Day 4 - "D"

     Here we are, already four days into the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place and, so far, I've managed to make and post a card for each day.  Today we have to use things beginning with the letter "D" and I managed to compile 4 or 5 things.

     I started with two autumn themed digital images from Beccy's Place, along with a sentiment about 'pumpkin days...', and I merged all three of them into a single image for this Thanksgiving card.  I loved the warm, latte drink; lattes always make me think of fall (the only time I ever drink them.)  Fall makes me think of pumpkins, pumpkin spice, pumpkin pie, and all those things are perfect for a Thanksgiving greeting.

     The images are both pre-colored, so it was a matter of printing them, and die cutting the image with a QuicKutz die.  I found two embossing folders and dry embossed both card stock and a scrap of metallic foil.  Those became the background for the image piece.  The 'Thanksgiving ...' sentiment was printed and cut with another die, this one from Avery Elle.  I added a jute cord bow for a little dimension.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Can You Handle ...?

Crafty Calendar

Di's Digi Design

Lil Patch of ...

Polkadoodles

Triple B

    Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Warm Winter Quilts

      We have a new challenge beginning over at FarmQuest, where all entries must have a "farm or country" feel plus use a specific theme.  This month, the theme is "Quilts" - anything to do with quilts or quilting.  

     I chose to use one of my quilting dies from Spellbinders.  It's a 2.75" die and I used it 4 times to make the background.  All of the dp I cut came from scraps of a winter stack of papers by DCWV, plus plain dark & light blue CS.  Think of the stars as snowflakes and you'll definitely get the chilly winter feel.  :-D

     The moose is an image from QKR Stampede and I colored it with my Sanjoki markers.  I fussy cut the image with scissors and mounted it onto Pop Dots before layering it onto the background.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Digi Choosday

Double D

Double Trouble

I Love Markers

Lil Patch of ...

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Simon Says Stamp

Snippets Playground

Word Art Weds

     That's it for today.  Feel free to come and play in our challenge this month.  It runs until the 13th of January so you have plenty of time.  Happy Crafting and Happy New Year.  NanaConnie

The Calico Cat

      This card was inspired by a wonderful and serendipitous brunch I had yesterday.  I was invited to join my daughter and her next door neighbor, Margaret, for a brunch.  Margaret and I happen to have brother and sister cats (same litter) who are now 12 years old.  Her sweet Gracie is a calico.  We spent nearly 2 hours regaling each other with cat stories about the two of them and it was amazing how much alike they are even though they've not seen each other since they were separated at about 5 weeks old after being abandoned by their feral mother.  Margaret and I were just two kindred hearts (translate:  crazy cat ladies!)

     Anyway, Margaret insisted on picking up the check for our meals and I wanted to send her a Thank You so I made this card, using a new die I got from Poppy Stamps.  I cut the cat from heavy white CS, then colored it with my Sanjoki markers.  The sentiment was printed and fussy cut with scissors.

     The background papers are from an old (old, old, OLD!) DCWV stack and the orange square was embossed with a polka dot EF.  The die cut cat had it's own embossing to enhance the 'fur' lines.  When I layered everything together, I used Pop Dots under the head of the cat so that it's raised up for a bit of dimension.

     Challenges:

Can You Handle ...?

Crafts Galore ...

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Let's Craft and ...

Outlawz Friday

Polkadoodles

Poppy Stamps

SUYP Cats

     Have yourself a wonderful weekend and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas Candles

      I was lucky enough to have won a challenge over at Simon Says Stamp earlier this month, and I spent my prize certificate on some new Christmas dies (as if I didn't already have 200 Christmas dies!)  I used one of them on this card, the Christmas Candles from Paper Rose Dies.

     I cut a white square first, then used the die to cut both red and green CS scraps.  I cut away the candles and then the green branch, and glued those to the already cut, white square.  I used a gold paint pen on the candle flames.  I also added a red CS mat behind the candles.     

     The sentiment is from QKR Stampede, printed and fussy cut, then the edges were inked with a Copic marker.  I found a scrap of gold, sparkly ribbon and hand-tied the bow.

My design was influenced by the sketch at My Favorite Things,

but I adapted it for a larger, square card.

     Challenges:

Creative Knockouts

Dream Valley

Gem of a Challenge

Lil Patch of ...

MFT Christmas

Outlawz Thurs

Peace on Earth

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     This card is #36 in my stash of Christmas cards, all made just this month.  I'd say that's a pretty good start on cards for this holiday season.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Strawberry Time !

      I love summer!  Not so much the miserable heat but for the fact that it's berry season; blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, huckleberries, loganberries, but most of all STRAWBERRIES!!!  In celebration of strawberries, I played with images from different Beccy's Place sets.  

     Before printing, I reversed the sweet mouse and then merged him with the basket of strawberries (also reversed.)  I have to say that when that sweet mouse was by himself (not yet merged with the basket), he looked like an industrious little guy, harvesting a berry from his carefully tended strawberry patch to take home for a delicious dinner.  Once merged, he looks more like a sneak thief  running off with berries which came from my garden!  lol

     I colored with ProMarkers, then did the intricate fussy cutting with scissors.  The green background is plain CS which has been cut and embossed with a Hero Arts die.  I love how the white card front peeps through, accentuating the dimension of the embossed and lifted leaves, flower petals, and butterflies.  

     After fussy cutting the mouse and his strawberry, I mounted it onto dimensional tape so that it would stand above the green background.  The sentiment was also fussy cut and adhered directly onto the card front.  I didn't want anything interfering with the cut background so I did without any added embellishments.

     Challenges:

4 Season

Can You Handle ... ?

Crafty Calendar

Digi Choosday

Di's Digi Designs

Dream Valley

Gem of a Challenge

Pammie's IP

Simon Says Stamp

     Wishing you a lovely day on this start of a new week and thanks for stopping by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Vintage Christmas Gnome

      My first post today was for the letter "U" and now this one is for the letter "V" at the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place.  My "V"s are: Very Vintage, Vermilion, & Verdigris.  

      The little gnome is from Beccy's Place and I colored with ProMarkers, adding a few highlights with gel pens.  I cut the shape with scissors so that I could pop him up on dimensional tape.  Once that was done, I dug through my scrap basket and found bit and pieces which I could cut with dies.  I cut a larger piece of white CS with a framing die from Amy Design.  The glittery poinsettia pieces were cut with Impression Obsession dies from silver and gold scraps.

     The red plaid dp is a scrap from Graphic 45 and I added spots of Stickles to it for s little sparkle.  The larger green dp is a scrap of 12 x 12 paper by K & Co.  I printed and fussy cut the sentiment.

     This card is going to a very special friend of mine who dearly loves anything and everything vintage.  :-D

     Challenges:

ABC Christmas

Christmas Kickstart

Christmas w Cuties

Double D

Paperminutes

Pixie's Snippets

Simon Says Stamp

TTCRD

     That's all I have until late tonight.  Come play in the daily challenges at Beccy's Place.  The 30 Days of Holidays are almost over.  :-D  NanaConnie

Noel on the Night before Christmas

      My earlier post today was for the letter "M" and this one is for the letter "N" in the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place.  I have to share with you that I was completely inspired by a card Beccy did using this same image against a very dark background so that the candle light seemed to glow.  I CASEd the card as best I could, including the sentiment.  

     I'm not nearly as skilled with coloring as Beccy is but I did give myself the advantage of starting with her pre-colored image, then adjusting the color so that it was much lighter (almost gray scale) and then used my ProMarkers (Beccy tends to use colored pencils) to color pretty much the same color combo as she had used.  The main differences are that I used grays on the mouse instead of browns, added some shadows, and used less yellow on the parts of the mouse where the candle glow would be.  I also colored the candle green.

      I didn't even attempt to color a dark background (which Beccy did.)  Instead, I fussy cut the mouse, mounted him onto Pop Dots, then used black CS for my card front and put him right in the middle of it.  The "Night Before Christmas" sentiment is cut with an Avery Elle die and the sparkly gold 'Noel' was cut with a Die-Versions die.

     Challenges:

Crafty Calendar

Dream Valley

Gem of a Challenge

Incy Wincy

Outlawz Festive Fri

Paperbabe

Peace on Earth

Polkadoodles

TTCRD

     Happy Crafting, everyone, and for those of us in the US, I hope your Thanksgiving preparations are well under way.  If you're traveling, may you have safe travels and warm moments with family.   Happy holidays to you and yours.  NanaConnie

Holiday Candy

      Edited to add:  ...and the Winner is:  

Bunny, Mr. Random.org chose your name from the comments on my blog and that means you're the winner of the B&W Candy Jar image from the set at Jan's Digi Stamps.  Please contact me at the email address shown on the sidebar, using the email address where you want me to send your image.  :-D

Congratulations!!   NanaConnie

     Welcome to the Paper Funday "Christmas in July' Blog Hop, in conjunction with Inspiration Station.  You should have arrived here from Anita's blog but if you've missed any of the stops, you can go to the main post at Paper Funday and start at the beginning.

     I've used one of the beautiful images from a set called "Holiday Candy Deluxe" by Jan's Digi Stamps.  I'll be offering the main image in black and white as a prize for one of the commenters on my blog.  It colors up so beautifully and I chose the traditional Christmas colors of red and green.  

     Although it's not easily visible in my first photo, the candy jar itself has been fussy cut and mounted onto Pop Dots, then applied to the main candy jar image (cut with a QuicKutz die) which gives it delightful dimension.  I added a corner bit (also from the Holiday Candy set) and the sentiment at the bottom, then layered the image onto a deep green frame (also cut with QuicKutz die.)

     The background dp is from Recollections.  I dug through my scrap ribbon stash and found both the white netting and the gold metallic ribbon  I decided the dp was busy enough that the card needed nothing more than the ribbon for embellishment.

Here's a close up; a better shot for showing the dimension.

     Challenges:

12 Months...Christmas

ABC Christmas

Digi Doodle Studios

Di's Digi Designs

Ike's World

Outlawz Twisted Thurs

Taylormadecards ...

    HOP IS NOW CLOSED AND THE WINNER HAS BEEN CHOSEN. 

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

     BTW, I visited the JDS store and discovered that all her Christmas sets are on sale this month.  The set I used, Holiday Candy Deluxe, is reduced from $7.00 to only $5.25!   Here's a shot of the entire set, including 12 pre-colored & B&W images, plus 5 sentiments.  You could do all the Christmas cards you need from just this one set!  :-D  

 

Purple Day Lily

      I'm expanding my crafting horizons (OK, my card making horizons) by playing with photographs instead of digis or rubber for this card, although the sentiment is a rubber stamp from Sparkle 'n' Sprinkle (now closed.)

     The photo of this flower makes it look very much like an iris or a flag but it's actually a day lily in gorgeous purple!  I printed it onto low-gloss, photo paper and fussy cut it.  Photo paper is heavier than most papers, almost like light weight card stock, so it cuts easily with very sharp embroidery scissors.

Day Lily fussy cut w scissors

Mounted on dimensional tape

Sentiment cut w Spellbinders die

Mounted on Pop Dots

CAS design w no embellishments

     Challenges:

AAA Cards

Aud Sentiments

Cardz TV

Crafty Catz

Crafty Sentiments

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday

Double Trouble

TTCRD

     I hope your weekend starts with a lovey cup of coffee or tea and that you have time to spend spoiling yourself.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Lifting Spirits

      Here it is time for another challenge at Pammie's Inky Pinkies and our theme is "Anything Goes."  We're sponsored this week by CAS-ual Fridays and they generously supplied rubber stamp sets to each DT member.  Mine is called "Floating" and I had a marvelous time doing heat embossing again!  

Stamped twice on black CS & lavender CS

White EP used on each one

Black hot air balloon fussy cut

Lavender balloon cut w QuicKutz die

Layered onto black CS

Sentiment stamped and heat embossed

Purple ribbon wrapped around image piece

Black balloon offset (on dimensional dots)

Hand tied bow w ribbon from Crafty Ribbons

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

House ... Stamps Built

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz PAM

Paperbabe Stamps

Polkadoodles

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     Hoping to see you playing in our "Anything Goes" challenge this week.  We do love seeing what you create.  NanaConnie

Sunflower Birthday

     I'm totally in love with the newest sunflowers from Conie Fong.  Her new 'Gnome' set, released a couple of weeks ago, featured a gnome holding a large sunflower, and Conie took that potted sunflower and did an entire set which she has called "Sunflower in a Pot."  :-D  I used one of the secondary sunflowers and one of the sentiments from that set to make this fun birthday card.

Colored w/ ProMarkers
Sunflower fussy cut w/ scissors
Mounted on dimensional dots
Score lines made using Scor-Pal board
Score lines marked w/ Zig markers
Sentiment & frame cut w/ Unbranded dies

     Challenges:
All Fun
Angie's Digitals
Artsy Stampers
Arty Divas
Creative Knockouts
Double D
I {heart} ProMarkers
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Scor-Pal
Word Art Weds

     Sorry that today's post is both late and short.  My 13 year old grandson, a Type 1 diabetic, is in the Pediatric ICU with extreme ketone levels which have to be medically lowered and it's a slow process.  He's been there nearly 24 hours and it will be at least mid-afternoon before they will consider releasing him.  Needless to say, my mind really isn't on blog posts today.  :-D

     Nonetheless, Happy Crafting to all of you.  NanaConnie

Tori the Dragon - Birthday Girl

     I'm totally in love with dragons (as is one of my grown granddaughters) and I think this is the third card I've done with one of the dragons from Conie Fong.  This one is called "Tori the Dragon - Birthday Girl" and I love the look of that luscious birthday cupcake!

Colored w ProMarkers
Cut w circle die by Spellbinders, Pop Dots
Leafy mat cut w Sue Wilson die
Pink CS backing for mat
Sentiment hand cut & matted, Pop Dots
3 hand-tied bows

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time...
CCC Digis
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafts Galore Encore
Creatalicious
Creations in Pink
Creative Crafters
Creative Moments
Pearly Sparkles
Southern Girls

     Come play in our Conie Fong challenge this month.  Actually, we have 2 - one for coloring only and one for completed projects like this one. You do have to use a Conie Fong image but you have great chances of winning if you just enter.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

A Bonnet Bouquet

     This is my third card as a Guest Designer for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge at The Outlawz.  The challenge is being sponsored by Jan's Digi Stamps and since I'm on the DT at Jan's, I got to do extra cards this last month using some of Jan's best images.  This one today is called "Bonnet Bouquet" and I used it for a Mother's Day card by adding a sentiment from that same set.

Here's the sketch.

Colored with ProMarkers
Image fussy cut & mounted on Pop Dots
Circle behind image cut with Dare 2B Artzy die
Background dp DCWV "Basics" stack
Dovetail strip is wide, satin ribbon
Sentiment printed & hand cut
Bow is hand tied w/ gem added
Border around dp is colored w/ ProMarker

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy
Crafty Catz
Crafty Sentiments
Creative Fingers
Creative Moments
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
Paperminutes
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Home, Sweet Cottage

     I'm posting my latest DT card for the weekly challenge at QKR Stampede, where our theme is always "Anything Goes."  No requirement that you use a QKR image (or even one from our sister company, Eureka Stamps) but if you do, your entry goes into a separate draw just for those entries and that increases your chances of winning by a huge amount!

     Today, I combined two QKR stamps, each of which is named "Cottage" by the way, but I'm going to give you links to each of them so that you can easily find them the store if you want them.  Cottage (#17801) and Cottage (#17805).  I scattered those two images to make the background paper, working in Word to make them different sizes.

Colored with ProMarkers
Cottages fussy cut with scissors
Mounted on dimensional tape
Ribbons from Really Reasonable Ribbon
Background sheet colored with chalk

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time...
Crafty Catz
Colour Crazy
Creative Crafters
I {heart} ProMarkers
Outlawz Crash Your Stash
Paper Funday
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Prika Crafts
Southern Girls

     Come play along with us this week, won't you?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sweet Annabelle Celebrates March

     One more of my GDT cards for Conie Fong and this one is a nice blend of green and gold in honor of both Spring, which will arrive this month, and St. Patrick's Day, with colors of the Emerald Isle. I used a fantastic Conie Fong image called "Sweet Annabelle" and she's 25% off right now!

I used the sketch found at Crafting Vicky's Sketch Challenge.

Colored w/ ProMarkers
Image fussy cut with Scissors
              & mounted on Pop Dots
Gold mat cut with Tonic Studios die
Glitter paper by Recollections
Light green, dye based, ink pad used to create background
Strip of dp from K&Co.
Green 'flower' cut from ribbon
Pearls added to 'flower' center
   
     Challenges:
A Gem of a ...
Artsy Stamper
Arty Divas
Coloring in Scrapland
Cuttlebug Mania (mid column)
Colour Crazy
Double Trouble (with H2H))
Outlawz Greetings
Paper Girls

     Don't forget that Conie Fong has a challenge each month on their FB page.  It's always Anything Goes as long as you use a Conie Fong image. Come play!

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bee-utiful Spring Day

     I know we aren't even finished with January, but I'm looking outside at my garden area and thinking of what I want to plant this spring.  I always get some volunteer morning glories which I let grow until the blossoms are gone because the bees and hummingbirds seem to love them, so when I saw this image over at LeAnn's World, I grabbed it and colored it right away.

My card is based on the sketch at My Favorite Things.

Colored with ProMarkers
Stickles added to bee's wings
All die cuts done w/ Sue Wilson dies
Butterfly, purple flowers, &
      sentiment are dimensional

     Challenges:
Arty Divas
Butterfly(riffle green/rajah/raised up)
Digi Choosday
House that Stamps Built
I {heart} ProMarkers
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
TTCRD
Tuesday Throwdown
 
     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Party Barn

     This is for the last day of the 10th Birthday Celebration at Catch the Bug challenge where the overall theme has been "Down on the Farm."  Each day there has been a different challenge with a different theme and today Bugaboo Stamps gave away a freebie which can be used with today's photo theme (see below.)  You have until the 20th to get all your daily entries done and posted.  Here's a link to the FREEBIE.
   
     I used it, plus a barn from a set by Jan's Digi Stamps.  The party got so huge they had to move it outside the barn!

Here's the inspiration photo and I based my card on the sketch at Cheerful Sketches.

     

I also used ALL the colors from the Tic Tac Toe board at

  Color My Heart Color Dare,

although I muted the Sangria on the barn doors.

Colored with ProMarkers & watercolors
Sheep image is fussy cut & mounted on dimensional tape
Barn image cut with QuicKutz dies
Raffia wrapped around card front
Background dp is a scrap
Sentiment printed and hand cut.

     Challenges:
A Perfect Time...
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafts Galore Encore
Creative Crafters
Dies R US
Do Al(l) Creatives
SheepSki Designs
World Wide Open

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Day 5, Letter "E" - 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place

     It's the next day in the alphabet prompts at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas and that means we're going to be doing Elves, Embossing, Embossing folders, Easel cards, Evergreens, Ecru, Ebony, and Embellishments.  Whew, that may be my longest list of the entire 30 days!

     I used another of Beccy's images from her (now retired) 12 Days of Christmas set, this time using the piper from 11 Pipers Piping and turning him into an Elf.  I think it was the Elf boots and Santa hat that made me see him as an Elf.   My card is actually a twisted Easel card.

Colored with ProMarkers
Elf was fussy cut with scissors
   and mounted on dimensional dots
Evergreen bough cut with Memory Box die
Pine cones cut from Ecru CS
Embossing folder by Couture Creations
"Noel" die by Die-versions
Card base is Ebony CS

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
Carlin's Card Paradise
CCC Digi Creations
Christmas Crafts All Year Round
Dies R Us
Love to Scrap
Passion for ProMarkers
Prika Crafts  (top row)
Scrap, Paper, Scissors

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

It's All About the Stretch

     This is one of those cards that 'shows up' unexpectedly and drives you crazy for hours!  Let me tell you the story and you'll see why.  I got up this morning and was going to work in the craft room on some additional cards for the Cat Lovers Blog Hop going on between now and Saturday.

Haven't played before and interested in joining?

Click HERE.

     I looked at the desktop and there's a card lying on it which wasn't there yesterday when I finished playing.  I remember very clearly making the card but it was back a ways, maybe even six or seven months ago.  So I searched back through the posts on my blog and it wasn't there.  

     Hmmm, could it have been as much as a year ago?  I search back further, all the way back to last year's Cat Lovers Hop but nothing.  OK, go back even further - I covered every post for the last two years and more (wasting a good two hours of what could have been productive time - grrrrr.)  I have never blogged about this card!  

     Well, lucky you, folks.  You get to see it today and I get to enter one more card into the Hop.  :-D  This card was done in honor of one of my childhood cats who was named "Stretch."  He was black and always stretched before every activity.  Even when he awoke hungry and thirsty, he had to take time to stretch every muscle and tendon in his sleek body.  

     Please don't ask me who made the cat image because I don't remember.  I do remember sizing the two cat images and reversing one to print them both on the same piece of CS.

Eyes done with red glitter

Cut with square die (QuicKutz) and distressed

Red mulberry paper

Ribbon scrap from Crafty Ribbons

Hand tied bow tie bow

Sentiment hand cut and mounted on dimensional tape

     Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments
Cutie Pie

Dare 2B Artsy
Double D
Dragonfly Dreams
Dream Valley

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Scrappy Land

TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Gold Medal Diving

     With all the Olympic qualifying trials going on this month, I thought a fun card featuring an Olympic diving hopeful (!?) might bring a smile to your face.  The QKR Stampede image is called "At the Beach" and I used it on my DT card for the weekly challenge starting today.

Colored with ProMarkers and Copics
Fussy cut image mounted on dimensional tape
Framed with Sue Wilson die cuts
Polka Dot ribbon from Crafty Ribbons

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Bastel-Traum
Crafter's Cafe
Creations in Pink
Creative Moments
Dies R Us
Digi Doodle Studios
Scribbles Designs
Tales from the Craft Room
World Wide DT Open

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie