Feed the Birds

      I'm honored to be a guest designer for Penny's Paper-Crafty this fortnight and the sponsor of the image I used is All Dressed Up.  They supplied images for the DT and GD to use.  I used an image called "Feeding the Birds."  I thought it made a perfect winter card.  

     Colour of Love is the second sponsor for the challenge this month.

     I colored the image with a combination of Sanjoki and ProMarkers, then cut it with a die from Tonic Studios.  I used a Fiskars punch on the four corners.  That piece was mounted onto a rectangle of deep blue CS.  I cut the sentiment with a QuicKutz die and framed it with a scrap of the blue CS that framed the image.

     The snowflake dp came from a DCWV stack and I added some texture by dry embossing it with a brand new folder from Sizzix (thank you, Santa!)  My final touch was to embellish the card with a hand-tied, double loop bow made with simple red twine.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Creative Moments

Dream Valley

Make My Monday

Outlawz Tues

Pammie's IP

Paper Shelter

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     I hope we see you playing in the challenge this time around.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Nutcrackers

      Conie Fong has a new image set, released just this week and perfect for Christmas.  It's a fabulous set of Nutcrackers which includes a King, a Soldier, and a Drummer.  Click on the word "Nutcrackers" in the previous sentence and that will take you right to them in store.  They are so perfect and I went a little crazy making DT projects with them.  :-D

     I started with this card, using the Nutcracker King image.  He's colored with Sanjoki markers, then cut with a Tonic Studios die.  I used a Sizzix embossing folder on a scrap of CS (Stampin' Up) to make the blue panel, then cut the snowflakes with dies from Impression Obsession.  They have glitter added to them for a tiny bit of sparkle but it just doesn't show up in the photo.  The Noel sentiment was cut with a Die-Versions die.  The final touch was the hand-sewn, satin bow with a pearl.

     Challenges:

     Feeling that the other two Nutcracker images shouldn't be left out, and because my daughter collects nutcrackers as Christmas decorations and displays, I made a two-sided, tree ornament for her.  Both images were colored with Sanjoki markers, then I cut each one with the same Spellbinders die.  

 

     After cutting the images with that die, I cut 7 more of that shape from plain white CS.  I sandwiched all those layers together using double stick tape to make the ornament thick and heavy, and added a scrap of ribbon as the hanger.  (Note: As an afterthought, after the photos had been taken, I applied Mod Podge to both sides and along the edges of the ornament, letting it dry between applications.  It's now very sturdy and can be used year after year.)

     These snowflakes were cut with a die from Cottage Cuts.  Here are photos of both sides of the ornament.

Drummer

 

Soldier

     Challenges:

     Don't forget that we have a monthly challenge going over on the Conie Fong Facebook site with an Anything Goes theme.  All you have to do is use a Conie Fong image (there are freebies available on the site which you can download and use.)  Or, if you've fallen in love with the Nutcrackers, you can pick up all 3 of them in the set for only $4.00!  Again, all you have to do is click on the word "Nutcrackers" in the first paragraph of this post and that link will take you right to them in the Etsy store.  :-D

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Back to School

      The three most dreaded words for any school kid who hasn't yet drained the last drops out of summer are "Back to School"!!    My youngest granddaughter claims to be ready for school instead of summer but then, she's in college and has spent her summer working to earn money to come home for a few days this month and again at Christmas break.

     I'm going to give her this card right before she heads back into classes.  It's my DT card for the August blog challenge starting today over at LeAnn's World 101.   The image is called "Bookworm" and you can find it in the store by clicking on the name.

     I colored the image with my Sanjoki markers, cut it and the frame behind it with QuicKutz dies.  I used 2 pieces of embossed CS to make the background and I used a Darice EF on the top piece with the diamond pattern, and a Sizzix EF for the leaves on the bottom.  The sentiment was printed and fussy cut, then "framed" by inking the edges.  

     I used some fall ribbon from my stash to wrap the card front and to hand tie the bow.

I pulled colors from the challenge at My Favorite Things

     Challenges:

Can You Handle ...?

Creative Inspiration

Double D

Outlawz Thurs

Penny's P-C

Thru...Purple Haze (center column)

Word Art Weds

     I hope we're going to see you playing in our Blog Challenge.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and it runs until the end of the month.  Don't forget that our Progressive Challenge has also restarted on our FB site and it goes live on the 5th of each month.  Go check out the post and you'll find all the rules in the August Progressive album.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Dragon's 'Ooops'

      Dragons are mighty and fearsome creatures, but they are also as full of curiosity as any kitten you've ever met.  This young dragon is experiencing his first ever Christmas and the glimmering gold star on the Christmas tree apparently caught his eye.  Whether he just wanted to taste it or if he's trying to claim it for his own toy box may never be known, but the result is some unintended UNdecorating of the tree.    :-D

     This image is from a digital coloring book (all lovely grayscale images), reduced in size, printed on water color paper, and colored with water color paints.   The highlights on the snow (on the tree) and the ornaments were done with a white gel pen.  The fur on the dragon's Santa hat was made using SnowTex and it's dimensional.

      I cut the image and the frame for it with dies from QuicKutz.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.  The background CS was embossed using a Sizzix EF.  I added a wrap of sheer ribbon with glitter spots on it, giving the card a bit of sparkle.   As a final embellishment, I added some Jolee's snowflakes.

      Challenges:

12 Months Christmas

Aud Sentiments

Can You Handle ...?

Crafty Gals Corner

Digi Choosday

Double Trouble

Happy...Stampers

Jan's Digi Stamps

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

     Hope you enjoyed the quick lesson about dragons. :-D Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Night of the Witch

      Today I'm featuring two images from my beloved Bugaboo Stamps.  I was so disappointed when they closed their doors but at least I can still use their wonderful stamps.  I had both this darling witch image and the image of a cat under the moon so I thought they would be wonderfully cute if merged together.   

      I colored the images with ProMarkers and added highlights with a gel pen.  I cut the image and the frame layers with QuicKutz dies.  The card front was dry embossed with a "Branches" Sizzix EF.  I hand tied a triple-loop bow from stitched ribbon, then printed, matted, and fussy cut the sentiment.

This is also my Day 26 entry for the
 LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop.

 

     Challenges:

Colorful Options

Creatalicious

Creative Crafting ...

Happy Li'l Stampers

Let's Squash It

Papercraft

Rabisco

     Halloween is only a few days away now so get your cards finished quickly!  Then we can all focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas for the rest of the year.  Oh, my, where did this year go?!  It can't be almost over, can it?   

    

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Real Question

     Something a little bit different in Halloween cards today.  I chose to make the sentiment the focus instead of having a colored image or silhouettes or something svg.  This 'label' sentiment is from ArtiCrafts and I sized it to fit an A2 card.  Nothing creepy or spooky but definitely Halloween, nonetheless.

     The sentiment was fussy cut and framed with a fancy die from Spellbinders.  I found a scrap bit of orange CS in the basket and dry embossed it with Sizzix folder.  I used two scraps of the spiderweb dp for the background and used my card maker to tie a bowtie bow.  The ribbon was white with a black pattern but I 'dyed' it with an orange ProMarker. 

 This is also my Day 13 entry for the
 LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop.

 

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Can You Handle ...

Colorful Options

Crafts Galore Encore

Dragonfly Dreams

Let's Craft & Create

Polkadoodles

There's a Stamp ...

     See you again tomorrow.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie