Cake Chef Gnome

     Today I'm sharing another Conie Fong image, one of her newer releases called "Cake Chef Gnome" and the set comes with a total of 4 images (2 gnomes with cakes plus 2 separate cakes) in either jpg or png formats.  

     I remember when Conie was asking the DT if gnomes were really needed because there were already so many artists who were drawing them and the team overwhelmingly pushed her to draw some gnomes!  I'm so glad she did.  I adore gnomes and have many from lots of different artists but Conie draws some of the cutest ones.

     I made this card for a very special lady who is celebrating her birthday today.  It's really special to me that she and I have back to back birthdays (mine is tomorrow on St. Patrick's Day -and I hail from good solid Irish stock on both sides of the family tree!) so making this card brought me great pleasure and I'm sure it'll bring her some pleasure when she sees it.  :-D.

     The image was colored with my ProMarkers and cut with a Lawn Fawn Die.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The papers both came from a Recollections stack and the stitched ribbon was in a box of goodies sent to me by another dear friend (who swears she was "clearing out" her craft room!)  I had such fun looking through everything she sent and this ribbon seemed perfect for this particular card.  Thanks, Vicki!

     Challenges:

Bastel-Traum

Creative Moments

Cutie Pie (birthday, baker) 

Digi Choosday

Happy Li'l Stampers

I Love ProMarkers

Lawn Fawnatics

Outlawz Colors (birthday, baker)

Pammie's IP

Passion for Markers

     Remember, we have a challenge every month over on the Facebook site and all you need to enter is to use a Conie Fong image.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes."  Come play along.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Night of the Witch

      Today I'm featuring two images from my beloved Bugaboo Stamps.  I was so disappointed when they closed their doors but at least I can still use their wonderful stamps.  I had both this darling witch image and the image of a cat under the moon so I thought they would be wonderfully cute if merged together.   

      I colored the images with ProMarkers and added highlights with a gel pen.  I cut the image and the frame layers with QuicKutz dies.  The card front was dry embossed with a "Branches" Sizzix EF.  I hand tied a triple-loop bow from stitched ribbon, then printed, matted, and fussy cut the sentiment.

This is also my Day 26 entry for the
 LeighSBDesigns 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop.

 

     Challenges:

Colorful Options

Creatalicious

Creative Crafting ...

Happy Li'l Stampers

Let's Squash It

Papercraft

Rabisco

     Halloween is only a few days away now so get your cards finished quickly!  Then we can all focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas for the rest of the year.  Oh, my, where did this year go?!  It can't be almost over, can it?   

    

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Not Very Spooky

      It's the middle of the month so time for the start of another Challenge over at QKR Stampede.  We have two challenges every month; one on the 1st and one on the 15th .  Be sure to check the challenge blog to see if you were a winner or one of the Top 3 for the last challenge.

     It's October so of course I had to do a Halloween card.  QKR has some of the cutest Halloween/autumn images I've seen anywhere and I love coloring them.  This image is called, appropriately enough, "Halloween Kitty."  I love the expression on his face.  Can't you just see that he's waiting for 'The Great Pumpkin' (of Peanuts fame)?  I'm sure he and Linus are sitting together in the pumpkin patch, hoping their patch gets chosen as the best in the world.  :-D

     I used my ProMarkers to color the image, then fussy cut it with scissors.  I cut two fancy rectangles with a Spellbinders die, offset them on a pumpkin-orange card base, then layered the image onto them.  I added two scraps of  ribbon, layered one on top of the other.   I made one of my signature, hand-sewn bows, using white ribbon but then 'dying' it with ProMarkers to get the color I wanted.  The sentiment was printed and fussy cut.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspirations

Cute Card Thurs

House...Stamps Built

Mod Squad

Passion for Markers

Penny's Paper Crafty

SUYP Cats

     Come play along with us in this challenge.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and you can use any kind of image you like, from any company or artist.  But, if you choose to use a QKR Stampede image (or one from our sister company Eureka Stamps), your entry will be put into a completely separate draw and that significantly increases your chance of being a winner!  Good luck and see you in the challenge.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

"S" for Shepherds Abiding

      I've done as many cards as possible for the 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place and I'm pre-scheduling my posts through the end of the month.  Today's card uses Beccy's Shepherd with a Sheep and I merged 1 additional Sheep, plus I've used Sage green and Sandstone in the CS colors.  The image is pre-colored and cut with Scalloped frame dies.

Image and frame cut w Tonic Studios dies

Burgundy and Sandstone CS layers

Stitched ribbon from scrap basket

Hand-tied bow using satin ribbon

     Challenges:

Artsy Stamper

Christmas w the Cuties

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

Dream Valley

Outlawz PAM

Simon Says Stamp

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bundle Up Snowman

     It's Friday and you know that means another challenge is starting at QKR Stampede where the theme is always "Anything Goes."  I've used a sweet, bundled-up-because-he's-frozen, snowman from our sister company, Eureka Stamps, which is called "Snowman Block."  The sentiment is "Bundle Up."  This is a new-to-me stamp which I was happy to add to my collection of snowmen.  If I could find a reason to use snowmen all year 'round, I would!

Colored with ProMarkers and chalks
Papers are scraps from the basket
Stitched ribbon is also a scrap
Distressed edges on all layers
Sentiment is hand cut and inked on the edge

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
Colour Crazy
C.R.A.F.T.  (new image)
Crafter's Castle
Crafty Friends
Creative Knockouts
Creative Moments
Outlawz PAM
Time Out (scarf)

     Please come and play with us this week.  We love being inspired by you and always look forward to visiting your blogs.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Hot Drinks in Winter

     No matter what kind of hot drinks you like - coffee, tea, chocolate - they are a survival necessity in the dark days of January (and February, and even March for some of you!)  Scrapper's Delights has this darling image of a young man and his hot winter drink for their Progressive Challenge.

Colored with ProMarkers
Cut with Tonic Studios die
Fiskars Corner Punch
Stitched Ribbon (Crafty Ribbons)

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Allsorts
I {heart} ProMarkers
Paperbabe Stamps
Paper Shelter
Scrapper's Delight
Scrappy Land
Word Art Weds.

     Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Day 3 - 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place

     OK, is everybody ready for the "C" prompt?  You should know by now that the next letter in the alphabet will be the theme for the day in the 30 Days of Christmas at Beccy's Place this month.  However, since there are a total of 30 days in the month and only 26 letters in the alphabet, Beccy will be tossing in a few 'curve ball' themes during the month to cover those extra days.

     I used the 4 Calling Birds (Calling?  Where are their Cell phones?) from Beccy's very old 12 Days of Christmas set.  And look -- 2 of them are Cardinals!  I Colored with both ProMarkers and Copics because I have more reds among my Copics, including lovely shades of Cerise and Crimson.

Colored with Copics (reds) and ProMarkers (all the others)
Cut with Die-namics stitched dies
DCWV dp
Stitched ribbon
Snowflake on the bow (This came from an old pair of earrings but since I lost one, I up-cycled the other one into an embellie for this card)

     Challenges:
Aud Sentiments
C.R.A.F.T.
Cute Card Thurs
Paperminutes
Passion for ProMarkers
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Simon Says Stamp
Stamping Sensations
Word Art Weds.

     Tomorrow I'll have 2 posts again; one for the next Beccy's Place holiday card but the other one will be for the brand new Jan's Digi Stamps challenge blog!  It's always Anything Goes and you're going to have so much fun playing there.  :-D

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Partied Too Much

     My granddaughter's roommate has a birthday coming up and I made this card for her.  These are her fur babies, Eva (the pug) and Luna (the cat.)  Luna is now fully grown but this is such a memorable photo of the two of them shortly after Luna came to live there that I just had to use it.

     This one is a CAS design and I do a lot of CAS, mainly because I mail so many of my cards and flatter is better with the price of postage these days.  :-D

Tonic Studio dies
Stitched ribbon and black satin ribbon both from Crafty Ribbons
Kraft CS and burgundy CS

     Challenges:
As You Like It
Aud Sentiments
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafty Creations
Cute N Crafty
Dragonfly Dreams
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
My Favorite Things Colors

SUYP Cats
Word Art Weds.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Crisp Mornings and Coffee

     It's Friday and I have another QKR Stampede DT card to share for our Anything Goes challenge.  My image today is called "First Morning Cup" and the sentiment (which is mine) should explain everything.

     I love fall !  During the summers (which are hot, hot, HOT in my part of the world), I rarely drink coffee or any other hot drink.  I do love my coffee so when fall rolls around and the air is crisp, I get to enjoy it again.  However, be warned - no matter what time I awake, nothing comes before the coffee! 

     I have one of those coffee makers which is on a timer and it's set to start 20 minutes before I normally get up.  The smell of the coffee brewing is an incentive to crawl out of bed, visit the little room, and find the coffee mug.  I admit I'm not the most pleasant person first thing in the a.m. -- in fact, many in the family have referred to me as a grouch, a curmudgeon, even a bi_ _ _!  Who me?  I'm none of those things.  I'm simply caffeine deprived.  :-D

Colored with Promarkers
Image and frame cut with Tutti Designs stitched dies
Green, stitched, satin ribbon
Green CS square embossed with "Linen" folder
Crystal and green gems

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
Art Impressions
Cardz TV
Colour Crazy
Crafty Calendar
Crafty Sentiments
Creative Fingers
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz Greetings
TTCRD

     I hope you're going to come and play with us this week.  You can use any image from any company but if you choose to use a QKR Stampede image, your entry will go into a separate draw and that increases your chances of winning by a huge amount!  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

You're the Best !

     I have a grandson who adores baseball and plays Little League every season.  He's made a team each year since he was 7 or 8 and has been on playoff teams twice.  This will probably be his birthday card this year.

     The image is the freebie from the progressive challenge at LeAnn's World 101.

    Colored with ProMarkers
    QuicKutz oval dies
    Papers from DCWV 'Linen Closet' stack
    Stitched ribbon

     Challenges:
Coloring in Scrapland
Crafting by Designs
Crafty Friends (baseball, bat, ball, blue, best)
Crafty Gals Corner
Crafty Sentiments
Di's Digi Designs
Scrappy Land
TTCRD

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Looong Day !

     Some people think that being the Easter Bunny is a breeze job - only having to work one day a year.  But that's a tremendously "Long Day 24127" as this image from QKR Stampede shows.  Yep, it's Friday and that means another weekly challenge has started.  Come play - the theme is always "Anything Goes" and you can use any image you like, from any company.

     I colored with ProMarkers, then used an oval die from Spellbinders to make an out-of-the-box cut of the image.  I had to trim a bit near the hand and at the top to fit the exact shape of the oval in the image.  The scalloped oval behind the image was cut from a sticker paper scrap with a QuicKutz die.  I had peeled off the protective cover and sprinkled it with Goldenrod glitter from Sparkle n Sprinkle.  I put the protective sheet back on top and then cut it with the die.

     I layered the image onto the glittered piece.  I used a scrap of navy blue CS to make the background.  I wrapped it with a scrap of white, stitched ribbon (Crafty Ribbons) and added one of my signature bows.  The three little dots were bits that dropped out of the die cut and I put them onto the ribbon.

     Finally, I printed and hand cut the sentiment before adding it to the bottom.

     Challenges:
Angie's Digital Stamps
Crafty Gals Corner
Cute N Crafty
Dare 2B Artsy
Dragonfly Dreams
Happy Craft
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Papercraft
Paper Funday
Pixie's Snippets
Simon Says Stamp

     Enjoy your weekend and be sure to take some time to charge your batteries.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Garden Kitty

     I've been so steeped in Easter cards which feature bunnies and chicks, the fur babies were complaining that I wasn't giving felines a fair shake.  So, today I'm sharing a sweet little kitty from Di's Digi Designs.  He seems completely absorbed in meeting a new friend while sharing his garden.

     I used ProMarkers to color, then cut with an octagon die from QuicKutz.  I added the deep blue frame, also cut with another octagon die from that same set.

     The stitched ribbon is from my stash of Crafty Ribbons and the bow is one of my hand-sewn bows.  It was white but I used ProMarkers to 'dye' it the color I wanted.  I printed and hand cut the sentiment, then matted it and hand cut once again.  I added no other embellishment because I wanted this one fairly CAS.

     Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge
Allsorts
Butterfly (Dartmouth green/Denim blue/Digi
Dare 2B Artsy
Dragonfly Dreams
Jo's Scrap Shack
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
Outlawz PAM
Simon Says Stamp

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie