Christmas in Asheville!!

We were so lucky to find a vacancy here!! A Christmas to remember!

Blog Hop Winner!

Moments by Marla!  Congrats on winning my Christmas Turtle! Email me to claim your prize!

Tiffany Doodles Blog Hop!

December is finally here and there is so much going on over at Tiffany Doodles!  We have a brand new Design Team!  Today we are starting a 3 day blog hop and the December Card Challenge kicks off!  Skip down to the next post to see my Challenge Card.  For the Blog Hop I made this cute little Christmas Turtle card!!  I hope you like him b/c I'm going to give him away for my Blog Hop Digi Prize!!

Digi Giveaway - Christmas Turtle!

There is so much happening right now!  I am almost finished with the new Tiffany Doodles store!! There will be a real shopping cart, with easy to find digis, coupons, memberships, and so much more!  Stay tuned, I'm hoping to open around Christmas! (if everything goes smoothly!)

Do you have a challenge blog and need a good sponsor?  Click here to find out more about Tiffany Doodles sponsoring your challenge!

Tiffany Doodles is having a great sale right now "Buy 3 Get 1 Free".  Purchase your 3 digis as usual and then email your free choice to me!

If you are new to Tiffany Doodles - please join us every 7th of the month for a new challenge!  You have 4 chances to win up to 7 digis of your choice from the store!

Be sure to sign up to follow Tiffany Doodles on Facebook & Twitter for special promotions and events.  There will be lots happening at these two spots in the future!  Don't miss out - sign up today!

Choose your own button color!
Get the Copy & Paste code
& find more colors here!

Blog Hop Instructions:

1. Be sure to install this button to your blog if you haven't already.
2. Follow this blog if you aren't already!
   
3. Stop by everyone's blog and sign up to follow theirs too!
   
4. Leave a comment on my blog & everyone else's blog!
   (Did I mention prizes at every stop on the blog hop?!?!)
5. On the main blog there will be even more prizes - 3 digis each for 3 random winners!

Here is the official Blog Hop Order!

• Official Site    Tiffany Doodles
• Tiffany Richards    Tiffany's Garden --> You are here!
• Cammy Wall    Pink Room Therapy
• Collette Landwer    Heaven Sent For You
• Donna Mikasa    3 Umbrellas
• Jeannie DeGruccio    The Polka Cabana
• Jillian Foster    Inspired By
• Jodi Ann Lee    Inked Inspirations
• Karen Baker    The Bald Dragonfly
• Kim Schofield    Paperie Petals
• Lindsay Amrhein    Note to Self
• Lisa Summerhays    Lisa's Handmade Cards
• Pattie Goldman    The Pampered Paper Patch
• Peet Roeven    Scrap Album
• Shannon Neparko    Desert Design Studios
• Simone Naoum    Designs by Simone
• Sue McRae    Inky Fingers
• Willemien Katerberg    Styles in Paper

After you leave a comment on THIS post, then your next stop on the Blog Hop is Cammy! Enjoy your journey today and good luck on winning the prizes!

TD07 Christmas Challenge!

Here is my card for the Tiffany Doodles Christmas Challenge!  I used the Christmas Tree Digi stamp!  I colored the tree with copics and added the extra contrast with my prismacolored pencils.  The blue background I foamed on with Distress Inks in Broken China and Faded Jeans on the outer edges.  I used my white glaze pen to make the snowflakes and dots!  I did faux stitching around the edges too!  The pink background was sponged on with Distress Ink Spun Sugar and then I stamp a pretty floral background stamp in Memento Rose Bud.  I added a pink ribbon and the sentiment is hand-written.  Then sentiment didn't turn out as good as it looked on my scratch paper!  hehe!

If you are looking for the Blog Hop! Click Here!  This is our first challenge with the brand new Design Team and they have got some major eye candy in store for you!!  Please go visit their sites to see!!

New Team Members at Tiffany Doodles!

Hello, and Happy Friday! With a heavy heart, I'd like to announce that many of Tiffany Doodles' original design team left to pursue new opportunities and I wish them well.

Cindy, Deirdre, Julie, Kathy, Ruby,Vanessa, and Virginia--it's been an honor being on the same team with you these past 6 months. Good luck with whatever comes your way and I'll still be following all of you!

I have since gathered 11 creative ladies who will officially begin their terms starting with this month's challenge. Here is a complete list of new team members:

• Official Site Tiffany Doodles
• Tiffany Richards Tiffany's Garden
• Cammy Wall Pink Room Therapy
• Collette Landwer Heaven Sent For You
• Donna Mikasa 3 Umbrellas
• Jeannie DeGruccio The Polka Cabana
• Jillian Foster Inspired By
• Jodi Ann Lee Inked Inspirations
• Joy Taylor Less is More
• Karen Baker The Bald Dragonfly
• Kim Schofield Paperie Petals
• Lindsay Amrhein Note to Self
• Lisa Summerhayes Lisa's Handmade Cards
• Pattie Goldman The Pampered Paper Patch
• Peet Roeven Scrap Album
• Shannon Neparko Desert Design Studios
• Simone Naoum Designs by Simone
• Sue McRae Inky Fingers
• Willemien Katerberg Styles in Paper

TO celebrate the new team on Tuesday, Dec 7, we will be doing a 3 day blog hop! ALso, on Tuesday, our new December challenge will be starting and we've got some major eye candy in store for you! So be sure to start at www.TiffanyDoodles.com on Tuesday to start the HOP!
Oh, did I mention TONS of giveaways??

Snowgirl Card

I created this Snowgirl digital stamp for the challenge I'm sponsoring over at CDAC (Crafter's Digital Art Center) from Dec 2 to Dec 15.  It's an Embellishment challenge and all you need to do is add a sentiment to your card!  Head over there to grab the digi and join the challenge!

On this sweet card I used my Spellbinders Nestabilities mega die cut to make the actual card. I printed out the digi on Gina K cardstock and used Distress Inks to fill in the edges the lighter shade is Worn Lipstick and the darker edges are Fired Brick.  I used my sponge blender to apply.  I colored with copics and used by Glaze white pen to dot the snow!  Then I hand wrote the sentiment!

2011 Calenders from Tiffany Doodles

I'll start with a reminder for all of my crafty friends out there!  Tiffany Doodles is holding an open call for new Design Team members through the month of November.  Get all Design Team details here.

November is here and it's time for another Tiffany Doodles Challenge! We are doing something a little different this month! The challenge is to make "anything but a card"! The Tiffany Doodles design team has come up with some amazing creations and you really must check them out! I decided to create a 2011 calender in 2 different styles! 1) a cd case and 2) 1 page trifold. Both using digi stamps from Tiffany Doodles!

CD Case Calender

For the CD case calender I created a backdrop scene using several stamps, Grass, Label, Lamb, Singing Birds, Birdies & Housework, Sunny Face, & Clouds Set.  I also used the calf digistamp on the back cover. I assembled the stamps in Photoshop in a document 300dpi, 4.75"x5.4" (or 1425x1620).
I created a PDF template if you would like to make this calender yourself!  CD Case Calender PDF template.

For the calender dates I also assembled those in Photoshop and printed on regular copy paper.  You can purchase the calender template here and the calender backdrop here.  After printing the calender dates I rounded the corners and attached with diamond brads.  To change the months simply undo the brads and move the top month to the bottom of the stack, then replace brads.  I colored the backdrop with copics in all kinds of colors!  Too many to mention, but you get the idea!  The back cover contains a shameless plug for anyone that might see your calender and admire it!  =)  The CD cases came from Papertrey Ink (5 for $3).

1 Page Tri-fold Calender

For the 1 page calender I used 9 digi stamps from Tiffany Doodles! Lotus w/Blossom, Zinnia Bloom w/Blossom,  Petal Bloom w/Blossom, Hummingbird, Warbler, Warbler 2, Lilystems w/Oval, Dahlia w/Oval, & Poppy w/Oval. This fun little calender will fit on 1 sheet of paper, then you score it, fold it and just flip it every 4 months!  This template is available here.  I colored all the digis with copics and then gave each one a little extra zing with stickles glitter!  I created a PDF template of this calender too!  1 Page Tri-fold Calender PDF tempate.

Thanks for looking!

Francie goes fishing!

We were fishing off the back deck yesterday and Francie wanted some of the action too!  She tried so hard to get that fish!  She just about talked it to death! =)  Emma kept her distance she wasn't too sure about the situation! Enjoy!

TD05 - Fall Theme Challenge

Everyone is celebrating the cooler weather these days so for the Tiffany Doodles October challenge we are doing a Fall Theme! For my card I used one of my brand new Fall digital stamps! I drew this little fall tree in Photoshop as I saw it in my head! =) I put it inside the Fall Leaf label (for this card I removed the leaf from the middle of the label).  I colored the tree and around the tree with my Copics.  Then used my Prismacolor Pencils and deepen some of the blues around the edges.  This is the first time I've tried this technique and will definitely do more of this in the future and with different mediums!  Hope you like my card this time!!  If you enjoy making cards, join us in the fun card challenge and you could win some digital stamps from my store!!

Poodle Card!

It's the 7th of the month and that means a new Tiffany Doodles challenge! This month we are doing a COLOR challenge and the Design Team has come up with some great inspiration! You must check out their cards as well!

I used 2 Tiffany Doodles stamps this time, the Poodle & the freebie Label 3. I used Basic Grey's Porceline 6x6 paper for my label, background and towel.  I also used some pretty green glitter paper to give it a little bling!  After printing out the poodle onto Gina K cardstock I colored it with copics rv23, rv02, rv00.  Then I cut it out and used pop dots to place in the center of the label!

Be sure to participate in this challenge because you have great chances of winning some fabulous digi stamps from me!!

We Love You Cornbread

We are heartbroken over the loss of our kitty, Cornbread.  He put up a great fight through this last ordeal, but we couldn't bear to see him suffer.  It was the most heart-wrenching thing I have ever done, but the prognosis would have been worse for him.  We we're blessed to have him in our life.  We have so many wonderful memories of him and all the silly things he did!  He is resting peacefully in a special spot in our yard where he can always keep watch over everything and guard over his kingdom!
I think about him constantly and miss his sweet face every minute of the day.  He was always right there with me and following me every step I made no matter where I went.  He was a big part of our family and we will miss him terribly.  Every day.  Every night.  We love you so much Kitty.  Cornbread, this is from Mama's heart to you, my boy....

Don't be sad you had to end my pain,
and know that you will see me once again.
God's given me a place to wait for you,
a cozy cloud and salmon too!

The angels are happy to stroke my fur,
and they all seem to love it when I purr.
I'm no longer sick so I am glad,
please don't fill your days by being sad.

I know in time that you will see,
the kindness that you did for me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
from pain and suffering I've been saved.

Today you gave something to heaven
that heaven once gave to you.
Your sweet, your precious,
and faithful companion, "Cornbread".

He'd been with you for many years,
his loyalty did show.
You loved him and he loved you back,
but now he has to go.

Do not despair for he'll be there,
when your time's at the end.
There just beyond the Pearly Gates,
awaits your furry friend.

You kissed his head, buried your face in his neck,
and whispered goodbye as a part of you died.
May heavens arms hold you, softly my love,
until Mama can hold you in Heaven above.

Cornbread crossed the rainbow bridge on Monday, August 30, 2010. 
Rest in peace my boy.

I love you kitty, and will never ever ever forget you.
You can see more posts of kitty here: more on Cornbread

TD03 Challenge!! Flower Power!

Tiffany Doodles 3rd monthly challenge is underway and this month the theme is "Flower Power"!  Tiffany Doodles offers so many beautiful flower digital stamps that the Design Team and I wanted to feature them for our monthly card challenge!  For my card I used several of my DoodleBlooms designs! (specifically images from Vol I, IV, V, & VII)

I had a great time putting this card together!  Here are my supplies!

• DoodleBlooms - Tiffany Doodles - Vol I, IV, V, & VII
• Kraft cardstock (papertrey ink)
• Labels 8 (mega nestabilities)
• Coordinations Black Magic cardstock (spellcaster)
• Turquoise ribbon - Hobby Lobby
• Bow Easy
• Prismacolor Pencils - Aquamarine, GrassGreen, Black Grape, Lilac, Mineral Orange, Pink, Mulberry, Canary Yellow, Chartreuse, Dark Green, Kelly Green, Colorless Blender
• Copics - YG21, YG23, YG25, BG05, BG45, BG34, RV25, RV23, RV21, YR02

To start out I created a 4x6 300dpi image in Photoshop and brought in some of my Doodleblooms and arranged them around, resized, & rotated them to make a nice background my my card.  I printed this out onto my Kraft cardstock.  I scored the fold and then used my large die cut to cut the card shape.  (Don't forget to leave the top of the card off so that you don't cut it).  Next I colored all the little doodles with my colored pencils.  This was fun blending the colors together!  I wanted them to be bright and cheerful for our Flower Power theme!
Next, I began to color my large doodlebloom with my copics.  I really like blending different color families together and making it look smooth.  For instance, see how the pink blends into a light orange?  And the blue, blends into the turquoise!  Green into yellow!! I love this!  After I got my Doodle colored the way I wanted it I cut it out with my precision scissors!  ALOT of cutting!  If there were any touches of white paper showing on the edges I colored them out with a black felt pen.  Next, I cut my piece of Black Magic cardstock in the same shape as my doodle with about a 1/4" border.  I sanded the edges just a touch to allow the blue core to show through. (LOVE coordinations cardstock!)
Next, I fixed my ribbon onto the card stock and tied the double bow using my Bow Easy! (Best $5.00 I ever spent!)  I glued my colored doodle onto the black cardstock and afixed onto the card with large 3d glue zots.
Please join us on this great challenge and make your own card!!  You have until the end of August to play!  AND you have 4 chances to win up to 7 digital stamps of your choice from Tiffany Doodles!

Birds & Windows Challenge TD02

Greetings followers and new-comers!! It's time for the 2nd official Tiffany Doodles Challenge!!
The challenge starts today and lasts through the end of the month! You have 4 chances to win up to 7 digi stamps of your choice from Tiffany Doodles!

Giveaway Alert:

An extra note for today ....Happy Birthday to me! For my birthday, I would love love love to have 300 (or more) Google followers! If I reach 300 by the end of July, I will choose 7 random followers to win 1 digi each! Sound good?

Now, for my card this month, I used 2 Tiffany Doodles digi stamps!  The bluebird and shutters! I assembled the layout in Photoshop.  The background photo came from Windows vista (sample photos).  I added a generic window sill below the photo. Then added the left & right shutters on top of the photo.  If you have looked at my shutter stamp you will see that the shutters not angled and are straight across.  I changed the perspective of them by using "transform > perspective"  and nudging the inside corners upwards.  This made them look like they were open towards the outside.  I also added a drop shadow to add more dimension.  This is what my layout looked like in Photoshop before printing onto cardstock.  ▼

While I was printing,  I printed out an additional bird the same size so that I could place 1 on top of the flat one for extra dimension. After I got everything printed, I cut out the layout to fit onto my 4x5.5 card.  There was some space left at the bottom to add the wallpaper and sentiment.  I colored the shutters with my copics, I used G82 and BG11.  I tried to get a mix of blue and green for the old "peeled paint" effect.  I cut a piece of paper for the wallpaper and die-cut my small piece for the sentiment and colored it the same as the shutters.  Below the window sill I took Copic W3 and drew a line to make it look like a shadow below the sill.  I colored the flat bird and the top bird then cut it out and used a 3D glue zot to add dimension.  For the curtains, I used 2 pieces of fabric and hand-stitched them at the top with embroidery thread.  I tried to gather some pleats in them as I sewed.  Then tied them around the middle, then glued them at the bottom in a puffy way.  I added the fringe to the top and around mid section of each curtain.

I'd love to see what card you make! Please join us in this really fun challenge! Head over to Tiffany Doodles for all the details!

My Birthday Giveaway & More!

My Birthday is July 7

For my birthday I want to give YOU presents!!!  It is my birthday wish to have 300 (or more) Google Followers to both of my sites - Tiffany's Garden & Tiffany Doodles.  If I reach 300 or more by the end of July, I will choose 7 random followers to win 1 digi each of your choice.  Yay!!

July Sponsorships for Tiffany Doodles

I'd also like to note that Tiffany Doodles is proud to sponsor 2 challenges in July!

• Children's Challenge Corner - June 29 - July 11
• Copic Creations - July 1 - 14

I'm also delighted to tell you that I have been asked to be a Guest Designer for the Copic Creations "Bird" challenge!  The Design Team will be using my bird digi stamps exclusively for this event!  I'm so honored to have a project in the line up next to these seriously talented ladies!!  Thank you Mary!!

Tiffany Doodles July Challenge

Don't forget to swing by Tiffany Doodles on July 7 (next Wednesday) to join us for the 2nd ever TD Challenge. The Design Team and I have come up with a really fun challenge for you this month! Come over then to find out what it is! Each participant has 4 great chances to win up to 7 digis of their choice from my store!

Tiffany Doodles is now on Facebook & Twitter

Scroll Down to view my new Bird card!

Guess who's Guest Designer at Copic Creations?

Me! Not only am I the Guest Designer, but Tiffany Doodles is also the official sponsor for this July 1 challenge! The theme is "Birds" and each of their Team Members has chosen one of my bird digi stamps to create some beautiful and inspirational cards! Be sure to check out their blog for some inspiration!

For my card I chose the Warbler 2 stamp and colored this beautiful little guy true to life, bright yellow all over! This is a male yellow warbler and has a few brown streaks on his belly, the females have very faint brown streaks! Yellow warblers are so cute & are often mistaken for 'wild canaries'.  They make a beautiful fast chipping call/song that sounds like "sweet-sweet-sweet summer sweet".  You could say I'm a bird lover/watcher, and I really enjoy photographing them.  You'll find lots of bird digi stamps at Tiffany Doodles with tons more on the way!  The sentiment for my card was inspired by my trip to Bath & Body works this past weekend, they are having a "hello yellow" sale!  When you walk into the store instead of saying "hello" they say "yellow".  Cute.

Here are a few details about my card.  I created a 3.75" square document in Photoshop b/c I planned to use my Nestabilities Die Cut (standard large circle set) to cut out a circle around the sentiment.  (I used the 3.75" die cut).  In photoshop, I drew a circle path and typed my sentiment along the path.  Then drew another path and typed a long line of dots around that path.  Next, I brought in my digi and pasted it in the middle and resized to fit.  You'll notice a small touch of his tail is sticking out over the edge.  Before I die cut the circle shape I cut around the very edge of the tail and lifted it over the metal die cut so that the tail wouldn't cut off.

Next, I printed an additional bird in the same size so I could place it on top of the first one to add a little dimension.  I colored this bird and cut out with my sharp scissors and smeared on some yellow stickles with my finger.  While the birdie was drying his feathers, I did a little stitching with some light red embroidery thread.  After sewing the pretty paper to the die cut circle card stock I glued that onto a yellow piece of card stock .  Next I punched 1 1/2" circles on white card stock and then glued my pretty paper on top of those for sturdiness.   Here is my material list:

• Warbler Digi Stamp - TiffanyDoodles.com
• Copics: Y08, Y15, E55
• Yellow Stickles
• Nestabilities Standard Circle Small
• Paper - My Minds Eye - Bloom & Grow
• Gina K white card stock
• Embroidery Thread, Needle, Paper Peircer
• 1 1/2" Circle Punch

Hope you like this card and my little yellow warbler! Check out Tiffany Doodles for more photo realistic birds and drawings.

Easy As Pie!

Literally, this is that easy!! Just open 2 things, dump 'em in and bake it.
Get 2 cans of your favorite pie filling! You choose: cherry, peach, blueberry, strawberry, or apple (David's fav)! They all sound good to me! Next, get 2 boxes of the Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix. You'll also need a couple of pats of butter.

• 2 cans (your fav) Pie Filling
• 2 boxes Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix
• a few pats of butter

1. Dump your pie filling into a deep baking dish.
2. Pour dry cake mix right out of the box on top of pie filling.
3. Put a couple of pats of butter on top - spread out evenly.
By the way, don't cover with butter, it will be too rich. (tried that).
4. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes - until top is golden!
Enjoy the crunchy, crusty top with the warm fruit tucked inside! Top with Cool Whip or ICE CREAM!! I like to call this "too easy pie", it's too easy not to try!

A day with Owen!

One day last week I spent the day in Savannah with Gini & Owen! He is such a chunk and I just had to post these pics & video clip of him eating a pickle! Warning: This video contains scenes that may cause some serious "Cute Overload!"

River Boat Ride!

We live very close to the Ogeechee River and we spend a lot of time playing on it! The river has been very full this year and so our "usual" sandbar is still under water. So, we've spent a few weekends just riding in the boat! This past Saturday we went a looong ways!! What fun we had!

What a Cottonmouth (water moccasin) we saw!!  This was a big ol' boy!  Sorry I didn't get a better angle so you could see his head better, but after circling him 2 times he was getting agitated so I just said "the hell with that!"  And no, I didn't have my zoom on, I was actually this close! --- Okay, so my arms were extended as far as possible! ▼

This dragonfly really liked our styrofoam cooler and he traveled along with us for about 30 minutes, finally another dragonfly came along and they took off together.  I wonder if they have a "home" or if they just keep wandering ... ▼

Along the way we were so lucky to find this sandbar!!   We spent some time checking it out!  We saw some really big deer tracks, lots of racoon tracks.  You could see where they walked into the shallow water, probably to wash their food before they eat it.  ▼

We even saw some little baby tadpoles in the edge of the water!! ▼

My biddies are all grown up!

Many of you may remember I posted photos of my new 3 little baby biddies! I was so excited to watch them grow and to eventually get some EGGS!! Well, guess what? Turns out I have 3 roosters!! I've got to change their names from Buttercup, Daisy & Fern to something a little more manly! They are so funny to watch run around & chase bugs! As they started learning to crow it sounded so weak & pitiful, but they tried so hard. They are getting better at it these days as you can hear in the short video below. They follow me EVERYWHERE! I told David I was probably the only girl in the county that "walks" her chickens, AND the cat, all at the same time - in harmony!! Kitty also follows every move I make so he wasn't about to be left out!!