Wicked Good Time

       It's October already!  How did that happen so quickly?  I suppose everything moves more quickly once Labor Day is behind us and that means the fall and winter holidays will be in our laps before we know it.

     My card today is for the FarmQuest General Store challenge and our theme is always "Anything Country Goes."  I decided on an old fashioned celebration of Halloween in a country graveyard.  I merged these spooky images from a set I found at Jan's Digi Stamps called "Haunted."  It's been one of my favorite Halloween sets since Jan first made it.  So many fantastic images and so many possibilities!

     I colored the merged images with Sanjoki markers, then fussy cut them with scissors.  The sentiment was also merged and it can be found in that same set.  I decided to create a background by using polka dot dp and adding bits of foiled spider webs which are metallic and shiny.  It looks really spooky IRL !

     Challenges:

Classic Designs

Double Trouble (all 3)

Halloween All Year ...

Mirtillamente

Most Magical ...

Pammie's IP

Park Hopping (Universal Studios)

Two Old Bats

Worldwide Crafters ...

     We'd love to see you plying in our challenge this month.  Just do something "Country" and enter it.  Did you know we also have a new FarmQuest Country Christmas challenge blog?  (If you scroll down one post, you'll see my DT card for that challenge.)  You can submit anything that has a 'Country' flair but it must be Christmas (or a winter holiday) and our first challenge started just minutes ago!  Get over there and take a look.

  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Fright Night

      Once more it's time for a Halloween card for 2 Old Bats  where the theme is always "Halloween."  I've played there pretty faithfully since the challenges first started.  I love making Halloween cards and I figure if I can do Christmas cards all year round, why not Halloween?  I seem to be gaining new family members as my grandkids marry and have kids of their own so it's not like I have nobody to receive them. :-D

     This spooky Fright Night card was done using one of the images sent to me by a dear friend early last fall after I lost all my digital images (nearly 10,000!) due to a flash drive crash.  It was printed in gray scale and I colored it with ProMarkers and gel pens.  

     The graveyard fence was made with two die cuts, one orange and one black (Spellbinders die) which I offset before adding them at the bottom of the card.   The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I really wanted the scary jack-o-lantern head to be the focus of the card so I left it without any embellishments.  I'd classify it as a CAS card but many people think it has to have lots of 'white' space to be CAS so I'll leave it to you to decide.

     Challenges:

Angie's Digitals

A Perfect Time ...

Cardz TV

Classic Design

Colour Crazy

Crafts Galore Encore

Dies R Us

Lemon Shortbread

Polkadoodles

     You really should come and play along at 2 Old Bats.  This month, they have a prize which is wonderful.  Of course, if you don't play, that means there'll be a better chance that I'll win it.  :-D  On the other hand, Halloween isn't all that far away since it's already August !  

  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Silhouette Witch - Second Take

     A couple of weeks ago I shared a card with this same silhouette image done in Harvest Yellow.  This time I've done it in another Halloween color - my favorite, purple.  I used gray-blue instead of purple on the moon and tied an orange bow to add to the Halloween feel.

Background colored with ProMarkers
Purple sheer ribbon
Black signature bow with pearl
Sentiment is 3D and adhered with Pop Dots
Orange bow is hand-tied

     Challenges:
Double Trouble
  (purple/orange/blue + flying bats & witch + Crafting Happiness)
Dragonfly Dreams
Dream Valley
Lemon Shortbread
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz SAR
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Tues Throwdown

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

October Challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies

     Good morning (or evening, or afternoon, depending on when you came by for a visit.)  It's October 1st and that means we're starting a new monthly challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies.

     Before I show you my DT creation for this month, I want to share with you some information which may inspire you or which you might want to pass on to someone else you know.

2 CCC IS LOOKING FOR NEW DT MEMBERS!

     2 Crafty Critter Crazies is looking for a couple of new DT members and we have some rather different criteria than most challenge blogs.  We're looking for people who are relatively NEW to either blogging or Design Team work or both!   That doesn't necessarily mean you just started yesterday but if you'd like to serve on a team for perhaps the first time and feel like you might need some assistance along the way, we're the team for you.  It's only a 3 month position so no long term commitment which you might find just isn't for you after all.

      If you are willing to use Sponsor digital images, willing to make one project per month, willing to pre-schedule it to go live on your blog at the same time as the main challenge on the 1st of each month, and willing to leave comments on an assigned rotation of entries, then we'd love to hear from you.  Please email us at 2craftycrittercrazies@gmail.com and let us know little bit about you, give us the name of your blog and a link to it, if you are familiar with how to do that.  If not, don't worry, that's something we can explain to you.

     OK, now my card using a retired image and sentiment from Beccy's Place.  I'm apologizing ahead of time because I know you're going to fall in love with this image and ask me where to get it but it's no longer available.  I am sorry.

I used colors from Color My Heart Color Dare.

Colored with ProMarkers and white gel ink on the eyes and legs
Cut with a square die from Spellbinders
Both ribbons are from Really Reasonable Ribbon
Bats are die cut with Impression Obsession dies

     Challenges:
Cardz TV
Crafty Catz
Creative Fingers
Creative Knockouts
Cute Card Thurs.
Digi Choosday
Lemon Shortbread
TTCRD

     I hope you're going to come and play with us this moth.  Remember, all you need is a project which features a creature of some kind.  Beyond that one requirement, it's anything goes.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie
     

Halloween Silhouette

     I was browsing around some of my favorite challenges and found the one at Double D with a theme of "Trees."  Most, maybe all, of the DT ladies had used die cuts on their cards, including die cut trees.  That inspired me to grab two of my own dies (Die-versions) and make this card.

     It may be a bit hard to see but the tree and fence are die cut from black CS and the owls on their tree branch are cut from dark brown CS.  Those are two different dies and I just layered them together to make the Halloween silhouette for the card.

     The background is a scrap of dp from one of my 12 x 12 scrapbooking papers and the sentiment is printed onto it.  A very CAS design for a (supposedly) spooky card.  :-D

     Challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks
Aud Sentiments
C.R.A.F.T.
Cards in Envy
Cheeky
Crafty Cardmakers
Crafty Gals Corner
DL.ART
DRS Designs
Incy Wincy
Jo's Scrap Shack
Penny's Paper-Crafty
SUYP Cats
Through the Craft Room Door

     I'm burying myself this weekend under DT projects for the next two weeks so if I'm not out visiting and commenting, forgive me.  I just have a huge number of things to complete and, without locking myself away, I just won't get them done on time.  :-D  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Please continue to leave comments.  The "Word Verification" really isn't on.  BLOGGER INSISTS ON SHOWING THE "CAPTCHA" BOX BUT IF YOU IGNORE IT AND JUST PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT, IT WILL POST JUST FINE.  I WISH I COULD GET RID OF IT BUT THERE'S NO OPTION FOR THAT WHEN THE COMMENTS ARE WRITTEN IN A SEPARATE BOX. SORRY.

Beware Rogue Brooms

     There's nothing worse on Halloween night than having to duck and dodge all those rogue brooms flying around, creating chaos.  :-D  My card this morning combines a fun background stamp (a freebie from the Sheepski Facebook page) with a sentiment from Limited Runs.

     I used watercolors for the background, added the ghost and the die cut crow (bits left in my stash from last year), and adjusted the size of sentiment rectangle so that it became the focus popped up from the background (and so that it fit my rectangle die exactly.  :-D)   I used a black card base and wrapped the gold ribbon around the card front, then adhered the burlap twine bow.

     Challenges:
Brown Sugar
Cards in Envy
Corrosive Challenge
Creative Fingers
Cut It Up
Di's Digi Designs
MarkerPOP
Outlawz PAM

     Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Please continue to leave comments.  The "Word Verification" really isn't on.  BLOGGER INSISTS ON SHOWING THE "CAPTCHA" ICON BUT IF YOU IGNORE IT AND JUST PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT, IT WILL POST JUST FINE.  I WISH I COULD GET RID OF IT BUT THERE'S NO OPTION FOR THAT WHEN THE COMMENTS ARE WRITTEN IN A SEPARATE BOX. SORRY.