JAI 564: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for this week's Just Add Ink challenge. This week it's a Choose Two challenge, set by Di.

Hmm, what to choose? I bounced some ideas past my daughter, and she told me that I should do Sea and Trees (but not palm trees), as she thought it was the most challenging combo. Okay then!

In the end, I have all three elements on my card - it's a bit hard to leave the sky out of a scene like this! I started by using my Water Painters and Smokey Slate ink to create the land. I then used Just Jade and Evening Evergreen inks to create the tree tops. These were just a quick wiggle of the brush, getting a little larger at the bottom of the tree. Once is was all dry, I added some Soft Suede trunks.

The sky was a quick wash of Balmy Blue, and the sea is Blueberry Bushell. I then added some extra details to the rocks and trees. The final part was adding some foam to the sea using my scoring tool and some Frost White Shimmer Paint.

My sentiments are from a Uniquely Creative stamp set, called Sweet Sentiment Builder. I couldn't resist adding another little tree - you can see the effect of the wiggling Water Brush a bit more clearly.

That's all from me for tonight, but we hope that you will join us by creating a card for our challenge. Which two will you choose? You can see the cards that the rest of the Design team have created over on the Just Add Ink website. You can also link up your card on our blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Cajun Craze

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week we are making Cajun Craze the star of the show. It's a terracotta colour, which I don't use much. It's one of those colours that I don't reach for, but definitely has a space in the SU colour range. 

I was recently convinced that I *had* to have the Stitched Greenery die, and now that I've used it, I think it was a good decision! It really adds an oomph to my Very Vanilla background.

I used Forever Fern on my main panel - don't the leaves look great in Cajun Craze? The sentiment is from Sweet Strawberry, and I snuck in the retired Stitched Shapes dies as a matt for the panel.

I used the same two stamp sets to complete the inside of my card. I was quite pleased with how my card turned out, even though I find Cajun Craze a bit of a tricky colour.

Next up on our Cajun Craze Blog Hop is the AWH Team leader, Claire Daly.

If you find a broken link along the way, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog. Just remember which blog you need to visit next, and click their name on her full list.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 3

 Hi!

Thanks for once again joining me for this week's AWH Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Have you been enjoying the gorgeous Christmas inspiration on our blogs? I have! Plus, I have been very productive - I already have 12 Christmas cards in my stash, just from the HOC Blog Hops.

This week's cards are made using the August 2019 Sheetload Of Cards template. I have received some of my new Christmas goodies, so I went with a more traditional colour scheme this week. Did you love the Heartwarming Hugs DSP from last year? Well, hooray - it's back! I've paired it with the new Gingerbread Dies and another returning product, Red and Green Foil sheets.

The other new product on my card is the new sentiment-only stamp set, Christmas To Remember. I'm a sucker for mixed font stamp sets, and the hand-written font is extra appealing! I used the same die on the inside as the front, but this time I popped out all of the bits to give a filigree look. Hooray for Adhesive Sheets, which make adhering delicate shapes like this a breeze!

Once again, I made four cards from the template. So handy when all the thinking is done for you!

The next blog around our hop belongs to my lovely friend, Christine Blain. You're in for a treat there!

If at anytime you find a broken link please head to the blog of this week’s host of The Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all those participating.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 327: Holiday Section

 Hi!

Welcome back to this new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We are celebrating our seventh anniversary this evening. How exciting! I've been part of the team for around two and a half years, and have enjoyed every moment.

This week for our challenge, we are asking you to CASE  a card from the Holiday Section of the Annual Catalogue. Have you started making Christmas cards yet? I've been making them for around a month now, with the hope that I won't have to madly rush to get enough made in December.

I chose this card from page 95, as the simple design really appealed to me and I liked how the branch hung over the sides of the main panel.

I started by rotating the orientation of the card. The main panel stretched to become the long, thin strip that the sentiment sit on, and the polar bear still overhangs each side of the panel. Sort of the same, but also very different!

The DSP I have used is a cute new Sale-A-Bration option, called Penguin Playmates. You can earn it free in August and September with a $90 catalogue spend. To jazz up the images a little, I coloured the polar bear's scarf and nose with Wink Of Stella. Some trees in the background DSP also got the same treatment. It's an overcast day here, so no sun to help capture the sparkle in a photo - you'll just have to imagine!

The sentiments I've used are from a stamp set in the new Mini Catalogue, called Christmas To Remember. It's a lovely sentiment only set that I'm sure I will use a lot. The tree is fussy cut from the Penguin Playmates DSP.

That's all from me tonight, but your part in our seventh anniversary challenge is just beginning! Choose a card to CASE from the Holiday Section, and after you've made it, just upload a photo to our Facebook group. Easy!

Please do continue on with our blog hop before you dash off to get inky. Next up is my lovely friend, Rachel.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 536: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Hello and hooray for Friday! Although, I'm a little sad that the school holidays are nearly over - I like my quiet, lazy days home with the kids! The new Just Add Ink challenge makes me happy, though!

This week Jan has designed this fun sketch for us. I like these really simple ones, as it gives us plenty of scope for playing.

My daughter was invited to a birthday party and needed a card for the Birthday Girl, who is a huge fan of a particular super hero. Easy-peasy when you have a pop-culture stamp collection like mine! I started by embossing a piece of Black Foil with a retired SU Cobwebs 3DEF. The bottom portion of the card was embossed with Subtle 3DEF.

The character is from a Kindred Stamps bonus digital file called You're Extra Super. I coloured him with my Copic markers and layered him on top of a Stitched Shapes Circle. The '16' was cut using the Playful Alphabet Dies. I wanted it to blend into the bottom of the card, but also to stand out, if that makes sense! I used Adhesive Foam to make it pop out, and then coloured the edges of the foam with my Copic marker to help it to blend.

To decorate the inside, I used a stamp from Ink Road Stamps, called Full Circle Vol 3: Heroes for the icon, and another Kindred Stamps set, called Justice Is Served for the sentiment. It's hard to see in the photo, but the black strip across the bottom is more of the Cobwebs-embossed Black Foil. It was too good to not use on the inside!

I hope that you have a great weekend, whatever you are doing! It's going to be wet and miserable here, so I'm hoping to get some quilting done. Before you go off and make some weekend plans, please head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design team cards. Hopefully you'll be able to make time to join in our challenge - we'd love to see what you create!

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Bumblebee

 Hi!

Welcome back to this week's Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week it's Bumblebee's turn. Are you a fan of this mustardy-yellow? I am not! I much prefer a 'cleaner' yellow, so I really struggled with this week's card. In looking through the products I own that featured Bumblebee, I came across my What A Year Memories and More card pack, and an idea was born!

I loved the tile pattern on this card, and so it became the basis for my card. I started by cropping the curve in the bottom of the card using one of my Basic Borders Dies. I then matted the piece on some Bumblebee cardstock and cropped it again, so that I had a thin Bumblebee border all around the piece.

I couldn't resist using the retired Dainty Diamonds 3DEF on the Whisper White card - it is the perfect match with the M&M card! A few pops of black with the Matte Black Dots finished off the front nicely.

You can see that on the inside of my card I used the offcuts from the M&M card and the Bumblebee matt on the front. Not much gets wasted in my house!

Please continue your way around our Blog Hop, as there's plenty more inspiration to be seen. Next up is the AWH Team leader, Claire Daly.

If you find a broken link at any point in the Blog Hop, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog. 

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 2

 Hi!

Thanks once again for joining the AWH team for the second week of our Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Did you find plenty of inspiration last week? You'll find even more this week!

One again, I am using a Sheetload of Cards template from Crafty Al for my cards this week. This template is from July 2019. I am still waiting for my new Christmas goodies to arrive, so I have used the same paper and stamps from last week - Pattern Party DSP and Joy To The World Paper Pumpkin stamp set. Definitely not traditional colours and patterns in the DSP, but I like the modern look! You could definitely make these cards using more traditional supplies.

The templates make creating multiple cards very quick and easy. The hardest part is translating the measurements from US card size to Australian, which isn't too tricky at all. 

That's all from me for tonight, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop. Next up is my lovely friend, Theresa, who always makes such beautiful cards.

If at any time you find a broken link in this week's Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop, please pop back to my blog, where you will find the list links of all of the participants. All of the ladies will have a link to my blog at the end of their post. Just remember who is next on the hop, and then click on their name in the list below:

Tina Gillespie < You are here

Theresa Gerrard

Michele Taylor

Rosa Leyden

Catherine Proctor

Sharon Davern

Caroline Manwaring

Kate Morgan

Andrea Sargent

Christine Blain

Rachel Woollard

Diane Furniss

Ros Davidson

Vicki Boucher

Bye for now,

Tina