Day 22, Letter "S" - 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place

     It's Day 22, and we're using the Letter "S" at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Christmas.  I've used the following "S"s:  Snowman, Snowflakes, Sue Wilson die, Sparkle, Satin ribbon, embossed Snowflakes, Stickles, Special fold.  I've made one more of my gift card holders.  Here's a link to the YouTube video that inspired me to start making these gift card holders.

     The inside looks like this, although this is a photo of one of the other holders I did.

Colored with ProMarkers and gel inks
Cut with a QuicKutz die
Sparkle mat cut with Sue Wilson die, trimmed to fit
Glitter paper from Recollections
Stickles used on the snowflakes hanging from his hat
1/8" satin ribbon used for the tie
Folder made with embossed CS

     Challenges:
Double Trouble combined with Cupcake Inspiration
Dream Valley
Incy Wincy (black, white, red)
Lil Patch of ...
Outlawz Greetings
Outlawz SAR
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Passion for ProMarkers

     This s my second post to day and I'll have my regular Friday DT post for QKR early tomorrow morning so I hope you'll be back to see that one, too.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Loving Winter

    I've finally gotten a card done for the progressive challenge at Sasayaki Glitter!  Nothing like scooting in right before the deadline.  lol  Too much Christmas visiting, I guess.

     Obviously, this snowman loves winter because in any other season, he'd melt.  :-D  I colored with ProMarkers, then cut the image with a CUTplorations die.  The snowflakes were made with a die from Spellbinders.  The sentiment was printed and cut by hand.

     Challenges:
Crafty Creations
Crafty Sentiments Designs
Digi Choosday
Incy Wincy
Paper Shelter
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD
Whoopsi Daisy

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Poinsettia Gardener

     My mom was one of the few people who could successfully transplant potted poinsettias into our yard and they often grew to as much as 5 or 6 feet tall!  We had the loveliest border of poinsettias along the west side of our home.  She was a school teacher and poinsettia plants seemed to be a favorite gift from one or more of her students.  She was, indeed, a 'poinsettia gardener.'

     This sweet image of a poinsettia snowman is from Beccy's Place and I use it as a salute to Mom.  :-D  The image is fussy cut (by hand) and popped up on dimensional tape.  The fabric tape was a gift from my friend, Christi, who sent me a whole box of goodies!  Thanks, Christi.

     The sentiment is part of the image set and I hand cut it before adhering it.  The little white bow is one of the ones I make by the dozens and toss into my stash for future use.

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Cardz TV
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Hazelnut's
Di's Digi Designs
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz Festive Fri.
Pattie's Creations
Winter Wonderland

     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

Snuggle Snowman

     Two posts today but none tomorrow because of Thanksgiving when I'll be visiting with family for the holiday.  This post is for the "S" prompt at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Holiday cards.  I am just crazy about Snowmen, especially those I find at Beccy's, and this is one of my favorites.

   
     I colored with ProMarkers, using Scarlett and Deep Sea Blue as my primary colors, then cut the Snuggly Snowman with a Scalloped border die from Spellbinders.  I decided on a very Simple design so I adhered the image to a card base, then cut 3 Snowflakes with a die from AI.  Two of those are not obvious since they are in the Sky next to the Snowman.  I added Sparkle to the snowflakes and called it finished! 

     Challenges:
Crafty Addicts
Crafty Sentiments
Creative Inspirations
Double D
Lemon Shortbread
Passion for ProMarkers
Scrappy Land
Simon Says Stamp
Try Stampin' On Tues

     Be sure to stop back this afternoon for my second post and to those of you in the USA, may Thanksgiving Blessings be yours.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Joyful Merry Christmas

     We're back to the alphabet prompts at Beccy's Place 30 Days of Holidays and today's letter is "J."

     What's better than the Joy of Christmas as shown by a Jolly snowman with an ornament hanging from his Jaunty nose?

I followed the color inspiration from the

3rd column at the TicTacToe board at

Color My Heart Color Dare.

     I colored with ProMarkers and I'm calling those greens "Jade, Juniper, or Jungle" to add a few more "J"s.  Don't they look great against the glacier blues? 

     I cut the image with a simple, square die from Spellbinders, then used another larger die from that set to cut glittered, white CS for the frame behind it. 

     I had already used an Elizabeth Craft Designs sentiment die to cut out the "Merry Christmas" which I used on another project.  The snowflakes were all cut with various Spellbinders dies.  I used white gel ink to pop them from the blue background, adding some dimension at the same time.

     Challenges:
Cardz TV
Cute Card Thurs.
Double Trouble (all 3)
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Paper Girls
Polkadoodles
Try Stampin' on Tues (1st column)
TTCRD

     This is my second post and that's all I have for today.  I'm going to go and make decisions on the images for the next several Christmas cards for Beccy's Place, just to see if I can work ahead a bit.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

"I" for Ice Cold

     This card will get me caught up in the 30 Days of Holiday cards at Beccy's Place and it's Day 10 with the letter "I" as our prompt, not an easy one!  This adorable snowman from Beccy's Place can explain his own Icy blue coloring.  Just read the sentiment.  lol

     I colored the snowman with ProMarkers (Ice Blue, Cool Aqua, Ice Gray 2), then cut the image with a long, oval die from QuicKutz.  The larger, fancy oval was cut from Indigo CS with an Unbranded die.  The dp with the snowflakes and Icicles came from the DCWV "Winter Magic"stack.

     I layered everything onto an aqua card base, then added the Icy White, sparkly, ribbon and one of my signature, hand-sewn bows.  Finally, I printed and die cut the sentiment and added it at the bottom of the card.

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Cardz TV
Crafting with Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's
Creative Inspirations
I {heart} ProMarkers
Jo's Scrap Shack
Outlawz PAM
That's Crafty

     That's all for today but I'll be back tomorrow.  I'm feeling better each day now and I should be back to normal by the beginning of the work week.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Warming Up

     New "Anything Goes" challenge starts today over at QKR Stampede and I'm sharing my DT inspiration for it. 

     When the snow is flying and you're stuck outside, it's tempting to build a fire and stand close to it.  Sometimes, that might have unexpected consequences - especially if you're a snowman!  QKR image:  "Warming Up."

I used colors from the middle column of the tic tac toe 

challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare.

     I colored the image with ProMarkers and chalks, then cut it with a die from Gina Marie.  The plaid paper came from my Christmas stash and who knows how long I've had it.  It was a scrap, just big enough for the card front.

     I also added a strip of ribbon and a red bow with a pearl. 

     Challenges:
Art Impressions
Christmas with the Cuties
Crafter's Castle
Cute N Crafty
Hiding in My Craft Room
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Festive Fri.
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
TTCRD

     I'll have a second post today - for the Cat Lovers hop - so stop by again later.  In the meantime, Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

'Sno-one Like You

     It's Thursday and I have another entry into the Christmas in July daily challenges at Catch the Bug.  They asked players to use an Oldie but Goodie, meaning anything that isn't a "new" stamp.  Here's one I've had in my collection but I don't think I've ever used it.

     I tried something I saw on one of the blogs I follow and found it pretty easy.  It's an envelope card, meaning the image is in the very center of the envelope and the sides and top flaps all fold in to make the envelope.  It's held shut with a slip-on loop but you could close it with a ribbon, too.

     I colored the image with ProMarkers and water colors, then cut the image with a square die from Spellbinders.  I inked the edges with a ProMarker and centered it into the envelope.  I made the envelope from a leftover piece of scrapbook paper, putting the color on the inside and the white on what will be the outside when it's all folded.

     Because I wanted it to be flat, I added no embellishments of any kind so this is a very CAS card design.

     Challenges:
Crafting From the Heart
House That Stamps Built
I {heart} ProMarkers
Mod Squad
Outlawz Greetings
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Simon Says Stamp & Show
That's Crafty

     That's it for today but tomorrow I'll have 2 posts so be sure to check back then.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Christmas in July

     I'm back! and I want to share with you the first Christmas card I've made this year.  Because I donate a lot of cards to my local Senior Center, I usually start much earlier and do at least two cards per month until about April and then 2 cards or more per week after that all the way up to the middle of December.  But this year, I just didn't get started.

     So, it's a good thing that Catch the Bug (Bugaboo Stamps) has their week long, Christmas in July, daily challenges starting today.  Today's theme is "Baby, It's Cold" and I did my best to make the card feel cold and icy despite the 105 temperatures predicted for today.

Bugaboo Stamps image

     I colored with ProMarkers, added glitter to all the snowflakes, then die cut the image with a square die from Spellbinders.  The image is framed with a die cut scrap in green CS (QuicKutz die.)  The background paper (also a scrap) is embossed, glittered, and sparkles like an ice storm IRL.  In the photo, the sparkle just looks gray so you can see that it's filled with flowers and leaves and butterflies.  But when looking at the actual card, the sparkle is so overwhelming that it could be snowflakes so it works.

     Challenges:
AAA Cards
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Gals Corner
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas
Di's Digi Designs
I {heart} ProMarkers
Ike's World
Mod Squad
Outlawz Festive Friday
Outlawz SAR
Sasayaki Glitter
Simon Says Stamp & Show

     I'm going to do my best to play along in the Catch the Bug challenge each and every day this week so there may be days when I have more than one post.  Tomorrow will be one of those and, if you have time, please be sure to stop by and check out both posts.  One will have a fabulous "prize" attached to it which you could win just by leaving a comment.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Feed the Snowmouse

     Today I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the next two Sundays at the CAS challenge at The Outlawz.  Today we have a theme of "Anything Snow Related." I chose this darling House Mouse image as the focus of my card.

     It's a pretty simple design because this is the Clean and Simple challenge, calling for lots of open white space.

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, adding a touch of white gel ink for highlights.  I cut the image with a Gina Marie "Chain Link" die.  I mounted that piece onto an embossed card front (used my "Linen" folder) and then started looking through my ribbon stash.  I found two different sheer blue ribbons and used one to wrap the card front and the other to tie a quadruple loop bow.  That was it - done!

     Challenges:
AAA Cards
Addicted to Stamps
Angie's Digital Stamps
Crafty Sentiments
Cutie Pie
Lemon Shortbread
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Stamping Sensations
TTCRD
Unicorn

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Snowman in the Trees

     Well, it isn't snowing here but it's been raining for the past 36 hours, almost without stopping.  That's fine with us since we had a much dryer December and early January than is normal.  Since we're just coming out of a severe 4 year drought, we are grateful for every drop that falls.

     But I did combine two, wintry, images from Beccy's Place for this fun card celebrating snow.

I printed the two images separately and colored the background (both sky and snow on the ground) around the trees with ProMarkers.  I colored the snowman with ProMarkers, also.  I added sparkle gel ink to the snowflakes hanging from his hat but that's hard to see in the photo.

   I fussy cut the snowman and used Pop Dots to adhere him to the card front.  I added only the tiny ribbon bow as embellishment.  I haven't decided on a sentiment yet because I'm not sure how I'm going to use the card.  I think it'll probably end up as a birthday card.

     Challenges:
Catch the Bug (Blue/ Player's Choice/ Ribbon)
Colour Crazy
Crafting with Friends
DL.ART
Outlawz Festive Fridays
Pattie's Creations
Polkadoodles
Star Stampz

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Snowman Joy

     Good heavens, last month I did a card with a Beccy's Place image every single day and thought I had used all of the winter/Christmas images of hers that I had.  Then I found this delightful snowman with his arms full of poinsettia flowers which I've never used before!  I merged it with the poinsettia border before printing it.

I started with the colors in this photo from House of Cards.

     I colored with ProMarkers, added sparkly glitter to the pom pom on his hat, and cut both the image and the mat with dies from QuicKutz.  I layered those onto a pre-made card blank and added some silver and white baker's twine (which has also been in my stash forever, completely unused.)  I printed the sentiment, hand-cut it, and added it; a nice CAS design which will mail quite easily.

     Challenges:
AAA Cards
Beccy's Place
Come and Get It
Crazy Challenge
Cupcake Inspirations
Dream Valley
Glitter n Sparkle
Outlawz CAS
Path of Positivity

     Thanks for visiting and may the rest of your weekend be filled with creativity.  NanaConnie

Poinsettia Garden

     I love this angelic snowman tending his lovely Poinsettia garden.  With that capital "P" on Poinsettia, can you tell it's another card for the Month of Holidays at Beccy's Place?  Yep, today we are to use the letter "P."

     I colored with my ProMarkers, and added glittery gel ink to the snowflake halo and used dots of Wink of Stella on the Poinsettia centers.  I cut the image with a stitched die from CUTplorations and then framed it with another die cut (Gina Marie Dies.)  I mounted the image piece onto Pop Dots before layering it onto the frame and then put that entire thing onto a lime green card base.  The sentiment was computer printed, hand cut, and added to the image piece.  Aside from the dimension (which doesn't show too well in the photo), it's a fairly CAS card.

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
A Perfect Time to Craft
Beccy's Place
CCC Digi
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Hazelnut's Extra
Crea Chicky's 
Create with TLC 
Stempelsonnen
World Wide DT Open

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Humbug vs Ho Ho Ho

     Into every holiday season, a little "Humbug" seems to fall.  In my family, we were taught that for every "Humbug" we should respond with a happy and cheerful "Ho Ho Ho."    When I saw this snowman from Beccy's Place with a 'grinch'-like sneer on his face , it triggered memories of my mom saying, "Answer every Humbug with a happy Ho Ho Ho!" and that was long before the movie "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas."  Since today's alphabet letter in Beccy's 30 Days of Holidays is "H" what better image and sentiment?  :-D

I started with the colors at House of Cards.

     I colored Mr. "H"umbug Snowman with my ProMarkers, accentuated the scowl on his eyebrows with black marker, and added a little gel pen sparkle to him and covered it with Glossy Accents.  When that was dry, I cut him out with a die from QuicKutz.  The dp with the jolly Santa (I can hear the "Ho Ho Ho" rumbling out of him!) is from a Recollections paper pad.

     The ribbon is one of my favorites.  It's "H"olographic in that it alternates red and green depending on how the light hits it.  With no light at all, it looks completely black.  I used my mom's saying as my sentiment.

     Challenges:
Beccy's Place
Crafting from the Heart
Creative Inspirations
Creative Moments
Deep Ocean
Dream Valley
I {heart} ProMarkers
Outlawz Twisted Thurs
Scrappy Land

     One more day, one more Christmas card in the stash.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Baby, It's Cold Outside

     Another day of participating in the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place and the alphabet letter today is "C."  I decided that a good Cold snowman would be perfect so used one of Beccy's wonderful snowmen.

     I colored with Copics (the blues) and ProMarkers (the greens), then die cut the image with a Gina Marie die.  The die in the set was wider than I needed so I did two cuts, adjusting the placement of the die to where I needed it for the second cut.  I did the same thing with the sentiment, using a smaller die from that same Gina Marie set.

     I fully intended to make this a really CAS (another "C"!) design, using only the image and the sentiment.  But that gorgeous, sparkly ribbon was lying on my crafting desk, begging to be used, and the silver color added to the "cold" idea so I added a strip of it.  Then it seemed to need a bow so I tied a variation of my standard bow tie bows.  But the only ribbon I had was white so I used a ProMarker to 'dye' it green.

     I resisted any further embellishment so I guess it's still a bit CAS compared to others I do with lots of flowers or die cut embellies.  At least there's lots of open space left, even if it's turquoise instead of white.  But I started with a colored card base so there never would have been any "white" space, regardless.  :-D

     Challenges:
Beccy's Place
Card Mania
Ching-Chou Kuik
Craft-Dee Bowz
Crafts Galore Encore
Crea Chicky's
Creatalicious
Do-Al(l) Kreatives
Not Just Cards
Stempelsonnen

     OK, I think three posts in one day is probably enough and I promise, while there may be other days this month with 2 posts, I think this is the last 3-post-day!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Another Mystery Snowman

     Today I have another Christmas card with a delightful snowman on it but it's one of those a friend stamped and mailed to me without telling me who made the stamp.  If anyone recognizes it and can tell me, I'd love to edit this post and give full credit to the artist.  :-D

     I colored the snowman and little bird with my ProMarkers, trying something a bit different this time in that I wanted the sun to be shining from behind and slightly to the left of the snowman. For some reason, I tend to put my light source to the direct left or right (or off center to the front left or right) on most of the things I color.

     The reason I had to do it differently this time is because I dropped my gray ProMarker as I was coloring his top hat and it put a small gray smudge midway between his arm and his scarf.  While it was small, it was large enough to see and there was no way to cover it with an embellishment.  So, I added a shadow from his arm and worked on the rest of the image to add shading as if the sunlight was behind him and to his left.  Did it work?  I'm not really certain because all I can see is the mistake.  :-D

     I found a scrap of red and white, polka dot, CS, wrapped it with very narrow white ribbon, and then made the bow with the help of my Zutter Bow It All.  The card base was pre-printed and the little penguin with the North Pole sign is on the card front, not stamped by me.   I die cut and matted my image, then went back and added some snowflakes to the background using a glitter gel pen.  Because I wanted the little penguin to show, I adjusted the placement of my image over to the very edge of the card so the penguin not be covered.

     The sentiment is from QKR Stampede.

     Challenges:
Colour Crazy
Crafting by Designs
Crafting with Friends
Inspiration Destination
Mod Squad
Outlawz Festive Friday

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Warm Hearted Snowman

     This is my second post of the day but I'm trying to get Mother Nature to change her ways so ...

     This adorable snowman is a Penny Black stamp which I colored last weekend.  Since California is having an unseasonable heat wave (just in time for the start of the World Series in Los Angeles), I decided that it was time for more Christmas cards with snow and cold weather reflected on them.  Mother Nature being what she is, maybe she'll decide to cool things off if she sees us getting back to nature with beautiful snow all around.  :-D

     I used cool greens and icy blues and colored the image with my ProMarkers.  I die cut the image and a frame for it using dies from Spellbinders.  I found a scrap of winter blue lace, cut it in two, and added it to the card front before layering on the image.

     I made pale pink poinsettias by trimming the flowers off of a flower stem die by Memory Makers and stacking them together.  Then I added teeny, tiny pearls to the center of the flowers.  To offset those itsy bitsy pearls, I added some large ones to the top and bottom of the frame and along the side, next to the sentiment.

     Challenges:
ABC Christmas
Color Inspiration Monday
Crafty Hazelnut's
Outlawz Festive Friday
Penny Black and More
Penny Black Saturday
Ribbon Girl
Scrapy Land
Winter Wonderland

     I really hope this cools down the weather.  103F in Los Angeles is too hot for any time of year, but is certainly abnormal for late October!  

Woodland Christmas

     I seem to be bouncing back and forth between Christmas and Halloween this week but that's what I've been creating for the last week so...

    This image is another of the ones my friend stamped for me and this one was such fun to color!  It reminded me so much of the song "Winter Wonderland" and the lines about building a snowman in the meadow only, this time, it's all the woodland friends who are building the snowman.   I suspect that may have been easier for them than putting up and decorating a tree.  :-D

     I colored with watercolor pencils and gamsol, then cut the image with a stitched die from Lawn Fawn.  I matted that with blue CS and added two scraps of red CS to a couple of the corners.  The musical score paper came from my stash (it may have been Bo Bunny) and I wrapped it with red, snowflake ribbon.  The sentiment was in my stash from QKR Stampede.

     Challenges:
Crafting from the Heart
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra
Crafty Sentiments
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
Outlawz Greetings
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Gift Tag in Purple

     It's now Day 3 at Catch the Bug's Christmas in July challenges and this time they want to see something related to wrapping gifts but in non-traditional colors.  Well, for me that always means something in my favorite color - purple!  Here's my card-sized, snowman tag made with another Bugaboo Stamps image.

     I used my ProMarkers to color and, although it's hard to see in the photo, I added glitter to the snowflakes, to the snow on the ground, to the huge snowball, and to the large snowflake above the sentiment.  I chose a purple satin ribbon from my stash and tied it through the hole in the tag.  Simple, quick and easy.

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
A Perfect Time to Craft
Bugaboo Crafty
Christmas Cards All Year Round
Crafty Hazelnut's Extra
Create and Inspire
Creative Craft Cottage
Not Just Cards
Sunsational Stamps

     My second post for today will be up shortly and it's not a Christmas card!  lol  Happy Monday and Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie