JAI #391: Just Choose Two

Hi!

Can you believe that this is our last challenge for the year? I guess all good things must end - but not for long, as we will be back in 2018 with a heap of fun weekly challenges.

This time around Kim has set our challenge, and it's to Just Choose Two. These have been popular challenges this year at Just Add Ink.

OK, I will admit that I'm a little over making Christmas cards by this time of year, so when Alex got invited to his best mate's 16th birthday, I was more than happy to create a teen boy's birthday card.

There's quite a few sneak peeks on this card. The DSP is from the new Tutti-Frutti suite. It's such a fun, colourful suite, but I love that the DSP has some not-so-bold patterns too.

It's difficult to see in the photo, but the twine is also new. It's silver and white twisted together, and it's very cool. Finally, the stamps are from a new Sale-A-Bration set called Epic Celebrations - absolutely perfect for those hard to make teen cards. If you have teens in your life, you'll definitely be wanting this set!

I've used another stamp from the set on the inside. The birthday boy is musical, so I went for the two stamps in the set that related to music.

As this is the last Just Add Ink challenge for the year, you have two weeks to get your entry in. The linky list will close on the 3rd Jan. If you're like me, the few days after Christmas when everyone else is playing with their new toys is a great time to get some stamping in!

This will be my last blog post for the year, so thanks for taking the time to stop by during 2017, and I look forward to sharing more of my cards and scrapping with you next year. Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year to you all!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #390: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

This week we have our second last challenge for the year. It feels so weird saying that- just a minute ago it was February!

This time round at Just Add Ink, Narelle has designed this really cool sketch for us to work with.

I think it's fab - chock a block full of ways to interpret.

I'm sure I said in a previous post that I'd had no intention of buying the Painted Harvest stamp set. Somehow, it found it's way to me and I've enjoyed playing with it. I hate it when I'm wrong!! LOL!  I certainly didn't come up with this cutie-pie hedgehog, but he sure was fun to stamp.

The circular panel involved masking and stamping and sponging, and more masking and stamping and sponging, but the end effect was well worth it

So worth it that I decided to give him a little friend on the inside. Hahaha, that sounds a bit like he's in jail. Oops! This little friend (accidentally) has a darker face than the hedgehog on the front. Serves me right for having too many open ink pads on my craft desk!

I hope you find time in your no doubt busy December to play along with us this week. Hopefully the sketch and the cards the Design Team have created are great inspiration for those last minute Christmas cards! You can see the ret of the cards over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #388: Just Add Glitter

Hi!

This week at Just Add Ink Rochelle has challenged us to add glitter to our projects.

I was recently gifted a cute little dream catcher die, and straight away I thought of it over a tie-dye type background, so that's where I started with this card.

I was a bit stumped on how to get the tie-dye effect, so in the end I went with the smooshing technique for the background. I took my largest clear block and spread some water on it using an Aqua Painter. I then dripped some Blushing Bride, Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder ink on the block, and spread it around a little with the Aqua Painter. When I was happy, I took a piece of Naturals Ivory cardstock (retired) and laid it over the ink on the block. I then left it to dry.

The smooshing looks very cool - just the touch of hippie I was after! I cut the dream catcher from Blushing Bride Glimmer paper (also retired). It was popped up on Mini Dimensionals, and then I tied some Very Vanilla Baker's Twine around the panel to finish off the front.

I wish I'd done an extra little smooshed piece for the inside, but I'd packed away all the reinkers before I thought of it, and I was too time poor to drag it all out again. Oh well, it's a glitter challenge, not a smooshing challenge, so another piece of Glimmer paper works!

You can see the gorgeous cards that the rest of the Design Team have made over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your glittery card.  See you over there!

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH HOC: Final Week!

Hi!

Can you believe that it's the final week of The Heart Of Christmas? I can't! That would be like admitting that it's nearly Christmas!

I'ave had a great time making cards for these blog shares each week - it's been a good way of making sure I've made a decent start on my stash of Christmas cards.

This week I've created a very Australian bush look wreath - do you agree that it looks like a wreath made of gum leaves? You wouldn't guess that the stamp is actually meant to be a peacock tail! The stamp is from a new set called Beautiful Peacock, and it's one of the upcoming Sale-A-Bration sets.

I lightly drew a circle on some Very Vanilla yardstick by tracing around the bottom of an old Embossing Paste pot. I then stamped the image 5 times around the circle in Garden Green ink, and then a further 5 times in Lemon Lime Twist ink. I offset them, so that it made a smoother circle shape. If you look closely at the separate image, you can see that it's a bit of a scallopy looking circle in just one colour, so you definitely need the two colours to smooth it out.

I followed the same process for the inside, except for only making a half-wreath. You can see on both that I've stamped some Cherry Cobbler 'berries' using another stamp from the Beautiful Peacock set.

As usual, you can find links for the rest of the group over on Claire's blog. I've loved checking out everyone's cards each week - they are so inspirational.

Bye for now,

Tina

My OnStage Swaps

Hi!

I realised over the weekend that I hadn't yet blogged the swaps I made to take to OnStage in Melbourne. I had a fun time making them!

I wanted to make a 3D swap using the Treat Tubes in the Holiday Catalogue. You can find them on page 53, hidden amongst the Halloween themed Spooky Night Suite. I based the swap on this project by Pootles, however, I had to adjust the size a bit to accommodate the different sized test tubes.

I also added an extra strip of DSP to wrap around the pieces that hold the test tube in the centre. This was just to add an extra bit of stability to the holder.

I made around 21 of the swaps, using a mix of different papers and ribbons.

Here they are, all together! I packed them in a hard sided box to take to Melbourne, as I was worried about them getting squashed in my luggage. Thankfully they survived the trip mostly OK.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #387: Just Add Colour

Hi!

Yay! Friday again,which means the new Just Add Ink challenge is ready to kick off. This week Nikki has given us a pretty classic colour combination to work with. And when I say classic, I think classic Christmas.

What do you think? Christmas, or will you be adventurous and try something different? I couldn't go past Christmas.

I swore I wasn't going to get Painted Harvest. It wasn't really my thing, and there were other stamps, etc, that I liked better. Somehow though, once I got hold of it, I've really enjoyed using the set. The Christmas wreath isn't new to me - I've seen heaps around the web, and I'm sure you have too.

I cheated a little with the colour combo, by adding a layer of Lemon Lime Twist to the wreath. I like the extra little pop it gives the wreath. I added a bit of a luxe touch to the card with the strip of Gold Glimmer Paper, which I also carried over to the inside.

You can see the cards that the rest of the team have created this week over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card. Can't wait to see what you create with these colours!

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH November Blog Hop: Texture

Hi!

Tonight the Art with Heart team girls are sharing some creative projects by adding texture with embossing. Embossing can add a lovely dimension, and with our wonderful Stampin’ Up! products, we can create many different looks. These include Heat embossing using embossing powder, dry embossing using our textured folders or by adding embossing paste!

Just as I sat down to work on my project, my special preorder from the recent OnStage event arrived. I was very excited, as the box contained a new embossing paste. You will be able to purchase it when the Occasions Catalogue goes live in January, and trust me, you will want to purchase it!

Oooh, doesn't that Silver Embossing Paste look divine as a background? It has a different feel to our current Embossing Paste, but it's just as easy to apply to cardstock. The only real difference I have found is that it takes a little longer to dry.

Now, I mustn't forget the other big sneak peek on my card - the new Bubble Over bundle and DSP. The front of my card with the sponged bottles, was inspired by a card that Kathryn Ruddick made as a Display Stamper at OnStage using this bundle. Don't they look fab? The DSP is one of the upcoming Sale-A-Bration freebies that coordinates perfectly with the Bubble Over bundle.

How cute is this bubble stamp that Ive used on the inside of the card? Super cute is the answer!

Well, that's it from me. I hope you've been inspired! Next you're off to see the creativity of the lovely Leanne Mitchell.

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:

1.  Alisha Watson
2. Ros Davidson
3. Rachel Woollard
4. Sharon Davern
5. Kate Morgan
6. Catherine Proctor
7. Caroline Manwaring
8. Monika O’Neill
9. Tina Gillespie
10. Leanne Mitchell
11. Rachel Palmieri

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH HOC Week 26

Hi!

Welcome to a new week of The Heart Of Christmas with the Art With Heart team. This is the second last week - I'm still in a bit of denial about how close to Christmas we are getting!

Today I have a card for you that once again uses the Watercolour Christmas Project Kit. I've been modifying the card bases, trying to get at least two, and in some cases three, cards out of the one base. I've left this one to last, as I'd though it would be the trickiest. As it turned out, it wasn't so hard after all!

The bit I struggled to get my head around was cutting the wreath in half. It's the only way to get two cards from the one base. How can you make half a wreath look good? Well, the answer seems to be when you use it to frame a circular sentiment panel! The it sort of stops being a wreath and becomes a frame of foliage.

The Golf Foil circle was simply punched from an envelope liner and the sentiment panel was punched from the back of the card base. The holly leaves were left from another modified card. I used a Sharpie to colour a few Rhinestones red to act as the berries.

I kept the inside simple, just adding the two remaining leaves and berry elements to add a little oomph to the sentiment. I can't believe I delayed on this one so long - it ended up being a great modification!

As usual, you can see the rest of this week's cards over on Claire's blog. Don't forget to come back next Wednesday for the final Heart Of Christmas.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #386: Just Add R

Hi!

This week's challenge is a fun one!

It's my turn to set the challenge, and this week at Just Add Ink I've asked you to add 'R' to your card. What does this mean? You just add anything R related to your card - note that I said 'related', not 'rated' LOL!!

You could use a stamp set that starts with R, a technique, a colour, anything, as long as it starts with an R. I always like to see how many of the feature letter I can get on my card for these challenges, and this time I got 2 (3 if you can stretch and call the Jute Twine rope).

First, and most obvious, is that I made a round card. So very easy with the Circle Framelits. I just cut my card to size, folded it, and then ran it though the Big Shot with the Framelit, making sure that the framelit hung over the folded edge to leave a hinge.

The second R is the robin on my card. I have no idea if it actually is meant to be a robin, but I'm going with it! The stamp is a little sneak peek of a stamp set that is coming out in the Occasions Catalogue in January.

Did you notice that the leaves on the DSP also followed the 'round' theme? It took a bit of measuring, but I cropped it from the middle of one of the sheets of DSP from the Painted Autumn DSP. I think it was worth the effort - it works so beautifully with the round card.

I cropped another little robin for the inside of the card. The sentiments I have used on this card are also a sneak peek, although they come from a different stamp set to the robin. Lots to look forward to in January!

In the meantime, why don't you play along with our R challenge this week? You can see th ret of the Design Team cards over at Just Add Ink, where you can also link your card.

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH HOC Week 25

Hi!

Welcome to this week's Heart Of Christmas.

This week I decided to make a card from scratch, rather than modify a Watercolour Christmas Kit card. My daughter participated in a choral festival of music recently, and one of the sections of the performance was a retelling of The Nutcracker. It straight away made me think of the Christmas Around The World DSP, so that's the paper I reached for this week.

I also wanted to use the new Tinsel Trim. I needed a 'reason' for it to be on the card, so I ended up splitting the front panel and using the trim to divide the two patterns. The tinsel is fabulous - a little bulky for mailed cards when you tie a bow - but a fun, sparkly addition to any card!

Another Holiday Catalogue product that I hadn't used much is the Black Rhinestones - not just for Halloween, they make a nice addition to the sentiment panel on my card.

The tinsel was a little bulky to add to the inside, so I opted for a strip of Real Red cardstock to edge the DSP. The sentiment is from Hearts Come Home.

As usual, pop on over to Claire's blog where you can find the links to the rest of the team participating today. Not many weeks left now!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #385: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

If you're reading this on Friday morning, you're doing so as I'm zipping my way to Melbourne for Stampin' Up!'s OnStage event. Just imagine - a huge room full of people passionate about Stampin' Up! who are learning about all the new products about to be released in 2018. It's pretty amazing!

In the meantime, it's time for the new Just Add Ink challenge. Kim has designed this fabulous sketch. I've been amazed at the imaginations of the Design Team this week.

I wanted to get some swaps done for OnStage, so I ended up using lots of bits and pieces to throw together this card. The leaf die cuts came from a stamping day I attended way back when the current Annual Catalogue came out!

Ssssh! Don't look too closely, but one leaf is Very Vanilla, and the sentiment circle is Whisper White. Oops!

The church die cuts are from the Hometown Greetings Edgelits set. The church looks great in the row, but I think that it looks fabulous as an individual element on a card.

What do you see in this fabulous sketch? As the DT have shown this week, the possibilities are endless! You can see the cards over at Just Add Ink, where you can also link up your card.

Bye for now,

Tina