Layouts 65 and 66

Hi!

Apologies for the late posting of my layouts this weekend, the sunshiny weather has continued over the weekend, so we have been out riding bikes and enjoying the sunshine.  It's been a fabulous weekend!  So here they are now, better late than never, and with new layouts being planned in my head for the photos I took of us this weekend!

On our last night on Paris I took a few photos of our hotel room.  I'd booked it online and took a bit of a gamble that it was going to be OK.  It was actually better than OK!  We were given a room that was better than we'd booked (and paid for) so we were thrilled.  I'd done a lot of research before booking a room and had discovered that many rooms were absolutely tiny.  Some only had fold down beds - no thanks! It was still what you'd call a small room in Australia, but more than adequate for our needs.

When I booked the website said that the hotel had a laundry service, which was a huge bonus, but when I asked about it I was told to use the laundromat down the 'rue'.  That was an adventure in itself, as none of the instructions were in English and my French was clearly inadequate!  We eventually worked it all out, only to be accosted by a drunk, English speaking French man who was desperate to visit Australia and wanted to know all about it.  He kept asking us to tell him a joke!  It was such a strange experience, but very funny.

Sadly they next day we had to catch the Metro back to the airport.  We had all of our luggage with us and got a few dirty looks from the other travellers as we took up a lot of room.  It was a pretty uneventful trip back to Singapore except that we were unable to get much sleep and so we were very haggard by the time we touched down.  Our bodies were telling us it was the middle of the night, but it was morning in Singapore.  We found a couple of banana lounge type things and managed to get a few hours sleep, although it was hard to get much rest when we had to keep one eye on our carry on luggage.  Still, it was all an adventure!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #229: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

It's been a lovely weather week here in Adelaide with temperatures around 22 degrees for the week.  It's been lovely, but I can't quite believe that I'm wearing shorts in Winter! I find that the warmer, sunnier weather makes me happier, which ties in nicely with the inspiration challenge this week at Just Add Ink.  If you don't feel happy looking at the inspiration picture that we have for you this week, then it's probably still cold where you are!

Isn't it fabulous? I decided to run with the colours and the sweet theme for my card.

Can you believe that I didn't own the Cupcake Punch until very recently?  I purchased it when it was a Weekly Deal and got myself an absolute bargain.

I pretty much purchased the Remembering Your Birthday stamp set just for this sentiment.  It's a fabulous one for girly birthday cards.

I just had to add another sparkly topped cupcake inside to fit the theme!

I hope you can find time to play along with us this week.  If it's been cold and miserable where you are it might be a great way to lift your spirits.  Why don't you pop on over to Just Add Ink to see what else the Design Team have come up with.  Remember, as it's the last challenge of the month the Top Pick gets a Guest Designer spot for September's final challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

Another One Sheet Wonder Card

Hi!

I'm still on the One Sheet Wonder cards I talked about in my last post. This one was made as a class sample.  It's the same concept, but a different OSW using different colours.  I took the colours from the new Flowerpot DSP.

I also used the new photopolymer Project Life stamp set called Remember This.  It's a fabulous set for Project Life scrapping, but I love this celebrate sentiment for birthday cards.  The little sparkles are very pretty.

I love the look of tying a button around some ribbon using twine.  It's a lovely way to add a button to a card.

As you can see, I used a small scrap of the OSW on the inside of the card.  It's a great way to tie in the inside and outside.

Bye for now,

Tina

Happy Blooming Birthday

Hi!

A long time ago, before I started stamping, One Sheet Wonders were all the rage.  They died out around the time I discovered stamping, but now they are back, baby! lol

Stampin' Up!'s new photopolymer stamp set Flower Patch makes creating a One Sheet Wonder (OSW) a breeze! So what is a OSW I hear you ask? It's basically a whole sheet of cardstock that you stamp in one go and then cut up to make lots of cards.  You are essentially creating your own Designer Series Paper.  You can find cutting templates online, just google "One Sheet Wonder templates" and I'm sure you'll find heaps.

Once you've selected your stamp set the hardest part is choosing your colours.  I cheat a little and take colours from my favourite DSP packs.  In the case of this card I took the colours from the last Sale-A-Bration DSP called Sweet Sorbet.  Because the stamp set has lots of layered flowers I then chose a second colour to coordinate.  For example, Crisp Cantaloupe is one of the Sweet Sorbet DSP colours that I chose to use on the biggest flower.  I then selected Strawberry Slush as a darker shade to use as the second layer on the flower.  Easy!

In this middle of the card I have paired Pool Party with Lost Lagoon.  Oooh, a pool party in a lost lagoon sounds like fun! lol

This card was a class sample, and I knew that some of my ladies weren't keen on the Happy Blooming Birthday sentiment, so I also made a card using the Happy Birthday stamp from Sassy Salutations.  I like them both, but I've just noticed that I didn't put any rhinestones on the second card. Oops!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 63 and 64

Hi!

I'm nearing the end of my Paris album pages - only a few more weeks to go now!  Today I have some of the last pages from Paris itself.  The first is from Sainte Etienne Du Mont which was a gorgeous church next to the Pantheon that we went into on a whim.  So glad we did!

It is a church devoted to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.  It has this huge, carved staircase that lead up to the place where the choir sang. I can't recall the correct name!

It really was a magnificent church, and apparently has featured in a few movies.

These next pages are a heap of random photos of food related things that we took during our time in Paris.  We were quite grossed out by the 'Hummer' which looked like a cross between a hamburger and steak sandwich, but it had 4 layers of meat and cheese in between 5 layers of bread.  Heart attack on a plate!  Rob found Orangina, which was like a fizzy orange juice.  We also tried some Macarons, which were huge, sweet and delicious.  One was more than enough though!

This page showed some of the restaurants we ate at.  Le Moncey was a regular breakfast venue for us, where we ate croissants, juice and hot chocolate each morning.  Real, fresh croissants are devine, and sadly I have yet to find any back home that are as good.  Ours are too bready. Probably a good thing, or I'd be the size of a house!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #228: Just Add Colour

Hi!

It's time for another Just Add Ink Challenge!  This week Kim has put together a fabulous colour combination to inspire us.

It's such a pretty combination!  I decided to go with a floral card using the new hostess stamp set called I Like You.

I cheated a little with the colours as I wanted to use my Blendabilities to colour the images and they don't come in Blackberry Bliss or Mossy Meadow.  I switched them for Wisteria Wonder and Old Olive.

My card is actually an easel card. I wanted to make an extra special card for someone who was having a bit of a rough time and needed cheering up.

For a touch of luxury I used a row of Rhinestones to hold open the card in it's easel position.

Well, that's it for me for now!  I hope to see you over at Just Add Ink with these gorgeous colours.

Bye for now,

Tina

I Like You In Wisteria Wonder

Hi!

The hostess stamp set I Like You was made for the Blendabilities I think!  It's a fabulous set for colouring, especially when you are just starting out.  The smaller areas are a little easier to blend with great effect.

This card was made as a sample for a Blendabilities colouring class.  The simple white on white design of the card really lets the gorgeous flower take centre stage on the card.

You can see that I popped the smaller flower up to give a little more dimension.

This little flower on the inside is also popped up.  The main reason for this is that when you colour with Blendabilites the colour shows through on the back of the cardstock.  I didn't want the very back of my card to have colour on it, so this was a nice solution.

If you'd like to learn how to colour with Blendabilites please get in touch with me.  I can offer small group classes at a time that suits you.  It's lots of fun!

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic Convention Make and Takes

Hi!

One of the best parts of going to Convention is getting to be creative and do some stamping.  Today's card was inspired by one of the (many!) Make and Takes we made this year at Convention.

I made this card as a class sample not long after I got back from Melbourne.  As I didn't have the new In Colours I had to use their close approximates from the colours I did have.

I've said many times that Kinda Eclectic is not a stamp set I would have purchased myself, but it's now one I love.  It's fabulous for collage stamping  -especially the larger sunburst and leaf stamps.

I also love the dotty stamp.  It's great for creating another layer without adding a layer of cardstock.

Here's my card on the left and the card I made at Convention on the right.  A few differences, but nothing major.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 61 and 62

Hi!

It's a picture-heavy post today as I bring you my next two Paris album layouts.  They are of the Catacombes of Paris and the Pantheon, both of which we found to be amazing places.

The Catacombes was one of the only places we had to wait in line to get in.  I think we waited around 30 minutes - luckily there was a crepe vendor nearby! There was a long climb down before we got to the tunnel entrance.  Rob was a bit creeped out by the dripping limestone, but it didn't worry me too much.

 

In case you weren't sure, the Catacombes are where the French government relocated the remains of millions of people were reburied after the cemeteries overflowed.  The tunnels were originally the quarries, and were starting to collapse under the city - so the government solved two problems at once! At first the bones were just thrown in, but then the workers began to arrange them into pretty patterns using the skulls and long bones.

According to the audio guide they even used to hold musical concerts in the part of the tunnels shown above!  We found it to be a very fascinating place, but we were very glad to be above ground again at the end of the tour.

Next stop was the Pantheon, which is this huge, magnificent building that now houses the remains of many of France's most notable citizens.

 

We toured the ground level first.  It was a huge, open area that had many sculptures and artworks.  My favourite was a scale model of the building with cut away sections to view the inside.  We then went underground to explore the crypt, where we viewed the resting places of people such as Voltaire, Dumas, Braille, Cure and Hugo.

Unfortunately the Dome was closed, so we were unable to take in the view from the top.  It was fun to do a little people watching from the steps at the front of the Pantheon.  It is located in a University Precinct so there are a lot of students in the area.  Many of them were enjoying the sunshine on the steps at the front of the building where you got a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #227: Just Add Chipboard

Hi!

Oh boy, theses Fridays are really sneaking up on me!  Time for another Just Add Ink Challenge. This week Chantell has challenged us to add chipboard to our creations.  When I use chipboard it's typically for a mini album cover, not as a feature on a card, so I decided to try something new and use it as a feature.

If you're not sure what chipboard is, it's really just the heavier cardboard that is sometimes used in crafting.  I use the backing board from my Glimmer Paper packs to die cut shapes from.  In this case though I have used some thinner chipboard that I have cut using the new Party Pennants Bigz die.  I used the thinner stuff because I wanted to emboss it as well.  I used the new Large Polka Dot embossing folder.  Just be careful not to force the sandwich through your Big Shot - you don't want to ruin your machine!

I'm still loving the new Blendabilities and had lots of fun colouring the new Bundled Baby stamp set.

Another little cute baby for the inside to finish off the card.

I hope you can play along with us at Just Add Ink - I'm sure you've got some chipboard (or something similar) you can use in your stash!

Bye for now,

Tina

Papillion Potpourri Tag

Hi!

A quick post today, as I missed posting yesterday and I'm flat out today.  Phew!

I made this tag as a second Make and Take project for a party a few months ago.  The party was quite large and I wanted a second project to keep everyone busy and not waiting around for supplies to be passed around the table.  It uses a few retired products and colours, but I thought I'd post it anyway as it's so cute, and a really quick and easy project to put together.

It's a bit hard to see, but the tag was embossed with the retired frames embossing folders. The Oval punchie fit perfectly inside the embossing.  We also used the Mosaic and Butterfly punches to create the layers.  The Papillion Potpourri stamp set is a lovely one and I sold a few that night!

Bye for now,

Tina

Masked Stars

Hi!

I mentioned recently that I participated in a cyber crop last month.  Today's card is another of the cards I made for one of the challenges we were set on the weekend.  The challenge was to use the colours in an inspiration picture that we were given.

There were a lot of bright colours in the inspiration picture we were given.  They were such a happy combination so I decided to make a happy card to go with them.  I used the new Stars Mask to create my happy card.  I held the mask over the cardstock and used my daubers to sponge the colour over the mask.  My old style inkpads worked the best, but I think that's because they are less 'juicy'.  I just need to remember to press a little lighter on my newer inkpads!

I didn't have the Star Framelits at that time, so I used my Eclectic Paper Piercing templates to pierce a star pattern and then I hand cut around the piercing.  I layered it on some Daffodil Delight cardstock and hand cut the matt.  Easy!

I also used the mask on the inside, but to make it a bit easier I sponged in Daffodil Delight only and they added some star punchies to bring in some colour.

The masks really are a heap of fun to play with!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 59 and 60

Hi!

As another weekend draws to a close I realise I have forgotten to do my 100 Layouts post.  For those of you new to my blog I have challenged myself to scrap 100 layouts this year and I'm posting them 2 at a time on the weekend.

LOL, I call this one my 'Pretty Woman' layout! Not because someone was rude to me in a shop, but because I was carrying so many bags by the end of my shopping trip.  Rob and I had a free afternoon so we decided to hit the Avenue des Champs Elysees for a spot of shopping.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I wanted to go shopping and Rob was happy to tag along and carry my bags for me!

I had lots of fun, especially choosing some things for the kids.  Ada's favourite was some Disney Princess perfume from the Disney shop.  I enjoyed the experience, but the strangest part for me was the communal change room in one shop.  I was in line waiting to try on a top and I was able to work out that the shop assistant was telling us that if we didn't mind an open change room we could jump to the front of the line. I said "oui" and went straight in!  It was women only, but a big open room.  A great idea to move things along a bit faster, but not so great for your self esteem if you happen to be next to a gorgeous, slim woman!

The next day we took the Metro out to Saint Denis to see the Cathedral out there.  It's kind of the 'sister' to Sacre-Coeur, as apparently St Denis had his head chopped off at Sacre-Coeur, picked it up and walked off to where the Cathedral at Saint Dennis now stands!

The Cathedral is where a lot of the French Royalty are buried, but it's a very long and turbulent history.  As fascinating place, but so very cold inside!  The guides all had very thick jackets and little heaters under the desks they sat at.

Bye for now,

Tina