Dreaming Tree Fleurette Card with Copic Makers

Like a wildflower, you must allow yourself to grow
in all the places people thought you never would. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

While searching in my Dreaming Tree svg library for a project for my friend's birthday, which resulted in this fun taqueria treat box, I realized that I have tons of beautiful svg's there just vying for my attention.  I found this darling girl called Fleurette and went to work creating a spring card for my daughter's April birthday.  

Dreaming Tree designs are always super clever with lots of incredible details.  This cute girl has many layers which fit together nicely and create amazing dimension.  As a Copic colorist, I prefer to cut the smaller shapes out on white card stock and shade with markers.  In this case, I started by shading the clothes, sun, background flowers, and hair layers. I removed the original cuts for the face in the svg with the contouring feature in Cricut Design Space, to create a smooth surface for me to draw and color her features. I then drew simple facial features with a pencil and shaded the face, neck and arms in flesh tones. I replaced the original flower dies with several small ones from my stash, mostly from my Spellbinders collection.  And, as always, I added small gems and pearls for extra personality and sparkle. 

Nothing is more enjoyable for me than creating with die cuts and zhuzhing them up with Copic coloring and fancy embellishments. I love taking a wonderful design from Dreaming Tree and using my own style to make it uniquely mine.

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply)

Playing along with:

Passion for Markers Challenge 734

Try it on Tuesday - Rainbow Colors

Unicorn Challenge #97

A Place to Start April Challenge

A Perfect Time to Craft Challenge #4

Classic Design Challenge #3

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #75

613 Avenue Create April Challenge

Dragonfly Dreams April Challenge

Craft Rocket Challenge #113

Spellbinders February Large Die of the Month - Floral Bunny Basket

God's love is wrapping all around you, whether you notice it or not. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

I absolutely loved ushering in the delights of spring with this adorable February Spellbinders Large Die of the Month set.   It's called Floral Bunny Basket and is so amazingly sweet with its textured basket, layered tulips, plump carrots and darling rabbit.  Who doesn't love an adorable bunny butt!!! 

When I imagined the tulips for my basket, I had in mind this fabulous tulip quilt in beautiful bright printed fabric from one of my favorite designers.   I decided to experiment with some of my designer paper pads and create some paper "quilted" tulips. I always enjoy paper piecing and I really like how they turned out.  I added faux stitching to the edges with a black micro pen to carry on the stitchy vibe.  

 

A vellum butterfly, mini dragonfly and gold metallic bow add a little extra personality to my spring scene.  And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without  my usual gems for added sparkle.

The recipients of these cards will be two dear friends, one of whom is obsessed with bunnies. I think this one will definitely make her smile.

I hope I have awakened a bit of your spring spirit, even if you're like me and there's still some evidence of a hard winter outside.  It's a bit rainy here in the desert today and there's new snow on the mountains,  (eek!), but the buds are blooming on the fruit trees outside my window and soon spring will burst through like it always does.  Happy Easter, everyone.

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply)

                                                                  Playing along with:

Allsorts Week 772

Cut it Up Challenge #299

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #253

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #591

The Paper Funday Challenge #63

A Place to Start March Challenge

Make My Monday Challenge #221

A Perfect Time to Craft Challenge #3

Daisy Chain Challenge #83

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #74

Classic Design Challenge #3

Oh Puhlease Bee My Honey - Spellbinders LDOM Honey Pot

I make art to show my soul that I'm listening. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

I'm not even a little bit disappointed that I joined the Spellbinders Large Die of the Month Club. I've only been a member for a few months, but I have been thrilled with every set that lands in my mailbox each month.  What's not to love about a surprise package of delightfully detailed dies showing up to spark my creativity. 

The January die set is an adorable layered honey pot that comes with a cute detailed bee (with legs, for Pete's sake) and pretty spring flowers.  It's a large size so it fits my usual 5 x 7 card base perfectly with room for a sentiment.  I created my punny sentiment in Cricut Design Space using the writing feature. The curve feature enabled me to match the shape of my honey jar perfectly.  Yeah, I love my Cricut! 

Most of the flowers here were included in the die set, but I created some variety with a few flowers from other Spellbinders sets. I'm really appreciating the versatility of  Spellbinders flowers because the layers give them dimension, but not so much that they get squished in the mail.

I presented this card to my hubby for Valentines Day and he didn't even flinch at the flowery aesthetic.  Maybe it's because he used to be a florist and knows that colorful flowers are for everyone or maybe it's because he knows a card created by me will probably have some girly zhuzh.  Either way, I give myself permission to glam up my cards, regardless of gender, because I gotta be me. 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply)

                                                                Playing along with:

                                                  

                                            Creative Knockouts Challenge #515

                                                         Sisterhood of Crafters - LOVE

                                              Try it on Tuesday - Hearts and/or Flowers

                                                              A Perfect Time to Craft #2

                                                             Ally's Angels Challenge #79

                                                      Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #1

                                                                Daisy Chain Challenge #82

                                                                Critter Crazy Challenge #83

                                             Die Cut Divas - Non Traditional Valentine Card

                                                           Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge # 73

Flapper Emma - Pink Gem Designs Digi

 Be okay with not knowing for sure what's coming next, 
but know whatever it is, you will be okay. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

Yayyyy!  I'm basking in all the wonderful creative vibes swirling around Nannyland after my surgery last week and it's absolutely blissful. It's so good to shut the world out and imerse myself in a wonderland full of positive possibilities.  I haven't colored for a while but I'm feeling my mojo slowly returning and I think a Copic session would perk me right up.  Until then, I'm happy that I saved this elegant lady I created before my surgery to bring on some springtime cheer.

This adorable image from Pink Gem Designs is called Flapper Emma. I used a complimentary yellow, lavender and aqua pallette to create a bright, vivid design.  After adhering my Copic colored image to my embossed  Anna Griffin oval frame,  I added some pearls and mounted it on a yellow  5 x 7 card base.  The pearl and gem studded flowers adorning Emma's hat and frame are from Spellbinders.  Purple and gold gems trim her hat band and necklace.  I found the perfect gold sentiment in my stash to complete the layout.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that creative, happy thoughts work hand-in hand with lifesaving drugs and are a very important part of healing.  How blessed we are as makers to have access to this restorative and envigorating tonic.  Let the creative revival begin.

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply

Playing along with:

A Place to Start April Challenge

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #108

A Gem of a Challenge Wk 8

Crafty Calendar April Challenge

Craft Rocket Challenge #102

Creative Inspirations Challenge #1

Creative Knockouts Challenge #492

Worldwide Crafters and Colorists Challenge #4

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #4

Classic Design Challenge #4

Fairy of Spring in Prismacolors - Molly Harrison Digi

My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, 

who made mistakes, but recovered from them. Bono

Molly Harrison digi, Prismacolor pencils, gold leafing pen, Spellbinders frames,
beaded swirls, assoirted flowers, yellow glitter card stock

Hey there,

I was thrilled when Santa brought me the whole gigantic set of 150 Primacolors and I couldn't wait try them on one of my girlie digis.  Although I am obviously obsessed with my Copics,  I was excited to try a new medium and learn some untried skills. Kit and Clowder classes are the way to go for me, because I can watch a step-by-step video and learn visually.  I chose  THIS gorgeously detailed Molly Harrison image for my first attempt because, well, she's so pretty. 

Pencils are literally a whole new ball of wax for me.  They take much more time and patience than Copics but I love all the amazing detail I can achieve.  I was in the "zone" for hours trying to smooth out the tooth in my paper after lightly applying endless layers of color.  I didn't think I needed to brush the flakes off my work periodically, and I was sorry I didn't heed Alyce's warning.  Who would think pencils could get messy and out of control!  But, in the end, I'm happy with the results of my first venture and I'm ready to give it another go.  

It's exhilarating adding  a new tool to my artistic arsenal and I feel energized now to push my boundaries.  I'm determined to practice with my pencils until they become second nature to me...however long that takes! 😊

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and expand your horizons with a new skill.

Nancy

Playing along with:

A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #1

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge #83

Classic Design Challenge #1

Die Cut Divas January Challenge

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #1

Addiected To Stamps and More Challenge #396

ttcrd Challenge - January 5

Make My Monday Challenge #139

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - Pears and/or Gems

A Place To Start Challenge #1

Before and After - Penny Black Vintage Stamp

No matter how long the winter,

spring is sure to follow. 

Penny Black vintage stamp, Tonic Flip Card die, flower and butterfly dies,
white gel pen, lace sticker trim, mounting foam tape, Nuvo drops, designer paper

Hey there,

The blessing of extra time in my craft room lately has meant going down memory lane with some boxes of my very old card creations.  I've kept a few of my originals because I wanted to revisit some of my favorite vintage stamps and do a "before and after" project just to see how far I've come.  I've been stamping since 1995, so things have changed a lot since then. I remember when the advent of heat embossing rocked my world.  This little cutie from Penny Black has always been one of my favorite stamps, and I was excited to dust her off and color her with some pretty pastel copics for spring.

I felt a little constrained because I couldn't size her like I do my digi stamps, but  her smaller size made it possible for me to put her on this  fun flip card with a fancy border that's perfect for some spring blossoms.  

I added the slightest hint of a smile to her face because she's eyeing a pretty butterfly and is obviously delighted to have picked the most humongous flower in the garden. The butterfly and small flowers are die cuts and the flower centers are Nuvo drops.  I also added white gel pen dots to her dress and Stickles to the center of the large flower and the small flower print on her dress. 

I haven't chosen the recipient of  this card yet, so I added a more generic sentiment, but one that I think goes with my image.  

Yikes, here's my first card created almost three decades ago!  What an enlightening and encouraging exercise to document my progression. Time flies and our skills...and tools.. improve. I think I colored her with water color pencils, which I thought were the greatest invention known to man at the time. And a paper crimper was a must in any crafty tool kit. As for embossing folders, well they weren't even born yet.

I challenge you to do a "before and after" yourself.  I'll bet you have some cards you'd like to update with some new techniques and modern savvy. And you probably have a little extra time, for now. 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and make something old new again and see how far you've come..

Nancy

Playing along with:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - March

Retro Rubber Challenge - Tic Tac Toe (bottom across)

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #627

                                                   Sisterhood of Crafters Spring Challenge

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge - March

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #116

Stinkin' Inkers Challenge - Pastel Palette

Unicorn Challenge #52

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #382

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #128