Friendship Inspired Card...I love it!

I haven't made a card dedicated specifically on friendship but as soon as I saw this image from Dustin Pike Digital stamps, I know I had to make something extraordinary with it.  I took some effort to deviate from the girly colors and focus on combining neutral colors.  This card has been entered on the following challenges.

1.  Crafty Creations featuring Paper Piecing
2.  Creative Card Crew featuring Vintage 
3.  Little Red Wagon featuring...Embossing

BESTFRIEND'S BEAR AND TURTLE CARD:

Coloring this image is such a fun thing to do...I used Gamsol technique and distressed inks to give it that vintage look.  I finally used the Tim Holtz distresser and love the effect it gave this project.  Did loads of stitching on this card and even stamped the polka dots on the brown cardstock.  Yes, there's certainly embossing in the background and the sentiment was a cut from one of the designer papers.  Added some eyelets, hemps and dew drops, this card came to life.  Measures 5 X 6.5 inches (A7 size).

BESTFRIEND'S BEAR AND TURTLE CARD (SIDE VIEW):

For the past several months, I heard a lot of stuff about flocking and didn't really care on trying them until this project...It was not easy for me to apply it on the bear's nose like other folks were saying.  It took a couple of tries and some retouching before I was satisfied with the result.  I think it gives a nice feel on the project but I opted to use it sparingly as a bottle of those is not very cheap...LOL

BESTFRIEND'S BEAR AND TURTLE CARD (INSIDE):

Here, I embossed the sentiment with Cuttlebug and lots inking...Perfect for that sort of rough look I wanted to achieve.

BESTFRIEND'S BEAR AND TURTLE CARD (WITH ENVELOPE):

This came out to be a thick card so, had to make a special envelope for it.  Over-all dimension of the envelope was 5.25 X 6.75 inches, 1/4-inch thick.

I hope to make more projects in the coming days but sure would be difficult to find some time now that I also have some part-time work that just started recently.  I thank God for every opportunity I get to make the projects I love and to share them with you all...To Him, I give praise!