Guest Designer at Conie Fong !

     I can hardly tell you how excited I am today.  I've been invited to be a Guest Designer at Conie Fong's Facebook challenges for February and March!!  I discovered and fell in love with Conie's lovely artwork way back when and being a Guest Designer is such a delight.  Maybe some day I can join the team on a more permanent basis and that would be just as exciting but for today, I'm looking forward to the opportunities to share with you my designs as GDT.

     This sweet image is called Bella with Rose and I thought it made a perfect Valentine card.  Of course, a certain member of my family seem to think it should serve as her birthday card but that's not my intention this time.  :-D

Design based on the sketch at Sketch Saturday.

Colored with ProMarkers
Image and mat cut with Spellbinders dies
Sentiment printed and cut with Avery Elle die
Papers are scraps from DCWV
Heart is in the dp but embellished with get ink
Hand tied and sewn bow
Metal brads

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time...
Angie's Digital Stamps
Crafter's Cafe
Crafty Friends
Creatalicious
Dare 2B Artsy
Dragonfly Dreams
Outlawz PAM
Stamping Sensations

     Come visit the Conie Fong Facebook site.  We'd love to see you there.  There are both Coloring Only and Completed Project challenges, but you must use a Conie Fong image.  Check out the Etsy store - you'll fall in love.  :-D  Happy Crafting.

Day 2 - 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place

     At Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas, our second letter is "B" and I've used a Beautiful Berry wreath image for this card. I added one of my signature Bows and three, tiny, metal Brads at the bottom, and everything is on a Burgundy card base.  My sentiment is all about a "Berry, Merry Christmas."

Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with QuicKutz die
Scalloped dp mat cut with Sizzix die
Metal Brads
White Bow
Burgundy card base embossed with Linen EF

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Creative Knockouts
Cute Card Thurs
I {heart} ProMarkers
Mod Squad
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Southern Girls
Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

...Not even a Mouse

     So it's nearly the middle of July, and definitely the middle of the year and I'm finally doing my first Christmas tag for the year!  It's 4" x 4" and the perfect size for the stamp.  The stamp is from Mo's Digital Pencil and I think it's the first one I ever got from Mo's.  I know I've had it a long time, maybe as much as 10 years, and I've used it for several cards over the years.  If you're not familiar with her delightful art, do go check them out!

   

ProMarkers to color
Die-Versions to cut sentiment (cut from scrap)
Bo Bunny dp scraps
Scrap of ribbon from stash

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
A Gem of a Challenge
Aloha Friday
Crafty Calendar
Cute N Crafty
Cute N Crafty Christmas
Double Trouble
Outlawz Greetings
Retro Rubber
Southern Girls

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Violets

     Today I'm playing in the June challenge at Beccy's Place and they have a fun "Flip a Coin" theme.   Here's the chart and all you do is flip a coin to choose between the 2 options on each of the 4 rows.  I ended up with "Not a rectangle/ Kraft CS/ Digi/ & Recycled.  My lace is recycled from an old child's dress and that lovely image is from Beccy's Place.



     Here's my card:

     Here's a list of what I used:
ProMarkers
Stitched and inlaid dies from Memory Box
Alphabet letters die from Memory Box
Recycled lace
Sheer ribbon for hand-sewn bow
Dimensional Dots for mounting the fussy cut violets

     Challenges:
A Perfect Time
Aud Sentiments
Creatalicious
Creative Moments
Cute Card Thurs.
Scribbles Designs
Southern Girls
Sparkles Monthly
World Wide Open DT

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Outlawz Progressive Challenge

     Another of my favorite progressive challenges, one I've been entering each and every month since they started it almost 4 1/2 years ago, Outlawz Progressive.   This month, Oddball Art has supplied the image for us to use and I turned it into a birthday card.

      I colored with ProMarkers, then cut the image and both frames with simple rectangle dies from QuicKutz.  The background dp was a scrap that was on my desk and I think it was from Doodlebug.  I trimmed it to fit the card front.

     The little bit of white ribbon was also a scrap on my desk and I saw no point in tossing it out when it fit perfectly here.  I printed the sentiment, hand cut it, inked the edge, and layered it onto the ribbon strip.  I added one of my signature, hand-tied bows to which I added a flat gem.

     Challenges:
A Perfect Time to Craft
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Hazelnut's
Lemon Shortbread
Oddball Art
Paper Girls
Paper Nest Dolls
Passion for ProMarkers

     Enjoy your weekend and Happy Crafting!  NanaConnie

Summer Days

     Ok, now that we've had consistently warm days for more than a week, I can believe that summer is right around the corner.  Unfortunately for me, I live in an area where it gets really HOT during our summer months and I hate the heat.  :-(  But I do love summer grilling so this cute image from Limited Runs for the latest Progressive Challenge was just what I needed.  I'll probably use this as a birthday card for my son since he not only has a summer birthday but he's a master at the grill (just ask him - he'll tell you!)

     I colored with ProMarkers, then cut the image with a Sizzix die. The pale yellow circle was cut with a die from QuicKutz.  The sentiment was printed and hand cut.  I found a bit of golden, satin ribbon in my stash and wrapped it around the kraft CS front.  I used one of my signature bows, leaving it white this time, and added only a pearl as I was sewing it.

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Cardz TV
Crafty Creations
Dream Valley
House that Stamps Built
Incy Wincy
Jo's Scrap Shack
Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Land of Fruit and Nuts

     Beccy's Place is always one of my favorite places to play and Beccy always offers a freebie, which you can use if you wish.  I usually work with something from my collection of her images, as I did this time.  I adore this little critter and he was perfect for a Welcome card for a new neighbor who moved here (California) from Wisconsin.

     I colored with ProMarkers, adding highlights with a white gel pen, then cut the image with a hexagon die from Spellbinders.  The card base is made from smoky gray CS, embossed with my 'Linen' folder.  The dp was a left over scrap from previous projects which seemed to work well with the overall design.  I cut it so that I could line up one of the 'corners' of the hexagon with one of the half-diamonds on the paper. 

     I printed the sentiment, hand cut it, and added it to the upper corner.  Finally, I 'dyed' one of my hand sewn bows with a lilac ProMarker, added a gem to it, and called the card finished.  It's a card for a guy so I kept embellishment to a minimum.

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's
Die Cut Divas
Dies R Us
Southern Girls
Sparkles Forum
Take It, Make It
Your Scrapbook Place

     That's all I have for today.  I hope your weekend is going well and that you found a bit of crafting time.  I've been at it since very early yesterday morning since the weekend is pretty much when I do my crafting these days.  I've already completed 4 cards and have 3 more planned for completion today.   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tulips for Easter

     Today I'm sharing my first Easter card of the year and I used a lovely tulip image from Beccy's Place. 

I used the colors in the palette from 

The House that Stamps Built.

     I started by coloring with my ProMarkers, then cut the image with a die from Spellbinders.  The sentiment is also cut with another die from that same set.  The background dp was a left over on my desk and worked perfectly with the color combo. 

     I find that when I'm using 12 x 12 scrap booking paper, I tend to leave the scraps on my desk after I've cut into a new sheet.  Over the next few days of crafting, I'll grab and use up those scraps as they work with whatever I'm creating at the moment.  Often, the scraps themselves will inspire the next color combo.

     I added two of my signature, hand-tied, bows with pearls.  I used a ProMarker to 'dye' them the color I wanted, choosing the lilac color of two of the tulips.

     Challenges:
Cardz TV
Craft-D BowZ
Crafty Creations
Happy Craft
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Polkadoodles
Scrappy Land

     That's all I have for today but I'm headed to the crafting table so who know what else you might see the rest of this week.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

B for Blizzard at Beccy's Place

     I'm a few days behind on playing in the month-long, 30 Days of Holiday at Beccy's Place.  This is the 6th year Beccy has done this and each day there is a new challenge.  Beccy's uses the alphabet letters as daily prompts, plus she throws in some unexpected themes to account for the extra 4 days without letters.  I managed to play on Day 1 but then I got some kind of flu bug and haven't been doing much other than curling up under the covers.

     In the middle of the night last night, I was awake and restless, though feverish, so I did some creating and am now hoping to be able to sit up long enough to get a couple of posts done for the "B" and "C" prompts.

     For "B", I used one of Beccy's fabulous sentiments and a few of her snowflakes to salute "Blizzards."  I also have a Bow, the color Blue (in 2 shades) and Brads.  :-D

     I used glitter on the snowflakes and cut the sentiment with a square die from QuicKutz.  This was a very fast and CAS card but it was the best I could manage at the time.

     Challenges:
Allsorts
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Catz
Crafty Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz PAM
Take It, Make It

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Autumn Leaves

     Well, it's definitely that time of year - the leaves are falling and covering the yard, and we must now rake them into piles and haul them off in bushel baskets.  Of course, the kids will have to jump into one or more of the piles before any such project can be finished.  Sorry, but it's one of the immutable laws of autumn.  :-D

     I'm celebrating that with a lovely image from the Autumn Beauty set by Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I wanted to give you a link to the image but I can't locate the set in the store, in either rubber or digital.  :-(

     I colored with my ProMarkers and polychromos pencils, then cut the image with a stitched, scalloped die from Memory Box.  I used another die from that same set to cut the harvest gold mat for the image.  The sentiment is from that same set, printed onto a scrap, then I cut it with the die and trimmed it into a pie shape since the scrap was too small to be a full circle.

     I used a border die from Poppy Stamps to cut the curved line in a piece of antique yellow CS.  I added a scrap of polka dot dp (SU) which had also been cut with that same border die only this time it wasn't punched along the border.

     Everything was layered onto a burgundy card base.  My final touch was to embellish it with a hand-tied bow made from sheer ribbon and 'dyed' with a ProMarker.  I added the button to the middle of the bow and called the project finished.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps
Cardz TV
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Friends
Creative Fingers
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz SAR
Polkadoodles
Stamping Sensations

     I'm heading back to the craft room to see what other damage I can do to my stash of supplies.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thanksgiving Maiden

     If you visit my blog regularly or are a follower, you undoubtedly know that I love progressive challenges.  I found one that's new to me although it's not a new challenge.  I popped over to the online store at Cute as a Button, bought the image for this challenge (at half off), and sat down to make this card.  I could have gotten the image free simply by sending an email and requesting it but since it was on sale at half off, I did what I could to support the artist by buying it.  After all, I'll get the next one free.  :-D

     I colored the image with ProMarkers and cut it with a die from Bo Bunny.  The delicate frame is also cut with another die from that same set and that brown CS was simply a scrap from the basket on my craft table.  I layered the image and frame pieces onto marbled-beige CS and trimmed that to fit the card base.

     I took a scrap of that trimmed off CS and printed the sentiment onto it, then die cut it (again, Bo Bunny die) but I had to cut more than once, moving the die each time to get the size I wanted since the die was much larger than the sentiment.  The brown CS behind the sentiment was the inside leftover from cutting the frame for the image but I cut that piece with the same die I used on the sentiment.  The cut piece shows you the actual size of the die, no adjustment made to the cut that time.

     As a final touch on this otherwise CAS card, I tied a simple bow using brown jute cord and added it above the sentiment piece.

     Challenges:
Crafty Gals Corner
Creates and Makes
Cute N Crafty
Dream Valley
Lemon Shortbread
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Pixie's Snippets
TTCRD
Word Art Weds.

     Last week's somewhat lower temperatures are already a thing of the past so we're still waiting on autumn here in my neck of the woods.  Weather predictors are saying we will be back to 100F either today or tomorrow and at 99F for the rest of the week, through and including the weekend.  Maybe this is just what we use to call "Indian Summer" back when I was a child.  I can hope, right?

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie