I just received my first blog award!!!

Oh, my gosh!!!  I am so excited!  I have only just been initiated into the wonderful world of blogging and I have already received a blog award!  How cool is THAT???  My new crafting friend, Paula, over at Craft With Bee bestowed this honor on me.  Thanks so much, Paula!  This award comes with a few rules though and I will do my very best to comply with all of them.

This award was created for bloggers who have fewer than 300 followers, but still put a lot of love and heart into their work. Now I have to pass along this award to 3-5 other bloggers who I feel deserve this award.  Here are the rules of The Liebster Blog Award. It is given to bring light to new blogs and it's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be seen or ones you want to share with others.

As a recipient you must share the love and pay it forward by:
1-Creating a post where you blog about the Liebster award & reveal your 3-5 blog picks
2-Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog
3-Copy & paste the blog award on your blog
4-Have faith that your followers will rally & show their crafty love back out to those you awarded
5-Have fun!


Okay, here it comes <drumroll, please>!  The blogs I have chosen to receive this most prestigious award are:


Create Serendipity
Highland Eyes
Especially For You Cards
Paper Pearls
Sandra's Handmade Craft House

I wish I could have shared this award with several others but the rules say I can select no more than 5.  So ladies, I'm counting on you to pay it forward.  You all deserve this bit of recognition for the awesome work you're doing!

Have a glorious day!
Anniebee

And Now For Something Completely Different...

I thought I would share something different with you today.  I'm not really a scrapbooker but I have created a few pages over the past year.  Most of them have been given to family members as gifts and alas! I forgot to take pictures of them before I gave them away.  I do have a couple of pages that I managed to photograph however.  The one I'm showing today is the first page I made and as you can tell, the photograph is quite old.
This was my younger sister, Patty, on her wedding day in 1978 at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth.  I have always loved this picture of her.  She and I mixed like oil and water when we were kids but over the years, we became best friends and when I lived in Houston during the 23 years of my marriage, she was the one who came to visit me regularly.  She was my crafting buddy in addition to being my BFF and confidante.

Sadly to say, I lost her in May of last year, less than a week after my birthday, 3 days before the 9th anniversary of my mother's passing and 9 days before the 7th anniversary of my father's passing.  Patty lost her 6 year long battle with breast cancer and I still haven't gotten over her loss.  Sorry to be a little nostalgic here but I think a little history is called for in this instance.  Anyway, because I love this picture so much, I decided to use it as the subject for my first layout.

The background paper is by Karen Russell for Creative Imaginations and as you can see from the second photo, it was originally a black line drawing on a cream colored background.  I decided to color in the floral motif using Prismacolor pencils (this was before I got my Copic markers) to bring out the red rose my sister is holding in the photo.  I'm not sure how well this detail is captured in these pictures but the coloring really changed the overall look of the layout.  Red is not a color usually associated with weddings, other than Christmas weddings that is, but I wanted to accentuate it in this layout so I used touches of it in the flowers and in the paper strip design on the left side.  My Cutter Bee Circle Scissor was used to cut the circle a little over half way around and then I used a very sharp craft knife and detail scissors to cut out the background around the floral motif so that the picture would show behind the cut outs. Another circle, about a half inch smaller in diameter was cut and placed behind the page to create the red frame for the photo.  I used glass pebbles and rhinestones for the centers of the flowers, added the tiny pink rhinestone heart, journal tag and if you have checked out my post from 2/24 you'll recognize the title, "Always and Forever" which I cut on my Silhouette.

And here's how it turned out:

It's much prettier and the colors are more vibrant than the picture shows.  I thought it turned out pretty well for my first attempt.  Thanks for looking.  I look forward to reading your comments.

Have a fantastic week!
Anniebee

Three Cards Using the Same Stamp

I'm so glad it's the weekend, even though I have plenty to do to keep me busy.  The sun is shining and it's delightfully warm outside.... time to start cleaning up the yard for Spring!  I really hate yardwork but it has to be done and there's no one here to do it but me! LOL

Today, I thought I would do something a little different and show you three cards I made using the same rose stamp by Inkadinkado, but colored differently. When I first got my Copic markers, I went crazy with them trying out all of the 144 luscious colors!  I ended up with all these roses.... some looked great and some not so much.  Of the dozen or so I colored, I think I kept half and tossed the rest.  I decided to use the keepers in my card making.  These are some of the ones I created this past week for my card stash.  I really dislike needing a card at the last minute and having to rush around to get one made, or even worse, going to the store and buying one! Yikes!  I haven't actually bought a card in two or three years though so I guess I'm doing pretty well.  I won't finish the insides of these cards until I decide who the recipient of each one will be so I can match the sentiment to the person.

Up first is a birthday card that could be used for a male who enjoys gardening or, at least, is secure in himself but generally speaking would probably work best for a female.  When I was employed, I made birthday cards for all of the people in my department and this would have been perfect for my boss or a co-worker.  The base is cardstock from Core'dinations, background paper is from Basic Grey's Porcelain Collection, the sentiment is by Rubber Stampede, wet embossed in gold, and the satin ribbon is from my stash. I also used some green cardstock from the Shimmer Stack by DCWV and beige cardstock from Recollections for layering.  The pearl accents are also from Recollections.  This card is entered in The Paper Variety's "Let's See Your Green" challenge.

Next, is a thank you card.  The pastel lavender base is a card from a value pack I purchased from Jo-Ann's, layers are a shimmery lavender cardstock by Core'dinations from their Gemstone line, white cardstock from Recollections and striped cardstock from K & Company's Amy Butler Designer Mat Pad. The "thanks" stamp is from Hampton Arts, also embossed in gold, and the vellum butterfly sticker is from K & Company. The punch I used to make the tag is one of Martha Stewart's Around the Page corner punches.

Finally, is a verrrry feminine friendship card.  The pink base card is from the same Jo-Ann's Value Pack, the metallic gold textured cardstock is by AC Specialty Papers and the flowered cardstock is from Basic Grey's Porcelain collection.  Can you tell I like that collection? The little bit of bling is from K & Company (the color is slightly off in the photo)  and the ribbon is from my stash.   The sentiment stamp is by Stampin' Up!

I don't know if you can tell from the photographs but the rose is recessed on the second and third cards.  I did this by using Pop Dots to raise the top layer instead of actually cutting a hole and recessing the design behind the base card.  I think this makes for a cleaner design and is easier to deal with in case you make a mistake.  It also allows you to write on the inside of the card if you want to.  I usually adhere a folded piece of white, cream-colored, or coordinating pastel paper or thin cardstock (cut to size) inside the card, especially if the base card is a darker shade.  I stamp the inside sentiment on this paper instead of directly onto the card.  Examples can be seen in yesterday's post.

I hope I have inspired you to create your own stash of cards and to use those stamps you have been collecting all these years.  I know some of you probably have a much larger collection than I have.  I would also like to give a big thank you to those of you who have decided to follow my new blog!  If I haven't already done so, I will pop by to say hello and to return the favor as soon as I have a chance.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Anniebee  

Happy Friday and a couple of Greeting Cards

Happy Friday, everybody!  As promised, I am sharing a couple of greeting cards I made this week using a stamp set called "Down on the Farm" from A Jillian Vance Design.  They feature stamped images that I colored using Copic markers.  I love, love, love these markers!  They require a little practice to use but the alcohol inks blend so nicely and they come in a huge variety of colors, they are well worth the effort.  I just think they add a lot of punch to to my projects.  Both cards are 5"x7".  I made the first card for my son's birthday, which was on the 22nd.  It was a little late but he works offshore so he wasn't home to receive it on his birthday anyway.   The sun stamp is by Stampendous, the card is from one of Jo-Ann's Value Packs, the background paper is by K & Company's Que Sera Sera collection, the glitter cardstock is from DCWV's Citrus stack, the ribbon is from Michael's and the "You Are My Sunshine" stamp on the front is from Jillian Vance.

The second card is meant to be an inspirational card for a friend or family member but it could also be used as a sympathy card.  The stamped image of the bible is from Inkadinkado, the chocolate cardstock is from Core'dinations, the gold cardstock is from AC Specialty Papers, the background paper is from Basic Grey's Porcelain collection, ribbon is from Michael's dollar bin, the dimensional cross stickers are from Recollections and both of the sentiment stamps are from Jillian Vance.  The border punch used on the inside is by Martha Stewart Crafts (I love her punches!).

For some unknown reason, Blogger refuses to post the picture of the front of this card at the correct viewing angle!  Argh! I have tried everything I know how to do and it just isn't working for me.  I hope this doesn't detract from the overall effect.  The images of the first card posted correctly so I'm not sure what the problem is but if I can figure out how to change the orientation, I'll correct it.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Anniebee

Altered Picture Frames

Good morning, everyone!  This week has really flown by... I can't believe it's already Thursday.  I spent several hours Tuesday and Wednesday creating a bunch of new greeting cards using stamped images that I colored with Copic markers and some adrorable sentiment stamps from a Jillian Vance Design.  Her stamps are made of high quality material and are a dream to use.  I'll be posting some of the cards later but, in the meantime, I thought I'd show you a couple of wooden frames that I altered last week.  I picked up the "naked wood" frames at Michael's several months ago for $1 each.  I needed a wedding and baby gift in a hurry but as some of you are aware, I am currently unemployed so the gifts had to be inexpensive.  Fortunately, the intended recipients appreciate hand made items!

I covered the frames with patterned card stock and adhered it with Aleene's Tacky Glue (in the copper-colored bottle).  It works great for this purpose. The paper on the wedding frame is from DCWV's Luxury Stack and on the baby frame I used some cute paper that I found at Big Lots last summer.  I can't remember if it had a name.  When I was fairly sure the glue was dry, I added the embellishements; rhinestones and pearls for the wedding frame and glittered Grungeboard letters (by Tim Holtz) spelling out the new baby's name that I mounted on 1 1/4" cardstock squares.  The "Always & Forever" is cut on my Silhouette in red, gold and pearl white Shimmer cardstock also from DCWV using the normal, shadow and blackout layers.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Silhouette, the individual images are purchased and downloaded to your computer from their online store.  Unlike Cricut designs, you buy only the images you want instead of having to purchase a whole cartridge.  The images can be manipulated in several ways similar to those used by the Cricut.  Silhouette also offers a couple of different subscriptions that entitle you to either a fixed number of images each month or unlimited designs.  The second option is really the best deal if you do a lot of die cutting but since I use both machines, I only purchase the images I need for whatever project I'm working on.  That way, I'm not paying for something I'm not using.  They have some really wonderful designers but as with most things, there are pros and cons to each of the machines.  I happened to really love this "Always & Forever" design and all three layers were included in the cut file so it was well worth the 99 cents I paid for it.

Because these little frames don't come with glass inset, I took the little cardboard inserts and covered them with matching cardstock and tied a pretty ribbon around them and used stickers to put the recipient's names on them. The reason I did this was so that when a photo is placed in the frame, the cardboard insert can be reversed so that the decorated side shows when you look at the back of the frame.  You can also use them as templates for trimming the photo to fit properly into the frame.  I probably should have painted the wood before I covered the frames (I definitely will if I make more of these) but I was rather pressed for time.  I discovered though that the paper actually sticks better to bare wood than a painted surface.  Therefore, it's really only necessary to paint the back side of the frame and the wooden peg that acts as the easel to stand the frame up.

They were fun, relatively quick to make and I was happy with the results.  I hope you enjoyed today's projects.  Feel free to email me with any questions you may have.  Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

Anniebee

Hello and Welcome!

This is my very first post on my very first blog and I would like to welcome all visitors to Anniebee's Craft Room.  As I am brand new to the world of blogging, I am going to start out simple and hope that my entry looks the way I intend it to look.  Soooo... here goes!

Because I have been spending every spare minute cleaning and organizing my garage, I haven't really had much crafting time lately so I'm starting with a project that I created a while back.  It's a word book I made for my niece for her high school graduation last year.  I'm sure most of you have seen albums like this before but just in case, each page is a letter in the name of the recipient.  In this case, the name is "Kirsten", whose nickname is K.C.

.  I started with a baby picture and progressed through her childhood and into her school years and ended with graduation.  The base pages are fairly thick chipboard and covered with patterned scrapbook paper and cardstock and then embellished with die cut designs, frames and embellishments that coordinate with the themes of the pages.  I used Cricut Design Studio to design the shape of the pages; the rectangle part from George and Basic Shapes and the letters from Storybook.  I had to multi-cut several times, even with the deep cut blade and housing, and then finish cutting with a very sharp craft knife.  I used very fine grit sand paper to finish the edges.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this little gem.  I was very happy with how it turned out and Kirsten really loved it.  Your comments are welcomed and if you like what you see, I hope you'll visit me often.  I'd also love it if you'd consider following me.  I plan to post a couple of projects a week until I get into the swing of things.  Thanks so much and have a great week!