 2B Artzy die cut.  I trimmed the image piece to fit it.  The background is ombre CS from a stack by Recollections.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, and the edges were inked.  I tied the bowtie bow using a scrap of lace and narrow satin ribbon for the wrap.

     Challenges:

Colouring in Scrapland

Creations in Pink

Gem of a Challenge

Outlawz Greetings

Outlawz PAM

Outlawz Thurs Twist

Three Room Studio

Word Art Weds

World Wide DT

      Come play with us, won't you?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

"R" for Rocker Card

      OK, I'm now up to the letter "R" in my cards for the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place and it stands for Red and Rocker card.  I'm going to pretend that the birds are Robins (both are images from Beccy's and I merged them) and I used wide Ribbon to make the bow.

     The rocker shape was cut with a die from Tattered Lace, as was the image itself.  The red snowflake dp is from Recollections.

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Hazelnut's

Cutie Pie

Mod Squad

Outlawz PAM

Paperbabe

Peace on Earth

Polkadoodles

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

What a Magical Day is Halloween

      It's Thursday so it must be time for another challenge at Creative Knockouts!  Our theme is "Halloween" or just use the color combo of "Black/Purple/Orange."  Our sponsor this week is All Dressed Up and I've used an image called "Magical Day."  Isn't she adorable with her little kitten and her jack-o-lantern bucket?

     I colored with ProMarkers and gel pens, then cut the image with a die from Dare 2B Artzy.  I matted the image with a circle cut with another die from that same set.  The starry paper scrap was cut with a Spellbinders die.  The Recollections border strip is glittery, but that's hard to see in the photo. 

     Challenges:

Colour Crazy

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspirations

Cute Card Thurs

House...Stamps Built

Mod Squad

Paper Shelter

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Simon Says Stamp

     Come play with us this week!  You can enter anything Halloween themed or with the color combo if you don't do Halloween cards.  Happy Crafting,  NanaConnie

New Spring Hat

      I saw the tutorial for this "Hat" easel card over at Beccy's Place.  It was so intriguing I just had to try it.  This is my first attempt.  There are parts of it which are a bit 'fiddly' but with practice, I know I can get better at making them and I'm more than pleased with this one for a first try.  :-D

     This was made entirely from scraps of dp and I'm pretty sure they were from a DCWV stack.  I didn't have enough of the darker scrap to do the entire hat so I used a lighter dp for the crown of the hat.  Even the ribbon was a scrap piece.

Papers = scraps from DCWV

Cut with QuicKutz dies

Card base and CS circles cut w QuicKutz dies

Paper flowers from Recollections

Ribbon scrap from RRR

Sentiment frame cut w Avery Elle die

     Challenges:

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspirations

Outlawz Colors

Outlawz Twisted Thurs

Paperbabe

Paper Funday

Pixie's Snippets

Uniko

Word Art Weds

     You really should go check out the tutorial at Beccy's Place (linked up above) and try this fun version of an easel card.  They really are spectacular!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Holiday Joy

     Let me start by apologizing to all of you whose blogs I follow because I haven't been around to visit or comment in a couple of weeks.  Right now, I'm having painful back problems and I can only sit at the computer keyboard for so long and then I have to quit.  The break periods are getting longer and more frequent and the periods of actual productivity are getting shorter and there are fewer of them.  I'm down to about 20 minutes of work, then a break of an hour or so before I can go back to the keyboard.

     By the time I get my DT commenting obligations done, and type up a post for the day, my back is pretty much done so there is little time for visiting and commenting on the blogs of those of you I dearly love.  I'm hoping it will get better with more rest so forgive me if you are visiting me regularly and I'm not returning the huge compliment that is.  My visits will return, I promise!

     Today I want to share a card I did for the Sketch Challenge at The Outlawz, which Jan's Digi Stamps is sponsoring this month.  My card features one of Jan's older sets, called "Holiday Joy," and it's one of my favorites.  It reminds me of those childhood days when we watched the mailbox, hoping for Christmas cards with interesting stamps and post marks, and even the occasional package because everything went through the US mail back in those days before Fed Ex.  Even though I know UPS existed back then, we rarely saw their brown trucks in residential neighborhoods because mostly they delivered big boxes which were beyond the weight limits of the post office and those went primarily to businesses.

     By the way, Jan's has a fantastic sale going on many of her holiday sets and there's even a freebie available over at the store.  Check it out by clicking right there ----->  Jan's Digi Stamps

 

I flipped the sketch top to bottom because the merged sentiment

fit better at the bottom than it did at the top.

Colored w ProMarkers

Highlights added w white gel pens

Image cut w QuicKutz die

Papers from Recollections

Glitter strips made using loose glitter & sticker paper

     Challenges:

Digi Choosday

Di's Digi Designs

Double D

Ike's World

Lemon Shortbread

Paperminutes

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Stamping Sensations

     Happy Crafting, my friends.  NanaConnie

Night Before Halloween

      I know I gave you a Christmas card yesterday as a break from all the Halloween cards but for the next 2 days at least, you have to go back to Halloween.  :-D  I have some of the cutest images to share, not the least of which is this fun group of bats hanging out on the Night before Halloween!  The image is from SheepSki Designs and it's new to my collection after the loss of all my digital images (no, the issue still hasn't been resolved. :-( )  

Colored with ProMarkers

Cut & framed with Memory Box dies.

Moon was fussy cut

Grosgrain ribbon from stash

Stitched ribbon for bow from Recollections

Sentiment printed & fussy cut

Card front embossed w Linen folder

     Challenges:

Colour Crazy

Crafty Catz

Di's Digi Designs

Dream Valley

Gem of a Challenge

I {heart} ProMarkers

Paper Shelter

Penny's Paper-Crafty

SheepSki Designs

Simon Says Stamp

     See you tomorrow with two, new, First of the Month, DT cards, both of which happen to be Halloween cards.  Wait 'til you see those cute images!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie