As my last “official” new release creation for Doodle Pantry (sniff sniff), I opted for Laurie’s Irish Birdie and St. Paddy’s digital papers.  The Irish Birdie set has a bonus pre-colored birdie – so I opted to create with him. 

I used a clover shape in Photoshop and layered it with the Saint Paddy’s papers to create the Birdie’s mat. The Sentiment is included in the set; I used the Select Tool and expanded it out to make the mat.  After printing everything, I used my Spica pens to add sparkle since Laurie’s newest challenge involves Sparkle and Bling!  Though you c an use any DIGITAL image for this challenge – we would love to see Doodle Pantry images – check out the freebie section if you’d like.

Have a FABULOUS day!

I’ve often admired the altered journals/composition books displayed in my ARTHaven group, but hadn’t tried to create one myself.  That is until my friend Robin’s mom was diagnosed with Cancer.  I knew immediately I wanted to create something for Bobbie and I recalled the wonderful love gifts my fellow artists had been creating and sharing. So, with lots of determination, a bit of trepidation, and a fair amount of 2nd guessing myself, I set out to create my first altered journal.  Robin said her mom was a fan of pastels, so I selected these gorgeous papers from Melissa Frances – they’ve been hiding in my stash – waiting for the “perfect” project. The solid cardstock is from my stash and happened to match my DP perfectly. The ribbon is also a stash find – just a bit of sparkle without being overwhelming.  I created the sentiment with Rub-ons, another tool waiting to be utilized.  The flower is one of Tiffany Doodle’s Doodle Blooms – from Volume VII.  I printed it several times with the intent of layering.  I painted each layer with Twinkling H20 watercolors – I wanted shimmer but not glitter that could flake off or be messy and then trimmed everything before pop-dotting – using thin glue dots to avoid being bulky. For the inside, I used Bazzill textured pink – I wanted a soft solid coordinating color since I knew I would be adding a pocket to the inside front cover. I have been lifting Robin and her family up in prayer and I had asked for guidance as to what verse to include – I wanted something that would bring inspiration and hope – God led me to Philippians 4:6 over and over and fortuitously, I had a wonderful Doodle Pantry Sentiment stamp with that verse.  I printed it out, then trimmed and matted it using my nestabilities and a Micron pen. I punched the holes in the paper using my Rubicoil but found out too late that my covers were too thick to fit inside my punch, so using one of the papers as a guide, I used my American Tag HomePro LR punch to manually add the holes to the front and back covers so that the spiral binding would fit (note to self – punch holes in covers and cover cardstock décor BEFORE adhering).

Recipe:

• Stamps: Tiffany Doodles Doodle Blooms Vol. VII; Doodle Pantry A Loving God
• Ink: HP LaserJet;  Twinkling H2O watercolors; Sakura Micron Pen
• Paper: Neenah White; Bazzill Pink; Melissa Frances Charlotte; SU Almost Amethyst
• Other: Tombow Mono Adhesive; Elmer’s Glue Dots; PVA Glue; Foam Brush; Foam Roller; Nestabilities; Composition Book; Rub-on Alphabet; Ribbon; Spiral Coil
• Tools: Fiskars Paper Trimmer; Scor-It Score Board; Bone Folder; Big Shot; Rubicoil Machine; HomePro LR; Scissors; Paint Brush; Photoshop

Well, there you have it – my 1st foray into the world of altered composition books! I do hope the family is able to use the journal and that each time they see it they know of the many many thoughts and prayers being said for them.

Have a wonderful week!

Whew – the first week of January 2011 has really flown by! I think we are settling back into our routine – though I went around all day yesterday thinking it was the 5th instead of the 6th!  Since today is the 7th, it’s time for another Tiffany Doodles monthly challenge!  This time we’re featuring a fabulous sketch – thanks Jenyfur!  I used Tiffany’s fabulous Dancing Dress digital stamp and an awesome paper pack from g.c.d called Ella Blue – I LOVE this paper!!! I employed a few “new-to-me” techniques with this card. The brown card base was too light, so with the help of my Ranger Tea Stain Distress pad it transformed into the perfect shade – not too light or too dark.  Then, I couldn’t find my brown satin ribbon, so I used Ranger Espresso Alcohol ink to dye some cream satin ribbon to match my paper…oh my – I don’t know why I haven’t done this before – so easy and WOW results!  The bow is tied using a handy tutorial from Diana Gibbs using a fork – in this case one of my large serving forks since I haven’t cur the bow-easy type SVG file yet.  I didn’t have the right blue cs for matting, so I took a scrap of Very Vanilla and used my Weathered Wood distress pad to turn cream into blue – again – so easy and very happy with the results. The “designer label” sentiment panel is one of Stampin’ Up’s digital images brought into Photoshop and altered a bit, printed and then hand cut. The dress was printed on white cs and then painted with Twinkling H2Os. I cut it out after the paint was dry, edged it with my black Stampin’ Write marker, and pop-dotted it onto my card. I LOVE the shimmer in these paints! Here’s a close-up of the sparkle:

Recipe:

• Stamps: Tiffany Doodles Dancing Dress
• Ink: HP LaserJet;  Twinkling H2O; SU Black Stampin’ Write Marker; Ranger Espresso Alcohol Ink; Ranger Weathered Wood and Tea Dye Distress Inks
• Paper: Georgia Pacific White; SU Very Vanilla; g.c.d Ella Blue DP; Brown from stash
• Other: Tombow Mono Adhesive; Elmer’s Glue Dots; Satin Ribbon; Adhesive Pearls
• Tools: Fiskars Paper Trimmer; MS Crafts Score Board; Big Shot; SU Scissors; Paint Brush; Photoshop

Overall – I’m very happy with the results – I love it when a project comes together! Speaking of projects – Tiffany has a brand new storefront! You’ll love the ease of shopping! The Tiffany Doodles blog is still active – that’s where we’ll host our challenges and showcase all sorts of creative ventures – I do hope you’ll join us!

That’s about all from me – remember to visit the Tiffany Doodles blog and join us for this month’s challenge.  You could win up to 7 digital stamps from the Tiffany Doodles store.  You don’t have to use a Tiffany Doodles image, but we’d love it if you did.

Have a great weekend!