Best Friends...

Are you ready for a new card?  I found this image, as with many others I have used in my card making, at Mo's Digital Pencil.  This one, which I colored with Copics, is called Buds g (I'm assuming the "g" stands for girl because there's another image just like this one only the child is a boy.)  I just thought this was so sweet and because I'm such a big animal lover, I just had to have it.  When I was a very young child, my parents had German Shepherds.  One of the dogs, a female named Fritzi, was my best friend and "babysitter".  She watched me and my younger brother like a hawk and wouldn't allow anyone near us that she didn't know.  She kept us away from the street, the fireplace and floor furnace and would grab our father's arm and hold it in her mouth if he tried to spank us!  I loved that dog! LOL!  This cute dog reminds me so much of Fritzi, even though they are obviously different breeds.

 

All of the cardstock used for the card base and mats are by Recollections. I edged the yellow with a pink pigment ink pad.  The DP is from Basic Grey's Lemonade collection.  The mat on the front was made with Nestibilities Lacy Squares and the border on the bottom photo was made using a MS punch.  The greeting stamp is from a jillian vance design stamp set.  Ribbon is from my stash.  Pearls are from Recollections and the little heart puffy sticker as well as the butterfly and circle flower sticker were part of some blog candy I won in a blog hop.

That's it for today!  As always, I appreciate your visit and hope I have managed to inspire you in some small way.  Have a wonderful weekend and until next time....

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

My last entry for the Summer Party at The Outlawz

Well, it appears that summer is here to stay for a while... a very loooonnng while! Ugh!  Beginning in June of each year, I wonder why it is that I choose to live in Texas! This year summer arrived a couple of weeks early and has brought with it temperatures in excess of 100 degrees! The heat kills me and I really should move to the mountains somewhere. I actually would seriously consider relocation if I could make a living in the mountains but seeing how much trouble I'm having finding a job in a place as big as Dallas/Fort Worth, I imagine there are slim pickin's in more remote locations.

Anyway, I have a summer-inspired card for you today. The theme of the Copics/Promarkers challenge at the Outlawz for this week is summer backgrounds. I took what seemed like an eternity to decide what I would do because I didn't have any summery background stamps. I also didn't have any summer photos around which I could build a layout. So I started  by going through my many stacks of paper, looking for something that I could at least work with. Time was growing short if I wanted to enter the challenge so I had to get moving.  Fortunately I stumbled across a paper that looked like water in a swimming pool, all turquoise and ripply. I thought that would be perfect to use for a summer background but I didn't have any pictures, digital or otherwise that would go with a swimming pool or water in general so I started looking for a digi stamp I could use. I found the cutest little beach baby named "Kai" and I knew instantly what I would do. So without further ado, here's what I came up with.

Kai is from the awesome pencil of Mo Manning. He's playing in the sand on the beack and has his sand pail and beach ball with him. I love creating the illusion of dimension in my projects so I paper pieced little Kai's feet, hat and one forearm. I also used Diamond Glaze on the water, the adjacent sand, the beach ball and bucket to make them shiny. 

I nearly forgot to mention that I created the beach by tearing 2 layers of thin tan cardstock and colored the edge next to the water with a Copic marker a shade or two darker than the paper itself so that it looks wet. The tufts of grass are also drawn on with Copics. It's not really an authentic representation but it's close enough to suit me.
 

The sentiment (on front and inside) is also from Mo Manning and comes with the digi stamp called "Wonder" that I used on the card I posted on Wednesday of this week. I thought it went very well with this image as well. I cut it out and colored it with pigment ink to give it the mottled appearance so it would look kind of like the water, then covered it with Diamond Glaze.

Here's the inside of the card.  

I was pretty happy with how it turned out after all the deliberation I did in the beginning.  As stated, I am entering this card into the Copics/Promarkers challenge at The Outlawz. I need to get this posted so I'm not going to give the details here but you can email me or include it in a comment if you have any questions.    There are still a couple of days left to vote on the entries for Jillian's Birthday Blog Hop and I would appreciate your vote if you haven't already given it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

TGIF! Man, it sho' is HOT in Texas!!!

Alright, what's up with this heat??? It has been close to 100 degrees all week and we should be in the mid to high 80s right now!  I really don't need this... I really don't. But Mother Nature seems to be upset lately for some unknown reason and is lashing out at us.  And not just those of us in Texas, but all around the world!  Between the flooding, the fires and the tornadoes, I'd say Mother Nature is winning the battle and will likely win the war in the end!

Well, this little guy sure knows how to stay comfortable, doesn't he? And he doesn't mind sharing with his best buddy either! I think he has the right idea myself. I'm thinking about bathing the dogs this evening and then just turning the water hose on myself! I wonder if the neighbors would think I had a screw loose, not that I have ever been very concerned about that! LOL  This little boy is another character from the Digital Pencil of Mo Manning, if you hadn't already guessed.  it's called "It's hot"!  Go figure!  I was in search of a good image to use on my entry for The Outlawz Summer Party greeting card challenge and I thought he fit the bill perfectly.

He's colored with Copics, of course, and is partially paper pieced and popped up on pieces of foam tape so that his legs and the dogs head appear to be hanging over the side of the little pool. I don't know if you can tell from the photos but I used Diamond Glaze on the water and the glass in the swim mask to give them the shine they needed.  I think the dp came from the Best of K and Company stack but I used a leftover piece from my scrap box so I'm not positive of that.  The cute turquoise and yellow ribbon is from Michael's and the Hello and water spurt dimensional stickers are from 2 different sets from Momenta.  The corner punch I used on the inside mats is from Stampin' Up.  All of the solid color cardstock and glitter cardstock are from DCWV Mariposa collection, another of my many favorites from them.

I hope, if it's hot where you are, that this cute little boy and his dog have caused you to smile and made you feel just a tiny bit cooler.  Thanks so much for visiting me today.  I'll be back tomorrow with another card for your viewing pleasure.

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

Another Mo Manning Cutie and great news!

Good morning, my crafty friends!

I'm bringing you another adorable image from Mo Manning today. This little sweetheart is called simply, "Strawberry Girl". Isn't she sweet? She's dressed in her little white cotton sun dress and sandals (they're really flip flops but sandals sounds better!) and carries a little strawberry-shaped purse. I actually made two of these in slightly different colors but I;m only going to show you one for now. This one is another easel card, which is one of my favorite style of card to make. I like them because they have their own built-in display mechanism, as do several other fancy fold cards.  

 

I'm so sorry but I forgot to write down what stacks I used for the dp but if you're interested, drop me a note and I'll find out for you. The greeting is from Jillian Vance, whose birthday we're celebrating with a blog hop next week. (there's a button on my blog with the dates of the hop). I hope you'll come hop along with us.  If you aren't already familiar with Jillian's stamps, you can check them out on her website, A Jillian Vance Design. This young lady will be 12 years old on her upcoming birthday and has her own stamp line and makes her own videos! I wish I had been as industrious and ambitious when I was her age. 

And now for my good news. I just joined The Outlawz challenge site and entered a couple of my cards in their challenges. Well, one of my cards is being featured in their gallery right now and I won the top prize for May, a $50 gift certificate from Oozak!!! I'm tellin' ya that the good Lord is looking out for me. I was out of several colors of Copic ink and wasn't sure how I was going to be able to buy the refills. Lo and behold, I won a gift certificate to an online store that carries Copic products AND they are on sale! As if that's not good enough, they have free shipping on orders over $50.! I just can't believe my good fortune! So I ordered 9 bottles of refill ink and a couple of other items and my order came to $52 and pennies. They shipped it USPS Priority Mail the same day so I should have it no later than Saturday. Can I hear a hallelujah? So I'll be back in business by the weekend.  I did a happy dance all day yesterday.

Okay, that's about all I have for today.  I hope you all have a blessed Thursday.  Thank you for dropping by today.  I'll be back tomorrow with another card that I'm entering in the Outlawz Summer Party greeting card challenge. I hope you'll come back then to see what I have made.  

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

Card 7 Already! Woohoo!!

I definitely am on a roll here! I know it's hard to believe but this is the 7th card I have posted in 6 days! and I'm still doing a little crafting too. I'm normally not one to toot my own horn but I'm pretty pleased with myself. Haha! It does help immensely to have a bunch of cards done up in advance but it's the same amount of work either way... a little at a time or all at once. As I may have mentioned before, when I get into a creative frenzy, I have to give in to it and allow my muse to have its way. If I don't, it could pass quite suddenly and not return for a while. Besides, it gives me a huge sense of accomplishment to have a whole big stack of cards and/or other projects completed all at the same time.

Today, I have another of my favorite images from Mo Manning. This one is called "Abby Celebrating" and I thought the greeting stamp I used was appropriate. I have never seen a happier little girl than our Abby and I would love to feel that kind of happy abandon again. It has been a while since I felt even complete contentment and that's in large part due to the employment situation, I think.  But it's not something I did to myself and I am actively seeking new employment so I have to trust in God to fulfill his plan for me, whatever that is. Seeing Abby happy makes me makes me smile though and I hope she'll make you smile too.

Deets:

Base card is lime green textured cardstock from DCWV's Citrus stack, dp is My Mind's Eye Home Glitter Book. The double border was made with lime green glitter cardstock using a MS deep border punch. The ribbon is from my stash and the greeting stamp is part of a Fiskars clear stamp set called Make A Wish Quotes. Inside sentiment is by Inkadinkadoo and the border was made with the border punch that comes with one of MS's punch around the page sets. The flower is a glittered foamie sticker by Darice.

After I put this together, I thought about adding some flowers or bling but decided against it for fear that it might do more to detract from the design than add to it. I think there's plenty going on with the double border and double ribbons. Rest assured though that there are plenty more flowers and bling coming! LOL! As always, I'm glad you stopped by today and I welcome and appreciate your comments. 

I am entering this card in the June 3rd Outlawz Friday Copic/Promarker Challenge - Green and Pink color theme

Happy crafting!

Anniebee