Day 18, Letter "P" - 30 Days of Christmas

     Today we're using the letter "P" as our prompt in Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas and I chose one of Beccy's lovely Poinsettia images.  I made another gift card holder made from embossed, Pine Green CS.  The image is cut with a Pin Point die and I also used a die to cut Pine needles for the background.  The folder is tied with Peppermint Candy, red and white twine.  This one is done in my favorite Christmas color combo of red and green.  It's also another of my favorite traditional Christmas images which work better (I think) for adult gifts than cute-sy, childish images.

Just to show you how the inside of the folder looks, although this photo is of another folder I made.

Here's a link to the YouTube video I used to make these.

Colored with Polychromos Pencils, blended with gamsol
Pin Point die from Poppy Stamps
Embossed CS
Pine Needle die from Die-namics
Baker's Twine in Peppermint candy colors

     Challenges:
As You Like It
Colour Crazy
Dream Valley
Get Creative
Outlawz Festive Fri
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Polkadoodles
Southern Girls

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Day 17,"O" - Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas

     One more day and another letter of the alphabet ("O") for a prompt in the 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place.  Instead of doing another card, I've started making gift card holders using instructions I found on YouTube.  You'll see several of them over the next 10 days or so.  Not only do I need some, my daughter wants a half dozen or so for her stash.  :-D

     Here's the first one, inspired by the letter "O" - Ornament and Octagon.  The image is Beccy's "Stanley's Bauble", which I think of as an Ornament.

Colored with pencil, blended with gamsol
Glitter added to the Ornament
Image cut with Octagon die from QuicKutz
Embossed CS used to make the folder
White satin ribbon for the tie

     Here's a photo of the inside of one of these gift card folders, although not this one as you can tell from the color of the folder and the embossing.

     I'm making a sentiment piece for the other slot but it has glitter on it and that's still drying.
 
     Challenges:
AAA Cards
C.R.A.F.T.
Creative Knockouts
Cute Card Thurs
Cutie Pie
Dragonfly Dreams
Get Creative
Lil Patch of ...
TTCRD

     Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  For those of you already out Christmas shopping, take a breath!  You still have more than a month.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Easter Blessings

     Today I want to share some of my oldest images which came from the now closed "Clearly Digital Stamps" store and they are both perfect for Easter.  I combined the two images by hand this time because I wanted to run the ribbon between them.

     I colored the rose with ProMarkers and used colored pencils and gamsol on the rest of the sentiment piece.  I left the Bible white and added the "Easter Blessings" sentiment to it.  I fussy cut both pieces.

     I had that scrap of green dp which had been cut along the border with a die from Spellbinders.  I trimmed it to fit the card front, ran it through an embossing folder (sorry, I don't remember the name), and adhered it, purposely leaving some white along the cut edge.

     I played around with how to layer things together, including the green satin ribbon, and finally decided I like this layout design the best.  I tied a bow from a scrap of matching ribbon and called it finished.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps 
Angie's Digital Stamps
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Paper Funday
Paper Shelter
Pile It On
Scrappy Land
Stamping Sensations
Work It Weds.

     Thanks for visiting and I appreciate those of you who leave comments.  They inspire me and keep me posting.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Santa on Vacation

      This is my second post for today.  If you're looking for my QKR Stampede DT card, scroll down one post.

     This post features my card made for the final day of the Christmas in July daily challenges at Catch the Bug.  We had to make a project inspired by this photo.



     Here's where inspiration took me.  When the Christmas rush is over and supervising the elves in the toy shop isn't yet needed for next year, Santa takes a tropical vacation.  :-D

     I colored the image with ProMarkers and gel inks, then carefully fussy cut it.  The 'sand' and sea in the scene are made from patterned paper, but I used a white gel pen to make the breaking waves in the ocean.

     The sky is done on white CS with water color pencils and gamsol for blending.  I printed the sentiment, cut it by hand and added it to the card front.  The three tiny pearls are the only embellishment but there is great visual texture from the four layers - 3 dp plus the image.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas (on a beach - lol)
Aud Sentiments
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Gals Corner
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Digi Doodle Studios
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds.
Outlawz Festive Friday
Sasayaki Glitter
Sisterhood of Crafters
Star Stampz
That's Crafty

     Don't forget - today and tomorrow are the last days of the Challenges for Days Birthday Bash and all you have to do to win is to comment on my post (HERE) and on the Birthday Bash post at Challenges for Days.  There are great prizes to be won from not only some lovely sponsors on Saturday but also from each of the CfD List Manager volunteers who have offered prizes of crafting goodies.  Check it out and be sure to leave comments on all the blogs which are offering prizes.  See the list on the CfD blog.   

     That's all I have for today but you did get a "twofer" so no complaining.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Mythical Ice Fairies

    I'm sure we've all heard of fairies but how many of us know about Ice Fairies?  Usually, fairies go underground and hide in their homes where it's warm throughout the cold snowy months of winter.  But there's a special breed of Ice Fairies who dearly love the cold weather.  They score our windows with frost paintings and hang icicles from the eaves and tree branches.

     This beautiful image must be a clan leader among the Ice Fairies - she's just so glamorous and elegant.  This image is from AuroraWings and I had so much fun bringing her alive with color.

     I used polychromos pencils to color her and blended everything with gamsol.  I added touches of white gel ink to certain spots and did her lips and eyes with ProMarkers.  I die cut the image with one of my favorite dies from Spellbinders.  I trimmed off  a tiny point on each end for a smoother shape and then I inked the edges.

     The pale blue paper with the tiny snowflakes came from DCWV's "Winter Magic" stack, something I've had in my stash for several years and I'm still working my way through it.  For embellishment, I added one small hand-sewn bow with a pearl.

     Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps
A Gem of a Challenge
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Calendar
Die Cuttin' Divas
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Path of Positivity
Stamping Sensations
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie