Anything Goes Wrap Up at Tiddly Inks

The month of November was Anything Goes on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. Yes I know it's December, but the last challenge was a two week one. I was a bit busy last week and didn't get a card made. Am I ever glad that I waited. Yesterday Christy released new images inspired by her niece, the real Lily Claire, in a bear coat called Little Somethings. The new images are wonderful so be sure to check them out at the Tiddly Inks Store especially since there's a sale on right now.

As you may know I have a grandson that I affectionately call MonkeyMoo, so needless to say the image "Little Monkey" really spoke to me. I've colored him with Copics. Since I plan on scrapping for MonkeyMoo, I've been collecting monkey papers. Since I couldn't pick A paper, I opted for two cards.

The papers are all from Reminisce. The papers from the first card are from a paper pack called Simply Fun, and the other papers were individual sheets. I used my MTC software to create the cut file for the bananas and cut them out with my Black Cat Cougar. The sentiment was added to the image using Photoshop..

I can't wait to create cards with the other new images.

Anything Goes in November for Tiddly Inks

I love that the whole month on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is Anything Goes. It has certainly made my life easier, especially for getting a card made for the challenge.

I had to use this free image from Tiddly Inks last week called Ice Bear. Once I saw him, I knew I had to use him in a card soon. What better than this week's Tiddly Inks Challenge. Be sure to check out all the wonderful images at the Tiddly Inks Store especially the Christmas images HERE. I've colored my bear with my Copics, and I didn't want him to look like the Coca Cola bear.

I wish I could tell the creators of the paper, but all I can tell you is that they came from my scrapbox. I let the paper be the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate all comments.

Falling for Fall

The theme for this week's challenge on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall. Quite honestly I'm ready for fall and in the past weeks, we've actual had a few decent days with fall like temperatures.

I think the squirrels at my house are thinking that it may be a cold winter. because they've already stripped our pecan trees and long before the nuts are ready to fall from the trees. When I head out to TM, you can hear them in the trees jumping from limb to limb. My squirrels were the reason I chose this image called Nuts for You,  but it's certainly not the only image in the Tiddly Inks Store that are appropriate for a fall themed card.

My image is colored with Copics. The papers as well as the sentiment are all from a free digital kit from Summer Driggs called Falling for Fall.

Well, again I've waited to almost the last minute to enter the challenge, but I did make it.

Give Me An Inch and I'll Take An Inch and a Half

This week the Tiddly Inks Challenge DT tried to stump me with an Inchie Challenge. I had never heard of Inchies, so I did a Google on it and found that they are (and I quote) "the thumbnails of paper crafting". In fact there is a company called Inchie Arts that is dedicated to Inchie crafting.  Basically you create a card using 1" squares, but they can also be just small squares. Since coloring with Copics on very small areas seems to be virtually impossible for me, I upped my size to 1 1/2".

I used this beautiful butterfly image from Tiddly Inks for my card, and then colored them with my Copics. I obviously reversed the color scheme on one just so they wouldn't all look alike(or too different from each other from my coloring skills). The purple paper is some I printed and that was in my scrap box. The orange DP is from a kit of Paper that I bought at Sam's more years ago than I care to remember. The sentiment was on a Rubber stamp I had, that was so small that you wouldn't have been able to read it, so once again Photoshop comes to the rescue(you can find it at the bottom of the post). I printed it directly on the DP(I'm beginning to really like doing this, as it doesn't add a layer that distracts from the image.

I have another card I made yesterday with a Tiddly Inks image called Orchid.  This card is for a note to parents whose 16 year old was in a diving accident a little over a week ago and is now paralyzed. I wanted to send them something that invoked beauty, simplicity and a feeling of serenity, as I'm sure they're feeling like they're on the worst ride of their life right now. I put the message on the inside of the card.  The song "His Eye is on the Sparrow" is one of the most uplifting songs to me, as it is a constant reminder that God is watching over all of us even the sparrow, and that He has a plan for us(whether we understand what's going on or not).

If you are a praying person, would you take a minute and say a prayer for Cole and his family. They have a long road ahead, but life is not over for any of them. I actually have a friend whose oldest son was paralyzed at 18 from the shoulders down from a diving accident. Clay is now in his mid 40's, is a CPA, married to a wonderful woman and the father(yes they are his) of 3 boys( one set of twin boys and then another boy).

Here are both Word Arts if you'd like them.

A Tag, A Fold and a Little Gel Please

I think the DTs are out to make sure they test my metal. Last week the challenge was for Tags and/or Tickets on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. This week it's to use Gel, and I don't mean a gel pen either. We're talking hair gel or the hand sanitizer.  Since I also had a challenge this week to do a less than basic fold, I decided for this card, I'd just do them all. tag, fold and gel.

There is a story behind this card. This is a picture of my cousin Peggy with her Cairn, Charlie. Charlie has an ottoman in the dining room at their house. It sits right in front of the window, so that he can lay and watch the road waiting for Peggy to come home. After enjoying seeing her every day this summer, I'm sure he's on that ottoman looking pretty sad right now, as she returned to Auburn last Friday for her sophomore year of college.

Christy has this delightful image called Kiki that looks a lot like Charlie. Kiki is a freebie image that can be found at the Tiddly Inks Store, but be sure you check out all of the images when you drop in to grab him. I decided to do a scene with Charlie sitting on his ottoman and looking out the window. It was perfect for the gel concept. Now lest you think this is something terribly difficult to do, here's a link to Meredith's Tutorial, that made it not a very difficult challenge at all. I drew the ottoman in and colored it all with Copics.

I printed these digital papers out from a kit by Vicki Stegall Designs called Just Breathe that I found for free at Oscraps. I love this set of papers. I decided that this card needed to be something that would stand up, and since I just learned how to do a center step card, I decided to do another one. It was perfect for displaying the window, that I created with my MTC software. I also created my box for my gel with the software. I used a tag to insert Charlie behind the window.

Finally, I used the MTC software to create the circle word art and then brought it into Photoshop to add the Missing you.   I finished my project off with some pearl embellishments.  I'm going to take this card to Peggy's mom, so she can send a note to Peggy from Charlie. Hopefully it will make her homesick enough that she decides to come home before Thanksgiving. I'm glad she loves school, but she could miss us all a little more.

Tiddly Tuesday Puzzle Adventure and Blog Hop

To continue the celebration of the Tiddly Inks 1 Year Birthday Adventure, Christy is following the Blog Hop of last week with all of those fabulous prizes with a Puzzle Adventure and an Open Blog Hop. The Blog Hop will start at 9 P.M. CST on May 10 and continue through until May 12. There are a couple of easy puzzles to solve with the pieces hidden within the bloggers participating in the blog hop. Check out the details HERE.
For my card entry in the Blog Hop, I had to do create with this precious NEW image called LilliClaire-Make A Wish. She along with a couple of more LilliClaire images and lots more new and adorable images can be found over at the TIddly Inks Store. I have colored her with Copics and finished her off with my sparkling Spica pens. That crown just called for sparkles as did the magic dust coming off that wand.

The papers were actually from my scrap box. I'm working on it. Now be sure to play along with the Puzzle Blog Hop for a chance to win a prize or two.

Could We See a Little Stitching Please?

This week the DT at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog has challenged us to submit a project that has some stitching. Now it doesn't have to be real stitching. So if you're not good with a sewing machine or a needle and thread, you can always create some faux stitching. Oh and just so you know there are papers and images in the Tiddly Inks store that already have stitching on them, so no excuses, just come join the fun.

I chose this image called Some Bunny for my card. I've colored her with my Copics. The papers are from my scrap stash. I drew off a diamond pattern on the back of the blue paper and then used my sewing machine and sewed along the lines. I then zigzag stitched the blue to a yellow background. The sentiment was from a pack of embellishments I found in the Dollar bins at Michaels. I went for simplicity on this one, and it works for me.

I Am WHO I Am

Talk about your challenges, this week over on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog, they laid down what for me was the challenge of all challenges - create a project that is "Just Be Me." I've seen Scrapbook Challenges do an "all about me" challenge, and that was the approach I took. Rather than a scrapbook page using pictures, I chose to create a wall hanging using Tiddly Inks images. It was no surprise to me that there were more than enough images in the Tiddly Inks Store to cover a 12 x 12 page with some images that I felt were indicative of me. In fact there were more images I could of used, I just couldn't find enough space for them. It also didn't surprise me that I already owned most of them. Hey you buy what you like.

I used my MTC software and my Cricut to create the I Am WHO I Am and shadow it. I also used my MTC software, the Scalloped Circle Shapely from Penny Duncan, and the word to path option that is available in MTC to create my label wheel. I knew I didn't want to "label" each image, but I also knew I wanted a descriptor for them and this worked out better than I could have hoped.

Starting at the top center the image is called "Ticket to Life Girl". Christy created this image and one with a little boy in honor of my grandson, Monkey Moo, who told his mother when he was 2 1/2 and she had corrected him, "U need to wisten to me. I a person! I got a life and a ticket!" I've taken that message to heart and I hope I embrace life to the fullest. I do try. Clockwise the next image is "Carpenter Joe" and is a reminder of the wonderfully handy man that I am married to. After all, he and I did build Tazmania. Bottom right corner is "Computer Freak" and boy is that ever me. I don't even want to think about life without my computer. I even understand the 1's and 0's. The bottom center image is called "Whatchadoin" and again an image that is so me. I put inquisitive, but that's just a nice way of saying I'm just downright nosy. If you ever saw me in action, you'd be amazed at the amount of information I can get out of a person. "Schoolgirl" is in the bottom left position and that's me with books. I'm a more than avid reader. I'm as addicted to books as I am my computer. If you could see my bedside table, you'd know of which I speak. I even read books over again. In the 9 o'clock position is an image called "Lullaby". I am a mother and a grandmother, but besides those children I absolutely adore babies. I've even been known to borrow my friend's children and grandchildren and this week, I'm driving 60 miles one way for the opportunity to babysit a great nephew. Finally the last image isn't a digital Tiddly Inks image, but rather a rubber TI image that I got from Stamping Bella and is appropriately called "best friends forevah". All of the images were colored with Copics.

I started this wall hanging with a 12x12 piece of chipboard, on which I added a lime green sheet of scrapbook paper. I overlayed it with Floral Die Cut-Pink from The Paper Studio. I then used different Spellbinders to cut my images and frame them and finished off with some ribbons, flowers and bling. I definitely could win the prize for the person taking the most time to create a project, that's for sure.

Thanks for stopping by. Now you all have some of the low down on me, but I can promise you not near about all. I've already got it hung on the wall of TM.

Fa La La La La

This week the challenge at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is to create a card or project that would characterize a favorite Christmas song. I love to sing the song "Let It Snow", but I only want to see snow when I'm in Colorado for a ski trip. Otherwise, it can stay far away. This image is called Snowman's Friends. He's just too perfect for my song choice, and of course his little friends have to be cardinals.

The paper is from the Paper Studio, and I found the snowflake chain at Michaels, The snowflakes are actually Christmas ornaments for one of those mini-trees. For the life of me, I can't remember where I found the sentiment, but I do remember changing the color from black to white. I actually made this card this past Tuesday, and that old saying about a lot or water passing under the bridge holds true for my memory on this one.

Now that I've got my blog done, it's time to go start some decorating for Christmas. I sure hope you're all doing better at getting that task done than I am.

I'm In a Spin Again

Boy am I ever spinning after the time I've had getting the challenge making a spinner card on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. I kind of got sidetracked, and I'm late in getting my challenge card done.

One of the Freebies on Tiddly Inks PCP forum was a Harmony Border, and I immediately got an idea of using it for my spinner portion and having the notes spin down the bars of music. The next thing that came to me, was the sentiment. It had to have something to do with music, and "YOU are the song that makes my heart sing" came to mind. Yeah, I know it's cheesy but what the hay? I went into Photoshop and created the word art. The last thing I had to come up with is the perfect image to go with the rest. Well now that wasn't a challenge, since what woman wouldn't want a card from Charles holding a tulip and a cheesy saying like this. What little coloring there is was done with Copics.

I used my Make the Cut software to design the zigzag path for the spinner to follow and then cut it with my Cricut. I put a second copy of the border underneath so it really looks like one piece of music. The hardest thing I had to deal with, is that I didn't have any pop dots. When I tried punching a dot out of cardboard and attaching the penny, the cardboard just kept separating in layers. I finally used a hole punch and punched a dot in my foam tape. I will definitely be buying some pop dots the next time I get to Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

I'll be adding this card to the box of OWH cards I'm mailing tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by, and I love comments.

End of Summer-Another Chapter Begins

My cousin's daughter left for her freshman year of college at Auburn University(colors are blue and orange. She's planning on majoring in English and plans on being a writer. She's already been published, so I think her chances of being a successful author are pretty good. However, I do think she's got a back up contingency plan and is already talking about law school. She's a brilliant young lady along with being a beautiful person inside and out. I think the hardest thing about going off to college for her was leaving her Cairn terrier, Charlie. So for Peggy this is not just the End of Summer, but also the beginning of a new Chapter in her life. Go WAR EAGLE!!!

This week on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog, we were given the task to make an End of Summer card. I think Christy must have seen a picture of Peggy and Charlie, because I have to tell you, this image called Girl's Best Friend, is the spitting image of Peggy and Charlie. Christy added a bunch of new images in the Tiddly Inks Store this past week, so be sure to check them out.

Details:
Image: Girl's Best Friend by Tiddly Inks colored with Copics Leaf Border and leaves - Images by Heather M cut using MTC with my Cricut
Papers - Shabby Fall from Shabby Princess

Thanks for stopping by and I love comments.

Fit For a Princess

Don't we all think at some time or another we're princesses(except those time when we KNOW we're the Queen). The Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog gave us two weeks to create a project with the theme "Fit for a Princess".


I found this great sketch over on the Sketch Saturday Challenge Blog to use for my Princess Card. Christy has lots of great Princess images over at the Tiddly Inks Store(check it out and see all the great images she has). This image is called Key to My Heart. Isn't she gorgeous? I colored her with Copics, and I love the way her hair turned out. Thank you Lysa, for the wonderful tutorial. The papers are Best Occasions and were purchased in a pack at Tuesday Morning for a fantastic price.I love punches and between the clearance on Martha Stewart around the page punches at Michaels, and the clearance aisle at Walmart, I have acquired some great punches. I used the rain drop Around the Age punches on the purple polka dot paper and the Martha Stewart crown punch for the crown. I punched the crown out of a glittered butterfly from a scrap of paper and then added the rhinestones. I added the heart embellie, some sheer ribbon, and cut out a key shape with my Cricut and hand printed the sentiment.

I had so much fun making this card even while trying to keep my grandson entertained.

Do You Match

your papers to your colored image or do you pick your papers and color to match them? This topic was under discussion over on Tiddly Inks Digitals PCP page this week due to the Tiddly Inks Challenge of the week "Match It Up". I tried it with the coloring first and ended up always getting frustrated when I couldn't find the papers to match my coloring. Now I pick the paper and the sketch out and have a really good idea of exactly what I'm doing before I color the image. The downside to this method, I never have any colored images on hand.

Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is heading into a Halloween Blog Hop starting Thursday, but in the meantime I need to show you my "Match It Up Card". I actually had another image and a completely different color scheme in mind, when I first started thinking about my challenge card. However, by the time I finished the invitations, I'd had time to rethink my card about 6 times.

Usually I look for a sentiment after I pick an image, but I'm working totally backwards this week. Paulette of Create with TLC posted the sentiment "Ladybug Hugs" as a freebie last week, and I knew I had to use it on a card with my Martha Stewart Ladybug Punch around the Page punches. I sent me looking through my chest of TI images for the perfect image to use. With some paper piecing, I realized I could change the delightful Daisybugg into the perfect Ladybug Bugg.

The Ladybug Paper was a free download from Cuddly Buddly. I shrunk the paper as small as I could to create a smaller print for her dress and cap. All the other papers were created with Word and the effects menu of the Insert Shapes function so my colors all matched. I learn something new everyday.

Hope you enjoyed your visit.

Picture Perfect Summer Day

If you've ever been around small children in the summer, you know one of their favorite things to do is play in a wading pool. It doesn't matter that the water is only 8 inches deep, they need a ring and floaties and of course goggles. When the challenge at Tiddly Inks this week said Summer Fun with Sun, Sand and Toys, I knew the exact images I wanted to use.

I knew I had to do these two cuties in a wading pool, so I went to work with my Cricut and the wonderful MTC software. I found a clip art of a wading pool, copied it into MTC and then went to work refining the cut image. I punched the stars in the pool, which required 4 layers for the pool which gives it dimension. I found the clouds in the gallery of MTC(one of the many reasons I love MTC). I love digis for so many reasons, but one of them is the fact that you can easily combine two images and know you have them in the right place before you print. When I originally did the card, I did it without a sentiment in mind. When the sentiment popped in my mind, I knew I had to frame the image, which necessitated me taking the card apart and starting over. I created the sentiment in Photoshop Elements and printed it on yellow for a little "sun. The base card is blue and the grass was a piece of scrap paper. I colored my images in Copics and as a final touch, I had to add bows to her hair. After all, I am from the south and little girls have to have bows.

Thanks for stopping by, and why don't you join us over on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. There's a $10 coupon up for grabs. Oh and be sure and check out the other summer images located at the Store.

On a Personal OWH Card Challenge

I was so hot and sapped when we got back from my brother's Sunday night, that a post wasn't on the agenda at all.

Yesterday started off with running errands both at home and in town. The afternoon was mine, and I quickly ensconced myself in TM with some images to color for some OWH cards. I have a lot of cards to get made by the 3rd of July. I'm working on my own personal card challenge. This first card is made from an image called Wonky Coneflower given as a 1400 Follower freebie from Tiddly Inks. Be sure to check out all of her images here. I knew it would be perfect to work up some quick OWH cards for the troops. I colored with Copics and it was a quick coloring. Sentiment is from Bird's Cards. I used the sketch for this weeks OWH Stars and Stamps Challenge Card for this card. Paper is from The Paper Studio.

Since I was on a roll with this sketch, I decided to use it again for some OWH Any Hero cards that I'm working on for the Shrimp Boil. The background paper is from Karen Foster Designs, the star striped paper is a free printable. Both the flag heart image and the sentiment are from Create with TLC .

I know some are wanting to see the inside ofTazMania, so here's a picture of the finished insides without furniture. The floors are red cedar that we bought from a friend with a small sawmill. We had it planed and tongue and grooved. I cut the boards and DH put them down. I finished by applying 8 coats of varnish. I had seen a barn with the loft done at a 45 degree angle, and I loved the look of it. The first picture is a close up of the floor and the right picture is looking toward the door. Walls are bead board sheets that we varnished without staining.

A Tiddly Inks Card and some Any Hero Cards

This weeks Tiddly Inks Challenge was to do a Robot card. No problem, since there just happen to be some adorable robot images at the Tiddly Inks Shop. I chose Roboto with his really neat square balloons. This was a simple card to put together since I used robot papers that I had on hand. I don't remember who made them, but I do know that I colored the image with Copics, and the sentiment was created in WORD. Here's the Luv Bot.

As I said in my first post, my real reason for starting this blog is to show my support of OWH. I'm working on Any Hero cards for family members to write in at our Annual Around the 4th of July Shrimp(if there are any) Boil this year. Here's the latest set of Any Hero cards, I've finished.

Thanks for visiting and come back to see the progress on TazMania in the days ahead. I appreciate each of you for taking time out of you busy day to stop by for a look see.