Friday, September 13, 2013

X Marks The Spot {The Twinery}

The Twinery has another inspiring challenge going on...the "X Marks The Spot" challenge.
With the title I immediately thought of a pirate themed project, but I was needing to create some decorations for a baby shower for two soon-to-be-born little girls and thought that a cross-stitch approach would be great to tie in with this challenge (and a little more girly than the pirate idea).
I created a banner with the name of each of the little girls we were celebrating. The banners were strung with The Twinery's Solid Natural twine which was threaded through the top corners of each of the banner pieces cross-stitch style.
In addition to the banners, I created a small floral display.
I again used The Twinery's Solid Natural twine - this time to wrap around the jars. As I wrapped the twine around the jars I did a little criss-crossing...just enough to hint at the cross-stitch design in the banner without having to do cross-stitching on each jar.

And if inspiration isn't enough to make you want to join in...how about this amazing prize?
I can't wait to see what you create for this challenge!

Supplies:
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Natural); 

Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye (The Sweetest Thing - Lavender 6x6); 
Stickers: American Crafts (Thickers); 
Other: (Buttons); (Time Cards);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Threading Water Border Punch, 1/8" Circle Hand Punch); 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Blog Hop {Tombow Guest Designer}

The Introduction:
If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from Marie's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at the Tombow Blog.

The Prize:
Tombow is giving away a Stamp Runner, Power Tabs, and Mono Multi Liquid Glue!
The Hop Order:
>>>Tifany<<<

The Project:
First of all, I am so thrilled to be guest designing for Tombow! I love Tombow adhesives - and as my project will show you, I am a big fan of their markers as well.

For my project I created a set of three cards with a coordinating box. I started by gathering my supplies:
To create a coordinating look while still keeping each piece unique, I decided to stick with a palette of 4 colors of the Tombow Dual Brush Pens - 990, 879, 873, and 905. All of the color on my cards (and the box) was created using various techniques involving the Tombow markers...no need for ink pads here!
I created a pattern for a card box and adhered everything together with MONO Adhesive Dots. To keep the flap in place, I secured it with a Fastener Tab.
To stamp the flap I simply colored with the markers (873 and 905) directly on my rubber stamps and then stamped. Voila!

Now, on to the cards:
For the first card I created a watercolor effect using the Tombow markers. 
I used the brush tip of the markers (873 and 905) to add some color directly to an acrylic block, then spritzed it with a bit of water and used my paintbrush to create the watercolor background. Once the background was dry, I again colored directly on my butterfly stamp (with the 879 marker) and then stamped it onto the card.
For my next card I wanted to go a little more grungy. 
I started by coloring directly onto the feather, grid, and sentiment stamps with the markers (990, 879, 873, and 905) and stamping...then added the splatters with a technique similar to the watercolor technique from the first card. I used the brush tip of the marker (879) directly on an acrylic block, then spritzed it with a bit of water and used my paintbrush to pick up some color. Then I hit the side of the paintbrush with my hand (while holding it a bit above my card) to create the splatter marks.
The final card is a combination of the techniques used on the previous cards.
I started by doing the watercolor technique with marker 990 to create the background and then I stamped the grid using marker 879. To create the fine splatters I used the splatter technique from the card above, but instead of hitting the side of the paintbrush I flicked the end of the bristles on the paintbrush (you could also use a toothbrush for this technique). Finally, I used markers 873 and 905 directly on my butterfly stamp and stamped it onto a panel that was popped up with Foam Tabs.
It was so fun to try these techniques with the Tombow markers and it is a great way to get a variety of looks with just a few supplies.

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Next Stop:

Supplies: 
Adhesive: Tombow (MONO Adhesive Dots, Foam Tabs, Fastener Tabs);
Markers: Tombow (Dual Brush Pen Set, 6 Groovy; Dual Brush Pen Set, 10 Soda Shop);
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Butterfly from Sweet Summer Love - KOM 06/12; Top Five Grid from Epic Moments - SMAK 06/13; Feather and I'll Fly Away Sentiment from Tail Feather);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Circle Squeeze Punch); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Friday, September 6, 2013

Shaving Cream, Distress Stains, and Washi Tape...oh my!

Hi there!
Today I wanted to share with you a card and a tag created using the Distress Stain/Shaving Cream Tutorial I shared a while back.
I kept these pretty basic, just using plain white cardstock, the marbled paper created with the shaving cream technique, and some washi tape and letter stickers. They came together quickly and easily, but I really enjoy how they turned out.
Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#); 

Stickers: Lily Bee Designs; My Little Shoebox;
Other: My Mind's Eye (Washi Tape);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Star Squeeze Punches); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);