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!

Nadya and I spent time in the craft room this morning – we have a birthday party this afternoon, so we created coordinating cards and packaging for little Ryan’s first birthday.

All in all we are both happy with the outcome.   I cut the bag topper using Make The Cut and my Cricut – a HUGE Thank You to Penny Duncan for creating the cutting file for me! Nadya selected the colors for the balloons and lettering. I also played with my Cri-Kits pens to draw the lettering outline before cutting the topper – fun, and EASY to use!

The little swirls are from a retired SU set  called Fresh Fillers and are stamped in SU Brilliant Blue. These toppers or bag skirts really are an easy way to dress up a gift bag!

Recipe:

• Stamps: SU Fresh Fillers
• Digital Cutting Files: Penny Duncan Creations
• Ink: SU Brilliant Blue; Cri-Kits Glitter Pens; Inkssentials White Gel Pen
• Paper: DCWV Textured White 12×12; Holiday Glitter and Textured Brights Mat Stacks
• Other: Tombow Mono Adhesive; Elmer’s Glue Dots; Ribbons; Make The Cut Software
• Tools: Fiskars Paper Trimmer; MS Crafts Score Board; Big Shot; Cricut

After we finished the bag, we started on the cards – I made one and so did Nadya.

We both used images from Dustin Pike – another of my favorite digi-stamp designers. For my coloring medium, I opted for my ”old school” SU markers; while Nadya selected her trusty Crayola fine-tip Pip Squeaks. She insisted we write to Ryan from Nadya on the front instead of on the inside of her card – she wanted to make sure he knew it was his.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Dustin Pike/Doodle Dragon Studios
• Ink: HP LaserJet;  SU and Crayola Markers; Inkssentials White Gel Pen 
• Paper: Georgia Pacific White; Red and Blue from my stash
• Other: Tombow Mono Adhesive; Elmer’s Glue Dots; Ribbons; Spellbinders Nestabilities Dies; Adhesive Pearls, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder; SU Small Dots Texture Plate; MS Crafts Border Punch
• Tools: Fiskars Paper Trimmer; MS Crafts Score Board; Big Shot; Photoshop

Have a restful day! Check back tomorrow as I actually SCRAPPED!

Good Morning! Everyone in my house is still sleeping after having a great time at John’s birthday party – Gym Magic was definitely a hit!

Since today is the 5th you know that means a new Doodle Pantry release and challenge!  Laurie has put together more stunning stamps for your creative and crafty ventures.  I chose to work with her new Juicy Strawberry stamp set (which is also available in a pre-colored version with coordinating 6×6 digital papers – large enough for most card projects while leaving enough space on your page for stamps and sentiments – fabulous).  When I think of strawberries on the vine I think summer time – warm weather, sunshine, sundresses and eyelet lace…so I decided to add some to my card – eyelet lace that is.   My berries are colored with Copic markers and then highlighted with Spica pens.  Since my dimension didn’t fit any of my nesties, I used my MS Score Board to create the embossed frame – I’m really trying to love this product but am still finding that my Scor-It works better for me. The eyelet lace is from my stash, but I’m pretty sure it was a remnant from Joann’s.  I used sticky strip to line the backside edges of my image and then added the lace in one continuous piece scrunching and tucking around the corners as needed. I turned the image over, adjusted the lace slightly, added pearls and viola! Then I pop-dotted the image/lace to a 5.5×5.5 red CS base from Bazzill – placing the texture side out and the smooth side in. My finishing touch was a sentiment I created in Photoshop, trimmed with nesties, edged (Spica Lipstick pen) and pop-dotted on. 

Recipe:

• Stamps: Doodle Pantry Juicy Strawberry
• Ink: HP Inkjet; Spica Pens; Copic Markers
• Paper: Georgia Pacific White; Bazzill Basics Kisses Criss-Cross
• Other: Tombow Mono Adhesive; Elmer’s Glue Dots; Adhesive Pearls; Eyelet Lace, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One Dies
• Tools: Fiskars Paper Trimmer; MS Crafts Score Board; Photoshop

Challenges I Played In:

• Tip Top Tuesday – Anything Goes
• There’s Magic In The Air – Anything Goes
• One Stitch at a Time – Old Stash New Stash (old – lace, new – stamp)
• A Crafty Little Place – Anything Goes

If you haven’t stopped by the Doodle Pantry Blog please do – we’d love to have you play along with our newest challenge – all you have to do is use a Doodle Pantry image – a perfect time to use your stash, shop or browse Laurie’s freebie collection. Just for playing along, Laurie is giving all participants her new New Year’s Birdie digital stamp set and one randomly selected crafter will win a $20 Doodle Pantry gift certificate! So what are YOU waiting for?!?!

Have a fabulous day!