Cardinal Christmas

     Having done 30 Christmas cards with images from Beccy's Place over the month of November, here I am starting December with another of her images.  Beccy is sponsoring our challenge this month at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies where our theme is always "Anything Goes with a Critter."  All you need to do is feature a creature on your project and you can enter it.

     I've used one of Beccy's gorgeous cardinals, this one called Cardinal and Holly, and you can grab it as a freebie if you click on the image name above.

I used red and green from the colors at Color My Heart.

Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with Memory Box die
Sentiment from Beccy's cut with Sizzix die
Red, stitched, satin ribbon
Wide, sheer ribbon for bow
Black card base

     Challenges:
Crafty Hazelnut's
Creative Knockouts
Digi Choosday
I {heart} ProMarkers
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Greetings
Simon Says Stamp
Southern Girls

     I hope you're going to come play in our challenge this month.  You have until the 25th of the month to link up your entries.  We love being inspired by you but the team probably won't be commenting this month because we give them time off so they can get ready for their own holiday celebrations.  Merry Christmas to all.  NanaConnie

Day 9, Letter "H" at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas

     Day 9 means the letter "H" at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas and I'm using a few fairly simple "H"s - Happy family, Happy Holidays, Holly, "...our House to yours...", Hats, and Holly berries.  I absolutely love this Happy snowman family with a Houseful of baby snowkids from Beccys!

Colored with ProMarkers
Die cut with QuicKutz dies
Frame dp from Doodlebug
Holly leaves (from Beccy's Place) fussy cut
Front panel embossed w/ "Linen" folder
Snowflakes cut with Art Impressions dies
Snowflake button w/ glitter
Sentiment (Beccy's Place) hand cut and matted

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
CCC Digi Creations
Christmas Crafts All Year ...
Crafty Hazelnut's 
Creative Inspirations
Creative Moments
Dies R Us
Ellibelle's Crafty Weds
Scrappy Land

     That's it for today.  I'm heading back to the craft room to work on another card for Beccy's Place and you'll see it posted in the next day or two.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Day 8, Letter "G" - Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas

     Today we're doing projects prompted by the Letter "G" for Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas.  I went with Garland, made with Beccy's Green holly and berries image which I printed twice and fussy cut, plus Glory to the Newborn King, a sentiment which came with the Baby Jesus image, also fussy cut.

Manger colored with ProMarkers
Holly is pre-colored - ProMarkers used for darker shading
Golden halo is fringed around the edge
White Gel ink for highlights
Glossy Accents added to the berries
Hand sewn bow w/ pearl
Fussy cutting
Kraft card base

     Challenges:
12 Months of Christmas
A Bit More Time ...
A Perfect Time ...
CCC Digi Creation
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafty Hazelnut's (holly)
Creative Craft Cottage
Friendship
Pearly Sparkles

    I'll have one more post today for QKR Stampede so stop back a bit later.  Thanks and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Day 1 - 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place

     OK, this is my first official post for this year's 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place and, as usual, we start with the first letter of the alphabet as a theme.  I chose to do an Angel, colored with Alcohol markers, added to an A Frame, A2 card.

     Beccy's image is actually supposed to be a Holly Fairy but for this card, I turned her into an Angel, one with jingle bells on her collar and hem.  :-D  This was one of the first Beccy's Christmas images I ever bought and I've used her a lot over the years but never before substituting as an Angel.

Colored with  ProMarkers
Cut with an oval die from QuicKutz
Gold frame cut with QuicKutz die
Glittered papers from Recollections (gold) and DCWV (red)
Stickles Icicle added to her Holly wings
Stickles Frosted Lace added to hat and leggings
Silver paint pen added to the jingle bells on her tunic
Sentiment printed and hand cut

     Challenges:
Christmas Kickstart
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's  (Holly for her wings)
Passion for ProMarkers
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD

     I'll have one more post a bit later for the second day of the 30 Days of Christmas, featuring the letter "B."  See you then.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Holly Snowman

     This delightful "Christmas Snowman q-24346" image from QKR Stampede is perfect for this time of year.  Our latest challenge starts today and our theme is always Anything Goes.

     I want to share with you a little story about QKR and my early experiences with them.  I think I fell in love with QKR digi images almost before I even knew what digi images were.  Up to that time, I was completely into rubber stamps and even scoffed at digital images.  In fact, my earliest QKR images were rubber stamps (a thing you can still get!)  But as I was introduced to them and learned what could be done with them in sizing, reversing, flipping upside down, and the ease of storing them (hundreds and hundreds on one small flash drive!), it didn't take me long to go almost completely digital!  I admit it - I prefer digis to rubber and that's been true for a number of years now.  Thank you, QKR Stampede for being one of the major factors in my conversion (and for taking me onto the DT coming up on 5 years ago!)  :-D

     I colored with ProMarkers, then cut the image with one of my earliest dies from Spellbinders.  I printed and hand cut the sentiment before mounting everything onto sea foam green CS.  I wrapped it with sparkly, white and gold, wired ribbon and added one of my signature bows, hand-sewn with a pearl and dyed with a ProMarker.

     Challenges:
As You Like It
Aud Sentiments
C.R.A.F.T.
Creative Knockouts
Cute Card Thurs.
Outlawz Festive Fri.
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Take it, Make It

     Like many others, I'm still not back into the routine after the Thanksgiving Day festivities but I have a couple of posts pre-scheduled so I can be as lazy as I like.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

CAS Christmas

     This is my second post today so if you missed the first one, be sure to scroll down to the previous post.  It's worth a look.  :-D

     Limited Runs has some wonderful Christmas images but I'm showcasing a very simple and large sentiment.  I'm going to make at least a dozen cards just like this one because it's one of those really quick, "git 'er done" (as my friend, Lynn, says) cards which is flat enough to mail.

I used a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

flipped side to side.

     I used ProMarkers to color the candy cane letters in the sentiment and also the border around the sentiment.  I used die cut holly leaves and berries, adhered them with Pop Dots, and added Glossy Accents to the berries for some sparkle and shine.   Plain but bright, CAS and fast.  :-D

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Addicted to CAS
Aud Sentiments
Catch the Bug
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Creative Inspirations
Everybody Art 
Outlawz Festive Fridays
Time Out

     Have a great rest of your weekend, my friends.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Family Christmas Letter

     Each year during the Christmas holidays, my mother used to write out (by hand and with carbon paper - bet most of you don't remember carbon paper) a long Christmas letter to family and friends, with updates on our nuclear family's activities and accomplishments which had taken place during the previous year.  It's a tradition which has been lost over time with the exception of one cousin who has lived in Australia for 45 years now.  Even he now sends out his Christmas letter via email.

     But this year, I'm going to revive the tradition and send real, live, postage-paid, letters to many friends and distant family members.  I decided since card making has become one of my favorite activities, and since many of the family members expect to get a card from me, I'd combine the two and send out letters inside a tri-fold, CS cover which will also serve as the envelope.

     I've made a dozen of these and have another half dozen to finish.

     I've actually made two versions of this and this one uses the 'negative' die cut.  The dies are Memory Box.  On the other style, I used the positive, that is, the actual die cut words.  I haven't photographed one of that style yet but the words are mounted onto a long rectangle of light red CS for a red and green combo.

     I used tiny, metal brads in the center and dimensional holly and berries.  The letter will be on regular 8.5" X 11" paper and it will tri-fold inside the cover, being stapled to it at the top.  I'll use a small Christmas sticker to hold the flap closed for mailing.

     Challenges:
Crafts Galore Encore
Creative Inspirations
Die Cuttin' Divas
Let's Craft & Create
Not Just Cards
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Paper Nest Dolls
Scrappy Land
TTCRD

     Having finally started my Christmas cards last month, I'm staying with my commitment to make at least 1 Christmas card per week between now and the beginning of October and then I may have to increase that.  We'll see how it goes but this is the one for this week.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Jingle Bells Jammies

     Do you remember being a kid and having Christmas break roll around?  For me, that meant getting to stay in my jammies all day long if I chose.  No need to get dressed for school or for going outside - just lazy days playing indoors in my jammies.

     Well, the alphabet challenge at Beccy's Place is all about the letter "J" today so I'm celebrating Jammies.  This cute little image is called Holly Fairy but I think she looks like she's still in her Jammies with the Jingle Bells.  What do you think?

Inspiration from House of Cards and their colors.

     As you can guess, I colored her with my ProMarkers (always my 'go to' markers), added silver paint to the Jingle bells, and then I used a border die from Poppy Stamps to cut the sides.  I trimmed both top and bottom with my Fiskars paper cutter.

     The green polka dot dp came from one of my Recollections pads.  I added glittered silver ribbon and a line of gems to sparkle like ice and snow.

     Challenges:
Beccy's Place
Colour Crazy
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Friends
Delicious Doodles
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz Festive Friday
Ribbon Girl
Victorine Originals

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Holly Sprite

     One thing I know about crafters is that they are inventive and resourceful.  When one is restricted from crafting for whatever reason, the need to craft (despite having worked ahead on obligations and having posts pre-scheduled) increases and ways will be found, always!

     Hand coloring images can be the most difficult part but a thorough look through the folder of images which were colored weeks or months ago can produce absolute gems.   Die cutting is fairly simple and can be done one-handed or with the help of family and friends.  :-D  Those same family and friends can be very helpful when it comes to layering things together, following the simplest of instructions or even a messily scribbled diagram.  Finally, they can be extremely useful when it comes to typing up the post.  :-D

     Image by Aurora Wings, colored with ProMarkers, dies are QuicKutz and Memory Box.  Ribbon from the stash and now there's one more card for the Christmas stash.

     Challenges:
Brown Sugar
Catch the Bug
Colour Crazy Craft
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Ribbons
Creative Fingers
Di's Digi Designs
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz Greetings
Sasayaki Glitter
Scrapper's Delights
Take It, Make It
Winter Wonderland

     Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping.  NanaConnie

Christmas Magnolia

     I was looking through my huge collection of images from Doodle Pantry, and ran across this Magnolia Blossom.  I've had that image for more than three years and this is the first time I've used it.  It just struck me that, as a lovely white flower, it could make a beautiful Christmas card.

     I printed it twice, once on green CS and again on white.  I outlined the one on CS with white gel ink.  I also printed the sentiment onto the same green CS and then went over it with white gel ink, too.  The colored flower was fussy cut and mounted atop the green CS flower on Pop Dots.  I matted both the image and the sentiment with white CS and layered them together set at angles to each other.

     I found the background dp in my Christmas stash (something else in my stash for more than a year.)   The ribbon and the twine were scrap pieces just waiting to be used, and the holly leaves are actually shank buttons.  So, don't you agree this was a good image for Christmas?

     Challenges:
613 Avenue Create
A Snowflake's Promise
Christmas Cards All Year Round
Crafting for all Seasons
Crafting from the Heart
Craft Your Passion
Crafty Catz
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas  (posy)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra
Digi Galore
Hiding in My Craft Room
Jingle Belles
Love to Scrap
Outlawz Greetings
Paper Minutes
Papertake Weekly
Petal Lu
Scrapper's Delights
Simply Papercraft

     My stash of Christmas cards is growing and, since I know that I'll have several more of them to do for DT projects as Christmas gets closer, I'm feeling good that there won't be any last minute rush for getting cards done in mid-December.  :-D  Happy Stamping.   NanaConnie