The Outlawz Friday Coloring "4th of July/Patriotic/Red, White & Blue" Challenge

A hot hello to you all. Unless, of course, you are in the southern hemisphere. Then, maybe not so much. But it certainly feels like July here in the desert! I have to say, though, that our temps in the 100-teens didn't last too long. So now we are at least below 110. Which is still hot, but what a difference a few degrees make in the summer! Maybe it is just psychological, (or psychotic, on my part), but it feels so much more comfortable at 107 than it does at 115. OK, enough about the weather!

So, do you have wonderful plans for this weekend? Or, are you already on a mini-vacation? We are going out to breakfast today to a new place in downtown Phoenix. Yes, it will be a late breakfast, as we do not want to get into rush-hour traffic. But we are going to try Paz Cantina, which is supposed to be a fabulous Mexican restaurant. And they are supposed to have wonderful chilaquiles. So we will find out.

This is part of a quest I talked Gary into. Our Phoenix Magazine came out with a Mexican food guide in their May issue. And our quest is to try food from all the restaurants that were given good mentions. With the exception of those listed for hard-core cuisine--I have no desire to try pork stomach, cow stomach, brains, eyes, or tongue. Sorry, those just gross me out. I know, I know, I am a pansy. But I have tried more adventurous cuisines than I ever expected to--just leave out the offal, ok? No, thank you...

And, for my birthday dinner tomorrow, we are meeting friends at FnB in Scottsdale. Supposed to have fabulous farm-to-table food, and they carry a great number of Arizona wines. I am a huge fan of a number of Arizona wineries--have had some yummy varietals and blends from several of them. So I am really looking forward to this meal!

Last, but certainly not least, our daughter, Angela, is taking me out for a yummy Thai meal on Sunday. I know it will be yummy because we are going to Wild Thaiger, and the food there is just amazing. Really fresh and flavorful. When Angela asked me where I would like to go to dinner on Sunday, I suggested Wild Thaiger--she has not been there, so it will be a treat for her, I am sure! And we are going to go shopping at Changing Hands Bookstore before dinner. I have a couple of gift cards to use, and am looking forward to shopping as well.

Speaking of shopping, (second in my book only to eating), I just spent the birthday gift card that our daughter, SIL, and granddaughters gave me for my birthday gift. It was for crafty items at 7 Kids. What fun! I got three new dies to use and a few packs of designer 6x6 paper. Can hardly wait for the package to arrive--hopefully next week! So aren't I a lucky duck, though!

And, then I get to celebrate my birthday all over again next Friday with my sister, Merrilyn, BIL, and Gary. We will be going to Persian Garden Cafe for lunch, and I am really looking forward to the Purple Shoots. (It is an eggplant and green bean dish--yum, yum, yum!) Oh, and I also have a couple of free dinners coming from Gordon Biersch and Kona Grill from birthday coupons. So I will have to use those soon, too. Just a veritable foodie, aren't I?

OK, on to my card for the week. We are being sponsored this month by Sweet Pea Stamps again. YAY! I love shopping for digis there--so many great artists with so many fabulous images! And our monthly winner will receive 3 digis of his/her choice! Kewl! Have fun checking out the shop, but, as I have said before, plan to spend some time doing so--there are so many images to see!!!

I chose a fun image, Sweet Pea Stamps Maltese Girl, by Charmaine Flannery to color. This is a tribute to our dog, dingbat Donovan. I must say, he does not look like these show dogs! Maltese grow actual hair, which is very fine, and tangles easily. So we keep Don shaved down. I hated it when we tried grooming him with long hair--he cried so easily when we would comb him. So this is much better for all of us! (Of course, he hates his monthly grooming appointments, but that's another matter.)

Oh, and btw, I do not look like the Maltese Girl. I certainly do not have a cute little nose or long red hair. But I chose to color the image in red, white, and blue to meet the challenge this week. I printed the image on X-Press It BC and colored it with my Copics:

Skin: E000, E01, E11

Hair: YR02, E07, E09, E29

Dogs: B91, B41, B21

Hair Beads/Eyes: B21, B23, B26

I used Bazzill and Stampin' Up CS and one die cut made with the Memory Box Tessatina Border die. And that's it! A CAS card for me, for sure. There are times where I really do enjoy doing them! I see the cross-hatching on the hair again, drat it all. The only way I can get rid of it is by making the image really, really large, like the original size. I think I have been saving them in too large a file, but I don't know why I have never had the cross-hatching problems until now. Oh, well...

Do stop by and see the fabulous inspiration by my teammates: Carla, Kathi, Vannessa, and Karen. I am so fortunate to be part of such a great DT! Remember, we'd love to have you join us this week. All you need to do is hand-color an image for your project that meets the challenge--using any medium you wish. Looking forward to seeing what you do!

Have a wonderful weekend!