Hearts and Flowers at Kenny K's

Good morning, all! It's a gorgeous day in Texas today! The sun is shining brightly, it's warm outside and today is Super Bowl Sunday! I understand that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, which indicates that Spring is right around the corner. Now, where I live that's not a big deal because we rarely have any extended periods of cold weather but for some of you, I'm sure that's welcome news. 

Something else important is going on today too. It's the beginning of a new challenge at Kenny K's Krafty Krew and I have a card for you that I made for the challenge. I love being part of Kenny's design team and getting to color his awesome images every other week (I usually color a lot more of them than you see on the Krafty Krew site). Anyway, the theme this week is "Hearts and Flowers" and our sponsors are:

The prize from Kenny is the winner's choice of 5 digi's.

And our second sponsor this week is 

is 

The prize form Laura is a stamp to the value of $10.00.

And here's my card. I used the image called "Queens Cutie" which is available for purchase in Kenny's online store.

Have you made your valentines yet? I only have a couple to make; one for my grandson and one for my son and daughter-in-law but I have 2 birthday cards I need to make for this month and the first one has to be mailed this week! I think I had better get on it, right? Don't forget to stop by the Krafty Krew blog to get inspiration for valentines for the special people in your life. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have enjoyed your visit. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated. I am entering this card in the following challenges:

TBD

I hope to have another Valentine card for you in a couple of days, as soon as I finish coloring the image. So until next time...

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

Kenny K 30th Birthday Card

TGIF, everybody! Another weekend is upon us and the weather here has suddenly turned spring-like with temps around 80 F. I had my doors and windows open all afternoon and just closed them around 10:30 tonight. The moon and stars were shining brightly with only the wispiest of clouds in the sky. It's hard to believe that it's the middle of winter and that it's freezing cold in the northern sections of the country. I hate the Texas summers but the rest of the year is almost perfect.

Today, as promised, I have a card I made for the Friday Copics/ Promarkers challenge at The Outlawz. I actually posted the card there last night because I knew I would get a late start writing my post for my blog and that challenge ends tonight. The theme for the challenge was "Milestone Birthdays" and I used a Kenny K digi called Happy Hour, which is available for purchase in Kenny's online store.

I used a blue monochromatic color scheme with accents in silver. All three of the papers I used for the background have been in my stash for several years so I'm not sure who the maker was.

As you can see, I kept the design relatively simple in comparison to my usual style so that I can use it for either male or female. 

I used Judikins Diamond Glaze on the martini glass and the eyes to give them a glassy effect.

   The "Big 30" was created with stickers.

Here's a closeup of the image. I love the retro feel of it.

Above is the inside of the card, again a simple design using a different blue paper.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

The Outlawz Firday Copic/Promarkers Challenge - Milestone Birthdays
Oldie But A Goodie Challenge - Glitz and Glam
Crafting By Designs - Polka Dots
Inky Impressions - #94 Celebrations
Perfect Sentiments - PSC63: Blue, Silver, & White
Craft Room Challenge - Monochrome

That's it for today but I'll be back in a couple of days with another new card. I'm still working on the giveaway I'm planning and that will be coming up soon as well. Don't forget that there is a challenge going on at Kenny K's Krafty Krew and a new will be starting on Sunday with Team B at the helm. This week the theme is "Vintage". You still have time to get your entry in. Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog. Your comments are always appreciated. So until next time...

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

A Rick St. Dennis card for Marker Pop Challenge

Hello, all you lovely crafters! I just finished a few new cards, some using the new digis I got from Rick St. Dennis' Etsy shop. If you're not familiar with his work, he does some incredible stuff. Another member of The Outlawz made a card with this digi and when I saw it I knew I had to have it. It's very detailed and pretty... just what I love! I don't celebrate Valentine's Day very often but I love making themed paper craft projects for it. I made this card in shades of pink especially for the current challenge at Marker Pop. You have to use alcohol ink markers for all entries to their challenges and this one was, of course, colored with Copics. It is a gate fold card that measures 5" x 7".

The image is called "Snow Queen" and is available for purchase in Rick's Etsy shop. I believe this glittery heart paper came from K and Company but I'm not 100% positive about that.

I think I must have used nearly every RV shade of pink in my Copic marker box because of all the folds and shadows on her beautiful gown. 

 

All of the flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts. The foil heard border is by K and Company from last year's Valentine collection. 

I used the insides of the hearts to make all the little floating hearts shown in this close up. 

Below is the inside of the card. I cut out some of the hearts from scraps of the one paper and adhered them to the other papers I used on the inside to pull the design together. I hope that makes sense.

In addition to the Marker Pop challenge, I am entering this card in the following challenges and/or linky parties:

Marker Pop - #15 Pretty In Pink 

Sparkle and Glitter - #8 Anything But a Square

The Paper Shelter - #96 Anything Goes

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Use Hearts

Whimsical Designs - All About Love

Oozak - #10 Anything Goes with Pink and Bling

Bearly Mine Challenges - #70 Tic-Tac-Toe (I used swirls, digi image, ribbon & die cuts)

I'll be back tomorrow with another card I made for one of The Outlawz challenges. I hope you enjoyed this one. If you need some inspiration for your own Valentine's Day cards, be sure to visit the Marker Pop blog to see all the other Pretty In Pink entries. I'm sure there will be plenty of projects for that holiday posted there. Until tomorrow...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

New Challenge Day at Kenny K!

It's Sunday again!! Already this year is flying and it has barely taken off! Today marks the start of a brand new challenge at Kenny K's Krafty Krew. The theme this time is "Vintage" which really did make it a challenge for me; not because there isn't a plethora of Kenny's images that will work for this purpose but because I always find it a bit troubling to make something LOOK vintage, even when I use elements that plainly are just that... old.

I chose "Socialite" for my image and focal point for this card. partly because I have had her for ages and had never gotten around to coloring her and also because I thought she was a perfect fit for the challenge theme. I bought the paper as a single sheet a couple of years ago and had cut the manufacturers name off so I don't remember who made it but the soft color tones makes it feel vintage to me. I like that the flowers aren't a true pink but more of a peachy pink because I wanted to create a vintage Valentine card.  I just wish that our lovely Miss Socialite wasn't smoking a cigarette, albeit with an elegant-looking holder. I gave up that nasty habit several years ago and as it goes with most ex-smokers, I really detest it now! The mere smell of tobacco makes me nauseous. Okay, enough of that mess! LOL

Let's just get to the point, shall we? Here's my card for the challenge.

The lovely lace border stickers as well as the adorable heart-shaped buttons were part of a blog candy I won from my friend, Vicki, at Stamp Smiles. Thanks so much, Vicki!

The greeting was created with 2 stamps from a Fiskars stamp set called Lasting Love Quotes. First, I stamped the heart in Quick Quotes' Mango Mai Tai Powderpuff Chalk Ink and colored it in with Copics R22 and R20. Then I stamped the word "ADORE" over that in Memento Black Tuxedo ink. The cute butterfly is from my stash.

I didn't have the exact shade of ribbon I needed so I used a very pale pink organza as it tends to pick up some of the colors around it. It looks better in person than it does in these photos but it's not so bad that I have the urge to change it out! Too much work!

The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves were created with a Sizzix die . 

Here's a closeup view of the lovely Socialite. She can be purchased from Kenny's store.

 And here's what I did with the inside of the card. Again, the 2 heart doilies were part of the candy I won from Vicki. The heart die cut is the smallest Spellbinders Nestie from the scalloped hearts set and the sentiment was made from a Studio G clear stamp set that I got from Michael's for $1.00. I cut it to the size I wanted, mounted it on a piece of scrap card stock from the base card and applied adhesive to 3 sides to make a little pocket to hold the tickets. I colored it both the stamp and the inside part of the heart with the R20 and R22 Copic markers and used a white Jelly Roll pen to create the highlights. The Kiss tickets were made with the same Fiskars stamp set I used on the front greeting.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Shelly's Images - Easy As 1-2-3 (one word sentiment- ADORE; 2 pieces of patterned paper - background and butterfly; 3 pieces of bling - 2 rhinestone flourishes, butterfly body).

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I love reading your comments and appreciate that you take the time to let me know what you think of my projects. I have topped 300 followers now and I'm thinking about hosting a candy giveaway to try and get to the next major milestone.... 400! So look for that very soon! I'll be back in a day or two with a layout and after that a couple more Valentine's Day cards. Yep, it's right around the corner, my friends! Until next time, have a lovely day and a wonderful week!

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

Kenny K Blog Candy Winner!!!

Happy Sunday, everyone! This post will be short and sweet but I am dying to announce the lucky winner of my Kenny K blog candy for which the original post can be found here (in case you missed it). Well, the time has come for me to draw the winner of the free Kenny K digis so I used Random.org to select the winner. The lucky number is #18, which is Cindy Groh!!!! Congratulations, Cindy! I'm going to visit your blog and leave a message for you there. You will then have 3 days from today to contact me (I need your email address, please) to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you by 6PM CST on Wednesday, the 16th, you'll forfeit your prize and I'll have to select a new winner. Thanks so much to everyone who visited the design team's blogs and left wonderful comments. We appreciate each and every one of you! Don't miss the new challenge posted at Kenny K's Krafty Krew today... the theme of which is "Gothic". Have a lovely week and until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee

Mixin' It Up Even More...

 

 

Update: The second portrait shown here was featured on The Outlawz challenge site this week! I'm so proud!

Hello, lovely people! It has been raining here for a solid week now and I'm getting a bit tired of it. I usually welcome the rain as it allows me to stay in and do creative things or just to lounge around and watch movies or play on the web. It's getting to the point of being ridiculous now though and I'm more than ready for a little sunshine.

I thought I would venture off on another path and show you some things I have done with my Copic markers that are not the typical kind of projects you'll see on my blog. I am so in love with these little markers, I can't adequately explain it. They have opened up so many new creative avenues for me and I literally could spend all day, every day, coloring and creating projects with my art. I thoroughly enjoy making greeting cards and other paper crafting projects using digital stamps designed by other people. That's something I want to try my hand at, too, as soon as I muster up the courage. I haven't done any serious drawing or painting since I discovered Copics until very recently, when I decided to try combining the two things.

First, let me give you a little background on these projects. I have always been a huge music fan, as I guess most people are to some degree. I'm also a fan of television shows like American Idol and The Voice, where unknown singers compete for a shot at a recording contract and possible stardom. In 2009, during season 8 of American Idol, I was mesmerized by the singing talent of one Adam Lambert. The man had a vocal range and stage presence like no previous competitor on the program and he kept me watching, week after week. I voted for him every week too, which was something I had never done before, even when Kelly Clarkson (a home town girl) competed and won the very first season. Needless to say, Adam didn't win. I still think he should have and his career thus far has substantiated my opinion. I have seen him perform live 4 times so far and my infatuation continues to this day. Okay, I won't bore all you "non-Glamberts" with any more about Adam's incredible vocal ability but might I say that he is also quite striking visually. Take away the guyliner, glitter and sometimes dramatic costuming (aspects of his personna aside from his voice that orignally attracted me to him) and the man is really very handsome. Anyway, I decided to try my hand at doing his portrait.... in Copics!

It took a bit of practice to get the technique down, as it's a little different from coloring digi stamps but I think the results are quite acceptable, even if they aren't perfect. I have completed a total of 3 head shots and 1 full body portrait, all taken from photos I found on the Internet. There are lots of pictures here so I hope you have a cup of coffee or tea to sip as you read on!

I only have one photo of this first portrait because I created a shadowbox with it for a dear friend of mine who surprised me last year with a ticket to Adam's Trespassing concert at Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. He is wearing a stage costume from his first tour, aptly called GlamNation.

This is the second one I did and is also my favorite of them all. It captures the intensity of his gaze and those beautiful blue eyes. The colors are deeper and more vibrant in person.

It's difficult to tell in these photos but I applied the alcohol inks in several layers until the paper was almost completely saturated with ink in some places. 

A closeup, showing the texture of his hair and the purple hues I used in some of the shadowing.

Here is the third one. The original photo this was taken from was actually a full head shot. I decided I liked this side better than the other so I just cut the other half off! LOL I just couldn't seem to get the right side of his face right but I thought the left was too good to trash.

Just some additional views of the same portrait. If you click on the individual pictures, you may be able to see the "brush" strokes of the markers in some spots. 

And last, the full body version. I cut this one out to use in the aforementioned shadowbox I made for my friend, Leslie. I'm hoping to get her to take some pics of the finished project but I'm not sure she'll allow me to post them here as it has a photo taken of her and Adam together backstage during his first tour and she's a little bit camera shy. I wasn't fortunate enough to get to meet him but I was ecstatic for Leslie!

Okay, so there they are. Whether or not you care for Adam or appreciate his music, I hope you have enjoyed seeing my portraiture of him. Eventually, I'd like to do a larger one that I can frame and send to him, if it turns out well enough. I know, I know! I feel a little silly sometimes behaving like such a fangirl at my age! I just appreciate extraordinary talent (and a pretty face) and this young man has both! Believe me when I say that I get teased incessantly by my son about it! Thankfully for me (and for Adam!), there are millions of others all around the world just like me so I think I'm in pretty good company. 

I am entering at least one of these portraits in the following challenges/linky parites:

Simply Create - #17 (Linky party)

Created With Love Challenge - #23 Anything But A Card

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge - Anything Goes, with a twist (Favorite Thing)

Make It Monday (Linky Party) - #123 - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and for humoring me if you have made it all the way through this post. It will probably be back to cards and layouts after this so I hope you haven't minded my departure from the usual crafty things I normally write about here. Have a wonderful weekend and until next time...

Happy crafting!

Anniebee

Time to Switch It Up a Little!

If you're looking for the Kenny K blog candy post, click here.

Happy Monday, all! Are you getting back into your normal routines now that the holidays have come and gone for another year? I decided it was time to mix it up a bit and so today, I'm going to talk about a scrapbook layout I made for my beautiful granddaughter for Christmas. It's been quite a while since I posted one and even though I love scrapbooking, I don't get the chance to do it as often as I'd like. I had one heck of a time finding a photo of her that I really, really loved and that I thought she would love too. Most of the recent ones taken of her were taken with a cell phone camera and the quality just wasn't good enough for my purposes. Well, I found this one and with only minor manipulations in my photo editing program, I was able to get it just the way I wanted it.

The next thing was to find the right colors to set off the picture.  I really thought she was a "summer" person but much to my surprise, I discovered she's a "spring"! I had some beautiful papers from their Julie Je T'aime collection left from my guest designer spot with Quick Quotes last year that looked perfect with her coloring. I added to that a scrap of some DCWV Lemon Flower paper and distressed with Quick Quotes Powderpuff chalk inks in matching hues and aside from flowers and other embellishments, I was there.

I admit to being slightly biased but this young woman is very striking with her long, silky blonde hair, blue, blue eyes and 5' 9" frame. I call her my sweet Amazon princess! I'm not sure she sees the humor in that as she ususally rolls her eyes in typical teenage fashion but she's never asked me to stop. LOL!

I used a variety of embellishments from several companies such as Wild Orchid Crafts, K & Company, Prima and Jolee's. If you click on one of the pictures, you can better see the rose I made in the bottom right corner. It's the one that is pale aqua on the outside and yellow with a little blush on the inside, just above and to the left of the lilac and yellow smaller roses. I had been saving that rose for well over a year and finally found the perfect place for it. The rest of the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The title was taken from the little bumblebees I used on the layout. You can see one perched on top of the second "e" and 2 more flying around the photo. There is a tag with a special message from me hidden behind the photo. The yellow ribbon tab with the flower attached (on the left side) is used to pull the tag out. This is a good way to add journaling to your layout that you don't necessarily want everyone to read.  I just created the secret compartment by popping the photo up on foam tape but you could also make a sort of envelope to hold your tag and attach it directly to the back of the photo before you mount it on the layout.

After I was completely happy with the way it looked, I framed the layout so that my granddaughter could hang it on the wall in her bedroom. Her parents are having all the flooring redone in their house so it hasn't been hung up yet, I'm sure, but I had been promising her that I would do a layout just for her and I finally kept that promise. I hope she likes it and can feel the love with which it was created. She is and will likely remain my only granddaughter so she is a very special person to me.

I am entering this layout in the following challenges:
Pause Dream Enjoy - #1 Use Ribbon
Artistic Impressions - #22 Add a Bit of Sparkle
The Crafty Bloggers Network - #7 Flowers

Created With Love - CWLC 23 Anything But A Card 
Creative Creations #1 Anything Goes
Make It Monday - #122 Anything Goes (Linky Party)
My Grafico - #143 Anything Goes
Sarah Hamer Designs - Link Up Tuesday (Linky Party)

I made another layout for my son and daughter-in-law that I will share with you another time. This is it for today. May your week be productive (and short!) and I hope you find some time to be creative. Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee