Travel Friday

Paris, France Oct. 2006
L'Arc di Triomphe

Paris in Autumn. What a beautiful city! I could hardly believe that I was actually there. The weather was amazing. The sun shone brillantly. And the sites from my architecture books came alive.

I love this photo taken of L'Arc di Triomphe. After stopping at the market earlier in the day to pick up some good french treats, we decided to have our picnic at the base of the Arch. It was Paris at its finest!

The Doodle Story

Today's featured doodled is my "vertical daisy" design. This doodle was not originally drawn to be a card. It was a doodle from way back when in one of my older doodle books. When I firsted started making cards out of my doodles, I went back through the old books to see what designs could maybe make good cards, and this was one.
My first BdoodleZ cards were solely black and white so this design was featured without any color. After I began doing colorized cards, I decided to make my flower note cards available in color too. Depending on the amount of hatching adding color can often take a long time. My newer designs are drawn with coloring in mind, so spaces between lines (for example) are often spread out well enough to allow for the color. But the hatching for the daisies was extremely close. So to achieve the color affect I had to digitally erase a lot of the hatching in the grass... a very time consuming process. But well worth it because I love the final result!

Check out this flower design and three other unique flower cards sold together in a four set of note cards: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10889555

BdoodleZ Place Cards Set a Perfect Table

Give your thanksgiving table a special finish with unique place cards. They are the perfect inexpensive way to add a festive touch!

Come check them out today! www.bdoodlez.etsy.com

Travel Friday

The beauty of these branches dancing in the light could take my breath away. While this photo, taken in the park by Ports Head Lighthouse outside of Portland, Maine, cannot compare to the real thing, I hope it captures the spirit of the beautiful surrounds of our trip.

Upcoming Craft Show Appearance

What's new in BdoodleZ world... card production, and lots of it! I am getting ready for my only craft show of the season and it is a biggie! So my humble home has been transformed into a full blown card factory as I print, fold, package, and stack.

Live in the area and want to see my goods in person? Come to the show:

St. Gabriel School's "Christmas in the Country"
Nov. 7 6pm - 9:30 pm
Nov. 8 9am - 4 pm

9935 Johnnycake Ridge Rd.
Concord Township, OH 44060

Hope to see you there!

Crazy About Tags!

Tags are fun, inexpensive, and the perfect way to dress up a package in a flash. And they are not only good for gifts check out these other ideas for tag uses:

* Decorate packages by recycling brown paper grocery bags, but dress it up with a cute tag... less waste

* Tie a blank tag around the bottom of a wine goblet to create an instant place card for a dinner table

* Tie tags around the tops of cello bags to cinch them closed when create party favors or cookie bags

* Attach a tag to the stem of a single flower as a simple "I Love You"

* Hang tags from an artificial Christmas tree to create lightweight ornaments (please note tags could be damaged by water)

* String lights along a picture window and then hang tags from it for an instant creative decoration!

* Use tags as clue markers for a hidden treasure hunt or a Secret Santa game.

* Write notes on the tags and tuck them into stockings for little stuffers

* Give a package to a friend, they do make the perfect gift!

Start shopping today: www.bdoodlez.etsy.com

Travel Friday

I didn't post a "Travel Friday" last week because I was in Maine. So what better photo to post this week, than one from Maine!!!!





The weather in Maine was wonderfully mild, the trees were at the perfect point of color change, and the days were sunny: overall it was a picture perfect trip. One of my favorite stops was Ports Head Lighthouse just outside of the city of Portland.

Not only was the lighthouse beautiful it was situated in the most amazing park. The grounds were arranging perfectly for walking. After spending some time around the lighthouse, we decided to take a nice amble around the park, walking along the large rock formations that hugged the coastline and ducking under vibrant red branches. I couldn't have painted a more ideal picture!

Come Checkout my BdoodleZ page on Facebook!

I've joined Facebook (and it is too fun for words). In addition to reconnecting with so many friends, I've created a page just for BdoodleZ. Why check it out? It will be the place to give reviews, discuss BdoodleZ topics, and of course link it to your own page.

Check it out today!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BdoodleZ-Cards-and-Design/49188391072

The Doodle Story

I am back! After a much needed little long weekend away, and am trying to get back in the bdoodlez groove again. It is Wednesday, and that means "Doodle Story" day.

As you may have read in my blog footer, or profile on Etsy, the doodles never began as cards, but were rather a more organized way of doing the random doodles so many of us do. I have several books filled with doodles (most of which will most like never make it to the cover of a card). My potted sunflowers design is one that came straight from those books.

This very random and intricate design had to go through a lot of transformation to become a card. It had to be cropped to fit the right proportions and color needed to be added. The particular challenge of this design was all the tiny lines, which each need to be filled in individually... a very time consuming process indeed!

The result? A happy and colorful design, perfect for sending some cheer... especially was the weather begins to cool!

Check it out today! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11308231

Treasury Spotting!

I have just found myself in another treasury! Thanks so much wagscreations!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=13887

Come and have a look!

I Just Joined Twitter!!!!

Unfortunately I have no idea what I am doing...
But I am sure I will get the hang of it eventually...

Come check me out:
http://twitter.com/BdoodleZ

Give Love to the Single Card!

Have you been admiring BdoodleZ from afar but have been hesitant to take the plunge and buy a whole set of cards? NO NEED! BdoodleZ offers several cards that you can purchase individually. But act soon, once their postings expire, they may not reappear!

Shop today: http://www.bdoodlez.etsy.com/

Hello Monday!

Took a little break from blogging this weekend. I have been so entrenched in all my bdoodlez production needs at the moment, I needed to make sure I took some time for me too!

The "Great Christmas Launch" of 2008 is almost complete... (though I am sure a few stray new designs will pop up here and there).

Have you checked out the collection yet?

http://www.bdoodlez.etsy.com/

Another Treasury Spotting!

I happy to share that my Christmas Pines Cards made it into a lovely Tree-themed treasury.

Come and check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=12869

Travel Friday

Paris, France... known for its great architecture, its wonderful museums, restaurants and cafes and so much more! I loved so many things about Paris. Of course the famous sites were incredible. I loved Notre-Dame, L'arc di Triomphe, and the Louvre... but I also loved so many of the "2nd tier" sites too...

This shot is from the incredible church: St. Chapelle, the church that houses Christ's Crown of Thorns. The church, though nondescript from the exterior is just amazing inside. I loved the glow that came from its amazing stained glass window!

Busy Week for Bdoodlez

Its been a busy week in BdoodleZ world. It was a marathon weekend til monday afternoon, when (with a little help with final touches) I finally finished the bulk of the wedding invites I've been working on. (Now on to thank you cards).

Once that was finished I could finally start focusing on my upcoming Christmas Craft Show and the launch of my Christmas line on Etsy. AND I have had some time to be creative too!

Come check out all my designs as I post them at www.bdoodlez.etsy.com.

The Doodle Story

One of my fall favorites is my "Apple Basket" design.

This doodle started out like many of my card designs as an idea in my head that I then tried to bring to life through pen and ink. The original finished doodle however, did not quite look like the ones you see above. In my original drawing the sky was much different. I went through the entire card design process, printed it out and showed it to my hubby, who declared that the sky didn't look quite right... although I agreed, the idea of changing the doodle now, after all the work I had already put in, wasn't the most appealing to me.

I took his advice to heart, grabbed my roll of trace, and redrew the entire sky. Changing a doodle once scanned and edited is NOT easy, it takes a lot of time consuming patch work to join two designs... but in the end I am so happy I took that time! Not only do I love the end result, but it has been one of my most popular fall cards!

The final chapter of the stories, comes from the evolution of the card product itself. Originally listed in my shop as just a greeting card, at the suggestion of a super cool customer, I created a tag version of the card as well! Come check out this little duo of apple delight!