Tag A Bag Kits

Hi!

I was browsing through my "To Blog" folder on my computer and found these Tag A Bag kit gift bags that I'd made as a class sample.  I thought it was about time I blogged them!

I'm sure I got the inspiration for these somewhere online, but it's been so long since I made them that I can't remember where.  The bags are folded, not quite in half, to form a couple of pockets.

In the back pocket I had a tasty treat - I think it was a home made biscuit.  The kids ate them before I had a chance to photograph them!  In the front pocket was a tea bag and a tag, which you can see in the next picture.

These were so quick and easy to put together, and make a lovely "thinking of you" type gift.  Who doesn't like sitting down to a cuppa and bikkie knowing that a friend is thinking of them?

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 29 and 30

Hi!

I'm a day behind with my usual Saturday scrapbooking posts.  I'll blame the school holidays *grin*.

This first layout is about the final moments of Princess Diana in Paris.  It's such a sad story.  Most of these photos were taken on the Hop On Hop Off bus tour.  The Ritz Hotel where she was staying, the tunnel where her car crashed, and the Flame Of Liberty Sculpture - the replica of the Statue of Liberty flame that became an unofficial shrine after her death.

Our next stop was the Musee d'Orsay.  The museum is housed in a huge old train station that has some marvelous architectural features.  I was a tad devastated to find that we couldn't take any photos on the inside of the building, and I wasn't cheeky enough to try to take some sneaky photos.  I did see some others being cheeky though!  I had to be content with a postcard of the inside. There were lots of steel arches filled with glass, or simply as archways between different rooms in the museum.  I'm so glad they preserved the building rather than tear it down to build the museum.  The huge clocks on the front were windows that you could look out of.  Such an enjoyable building to look around!

I was more interested in the building than the artworks, but I did see a lot of art that I liked.  One in particular was a painting of a dance teacher and ballerinas.  I remember doing a jigsaw of the same picture when I was a little girl!

I managed to get a lot of scrapping done these school holidays, so now I am nearly finished my Paris album. It's become two albums though, as there were too many pages to fit into one.  I'll be sharing all of it over the next few months.  I hope you're liking it!

Bye for now,

Tina

Just Add Ink #212: Just Add Colour!

Hi!

Where on earth did that week go?  I am so out of whack with the school holidays.  I love the holidays, as it's a great chance for our family to relax and recharge the batteries, which is probably why some of my 'real life' gets forgotten!  Anyway, enough of my babbling, it's time for the latest JAI Challenge.

This week Delys has challenged us with this gorgeous colour combination.

There are so many possibilities with these colours!  You could easily make either a masculine or feminine card.  I chose the latter.

I have had the Hexagon Thinlit since it came out but hadn't used it yet.  I had had the idea in my head to use it as I have in this card, but the 'right' card hadn't come along yet.  This was the perfect time!  I basically cut one out and then trimmed the straight bits off the side.  In some places I trimmed some more off so that it wasn't still a rectangular shape.  I then adhered some of the popped out hexagons over the solid hexagons for a little added detail.  I love how it turned out, exactly as I'd imagined.

I didn't have room left for a sentiment on the front.  I made it for my niece who turned 18 recently.  I had visions of trying to stamp an 18 on the bottom solid hexagon, but it just didn't look right, so I left it off.

As always, the inside was decorated to match the outside.

I hope you can play along with us this week at Just Add Ink.  See you there!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 27 and 28

Hi!

One of the things that was on Rob's "Must Do" list in Paris was to have a Royale With Cheese from McDonalds. Based solely on the conversation between John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson in the movie Pulp Fiction. We had some time up our sleeves due to the cancellation of the Opera Garnier tour, so off to Maccas we went.  Definitely an experience, very different to our Maccas! To order, you go up to a touchscreen and place your order.  Thankfully they had English as an option to choose.  It took us a while though, as all the names are different and the machine timed out a few times while we were deciding, so we had to start all over again! Then you wait for your number to be called to collect your food.  The restaurant itself was very similar to ours.

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe again.  We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus back around to it so we could see the sights along the way.

It was all back to normal after being closed for a Memorial Ceremony the first time we went.  In hindsight I'm glad we couldn't climb it on the first day, as I'm not sure that my legs would have coped with climbing the spiral staircase to the top after a full day walking around Paris!  They do have lifts, but they are solely for those unable to use the stairs.

 

Some of the pictures we took from the top.  I was quite amazed to find that the inside of the top of the arc isn't solid - there's a display, a gift shop, and most amazing to me - public toilets!  Not at all what I expected, but very convenient!  We had to laugh at the warning signs on the top of the Arc.  We got most of them - no food/drink, no smoking, no tripods, no mobile phones - but we could not work out what the man in the underpants meant.  No nudity?  Why you'd feel the need to strip off at the top of the Arc was beyond me!

Have a great Easter weekend, hopefully it includes some crafting time!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #211: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Happy Easter!  I'm really looking forward to spending some time scrapbooking this long weekend.  What will you be doing?  Hopefully finding some time to create a card for our Just Add Ink Challenge.  This week Paula has designed a fabulous sketch for us.

I switched a few things around with the sketch to create my card.

To create the larger scallops under the flag I cut a second Floral Frames die cut, and then used a Circles Collection Framelit to cut a circle out of the middle.  I then cut between two of the scallops so that I could stretch the circular shape into a straight line.  Easy!

This card did double duty as a class sample for my stamping ladies this month. They'd wanted to do a technique so we did the baby wipe background technique. You can see the colours behind the stamped tree.

I hope you have a relaxing weekend, with plenty of papercrafting time.  See you over at Just Add Ink!

Bye for now,

Tina

Happy Birthday Alex!

Hi!

On Sunday my eldest child, Alex, turned 11.  Can't believe my first baby is that old!   He's madly into Lego, especially The Lego Movie Lego.  I just had to make him a Lego card to celebrate his 11th Birthday.

I don't know why the card looks a bit wonky in the photo - it isn't in real life!  I love how easy it is to create the look of Lego with a square and a few circle punchies. Oh, and some sponging and Dimensionals too!

I used Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green and Pacific Point as the colours of my blocks.

I used the stamp from my Hip Hip Hooray Kit on the inside of the card, along with some more punch art Lego.  I'm pleased to say that Alex loved the card.

Bye for now,

Tina

Retro Fresh Butterflies

Hi!

Today I have a card for you that I made as a class sample in February.  I wanted to show that you could use the Retro Fresh range to make a feminine card.  I love the Retro Fresh colours, but they do tend to lean more on the masculine side.

Off The Grid and the Retro Fresh Washi Tape provide a lovely background for the layered butterfly.  The white space around the elements gives the card a clean, fresh feel.

I repeated a lot of the elements from the front of the card on the inside.  I always think it's a nice surprise to open a card that is stamped on the inside too.

I hope you're having a great start to the week.  It's the first week of school holidays here, so in amongst all of the activities I have planned for the kids I'm hoping to squeeze in some more stamping time.  I'm about two thirds of the way through my Paris album and I'd love to get it finished this holidays.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 25 and 26

Hi!

Some more Paris scrapping for you today.

Our first stop on day 3 was the Musee Grevin.  It a huge wax museum, chock a block full of celebrities and notable people immortalised in wax.  Rob and I decided to have some fun and adopted some silly poses with some of the figures.

 

As we went around there was a young man there on his own.  He was trying to take some selfies of himself with the models, so we took pity on him and offered to take some photos for him.  I'm sure he though we were a little odd in our poses, as he sped up a bit so as to get ahead of us through the Museum.

We took heaps of photos at the Musee Grevin - what I scrapped was just a small selection!

Our next stop was the Opera Garnier.  I was a bit desperate to do a tour of the building, as it's the Opera House associated with the Phantom Of The Opera.  I've been a fan of the story of the Phantom since I was 16.  As you can imagine I was a bit devastated to find that the Opera Garnier had cancelled the tours for the day.  We had to be content to take some photos of the exterior while dodging the gypsies that try to scam unsuspecting tourists.  Sadly, we didn't make it back to the Opera Garnier to take the tour.  Just another reason to one day try to get back to Paris I guess!

Bye for now,

Tina

Just Add Ink #210: Just Add Easter Boxes, Bags and Baskets

Hi!

I'm a bit excited about today.  As well as being Friday, it's the last day of school for the term.  Yay!  I love the school holidays as we tend to spend a lot of time chilling at home.  After an 11 week term, the kids and I are well and truly ready for a break!  Before that though, it's time for another Just Add Ink Challenge.

This week Kim has challenged us to make an Easter Box, Bag or Basket.  I'm a bit partial to my 3D items, so I had a blast with this challenge.

I found the template for this cute little Easter Box on Kate Morgan's blog.  It's such a fabulous tutorial.

Once the box is sealed up, you open it up by pulling on the tab at the back.

Hopefully you can see the perforations around the top of the box, made using the Perforating Blade for the Trimmer.

I hope you have fun playing along with us this week at Just Add Ink. Will you make a box, bag or basket?

Bye for now,

Tina

Scallop Tag Topper Punch Card

Hi!

When I buy a crafting product I like to get as much use and versatility out of it as possible.  I loved and coveted the Scallop Tag Topper Punch as soon as I saw it in the catalogue.  It wasn't long before cards using the punch started appearing on the Internet showing off the versatility of the punch.  I just had to give some of them a go!

I reckon this card came together in about 20 minutes.  I kept it fairly simple as I was focusing on the technique of using the punch to create the closure for the card.  I'll definitely be trying it again and making the card a bit fancier.

It's pretty simple to do, and is a great look for the card.

In case you weren't sure HB2U is short for "Happy Birthday To You".

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 23 and 24

Hi!

Are you having a great weekend?  My aunt and uncle are visiting, and I'm having a lovely time catching up with them.  They travelled to Europe last year and so we spent a good part of the day looking at each other's photos from our trips.  It was a very happy afternoon!

This first layout was of some random photos that I took because I thought they were funny.  Top left was an advertisement on my iPhone that popped up while I was playing a game.  Exactly the same as the ads in Australia, just in French.  Bottom left was the crazy parking that no-one in Paris seems to mind!  This delivery driver was blocking the road, but everyone else just drove around him.  We saw drivers just stop their cars in the middle of the road, jump out to use the ATM and hop back in and drive off.  Crazy!  What was funny is that all the other drivers were ok with this.  Probably because they do it too!  Finally, bottom right was the restaurant we ate dinner in one the second night in Paris.  An Italian restaurant.  In Paris.  We flew around the world to Paris to eat Italian food. Not French food.

This layout was photos from the third morning.  We took off walking to visit a Wax Museum (layout of this next week!)  I liked the modern sculpture in among all of the older architecture. This was one of the reasons we did so much walking around Paris - we got to see so much that we would have missed had we caught the Metro everywhere.

The other photos were of The Australian Bar and Cafe Oz, which we stumbled upon near the Wax Museum.  we had no idea that they existed!  Sadly they were closed as it was early morning, and we never made it back there while they were open.

Bye for now,

Tina

Just Add Ink #209: Just Add Layers

Hi!

Woo hoo!  It's Friday and there's only one more day of Daylight Savings to go!  I'm so over Daylight Savings right now and when you add that to the end of term.... Anyway, enough of my whinging, let's get on to the Just Add Ink challenge!

This week Delys has challenged us to Just Add Layers to our projects.  I had a plan to do a layout, but time got away with me and so I went with a card. I was inspired to make it after coming across some pattern tissue paper that had been used a package my Secret Santa gift last year.  I decided I'd try stamping on some and then using the piece to make a faux silk type panel.

I really love the way it turned out!  I then used some more of the tissue to create the flower.  I simply folded some up and punched it using my scallop circle punch.  It didn't really punch too well, if I did it again I'd probably die cut the flower.  Not counting the flower, there are 9 layers on this card!  I think this fills the brief quite well, don't you?

A few more layers on the inside too :) And there's more of the off center sentiment stamping that I'm loving so much lately!!

I hope you can find time to play along with us at Just Add Ink this week - it's a great challenge!

Bye for now,

Tina

Another Wedding Guest Book

Hi!

Last September I attended the wedding of my niece Gillian to her beau Daniel.  I had offered to make her a Guest Book for her wedding, similar to the one I made for her sister when she got married in February last year. You can see Cassie and Lachie's Guest Book here.

On the front of the book I used part of the invitation.  I had tried to find similar elements to make my own front with out success, until one lovely shop lady suggested to me that I just use the front of the invite.  Brilliant!  The invitation came in a box and was all individual pages, so it was very easy to do.  I aged the Glimmer Paper to match the brooch by water colouring over it with some Basic Black ink.

Can't have a naked spine!

Gillian and Daniel had had an engagement photoshoot before the wedding, so they sent me some of the photos to use in the album.  I love the way it personalises the album for the happy couple.

I kept each of the pages very simple - black matted photos with the white lace, and then plenty of room on the facing page for guests to write their messages.

On the back I used another of the pages from the invitation.  I thought it was a really lovely Bible verse, and a fitting way to finish the album.  The bridal couple loved the Guest Book, and I hope it becomes a treasured keepsake for them to look back on in the future.

Bye for now,

Tina