Then I duplicated the flower 9 times so I could layer the petals for dimension and printed them out on Georgia Pacific cardstock.  I cut the swirl frame using SCAL and my mom’s baby bug from one of my DCWV glitter mat stacks. Then I trimmed all of the flower layers, and similar to Lindsay’s post on Monday, I used the end of a rounder paintbrush to burnish the backside of the leaves to give them some dimension as I wasn’t going to piece them separately from the base layer.

The card base is from my stash – I ran it through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then used my Pebbles Pearlescent chalks to add shimmer to the embossed area. I added the frame and then began layering and adhering the flowers.  I used buttons from my stash (Wal-Mart) as the flower centers and added a glitter butterfly (Wal-Mart) for fun and sparkle.  I drew the butterfly trail with one of my Zig Micron pens. Here’s a close-up of my sparkly butterfly:And my layered flowers – I just love the dimension here: Such a versatile a fun set to create with.  I purposely didn’t add a sentiment as I am thinking of gifting this card and I want the recipient to be able to use it however they’d like.

If you didn’t arrive here from Lindsay’s blog, be sure to stop there.  She’s known to have freebies, as well as fabulous eye-candy and the links to the rest of the DT blogs/projects.  She’s also having a sale in celebration of St. Patty’s day – helping you save a bit of green!

Have a great day – we’re off to gymnastics, and then to shop for a new toaster oven – ours smells like it’s about to combust – you know the not so pleasant burning electronics scent that everyone wants in their kitchen?!?!?!

First up, my good friend and fab-designer, Jodiann Cates is having a TCT (Test/Creative Team) call on her blog – she’s looking for a few talented people to work with her Photoshop styles.  I love them and have had the pleasure of working with several of them.  In fact, I used her Mini Stripe Lite style to create one of my freebies – you can find it here. Check her blog for all of the details and then apply!

Let’s see, what’s next – oh I know, another friend and uber-talented designer, Kristine of Designs by Kristine has just launched her own Newsletter – complete with sales info, coupons, and even exclusive freebies.  You definitely DON’T want to miss out.  You can find all of the deets here or sign up here.

For my crafting friends, as most of you know, I blog-stalk Suzanne Dean – her coloring skills are nothing short of amazing!  When I first heard about Copic markers, I headed to her blog for tutorials and color suggestions since buying all 300+ colors at once just wasn’t and still isn’t going to happen!  Well, now she’s launching Color Me Creative, an online classroom where she’ll teach all things Copic – everything from the basic to advanced mixed-media techniques.  Classes start March 15, but since they are all self-paced, you’ll have an entire year to complete them, plus have PDF and video files that can be downloaded and saved for future reference.  There’s an early-bird discount before March 14 – so be sure to check it out if you’re like me – new to Copics (plus I won’t be attending any of the Copic Certification classes as they are never near here nor are they in my price range) and in love the with the potential these (and all alcohol markers) have!  I can’t wait to get started.  Suzanne is also offering a refer-a-friend discount aka Copic Bucks, so you can earn a little something for spreading the word.

Looking for a challenge to get your creativity off the ground?  Since March as arrived, that means there are new challenges up at the DSO challenge blog – stop by and play awhile!

I guess that’s all from me – oh wait – you wanted a peak at our activities from last month?  Alright – just a peak:

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Nadya enjoying a visit to the park while while in Oklahoma.

Have a great Tuesday!

I used all sorts of fabulous products to create this fun and easy project!  

     Whew – I told you I used lots of products! Now, let’s get to the goodies! For this basket, I used the basket base SVG file from SVG Cuts Easter Egg Treat Bags kit, sized to 10.5 and cut on my Nana’s Cricut Expression with SCAL. These bags are SUPER easy to put together!  The designer eggs are digital stamps from Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff – Cute Easter set.  I opened them in Photoshop and “colored” them using styles from Bannerwoman  (Easter Egg – retired).  The detail work I also did in Photoshop using Jodiann’s Robot Gold styles – I adjusted the pattern size and bevels a bit since I was working with fine detail lines and fills.  Then I printed them out on SU Whisper White CS as I really wanted a smooth and bright finish, trimmed, and adhered them to my bag.The coordinating card was also super-easy to make!   As before, the designer eggs are digital stamps from Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff – Cute Easter set.  I opened them in Photoshop and “colored” them using styles from Bannerwoman  (Easter Egg – retired).  The detail work and sentiment  were done in Photoshop, this time using Jodiann’s Robot Princess styles – I love the versatility of her styles!  For the sentiment I added a color overlay to one of the Robot Princess styles – I am quite please with the end result.  The sentiment layer is edged with an EK Success punch and matted with a bit of bluish glitter CS from DCWV – one of my many mat stacks.  I used the same punch to edge it as well. The card base is from my stash and happened to coordinate perfectly with the yellow CS Nana and I used to cut the treat bag.

That’s all from me – at least for today.  We’re having a guy come out to give us an estimate on pruning our Mulberry trees – they’re getting a bit out of hand! Then Nadya and I are off to do our grocery shopping, and have a picnic at the park with one of the local Meet-Up groups – that is if the weather cooperates!  Have a great Monday and following week!  Be sure to stop by Lindsay’s blog – she usually has fabulous eye candy and treats on Mondays, plus links to one of her DT groups creations.

Since I”m fortunate enough to be on her DT, I was able to play a bit early.  My DH asked me to make a sympathy card for a friend who suddenly lost her husband.   I immediately knew I wanted to use one of the wonderful papers from this kit!   My card base is textured white Bazzill CS (6×6).  I printed the fabulous purple DP from Lindsay’s Beginning – I love the subtle coloration and florals – and embossed it with an SU texture plate and my Big Shot.  I used an EK Success punch to create the scallop edge.  The Iris is from a retires SU set – Still Life Stems.  I colored directly on the stamp with my SU markers and then “huffed” before stamping onto Whisper White CS.  I typically use Georgia Pacific or Staples CS for my digi-images, but I wanted the extra crispness that the vivid white SU CS offered.  The image and glitter CS (DCWV) mat were trimmed with my Long Rectangle and Scallop Nestabilites.  I added a bit of Almost Amethyst and Lovely Lilac inks with a sponge dauber to give subtle color to the glittered CS mat.  The narrow organdy ribbon is from my stash.  After adhering everything together, I stamped the sentiment (SU) twice – first with Silver MetalExtra ink (Clearsnap) and then with Vintage Violet (SU) to give an embossed effect.  I added the adhesive pearls from Michaels for a bit of dimension and elegance. I continued the theme on the inside by reprinting the DP from Lindsay’s Beginning with a verse I found on the internet.  The verse reads:  

Although we know at such a time there’s little we can say. We want to let you know that you are in our thoughts today.

My DH was then able to personalize his message. I found my 6×6 envelopes weren’t large enough, so I used a sheet of 12×12 paper and created an envelope for the card too.

Since I was in a card making mood, and this kit is so stunning, I have a little goodie for.  I have created 2 printable (4.5×5.5) cards for you (with Kristine’s permission).  I didn’t add a sentiment, so you can personalize the cards to suit your needs.  You can print them one a single sheet of 8.5×11 paper using a borderless setting and then stamp your sentiment or open them in your favorite editing software and type your sentiment before printing. I hope you enjoy them! If you like what you see, please send your friends to my blog to download for themselves.  Thanks!

That’s all from me.  Mondays are errand running/grocery days, so we’ll be busy busy today!  Be sure to check out Lindsay’s Beginning and the rest of goodies at Kristine’s store (and her blog – I’ve hears there might be goodies there too) and then head over to the DSO store too – the Designers have a released a new Collab Kit – with a twist! You won’t be disappointed!  

Using Lindsay’s Multi-Bracket Paper SVG freebie as a starting point, I experimented in Inkscape until I created Multi-Bracket card base and mat SVG files – definitely a bit of a learning curve, but completely doable! Then I turned to my trusty Photoshop and with the help of Jodiann’s styles, created 5 different papers that I printed out and then using SCAL cut the card bases and mats – I used 5.5 inches as the height for me card base and 5.15 inches for the height of the mat.. Then, using Photoshop again, I selected and printed the stamps from Love Grows Here.

I must admit, I’m rather pleased with the way they turned out – though my fingers were getting a little tired – thankfully I have really good, sharp scissors!  The birds are colored with Copics and Bic Mark-Its; the hearts have a generous coating of red stickles on them, and the the stitching was drawn in with a Blue Spica pen. The sheer organdy ribbon is from my stash. The heart paper is one I created and the card base is from my stash. This was one of my DH’s favorites. This little guy was colored with Bic Mark-Its with a touch of Spica Yellow glitter pen added to his wing and Cool Grey 1 Copic for shadow. Since Lindsay is sponsoring this week’s challenge over at Tuesday Morning Sketches, I used Melissa’s fabulous sketch to guide my layout. I used Bazzill CS and an EK Success Punch to create the image mat.  The card mat is one of my creations; the base is Bazzill textured CS.  The flowers are from Prima (checkout my friend Suzanne’s store – Crafting Connection, for awesome deals on Prima) and the pearls are from Michaels. This was DH’s other favorite!

Yes, once again, I HAD to use the fabulous cupcakes in the Love Grows Here set.  I colored the cupcakes with Copics, Mark-Its, and Spica pens – I used a white gel pen for accent.  The small cupcake sprinkles are coated with Red Stickles while the large sprinkles are Dew Drops from Crafting Connection.  I added ribbon from my stash to the card mat (another of my papers).  The card base is SU.Last but not least, I used the doily heart from Love Grows Here.  I colored the heart with Copics and punched the holes in the lace with my Fiskars hand punch.  The flowers are Prima and the pearls are MS.  Both the card mat and base were created by me.

That’s about it from me, but before you head over to Lindsay’s blog to check our her fab project and goodies – as well as the links to the other DT creations, I have a surprise for you!  I’m giving away the card base and mat SVG cutting files and 4 layered, printable cards – you can get them here.  If you like them, please leave a comment and send your friends to my blog – don’t share the links directly – thanks!

Have a fabulous Thursday!

While we don’t anticipate any issues, we cannot guarantee that our Gallery will be able to be saved and re-uploaded successfully as it must be separated from the Forum postings (as those will not be saved).  The goal is for the entire Gallery to be re-loaded all refreshed and ready to go but, just in case it doesn’t behave nicely,  we HIGHLY recommend that if do not have your Layouts saved on your computer that you back them up before February 1.

Courtesy of our own Jodiann – panic is not necessary – help is below:

How to back up Gallery Pictures:

Navigate to your Gallery at DSO, Right Click> Save As on each LO one at a time. If you want to re-up your Gallery photos easily  make a file on your hard drive and save each one there.  You can add a number 01, 02, 03 in front of each file name so you can keep the order straight. If you don’t care about that, don’t add the numbers.

Saving Signatures:

Go to  DSO>Gallery>User CP> Edit Signature. The preview screen has a HTML option. Click it. Highlight>Copy> Save in a email and send it to yourself or paste the info into a blank Notepad file. When its time to add it back. Get the email and do the steps in reverse. Highlight>Copy>Signature HTML code> Go to DSO> Gallery> User CP and paste the code in to the preview screen.

See – that wasn’t so bad now was it.

Charlie is having a special CU sale on some of her products.

Stunning Personal Use kits by our fabulous Designers:

Create the perfect Page Title or Card Sentiment with Jazzy’s WordArt:

Want to create your own kits or freebies with Quality products? Checkout these awesome CU-friendly goodies:

So what are you waiting for?!? Head to the store! (Special thanks to LouCee for doing the “legwork” for this post – you RAWK sweetie)!

That’s all again – it’s time for supper!

In case you hadn’t noticed, I really love Lindsay’s cupcake stamps!  The box is glittered CS from DCWV and the DP on the lid is from my stash – a pad of 8×8 The Angel Company paper.  Donna is a big fan of purple, so unlike Jody’s box, I opted to leave the purple square intact rather than using acetate and create a window.  I used another piece of DP from the same pad to create the liner/cupcake holder inside the box. The cupcakes were printed using Photoshop and my HP printer on Georgia Pacific CS at 70% size.  I colored them with Copics and then cut them out.  After adhering to my box lid, I added Smooch to the sprinkles and stickles to the candy heart toppings. That’s the entire ensemble. The card is from last week’s post.  Be sure to visit Lindsay’s blog as she’s always got a fabulous treat and the links to the other DT posts – and while you’re hopping, leave the rest of the ladies some love! Hey work hard to create stunning and inspirational projects.

That’s all from me – have a fabulous Thursday!