JAI #472: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Time for the newJust Add Ink challenge. This week it's a sketch challenge, and it's one designed by me!

I designed this sketch quite a while ago, so I can't even recall what I was thinking when I did it. Usually I already have some idea of the card I want to make and then base the sketch on that.  Oh well!

I recently purchased some Uniquely Creative Stitched Mountain Range Dies, and one of those dies gave the perfect shape for the angled lines in the sketch.

The two front sections of this card fold out to the side to eventually reveal the inside of the card. The first flap was sponge brayered in Granny Apple Green. The trees from Waterfront were stamped along the bottom in Garden Green, then the two shadowy bits were stamped in GAG, the one on the left stamped off first. The sentiment was heat embossed in Silver, and was from an old Paper Pumpkin kit, Manly Moments.

The next flap was sponge brayered in Gray Granite ink, despite it looking brown in the photo! The bottom part was stamped with the speckle stamp from Waterfront in GG ink. I flicked some Whisper White Craft Ink over the top half using my Aqua Painter. I hope it looks like snow to you! The sentiment was done in the same way as the front sentiment, and is from the same PP set.

The background was actually the first part I made! I masked off the mountain line just below where the top flap would lie and then sponge brayered the whole top in So Saffron. I then added a little Pumpkin Pie where the sun was going to sit. I then secured an old SU mask, from the Hooray It's Your Day kit, over the top. I used a sponge dauber to cover the yellow ink with Whisper White Craft Ink, and when it was dry I brayered Pacific Point ink over the top. Finally, I sponged some Blueberry Bushel ink at the edges of the Pacific Point bits to add some depth.

To assemble, I just adhered the flaps on each front section to the back of the sun piece, and then adhered the whole lot to a Basic Black base. There's no back, the writing will be on the hidden bit of the sun panel.

Wow, what a full on card to make, but I find this kind of creativity fun and so it was a real labour of love!

Why not pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of this week's Design team cards, and link up your own for the challenge. What do you see in my sketch?

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH August Blog Hop: Christmas

Hi!

Tonight the Art With Heart team are sharing creative Christmas projects, many featuring products from the upcoming Holiday Catalogue which starts on the 4th of September. If you would like a copy of the 2019 - 2020 Annual Catalogue or the new Holiday Catalogue, contact any of the girls on the blog hop and we will get in touch with you.

I try to make at least one purple Christmas card each year, and this year I got in early! The second thing I fell in love with in the Holiday Catalogue (the first was Elfie) was the So Many Stars bundle. It's a huge bundle - 21 stamps and 23 dies. Woah! The best part are the Stitched Stars Dies - perfect for a range of occasions, not just Christmas. I think they will find a permanent place in my collection.

This star swish die is so pretty! It has two different stamps that coordinate. The stamped images fill in the open star shapes in the die. I have stamped the stars in the new Silvery Shimmer Delicata Metallic Ink. I can't rave about this ink enough - it dries fairly quickly and then does not smudge! Truly the best metallic inks available, I think. Perfect for those like me that like the metallic look but don't want to pull out their heat embossing tools!

I also used the Silvery Shimmer ink to stamp the tiny star cluster stamp on the card base. Such a pretty, subtle effect. You ma also be able to see a small star in the middle of the O in Joy. Once I started stamping with the ink, I just couldn't stop! I will certainly be adding the Celestial Copper and Golden Glitz pads to future orders!

When I cut the star swish die I ended up with the five stars out of the die. I'm never one to waste anything, so on the inside they go! I originally only put two stars, intending to save the other three for another card. However, they usually end up in the black hole somewhere on my desk, never to be seen again, so I ended up adding them to my card.

I really like this card, so I think I'll try it in other combos too. Night Of Navy with Balmy Blue and Golden Glitz maybe? I like the sound of that!

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Rebecca Jacovou.     

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

Vicki Boucher

Caroline Manwaring

Tina Gillespie

Rebecca Jacovou

Sharon Davern

Claire Daly

Kate Morgan

Sujatha Harding

Rachel Woollard

Catherine Proctor

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH HOC Week 2

Hi!

Welcome back to my blog for week 2 of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Share. Each week some of the Art With Heart team will be sharing their Christmas cards on a Wednesday evening. Last week I showed you this card, which featured the cute new stamp set, Elfie. This week I have a second card for you that uses all of the same elements, with just a couple of changes.

As you can see, I've just changed the position of the Brightly Gleaming SDSP starry panel and the elf circle, and also coloured the elf using more traditional Christmas Colours.

Once again I used the Shimmery Crystal Effects to add some shimmer to his hat, cuffs and collar.

I kept the inside exactly the same as the last card, except for the Christmas colours. The red ribbon has also had the Shimmery Crystal Effects applied.

Hmm, now the thinking cap has to go on for next week's card - I don't know that I could get away with another variation on this card LOL.

Now it's time to pop on over to Claire's blog, where you'll find the rest of the links for this week's Blog Share.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #243: CASE A Card And Make A 3D Item

Hi!

Welcome to this week's CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop! As always, our blogs are linked in a circle - you may have come from Peta's blog, or starting here. It doesn't matter at all. Just keep hopping until you're back to where you started.

This week the challenge is to CASE any card from the Annual Catalogue, but you must turn it into some sort of 3D item. Hmmmm.... what to do????

I have been playing around with the Laser Cut cards for my classes this month, so I started there for my inspiration. This soft, gorgeous card caught my eye. I decided to recreate it as a mini album. I've also been wanting to play with my new Pigment Sprinkles, so I decided to combine the two.

I started with a piece of Shimmery White card, cropped to fit under the card front. I used my Bermuda Bay and Daffodil Delight sprinkles to create the backing. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the effect, and the shimmer is so beautiful.

I used the same shapes for my decoration, just in different sizes and combination. The flowers were fussy cut from some of the Bird Ballad DSP and layered under the Stitched Nested Label die cut. They didn't quite stand out enough from the background for me, so I added a Vellum circle under the whole piece. Much better!

I used two of the envelopes for the inside pages. There are heaps of tutorials out there on making Envelope Mini Albums, so I won't explain how here. The striped paper from the Bird Ballad pack was perfect for adding little bits of colour to the ages. I have more fussy cut flowers that I will add once I've chosen some photos to go in the album.

The centre pages feature the envelope flaps. I covered them with more floral Bird Ballad DSP and created an insert for each using more of the stripes.

The final pages are the same as the front, just in reverse. Now I just have to think about what photos to use in the album!

That's it for me this week. Have we got you thinking about what 3D item you could make? A box or a decor item? Remember, you must CASE a card from the Annual Catalogue. Then just upload your picture to our Facebook group. Easy!

For now though, continue on to Julia's blog to see her clever take on this week's challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #471: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

Hooray for Friday and the new Just Add Ink challenge! This week Rachael has found this great Inspiration Photo to kick start our creativity. Isn't it a great one for winter? Brr! It's been cold in Adelaide lately. Coming after a few sunnier winter days, it seems even colder!

Don't you just want to pick up those skeins and start knitting/crocheting? What would you make?  I'd make a crocheted basket to go in my lounge room, I think!

Anyway, on to the challenge! I recently received this Kindred Stamps set, called National Sewing Machine Day. Even though it's not knitting, it's sewing, so I'm calling it close enough to fit the theme of the Inspiration Photo!

I used my Copics in colours as close to the Inspiration Photo as I could to colour the image. The only colour I couldn't get in the image was the darker blue/green, so I used Night Of Navy as my base card and matt. I also pulled out my Arts and Crafts Dies to decorate the card. Rob was totally fooled by the paperclip when I showed him the card - he thought it was real!

The stamps is just the girl, sewing machine, table and chair. The rest of the details were hand drawn and then coloured - the rug, skirting boards and window/curtain. It adds a nice depth to the scene, don't you think?

I really love this button border die, and it works so well with the card theme. Unfortunately it doesn't go the whole width of the card, so I had to improvise! I cut two larger buttons using other dies from the set and added them in over the gap in the border. Too easy!

Time now to pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see the rest of the Design Team cards this week. It's been fun seeing how everyone has used the Inspiration Photo to make their cards. What do you see in it?

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH HOC Week 1

Hi!

Welcome to the first Heart Of Christmas Blog Share for 2019. This is the third year the Art With Heart team have been doing these blog shares, where every Wednesday evening in the lead up to December we will post Christmas cards for your inspiration. This is a great time of year to start, as the Holiday Catalogue is about to launch, and it's also a good idea to start your cards early!

My card uses three new Holiday Catalogue products. The stamp set is a cute new set, called # Elfie. It has a range of cute elves doing all sorts of Christmassy things - you will definitely be seeing a lot of their antics on my blog! The second is the stunning Brightly Gleaming SDSP. It's a Specialty paper, as it has gorgeous Copper highlights on half of the sheets in the pack. I wasn't really much of a copper fan until I saw this DSP!

I coloured this cheeky elf using my Blends in Night Of Navy, Crumb Cake and Ivory. The third new product, which is hard to see I the photo, is the new Shimmery Crystal Effects. It's a clear glue that has a shimmer, and that dries like a glaze. It's a lovely, subtle finishing touch.

The stamps on the inside are also from the Elfie set. It's always fabulous to have a set that combines images and sentiments for easy coordination! The gift was coloured using my Night Of Navy Blends, and then the ribbon got the Shimmery Crystal Effects treatment. It's quite quick drying - touch hard in less than 20 minutes on an area this small.

That's it from me, now it's time to head on over to Claire Daly's blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's cards. I can't wait to see what everyone's made!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 242: Woven Threads

Hi!

It's the end of the weekend, which is sad, but it also means it's time for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Whoot! I always enjoy doing these hops and seeing the wonderful talent in the Design team. This week the blog before mine is the lovely Rachel's Blog, wether you came from there or are staring here, just keep hopping around the complete circle of blogs.

This week we are CASEing the colours in the Woven Threads DSP, and being inspired by the projects on pages 12 to 14. The colours in the DSP are Pretty Peacock, Purple Posy, Rococo Rose, Sahara Sand, Seaside Spray, Terracotta Tile, Whisper White. Lots to choose from!

This monochromatic card at the bottom of page 12 caught my eye. Actually, it was the Woven Threads Trim that hooked me on this card. I haven't used my Trim yet, and I thought this was a good opportunity to do so. As often happens though, my card took a different turn!

I don't have any of the Woven Threads DSP, so I had to make my own background for this card. I kept the monochromatic look by stamping the pends from Crafting Forever in Pretty Peacock ink on Seaside Spray cardstock. I just eyeballed the stamping of the pens, and I was very pleased (and surprised) at how straight I managed to stay!

The sentiment labels are why I didn't use the Trim - I thought the two elements would compete too much. These labels are from a new set of Dies in the Holiday Catalogue, called Ornate Frames. You may miss them, because they are in the Halloween section of the catalogue, but they are worth hunting for! I used four of the 11 dies on this label alone.

I stamped the pens again for the inside, but this time I kept them all lined up in one direction. The tiny scalloped border is from the Decorative Ribbon Border punch - did you notice it on the front of the card too? I don't often make get well cards, but this one is now on it's way to a friend having a rough time in hospital. I hope it cheers her up!

That's it for me this week. Don't forget to check out the CASEing The Catty Facebook Group, where you can join in the fun of the challenges each week. Just create a card using our guidelines, and upload it to the group before the deadline each week. Easy!

To finish the hop, you need to pop on over to Sandra's Blog, where you're bound to be inspired!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #470: Just Add No Stamping

Hi!

Are you ready for the new Just Add Ink challenge? This week Jo has challenged us to make a card with no stamping. Now that sounds easy, but I actually found it a little difficult!

This challenge means you either have to rely on your artistic talent to create an image or text, Memories And More cards, stickers, or, like me, use dies and DSP.

The DSP I selected is a new one from the upcoming Holiday Catalogue, and is called Night Before Christmas DSP. It's a cute little 6x6 inch stack with heaps of fun Christmassy patterns. I really loved this sheet with the hanging ornaments.

How awesome are the stars? They are also from the upcoming Holiday Catalogue, and are from a set called Stitched Stars Dies. There are 6 layered stitched stars in the set, and a whole lot of other star dies - 23 in all. I used tow of the layering dies to cut the Cherry Cobbler frame, and then the smaller star to cut a Very Vanilla star to fill in the middle of the frame. The Night Of Navy star was left over from another project, and the 'merry' is from an old die set called Christmas Greetings Thinlits. The small star and 'merry' are both coated in another new product - Shimmery Crystal Effects. Another must have!

Here's where I found this challenge to be the hardest - what to do on the inside if I can't stamp a greeting? In the end I used my inner Cherry Cobbler star left over from the front, and another small Night Of Navy star. I guess this inside will just have to have plenty of room to handwrite a message!

Is your mind whirling with ideas for this week's challenge? I hope so! You can see what the rest of the Design Team made over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card for this week's challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #241: CASE A Layout

Hi!

Welcome to this week's CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. You may be starting here, or have come from Siobhan's blog, either way, just keep hopping until you get back to where you started.

The week the Design team are challenging you to CASE one of the card layouts from page 101 of the Annual Catalogue. There are four to choose from - which one catches your eye?

Mine was caught by the cute foxy card at the top left, in particular the stitching around the aperture. It's such a lovely design feature.

As much as I'd love one of everything in the catalogue, I don't have any of the dies or stamps used to create that card, so I had to get creative!

I recently purchased the Sweetly Swirled stamp set, and it came to mind as I was pondering how to replicate the stitching. I heat embossed the largest circular swirl using Sliver embossing powder on Basic Black cardstock. I then cut away the inner piece to make a window.

At this stage my card was looking very masculine, and so I decided to cut some cogs from Copper Foil to line the inside of the opening. I then fussy cut a muscle car from the retired Classic Garage DSP in place of the sweet foxes. I also used some Tranquil Tide DSP to layer under the Basic Black. I like how if frames the card and gives a little relief from all of the black.

I had some left over cogs in both Silver and Copper, so I used them on the inside rather than toss them. I had originally intended to used the Silver cogs on the front as an extra layer in the aperture, but it looked too fussy. Not great on a masculine card!

Which of the four cards appeals the most to you? How can you change it to make it more 'you'? I can't wait to see your card in our Facebook group.

Before you dash off to get creative, don't forget to finish the hop! Next up is the lovely Elizabeth with her sweet card.

Bye for now,

Tina