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

... And we have a WINNER!!!

Many thanks to all of you who participated in the Joy's Life Holiday Cards Blog Hop this weekend! The design team had so much fun creating special projects for this event in hopes of inspiring you to make your own greeting cards for this most beautiful season of the year. I call it the time of the 3 Fs...faith, family and friends... and for celebrating togetherness and thankfulness for the blessings we receive in our daily lives. We appreciate each and every one of you, and especially so because you took time out of your busy holiday schedules to spend a little time with us.

So, without further ado, I would like to announce the winner of my blog candy!! I know this is what all of you have been waiting for, after all!

I used random.org to choose one lucky visitor during the hop. Out of 28 wonderful comments, number 27 was selected as the winner!!! That's SUSAN, who said,

"Wow, you do beautiful work with Copics! I looked at some of your other cards too and you are very artistic! The blending of the blue sky behind the house is spot on and I love how you used the red to add contrast. Beautiful card! I'm a new follower!"

What a lovely compliment! Thank you so much for your kind words, Susan!  I will be contacting you through your blog but in case you see this first, I'll need your snail mail address so I can get your prize out to you! Congratulations!!!!

Again, I appreciate everyone's comment and I hope you enjoyed spending a little time with the Joy's Life Design Team this weekend!  I'll be back soon with more holiday-inspired projects.  Until then, have a blessed week.

Happy Crafting!!

Anniebee

Holiday Cards Blog Hop for Joy's Life!

Happy Friday, everybody!! Today, Joy's Life is hosting a blog hop with her Fall/Winter Design Team and featuring her brand new Wintery Puns stamp set! Each designer has created a holiday card using the new stamps and just wait until you see them! This set is so cute and is perfect for use on Christmas/Winter cards, layouts and other winter-themed projects. After having had a chance to use stamps from several of the sets Joy has available for purchase on her blog, I have to tell you that they are very high quality and the images they produce are crisp, detailed and excellent for all stamping applications.  

If you arrived here from Amanda's blog, you're in the right place. If you stumbled upon my blog by accident or just stopped in for a visit, you'll definitely want to start at Joy's Life so you don't miss any of the awesome projects created especially for this event by all of the Joy's Life designers. You'll also have a chance to win some cool blog candy along the way! And who doesn't love winning prizes?

My card features a rural homestead blanketed in the fluffy white stuff that makes wintertime so picturesque. I love this image from Delicious Doodles and it was so much fun to color with my Copics.  It doesn't show up very well in the photographs but I used a pearl glaze to give the snow that glistening appearance it gets when the surface gets just warm enough to melt ever so slightly and then refreezes.   

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but the greeting is heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

Here's how the inside looks. I used a different patterned paper to add more visual interest.  

Now for the really fun part! I have a little candy for one of my visitors during this hop so please leave a comment to be to be included in the draw. If you like what you have seen here, I would love to have you as a follower but it's not necessary to be eligible for my giveaway. I don't have a photo of my candy but it will include some stamps, ribbon, embellishments and whatever else I find to add to the mix before I let Random.org select the winner on Sunday. I'll leave the giveaway open until noon Central Standard Time and I'll post the winner's name on my blog. If you'll include your email address in safe Blogger format, I will contact you personally. The winner will have until December 9th to claim their prize.  If it hasn't been claimed by then, I will draw an alternate name.

The complete lineup is included below for your convenience. If you somehow get lost along the way, you can return here and follow the links to each designer's personal blog and pick up where you left off. I hope that you have enjoyed my little project and that it has inspired you to create your own holiday cards. Don't forget to check out all of Joy's awesome stamp sets on her blog at some point before the end of the hop.  Your next stop is the very talented Annette.

Joy: http://joyslife.com 
Amanda: http://www.whiteruffles.blogspot.com
Anne: http://anniebeescraftroom.blogspot.com (You are here)
Annette: http://www.aspoonfullofsugarcrafts.blogspot.com
Christine: http://www.stampynwifesspace.blogspot.com
Jennie: http://earthyscrap.blogspot.com
Maria: http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com
Martha: http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com
Melisa: http://melisascraftycreations.blogspot.com
Stacey: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com
Susie: http://www.thedieshaveit.com
Tracy: http://www.thepickledowl.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Until next time...

Happy Holidays!

Anniebee

It's Boys' Zone at Joy's Life today!

Yay! It's Wednesday and that means it's the day that Joy's Life Design Team posts their inspirational projects. This week is Team 2's turn to post and that means me! I always get excited when it's our group's turn because I get to create another fun project using Joy's awesome stamps! This week we were tasked with creating something for the boys and/or men in our lives. Normally, associate trucks, fast cars and football when I think of the guys but right now, it's deer hunting season in Texas and one of my brothers, my brother-in-law and one of his sons are avid hunters. As I'm an animal lover through and through, I can't pass up an opportunity to poke a jab at them for "shooting Bambi"! It doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to, mainly because they use whatever they shoot for food, even though I have never really acquired a taste for venison.

Anyway, long story short... I created this card for my brother-in-law and will give it to him the next time I see him. I'm not sure he'll appreciate the humor as much as I do but he'll just have to get over it! LOL I tried to keep it as masculine looking as I could with the plaid paper and brown ribbon.

As I often do, I left the inside blank until I can decide what I want it to say. I have a few friendship stamps but I'll have to decide which is the best fit for my brother-in-law and I haven't had a chance to go through them yet.  

Materials and Supplies:

Brown cardstock for card and mats - Core'dinations

DP - DCWV Halloween and Fall Stack

Image - Delicious Doodles (colored with Copics)

Greeting stamp - Joy's Life Wild Life Puns stamp set

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Leafy branch die cut - Sizzix 

Ribbon - my stash

Gold and white gel pens

I hope you'll take a few minutes and visit Joy's website to see the awesome project created by my very talented teamies and to check out all her stamp sets if you're not already familiar with them. They are super fine quality and so versatile. I think you'll love them as much as I do if you give them a try.  

Thanks for stopping by today. I should have another project or two ready to show you later in the week.  Last week was so busy with preparations for Thanksgiving that I didn't have much crafting time. So, until next time...

Happy crafting!

Two Michelle Perkett Mermaids for Color Me Creative Classroom Challenge

Happy Monday, everybody!  I promised you that I would be posting my final two entries for the CDAC Progressive Freebie challenge and so I will.  But first I wanted to show you a couple of cards I created for the Color Me Creative Classroom Challenge.  Because one of my Halloween cards was selected by the design team as one of their top choices, I was invited to be a guest designer for the current challenge, an honor I share with Angela Wood of Angelwood's Crafting Corner.

So without further ado, here are two cards I made especially cor this challenge, the theme of which is "Colors of the Sea and Sparkle".  Michelle Perkett Studio is the sponsor of the challenge and I was able to choose one of her wonderful digis to use in my design.  This lovely ocean dweller is called Tutti Frutti and with a name like that I had no choice but to make her colorful.  Well, I had so much fun with her, I colored her twice, first as a blonde and then as a redhead, and made two cards instead of one. Then I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I sent photos of both of them and they used BOTH!  How awesome is that?!?  I feel so special!

All of the materials I used were scraps and embellishments from my stash so I can't tell you where they came from.  The grass and vine die cuts were included in some swap items I received from one of my JustWrodz teammates.    The sentiment stamps is from the Joy's Life "You're So Punny" stamp set.  The tiny hook is made from a metal staple, believe it or not!  I just used some jewelry pliers to bend it into the shape I wanted.  It is suspended on a single strand of silver metallic embroidery floss.  I don't know how well you can tell in the photographs but Tutti Fruitti's tail is glittered with Stickles and then covered in Judikins Diamond Glaze.  I also used the Diamond Glaze to create the sparkly pearls in Tutti's hair, the little air bubbles floating up from the fishes' mouths as well as their eyes and pectoral fins.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.  I hope you enjoyed seeing these two projects.  I really enjoyed making them and want to thank Susanne, Charlene and the Design Team of CMC Classroom Challenge Group for giving me this wonderful opportunity to show off a little of my work.  Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

My Important News!!

Note: For my JustWordz Design Team Friday project, please scroll down to the next posting.

Hello again!  I have been chomping at the bit to share my great news with you but I needed to wait until I published my final project for JustWordz.  I also had to wait until Joy made the official announcement on her blog, which she did on Wednesday.

I am so thrilled to tell you that I have been selected for a position on the design team at Joy's Life!!! If you have a Cricut or Silhouette, you more than likely know Joy and are familiar with her website, her fabulous stamps and her wonderful paper creations.  Hers was one of the first blogs I discovered after I bought my Cricut and I have been a subscriber ever since, even though my die cutting has kind of taken a back seat since I got my Copics.

As a member of Joy's new design team, I hope to combine my passion for coloring with Copics with my love of electronic die cutting to present you with something of a hybrid approach to creating cards, layouts, mini albums and altered items.  I am itching to start creating new pieces with Joy's stamps and I'm also anxious to meet and get to know my new teammates.

I hope you will continue to support me in this new endeavor and that you'll visit the blogs of my "teamies" when we present our first projects in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, I will still be posting projects for the Paper a la Mode challenge at The Outlawz as well as other projects.

Again, I hope you are getting to enjoy the wonderful fall weather we have been having (it's about time!) and I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

Happy crafting!
Anniebee