A Farm Country Birthday

      When I think of farms and country living, horses always come to mind.  So when I saw the theme for our latest FarmQuest challenge, "Things Found in a Barn," I started looking through my collection of images for a horse.

     This gorgeous clip art image was colored with pencils, blended with gamsol, then cut with a die from Spellbinders.  The kraft CS frame was also cut with a die from that same set.  The plaid dp came from a DCWV stack.  I printed the sentiment, cut it with scissors to get that particular shape, and matted it with a scrap of kraft CS.  I used jute cord for the hand-tied bow.

     Challenges:

Coloring w Pencils

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday

Male Room

Pattie's Creations

Word Art Weds

     I hope you're going to take some time in the midst of the crazy holiday rush to have some personal play time and we'd love it if you came and joined in our challenge.  Just find an image of anything you might find in a barn (animals, tools, vehicles, feed or hay, etc.), make a card or other project, and enter it into our challenge.  

     FYI, you MUST check out the FQ challenge post this time.  There are some incredible AI images available for you to use if you choose.  Becca did a great job of putting those together for all the readers.  :-D

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bear-ly Old

      Today we begin our latest challenge at FarmQuest and our theme is "Things Found in a Forest."   I interpreted that very broadly and decided to find an animal that would inhabit the forest instead of just trees or plants.  This image of a bear is pencil sketched clip art.  I wish I knew the name of the artist but it came from a book of clip art coloring pages available online and there is no company or artist names on any of them.

     Although it may be difficult to see in the photo, after I printed the image I used a very pale, blue wash of watercolor paint over the entire image, then darkened the sketch using blue colored pencils and gamsol.  

     I cut the finished image with a Tonic Studios die, then printed the 2-part sentiment and cut those with dies from Avery Elle.  Everything was mounted onto a dark blue card front which I had embossed using my 'Linen' EF.  I made this as a birthday card for one of my grandsons who celebrated just a week ago.

      Challenges:

Addicted to CAS

Can You Handle ...?

Crafty Calendar

Lil Patch of ...

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

WordArt Weds

     It would be wonderful if you'd come and play in our challenge.  Think of a forest, choose something you might find there, let it inspire your creativity, and enter it into our challenge.  We can't wait to see what you create!  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Christmas Horse

     Welcome to the start of our newest challenge over at FarmQuest Country Christmas.  Our theme is always Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas with an outdoor country flair.  This image was printed in gray scale, then colored with watercolor paint for the background, and colored pencils blended with gamsol for the horse.  I added white highlights with gel pen.  The image was cut with my largest square die from QuicKutz.

     The striped dp came from a Recollections stack.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  Since this card will be used for one of the guys in my family, I decided that no further embellishment was needed.

     Challenges:

12 Months Christmas

Creative Inspirations

Incy Wincy

Kerst Christmas

MFT Christmas

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Sparkles Christmas

Word Art Weds

     That's it for today.  I hope it's not too hot for you to be thinking about winter and Christmas.  Get a head start on your holiday card making and come play with us this month.  Anything Country Christmas will do.  :-D   Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Family Grows!

      This card I'm sharing today I made for my newest great-grandson, Jackson Wade, who arrived on Thursday, February 22, the day after my oldest granddaughter's birthday!  I'm so excited!  Not only that, we have another great-grand baby due in late August.  No word yet on the gender but I personally am hoping for a girl to help balance out the ratio of (too many) males to (not enough) females in my grands and great-grands.  :-D  I do love making masculine cards but that may be primarily because I have so many males in the family compared to the sprinkling of females.

     This adorable sleeping baby image is clip art from - oh, my gosh, I've forgotten.  I'll edit this post when I track down the company.  When I bought the set of images, I saved it into a folder called "Babies" instead of making a new folder with the company name on it so it'll be a search of long deleted emails to figure out who made it.  

     The original color of it was too bright a blue for what I wanted (more on the pastel side) so I printed it in very light, gray scale, then colored it with Sanjoki markers and water color pencils, blended with gamsol.  I cut the image with a QuicKutz die, then found two pieces of blue paper in the scrap basket.  I used those for the background, added the image and sentiment (cut with an Avery Elle die) and called it finished.  A CAS design but with geometric patterned dp instead of white space.  To my mind, geometrics make for great masculine cards.

I pulled my pastel colors from the mood board at Inkspirational.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

CAS on Friday

Creative Knockouts

Digi Choosday

Double D

Gem of a Challenge

I Love Markers

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

     That's all for today and I'm going to take the rest of the weekend off.  No computer, no social media, no phone... just time for me, watching TV and reading.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Time for Pie

     Another of the cards I finished while I was doing the local Craft Fair on Saturday and this one will go to one of the grandkids on Thanksgiving Day.  

    The digital image was printed in reverse, colored polychromos pencils, blended with gamsol, and shading was added with alcohol markers.  I used one of my very first Spellbinders dies to cut the image, and the sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.  The background strip of dp was a scrap from the fall basket; the pumpkins are embossed for texture and touched with glitter for just the smallest amount of sparkle.  I hand-tied the bow using satin ribbon and called it finished.  Isn't she the sweetest little mouse ever?

     Challenges:

Can You Handle ...

Coloring w Pencils

Crafter's Cafe

Creative Moments

Cutie Pie

Inspiration Station (fall colors)

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz SAR (Thanksgiving Pies)

Pammie's IP

     That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by again.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sunflowers for FarmQuest

      I know it's been more than a week since I posted anything but my daughter has a vendor booth at our local County Fair and I've been hanging out with her, pretending to be a valuable co-worker, managing the behind-the-scenes technical issues while she handles customers and sales.  I have to admit I'm really tired of making all the little sleeves and envelopes for the myriad of coupons and give away items that funnel through the booth, but it's filled with fun activities even if it is busy, busy, busy!  :-D

     Today, we have a new challenge starting over at FarmQuest and our new theme is "Sunflowers."  Don't forget that all entries must be 'country' or 'farm' related but it's pretty hard to focus on sunflowers without being at least a little bit country.   I found this delightful clip art image in my collection of flower digis, printed it in grayscale, then colored it with my polychromos pencils.  I used gamsol to blend the coloring.

     I knew as I was coloring that I wanted to do a very simple design, partly because I had printed such a large image piece but also because I wanted the sunflowers to take center stage and not have to compete with too much embellishment.  I had added the sentiment before printing the image, so I just cut it square, then rounded the corners with a Uchida punch.  I put that onto a bright orange card front and called it finished.  

     BTW, orange is definitely NOT one of my 'go to' colors but it is my favorite harvest/autumn color because I use it so rarely all the rest of the year that it's kind of refreshing to use it for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or other autumn cards.  :-D

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Bastel-Traum

Coloring w Pencils

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspiration

Digi Choosday

Outlawz Monday

Pammie's IP

Paper Funday

     I hope you're going to come play in our "Sunflowers" challenge this time.  You have a full 2 weeks (and a couple of extra days) because this challenge ends on October 13.  Don't let time run out on you.  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Arctic Christmas

      We're back from our summer break over at Crafty Catz and our latest challenge has started.  Our theme for this week is "Getting Ready for Christmas."  You can create anything Christmas related.  

     I chose this fun clip art image, printed it in gray scale, and then used water colors, white pencil, and white gel pen to color the image.  I started with dark blue water color paint, and did the entire night sky, after masking the moon and polar bears.  I used a light gray on the ground, adding highlights to the gray scale.  I used a darker gray water color to emphasize the leaf branches at the very bottom.  I let that dry completely, overnight, and under a heavy book.

     I found my polychromos pencils and added highlights to the polar bears, the trees, and the moon.  I added yellow and aqua pencil rings around the moon, getting lighter and less distinct the further away from the moon. I blended those rings with gamsol.  Finally, I grabbed a white gel pen and added bright highlights to the treetops, plus a few strokes on the bears, and to create the snowflakes/stars.  I added a bit of sparkle gel pen to the tree tops and snow but it doesn't show very well in the photo.

     The sentiment was printed using my Word program, setting the text in yellow and the background in deep blue.  Once printed, I cut it with a die from Avery Elle.  I wanted a completely CAS card so I added no embellishment of any kind.  I understand that if you are a purist who demands lots of 'white' space for CAS, you'll be disappointed in this card.  But I wanted the scene to be the main feature and that meant lots of night sky instead of lots of white space.  :-D

     Challenges:

12 Months Christmas

Christmas Bingo (CAS/free/Hand color)

Classic Design

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspirations

Happy...Stampers

Kerst /Christmas

Mirtillamente

Outlawz Friday

Paper Shelter

     Come play with us.  It's already a week into September and you need to get a start on your Christmas cards.  Remember last year when you swore to yourself not to wait until the last minute to get started?  Unh huh, I thought so.  Use our challenge as an inspiration and then enter your cards in our challenge.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

3 Christmas Kittens

      Is this the most adorable image ever?  I mean, even people who are dog lovers instead of cat lovers have to admit these three are too cute to ignore.  :-D  This is a clip art image which I printed in gray scale and then colored.

     I used my polychromos pencils, blended with gamsol, for that soft fur look.  Highlights were added using white and red gel pens.  I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, then framed it with gauze paper, trimmed closely with my Fiskars cutting board.  The sentiment was printed and fussy cut, and the little candy canes (which are 3D) came from K & Co.  Everything was mounted onto a green card base.

     Challenges:

Coloring w Pencils

C.R.A.F.T.

Crazy for Cats

Creative Inspiration

Friendship

Kerst Christmas

LeighSBDesigns

My Fav Things

Outlawz Friday

Pattie's Creations

SUYP Cats

     Have a wonderful day, stay cool in the hot weather (or dry if it's raining on you), and make your day one of the best, even if you have to just arbitrarily restart it every hour.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Autumn Deer

      It's time for another challenge at FarmQuest and that means another "farm country" card with a  theme.  This time the theme is "Deer."  Pretty hard to find deer without finding 'country' (unless they are in the zoo) but I loved this clip art image which has a farm feel with the old, faded barn in the background

     I printed the image in grayscale, then used water color pencils, blended with gamsol, to color it.  The white highlights were made with a white, polychromos pencil, left unblended.  I cut the image with a die from Tonic Studios, and the white frame with the printed sentiment was cut with a QuicKutz die.  I used my "Linen" embossing folder on the gold CS I chose for the card front to give it all some texture.

     Challenges:

(links to be added when I return home after the Memorial Day weekend)

     I really think I'm reacting to the unusual 'summer-feeling' weather we've been having when the calendar keeps telling me it's still spring.  Maybe I'm hoping to jump right past summer (which is always miserably hot in my part of the world and I dislike heat more than anything) and into fall.  At least, I was thinking about the crisp evenings at dusk which come with fall weather when I chose the colors for this image.  Sigh... fingers crossed the air conditioning is affordable for the next four or five months.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Live, Laugh, Love with Roses

      Today I'm using another of the stamped images given to me ages ago by someone in my crafting group.  I really wish I knew which company had made this stamp so that I could give them credit but I have absolutely no idea.  I do know I love the way it colored up.

Colored w water color pencils, blended w Gamsol

Fussy cut w scissors

Green CS embossed w Linen EF

Sentiment stamped w black ink

Hand tied bow, 'dyed' w ProMarker

Background dp scrap from basket

     Challenges:

Allsorts

Artzy Stamper

Chocolate Baroque

Craft-Dee BowZ

Crafty Sentiments

Lemon Shortbread

Outlawz PAM

Paper Girls (flower/polka dots/gold)

TTCRD

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Puttin' on the Ritz

     Today we start our 5th challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps and our theme is always "Anything Goes."  With Valentine's Day right around the corner, Jan has released a darling new set called "Puttin' on the Ritz."  Although it works well for a Valentine salute, it's pretty versatile and can work for lots of occasions.  For my card, I reversed the image using MS Word before I printed it.

     I have to say that of all the penguin stamps I have in my collection, this one is among the top 5 favorites!  As new as it is, it made its way into my heart immediately. 

Colored with ProMarkers, highlights with polychromos pencils & gamsol
Cut with Unbranded cross stitch die
Edges inked with SU ink pad
Background CS embossed with "Linen" folder
Silver brads added to diagonal corners

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Angie's Digital
Brown Sugar
Crafter's Cafe
Crafty Friends
Dragonfly Dreams
Lil Patch of ...
Simon Says Stamp
Stamping Sensations
Word Art Weds.

     Jan's Digi Stamps is having a design team call.  Details can be found here.  You can use this link: 
https://jansdigistampschallenges.blogspot.com/p/dt-call.html

     Come play with us this fortnight and get your name into the draw to win a $10 gift card to Jan's shop!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

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