It’s the 7th – which means another Tiffany Doodles challenge!  All you have to do to play along (and be eligible for a chance to win up to 7 digital stamps from Tiffany Doodles) is create a project featuring birds and/or windows. Here’s my little bit of inspiration:

I used Tiffany’s Window and Birdies digital stamps along with a fabulous cutting file from Penny Duncan to create my card.  I colored the birds and the window in Photoshop using my favorite Chalkies styles from Jodiann Cates and a Glass style from Bannerwoman (retired). I printed everything on photo paper (as I wanted to maintain the “glass” look of the window panes).

I printed the window ledge 3 times so I could layer them to create the window box for my flowers.  The flowers were really easy to create – I used Flowersoft Spring Mix and PVA glue applied with the handle of an old paintbrush.  After my flowers were dry, I used popdots to attach the birdies.  My mats were also easy to create thanks to Penny Duncan’s fabulous nested shape cutting files – I imported the layers into my Sure Cuts A Lot software, selected the sizes I wanted, and cut with my Cricut.  I used 4 sizes in all – though the top mat is actually 3 die cuts adhered together.  For the top layer, I brayered Brilliance Sky Blue ink over the entire surface and then stamped my Soft Swirls BG (SU- retired) in Whisper White Craft Ink (SU) while the Brilliance was still moist to create an embossed look.  The 2nd mat is dry embossed using the Birds and Swirls Cuttlebug folder and my Big Shot and then colored with my clear Spica marker to add some shimmer. The 3rd mat is a fabulous patterned CS from DCWV Nana’s Nursery set.  The last mat is cut from glittered DCWV CS – the Holiday stack. The card mat is a fabulous shimmered CS, also from DCWV – this time the Luxury stack.  My card base is white Georgia Pacific CS.  I added the pearls (Michaels) in graduated sizes after using mono adhesive and pop dots to attach all of my layers.

Whew – now that you have all of the details, be sure to visit the Tiffany Doodles blog for all of the details and links to all of the fabulous DT projects.  When you’ve finished your project, link back to the Tiffany Doodles blog so we can all admire your art!

Have a fabulous day!

Challenges I Played In:

• Wee Memories – Anything Goes
• Mark’s Finest Papers – Use a Die Cut
• Paper Make Up Stamps – Window Card
• Lexi’s Creations – Layers
• If The Shoe Fits Scrap It – Wings
• Prairie Fairy Designs – Anything Goes
• Elephantastic Challenges – It’s Up To You
• Creative Card Crew – To Die For
• The Crafty Pad – Animal Fun
• Clearly Delightful – Pearls Bling and Button Things
• Bee-Crafty – 3D
• Aly’s Sunday Sketch – Red or White or Blue

Nope, nothing sports related, just the 3 cards my DH received for Father’s Day today – a collaborative effort between Nadya and I – just for him.  It’s been a long-standing tradition to share both a  “fun” card and a serious/ sentimental card, hence the double cards from me plus one from the entire reason he gets to celebrate Father’s Day! I’ll start with Nadya’s as hers is the star of the show: One of her favorite characters (if not her most favorite) is Lightning McQueen from the Disney/Pixar Cars movie.  So, naturally, one of the few Cricut cartridges I own is Cars.  After much discussion, Nadya settled on a Lightning McQueen card for Daddy – so I went to work in Design Studio (my first attempt with the Cricut software and using an actual Cricut cart – I’m a SCAL girl myself). I used the shadow feature to create the card base and then cut the detail layer for Nadya to color.  Yes, she know Lightning McQueen is red, but she informed me that since Daddy’s Mustang is yellow, McQueen needed to be yellow on Daddy’s card.  So, she colored him yellow, and attached him to the card base.  When I asked her what she wanted it to say on the inside she said “I love Lightning McQueen.  I love Daddy even more than Lightning McQueen.” So there you have it – Daddy is more loved and popular than Lightning McQueen. For my “sentimental” card, I started with a sketch I found on Moe Joe’s blog and some fabulous digital papers from Designs By Kristine’s new Kit Spring Fling (on sale for 35% off right now). I created and layered everything in Photoshop – using clipping masks to digitally “paper-piece” my card layers.  I chose the adorable lemon ant image from Doodle Pantry’s Lemon Ants digital stamp set (which is free right now) and pieced it as well – though my lemon looks more like a lime! Here’s a close-up from Photoshop: After I printed everything out, I added sparkle to the ants with my clear glitter Spica marker, and colored the pebbles with Sand and the ants’ mouths with Red Spica markers. I coated the lemon/lime with Glossy Accents for shine. I used my white gel pen to add the stitching around the circles and my moonlight smooch to add the dots on the scallop mat.

Challenges I Played In (Ant Card):

• Moe Joe’s Design Blog – Sketch
• Character Cafe – Paper Piecing
• Craft Your Passion – Paper Piecing
• Crafty Creations – Stitching

For my “fun” card, I started with the Classic Car card from Cliff’s Clubhouse Cards set at SVGCuts.com.  Instead of cutting the car layers, I added the 66 for Route 66.  I cut the card base from textured black CS and the accents in GP white.  I added some black pearlescent baubles from my friend Suzanne at Crafting Connection.  I really had fun on the inside: The mustang is a coloring page I found on the net – though it’s not the exact year my DH has, it’s close enough!  The “lady” is Lady Luck, a digital stamp I was lucky enough to win from Holly over at Squigglefly.  I started out by layering the images in Photoshop so that I could get the scaling right, but then printed them out individually on white CS and colored them with my Copic and Spica markers.  I added the chrome accents with a silver Zebra gel pen. Again, I don’t have all of the details 100% accurate as compared to his Mustang, but definitely close enough to get the point across.

That’s all from me! I hope everyone has a relaxing Sunday – I know we plan to!

Challenges I Played In – Mustang/Route 66 Card:

• Cards for Men – Father’s Day
• CAS-tastic Challenges – Father’s Day
• Creative Craft Challenges – Man In Your Life
• Daisy Doodles – Father’s Day/Manly
• Fab n Funky Challenges – Father’s Day
• Incy Wincy – One for the Guys
• Magical Crafts – Something for a Male/Father’s Day
• One Stop  Craft – One for the Boys

We had a busy weekend here in the desert!  My DH spent most of his time digging up and replacing the main line from our house to our septic tank. The 30+ year old clay pipe had succumbed to a Mulberry root invasion!  A HUGE Thank You to Mr. Rooter for their prompt and courteous service Friday evening – without their camera scope, we would not have known how much damage had occurred! We were definitely on borrowed time.

Not to fear, we did have some fun too! We were invited to a birthday party for one of DH’s coworker’s kids.  Nadya enjoyed being outdoors (no wind – hooray), and playing with the many Hoola-Hoops though I think her favorite part was the Winnie The Pooh birthday cake! I took advantage of the party invite to create a gift box and coordinating birthday card.

I am so loving my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) software – this project was really easy thanks to those handy tools! The box is based on a template by Heather M. I modified the lid using one of Penny Duncan’s awesome nesting shape SVG files and opted not to use the scalloped inner box liner/compartment.  The box base is textured green CS from DCWV, the top is DP from a Best Occasions Punch Out Pack (WalMart) that’s been in my stash for quite awhile.  I colored the adorable Dustin Pike birthday elephant in Photoshop (see how here) – actually I cheated a little, when I color a stamp and am super happy with the results, I save the file in case I want to use it later – which I did in this case – he was actually partially colored back in October/November.  I did use copics to color his tummy and Spica’s on his cupcake candle and frosting. He’s been trimmed and attached with pop-dots.  I used an orange crystal sticker for the ball on his hat.

I had a lot of fun with the card too!  I printed the elephant twice – so that part was easy!  My card base is whisper white prefolded card from my stash that I embossed with my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. I cut the grass, clouds, and sentiment using SCAL – the grass is from Pigtails Paper Trails, the cloud (cut in shadow blackout mode) is Cloud 9SVGCuts, and the sentiment is from Shelly’s Art at Paper Threads (I converted the AI file into an SVG using Inkscape) though Shelly has made the SVG file available now. I cut the  grass and sentiment from DCWV CS that matches the box bottom and the clouds from scrap SU Ballet Blue DP.

That’s it – what do you think? Even my Dh thought it was cute!

Have a happy Monday!