Back to blogging!!

     I feel like I've been gone forever!  I had a great trip and wonderful reunion with family but it seems like every one of the grandkids had a cold and they joined forces to send it home with me.  I've been really under the weather since I got home so haven't been up to posting anything until today. I haven't even been able to go to work.  So, my card today kind of sums up exactly where I am.  :-D

I'm barely squeaking in under the wire on the sketch challenge, which came from my favorite Thursday sketch place, Eat, Sleep, Stamp.  I was afraid I'd miss playing over there this week but just had to do something for it.  I turned it on its side so that it better fit the shape of my digi stamp and sentiment.

     The image is one of the new releases from Doodle Pantry and their challenge is always an Anything Goes if you use a Doodle Pantry image.  I chose colors from the inspiration collage at Creations by Gill M.

     Everything on my card was done using up scraps from my odds & ends box, including the card base.  I think it's pretty self-explanatory but will tell you that the brown flourishes are just the embossed part of the green dp.  I'm still too miserable to write out all the other recipe ingredients.  How about if I just list the challenges I want to play?

     Other Challenges:
ATCs & Cards with Attitude -- Anything goes
Do You Stack Up? -- Friendly Critters
Fairy Tale -- Everything goes
Outlawz Paper Ala Mode -- Inspirational Quote
Raise the Bar -- Cutesy Spring (or Easter)

     I think I'm going to go take a nap and see if I have more energy when I wake up.  It is good to be back blogging again, even if I'm not feeling completely up to par yet.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Celebrating Gardens

     Some of you may think this card celebrates Easter bunnies by growing carrots for them, but it really is a birthday card for a friend of mine who's celebrating his 78th birthday tomorrow and he still plants a vegetable garden every spring and tends it all summer long.  I added the sentiment "God doesn't deduct the hours spent in a garden" because I believe it's true, at least in his case.  :-D

Sketch is from Eat, Sleep, Stamp and the image is one from Shelly's Images, where the challenge is "Show Us Your Stripes."

     The colors were inspired by the photo at Freshly Brewed's monthly challenge and I colored it all with ProMarkers.  The papers are from my stash, as is the baker's twine and the little Dew Drops.  I added the leaf charm as a final touch.  I'm not sure why it photographed so darkly -- it's more an emerald green IRL.

     Other Challenges:

Cardmadfairy's Digi Days -- Die Cuts or punches

Cards for Men -- Great outdoors (well, that's his great outdoors!)

Crafty Catz -- Use a digi

Crazy Challenge -- Add a sentiment

Digi Makeover -- For the boys

Kaboodle Doodles -- Circles and squares

Karen's Doodles -- For a man

Little Darlings -- Outside

Love to Create -- Masculine

Pattie's Creations -- Anything goes

Pile It On -- Masculine cards

Sentimental Sundays -- Spring

     I think that's it for today.  I may get one more posted before I leave but if not, then you'll see my post on Monday for Lexi's Creations DT and the new challenge over there.  Enjoy yourselves.  I'll be without internet or e-mail for several days but I'll post something when I get back.  I won't be ignoring any of you -- just incommunicado and relaxing with family.  Hugs and happy stamping.  NanaConnie

     

Another Tuesday, another Throwdown Challenge

     What a fun challenge this one will be!  And it won't cost you a single thing.  Tuesday Throwdown wants to see you do some "Spring Cleaning" and clean out your stash by using things on a card or project that have been hiding there, either forgotten or hoarded.  Everything on my card today came right from the stash -- nothing new, except the digi stamp from our sponsor, The Stamping Boutique, which they generously supplied to the team.  I used "Audrey, Spring Cleaning."  I thought she would be a good reminder of the theme.  :-D  Doesn't she remind you of a cheerful Cinderella of fairy tale fame?

Sketch from Midnight Madness.

 

     Image is colored with Promarkers and a touch of sparkle gel pen to make the water and bubbles glimmer.  All the dp and CS were in my stash and the dp is probably DCWV but I don't know for sure.  For embellishments, I added 2 different kinds of brads, some ribbon and a bow, then printed and added the sentiment.

     Challenges:
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days -- Add a sentiment
Corrosive Challenge - Things are looking Grimm (fairy tales -- Cinderella)
C.R.A.F.T. -- House (house cleaning!)
Crafty Creations -- Fairy Tales: Cinderella
Fairy Tale Challenges -- Fairy Tales: Cinderella
Guylou's Inimitability -- monochromatic
Hotshot Craft -- ribbon
I Love Promarkers -- Anything goes
Little Darlings -- Colors of spring (sky blue)
Paper Crafting Journey -- Pretty pastels
The Poodles Parlour -- Anything goes
Raise the Bar -- Increments of 4: 4 flower brads, 4 round brads, 4 layers on the image
Shelly's Images -- Anything goes

     I hope you're going to do spring cleaning, dig into your stash of hoarded or forgotten items and play along with us at Tuesday Throwdown this week.  We'd love to see how you're inspired by our theme and where your creativity takes you.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Bugaboo and Tuesday Throwdown

     This week, Bugaboo Stamps is sponsoring the challenge at Tuesday Throwdown, where we want you to "Use a Charm" on your card or project.  Bugaboo generously supplied digital images to the DT and I chose to use Morning Margaret because she so resembles my attitude when the sun dares to peek through my window before I'm ready to arise!  :-D

I chose a sketch from Crafting Life's Little Pieces.

     I wanted to do something that would feel spring-like or summery so decided that the "Green and Gold/Yellow" in the challenge at Emerald Faerie Garden would work really well, and besides, green-on-yellowgreen or green & gold fits in with my favorite color combos.  I chose a green that was more of an avocado but I still like the end result.  Mostly I chose that particular shade of green because of the dp I used.  It's one of my all time favorites and I have only a small scrap of it left.  I've horded it and used it sparingly for fear I'd run out and now that's exactly what's happened.  It's been long discontinued, having come from a stack of scrapbooking paper which must be more than 3 years old at this point.  I haven't seen it anywhere in such a long time.  :-(  My second inspiration for colors came from the photo at For Your Inspiration, filled with trees and bushes glorious in greens, golds, and yellows, -- mmmm, luscious!  

     I colored Margaret with watercolor pencils and added a glint of sparkle to her glasses and lips with sparkle gel pen.   I used two different baker's twine, wrapped them around the card front and tied a bow, then added the gold star charm (metal).  The circles on the corners are done with a hand punch from two different colors of CS, layered onto each other.  I wanted to maintain a CAS feel to this card because Margaret just isn't a fussy, fluffy, frou-frou kind of gal.  She's pretty plain and outspoken, in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of way.  No fancy lace or pleated ribbon or piles of flowers for her!

     Challenges for this card:

Craft Garden -- Monochromatic

Crafty Purple Frog -- Anything Goes

Desert Islands Crafters -- at least 3 from the list:  monochromatic, metal, sentiment

Gingersnap -- Favorite paper

My Mum's Craft Shop -- Favorite color combo

Scrap It Girl -- C.H.A. - Use things that begin with C, H, & A:  Charm, Humor, & Avocado green (This is a new monthly challenge started this January)

Shelly's Images -- Anything goes

Whimsical Wednesday -- Anything goes

     OK, that's the easiest challenge you've had this year - make something and add a charm to it.  We really want to see you play at Tuesday Throwdown this week so get started and come share with us.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

My Funny Valentine

    That song, "My Funny Valentine" has been running through my head all morning and I don't know how to get rid of it!  But it's appropriate for the card I want to share with you, which was inspired partly by the sketch with a twist challenge over at The Sweet Stop.  The twist is to make a 'non-traditional Valentine.'   So, I used a newly released digi from Sweet 'n Sassy (make an easel card) and added a silly sentiment for a bit of humor.  :-D

Here's the sketch, but I turned it on it's side.

     I colored the image with ProMarkers (Passion for ProMarkers -- Humor), and added the computer-printed sentiment, modifying the digi slightly to make it work.  The digi is from a new set called "Cheer Up" and only the question mark is actually in the "text balloon."  I adhered my sentiment next to the question mark and then made the balloon surround the entire thing.  Papers are from DCWV (I think -- they've been in my stash for a while), and the twine is the only embellishment.  I tied big loopy bows from blue and brown twine (with one gold) and added them to the blue and brown twine wrapped around the card front before attaching it to the easel.  I'm fairly new at doing easel cards, and this is the first one I've done with an A2 style card which is folded on the 4 1/4" side.  So, new image and new technique.

     I think this is a perfect Valentine for a kid -- not too sloppy or smoochy, and with a bit of fun.  It seems to me that's exactly the kind of thing a kid would think if the girl who liked him (oooh, yucky) ate his chocolate Valentine heart!  lol

     Challenges:
Corrosive Challenge -- I {heart} you
Crafty Ann's -- "What's New, Pussycat?"  (New image, new easel style)
Crafty Creations -- Valentine
Crafty Pad -- Something for the Boys
Digi Doodle Shop's Best -- Blue & Brown
PanPastel UK -- 2 of something: 2 cats, 2 twines, 2 patterned papers
Paperminutes -- Anything Goes
Pattie's Creations -- Fancy folds
Pixie Dust Studio -- We're going dotty
Poodles Parlour -- Valentine
Scrap It Girl -- C, H, A -- cats, heart, appetite or animals
Send a Smile 4 Kids -- Anything goes for kids
Simply Create, Too -- Love is in the Air
Squirrel and the Fox -- Critters
Stampin with the Dragon -- Anything Goes
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday -- Have a heart
Wags 'n Whiskers -- Valentine
Whimsy Inspiration -- Blue & Brown

     I hope you found a smile somewhere in today's post.  The weekend is nearly over and by the time this one posts, I'll be on my way to watch the 49ers football playoff game.  I hope it's not going to be a long evening!  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and I'll see you tomorrow, right here in Grammy's Attic.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie
  

Save the Eagle

     Did you know last Tuesday (January 10) was national Save the Eagle day?  Neither did I until I read about it over at Outlawz.  I can't enter this card in their challenge because that's a color challenge (and I didn't use those colors) but I have to give credit to them for the inspiration to use a feather or two on a card.

Sketch from Fetch a Sketch.

     This is another of those vintage images which seem to have me hooked lately, printed onto parchment paper, then die cut with one of my new die sets (hexagon), and matted with chocolate CS, cut one size larger.  I cut the background dp with scissors (after adhering it to the card front - cut all the way through the card), turned the cut off piece and adhered it to the back edge of the card.  Then I added a strip of brown CS to set off the wavy front edge and complement the wavy back edge.

     The striped dp is another piece from that same dp mat stack, Linen Closet - DCWV, matted with brown CS and wrapped with sheer brown ribbon.  I added the feathers (no, those aren't eagle feathers!) and punched a hole for the pearl brad before mounting the strip onto the card front.  Pearls were added to the image panel and then it was mounted last.

     TIP:  Here's a tip for getting feathers adhered to a card without having them glued down the entire length of the feather.  I scraped the tip of the "feather stem" with a craft knife to flatten it as much as possible, then put down a tiny drop of craft glue right where the feathers were to go.  Before adding the feathers, I punched a tiny hole for the brad right next to the glue spot.   Then, I added the feather tips to the glue spot, and put the brad in place.  The brad overlaps the feather tips and holds everything in place while the glue dries.  It's also securely glued in place.

     The eagle feeding new chicks is so symbolic of New Beginnings and certainly has lots to do with saving the eagles.  Without offspring, there will be no eagles left to save.

     Challenges for this card:
Anything Goes Challenge -- Anything Goes week
Bunny Zoe's - inspiration photo - lots of pastels and browns
Card Makin' Mamas -- Something New
Craft Garden -- monochromatic
Crafty Cardmakers -- no floral embellishments
The Crazy Challenge -- Pearls or lace
Daisy Doodles  -- New Beginnings
Divas by Design - New Beginnings or Thanks
House of Gilli -- Anything Goes
Ooh La La -- New Beginnings
Party Time Tuesday - Save the Eagle Day
Top Tip Tuesday -- Anything Goes
Truly Madly Crafty -- Anything Goes

     Hope your week is going well and that you may have found some inspiration while browsing around.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

First Tuesday Throwdown Challenge of 2012

     Happy first work day of 2012 and welcome to the first Tuesday Throwdown challenge of 2012.  Our challenge this week is sponsored by Robyn's Fetish, and they supplied all the digital stamps used by the DT.  Our theme is "Shiny New Year" and we want to see something shiny on your projects this week.  If you use as much shine as I did, you might have a problem getting your project to photograph.  I've never taken so many shots of one card trying to get the one shot without backflash glare!  LOL

     I used a sketch from My Time Made Easy.

      Doesn't this snowman cone look ready for a party?  He could be Christmas or New Year, or even a birthday, as long as he gets to the party!  Ice Cream (the snowman kind or not) seems to always be a necessity for parties and celebrations of all kinds!

     I colored the image with Copics and added Glossy Accents to the 'snowman' part of the ice cream cone.  That's where the problems started with trying to photograph the card.  Here's a closeup to show you how really shiny it is IRL.  You can see the photography problems it would cause.  :-D

     The dp came from the new DCWV stack which Santa brought me for Christmas.  Love all the snowflakes in those papers!  I fussy cut the image and matted it with black CS.  Each dp is also matted with black.  I added the ribbon, the bow, and the shiny pearls as embellishments, all from my stash.

Challenges for this card:
2 Sisters -- Winter colors (purple, blue, white, or silver combos)
4 Crafty Chicks -- Something New (New Year, new dp, new image)
Craft Your Days Away -- Snowmen
C.R.A.F.T. -- New Year
Crimbo Crackers - Snowflakes
Critter Sketch - Celebrations
DRS Designs -- Snowflakes
House of Gilli -- Anything Goes
Incy Wincy -- Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles -- Celebrate
Mark's Finest Papers -- Snowflake
My Craft Spot -- Winter Wonderland
One Stop Crafts - Winter Wishes
Our Craft Lounge -- Inspiration photo (colors)
Pile It On - Anything Goes (plus always as many challenges as possible)
Robyn's Fetish -- Anything Goes
Secret Crafter -- Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp and Show -- Something Old, Something New
Stamps & Fun = Creativity -- Snow
Stamping with the Dragon -- Let It Snow
Totally Papercrafts -- Party Time

     Sure hope you'll come play in the Tuesday Throwdown challenge this week.  It's an easy one - just use something shiny.  See you there and Happy Stamping.  Welcome to 2012!  NanaConnie

Tuesday Throwdown and Robyn's Fetish

     One more snowman today and this one is "Carl, the Snowman" from Robyn's Fetish, sponsor this week for the Tuesday Throwdown challenge.  Robyn's graciously supplied images to the DT and Carl was one of my favorites.   Our theme is "Celebrate the Season."

I chose a sketch from Fetch-a-Sketch and it's hard to believe they are on Challenge 12 already!   I haven't managed to do them all but got a good share of them.  :-D

     I took a couple of liberties in that I didn't make a square card and I turned it into a gate-fold.  Here's another photo showing it open a bit so you can see the fold.  You can also see that I tried to stay as true to the sketch as possible.

     This will be a short post today.  I'm still not over this miserable winter cold and don't feel like sitting up and typing much.  Mostly, I'll let you look at the card and will list the challenges for this card.  I did try a set of new Promarkers which were a gift to me from a former neighbor of mine, and I Love Promarkers has a challenge theme of Snowmen & Snowflakes.  This is the first time I've played there, mostly because these are the first Promarkers I've had.  :-D

     List of Challenges:
Aud Sentiments - Any winter or holiday sentiment
Bah, Humbug - Cute Critters (Does a Snowman count as a 'critter'?)
Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me - Pearls and swirls
Delightful Challenges - Let It Snow
Fairy Fun Fridays - Beat the Winter Blues (use blue and white)
Jingle Belles - Christmas
Meljen's - Holiday Song: Frosty, the Snowman
My Mum's Craft Shop - Keeping Warm (with his muffler and mittens -- after all, how warm can a snowman get and still survive?)
One Stop Craft - Let It Snow
OWH Stars & Stamps - Use a digi
PaperCrafting Journey - Anything Goes
Pattie's Creations - Christmas
Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Christmas carols; Frosty, the Snowman
Raise the Bar - Christmas (DT call)
Sassy Studio Designs - Christmas with sparkle and bling
Send a Smile 4 Kids - Winter Fun
Shelly's Images - Snow
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Holiday cards
Totally Papercrafts - Let It Snow
Whimsical Wednesday - layers (there are eight if you count the card base)

     Hope we'll see you playing at Tuesday Throwdown this week.  The theme, "Celebrate the Season," is pretty wide open and you can do a project for just about any winter holiday or celebration, however and whatever you happen to celebrate during the winter season!  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Losing His Head?

     Today's post is going to be short and sweet so I can take my cold back to bed.  :-D  More holiday silliness but then, you've come to expect that from my blog, right?  Image was a freebie from Limited Runs (I've just recently discovered them!) and I used the sketch from Operation Write Home last week.  Colors are from For Your Inspiration.

     I'm going to submit it to the following challenges:

Craft Garden - recipe choices: snowflakes, kraft, ribbon, purple, turquoise (in the snow)

Crafty Cardmakers - heat embossing - Sparkle EP on the snowman

Creative Craft Challenges - Free for All

Crop Stop - punches (on the corners of the image)

Digi Doodle Shop's Best - Lots of sparkle

Jen's Digi Stamps - Merry & Bright with no red or green

Karen's Doodles - non-traditional Christmas colors

Outlawz - Anything Goes (but requires a sentiment)

Shopping Our Stash - Use Digi image (all the papers were in my stash)

Stamps R Us - embossing

     That's it.  Thanks for visiting, but don't catch my germs.  :-D  NanaConnie

The Christmas Train

     So, it's Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend and I am back at the computer.  Two of my posts which were scheduled posted properly but one went astray.  I have reset it for tomorrow so we'll see what happens.  For today, I want to share with you a Christmas card I've made for a very special someone -- my youngest grandson, who (at 5 years old) happens to think that trains are the most fantastic things ever invented!  :-D

The sketch came from Paper Players.

     Don't you just love that vintage train, chugging along through the snow with smoke trailing along behind the smokestack?  Brrrr, winter is definitely here!   It's from Graphics Fairy.  The card is about as CAS as I could get, but I did add the one snowflake which is totally covered in glitter.  I also added glitter to the headlamps on the train, and then used Creative Inspirations paints to add some shimmer to the snow, the moon hiding behind the clouds, and the smoke.  I wish it showed up better in the photograph.

     Here are the challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks - snowflakes

C.R.A.F.T. - unusual Christmas (not a typical Christmas card, but does have a Polar Express feel to it)

Crazy 4 Challenges - some kind of snow

Creative Card Crew - monochromatic

Divas by Design - monochromatic

Dream Valley Challenges - sparkle

Fashionable Stamping - "Dreaming of a White Christmas"

Gingerloft - Christmas & Winter

Here Come the Boys - for the Men in your life

House That Stamps Built - Christmas + snowflake

Hybrid Chick - Glitter

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Winter blues

Outlawz Twisted Thursday - No Copics or alcohol inks - Anything Goes

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Cards for men

Scrapbook Sisters - Christmas

Send a Smile 4 Kids - Holiday card for a kid

Totally Gorjuss - sparkle

     That's it for the weekend.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you've made at least a dent in your Christmas shopping.  Keep warm and enjoy some crafting.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Warm and Fuzzy House Mice

     Another Guest Designer card for House Mouse & Friends.  The challenge theme this time is "Warm & Fuzzy."   Nothing could be warmer or fuzzier than these little mice huddled around a candle lamp.  This image is from the House Mouse unmounted stamp set "Winter", and I'm almost ashamed to admit I've never used it before this card.  Well, in my defense, I got it after my Christmas/winter cards were done for last year.  :-D   The sketch is from Bling It On.

    The image is stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with black detail EP, then colored with Copic markers, including the sky, and I used the colorless blender to make the snowflakes, filled in with a white gel pen.  The image is matted with black and dark blue CS, cut with square die cuts.  I used polka dot dp and striped dp from DCWV (I think - they've been in my stash a long time!) for the background papers and used lace ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon to make the vertical lines of the sketch.   I added Stickles to the snow and the candle flame.  For embellishments, I added more of the lace ribbon, ruffling it along super sticky tape, then added the pearl swirls and the flowers.  The flowers also have Stickles on them for glitz and glimmer.

     I adore this stamp now that I've used it.  It makes me think of staying warm with family all around, and the sad part is that my family is spread all over the country.  Wish we were all closer.   I think this may be my favorite Christmas card so far this year!  It'll be a tough decision which favorite child or grandchild is going to get it when it comes to mailing out cards to family for the holiday.   Maybe one or more of them will try to bribe me for it!  Maybe I could offer it in exchange for more House Mouse stamps in my Christmas stocking - what d' ya think?   Pay attention family -- I'm open to all bribery suggestions!  :-D 

     OK, here's the long list of other challenges for this card:

Pile It On (Load as many challenges as possible on one card) - Anything with a "P" (pearls)

Moving Along with the Times - Let It Snow

Addicted to Stamps - pearls and lace

Catered Crop - from their list, I used: Winter scene, swirls, lace, ribbon, pearls, & layers

Try It On Tuesday - Anything Goes/Wish you were here

Southern Girls Challenge- Bingo (Glitter, Ribbon, Embossing) 

Gingerloft - Lace 

Crafter's Companion Monthly - Let it snow

Delightful Challenges - Bingo (Add dimension, ribbon/lace, glitter/sparkle)

Let's Ink It Up - Favorite Technique (lots of layers, heat embossing, & coloring)

Penny Black and More - All Creatures Great and Small

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Anything Christmas with pearls (My first time playing here)

Forever Friends (must use an animal) - Christmas is Coming

Stamps R Us - Bling it on

Oldie But a Goodie - Let It Snow

Ooh La La - Bingo (Pearls, Flowers, Lace)

Sassy Cheryl's - Anything Goes

Cards und More - Blue and Pearls

Just Inspirational - inspiration photo

Shelley's Images - Anything Goes

City Crafter - Four Legged Friends (My first time playing here, too.)

Make It Colorful - Lanterns/Candlelight

Kaboodle Doodles - Baby, It's Cold Outside

Scraptastic - Not an A2 + use ribbon and die cut

     Dig out those wonderful House Mouse stamps you have (or a Gruffies or a Happy Hopper stamp) and play along in the challenge at House Mouse & Friends.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Stitchy Bear Sponsors Tuesday Throwdown

     Good morning, all my lovely followers and friends.  It's a glorious Tuesday morning here in Northern California after a weekend of rain or snow, depending on your elevation.  While my own back yard doesn't get snow, after seeing all the beautiful pictures of the fresh snow, today's card is done to celebrate snowy, white Christmases.  The challenge at Tuesday Throwdown this week is sponsored by Stitchy Bear (they generously supplied all the images to the DT), and our theme is Favorite Color Combo.  While most of you know that purple is my favorite color, teal/turquoise and white is one of my favorite color combos for cards.

     Isn't this the most adorable snowman (hmmm, snowpeople) family, all together for Christmas?  The sketch is from Eat, Sleep, Stamp and I had to push it a bit to get the window effect I wanted.  I think Tracy will forgive me for that since square cards and window cards are things I rarely do but I took it as a challenge and did both in one card!  Thanks, Tracy, for the inspiration.  :-D   Christmas Stamping All Year Long wants us to use a favorite sketch, and you all know by now that Tracy's Eat, Sleep, Stamp is my favorite place to find a sketch.

     The image is colored with teal, turquoise, and blue-gray Touch Twin markers (loving those more and more all the time!) and I added almost no other colors because I wanted to stay with the teal, which is the color challenge this week at Do You Stack Up?  I added Stickles Diamonds and also Stickles Frosted Lace for all the sparklies on the image.  There is also sparkle in the dp, which is from the Linen Closet stack by DCWV.  I chose it because it looked like it could be wallpaper.   I used 1/16" teal, satin ribbon to make the window, and a scrap of lace from my stash for the curtain.  That lace has flowers in it so they have to serve as the flowers on my card.  Crafty Ribbons had a Bingo chart this week (Glitter, Flowers, Gems), as did Truly Scrumptious, (Lace, Flowers, Ribbon.)

     My final touch was the sparkly gem swirl for some added bling.  I have to say this is one of those cards which pleases me greatly!  I was a bit concerned that it wouldn't look the way I had it pictured in my mind, but it is even better than what I imagined!

     Other challenges (and there are a ton of them this time):

Allways Something Creative - sparkle

Crafty Purple Frog - sparkle

Delightful Challenges - sparkly Christmas

Crafter's Companion - Celebrate a Holiday

Bah, Humbug - Snowmen

Crop Stop - Make a Snowman

Cupcake Craftroom - Sweet Christmas

Floweret - Christmas

I Did It Creations - Winter/Christmas (also sponsored by Stitchy Bear this week!)

Freshly Brewed - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Christmas

Jellypark Friends - non-traditional Christmas colors

Sundays with Chrissy - Christmas in non-traditional colors

Crimbo Crackers - (must be Christmas) Anything Goes

Fabulous Friday - Family

Paper Crafting Journey - Use a Digi

Winter Wonderland - Make it sparkle

The Squirrel & The Fox - Hats or Flowers

Party Time Tuesday - sparkle and bling

Heart Song Inspirations - Anything Goes

     Hope to see you playing this week at Tuesday Throwdown.  How much easier can it be?  Just pick a favorite color combo and play along.  See you there.  NanaConnie

Tuesday Throwdown Shaped Cards

     Today's Tuesday Throwdown challenge is sponsored by Catherine Pooler, an independent Stampin' Up dealer.  She will be providing the prize for our winner!  The CS, image, and sentiment for my card are all SU products; the card stock is two-sided, patterned and comes from the Europa collection, called Pumpkin Pie.  The image and sentiment are from the Gnomes set, oldies but goodies.  I thought this Gnome was perfect for a Halloween/fall card.  Who wouldn't want to be a cute gnome at Halloween?

     I rarely do shaped cards, for two reasons:  I don't have many dies really large enough to make a card and I like A2 shaped cards since I do so many cards for Operation Write Home.  (Please check out the last paragraph of today's posting for more info about OWH.)  But when I found out that our Tuesday Throwdown challenge was going to be for shaped cards (nothing square or rectangular), I had to figure out what to do!   One Stitch at a Time also has a "Shape Up" challenge theme, and Paper Cutz wants us to do "Stars, Circles, or Diamonds."  Obviously, mine is the circle, and The Stamp Man theme is "Circle It."  Along that same line, Card and Scrap says "Not 4 Sided" and a circle was the first thing that came to mind.

     This one is made from a large (5 1/2" diameter) doily die, with the paper folded at the top and the die positioned just below the fold line.  Once the doily was cut, I stamped the Gnome into the middle of it, and heat embossed the image with black, detail EP.  I loved the black on orange combination so I did nothing else in the way of coloring him.  I did stamp a sentiment on the inside (also heat embossed) and add the orange gingham bow to the front, made from ribbon that came from Really Reasonable Ribbon -- their challenge theme is "Fun 4 Fall".  In addition, Meljen's wants us to use ribbon on our projects this week.  You can see the other side of the Pumpkin Pie CS in the photo below.

     I'm sending this card to a friend of mine who happens to have a Halloween birthday!  I thought the sentiment was perfect without having to say either Happy Birthday or Happy Halloween.  She'll know, since Halloween is her favorite holiday.  :-D

     Time to talk about all the other challenges, made easy again because of all the fall/autumn colors/Halloween themes this week.  I'll start with Pile It On (Fall is for Fun) because, in addition to their theme each week, they want us to make cards which can be used is as many challenges as possible.  I always select my challenges before I start on my cards.  That way, I know the card will fit the particular challenge and, if it doesn't when I'm finished, I can eliminate that challenge from the list.

Hanna and Friends - Autumn/Halloween
Paper Crafting Journey - Black, orange, & white
One Stop Craft Challenge - Halloween
Pals Paper Arts - Inspiration photo; Fall/Thanksgiving
Craft Your Days Away - Halloween colors, orange and black
Crafty Pad - Monochromatic
Through the Craft Room Door - Halloween
Card Cupids - Use Orange
Dream Valley - Halloween
Designed 2 Delight - Cute Halloween

     I promised you some additional information about Operation Write Home.  They are a fantastic, non-profit, organization which gathers up donated, hand-made cards for shipment to our deployed military troops that they use to send greetings home.  All this week, OWH is being supported by card makers just like you and me, helping them to raise funds for postage.  It's going to take more than $13,000 to mail boxes of Christmas and holiday cards to the soldiers overseas just this upcoming season.  One of the fund-raiser, blog hops will be starting here on my blog this next Friday morning, and featuring some cute and clever digi images which you can buy to help OWH in its cause.  All the proceeds (less the Paypal fees) from the digi sales are being donated by the artists to OWH.  (Our fellow DT teamie, Deedee, is one of the artists!  Another is Katlyn of K 'n K Designs.  Thank you, Deedee & Katlyn.  We love you for doing this!)  Please mark your calendar and come by here on Friday.  Thanks.

     That's it for today except that we'd love to see you play in the Tuesday Throwdown challenge this week.  Remember, any shaped card except square or rectangle; even octagons will qualify!  See you over there.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

   

Tuesday Throwdown Halloween

    Happy Tuesday!  You know that means another fantastic challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week our theme is Halloween.  We're sponsored by Robyn's Fetish, where you'll find some of the cutest images around.  Not only that, but in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, their entire inventory is on sale at 35% off.  So, schedule your mammogram and then go shopping!  Robyn's generously provided the images for the DT to use this week, and I think you're going to be impressed with the magnificent creations they all did.  Be sure to visit the Tuesday Throwdown challenge blog and see them all.  It wouldn't hurt to leave a little comment love for each DT member either.  :-)

     I used "Bearly a Pumpkin" and he's so adorably sweet that I had to use spooky papers and embellies to try to balance the 'Cute' with the 'Spooky'.  The sketch came from Clearly Inspired Challenges, and I flipped it on its side.

     Bearly a Pumpkin is colored with Copics and fussy cut very carefully.  Fabulous Friday (Frosted Designs) has a challenge theme to do fussy cutting.  I used three different die cuts, layered together, for the matting behind the image and used Pop Dots to adhere the image to the die cuts.  Although it's difficult to see in the photo, the image is almost 1/4 inch above the mat.  Emerald Faerie Garden asks us to uses die cuts or punches.

     The dps are all from my stash but they've been around since last year so I have no idea what company made them.  I added the bone brad as the only embellishment.  I don't think it needed anything more than that.

As simple as this design is, can you believe there are 8 layers on this card, not counting the card base?  Paper Sundaes wants to see lots of layers this week.

     This card will be given to my grandson for Halloween and I know it'll bring a huge smile to his face.  Card Cupids is asking us to do a "Random Act of Cardness" for their challenge by making a card and then giving it away to bring joy to another.  I love that idea!

     I hope you're going to play along with us at Tuesday Throwdown this week for our Halloween challenge.  If you like combining challenges, as I do, there are several other challenges using Halloween as their theme.  Here's a list of additional challenges where I'm going to submit this card:

Clear It Out - Halloween
Art Impressions - Halloween
Moving Along with the Times - Spooky Halloween
Stampin' B's - Halloween
Crafts 4 Eternity - Anything Goes
Paper Cutz - Halloween w/ skeleton or bones and too cute to spook
Stampin' for the Weekend - What a Cutie
Gingerloft - color orange
I Did It - Halloween
The Hybrid Chick - Autumn/fall
Just Some Lines - Autumn colors
Secret Crafter - Halloween
Send a Smile 4 Kids - Fall colors
Pile It On - "Do it for fun" and always, work in as many challenges as possible when making your card!
ABC Challenge - A is for Anything Goes
Stamps R Us - Autumn/Fall
My Grafico - Halloween
Paper Creations Ink - Orange or Black

     Have a fantastic Tuesday and come join us for Tuesday Throwdown's Halloween challenge.  NanaConnie

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge

   Edited to add:  This card was featured on The Sweet Stop.     

     It's Tuesday, that old Back-to-Work-Monday is now behind us and it's time for another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown!  This week we are celebrating "Fall Days" as our theme, and our sponsor is Sweet 'n' Sassy stamps.  They have some really wonderful images, and I chose Rubarb Scarecrow.  Isn't he a sweetie?

     Sweet 'n' Sassy also has a challenge with an inspiration photo this week.  You have to go over to the site and check it out, but it has a little girl who seems to be crying out for new toy.  I thought Rhubarb in his autumn scarecrow outfit would make a perfect new toy for her!  

           I used a sketch from The Sweet Stop where they also have a spin on it this week -- "Starstruck", which you can interpret any way you like.  I chose to add ribbon which had stars in it.  The ribbon came from Really Reasonable Ribbon (part of the September monthly ribbon club selections) and they also have an "Autumn" theme for their challenge.

     Catch the Bug Challenge wants us to "Make a Scene" and Rhubarb made that one easy!  He's a scene all by himself with the pumpkin, the bird and the sign.   Crazy 4 Challenges would like us to do projects which have pumpkins on them.  Rhubarb's colored with Copics, then fussy cut and matted with die cuts from Spellbinders.  The Corrosive Challenge wants us to use punches or dies.  For the colors, of course I used the "Fall Days" theme from here at Tuesday Throwdown, but the following challenges also had us use either specific colors which fit in with fall or autumn colors as their theme: Pile It On (and don't forget they want us to pile on the challenges, too.), The Ribbon Girl (green and brown), Our Daily Bread (fall colors),  Send a Smile for Kids (fall or Halloween cute card).

     The papers are mostly from DCVW, but have been in my stash more than a year.  I'm going to be so sad when that dp with all the leaves and acorns is used up.  (sniff)  For embellishments, I used the ribbon, the pearls, the paper roses, the ribbon roses, and the yellow foam petals beneath the flowers.  Crafty Emma's CES Challenges wants us to "Embellish it more" by using 4 or more different types of embellishments.  The Emerald Faerie Garden asks for pearls this week, and Little Miss Muffet wants "Things with Wings" -- the bird.  Creative Craft would like us to use something New, and Rhubarb is my new image along with the new ribbon.   My Time to Craft wants us to use things starting with the letter "L" and I have done leaves and layers.

     Di's Digi Designs (a brand new challenge blog) says Anything Goes, and Cardmadfairy wants Lots of Layers (I have ten not counting the embellishment layer.)  Finally, Scrappy Frogs (my first time playing over there) wants Vintage.  Rhubarb looks just like one of the Halloween post card images that were so popular from the early 1900s through the 1920s.  All the roses give him an even more vintage look, I think.

     OK, I've piled them on again.  I hope when you pile up your challenges this week that Tuesday Throwdown will be one of them.  Obviously, there are a ton of challenges out there that all have some connection to fall, autumn, or colors that celebrate the season.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie