Is This Dasher? Dancer? Donder?

      Today I have another card for the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place and I'm showcasing the letter "D."  On this one we have: Dasher (or maybe Dancer or Donder; I can't tell them apart!), Die cuts, Digi image (from Beccy's), Dry embossing, Dimension, & Deep Red (did I forget Deer?)

     The reindeer is colored with ProMarkers and gel inks, than cut with a die from CUTplorations.  The deep red frame is also cut with one of the dies from that set, then dry embossed with my 'Linen' folder.  I used scraps of dp from Graphic 45 and matted each of them with deep red CS.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The image is mounted onto dimensional dots before adding it to the card front.

     Challenges:

ABC Christmas (W)

Aud Sentiments

Bastle-Traum

Christmas Crafts AYR (Whimsy)

Creative Inspirations

Paperbabe

Pattie's Creations

STAMPlorations

Winter Wonderland

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie  

Newest Reindeer

      This adorable image is the freebie for the Progressive Challenge at LeAnn's World.  It's called "Dillon" and I reversed the image before printing it.  I used my ProMarkers to color the image, then cut both it and the frame with oval dies from QuicKutz.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     The background dp came from a Graphic 45 stack and it's really old.  I've probably had that in my Christmas stash since 2014!  I added a wrap of satin ribbon plus a hand-sewn, polka dot bow with blingy gemstones.  The bow is made from grosgrain ribbon and gives wonderful texture, both actual and visual.  :-D

     Challenges:

2 Sisters on the Blog

12 Months...Christmas

Christmas Crafts ... (reindeer, ribbon)

Clever Dexter (sparkly gems + opt colors)

Crafty Hazelnut's

Creative Moments

Cute Card Thurs

I love ProMarkers

Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thin Ice

      Reindeer rarely ice skate because, unknown to most of us, they have a pathological fear of thin ice!  lol  The only time you can get a reindeer to cross a frozen pond or river is if it has recently snowed so that the snow hides the ice.  

     The Bugaboo Stamps image below (which is the Friday Freebie for the last day of the Holiday Chaos challenges and is still available if you want to grab it) will show you what I mean.  I reversed the image before printing it.

The theme is a color palette.

Colored w ProMarkers

Liquid Pearls used for snow

Cut w Gina Marie Die

DCWV washi tape for image mat

Hand-tied bow w pearl (my signature style)

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Craft-Dee BowZ

Crafty Calendar

Crafty Hazelnut's

Cutie Pie

Di's Digi Designs

Gem of a Challenge

Outlawz PAM

Passion for ProMarkers

Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie  

Day 3 at Holiday Chaos - Anything But a Card

      It's Day 3 at Catch the Bug's Holiday Chaos and we are doing "Anything But a Card."  These are usually the themes I dislike because until recently, I had no good way to make either a box or a bag so I ended up doing gift card holders and that got boring after I had run through my standard 3 styles of them.  But now I have a new, much larger, Scor-Pal and I can make boxes or bags of any size as long as my card stock/paper is large enough.  This box is 4.5 x 5.5 x 2 inches and my paper size was 9.5 inches square at the start.  I trimmed that on the 4.5 inch side after scoring all the lines.  

     I also did a 3" x 5" x 7" tall bag using white butcher paper (great because it comes on a large roll and you can make bags of nearly any size or height!) and decorated it with this same Bugaboo Stamps image and ribbon.  Unfortunately, I used it for my neighbor's gift before I photographed it so you only get to see the box, not the bag.

Colored w ProMarkers

Glitter added to stars & bulbs on antlers

Cut w Spellbinders

Red sheer ribbon

Red satin bow

     Challenges:

Artsy Stamper

Christmas Crafts ...

Christmas w the Cuties

Colouring in Scrapland

Creative Moments

Double Trouble

Friendship

Incy Wincy

More than 1 Score     

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sketch for Holiday Chaos Week

      Here's my second post this morning and it's a short one because I want to get back to the craft room to work on cards for the rest of the week.  There will be another day (maybe even two) with double posts because I have DT projects to show off during the week, too.  

     Today at Catch the Bug's Holiday Chaos we have sketch to follow:

Here's what I did with it using a Reindeer Silhouette from Bugaboo Stamps.

Silhouette is fussy cut & mounted on sky blue paper

Papers are from the scrap basket

Poinsettia pieces cut w Impression Obsession die

"Noel" sentiment cut w Die-Versions

     Challenges:

Christmas w Cuties

Crafty Gals Corner

Lemon Shortbread

Lil Patch of...

Outlawz PAM

Paper Girls

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Reindeer Ready to Rein Up

      In case you didn't figure it out from the title, this card is based on the Letter "R" prompt at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas.  These adorable reindeer are drawn by Beccy.  I merged them before printing, duplicating one, and all of them are pre-colored.

     In addition to Reindeer and Ready to Rein Up, I have Ruby Red, Real green, Ribbon and Runners on the sleigh full of presents.

Image cut w QuicKutz die

Edges inked w ProMarkers

Glitter added to bells on their collars

Scrap bit of dp

Sentiment cut w Avery Elle die

Polka dot bow dyed red

     Challenges:

Artsy Stamper

Aud Sentiments

C.R.A.F.T.

Cute Card Thurs

Outlawz Greetings

Outlawz Twisted Thurs

Paper Shelter

Simon Says Stamp
Time Out

     Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I'm going to be away from crafting for several days.  I do have pre-scheduled posts which will go live each day so you may not even miss me but I'm going to be spending even less time at the computer than I was with the back problems.  Someone will be linking up to the challenges but other than that, I'll be away.   NanaConnie

Christmas Reindeer

      There's a new challenge starting today over at Pammie's Inky Pinkies and our theme is "Anything Goes."  Our sponsor is Newton's Nook and they have some of the cutest stamps anywhere!  However, today I created a classic Christmas animal using my newest Tutti Designs dies.  Can you recognize it?

     Did you know that despite their names, Santa's reindeer all have to be females?  No, it's true.  You can tell just by looking at any picture of them because only female reindeer keep their antlers all year round.  The males shed their antlers and start growing a new and larger set in the spring.  

     And that explains the sweep of curled hair, the fancy glasses, and the sparkly bow!  lol

Sentiment cut w Die-Versions die

Each color is a different scrap

     Challenges:

12 Months of Christmas

A Bit More Time...

Bastel-Traum

CCC Digi

Crafty Hazelnut's

Creative Moments

Dragonfly Dreams

LeAnn's World

Lil Patch of ...

Pixie's Snippets

     That's all I have for now but there will be another post later today so be sure to check back.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Did Santa get Lost in the Critter Chaos?

     This reindeer thinks he knows the answer to the question "Where's Santa?" but I'm wondering if maybe he crowded Santa against the top of that chimney so that his own red reindeer nose could get all the glory.  lol  Who knows?

     It's the 6th theme this week at Catch the Bug's Critter Chaos and we have a delightful, subdued, Christmas/Winter inspiration.

Here's how I used them.

Colored with markers

Glitter on the ornaments around his antlers

Cut with a stitched die (maker unknown - it's a borrowed die)

Papers from Doodlebug

Shiny satin ribbon

     Challenges:

12 Months of Christmas

Addicted to Stamps

Colour Crazy

Crafty Friends

Creative Fingers

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz Festive Fri

Penny's Paper Crafty

Winter Wonderland

     Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Humor Me at Catch the Bug Critter Chaos

     Another fun Bugaboo Stamps image for today's Critter Chaos challenge at Catch the Bug where the theme this time is "Humor."  I love, love, LOVE stitched dies (because they make the faux stitching so much neater than anything I can do by hand!)

I used one of the sketches from Sweet Sketch Weds.2

but turned a quarter turn.

Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with Die-namics stitched dies
Aleene's Snow
Papers from Doodlebug
Sparkle red ribbon and red satin ribbon for bow

     Challenges:
As You Like It
C.R.A.F.T.
Creative Knockouts
Cute Card Thurs
Mod Squad
Outlawz Festive Fri
Scrappy Land
Time Out

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sittin' on the Roof, Waitin' for Santa

     This is one of those last minute Christmas cards which get done because your daughter or one of the grandkids says, "Nana, Can you make me a card for ..." and you've already mailed or donated every card you've made for the entire season.  Not a big deal normally but they need 5 additional cards,not just one!  (Yes, I'm making them but 4 are still being processed.  I'll share them this upcoming week before my hiatus for the holidays.)

     This is a pre-colored image from Bugaboo Stamps which really saved me a lot of time, as did the CAS design.  The elf and the reindeer are patiently (?) waiting for Santa to arrive with his bag full of toys.

Cut with Spellbinders die
Sparkly mesh ribbon & sheer ribbon w/ snowflakes
Card base embossed with 'Linen" folder
Sentiment printed & hand cut

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Art Impressions
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafty Catz
Crafty Hazelnut's
Cute Card Thurs
Outlawz Twisted Thurs
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Time Out

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Day 23, Letter "T" for Toy

     It's already Day 23 at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas and I'm showing you one more Gift Card Holder focusing on the letter prompt "T."  I chose to make my T stand for Toys, using this adorable little pull Toy Reindeer from Beccy.  My gold 'ribbon' for the Tie is actually Tree Tinsel.

Colored with ProMarkers, white gel ink, & silver paint pen
Reindeer was fussy cut with scissors
Embossed CS for the folder
Background quilt frame die by Gina Marie
Gold tinsel for the 'ribbon' tie
Sentiment printed and hand cut

     Challenges:
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Friends
Crafty Sentiments
Cutie Pie
Cuttlebug Mania
Lil Patch of Crafty...
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Scrappy Land
Time Out

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Letter "R" at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas

     It's Day 20 already at Beccy's Place, since she's in Australia, and our alpha prompt is the letter "R" which I used by making another gift card holder featuring one of Beccy's adorable Reindeer.  I also added sparkly Ribbon for the tie to close the folder and Rainforest green glitter paper.

Colored with ProMarkers
Fussy cut image, mounted on Pop Dots
Strip of glitter paper to cover the Ribbon
Embossed CS for making the folder (I thought those words were enough as sentiments)
Ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon

     Here's a photo of the inside and a link to the YouTube video I used in making these gift card holders.

     Challenges:
AAA Cards

Crafting by Designs
Crafty Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's
Cute Card Thurs
Dragonfly Dreams
Outlawz Festive Fri
Paperbabe Stamps
Word Art Weds

     That's it for today.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

A Little Christmas Magic

     It's the first Friday in November and there's a new monthly challenge starting at Brown Sugar  We are being sponsored by DRS Designs this month and they supplied us with some of the cutest images.  Be sure to visit the main Brown Sugar blog to see what all the designers have done.

     I combined "Feeding Reindeer" and "North Pole Sign" to make my card.  One of my grandsons will know instantly that this card is for him because he's the one who always put out "magic grain" for the reindeer to eat during their travels.  He worried that they might run out of magic if they got hungry on Christmas Eve.  :-D

ProMarkers for coloring
Reindeer image cut with Tonic Studios die
North pole fussy cut with scissors
Sparkle gel ink on snow
White gel ink on sign
Dark green satin ribbon
Signature bow 'dyed' with ProMarker
Pearl on the bow

     Challenges:
Christmas w/ the Cuties
Crafty Hazelnut's
I {heart} ProMarkers (ribbon, bow, pearl)
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Love to Scrap
Mod Squad
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Simon Says Stamp

     Come play with us, won't you?  It's an Anything Goes theme and you can make whatever you like.  We look forward to being inspired by you.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Reindeer in Blue

     My second post for the day and this one features a Bugaboo Stamps reindeer.  There's a back story to this which I want to share.  A friend and fellow DT member used the prettiest quilting die on a card last week and I fell in love with the die.  I emailed her and, being a good enabler, she shared with me a link to the online shop where she had gotten hers.

     When I visited, my plan was to mind my budget and buy only that one die.  But... well, if you're a true crafter, you already know what happened.  I saw another quilt die that I liked, couldn't decide between them so they both went into my cart.  Then I noticed that if I purchased additional products, I could get free shipping and the shipping cost was pretty much the same as another die (ok, maybe  two), so when all was said and done, I had 5 new die sets in the cart!

     I used one of them as the background on this card, turned as they say in quilting, 'on point.'

Colored with ProMarkers & sequins added for sparkle
Image cut with double stitched die from CUTplorations
Quilted die from Gina Marie
Sentiment die from Die-Namics
Flocked star from Deja Views
Glitter added to some of the quilting pieces

     Challenges:
Catch the Bug
Crafty Hazelnut's ("S"= sparkle, sequins)
Crafty Sentiments
Cute N Crafty Christmas
Double D
House that Stamps Built  (Brrrrr, Bird, Blue, Blocks)
I {heart} ProMarkers
Ike's World
Lemon Shortbread
Scrappy Land
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tis the Season of Magical Reindeer and Elves

     Day 4 in the week-long, Christmas in July challenges at Catch the Bug and today's theme is BINGO + "Inspired by the movie Elf."  My BINGO choices were Ribbon & Bow/ Bugaboo image/ Die cut. 

     I have several Elf images in my collection of Bugaboo Stamps but the one I used today is one of my absolute favorites.   It has a sense of magic with a reindeer that flies and an elf who makes toys for Santa.

Don't they look like they're waiting for Santa to come back from vacation?  lol

ProMarkers
Sue Wilson (background panel) & Die-Versions (sentiment) dies
Satin ribbon & bow
3 gems
Kraft CS for card base
Almost everything was cut or put together from scraps, including the ribbon strip and bow.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Crafty Gals Corner
Lemon Shortbread
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Greetings
Paper Girls
Pile It On
Pixie's Snippets
Scrappy Land

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Here Comes Santa Claus

     This morning, I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the Songs and Rhymes challenge at The Outlawz.  The challenge always uses lyrics as the inspiration for their challenge and this week it's "Here Come Santa Claus."

     I've done a pretty simple card using all die cuts instead of a hand colored image but I really like it even though it's different from what I normally create.

     I used dies from Die-Versions (Santa Sleigh and Reindeer), Art Impressions (Snowflakes), and Die-namics (North Pole sign.)  All of the snowflakes are heat embossed with clear EP.  Everything was adhered to blue CS.  No embellies, just the die cuts.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Crafty Gals Corner
Cute N Crafty Christmas
Double D
Double Trouble  (all 3)
Dream Valley
Paper Girls
{Pin}spirational
Scrappy Land
Three Amigos

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Reindeer are Loose!

     It's Friday and we have a new challenge starting at QKR Stampede.   Our theme is always "Anything Goes" but I stayed with the Christmas theme I've been doing since the beginning of last month.  This time, I used an image from our sister brand, Eureka Stamps, and it's called "Jumping Reindeer ES3202."

     In order to get the sense of a team of Santa's reindeer, I used the image 3 times in a row.  I colored with ProMarkers and Copics, plus white gel ink.  I used a border die from Spellbinders to cut the image, then layered them onto polka dot paper from DCWV. 

     I wrapped that with red, grosgrain, ribbon and added a hand-sewn bow with a tiny button in  the middle.  I printed the silly sentiment because they do look like they ditched the sleigh and are off on a joyriding (joy flying?) trip without Santa.  :-D

     I used my "Linen" embossing folder on deep blue CS, then used that for the card front.  Simple, fun, and flat for mailing!

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafting from the Heart
Cute Card Thurs.
DL.ART
Double D
Outlawz Festive Fri.
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Sasayaki Glitter
Time Out

     I hope we're going to see you playing along this week.  We do love being inspired by you!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Reindeer in Training

     You may not be aware that Santa has to train new reindeer for a very long time before they can become the next Dancer or Prancer.  Since we're doing "R" as a prompt at Beccy's Place today, I decided on one of her Reindeer images.  Doesn't he look like he's training to pull a full sleigh one day?

      I thought it would be fun to do a Rocker card since I haven't done one in at least a year!  The Rocker part is cut with a QuicKutz die.

     I colored with ProMarkers and cut the image with a Sizzix scalloped die.  I used Red CS for the upper part of the card and layered the image circle onto it and the Rocker.  I added one tiny snowflake (AI die) onto the card as embellishment and used one of my hand-sewn, satin Ribbon bows (left white this time) to use in the other corner.

     I printed the sentiment, hand cut it and matted it with deep Rust CS, then hand cut that, also, before adding it at the bottom of the image.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Addicted to CAS
Cute N Crafty
Dream Valley
Outlawz Greetings
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Polkadoodles
Sasayaki Glitter

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Lead the Way, Rudolph

     Well, for the last couple of weeks, I've been doing Halloween cards with an occasional Christmas card thrown in and today I have one more Christmas card to share.  This one is definitely made for a child and it features an image from Bugaboo Stamps, a fun little reindeer which I turned into Rudolph (from the Christmas song fame) with his bright, red nose.

I started with the sketch at Stella Says Sketch,

although I let the bobble head be the circle shape.  :-D

     I colored with ProMarkers, pencils, and gel ink.  I used red glitter to his nose and colored the shine of its light onto his face.  The image is cut with a stitched die from Die-namics.  The dark blue dp is from DCWV - "Winter Magic" stack.  I used embossed dp for the white strip at the bottom (and filled in the top corner, also), then added the three snowflakes with sparkly, gem centers for embellishment.

     Challenges:
Cardz TV
Catch the Bug (bottom row)
Color My Heart
 
(Poppy, Pacifica, Nutmeg, Bashful, Crystal Blue, Flaxen, Tangerine)
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Catz
Creative Fingers
Outlawz Festive Friday
Polkadoodles
Take It, Make It

     That's all I have for today but enjoy your week and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bright and Brilliant (?) Christmas Animals

     This week I again have the honor of being a Guest Designer at The Outlawz CAS challenge and I chose an image from Bugaboo Stamps for my card.  I'm not sure just how "brilliant" these two critters are standing out in the snow with nothing to eat but a candy cane but they do look pretty 'merry' if not all that bright.  lol

     I printed the image on kraft CS and colored it with ProMarkers.  I used white gel ink for the snowflakes and snow.  I love the way white becomes so bright against the kraft.

     In the interests of keeping it CAS, I added the sentiment in white and decided on only one small bow plus a metallic brad in each of two opposite corners.    I used a white card front, added two small strips of red CS, then layered on the image piece.  Voila'!  Lots of open space, even though it's not white space.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Catch the Bug
Come and Get It
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Delicious Doodles
Di's Digi Designs
Imagine That
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz PAM

     I'll have another post later this afternoon.  I'm playing in the week-long Holiday Chaos daily challenges at Catch the Bug and one or two days this week, I'll have more than one post.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie