Grammy's Attic: cats

Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts

Monday, September 4, 2023

Fright Night

October is around the corner (yes, I know we just started September but look how fast we've gotten here from January!) and that means Halloween is creeping up on us. Because I mail out Halloween cards to all the kids, grandkids, great-grands, and in-laws on all sides, I have to get an early start each year. Besides, I just love the fun of Halloween so cards become a reason to enjoy it for more than just one night. :-D

These two, scary (scared?) black cats are separate clip art images which I merged together before printing. I colored with Sanjoki markers and white gel pen, then cut them out using a QuicKutz die. I cut additional pieces of black and orange CS with larger QuicKutz dies from that same set and used those to frame the image and make the background for the card front.

I printed the sentiment and fussy cut it before layering it on top of the other layers. The tiny corner embellishments are bits of Halloween confetti.

Challenges:

Lil Patch of ...

Most Magical Time ...

Polkadoodles

SUYP Cats

Two Old Bats

Happy Crafting and have a great Labor Day holiday. NanaConnie

Friday, July 28, 2023

Purr-fect!

It's time for another challenge at Crafty Catz, where our theme is always Anything Goes but we also offer you an OPTIONAL theme, if you want to use it. Our option this week is "Hot Colors" and all I have to do is look out the window of my craft room and I can see heat and hot colors far beyond anything I care to see!

When is this heat wave going to end? We're on day 14 in a row of being over 100 F and the 'good' news from the weatherman this morning was we may stay at 100 F today instead of going above it. I suppose that's better than 110 but once it reaches 100, it pretty much all feels the same. And the heat wave doesn't officially end until we have 2 days in a row of 99 F or below. Yuck!

Ok, information about my card - since we don't have a sponsor this week, we could use whatever we wanted on our DT projects. I chose a cute image from Eureka Stamps called "Big and Little Cat" and a sentiment from QKR Stampede called "You're Purrfect."

I used Sanjoki markers to color the cat image and then fussy cut it with scissors. That image is mounted on dimensional dots. I printed, colored (polychromos pencils), and cut the sentiment with a Die-namics die. I found some lovely fiber paper for the background (DCWV), giving great texture to the entire design.

I used colors from CRAFTalnica.

Challenges:

Crafts Galore ...

Let's Craft & ...

Come play with us this week. It's our last challenge before we take a summer break throughout the month of August. We'll be back on the first Friday of September and I hope to be able to tell you that things have cooled down some. :-D Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Christmas Kitties

It's the first of the month and this is the day when the newest challenge would be starting over at QKR Stampede. However, sad news to tell. The challenges are on hold for the indefinite future. The QKR brand (with the Eureka Stamps brand) is up for sale and, until a buyer is found, there's no website for you to visit to look at or purchase those digital images (or the rubber stamp equivalent.)

However, as a DT member of the QKR Stampede challenge, I had prepared this card so I decided to share it here on my blog. In honor of the "Christmas in July" we all love so much (and because I haven't even started making cards for my Christmas stash this year), I chose this Christmas Cats image. I'm probably going to do mostly Christmas cards this month.

I colored with a combo of Sanjoki and Copic markers, then cut both the image and the frame with cross-stitched Unbranded dies. The dp is from Doodlebug. I left it pretty CAS because most of my Christmas cards get mailed so they need to be flat. Just a note - usually when I do CAS designs, I prefer a plain background instead of patterned paper but at Thanksgiving and Christmas, pretty dp seems to be so much more festive so it's dp as my favorite on holiday cards. :-D

I pulled colors from the mood board at Double D

upper right and lower left.

Challenges:

As You Like It

Carlin's Card ... "C" = Cats

Christmas BINGO "O"

(rectangle, free, pattern paper)

That's it for today but I'll be back tomorrow so stop by again. :-D NC

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Purr-fect Love

This is a card with no stamped or digital images, just die cuts and a sentiment. Vey simple, really, and pretty clean, too, so CAS? ;-D

The circles were cut with dies from Dare2BArtzy, the cats were done with Poppy Stamps dies, and the hearts came from Memory Box dies. Everything except the card base came from scraps, including the small strip of dp featuring the sentiment (DCWV.) The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

I was inspired to try this by the new Outlawz "No Stamps" Challenge. It started on the 15th of this month and runs through the 14th of next month.

Challenges:

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Take a Peek !

Here it is, a New Year, and I wish you health, wealth, and happiness throughout 2023!

At QKR Stampede, we're starting another challenge today and it will run through the 14th of the month. We have two challenges per month and they always start on the 1st and the 15th of each month. Our theme is always Anything Goes and we have 2 prizes each month; one for those who use a QKR Stampede (or Eureka Stamps) image and another for those using an image from another company.

My first DT card is for a birthday, and this year I'm determined to have an entire year's worth of birthday cards completed for family and close friends before the first birthdays fall in February. We'll see how that goes. In any case, here's my first one using a sentiment image from QKR Stampede called "Take a Peek."

I used ProMarkers and gel pens to color the sentiment piece then cut it with a Spellbinders rectangle die. I think that set of rectangle dies were the very first dies I ever purchased and they certainly have cut their share of paper and card stock. The cat was cut with a die from Poppy Stamps, and the mice were cut with a Gina Marie die. The papers were scraps from the basket which sits on my desk, collecting left overs.

Challenges:

I hope you'll come and play with us in this challenge. And, if you played with us in December, be sure to check out the new challenge post to see if you're on of our winners or Top 5 DT favorites. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Monday, November 21, 2022

The Cats' Thanksgiving

I did a card about 10 days ago which triggered this sentiment. Unfortunately, I'd already completed that card before I thought of the sentiment so that card had to stand as it was. However, I got this new (to me) Cutz die of all the cats in a row and I decided to do one more Thanksgiving card and use the sentiment, silly as it is. :-D

The cats' noses and eyes were highlighted with a gel pen, and the sentiment was cut with another Cutz die. The scrap of tree paper came from an old DCWV autumn stack but I don't remember the name of it and the front cover has long ago disappeared, so no way of checking. The tree trunks and branches are shiny and metallic but that doesn't show all that well in the photo. I mounted everything onto a kraft card base. Very quick and simple.

I pulled colors from the challenge at My Favorite Things.

Challenges:

SUYP Cats

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Friday, October 28, 2022

Graveyard Cats

Another post for the Cat Lovers Blog Hop and for the Crazy for Cats challenge. Both are running this week but the Crazy for Cats challenge will run through the entire month of November so come play along.

My DT card today features fabulous hologram papers and dies from our sponsor, Lawn Fawn. You can find them here: LAWN FAWN Hologram dp & LAWN FAWN dies "Lg Stitched Squares." The sentiment is mine and it was fussy cut.

This is also my Day 28 entry for the
LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop.

Challenges:

Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Come play along with us, won't you? And join in the Cat Lovers Hop, too! Just make something which features a cat. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

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

There's a Stamp ...

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

Cat-o-Ween

This is my first post for today (be sure to check back in a few hours) and my card today uses all die cuts and all of those cut from scraps of this and that. I used dies from a Cheery Lynn set for the cats and the sentiment. The moon and bats were done with a Die-Versions die set. I mounted everything onto a purple card front, thereby using mostly Halloween colors.

This is also my Day 25 entry for the
LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop.

Challenges:

Country View ...

Pammie's Inky ...

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

It's a Cat Birthday!

I started coloring this Hetty Clare image back in the early spring, giving each kitty a different fur color but, with only that much done, I set it aside and it got buried in the pile of "to be completed" projects. Shortly after that, I got sick and was hospitalized, suffered the vision problems which kept me from coloring for a couple of months, and when I found this one in the pile yesterday, I knew it was time to finish it. After all, I'm on a very determined streak to get birthday cards finished and into the stash for the upcoming months between now and the end of the year which are filled with family birthdays.

I pretty sure the kitties were colored with ProMarkers but the words and the balloons were done using water color paints. I cut the image with a die from Spellbinders. The purple background was dry embossed with my 'Linen' folder. The little purple bow was hand-sewn and I used a purple pearl in the center.

Challenges:

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's Inky ...

Have a wonderful day and Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Monday, April 18, 2022

Cute "Cubimals"

Only at Ike's Art could you find cube animals - Cubimals! Our April challenge is running at Ike's World and, while our theme is always "Anything Goes," we offer an optional theme if you are feeling the need for something to really inspire you. This month, the optional theme is "Animals/Crazy Critters."

There are a total of 8 different animals in this set but I used only 3 of them - all felines. I merged the 3 images with the sentiment (my own), then colored them with my ProMarkers, I used a large rectangle die (QuicKutz) to cut them and did the corners with a Fiskars punch. I added a tiny bowtie bow and then layered the image piece onto some Recollections dp, which came from the scrap basket.

I think it's a fun, masculine card design which will work for a birthday or any other occasion, even Father's Day.

Challenges:

A Perfect Time ...

You still have time to enter our April challenge at Ike's World and we'd love to see your projects. :-D Happy Crafting NanaConnie

Monday, February 28, 2022

Calico Cats

This is my second DT card as a GDT at Ike's World and I've used an image called "Stitchy Cats." I love these darling calico cats! I merged them together and they just seemed to say "boy" and "girl" so I did them in traditional blue and pink.

Our theme is always "Anything Goes" but our optional theme this month is a Tic Tac Toes board. I chose the middle row of Die cut/ Free/ Pearls.

I colored with ProMarkers, then used a die from Spellbinders to cut the fancy shape. I knew I wanted a very CAS design because it would enhance the image as well as the delicate shape of the die cut. I mounted the image onto pink CS, trimmed it to fit an A2 card, and added a large pearl on each end of the die cut. Voila', done!

Colors from Bastel-Traum.

Challenges:

Cupcake Inspire ...

Just a quick update to let you know that starting next month, I'll be a regular DT member instead of a GDT at Ike's World and I'm so excited! Help me celebrate and come play in our challenge this month. We love being inspired by you. :-D Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Best Seat in the House

We have a new challenge starting today over at Creative Knockouts and we're sponsored by Pretty Cute. They have some delightful stamps, both photopolymer and digital, and the prize this time is a gift certificate worth $15!

Our theme for this challenge is "Anything Goes" and I took advantage of that to make a card using die cuts and scraps to tell a story. The cats were cut from black CS scraps with my newest dies from Poppy Stamps. The sentiment was printed onto a CS scrap using a computer font. I inked the edges of the CS, added the cats and the polka dot bowtie, then layered that piece onto scraps of lavender and lilac CS used to make the background.

Challenges:

Lil Patch of ...

We're looking forward to seeing you play in our challenge this week, especially since it's an Anything Goes theme. What do you have to lose? Come play and Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Cat and Mouse Christmas

Hey, it's time for a new challenge over at I Love ProMarkers! The theme is pretty simple - "Christmas" - and our sponsor this time is the wonderful Ike's Art. The image I used is called "Catmouse Tree." I think it's exactly how my felines would decorate their Christmas tree if they had one, including the garland made of mice! Instead my cats spend their time 'undecorating' my tree. :-D

I colored with ProMarkers, then cut the image with a square, QuicKutz die. It's not as large as it looks since the card is only 4" x 4" making the die about 3.25" x 3.25". I inked the edges of the image with a ProMarker. The background papers are from a Christmas Animals stack by Recollections. I used a bit of fiber/twine to tie a simple bow. The sentiment was printed, fussy cut, matted and fussy cut again.

Challenges:

I hope we're going to see you playing along with us this challenge. With all the Christmas cards being done, how can you not have something to enter? It's almost like an anything goes theme. :-D

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Friday, October 29, 2021

Day 5 Cat Lovers Hop - "Boo" Cats & Gnome

This is my 5th and final card for the 2021 Cat Lovers Hop, where I was lucky enough to be a Guest Designer this year. There's still time to enter your own projects and play along in the daily games. There's a limit of 5 entries per person in the hop (entered on or before Saturday) but you can play all of the daily games and visit other players through next Wednesday.

This card uses an image from KLM Designs and contains two of my favorite things - gnomes and cats. I used ProMarkers to color the image, then cut it with a CUTplorations die. I added 2 die cuts - a cat and a spider web - both cut with Cheery Lynn dies. The card front itself is dry embossed.

Challenges:

Art Impressions

CCC Digi Creations

Coloring in Scrapland

Creatalicious

Creative Craft Cottage

Come play before it's all over until next year. We love seeing all our Cat Lover friends. :-D Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Crouching Cat - Day 4 Cat Lovers Hop

As I told you on Tuesday, I was invited by Janis to be one of the Guest Designers for the 2021 Cat Lovers Hop. I jumped at the chance! If you missed my first GDT post on Tuesday, click this link to get there.

I was lucky enough to get to use two adorable cat images from Ike's Art and this is the second of them, called "Crouching Cat." For more information about the hop (and about the fun images from Ike's), check out the main Cat Lovers post here.

This is Day 4 of the hop and it runs through this coming Saturday. You can enter each day and there are tons of prizes from many sponsors plus daily games to play. You'll meet lots of other cat lovers, all of whom are fun loving and more-or-less obsessed with all things feline.

Today's card is another rather CAS design (amazing how a bit of dp and a bow can make something look fancy!) and a sweet image from Ike's Art called Crouching Cat. When I was getting ready to color the image, my sweet little Queenie (see the sidebar for a photo of her attacking the printer) jumped up on the table to "supervise" the creative process and I decided then and there to make this adorable feline a calico! Yes, she's has white legs and tummy just like Queenie so...

I cut the image with a QuicKutz die, inked the edges, and layered it onto the background dp (DCWV). I tied a bowtie bow from black satin ribbon, added it beside the image, and it was done! Talk about quick and simple. :-D

Challenges:

Lil Patch of ...

Don't forget that you have until Saturday to enter your own feline creations into this year's Hop. We're having so much fun and there are fantastic prizes to be won from more than three dozen sponsors. Come join us before time runs out!

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Basket Kitty - Day 2 Cat Lovers Hop

I was so honored this year when Janis reached out and asked me if I would Guest Design a couple of days on the 2021 Cat Lovers Hop. I jumped at the chance! I was lucky enough to get to use two adorable cat images from Ike's Art and this is the first of them, called "Basket Cat." For more information but the hop and about the fun images from Ike's used in the hop, check out the main Cat Lovers post here.

This is day 2 of the hop and it runs through this coming Saturday. You can enter each day and there are tons of prizes from many sponsors plus daily games to play. You'll meet lots of other cat lovers, all of whom are fun loving and more-or-less obsessed with all things feline.

On my card for today, I kept it pretty simple and had fun adding a bit of humor. However, any cat 'parent' (defined as someone who is owned by a cat(s) and required to feed, clothe, house, entertain and pay the doctor bills for the cats) will know that although humorous, the sentiment also reflects compete truth! lol

I colored with ProMarkers, and cut the image with a stitched die from Die-namics. I used the same die to cut the DCWV dp and inlaid the image into it. The sentiment was printed and cut with another Die-namics die. I dyed one of my hand-sewn, signature bows using a ProMarker and added a scrap of punched CS to the center of it.

Challenges:

Colouring in Scrapland

Crafty Sentiments

Creative Inspirations

My second GDT card for the Cat Lovers Hop will be posted on Thursday so be sure to check back.

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Monday, October 25, 2021

Day 1 - Cat Lovers Hop 2021

Well, here it is the last weekend of October and that means it's time for the 2021 Cat Lovers Hop which starts today and will run through Saturday, October 30. I've been playing in the hop each year for at least 5 years but I honestly don't remember if I started in 2015 or 2016 but it's become an annual ritual in my creativity routine. :-D This year I was invited by Janis to be one of the Guest Designers and I did GDT cards for Tuesday and Thursday so be sure to check those out when they post here on my blog.

For today, I did a card using an image from Hetty Clare which I think is absolutely adorable. I colored with my ProMarkers and cut the image with a die from QuicKutz. It's 'framed' by cutting an aperture window in the card front (card base was made from flocked CS by Doodlebug) with a larger QuicKutz die from that same set, then attaching a square of charcoal-gray CS inside the front, and layering the image piece into the center of the gray.

The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die. I tied a quick bowtie made from lace and wrapped around the middle with satin ribbon. The butterfly is machine embroidered. I did a dozen or more of those last summer and tossed them into my stash, forgetting they were there until just yesterday.

Challenges:

I hope you are signed up for all the prizes and are going to play in the hop each day between now and the end on Saturday. Obviously, you need to have one or more cats on your entries. There are daily games and lots of wonderful inspiration so please come and join us. Every cat lover will have something to share and those of you who are new to the Hop will find a ton of new 'cat crazy' friends. :-D

Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

Sunday, August 1, 2021

Claiming the Box

What is it about a simple box that is so attractive to cats? These are my granddaughter's cats who have been living with me for the past 8 months, Ivory, Ebony, & Luna.

The box was left on the computer desk after being opened and emptied. I stepped away to put the new things in their place and, within 1 minute, Luna had knocked the box off the desk and jumped inside it. Ebony came to investigate.

Luna bravely defended her position, but Ebony was rather insistent.

Then, Ivory came along to referee the dispute.

After calling fouls on both Luna and Ebony, and sending them

off to the penalty box in the corner, Ivory took over the cardboard box.

Referee wins!

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Brewing A Wish

I'm having so much fun changing the purpose of images which were originally intended for a different occasion. I turned this one into a Father's Day card for my eldest son. This is another of the images sent to me last fall after I lost my entire collection of digital images when a flash drive crashed. I had a friend who must have spent hours and hours stamping and printing images of all sorts and then she mailed them to me in three different batches. She wanted to make sure I didn't get discouraged and stop coloring and crafting. lol As though that would happen. Nevertheless, I'm really grateful and it's fun using them.

This was colored with ProMarkers, pencils, and gel pens. The detail in this stamp is amazing and it took me the better part of 3 days to get it colored. Almost as an afterthought, I used white gel pen on the cats changing them from charcoal gray to white and that made them just pop out of the background.

I photographed the colored image and when I was editing it, I used my software to 'stretch' the image lengthwise by about 3/4 of an inch and I also gave it a smoky haze overlay. I'm not sure I would do the smoky haze again but it's kind of interesting. I was hoping it would look more like mist from the bottle but it is what it is. I used Baker's twine for the only embellishment on a black card base and left it CAS.

Challenges:

That's all until tomorrow. Happy Crafting. NanaConnie

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