Letter "G" at 30 Days of Holidays

      My next card in the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place is for the letter "G" and I have a Thanksgiving card to share.  The image is pre-colored clip art, printed in gray scale, and colored in my own chosen colors using pencils and alcohol markers.  I added Glossy Accents to the hot chocolate cup for a bit of shine.  Fortunately, it photographed really well.  I also added glitter to the steam coming off the cocoa.

     Once colored, I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, then matted it with a scrap of dp, also cut with a die (QuicKutz, I think.  I forgot to write it down.)  I decided to make a gate fold card and went searching through the scrap basket for papers to put on both sides of the gate.  On the left side (mostly covered by the image piece) I put Glossy Accents on the flowers.  For the right hand side, I used small rectangles of CS and put them onto the flap one above the other.

     I put glitter EP on each of those small rectangle snippets and heat embossed them.  I love the sparkle.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then placed at the top of the image piece. 

     Challenges:

     That's all I have for today.   So far, I'm doing pretty well at playing every day at Beccy's Place and I hope to be able to keep going for the entire month.  We'll see.  In the meantime, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Kitchen Adventures

      Today I've done another card celebrating country kitchens and the adventures which can be found in simple, home-prepared meals.  Country kitchens always make me think of my childhood.  Even the faintest whiff of baking bread takes me right back to the childhood kitchens of not only my own home but also my Grammy's warm and wonderful kitchen.

      Among my favorite memories are those of Grammy's special French Toast breakfasts always made with slices of her home baked sourdough bread and eggs fresh from the hen house.  Many a weekend morning I enjoyed that treat.  Our house was located diagonally behind my grandparent's home and, although the properties were large compared to today's standards, it was a fairly simple trek across to the backyard corners of each yard and around the large expanse of her veggie garden, through the back door, and into the kitchen.  Sundays often found me there for an early morning breakfast!

     This card is a salute to those French Toast memories.  The image is digital clip art, printed in grayscale, and colored with Sanjoki markers.  I used a square QuicKutz die on the image, then inked the edges with a marker.  The background was made using dp scraps from the basket.  I printed and cut the sentiment with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

HomeStyle Kitchens

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Tragedy of an Empty Bowl

      I don't know how many of you are owned by a cat but those who are will completely understand the level of tragedy reflected on this kitten's face.  Believe me when I say that the 3 cats who own my home make it very clear that they allow me to live in their house and sleep in their bed ONLY on condition that I keep their food dish full and their litter box clean!  

     Never has any food bowl in this house been empty for more than 10 minutes.  They get canned food twice daily and have dry kibbles available round the clock, not including the treats given more than once throughout the day.  I check their dry food dish every morning and every evening and they watch me do that.  If there are fewer than 20 kibble bits in the (rather large) bowl, I immediately fill it to the brim!   

     However, I can just about guarantee that within 15 minutes of the morning and evening feeding of the premium canned cat food they get, at least one of them will give me a look exactly like this kitten.  It matters not that their tummies are bulging, nor that they walked away from the dish fully content, this is the accusing message I am given.  

     Image printed in gray scale, colored with ProMarkers, and cut with a Tonic Studios die.  Both papers were from the scrap basket and were also cut with Tonic Studios dies.  Sentiment printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

I was inspired by the sketch at My Favorite Things,

turned to be vertical.

     Challenges:

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

I Love ProMarkers

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds.

     That's all I have for today.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Can't Get Younger

      I recently made a discovery of a whole series of clip art work called "Chicken Wisdom" by artist Linda Finstad.  I love them all !!  This one, I printed in grayscale, then colored with gel pens and Sanjoki markers.  I cut it with a die from Tonic Studios, and added top and bottom border strips of embossed, red CS.  I added a red, rick-rack bow and called it finished.

     One of the things I love about Linda Finstad's art work is that it generally works for either guy or gal, but since I have more males in my extended family than I have ladies, I prefer to make masculine cards.  However, this time I used it for my oldest granddaughter's birthday card.  Since the image is pretty much gender neutral, it works for anyone!

      I know she's expecting a card with a dragon because she and I both adore dragons and I collect dragons from many different artists to make cards all her cards.  I did my best to convince her that these were a newly discovered species of dragon called "Chicken Dragons."  I'll let you know how well that went.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

Classic Designs

CRAFT-alnica

Digi Choosday

I Love Markers

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Word Art Weds

     Happy Birthday, granddaughter!   And Happy Crafting to all the rest of you.  :-D  NanaConnie  

Lion Love

      I know it's February and everyone is thinking Valentine's Day, but this card is also perfect for an anniversary.  In fact, my daughter asked me to use this cute lion image (clip art from Serene Designs, I think) on a card for her hubby.  

     I decided on a very CAS design for the card, cutting the grayscale & water-colored image with one of my oldest Spellbinder's square dies, then punching each of the four corners with a punch from Fiskars.  I mounted that onto a scrap piece of deep burgundy CS used for the card front and called it finished.  :-D

     Challenges:

Colorful Options

Creative Fingers

HeartQuest EWA

Incy Wincy

Mirtillamente

Morgan's ArtWorld

Outlawz Monday

Park Hopping (Safari Land in the original Disneyland)

Pearly Sparkles

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Candle Glow

      My second post of the day and this one points you toward the challenge at FarmQuest Country Christmas where the theme is always "Anything Country Christmas."  This challenge runs until March 5 and the next one starts on March 7.  Today I went for an out-in-the-forest design to feature this sweet little elf and his warm candle lit space in the middle of a gentle snow fall.

     I chose a clip art image, printed it in medium grayscale, then colored it with my ProMarkers.  Both the image and the white mat were cut with dies from a Tonic Studios set.  The sentiment came from Beccy's Place and it was cut with an Avery Elle die.  The striped background paper came from a Recollections stack.  Very simple but I think rather effective for a country Christmas.

     Challenges:

Crafts Galore ...

Digi Choosday

Do Al(l) Kreatives

Friendship

Kerst Christmas

Mirtillamente

Outlawz Friday

Peace on Earth

The Four Seasons

     Be sure to check out my first post of the day (scroll down 1 post) to learn about the FarmQuest General Store challenge, featuring images from QKR Stampede, the sponsor of that challenge.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Heading North

     There's a new 'Country' theme challenge which started up on February 7 and it will run until March 5.  It's a sister challenge to the one at FarmQuest and this one is called "FQ General Store."  The theme will always be "Anything Country Goes'' and you can find the challenge by clicking on the name above.  

      To quote from the challenge site itself, "What's included: farm, ranch, rural, country, dirt roads, gravel roads, picket fences, barbed wire, barns, farm animals, farm equipment, farmhouses, kitchens, canning, orchards, markets/farmer's produce markets/U-picks, sunflowers, scarecrows, hay, denim, plaid, gingham, burlap, frogs, fireflies, fishing, camping, pond life, brooks/streams, and much more.  What's not included: city life, city buildings, city parks, playgrounds, amusement parks, suburbia life, shopping malls/centers, etc."

      I just joined the DT and am excited to share with you my first card done for the "mid-month" reminder.  I thought that since the name is "General Store," it might be fun to use an actual General Store image on my card.  This was a coloring book page which I printed in grayscale, reduced in size, and then colored with polychromos pencils and ProMarkers.  I used white gel pen to add highlights and black gel pens on the geese flying north for the upcoming summer.  The sunlight rays coming through the tree were made by using bleach on a cotton-tip.

     I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and inked the edges with a ProMarker.  The background was dry embossed using my newest EF from Taylored Expressions.  It's a cable knit pattern and I thought it gave a very 'country' feel to the card.  The twine came from my stash.

     Challenges:

Can You Handle ...?

Carlin's Card ...

Classic Design

Crafts Galore ...

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

Gem of a Challenge

Outlawz Friday

Simon Says Stamp

Taylormadecards ...

     If you love anything country, this is the challenge for you!  We'd love to see you playing in our barnyard or field so come on along.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Too Tuckered for Treats

      Remember those early days when the very youngest Trick or Treaters were completely worn out after trekking their way to maybe 5 houses?  This card is a salute to all those intrepid little toddlers who were brave enough to give it a try and who then slept through the night as though they craved sleep more than the sweetest of treats!

     The image was reduced in size from a digital coloring book page, printed in grayscale (along with the sentiment), and colored with ProMarkers.  I used an Unbranded die to cut the image.  The background dp was a scrap from a Memory Makers stack.  I used sparkle ribbon and the bow was hand-tied using satin ribbon.

This is also my Day 16 entry for the
 LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop.

 

     Challenges:

Colour Crazy

Di's Digi Designs

Lil Patch of ...

Mirtillamente

Outlawz Festive Fri

Paperbabe

Rabisco

There's a Stamp ...

Your Next Stamp

     I hope your weekend has gone well and that you managed to find some relaxing time just for yourself.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cornucopia

      I'm really thrilled with this new release from Jan's Digi Stamps called "Fall Cornucopia."  It comes with lovely sentiments and I included one here by merging the image and sentiment before printing.  

     On this image, I started with one of the pre-colored images but I adjusted it to grayscale before I printed it.  Starting with Jan's pre-colored images in grayscale instead of just printing the B&W line drawing means that all of Jan's lovely shading and highlights are still there so that adding your own colors over them makes you look like a superb artist.  :-D  Thank you, Jan!  

     I used ProMarkers and gel pens to color the grayscale image, then cut it with a Tattered Lace die.  I layered that onto the front of a circle card, also cut with a die from Tattered Lace, on top of the wrapped sheer ribbon.   The triple-loop, satin bow was tied using my bow maker and that bow is the only embellishment.

I used colors taken from the 3rd Column of 

the TicTacToe board at Color Dare, plus gold.

     Challenges:

Colouring in Scrapland

Crafty Gals Corner

Crafty Sentiments

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Double Trouble  (all 3)

Outlawz Greetings

TTCRD

Word Art Weds

     The challenges at Jan's Digi Stamps are still on a break but will be returning on the first Monday in November so not long to wait now - just a bit over a month.  Since our challenges run throughout the entire month, you'll hardly notice how quickly the time flies by.  In the meantime, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie