Showing posts with label Spellbinders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spellbinders. Show all posts

Friday, March 7, 2025

Happy Snow Couple

      Last week, I would have told you that this cute snow couple might be in danger of melting but our weather has turned chilly again and that now seems less likely.  I guess the groundhog was right about 6 more weeks of winter!  

     My card today is my DT inspiration piece for the challenge at FarmQuest Country Christmas.  Our theme is always "Anything Country and Christmas Goes."  We want to see outdoor, country, Christmas scenes on your projects but beyond that, anything is OK.  I think 2 snow people in the woods qualifies, right?

     The image came from Anet Art Store (I have a growing collection of her art) and it was colored with watercolor pencils, plus white gel pen for the snowflakes and highlights..  I used a Spellbinders die to cut the image, and I inked the edges with a red ProMarker.  The background dp came from Recollections.  That's been a favorite of mine and I've been hoarding scraps of it, using bits and pieces to patch together backgrounds for cards.  I'm not completely out of it yet, but the scrap stash is getting thin and I think I have only one full sheet of it left uncut.  

     I printed out the sentiment, cut it with an Avery Elle die, and added it to the bottom corner.  Overall, a very CAS card but the dp makes it look busy.  :-D



     Challenges:

    
     This is my second post today and my first one was for the challenge at FarmQuest General Store.  If you'd like to see that one, just scroll down one post.  For either challenge, we'd love to see you playing along this month.  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Gothic Valentines

      Today is my turn to share my DT projects for the February challenge at Conjuror of Dreams.  The theme is Anything Goes but we give you an optional theme and this month, it's "Gothic Hearts."

     I did three cards using fabulous Conjuror images from two different sets.  This first one is from the "High Priestess of the Heart" set.  I printed her in grayscale, then colored her with Ohuhu markers.  I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, matted her with white CS, and then inked the edges.  The background dp (both of them) came from a Lawn Fawn stack.


     Challenges:

     This second card is from the same "High Priestess..." set and again, I printed it in light grayscale, colored it with markers (Sanjoki, this time), and cut it with a Spellbinders die.  Again, the dp came from that same Lawn Fawn stack.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.


     Challenges:

     Finally, this last card features an image from the Conjuror set called "Love Potion."  This time, I used the pre-colored version but used Word to adjust the color tone and brightness before printing it.  I cut the image with a die from Tonic Studios, and inked the edges with a black marker.  The background dp came from that same Lawn Fawn stack and the red strip is CS cut with a long punch on one side.  I dropped this one into a neighbor's mail box anonymously.  She collects old, fancy, perfume bottles so I knew she'd love this image!

   
     Challenges:
  
     I know Valentine's Day is gone for this year but our challenge is still open and you can enter it but only for the rest of this week.  Our next challenge starts on Saturday, March 1.  I hope you're going to play along with us this month.  Don't forget that we also have a Progressive Challenge on our Facebook page.  You need to use a Conjuror of Dreams image to enter the Progressive challenge, but then you get the image for the following month free!  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Saturday, February 22, 2025

The Birthday Princess

      I finally managed to get a card made using the beautiful progressive image for this month at the Moondrea Challenge.  I thought she was such a princess that she'd make a fantastic feminine birthday card for a young lady.

     She's colored with watercolor pencils, cut with a Spellbinders die, matted with a scrap of aqua CS, and layered onto a background of dp scraps from the overflowing basket.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.


     Challenges:
(links to be added shortly)

     That's all I have for today.  I admit I've been making more gnomes this month and fewer cards but I'll get back into my regular routine soon.  Somehow, I've fallen in love with all the different gnomes that can be made and have been completely fascinated with trying new styles of them.  Maybe I'll share a post with gnome photos next week and you can se what I mean.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Friday, February 7, 2025

Owl Always Love You

      A new challenge has started over at FarmQuest General Store and our theme is always "Anything Goes."


     I found this adorable clip art image of an owl couple and thought they'd make a cute Valentine card.  I printed the image in sepia tone, cut it with a Spellbinders die and then inked the edges.  The little heart dp came from a stack of calico prints by DCWV and I thought it was perfect!  My last touch was a hand tied bow of kitchen string.  Simple, quick and easy, and overall fun.  :-)


     Challenges:


     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Monday, February 3, 2025

Butterfly Kind of Day

      Is anyone else out there looking forward to spring?  Yesterday,  the groundhog said another 6 weeks of Winter but I'm thinking of spring and butterflies and buds on the trees.  This challenge inspiration photo from Inspiration Station pretty much says it all.  :-D

     A new challenge starts today and, as always, we give you a photo for inspiration.  You can do nearly anything but we do want to know how you were inspired.  Was it the butterfly?  The colors?  The season?  A memory?  Tell us and add your project to the link up for the entries.

     Here's my card ad I've already told you that the butterfly was my inspiration.  The image is a clip art photo, edited so that the background stayed pre-colored but the butterfly was gray scale, and I colored it with ProMarkers and gel pens.  I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, and added a frame made with pumpkin CS and trimmed to fit.  I layered that onto two pieces of kraft CS, added to diagonal corners top and bottom.  

     The plaid background dp came from a Recollections stack which has been in my stash almost forever!  I ran across the stack last month, hidden away in a craft room cabinet, and decided it was time to start using the papers before they got brittle and crumbled to bits.  :-D


     Challenges:

     Come play in our challenge, won't you?  We love being inspired by what you create and enter.

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

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:
Outlawz Friday (used blue)

     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

Monday, December 30, 2024

Holiday Party Time !

      A couple of days ago I did a post in which I mentioned a FB site where certain artistic people create AI clipart, often from specific requests made by members of the site.  It's called Free Printable Clipart and if you're interested, you can get there by clicking on the name above.

     I joined and have had a wonderful time browsing around and downloading clipart images I'll be using on my cards.  Today, I'm sharing two different cards which were made for neighbors who open their hearts and homes to the neighborhood for holiday parties each year.  

     Because I was making these cards more or less at the last minute (party is tomorrow night!), I chose to use the pre-colored version, exactly as I downloaded it.  But I've also used these clipart images printed in gray scale and hand colored by either my sis-in-law or me.

     I used scraps of dp for the background on this first card, carefully pieced together and the image was placed on an angle to cover a bare spot where one scrap was too small.  The image was cut with a Spellbinders die and I added silver and blue snowflakes.  The angel was in my stash of Christmas decorations, the only one I had left and it gave a bright spot of white to the card.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a small die from QuicKutz.


     The second card was also cut with a Spellbinders die and was framed with a scrap of deep blue CS.  The background dp came from an old K & Co stack and it has embossed holly leaves on it.  I added a die cut snowflake (Cottage Cuts), plus a wooden snowflake (Recollections) placed on top of it.  This sentiment was also printed and cut with a die from QuicKutz.

     Challenges: 



     Challenges:

     That's it for today.  Happy New Year to you and yours and may yours be safe and same.  NanaConnie

Monday, December 23, 2024

Christmas Girl

      For all my promises last week about having posts each day for the past 7 days, the "To Do" list just got the best of me and, even though I've been very busy creating in the midst of the Christmas preparations, I didn't have time to sit down and write posts.  But today, I finally finished the Progressive Challenge image from Moondrea Designs and I want to get her posted to the Challenge.

     I colored with my Ohuhu markers, then added Stickles to the holly leaves, the berries, and the candle flame in the lantern.  After it all dried, I cut the image with a Tonic Studios die, and decorated the corners with Fiskars and Uchida punches.  I framed the image with a die cut rectangle of green CS (Spellbinders die.)  The background dp is a scrap from the Christmas stash (probably DCWV) and the sentiment was printed and cut with another Tonic Studios die.


     Challenges:

     Hopefully, I'll have additional posts this week.  We aren't celebrating our Christmas holiday until Saturday when my college-attending, granddaughter gets home for her Christmas holidays.  Maybe I'll have posts all week long of Christmas cards I've made even though Christmas will be on Wednesday.  You won't mind, will you?  The Christmas holidays don't really end until the New Year, right?

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Saturday, December 14, 2024

A Farm Country Birthday

      When I think of farms and country living, horses always come to mind.  So when I saw the theme for our latest FarmQuest challenge, "Things Found in a Barn," I started looking through my collection of images for a horse.

     This gorgeous clip art image was colored with pencils, blended with gamsol, then cut with a die from Spellbinders.  The kraft CS frame was also cut with a die from that same set.  The plaid dp came from a DCWV stack.  I printed the sentiment, cut it with scissors to get that particular shape, and matted it with a scrap of kraft CS.  I used jute cord for the hand-tied bow.


     Challenges:

     I hope you're going to take some time in the midst of the crazy holiday rush to have some personal play time and we'd love it if you came and joined in our challenge.  Just find an image of anything you might find in a barn (animals, tools, vehicles, feed or hay, etc.), make a card or other project, and enter it into our challenge.  

     FYI, you MUST check out the FQ challenge post this time.  There are some incredible AI images available for you to use if you choose.  Becca did a great job of putting those together for all the readers.  :-D

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Friday, November 15, 2024

Red and White Christmas

      This is my second post today but I wanted to enter the November challenge at Conjuror of Dreams.  

      I love red birds in the winter!  They bring so much visual joy to an otherwise bland, some might even say bleak, landscape of leafless trees buried in snow and ice.  Today's card features a bright red cardinal clinging to a snowy branch.  It's a pre-colored image from Conjuror of Dreams and pre-colored always means a quick and easy card..

     I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, matted it with white CS trimmed to fit, and added the sentiment (cut with an Avery Elle die.)  The poinsettia dp originally came from a DCWV stack, but it was a left over scrap with a piece punched out of it from a previous project.  I managed to cover that hole with the image piece!  Waste not, want not.  :-D

     The snowflake embellies are from Jolee's, and this card took me just under 15 minutes to make.  How's that for quick?


     Challenges:

     That's it for today but I'll have another post tomorrow for another 30 Days of Holidays card.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, November 14, 2024

The Frozen Pond

      Once again, we start a new challenge over at FarmQuest and our theme this time is "Frozen Ponds or Creeks."  What a great idea for getting a few more Christmas cards into our stash!  I found this clip art image and was so impressed that I had to use it right away.

     The image was originally pre-colored, but I printed it in a very light gray scale and then used watercolors (sky and trees), alcohol markers (water and rocks), and gel pens (highlights on ice and snow) to put some color back into the scene.  Once colored, I used a large, square Spellbinders die to cut the image, then trimmed navy blue CS to make a mat for the image.

     The background dp came from a Recollections stack and I printed and cut the sentiment using an Avery Elle die.


     Challenges:

     Come play in our challenge this fortnight, won't you?  You can use nearly any outdoor, frozen scene you have and it'll fit the theme.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

30 Days of Holidays - "F"

      Back to Halloween for this card but on it, I used all Beccy's Place images and sentiment.  The 3 images and the sentiment are all from different sets but they merged perfectly together for a fun card for the letter "F."  The witch is a silhouette, the potion bottles were sized to hang on the wall (I drew in the shelf myself, that's not part of the image) behind the witch, and the frog was colored with pencils.  Of course, we reference the flying monkeys for one extra "F".  

     Once merged and colored, I cut the image piece with a Spellbinders die, and cut the corners with a Fiskars punch.  The mat behind the image piece was cut on my paper cutter and the corners were rounded with another Fiskars punch.  The card front is a piece of orange CS and I added the snippet bits of dp, all of which came from the scrap basket.  The tiny flying bats add yet another "F." 

     I love this card!!  It came together so perfectly and I hate that I have to wait almost a full year to use it but that's what I get for making Halloween cards in November.  :-D


     Challenges:
Make My Monday  (Do frogs & flying monkeys count? lol)

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Wheel in the Blessings

      Here it is, the first Monday of November and Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, at least here in the USA.  Once again, Inspiration Station has a new challenge and a new inspiration photo for you.  Find something in the photo which inspires your creative juices and enter a creation into our challenge before the end of the month.

     Here's the inspiration photo for this month: 


Here's my card.  I was inspired by the autumn colors, the pumpkin in the background, the leaves, and the overall harvest season feel.


     The image is from Jan's Digi Stamps and it was colored with a combination of Ohuhu and ProMarkers.  I cut the image using a Spellbinders rectangle die, then rounded the corners with a Fiskars punch.  The sentiment was also from Jan's Digi Stamps and is part of the set for this image.  I cut it with another die, this one from QuicKutz, then inked the edges before adding it to the image piece (which also has inked edges.)  

     The plaid paper is from a fabulous stack by DCWV, called very simply "Stack 9."  I can't even tell you how long I've had that stack but I found it when I was going through my stash of 12" x  12" papers.  It was in an overlooked plastic storage container, along with at least 4 other stacks, none of which had been touched in at least 3 years!  This one was in pristine condition with none of the papers ever having been used!   Sigh... yes, I do hoard and forget to use things.

     Note about Double Trouble  We're partnering with Double Trouble this challenge and if you do layers - at least 3 - and are inspired by our photo, you can enter both challenges!  I did 3 layers and was inspired by the photo, obviously.

     Challenges:

     Hope we see you playing long this month.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, October 24, 2024

All About Halloween

      I'm playing catch-up today because I haven't posted in nearly a week and because Halloween is only a week away.  I have three Halloween witches to share with you and one scared dragoon!  lol  Can dragons actually be scared of anything?  Let's see.

     This is another collaboration card (in fact, all the ones in this post are collaboration cards), with coloring by my sis-in-law, Lainy, and card making by yours truly. We found this silly image of a dragon hiding in a trunk on a clip art site and printed it for coloring.  Unfortunately, it was a very small image and when we enlarged it to color it, the image got a bit blurry.  We corrected as much as we could before printing but it's not really sharp.

     Lainy colored it using Ohuhu markers, then hand drew the spider and colored it with Ohuhus.  There is a string of web from which the spider is hanging but it's hard to see in the photo.  I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, inked the edges and layered it onto the embossed CS I selected for the background (Recollections.)  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  I added a wrap of glitter ribbon for a touch of sparkle.


     Challenges:

     This next card (our first witch for the day) has an image that's actually from a digital coloring book, reduced in size to fit an A2 card.  Again, colored with Ohuhu markers but a few details & highlights were added with gel pens.  Image was cut with a QuicKutz die, and matted with orange CS.  The spiderweb dp is from a Recollections stack and the bow was hand sewn, then 'dyed' with a marker, and a pearl was added to the center of it.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.


     Challenges:

     Second witch card, an adorable mouse witch, and this time the image came from a friend who printed it for Lainy and asked her to color it, so we have no info on the artist.  If anyone knows, please leave a comment and let us know because we love giving proper credit.  The image had been printed in grayscale and Lainy used colored pencils on it.  I cut the image and the black mat with Tonic Studios dies.  Sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die, then I added a mat of orange, hand trimmed to size.  The background was made with CS and a strip of dp from the scrap basket.  I tied the bow with a scrap of ribbon lying on the desk from another project.


     Challenges:

     This last witch is from my AuroraWings collection of images, and Lainy fell in love with her and her cat the instant she saw her so I printed it for her to color.  The black background is actually part of the image.  Lainy used Ohuhu markers to color this one, adding white gel pen to the whites of the eyes.  Once she finished, I cut the image on my Fiskars paper cutter, and matted it with white CS.  The sentiment was printed and cut with an Avery Elle die.  The background dp came from a Recollections stack and I added ribbon and a triple loop bow to the top of the card.  I love using ribbon because it allows me to make fancy bows with a shiny glow from the satin, unlike twine or cord which always seems flat or dull (but that works well on masculine cards, I guess.)


     Challenges:

     OK, now I feel like I'm getting caught up on posting and I'll try to have another post tomorrow,  
Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Trick or Treat Cats

      When I ran across this adorable clip art image, I just had to see how it would look printed in grayscale and colored.  That's exactly what I did!  I colored with Ohuhu markers, added white highlights to their eyes and collars with a gel pen, then cut the image with a Spellbinders die.  I used a Fiskars punch on the corners.

     Although it's hard to see in the photo, I used my Linen EF to emboss the background, charcoal gray, CS.  The sentiment was printed and trimmed on my paper trimmer.  I sewed the little bow and dyed it orange, using a marker.  Bows have to be my favorite embellishment, partly because it's so easy to use them as the only embellishment.  There's a tiny, half-pearl in the center of the bow.  Very CAS design.


I pulled colors from AAA Colourful.

     Challenges:

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Monday, October 7, 2024

Cockadoodle Christmas

      This is my second post of the day and it features my DT card for the newest challenge at FarmQuest Country Christmas.  This challenge runs from today through November 5 so you have plenty of time to enter.  Remember we always require a farm or country flair to your entries, and they must be for Christmas.

     When I found this clip art image of the rooster with his holly and the gingham ribbon he seemed perfect for a farmyard Christmas card!   I first printed the image in grayscale, then colored the image with Ohuhu markers.  I used a round Spellbinders die to cut the image. The sentiment was printed and cut using my Fiskars paper cutter.  The dp for the card front came from DCWV.


     Challenges:
Mirtillamente
SheepSki Designs

     Be sure to check out my first post today which is about the new challenge over at FarmQuest General Store.  We look forward to seeing what you create for either of those challenges.  

     Happy Crafting.   NanaConnie

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Field Mouse

     It's time for another challenge to start over at FarmQuest, where our underlying theme is always something "farm or country."  On top of that, we have a specific theme for each challenge and this time we want to see "Critters that eat grain" or something closely related to that.

     I searched my clip art files for something appropriate and came across this little mouse on a wheat stem.  What could be more perfect?  I had a lot of fun figuring out how I wanted to best display the image and finally decided to make the background for the image by water coloring some wheat onto water color paper, letting it dry overnight, ironing it flat (since it has a tendency to curl up while drying), and putting that piece of paper into the printer, then printing the clip art image directly onto the background.  I used colored pencils and white gel pen to add highlights and deeper color to the mouse.  What do you think?

     I cut the image with a Spellbinders die, matted it with some light brown CS, and trimmed that with my paper cutter.  I made the background by digging through the scrap basket and finding a couple of dp and a strip of reddish-brown CS.  I ran the strip of CS through my Linen EF, then layered all three scraps onto the card front.  The image went on top of those, as did the sentiment which had been printed, then cut with an Avery Elle die.


     Challenges:


     I hope to see you playing along in our challenge this fortnight.  There are so many options for you in finding a critter that eats grains; rodents, birds, deer, horses and cows, ... the list is endless!  Let your imagination flow and share with us what you create.  

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Friday, September 27, 2024

Birthday Card for a Leopard Lover

      Something a little bit different today, after a week of Halloween and Thanksgiving; a birthday card for a granddaughter who loves leopards!   No, not my granddaughter, but she is my grand-niece, she's my sis-in-law's granddaughter.  

     This is a pre-colored, clip art image, printed lighter and with the color saturation subdued by 40%.  It's amazing what can be accomplished with a little editing before printing.

     While I haven't yet convinced my SIL to get into the card making side of digital images, I did make her choose the shape of the card, the background dp (DCWV), and the ribbon (Place  & Time.)  We decided the birthday sentiment could go on the inside.  Image cut with Spellbinders die.  While I put the whole card together, the one part I chose on my own was the tiny, double layer, die cut flower which I layered on right where the ribbon ends meet.  I chose that instead of a bow.
     

     Challenges:
Outlawz Thurs (Jungle Book)

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Thursday, September 26, 2024

In the Pumpkin Patch

      Well, yesterday I shared a Thanksgiving card with you and today I've reverted back to another Halloween card, this one with an image from QKR Stampede.  Over the years that I was on the QKR Stampede DT, I'll bet I used this image every Halloween for at least 8 years (which is pretty much every year I was on the team!)  It's a favorite of mine but this time I get to share it as another collaboration with my sis-in-law doing the coloring of the image with Ohuhu markers and me putting the card together.

     The colored image was cut with a Spellbinders rectangle die but I rounded the corners with one of my Fiskars punches.  I did the same thing with the frame around the image, cut with a Spellbinders die and corners rounded with the Fiskars punch.  My sis-in-law loved the shape and asked me to cut more of her colored images that way when turning them into a card.  lol  She's getting hooked on the card making process, ... slooowly.  Just not yet ready to try her own hand at it.  

     (I made another card yesterday afternoon as a birthday card for one of her granddaughters but I made her choose the image, the size and shape of it, plus the paper for the background and all I did was choose one little embellishment.  Maybe I'll share that card tomorrow.)

     I used paper scraps which originally came from a Recollections Halloween stack to make the background.  I combined the two of them because neither was large enough to cover the entire card front but even with different size stripes, they worked together so well.  The sentiment was printed and cut with a small Tonic Studios die, then framed with a scrap bit of CS.


     Challenges:

     Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Fright Night

      One more Halloween card with images from Beccy's Place.  Each of these spooky cats is a separate image and I merged them before printing so that they became a single image.  

     Although they are silhouette images, I used markers to darken the printed version since it had faded out somewhat during the printing process.  I also colored their eyes green which actually increased the cats' "spookiness."  The sentiment is also from Beccy's.  Both the image and the sentiment were cut with Spellbinders dies.

     The two background papers were left-over scraps, originally from a  Recollections stack.  The spiderwebs are embossed for a bit of texture.


I based my card design on the sketch from Sketch Saturday.

      Challenges:

     That's it for today.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie