Day 24, Letter "U" - Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas

     I had to do a bit of thinking for the "U" prompt at the 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place.  I thought about all the "Under the tree, mistletoe, starry sky,...etc." but decided to reflect something from the famous Nutcracker Ballet and use Uniform worn by the Nutcracker.  I also made a U-fold card.  You can find a tutorial for them on Beccy's blog.

Here's another photo taken at an angle which will let you see the inside side panels a bit better.

Back and side panel photos from Nutcracker Suite ballet (found in online search)

Nutcracker image from Beccy's Place fussy cut w/ scissors

Brown wood grained CS for the 'stage'

Sparkle Tulle for the top theater 'curtain' 

     Challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge

Creative Fingers

Cute Card Thurs

Dragonfly Dreams

Outlawz PAM

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Taking a Bow

     I adore this sweet image (Mo Manning) and this is the first time I've used it as a Thank You card.  I needed one on the spur of the moment and this image was lying on the desk, waiting to be colored.

My colors came from My Favorite Things.

     This time, I 'water' colored with a brush and some of my refill alcohol inks.  I added sparkle gel ink to her tutu and the gems in her hair.  I know it doesn't show up well in the photo but that was the best I could do.  I really did try to get the sparkle to show.  :-D

     I used a Fiskars corner punch on both the image and the piece behind it.  I mounted everything onto a pink card base.  The sheer ribbon was in my scrap stash and I used up what I had left.  Rather than tying a bow since I had such a small piece left after wrapping it around the card front, I simple folded it into a bow shape and added a sparkly flower to the center.  I used ribbon glue to add it to the corner of the image.

     Challenges:
CARDZ TV
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Catz
Crafty Creations
Creative Fingers
Cute Card Thurs.
DL.ART Thankful Thurs.
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Southern Girls #2 (ink/stamp/white)
 
     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Dance from the Heart

     I love the sweet little ballerina image which is the freebie for the monthly progressive challenge at Dragon's Lair.  It brings back such wonderful childhood memories.  Strange as it may seem since I was a true tomboy in all other aspects of my childhood, I was in ballet classes from age 6 to about 12 and I loved dancing!  Our ballet school was prominent enough to put on 3 performances per year in our local municipal auditorium and I participated in all of them.  We were quite famous, locally.  :-D

     At first, I thought about a pink and girly color theme but then decided that pale lavender would work just as well and I could use dp with both lavender and pink in it.  I colored with ProMarkers, then fussy cut the image.

     I chose a lavender card base, found dp from Recollections, trimmed it to size and added it on top of the card base.  I wanted it to be a bit more feminine so I added the lace to it after weaving through the pink, satin, ribbon.

     The feather is a peacock feather from a 'white' peacock.  My granddaughter collected a huge number of feathers at one of our local parks where they have a peacock enclosure.  She only gathered the ones which have been shed naturally by the birds.  Until she brought these to me, I had no idea that the 'white' peacock feathers were so beige.  :-D

    I mounted the ballerina on Pop Dots, then put it right over the feather.  The sentiment is printed, hand cut, and inked before layering it onto the ribbon.

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Aloha Friday
Aud Sentiments
Crafting with Friends
Creative Fingers
Creative Inspirations
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds.
Outlawz Twisted Thurs
TTCRD

     Hey, we're halfway to the weekend!  For those of you not yet retired, that's important.  For those of us who are actually retired, weekdays often feel like weekends and vice versa.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Createful Hearts Challenges

     I'm going to start this second post of the day with some wonderful news, kind of unexpected but delightful.  I was chosen to be on the Design Team at Createful Hearts!   I applied, not really expecting anything wonderful (like being chosen for the team), and within a few hours of applying, I received an invitation to join them.  I was so excited!  This is a brand new blog challenge, separate from and in addition to what you'll see on the Facebook page.

     The first challenge begins today, runs for a month until September 14, and the theme is everyone's favorite "Anything Goes."  The DT is showcasing three different images today and mine is "Princess Annabelle."  I adore this little ballerina.  To see the other two images and what the DT have done with them, please go visit the blog, won't you?

I started with the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, adding in the floor to make it an indoor scene.  I cut it with one of my stitched dies from Lawn Fawn, and added a dark brown mat (piece of scrap.)  The ribbon came from Really Reasonable Ribbon (also scraps left over from a previous project) and the striped background was a leftover from a 12x12 sheet of scrapbooking paper.  I do love using up scraps!  :-D  I added dimensional daisies and pearls for embellishment and texture.

     Challenges:

Di's Digi Designs
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jo's Scrap Shack
Morgan's Artworld
Pattie's Creations
Polkadoodles
Send a Smile 4 Kids
Stamping Sensations

     I hope you'll come and join us by playing in this new challenge.  With so many challenges closing their doors recently, it's wonderful to see a new one starting up.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sparkly Ballerina Fairy Bear

     I had so much fun making this card!  As a child, I did ballet classes until I was around 12 and, at that time, the family moved far enough away that it was impossible to continue due to the distance  we would have had to travel.  But I have maintained a love of all things ballet-related throughout the rest of my life.  This darling little bear from Morgan Fitzsimons tugged at my heart and I just had to use it to make a little girl's birthday card.

Colors came from Color My Heart

although in the photo my "Thistle" looks more pink and less violet

but the larger polka dot piece really is violet, not pink.

I also based my design on a sketch I found at Paper Play Sketches.

      

     I colored her with my ProMarkers and added glitter to her fairy wings before fussy cutting her.  I added a navy blue CS mat and fussy cut it.  The border is done with a Cheery Lynn die, as is the butterfly.  The polka dot papers are from a Paper Studio pad I bought weeks (months?) ago and have never used.  It was one of those "I must have these papers!" purchases and then it went into a drawer.  I matted them with the same navy blue CS.  The butterfly has three layers; pink, white, and navy blue CS, all glued together along the body.  I added more glitter to the wings and body on the top layer.  The image is mounted on dimensional dots.  Lots of texture going on this time.

     Challenges:
ArtbyMiRan
Cheery Lynn Designs
Crafting for all Seasons
Crafty Gals Corner
Create and Inspire
Creative Moments
Cut It Up
Die Cuttin' Divas
I {heart} ProMarkers
Jo's Scrap Shack
Just Add Ink
Mod Squad
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Simon Says Stamp

     Thanks for dropping by and Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie