WOW Embossing Powders DT Post

Hi, everybody!

I know I haven't posted in a few days and there's good reason for it. I have been working on Christmas gifts and cards as I'm sure many of you are and I have also been working on come commissioned work. This is my favorite time of year but it sure gets hectic here toward the last couple of weeks before Christmas. I still have cards to mail out that haven't even been made yet! Yikes!

Well, this is the week that the 6 Girls and a Smoking Gun team get to present our team projects for WOW Embossing Powders! I really enjoy our team efforts as we're given fairly specific assignments or at least specific themes we must use in creating our projects and it's always fun for us to see what our teammates have done. This time, we were supposed to create some type of holiday themed ornament, treat cone or something along those lines and I chose to make a lovely Victorian-inspired treat cone.

I tried to use papers and embellishments that remind me of that period in history.  I think I may have mentioned before that I used to craft antique reproduction porcelain dolls from that era so I am fairly familiar with the types of decorations that were used.

I created the template for this cone myself as I couldn't find one I really loved online. The top of each panel is rounded (you can see it better in the next photo), though I made a second template with flat tops for the gents and to use with different types of trimming. The poinsettia/berry spray is by Petaloo and the red velvet ribbon is from my stash.

The various embellishments I used were from different manufacturers including K & Company, The Paper Studio, Studio 112 and Recollections.

The papers are from DCWV's Holiday Collection a couple of years ago. The little pearl strings are a by-the-yard trimming that I purchased at Jo-Ann some time ago as well.

I really love this ornate cross, which was created with a rubber stamp I got from Michael's. I used Metallic Gold Rich Pale Regular, Sierra Sunrise, Tea Garden Green and Neutral Ultra Shimmer powders to create this one of a kind treat cone. The lace I used around the top is very expensive silk lace that has been in my stash for several years and was perfect for this little decoration so I decided that the time to use it had finally arrived.

If you're still making Christmas projects like I am, be sure and stop by the WOW blog to see the beautiful projects created by my talented teammates. I haven't seen them yet but I have no doubt that they are fabulous, as always.

Have a marvelous weekend. My son and I are going to see the first installment of "The Hobbit" tomorrow night and I can't wait! I have been a huge fan of Lord of the Rings since I was in high school and that's a very, very long time! LOL I think Peter Jackson has done a fabulous job of bringing the characters and tales of J.R.R. Tolkien to life on the big screen.

I am entering this project in the following challenges:

Really Reasonable Ribbons - Challenge #62 Anything Goes & Ribbon

Well, that's all I have for you today, folks. I'll be back soon with a few more holiday cards and possibly another cone or two (or more)! Thanks for visiting my blog. I value your comments so please feel free to tell me what you think. Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

I'm baaack! With a new DT project for Kenny K's Krafty Krew!

Hello, friends!

If you are still hanging in here with me, you probably already knew that I would be MIA for a while as I just moved back to the Houston area a few weeks ago and am finally back in my craft room. Well, more accurately, I actually HAVE a craft room now! It took a little while after my relocation to find all of the boxes that contained my crafting supplies and get it organized and put in place in the new space but I'm back now and have I ever missed my paper crafting! Yay!!

I'm a little late posting this and for that I apologize. As my luck seems to go all too often these days, right after I posted my project on the Krafy Krew blog, my internet service went down and I was without access from Sunday evening until this afternoon. That prevented me from posting to my personal blog before now.

My first project is for the new challenge at Kenny K's Krafty Krew for which the theme is "Anything But A Card". I made a gift tag using Kenny's brand new digi called "Bow" (the adult version). She is available for purchase here. What a sexy gal she is too, don't you agree? I don't know many guys who would/could refuse a gift like her! LOL  In case you weren't aware, Kenny just released several new designs, most of which are for the upcoming holiday season. "Bow" is just one of those new designs. Even if you don't have the supplies or time to color your own version of Bow (as well as 5 other Christmas digis), you can purchase the pre-colored versions which can be cut out and popped right onto your tags or other holiday projects.

This is the back side of the tag. I used WOW! Embossing Powders in Black Glint on the front greeting and in Metalline Green on the back. The image is colored with Copic markers.

Again, I am thrilled to be back in the craft room and creating again. I missed you all very much. It's my hope that nothing else happens to keep me away again for a long while. I just don't function well at all without my creative time. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you'll visit again soon as I have many things planned for the approaching holidays. So, until next time...

Happy crafting!!

Anniebee

The end of 2011, my last two Christmas cards and a couple of announcements!

Well, tomorrow is New Year's Eve and the last day of 2011. Can you believe it? I can't! I have to say that this year has been something... not all good but certainly not all bad either. Finding myself without a job has presented a fair amount of problems, to be sure, but I have managed to stay in my house and keep my car and for those two things, I consider myself fortunate. Many people have not been quite as fortunate.  My hope for the new year is that our nation's leaders will learn to work together to do what's best for this country and its citizens... ALL of its citizens! No doubt it will be a long, hard road for all but the wealthiest among us but the people of this great land have always been resilient and we must find a way to weather whatever storms may come on this road to recovery. Sadly, we aren't the only nation that has suffered economic struggles and my prayer for the world is much the same. That countries around the globe learn to work together to bring peace and harmony to our lands and that we as the citizens of this planet find ways to repair the damage that we have done to it over the past couple of centuries so that it will survive for our grandchildren's grandchildren.

On a happier and crafty note, I have been blessed to be part of some incredible design teams this past year and beginning in 2012, I will be part of a new one... for WOW! Embossing Powders!!! This is the secret I have been hinting at over the last couple of months and I can finally say it! Suzy West, who many of you already know through your ties in the crafting world, has created her own line of embossing powders as an extension of the WOW brand and they will become available to you in the very near future. They are being debuted at Winter CHA and many members of the design team have been busy as little bees creating beautiful projects to show them off. Due to a prior commitment, I won't have anything at CHA this time but as the term for the team is a full 12 months, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities for Summer CHA as well as other trade shows and events. As you can see from the picture at the top of this post, they come in some very yummy colors. I haven't had a lot of time to play with them yet but that time is coming so look for them in my upcoming projects! I am so excited and honored to be part of the WOW! Design Team and you won't believe the incredible talent! You will probably recognize many of the names and faces.  In fact, when you have a few minutes, I would love for you to visit our new WOW DT Blog!   

I apologize for not posting as frequently lately. Between the holidays and other previously mentioned commitments, I just haven't had the time to spend writing blog posts and even creating new projects as I did even a month ago. I have been crafting but I haven't been able to post those projects yet because they are for a guest designer spot I'm doing for Quick Quotes Scrapbook Company next month! If you have not yet visited their blog, it is awesome and they have some extremely talented designers on their team. I have been participating in some of their challenges over the past few months and was ecstatic when they invited me to join them for the whole month of January! What an honor! And they sent me a whole box of their beautiful papers and other products with which to create my projects for their blog! I have had so much fun playing with this stuff, I can't even tell you! I hope you'll check them out and that you'll visit their blog frequently next month to see the pieces I have made with their product and maybe even participate in their challenge. They give a fantastic prize to one of the participants in each challenge so it's truly worthwhile to enter.

If you're still with me, I appreciate your stamina! I also want to show you the last two of the Christmas cards I made for this year before it is gone forever. These are the two I mentioned in a previous post that are alike in design but different in color scheme. Since I have rambled on so long, I am going to cut to the chase here.

So these are my last cards for 2011. The images, as you can imagine, are by Phee McFaddell and were colored with Copics. The patterned paper is by DCWV and the cardstock is by Paper Studio. That's all, folks! I wish each and every one of you a safe and happy New Year and I hope you'll continue to follow me on my new adventures in 2012. Peace out, and until next time...

Happy crafting!!
Anniebee

Joy's Life Family Time Design Team Project

Hi, everybody!  I am sorry to have been MIA for so long.  Something came up over the past couple of weeks that I can't really talk about just yet.  For now, all I can tell you is that I was selected for another design team that will start crankin' next month!  It's a great opportunity for me and my term with the team will last a full year!  Woohoo!!!  I'm very excited and can't wait to tell you about it but I have to wait for the okay before I can say any more.

In the meantime, I have been trying to catch up on my Christmas card making and working on a project for Joy's Life.  This week, Group 2 of Joy's Design Team will be featuring projects made with a family theme.  I actually made 2 projects that kind of go together.  You'll see what I mean when you see them.  There are quite a few pictures so get comfy!

The first one is a Christmas-themed layout.  The photos I used are of my sister, Patty's, family that were taken on Christmas morning of 2009, her last Christmas on this earth.  I know some of my regular readers may get tired of reading this but since I have quite a few new followers, I guess I should explain that Patty lost her 6-year battle with stage 4 breast cancer in May, 2010.  I treasure all of my pictures of her and since Christmas was her favorite holiday, I thought it would be a nice way to remember her this season.

The patterned cardstock is from K and Company as are the chipboard embellishments.  The photo mats are made from foil cardstock by American Crafts that I punched with a border punch from ek Success.  I outlined the patterened paper shape with green Stickles to add visual interest and also to make the layout look more "finished".

I love this big red and white striped bow made from ribbon I bought at Michael's.

I made this festive wreath using Martha Stewart's medium branch punch which is becoming increasingly hard to find.  I punched the branches from 3 different shades of green cardstock and adhered them one by one to a 2D wreath template and adorned the finished product with different colors of round gems, some holly from K and Company, a bit of organza ribbon and a poinsettia from Petaloo.  

The stamp I used for this layout is from the Joy's Life Wintery Puns stamp set that can be purchased on Joy's website.  The tag was created with a Spellbinders Fancy Tags die and the same green foil cardstock I used on the photo mats. 

My other project is a Christmas card that I made using one of the same photos I used on the layout.  

The patterned cardstock I used on this one is from a DCWV Holiday Collection paper pack that I bought from Hobby Lobby last year and the ribbon is from Michael's.

 

The stamps I used on this one are from Joy's Everyday Occasions and Holiday Occasions stamp sets and can be purchased from her website.

I am entering this layout in the following challenges:

Quick Quotes Friday Challenge #9 - Christmas

That's all I have for you today.  I hope you were able to glean some bits of inspiration from these projects. I'll be back with some more Christmas cards later in the week. So, until next time...

Happy crafting!!!

Anniebee

New Projects for Round 6 of the CDAC Progressive Freebies Challenge (cdacpc6)

Good Sunday morning to you all!  In two days we'll be at the mid-point of November and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Right on its heels comes Christmas and New Years so we are already at the beginning of the busiest time of year. With that in mind, some of the awesome digital artists have given CDAC images for the participants in their Progressive Freebies Challenge to use in making Christmas cards and other projects this round. If you recall, in the last round we had some Thanksgiving and some Christmas images and they were all really cute! But I like the set of images even more than the last ones. I enjoy making my own Christmas cards so this challenge suited me to a tee! As I have done before, I will post 3 projects today and two tomorrow.  My posts will be short (after this one!) and I won't list the materials and supplies I used on each card so save you from having to scroll through it each time.  As always, if you have any questions regarding a card, just leave me a comment with your question included and I will get back to you with the information you need.

To start things off, I am going to show you  a cute little gift bag I made with the image by Designed 2 Delight.  It's an adorable polar bear sliding down a snow hill on his/her rump!  So cute!  I colored the image with Copics and used it to decorate a gift bag.  I thought it turned out really cute.

I am going to get some tissue paper that matches the pretty pale turquoise of the ribbon but I haven't had a chance to shop for it yet. The front of the bag as well as the snowflake charm are covered completely in silver glitter and the circles on the bow are white iridescent glitter so this little bag, which measures approximately 10" by 7", really sparkles in the light.

Okay, Project 1 complete!  Please stand by for Project 2... I'll be back in a flash!

Aside from the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge, I am entering this card in the following challenges:

TBD

Anniebee

Another New Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz and the kickoff of the 1,000 Member Party has begun!

If you're looking for my entry in the Sweet Magnolia Rose Honey Bee's Corner Color Challenge, click here.
If you're looking for my JustWordz Design Team Friday post, click here.
If you're looking for my 4th entry in the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge, click here.
And for my 5th entry in the CDAC challenge, click here.
_______________________________

Oh, my gosh!!! It seems like I have been taking pictures and typing blog posts all day long! I already posted 2 entries for CDAC's Progressive Freebies Challenge, an entry for Sweet Magnolia Rose's first color challenge today and now it's time to post my project for the Paper a la Mode challenge at The Outlawz which went live at midnight. It is now 12:26 CDT and I'm still typing! Can you tell that I love my craft? LOL

Because we are celebrating reaching our 1,000 member milestone in a huge way beginning Sunday at midnight, we decided to make our regular challenge easy and fun for everybody. The theme is Anything Goes!  Yippee! So I made a tag with a winter holiday theme. This is a large tag, approximately 5 1/2 inches long and 2 3/4 inches wide. So without further ado, here it is!

The winter fairy image is another of Phee McFaddell's that I love so much and I colored it with Copics!  Phee is one talented artist and I am so glad that I discovered her coloring pages and other illustrations as they have provided hours and hours of coloring entertainment for me these last few weeks.

The base tag I used is manila cardstock and I covered both sides of it with dp from K and Company.  The snowflakes were from a purchase I made last year of supplies for making Christmas cards and I can't remember where I got them or who makes them though I am pretty sure that the white ones are by Dress It Up.  I added a little bit of Stickles behind the fairy figure but I'm not sure how well it shows up in the pictures.  I also fastened an assortment of ribbons and fibers through the tag hold by looping them instead of tying them and added the silver metallic letters to the back to spell "Let It Snow!".  Other than coloring the fairy, this was a pretty quick and easy project and I think the results are more than worth the effort.  I enjoy making tags just to work on something other than cards and layouts.  It's about time to make another mini album too.

I am entering this tag in the following challenges:

Pollycraft Monday Challenge #112 - tags and bookmarks

Well, that's about it for this week's challenge.  Be sure and join us at The Outlawz for opportunities to participate in all of our fun activities and win some really cool prizes.  I sure could use one of those $100 gift certificates!  Several of my Copics have run dry and I need more ink!  Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

Christmas in July Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz.... a Christmas wall banner

Happy Saturday, everybody!  This sweltering summer heat is about to do me in so today, I'm bringing you a project with a winter theme.  In keeping with the promotions that many businesses are currently doing, the theme of this week's Paper a la Mode challenge at The Outlawz is Christmas in July.  I was looking forward to this one as a means to provide a little mental relief from the unbearable heat wave and drought we've been experiencing.  It has been over 100 degrees for the past 21 days and I think I may melt if we don't get some relief soon.

This wall hanging/banner is made of chipboard plaques covered with scrapbook papers in different holiday patterns and embellished with felt flowers, pearl flourishes and paper shapes.  The basic pieces were a kit that I won as candy from a blog hop last year (I can't remember who the sweet blogger was who sent it to me but if she sees it, I hope she'll refresh my memory!) and I only recently put it together and added my own personal touches.

I think it turned out very pretty and has a bit of a vintage feel to it.... not 1800s vintage but maybe mid 20th century, if you know what I mean.  I love the colors.  After making this one, I'm in the mood to do some Christmas crafting and I'm thinking I might make more like this using different shapes, holiday words and paper patterns.

The individual panels are attached to one another using Hang-It-All connectors from Zutter, the company that makes the Bind-It-All.  These little do-dads are aresome and sooo easy to use and I think they give the piece a finished appearance.  Plus I like the fact that it can be easily taken apart and stored compactly.  The paper ornament haning from the bottom is a cut from Cricut's Christmas Solutions cartridge, which is now retired and is attached to the bottom connector with a red velvet ribbon bow.  I'm considering taking this back off and glittering it to make it look more like a tree ornament.  I colored the pearlflourishes on the "J" and "Y" panels with Copics to make them pop.  I also used the chisel tip end of a W-5 Copic to enhance the shadow created by the letters, which are embossed using the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder.  I added a thick layer Crystal Glitter to the branch on the "J" panel to give the effect of snow.  It's hard to see in the photos but it's very sparkly!

I hope you'll visit The Outlawz to see what other cool challenges are going on right now and perhaps even to enter your own creations.  You have to be a member to enter but it's easy to join and you can quit if you ever decide it's not for you.  There is a different challenge for each day of the week and the prizes are awesome!  We'd love to see you over there.

So, that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  As always, your  comments are welcome and appreciated.  Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to enter the JustWordz Stamps giveaway!  Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee