Cat Lady

      Those of you who have the opportunity to see the sidebar of my blog may think I'm a 'cat lady' so this card will need little explanation.  But I'm actually an animal person - cats just seem to fit my current lifestyle better.  

     I'm also a huge fan of the artist, Mariola Budek, and coloring her images never fails to make me feel like a great colorist!  I used this one for another birthday card, one which will go to a family member in the future.

     I colored the image with Sanjoki markers, then cut it with a rectangle Tonic Studio die.  I used a corner punch from Fiskars and it had three different corner options, of which I used 2.  I framed the image with a 'Linen' embossed dark pink CS piece and framed that with a scrap of light pink CS.  I used my bow maker to tie a double-loop bow, then printed and cut the sentiment with an Avery Elle die.  I used a tiny scrap of the dark pink CS to frame the sentiment.

     The background was made using a Darice EF on metallic paper for a 'hammered copper' look.

     Challenges:

Crazy for Cats

Digi Choosday

Dream Valley

Happy ... Stampers

Jan's Digi Stamps

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's IP

Polkadoodles

Simon Says Stamp

SUYP Cats

     That's all I have for the weekend but I have a couple more images already colored up, waiting to be turned into 'masterpieces" (lol) so maybe you'll see another post tomorrow or Tuesday.  I feel a coloring binge coming on and that could mean I color rather than make cards but we'll see. 

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Dragon Bouquet

      It's been a few days since I posted and I apologize but I've been a bit under the weather.  Resting seemed the best therapy.  :-D  

     But today I'm back!  I want to share one of my DT cards I made for Conie Fong which features one of her latest images, called "Dragon Bouquet."  Each month, we have 2 separate challenges, one for just coloring of Conie Fong images and the other for finished projects like this one, also with Conie Fong images.  We've just started a third monthly challenge, called Blast from the Past, into which you may enter older Conie Fong cards you've already posted to your blog or social media sites.  Click on the 'challenges' link above to get to the albums for any of those.  They are all on our FB site.

     Here's what I did with "Dragon Bouquet."  It's a fun spring card which I'm going to use as one of my Easter cards.  I used ProMarkers to color the image, then I cut one side of it with a border die from Your Next Stamp.  

     I used another of those border dies to cut a piece of glitter CS and I used those on each side of the card.  The pink CS background was embossed with my 'Linen' folder.  I used a Tonic Studios die to cut the sentiment.  The last thing was to tie a double loop bow for one upper corner and it was finished.

     Challenges:

Aud Sentiments

Colour Crazy

Crafty Catz

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspirations

Paperbabe

Penny's Paper-Crafty

TTCRD

Word Art Weds

Your Next Stamp

     I hope we're going to see you playing in one of our challenges this month.  We need to have at least 10 entries in each one for prizes to be awarded.  You must use Conie Fong images but there are freebies available on the FB site.  Check them out.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cat, Skull, & Pumpkin

      This first card for September (I have a total of 4 posts today!) is doing double duty for both Paper Funday and for Jan's Digi Stamps.  Although Jan's Digi Stamps is still on a break from their own challenges, they are sponsoring Paper Funday this month.  They will start their monthly challenges again in November.

     For Paper Funday, our September theme is "Autumn/Fall" and I chose to do a Halloween card which features autumn colors.  I merged images from three of Jan's sets; the black cat (reversed) is from a new set called "Pumpkin People," the skull is from "Hocus Pocus," and the pumpkin is from "Autumn Corn Sheaves."  All of them are secondary images to the main image in each set.  The sentiment is from the new Pumpkin People set.

     I colored with ProMarkers, then used my Fiskars paper cutter to cut the image square.  I inked the edges with a marker, added polka dot washi tape diagonally across two corners, and tied a double-loop bow from satin ribbon.  The card front was embossed with my "Linen" EF.  

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

Colour Crazy 

Crafty Sentiments

Double D

Passion for Markers

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

SUYP Cats

     Come play in our 'Autumn/Fall' challenge at Paper Funday this month and check out what some of the Jan's DT have done in the interim before the challenges begin again in November.  Jan's Digi Stamps.

      Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Don't Over-Shop!

      Doing anything for too long without taking a break can be harmful to your health and that includes "Retail Therapy!"  It's time for the start of a new weekly challenge over at Creative Knockouts and this week our theme is "All Stitched Up."  Add stitches; they can be real or faux.  Our fantastic sponsor is the most beloved Hetty Clare and she supplied images for the DT.  I chose "Ladies on a Seesaw" and this card is going to remind me (through an eye-level placement on the craft room door) that taking breaks is a wonderful thing.

     This image was such a perfect opportunity to make the entire card into a scene buy choosing papers which worked for both sky and ground.  I started by coloring the image with my ProMarkers, then cutting it with a die from Cuts.  The die has stitching marks and I enhanced them by using a black gel pen on each stitch.

     Once colored, I chose papers from Recollections (green) and Lawn Fawn (blue) stacks which complimented the colors I used on the sky and ground in the image.  I added a wrap of aqua ribbon and tied a double-loop bow for the top of the card.  I printed and fussy cut the sentiment, and the card was done!

     Challenges:

4 Season

Art Impressions

Crafter's Castle

Creative Inspirations

Cutie Pie

Di's Digi Designs

Dragonfly Dreams

Incy Wincy

Inspiration Station

Outlawz PAM

     Come play with us this week!  You could win a prize from Hetty Clare and we'd love to be inspired by what you make.  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie 

Cake for a Special Birthday

      Today's card features an image from Conie Fong called Abbie with Cake and it's my first DT card for the month of August.  Isn't she adorable?  She just had to be done in shades of pink because she's so perfectly sweet and girly.

     I colored her with ProMarkers and cut the image with a die from Spellbinders.  The 4 corner pieces were originally 2 die cuts (also Spellbinders) which I cut in half and added to the corners of the image.  

     The background is a (very) old piece of scrapbooking paper.  I'm sure it's been in my stash at least a dozen years!  I know it was one of the first papers I ever bought for scrapbooking and that was before I really got into card making.  I started blogging about a year after I shifted over to card making and that was in February of  2011 so that would be 11+ years and it was in the scrapbooking stash for a couple of years before that.

     The satin ribbon and hand-tied, double loop, bow are Really Reasonable Ribbon and have also been in the stash for a long time.  Sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then I inked the edges with marker before applying it to the card.

     Challenges:

Angie's Digitals

Aud Sentiments

Cardz TV

Colour Crazy

Cute Card Thurs

Penny's Paper-Crafty

Polkadoodles

Simon Says Stamp

Stamping Sensations

Word Art Weds

     Come play with us this month.  Remember, #Conie Fong has 2 challenges each month on the Facebook page for anyone using a Conie Fong image; one for coloring of images only, and the other for completed projects using colored images.  You can win more of Conie's fabulously cute images!  

     

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Wrong End of the Hourglass

      It's time for a new challenge at Creative Knockouts and this time we're sponsored by Jan's Digi Stamps.  Our theme is to "Finish the Inside" of your cards.  I used the "Beach Friends" image and sentiment, which reminded me of my mom who used to say that age 45 was when the sands of time began running into the wrong end of the hour glass.  When I saw that sentiment, I just had to use it!  lol  However, in my case, I think they started running to the wrong end at about age 30.  :-(

And here's what I did on the inside...

Colored w ProMarkers

Background paper w sparkle from DCWV

Double-loop bow, hand-tied

Inside dp = K & Co.

     Challenges:

Cardz TV

Colour Crazy

Crafty Creations

Crafty Gals Corner

Double Trouble 

Get Creative

I {heart} ProMarkers

Paperminutes

Word Art Weds

     I hope we are going to see you playing along this week.  Remember to finish the inside of your card and then submit it as an entry.  We love being inspired by you!  :-D  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thinking of You w Hetty Clare

     I'm honored to have been invited to be a Guest Designer at Penny's Paper-Crafty for the current challenge this fortnight.  The challenge is sponsored by Hetty Clare (who has some gorgeous digis!) and I used one called "Looking to the Future."

Colored w ProMarkers
Faux stitching done w gel pen
Cut with die from QuicKutz
Smaller background piece is water colored
Large pink background is dp from DCWV
Ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon
Double loop bow tied using bow maker

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time...
Artsy Stamper
Crafty Sentiments
Creations in Pink
Creative Crafters
Digi Choosday
Incy Wincy
Outlawz Greetings
Simon Says Stamp
TTCRD

     Come play in the Penny's Paper-Crafty challenge this time around, won't you?  We'd love to see what you create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Pansies for Mom

     Today I'm showcasing one of the newer image and sentiment sets from Jan's Digi Stamps, released just last month.  Our new monthly challenge starts today and the theme is always Anything Goes.  There's no requirement that you use any of Jan's products but if you do use a JDS image, your entry goes into a separate draw only for entries featuring one of those images.  That increases your chance of being a winner by a huge amount!  :-D

     Here's my card using one of the pre-colored images from "Pansies for Mom" and I did it as a very CAS card.  Pre-colored images are so fantastic for really quick cards and I did my Mother's Day cards at the last minute this year.  For this one, both the image and the sentiment were printed directly onto the card front.  I folded and cut the card to size, then added the sheer ribbon and tied the double bow by hand (not an easy feat and that took more time than anything else on the card!)  :-D

     Mother's Day may just be my favorite 'occasion' (short of my own birthday when I can score presents AND cake!) because it gives me an excuse to make cards with flowers.  I love flower images and usually find that I like the simplest ones the best.

     Challenges:
As You Like It
Crafty Gals Corner
Creative Fingers
Cute Card Thurs
Outlawz Festive Fri
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Penny's Paper-Crafty
Simon Says Stamp
Southern Girls
Take It, Make It

     Come play with us this month.  The challenge runs from today clear through May 31.  We ove being inspired by all the people who play along.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie  

The Word is Autumn

     We've had an entire week of temperatures under 100F - meaning 97 to 99 - and I'm taking that as a sign that autumn will be here any minute.  Today's card celebrates that fact with a fun image from Bugaboo Stamps.  :-D

I was inspired by the colors at Card Mania.

     I colored with ProMarkers and polychromos pencils.  I cut the image with a die from Die-namics and the frame is cut with two different dies - Die-namics on the inside and CUTplorations on the outside.  All have some form of stitching on them.

     I ran both the gray CS of the frame and the brown CS of the background through my Linen embossing folder, then I layered everything together.  I added narrow grosgrain ribbon to the top of the card, and used 2 additional ribbons and my bow maker to tie a double loop bow.

     For final embellishment, I added three sets of three brads each.

     Challenges:
Catch the Bug
Craft-Dee BowZ
Crafter's Cafe (brads + 3 layers)
Crafts Galore Encore
Crafty Friends
Do Al(l) Creatives  (dies/image/ribbon)
Jo's Scrap Shack
Joy Clair
Send a Smile 4 Kids

     That's all I have for today.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie