A Little Break From Christmas Crafting

Hello, all of my wonderful readers! Christmas is upon us, being only a week away. It doesn't seem to matter how early I get started on my holiday crafting, I always manage to run right down to the wire every year! Maybe I subconsciously pace myself to finish up at the very last minute, or maybe I add to my to-do list without even realizing it. For whatever reason, I will probably finish up around midnight on Christmas Eve. LOL

I was commissioned to make Christmas cards for a friend's niece to give to her young children this year. She picked out a digi stamp from Saturated Canary for her daughter, who will celebrate her first Christmas this year, and a free Mickey Mouse coloring page for her son. I'll post them as soon as I know she has received them as I had to mail them to her in Michigan and I don't want to put them on my blog until after she has seen them. That just wouldn't feel right to me, even if she never saw them on here.

Well, I enjoyed coloring that SC image so much that I decided to do it a second time in a different color scheme for my December design team project for WOW Embossing Powders. The first one was done in traditional Christmas colors but for this one is, as you will see, I used soft baby colors. The digi is called Butterfly Baby and can be purchased in Krista's shop. Even though I used both pink and blue, I made pink the dominant color in the design, leaning more toward a baby girl than a boy.

As much as I enjoy crafting for the holidays, I was ready for a short reprieve from it. The funny thing about babies is that they arrive when they want to, regardless of what the doctors think (unless, of course, they are subject to scheduled C-section delivery). So the blessed event could just as well happen on Christmas Day as any other day, which means that this project is not really "out of season" as I see it.

I used only 2 WOW Powders on this card. The main one was Opaque Bright White Regular, that I used on the letters making up the word "BABY" and also on the sentiment on the inside of the card. I stamped BABY onto light pink cardstock, heat embossed it and then cut the letters apart so that I could mount them onto squares to resemble building blocks.

I used a RV02 (Sugared Almond Pink) Copic marker to color in the top half of each letter and that little bit of extra color really made the white outline pop and added some extra contrast. It doesn't show up very well in the photographs but I also used Neutral Ultra Shimmer powder on Butterfly Baby's cute little wings. It really makes them sparkle!

I think the paper is by K and Company but I don't recall the name of the stack. I love the pink/blue combination with just small pops of sparkly red here and there. I used a single blue rose and several baby pink Sweetheart Blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Below is a shot of the interior of the card, showing the sentiment embossed in the same Bright White powder. I attached the image, flowers and letter blocks to the right panel of the gate fold rather than the left because I wanted the flowers anchored securely instead of hanging off the edge as they would have been if I had attached to the opposite side.

I also traced around the left half of the image mat and letter blocks, then cut a shadow mat to go underneath them to give some extra support. This worked out quite well and is very stable.

Then I added 3 pink pearls to the upper right corner to balance the design.  That's it for today. Drop by the WOW Blog for more inspiration from my extremely gifted teammates. I have linked this card at the following sites:

Through the Craft Room Door - #49 Anything Goes

Artistic Insirations - #20 Anything Goes

Make It Monday - #120 Anything Goes (Linky Party)

I'll be back in a couple of days with some more Christmas-inspired goodies for your viewing pleasure. Until then...

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

Challenge Time at Saturated Canary

Hi, all you Saturated Canary fans! You're here just in time because today starts a new challenge on the SC Challenge blog! The theme this time is "All the B's" so you need to incorporate at least two items into your design that begin with the letter "B".  On my card, which features Krista's lovely Sisters Back 2 School digi, I used books, bling, blossoms, blue and blackboard.  I was going to include some buttons but I ran out of room! Go figure! LOL

This image, which I colored with Copics, reminds me of my sister and me when we were kids.  She was 6 years my junior and was always into my "stuff", flirted with my boyfriends and got me into trouble with our parents for getting mad about it! LOL Even the hair colors match! We didn't like each other very much (though we always loved each other as siblings) until we became adults. I lost her to breast cancer 2 years ago and I miss her so very much still.

I just love this image and even though I realize I'm a little late with the back to school theme, I just felt compelled to make this card.  I really like how it turned out.  Sadly, this will be my last challenge with Krista's team as my time as guest designer draws to an end.  I am really going to miss it but I'll be entering the challenges just as I did before I was invited to join the team for the summer.  I hope that I have, in some way, inspired you to join the fun at Saturated Canary Challenge Blog.  And don't forget to use your B's! Now, while you're all enamored with Krista's awesome artwork, why don't you mosey on over to the challenge blog and see what the other designers have created.  I have seen their projects and they are fabulous!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Blog Quick Quotes Friday Challenge #19 - Cards

Thank you sooo much for dropping in on me today.  I always appreciate your feedback and will try to answer any questions you may have if you'll put them in a comment for me.  Be kind to each other and have a great weekend! Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

A New Saturated Canary Challenge

Hello, friends! Well, I find myself apologizing once again for being absent for an extended period of time. In case some of you haven't been following the chaos in my life, I am preparing to move. My granddaughter has been here for the past 2 1/2 weeks helping me clear out some stuff, hold garage sales and pack for the move. It's amazing to me how much one can accumulate in a mere 15 years but I am determined to downsize drastically before I leave here so that I don't have to put tons of stuff in storage. In light of these facts, I'll tell you now that I will likely be absent off and on until I get relocated and settled into a new place. But I will be around and even if I'm not posting, I do check my blog for comments and I visit my bloggy friends as time permits. Just try to be patient with me and I'll be back full time as soon as I can close this chapter in my life.

Okay, now that's out of the way, I have a new card for you! Yay!! It's time for a new challenge at Saturated Canary. As you know, Krista was sweet enough to ask me to be a guest designer on her challenge blog for the summer, along with the very talented Denimo (Denise).  I have been having so much fun coloring her awesome digis and in case you weren't aware, she just released a new batch last Friday.  All of her new designs are adorable and there are even a couple of early fall/Halloween digis among them.

The newest challenge, for which I had the pleasure to choose the theme, is "The Great Outdoors".  The idea is for you to make a card or other project with an outdoor theme.  You can use any of Krista's images as long as you comply with the theme.  Here's my example.

You may have noticed that I include at least one butterfly on nearly all of my projects (unless I'm making it for a guy, of course!) so this image was the perfect thing for my project.  Isn't she adorable with her butterfly net?  

I loved the combination of the shades of salmon, soft pink and green in the patterned paper which is from DCWV's Mariposa stack.

I colored the flowers, which are climbing up a ribbon trellis, with Copics to match the colors in the paper.

And here's the inside of the card.

So there you have it! I hope you'll find time in your busy summer schedule to join in the fun and create your own project for this challenge.  It's perfect for summer, camping or any other outdoor scene.  

I'll be back on Sunday (if not sooner) with another project for the new challenge at Kenny K's Krafy Krew.  Kenny has a new release out too so if you haven't checked out his latest images, you'll definitely want to do that.  Some of them are really different and they are all fun to color!

So... until next time, my lovelies...

Happy crafting!!

Anniebee

More Exciting News!!!

Hello, friends!  I don't have a project ready to post today but I have some very exciting news to share with you.  I received an email from Krista Smith of Saturated Canary last evening telling me that I had been selected to be a guest designer on her design team over the summer months!!!  I was just floored at the news because there were 78 entries by some extremely talented colorist who applied and only 2 spots to fill!!  I feel extremely honored to have been selected and I look forward to working with Krista's wonderful designs as well as her team of fabulously talented designers.  You can read the announcement here and see the card I submitted here.

If you have visited here at all in the past couple of months, you know that I am a huge fan of Krista's art so if you, too, are enamored by her whimsical characters, you can look forward to lots more projects from me using her adorable digis.  And if this isn't enough good news, I have even more.  Krista has a new release of digital images that will be available to purchase from her shop on Wednesday!! She posted a couple of sneak peeks on her blog this past week and they are awesome!  I'm anxious to see the rest of them.

Okay, that's about it for now. I promise to have a new project in my next post, probably tomorrow or Wednesday.  Thank you all for your continued support and all of your lovely comments.  Without you, I wouldn't be here and I definitely wouldn't be designing for Saturated Canary, Kenny K (who has also released a new digi collection called "Myths and Maidens") and WOW Embossing Powders! Until next time...


Happy crafting!
Anniebee

A Boy's Birthday Card

TGIF, everybody!! If this year keeps cruising along at the speed it is now, it won't be long before we're thinking winter holidays again! Personally, I would rush it just a little more as I have a hard time tolerating the summer heat here in Texas, even though I have lived here my whole life.  I also hate shelling out $300-400 each month for electricity, trying to stay cool!  If I could afford to, I would retire to a little cabin in the mountains, I think.

Anyway, there's a brand new challenge at Saturated Canary and the theme this time is red, white and blue.  I have used Krista's cute Basketball Boy to create this birthday card.  It's always easier for me, as I think it is for many people, to make stuff for females so I like to challenge myself whenever I get a chance to make something for the guys in my life.  My grandson turned 11 in May which was before I made this card but I made him a cute one with a football player on it.  Since he plays football it was really more fitting for him anyway, though I just adore this cute little guy!

I {heart} all of the Saturated Canary images but I think this is my favorite boy.  I'm not sure I succeeded but I tried to saturate the color on his uniform to make it resemble the shiny satin-like material often used in making such garments.  I love the expression of concentration on his face as he shoots the hoop. I just KNOW he makes that basket! LOL

I used white paper and red ribbon to make the stripes on the card. I believe the paper is from DCWV's Summer Dreams stack. All of the lettering was done with stickers, except for the #1 on the inside, which was done with stamps.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Saturated Canary #20 - Red, White & Blue
Card Makin Mamas #48 - Color (Red, White & Blue)
Delicious Doodles #22 - 1,2,3 Recipe - 1 image, 2 kinds of bling (stars & circles), 3 ribbons (the red and white stripes) or 3 colors (red, white & blue)
Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge #65 - Boy Attitude
The Poodles Parlor 6/15/12 - Red. White & Blue
Delightful Challenges 6/20/12 - Anything Goes
DYSU #77 - Inspired by a Movie (Like Mike- 2002)

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and that you manage to sneak in some time to be creative. Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

More Saturated Canary Bookmarks/ Tags

Hello, all! I think we all have friends who are avid readers and there are times when a small, inexpensive gift is called for.  In such cases, I like to give handmade book marks sometimes accompanied by a reading light.  You know, the kind that clips on to the book itself?

Here are some cute bookmarks I made for a recent challenge at the Saturated Canary.  I made several and chose the one I liked best to enter into the challenge.  These were the rejects, though I really like them all.  I just liked these a teensy bit less than the one I entered. These would make cute gift tags too with different sentiments, of course. All of the images are by Krista Smith. It's probably pretty evident that I have an unabashed adoration of her adorable characters and for that, I make no apologies! LOL! She has a new release coming out next Wednesday and I can't wait to see the new digis!

This is the front and back of the first one.  

I didn't photograph the back of this one because it is unadorned. 

And here's the third one. I entered this in the Copics/Promarkers challenge at The Outlawz where the theme is favorite color combinations.

Today's post is short and sweet.  I have some errands to run and phone calls to make today before I go to a flute concert at the local library this evening.  My brother-in-law's fiance is playing with her flute group.  I love flute music... well, to be more accurate, with only a very few exceptions, I love music... period!

I'm going to have a rather busy weekend so I don't know yet if I'll have time to post a new project but I'll try.  So, until next time....

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble....

Good day, everybody! Well, I took a day longer than I had anticipated but I'm back with something that I think you'll enjoy and that will likely be totally unexpected. This card is just a tad out of season but at the rate this year is flying by, it won't be long until we're all thinking along these lines.

I got this image from Saturated Canary a while back and have been dying to color it but just didn't seem to be able to get around to doing it. Well, I finally did and I even went ahead and made a card out of it right away rather than adding it to my stash of colored images. Yay for me! LOL!

As you can tell, it's an easel card. I combined Krista's precious little witches with a crescent man in the moon stamp from Stampin' Up that I've had for years and never inked it up. I stamped it on some shimmer cardstock and colored it with Copics, then added some tiny rhinestones for the stars. I think it goes perfectly with this eerie trio and it gave me an opportunity to do some shadowplay with my coloring.  The lighting is a little bit wonky on the second pic for some reason. If I get a chance, I'll get a better photo and replace this one.

I love drama in art and one of the best ways to accomplish that is with shadow and light. They create a mood that is difficult to achieve any other way. If you look at some of my Halloween cards from last year, you'll see even more dramatic shadowplay than what I used here. I don't know how well you can see them in the pics but there are a couple of silver skeleton leaves behind the playing card, which I used to allude to fortune telling and other mystical, magical things. I also added a metal skeleton key to the greeting that I mounted on top of an accordion-folded rosette.

I even decorated the back side of the card. I started doing this with easel cards not long ago, when I noticed that when you place them on a desk, many times the back side of the card is what's showing to visitors.  

When you open the card, the inside is also covered in paper and provides a nice big space for writing a personal message if desired. I'll probably add a Happy Halloween stamp to the inside at some point. 

So, what do you think?  Did I catch you off guard with this one?  If you have been visiting my blog lately, you know that I've been on a Saturated Canary kick for a while.  I just adore all of Krista's images and with this card, I am applying for a guest designer spot on her challenge blog during the summer months.  That sounds like so much fun to me and it's not as long a commitment as most regular DT terms! Whether or not I'm selected for one of the 2 openings, I had a ball with this little project and I already have a head start on my Halloween cards for the coming season!  

Thanks for visiting me today.  As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.  I'll have some more Saturated Canary for you tomorrow and then I'll try to give you another break for a day or two.  So until next time, have a lovely week and...

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Fat Pages and Cards With Attitude #16 - Anything Goes

ATCs and Cards With Attitude #16 - Anything Goes

Clear It Out Challenge 6/19/12 - Anything Goes (with 2 or more ribbons) I used Trick or Treat ribbon on top of 2 strips of orange ribbon. It looks like 1 piece but it's really 3.

Creative Card Crew #13 - Easy as 1, 2, 3 (I used one image, 2 chipboard flourishes and 3 flowers)

Shopping Our Stash #56 - Stuck On Stickers (the playing card behind my image is actually a large sticker)

A & T Digital Designs #7 - Bingo (I used ribbons, die cut and glitter)

Little Miss Muffet Challenge #37 - Loads of Layers 

Oozak Challenge #3 - 2 Patterned papers and embellies 

Happy Birthday!

Hi, everyone! I'm a little late posting today so I'll get right to it. I have another Saturated Canary card for you today (didn't I warn ya? LOL).

This little cutie is called "Priscilla Pie". I have used a monochromatic color scheme this time, with the primary color being various shades of purple. I making such projects occasionally though I really prefer using lots of color in my projects.

Adorable little Prissy is colored with Copics, of course! The patterned paper I used is from DCWV's Modern Bouquet stack. I used one of Martha Stewart's  punches to make the double layered butterfly in white cardstock and vellum and the greeting is stamped onto a label made using a Nestibilities die. The little flowers, which were originally white, are from Recollections and I colored them with 2 shades of purple Copic markers to coordinate with my design. The self-sticking rhinestones are also by Recollections. The "Celebrate" die cut was made on my Cricut machine.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

TBD

That's it for today! I'm keeping it short and sweet for a change. I'll be back tomorrow with a clean and simple wedding card featuring yet another of Krista Smith's little lovelies. Until then...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

A Krista Smith card using WOW Embossing Powders

Well, I finally got the photos taken and edited of all the cards I made over the past couple of weeks so after this holiday weekend, I'll be posting them (hopefully every day or two) until they are all here.

This first one is an adorable image drawn by my favorite, Krista Smith, and colored with Copics. I just love her big glasses! They make her look so studious, don't they?

I kept the design simple as I wanted this little cutie to be the center of attention. I used WOW Embossing Powders for the greeting (Primary Ebony) and the edge of the image die cut (Metallic Gold Rich Pale Regular). I used Diamond Glaze on the lenses of the glasses to give them the semblance of glass.

I love this net ribbon in pale turquoise. I can't remember where I got it but I have used in on several projects that I'll be posting over the next week or so. I warn you though, I have been on a Krista Smith kick lately! I just love coloring her little Ragamuffins.  

If you aren't familiar with her work, you must check out her shop called Saturated Canary. She also has a challenge blog as well as a personal blog and she's very sweet to deal with.

And here's the inside of the card. In case you're having trouble reading it, the sentiment says "Life is nothing without friendship". Isn't that the truth? That's all I'm showing you today but check back on Tuesday for another new card. I'm also planning a giveaway for next month about which I'll be posting details next week as well.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Oozak - #2 Spring Colors
The Outlawz Copic/Promarkers Challenge - Anything Goes


Thanks for visiting my blog today. As always, your comments are encouraged and welcomed. I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and family this holiday weekend. Don't forget to pause for a moment of silence in honor of the men and women who have selflessly given their lives to help maintain our freedom. Happy Memorial Day, everybody! Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

WOW DT Project - Birthday cards in Valentine's Day colors

Okay, so Valentine's Day has come and gone again.  But February is the month of love and I have a couple of cards I created for birthdays but I used the traditional colors of Valentine's Day!  Several of my family members have February birthdays so I was tickled pink to have received this assignment for the WOW Embossing Powders DT because it enabled me to accomplish two tasks at the same time.  That doesn't happen very often.

My first card was made in the typical red, pink and white color scheme.  It also contains many of the things I adore... butterflies, flowers, little girls with big eyes and polka dots! Oh, and how could I forget pearls?  This little sweetie pie is a digi stamp created by one of my favorite artists, Krista Smith of The Saturated Canary.  Krista sells her digis in her Etsy shop and some of her designs are also available in rubber through Simply Sassy/ Sugar Nellie.

The WOW Embossing powders I used on this card were: Cable Car Red, Metallic Gold Rich Pale Regular, Metallic Gold Rich Ultra High and Clear Gloss Regular. As you can see, I even embossed the fabric flowers and they look so cool with the gold tips on their petals.

My second card uses the slightly less traditional palette of pink purple and gold.  Once again, the image is from the pencil of Krista Smith.

I haven't quite decided on the sentiment for the inside but I have to make up my mind very soon as I plan to give this one to my niece for her birthday tomorrow.  The powders I used on this one were Earthtone Grape, Metallic Gold Rich Pale Regular, Metallic Gold Rich Ultra High and Clear Gloss Regular.  These powders are so much fun and I love experimenting to create different effects I get when I use different techniques on them.  For instance, to create the effect I achieved on the butterflies on the second card, I used the Grape powder on purple Shimmer Cardstock by DCWV and held my heat gun very close to it to cause the bubbles/ little white spots.  Then I applied Versamark to the outer edges of the wings and dipped them in the regular gold and then did the same thing with the Ultra High Gold and heated them as I normally do.  And isn't this little fairy just picture perfect?  The greeting was done with a glitter gel pen by me.

That's all I have for you today.  I'm working on some altered projects and have plans for a mini album as soon as I get the time to work on it,  I hope you have been participating in our week-long blog hop over on the WOW blog and that you're keeping up with leaving comments on all the designers' blogs to make you eligible for the prize or prizes that will be given away at the end.  Thanks so much for visiting.  If you like what you see, I hope you'll consider becoming a follower.  Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

Joy's Life DT Project - "Doilies and Glitter"

I just realized that I forgot to post the project I created for Joy's Life this week!  Agh!  I must be more tired than I thought!  Group 2 was given a theme of doilies and glitter, which are two of my favorite design elements.  So I created this cute card using one of Krista Smith's digi stamps which I colored with my Copic markers.

I don't know how well it shows up in the photos but this card is really sparkly!  The designer paper, which is from DCWV's Mariposa collection has gold and copper glitter and I added iridescent glitter to the doily too.  It is mounted onto a red textured foil mat and then onto the card face.  I really love this one and will have to figure out who on my list is worthy of such a creation. LOL!  The sentiment stamp I used is from Joy's Life All Around Sentiments stamp set which you can purchase here.

That's it... short and sweet, right?  I wish you all a very happy New Year.  Until next time...

Happy crafting!