Tics, Tacs And Toes

Anything Goes!

Today I'm using this cute little image from StarStampz called Panda Balloon.  I think this is totally adorable!  I love the cute little eyes and the way it's styled.  This is not a traditional chibi drawing.  

I made this little image as a part of the StarStamps Blog monthly challenge.  The theme for making the card this month is Tic-Tac-Toe.

​The idea to this is that you pick three items across a the tic-tac-toe table in whatever is written in.  I picked sentiment/digi/flowers.  I even went as far as to take the tic-tack-toe along with the three items. 

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• Panda Balloon Digital Image
• Black Cardstock
• White Cardstock
• Tic-Tac-Toe Print Cardstock
• Red & Black Polka-dot Cardstock
• Heart Dies 
• X Dies
• Copic Markers
• Cricut (if not dies above)

• Hashtag Die
• Liquid Glue
• Scissors
• Double Sided Foam Tape
• 3D Foam Squares/Circles
• 3mm Silver Eyelets
• Cropodile
• Red & White Twine
• PrismaColor Pencils​

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Coming up with the idea!

This is what my project looks like in Cricut Design Space.  I used basic shapes to make this so there are no SVG files that you will be required to purchase for this.   I also used a digital paper I made specifically for this project. 

Don't forget to click on any of the images to get a better view.

Coloring Time!

Skin: E000, E04, E11, E13, C

I like to work from the middle outwards, so the skin it is.  I use my lightest color as the base to color all ares.  

Note, I did not do any shading around the eyes,  The are was simply colored in with E000 as this allows the difference to look like actual glass.

Hair: Y000, Y04, Y15, YR23, YR27. PC1034

For blond I tend to use more colors since it is so light.  normally I would use three colors and a color pencil, but because of the lightness of the color I need to bring more life to it.  

Panda:  C04,R30
Eyes: BG10, BG11, BG13, BG18

The panda was fairly simple.  I just added shadows t it and a dash of color on the cheeks.  As for the eyes, I had to create an ombre effect.  Darkest to lightest down.

Vest:  R14, R29, R39, R89, PC931

I wanted to incorporate red into my design to keep the color all the way through.  I also use a color pencil to darken in the smallest areas. 

Sleves:  C3, C5, C7, C8

I figured I would make the sleeves black to fit in with the rest of the card theme.  I like to keep my images in tune with my theme or color palette. 

Scarf:  B32, B34, B37
Ruffle: C3

Kept this pretty simple since the scarf has a pattern I went with a blue shade to stand out against the red and black.

I added shadows to t he ruffle with the grey color.

Panda Bow:  R14. R29, R89

This was just a simple three color step since it's not the main focus I didn't touch it up with a color pencil.  

Putting It All Together!

Usually for me, coloring is the most time consuming part. Putting together the individual items is a cinch. Lets get crafting!

First thing I did was to fussy cut the image out. I tried to leave a a small padding of about 1/16" so that my image looked like it was die cut.   I set it aside to build the base on which it will sit onl

Next I cut out and glued down a 5.x5 in. background.  I chose to use liquid glue for this.  You can also use double sided adhesive.  

I then cut out two rectangles, one out of red polka-dot print cardstock ( 1.5" x 4.5") and the other out of white cardstock (2.5" x 4.5").  I demarcated ever 1/5" along the white cardstock.  I then placed both pieces right sides together.  This left the markings on the outside.  I made punches into both pieces at the same time to help keep this uniform.  

Once I had the hole punches made, I used silver and rose eyelets and pressed them into each hole.  After I used my black piece as a template in order to determine how far apart to thread my twine through.  I threaded to the top and tied a bow. 

Moving on....I then added double sided foam tape to my rectangles and adhered them down to the card base.  tightened the lacing and tied off with a bow.

Now I trimmed out a third rectangle (0.75" x 4.5") of printed paper.  To add more dimension I added double sided sticky tape to this as well.  It was set on the far right of the polka-dot print piece.  This way it did not cover the lacing. 

We are almost down to the end.  It's just a matter of adding in some final touches.  Let's play tic-tac-toe shall we?  I used liquid glue to adhere this to the upper portion of the White rectangle slightly askew.  I placed a heart in the middle and two X's in each of diagonal corner. 

Using double sided foam tape ( or 3D foam squares can be used), I added it to both hearts.  I wanted each one to have some height off of the other.  I then placed them in the right lower corner of the white rectangle.

I wanted to have a birthday sentiment that reflected the tic-tac-toe in a way.  I decided to use "Birthday Hugs & Kisses".  I felt that the X's and heart-shaped O's was best expressed by this.  I used two pieces of double sided tape one on top of the other to match the height of the black heart. 

The final embellishments I added was that of paper roses and a small pearl.  I could have very well left the card as is, but I felt that it still needed a little something.  I think it fit perfectly!

We are down to the very last step.  That is adding in my image.  I used Foam tape on the body of the image, leaving the balloon empty so I could use liquid glue on that section since it would be set on the printed rectangle.  

Viola!  This is what the end result looked like...

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Thank you for visiting!  I appreciate all of your support.  I hope you give this craft a try.  Share with me too!  Link up your blog below

XOXO-HearcraftPaper

Challenge Entry

• Through The Craft Room Door
• The Spot Creative Challenge
•  Digi Choose Day Challenge 
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• ​Paperbabe Stamps
• Polkadoodles
• Pattie's Creations Design Challenge

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