By-Gone Days

      I had a request last month for a masculine card for my neighbor's father.  He's turning 91 in mid-January and has been a lifelong farmer in the central valley of California.  The request fit in perfectly with the new challenge starting today at FarmQuest General Store (Anything Goes but must have a farm or country feel) and I decided on blues and browns.  That's almost always a perfect color combo for a masculine card.

      What could be better for a lifelong farmer than an image of long forgotten farm equipment, tucked away in a dusty corner of an old barn?   This is a pre-colored, clipart image to which I added the sentiment before printing it.  I cut it with a square, QuicKutz die, added a frame made from white CS, cut with a die from Spellbinders.  The striped dp is from an old DCWV stack, and I added a bit of left over burlap fabric from another project I had worked on last month.  It seemed to give perfect texture and eye appeal without being too frou-frou as an embellishment.

     Challenges:

613 Ave Create

Creative Fingers

Gem of a Challenge

GMGC

Love Those...Papers

Outlawz Friday (used blue)

Pattie's Creations

     I hope we're going to see you playing along in our challenge this month.  Anything with a country or farm flair can be entered and we'd love to be inspired by you.  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Blessings on Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving !

     I wanted to share this card with you on Thanksgiving Day even though I actually made it for the 30 Days of Holidays at Beccy's Place.  I know, I know, the day for alphabet letter "T" was last week, but the card turned out so magnificently that I knew I had to hold it back and post it today.  :-D

     I used Thanksgiving, Turkey, Tent card, and Tilted image piece for my "T"s.  The image is pre-colored, clip art, and before I printed the image, I edited it so that the turkey printed in gray scale while everything else was already colored.  I colored the turkey with pencils and markers.  Everything other than the turkey is the original, pre-colored image.

     The pumpkin vines background behind the image piece is another digital dp which I sized to fit a 5.5 x 5.5 inch card.  I felt like the digital dp was bright enough that no other embellishment was needed.  I think it makes a delightful masculine card even if it does feel a bit 'busy.'

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Cinnamon Mitten

      I've completed my "M" card for the 30 Days of Holidays over at Beccy's Place and this time I used Beccy's Mitten image.  I love how it's stuffed with all the wintery, Christmas goodies like cinnamon, hearts and stars, berry branches, and has Mistletoe hanging on it.

     I printed the black and white image, then colored it with ProMarkers.  I used the colors Magenta and Melon green for my Christmas colors; not strictly 'traditional' but at least in the red and green family.  

     Once colored, I went to Beccy's A - Z Folds tab at the top of her blog and checked out the possible fancy card folds under "M."  I found a tutorial for a Matchbook card but I turned it 1/4 turn so that the 'matchbook' opens from the right hand side instead of the bottom.  It fits my image better that way.

     I fussy cut the image with scissors (not an easy thing to do with all those tiny spots between the berries and the loops & tails of the ribbon that's on the mitten.  An Exacto knife helped on the smallest bits.)  The Merry Christmas sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I left the card very plain, as CAS as I could get it because I wanted a Masculine look since it will be going to one of my grandsons, or maybe even a great-grandson. 

     Challenges:

CRAFT-alnica

I Love ProMarkers

Outlawz Weds

Paper Funday

Paper Shelter

     I may take a break from card making and posting for a day or two.  This respiratory virus doesn't seem to be getting better as quickly as I'd like and I really think complete bed rest (not counting trips to the bathroom) might be the answer.  I'm going to try it and see what transpires.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Old Time Santa

      This CAS card is my DT sample for the FarmQuest General Store challenge which starts today.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes" and we are always sponsored by QKR Stampede.  The DT use three images from QKR and those are the prize for the challenge winner.

     I chose to use the Old Time Santa image and I colored him with Sanjoki markers, then cut the image and the two mats with Tonic Studios dies.  I used a Uchida punch of each of the corners and then layered them all together.  The card font was dry embossed with my Linen EF.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  A delightfully CAS card and very masculine.

     Challenges:

Colorful Options

Holly & Ivy

Outlawz Sketch

Paper Shelter

Word Art Weds

     Come play with us this month.  We love being inspired by you and what you make.  Who knows, you might even end up the winner of the three QKR Stampede images.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Pheasant Flight

      We have a new theme starting today for our latest FarmQuest challenge and the theme is "Turkeys, Pheasants, Peacocks, &/or Feathers."  Obviously, I opted for a pheasant.  :-D

     This clip art image was printed in grayscale onto pale blue CS, then colored with water color paints and pencils.  Once dry, I ironed the image flat (it curled a bit with the water color paints), then cut it with a QuicKutz die.  The plaid dp for the background came from a digital paper file which I sized to an A2 card size, then printed.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I left it without embellishments because it's such a perfect masculine card.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Coloring w Pencils

Crafty Calendar

Crafty Catz

Creative Fingers

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz SAR (pheasant in the sky?)

Polkadoodles

     Come play with us this fortnight.  We love seeing what you create and being inspired by it.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thankful ?

      I think the image I used on today's card is an old one from Eureka Stamps but to tell the truth, I printed it out last year, didn't label it, and am guessing.  If I'm wrong and you know who drew this image, please let me know.  I believe in giving credit to the artists when I know who they are.

     I colored the image with Ohuhu markers and added highlights with a white gel pen.  I cut the image with a  QuicKutz die and cut the frame with a second die from that same set.  The frame is brown CS.   The background paper is dry embossed with one of my EF, but I don't remember which one.  It has a 'leather' look and feel.  I added a tiny, double layer, butterfly which had a little seed bead for the body.  Despite the butterfly, I plan to use this as a masculine card for one of my great-grandsons.

      Challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner

Creative Inspirations

Digi Choosday

Paper Funday

Paper Shelter

Passion for Markers

Simon Says Stamp

     Have yourself a great day and Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Bear-ly Old

      Today we begin our latest challenge at FarmQuest and our theme is "Things Found in a Forest."   I interpreted that very broadly and decided to find an animal that would inhabit the forest instead of just trees or plants.  This image of a bear is pencil sketched clip art.  I wish I knew the name of the artist but it came from a book of clip art coloring pages available online and there is no company or artist names on any of them.

     Although it may be difficult to see in the photo, after I printed the image I used a very pale, blue wash of watercolor paint over the entire image, then darkened the sketch using blue colored pencils and gamsol.  

     I cut the finished image with a Tonic Studios die, then printed the 2-part sentiment and cut those with dies from Avery Elle.  Everything was mounted onto a dark blue card front which I had embossed using my 'Linen' EF.  I made this as a birthday card for one of my grandsons who celebrated just a week ago.

      Challenges:

Addicted to CAS

Can You Handle ...?

Crafty Calendar

Lil Patch of ...

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

WordArt Weds

     It would be wonderful if you'd come and play in our challenge.  Think of a forest, choose something you might find there, let it inspire your creativity, and enter it into our challenge.  We can't wait to see what you create!  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

One Good Scratch ...

      Welcome to my DT post for the newest challenge at FarmQuest General Store.  We are sponsored by QKR Stampede and the prize will be the three QKR Stampede images used by the DT this month.  The challenge runs until August 5, 2024 and our theme is "Anything Country Goes."  Your project must have a country element and not be filled with cityscapes, malls, or other strictly city life scenarios.  We want to see "country!"

      You can't get much more country than a sheep dog on the ranch.  This image is called "Happy Dog" and I think he's so adorable.  I know he's scratching off a well-earned flea which joined him on a trek through the meadow, guarding the sheep.  lol  I colored him with Sanjoki markers, cut the image with a large QuicKutz die, and inked the edges with an ink pad.  The plaid paper came from DCWV.  Sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, and again, the edges were inked with a black ink pad.

     I wanted a simple, masculine card to put in my stash of birthday cards.

     Challenges:

Alphabet

CRAFT-alnica

Crafts Galore Encore

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspiration

Pattie's Creationsnull

Polkadoodles

     

     That's all I have for today.  Come play along in our challenge.  Do anything with a 'country' feel, enter it into our challenge, and cross your fingers that you're the winner.  :-D

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Gift

      Here we are on yet another Friday and that means another new challenge starts today at Crafty Catz.  Our challenges now run 2 weeks at a time so this one will run through June 27.  Our theme is always "Anything Goes" but we also offer an OPTIONAL theme which you may use if you like.  The option this time is "Masculine."   Unlike many card makers, I love crafting masculine cards so this was right up my alley.  :-D

     Our sponsor is Hetty Clare and they provided images for the team to use.  I chose The Gift.  I kept it very simple by printing the image onto blue CS, and coloring with white gel pen.  I cut the image with a QuicKutz die, then cut a white frame with another QK die.  I used navy blue CS for the background, printed the sentiment, and cut it with an Avery Elle die.  I layered everything together and left it without embellishment because I wanted that super plain, CAS, masculine card.  

     I'm going to use this for a birthday card for one of my family guys with a June birthday.

     Challenges:

     That's all for today.  Happy Crafting and come play with us.  NanaConnie

Fortune Cookie Birthday

      Here we are with the Crafty Catz new challenge which starts today.  As usual, our overall theme is "Anything Goes" but we offer you an OPTIONAL theme and for this challenge the option is "Masculine."  Those themes are always good for me because we have a ratio of about 3 to 1, boys over girls in our family and that's true for the last 3 generations!  So, today I've done another birthday card for a boy.

     We don't have a sponsor this week so I pulled out one of my favorite House Mouse stamps and stamped it in brown ink.  I colored it with ProMarkers and watercolors, then cut it with a small, rectangle die from QuicKutz.  I framed it with brown CS which had been dry embossed using my Linen EF.  The two papers I used to make the background were in the scrap basket and I thought they worked well together for a simple, masculine card.  They're from an old Recollections stack.

     The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

As You Like It (I love clean cards because they are easier to mail and most of my cards go to out-of-state family.)

Creative Fingers

I Love Markers

Outlawz Thursday

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Word Art Weds

     Come play in our challenge this week.  Make something masculine if you want, but remember you can always enter under the Anything Goes theme so no excuse for not entering.  :-D  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

March of the Viking !

      Time for the Outlaw Progressive Challenge again and this month there's a cute little Viking image.  I have to tell you that I wasn't exactly 'madly in love' with this Viking when I first saw him but there were two images available this month, this one and a female Viking (Vikingess?)   I debated between the two of them but finally decided on the male image because I needed a masculine birthday card.  Once I got him colored up, I was totally mad about him!  He seemed to come to life with a bit of color and sparkle.  lol

     I started by coloring him with Sanjoki markers and glitter gel pens, then added tiny bits of gold paint pen to his helmet and shield.  I used gold paint pen on the sentiment stamp but it didn't transfer onto the card stock very well, so I wrote over it with the pen.  Both the image and the sentiment were cut with Tonic Studios dies, and the edges were inked with black felt marker.

     The background paper came from a Recollections stack (which is at least 5 years old and I'm slowly working my way through it since it has some really terrific, masculine prints.)  No embellishment needed.  I forgot to photograph the inside before I mailed the card but it says, "The years are marching on.  Better run!"

    

     Challenges:

AAA Cards

Dream Valley

Lil Patch of ...

Pammie's IP

Polkadoodles

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Green Frogs

      I know that post title doesn't lead you to think St. Patrick's Day but as soon as you see the image, you'll be right there.  lol  This is a clip art image and I was so tickled by it that I just had to make a card.  I love that it's so far out of the normal realm of leprechauns, shamrocks, or pots of gold.

     Image digitally colored (something new I'm trying but will probably abandon because it takes so much printer ink & that has gotten really expensive!) and cut with Tonic Studios die, then the edges were inked.  Sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The patterned paper was in the scrap basket and all I did was trim the top and one side, leaving a triangle corner of white.  Since this card is going to one of the guys in my family, I left it without embellishment.

     Challenges:

Classic Design

Crafting Uncles

Creatalicious

Creative Fingers

Creative Inspiration

LeighSBDesigns

Outlawz Friday

Paper Shelter

     I'll have another post tomorrow so be sure to stop by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

The Family Grows!

      This card I'm sharing today I made for my newest great-grandson, Jackson Wade, who arrived on Thursday, February 22, the day after my oldest granddaughter's birthday!  I'm so excited!  Not only that, we have another great-grand baby due in late August.  No word yet on the gender but I personally am hoping for a girl to help balance out the ratio of (too many) males to (not enough) females in my grands and great-grands.  :-D  I do love making masculine cards but that may be primarily because I have so many males in the family compared to the sprinkling of females.

     This adorable sleeping baby image is clip art from - oh, my gosh, I've forgotten.  I'll edit this post when I track down the company.  When I bought the set of images, I saved it into a folder called "Babies" instead of making a new folder with the company name on it so it'll be a search of long deleted emails to figure out who made it.  

     The original color of it was too bright a blue for what I wanted (more on the pastel side) so I printed it in very light, gray scale, then colored it with Sanjoki markers and water color pencils, blended with gamsol.  I cut the image with a QuicKutz die, then found two pieces of blue paper in the scrap basket.  I used those for the background, added the image and sentiment (cut with an Avery Elle die) and called it finished.  A CAS design but with geometric patterned dp instead of white space.  To my mind, geometrics make for great masculine cards.

I pulled my pastel colors from the mood board at Inkspirational.

     Challenges:

As You Like It

CAS on Friday

Creative Knockouts

Digi Choosday

Double D

Gem of a Challenge

I Love Markers

Penny's P-C

Polkadoodles

     That's all for today and I'm going to take the rest of the weekend off.  No computer, no social media, no phone... just time for me, watching TV and reading.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Appy-loosa Birthday

      Here we are with another challenge starting over at FarmQuest General Store and starting with this challenge, we have a sponsor and a prize!  Our underlying requirement for every entry is that it have a country/farm flair but other than that, it's always "Anything Goes."

     Our sponsor is the fun and fabulous QKR Stampede and the prize is the 3 digital images which have been used by the DT.  Check out the challenge post on FQGC to see them all.  I've used the one called Appaloosa Foal and turned it into a masculine birthday card.

     The image was colored with my Sanjoki markers, then cut with a QuicKutz die.  I did the corners with a Fiskars corner punch.  The background argyle paper came from a DCWV stack and it was a left over scrap.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.

Sketch based on #556 at Sketch Saturday. stretched into landscape.

     Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T.

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Gem of a Challenge

Let's Craft & ...

Outlawz SAR (what better new beginning than a new foal and a birthday?)

Pattie's Creations

     Come play with us this month.  You could be the winner of our first sponsored prize!  Visit the FQGS challenge blog to see the other two images which, along with this one, are the prize from QKR Stampede.

 

     Happy crafting.  NanaConnie

Warm Winter Quilts

      We have a new challenge beginning over at FarmQuest, where all entries must have a "farm or country" feel plus use a specific theme.  This month, the theme is "Quilts" - anything to do with quilts or quilting.  

     I chose to use one of my quilting dies from Spellbinders.  It's a 2.75" die and I used it 4 times to make the background.  All of the dp I cut came from scraps of a winter stack of papers by DCWV, plus plain dark & light blue CS.  Think of the stars as snowflakes and you'll definitely get the chilly winter feel.  :-D

     The moose is an image from QKR Stampede and I colored it with my Sanjoki markers.  I fussy cut the image with scissors and mounted it onto Pop Dots before layering it onto the background.  The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.

     Challenges:

Digi Choosday

Double D

Double Trouble

I Love Markers

Lil Patch of ...

Paper Funday

Penny's P-C

Simon Says Stamp

Snippets Playground

Word Art Weds

     That's it for today.  Feel free to come and play in our challenge this month.  It runs until the 13th of January so you have plenty of time.  Happy Crafting and Happy New Year.  NanaConnie

Snow Cowboy

      Time for the next challenge at FarmQuest, which always has a requirement that your projects have a "country" feel to them, plus a theme and this fortnight the theme is "Decorated Farmhouse Exterior or other structure."  I decided to combine a barn with Christmas decorations and a cowboy snowman; now I have one more family Christmas card finished.

     I printed the image in very light grayscale, then colored it with my Sanjoki markers and with white gel pen on the snow.  I cut the image with a QuicKutz die and made the frame for it from two scraps of CS which were on the desk.

     The background piece is dp I made myself using a red work embroidery pattern, sized down and then did copy/paste procedures several times to scatter the image over the paper.  I used the last bit of a washi tape roll as decorative ribbon, then added the image piece on top of it all.  I think it makes a great masculine card with a wonderful country flair.

     Challenges:

     That's it for this time.  Come play in our challenge, won't you?  It runs until December 26 and we love seeing what you create.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Swinging Halloween

      I fell in love with this image as soon as I saw it and knew it had to go on a card, even though it was designed originally (I think) as a coloring book page.  It was 1 of 3 mailed to me by a gal who wanted to know if I would color them for her.  She plans to use them as Halloween decor and they were coloring book size when she mailed them to me.  I asked her if I could scan this one and use it on a card and she said yes.  :-D  

     I scanned it, reduced the size, and deepened the level of gray scale before I printed it, making it look darker and spookier.  I used white gel pen to add highlights to the ghosties (they had darkened into the background and were nearly invisible), and purple water color on the background so that it looked more like Halloween.  In the photo, the purple seems to be pink but it really is purple!

     The sentiment was cut with an Avery Elle die.

     This card goes to my great-grandson so I left it completely plain, just a fun, CAS, masculine card.

     Challenges:

AAA Cards

Crafty Calendar

Creative Fingers

Di's Digi Designs

Gem of a Challenge

Inspired By

LeighSBDesigns

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz SAR  ("moon-tints of purple & pearl")

  

     What do you think, cute without being too spooky?  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie     

Ghostie and Jack

      Another Halloween card to share, this one for one of the grandsons.  He'll never check the blog so it's ok to post this early.  I'll share another one tomorrow for one of the great-grands, also a boy.  I did this card as a masculine CAS card.

     I started with the image printed in very light gray scale, then used pencil to add darker grays in the most shaded areas and use my Sanjoki markers to color the ghost's eyes. mouth, and the jack-o-lantern.  I cut the image with a die from Tonic Studios, framed it with another die cut (also Tonic Studios die) and fussy cut the sentiment.  

     I found a scrap of purple dp which I layered onto the card front, then layered the image and sentiment on top of that.  No embellishment because it's a masculine card.

     Challenges:

Aloha Friday

Art Impressions

Creative Fingers

Double D

Inspired By

LeighSBDesigns

Most Magical Time ...

Paper Dragonfly

Penny's P-C

Simply CAS

     Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Last Surf'n of Summer

      It's the 3rd of the month and that means the newest Anything Goes challenge is starting over at the LeAnn's World 101 blog.  I'm doing a final salute to summer and I'm hoping to see an end to the hot days of summer and am ready to welcome the crisp evenings of fall, but in  the meantime, I'm going to let this guy, "Byron Surf'n," enjoy his last few waves.

     I colored with Sanjoki alcohol markers, then cut the image with a stitched CUTplorations die.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a die from Avery Elle.  I put everything onto a black card front and added a wrap of twine to the left side.  A CAS masculine card design.

     Challenges:

Addicted to CAS

Crafty Calendar

Creatalicious

Creative Fingers

Die Cut Divas

Di's Digi Designs

Gem of a Challenge

Outlawz Friday

Pattie's Creations

YSBP

     Now that we're back, we hope to see you entering our Blog Challenge and don't forget our Progressive Challenge each month over on our FB site.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1836531013324656  

     

     NanaConnie DT

Gray Wolf

      I'm finally posting a card I made several weeks ago using this fabulous image "Wolf" from Eureka Stamps, sister brand to QKR Stampede.  Challenges over there are still on hold while we await the sale of the QKR Stampede and Eureka Stamps brands.  In the meantime, I'm using cards I put in my stash for masculine birthdays and this is one of them.

     I used a combo of Sanjoki alcohol markers and water color paints to color the image, then cut it with a CUTplorations stitched die.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a die from Die-namics.  The paw print embossing was done with a Darice EF.  As a final masculine touch, I added the three, tiny, metal brads.

     Challenges:

Can You Handle...?

Creative Fingers

Digi Choosday

Gem of a Challenge

Lil Patch of ...

Outlawz Friday

Pammie's IP

Pattie's Creations

Penny's P-C

Word Art Weds

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie