Wiggly Worm Pop Up!

Hi!

I often forget to blog early in the week, but I had a bit of extra time this week and I actually remembered to write a post! Today's card was one that I made using a Jennifer McGuire tutorial. I loved how her card had a cute little pop up element on the inside.

This card was made as a class sample, so that my ladies could try out the technique. I thought the Wiggle Worm bundle was a great choice for this card, as it's great for a younger child.

To create the pop up section, you just create two squares using narrow strips of cardstock. They are just glued together and then glued to the card base, lining up with the fold.

The two little panels on the inside just adhere to the rectangles. They need to be small enough to fit into the card when it is folded. How cute are those bugs? I really should play with this bundle some more!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #266 Week 1: Easter Cards

Hi!

Hello, and welcome back! I hope you're all coping well with the new social restrictions. It might be difficult but it's so important! My household is bunkered down, and so far so good! But anyway, on with the reason why you're here - the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop! We are starting a new challenge this fortnight, just in time for Easter!

All you need to do is create an Easter project using our sketch to guide you! Easy!

I don't usually make Easter cards, so I actually found this one a little difficult!

I started by colouring the flowers from Flowering Foils. I'd fussy cut them a couple of weeks ago, which was very handy! I used Soft Sea Foam, Petal Pink and So Saffron Stampin' Blends, as I wanted a soft colour palette. I just coloured quickly, no blending, but using both Light and Dark markers.

The flowers became my rectangular element, as I cut an oval from the Soft Sea Foam So Very Vellum SDSP pack. It's very subtle, but that's how I wanted it to be. Speaking of subtle, I nearly reached for my Subtle 3DEF for the background, but them I recalled the Country Floral 3DEF, which I haven't used for ages! It fit the floral theme nicely.

I cropped the vellum oval for the front from a larger piece of Vellum, with the intention of using the left over piece on the inside. The writing panel was coped from the largest Stitched So Sweetly die. Do you remember the sentiments I've used? They are from a long retired set, called Well Scripted. I don't have any current Easter sentiments, so I had to reach into my retired stamp sets!

Our challenges are run through our Facebook group, so please pop on over there to join in with the fun. It's easy to join if you aren't already part of the group. When you've made your card, just add your picture to the group.

But now it's time to continue on with the Hop. Next up is the fabulous Judy May with her gorgeous card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #498: Just Add E

Hi!

Hello, and good to see you here for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week it's one of my alphabet challenges, and it's the letter E. What does that mean? It means you create your card using *anything* that starts with E. It could be a technique, a stamp set, a theme, a colour  - your imagination is the limit!

Now, with Easter just a couple of weeks away, that would be an obvious theme for this challenge - but I don't like doing the obvious! After a bit of a think, I remembered two stamp sets I'd purchased recently but had yet to use.

How fun is that background? It's from Ink Road Stamps, and is chock full of different movie quotes to do with love. It's called Subway Art: Love. The quote I was after is actually closer to the top, so I chopped up and rearranged the stamped image to bring the quote to the bottom. I stamped the whole image in Balmy Blue using my Stamparatus and then I just inked up the key quote in Night Of Navy and stamped again. Easy!

The quote might give you a big clue as to who the character is - her name starts with E. I know she's not actually the one to say that quote, but it was said to her, and I needed her on the front, so close enough for me! I stamped her using a Kindred Stamps set called Classic Love.

You can't have her without him, so he's on the inside! I hoped you've worked out the story - it's one of my favourite classics.

That's all from me this week. Are you madly thinking about what 'E' element you can add to your card? I hope so! I'd love to see what you make. You can link up to the challenge on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also see the rest of the Design Team cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #265 Week 2: Second Release Sale-A-Bration

Hi!

Welcome, and thank you for doing us for our new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We are mid way though our fortnightly challenge to CASE a project from the Second Release Sale-A-Bration Catalogue.

It's a wee little catalogue, but it's certainly packed with inspiration - sometimes in unexpected places! My card was CASEd from the picture of the Flowering Foils DSP on page 3. The way the papers were arranged in peaks, like mountains, caught my eye.

I simplified quite a bit to only have one set of peaks, but I was really pleased with how it turned out. I cropped three of the largest Stitched rectangle dies, one each of Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel and Night Of Navy. I imagine this card would look just as great. in other colours too! The Happy Birthday was heat embossed in Silver.

Here's how I started the layers on the Thick Whisper White card base. I glued the first layer down with Tombow, and then flipped the card to trim the excess away from the back. I then repeated the process with the other two layers. I did lay the three layers over the base first without glue so that I didn't glue the top layer too high, which would leave gaps at the bottom. I hope that makes sense!

The inside was decorated using the offcuts from the front! I was left with very little waste, which always makes me happy!

Our challenge is run through our Facebook group. Pop on over there, after you've finished the hop, of course! You can upload your card and see everyone else's cards. Lots of inspiration to be found!

Next up in the Blog Hop is the lovely Bec. I absolutely adore her purple card - you certainly don't want to miss it!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #497: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Hooray, it's nearly the weekend! Time for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Kim has designed a sketch for us to follow. I love all of the different sized squares/rectangles!

I super-sized the shapes so that I could use the Power Of Hope stamp set.

The shapes are just perfect for the images in the stamp set! I stamped them all in Memento ink and then coloured them with my Stampin' Blends. I used Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Night Of Navy, Balmy Blue, Basic Black, Bronze and Ivory.

I'm not sure if you can see, but I embossed the gorgeous Lily Impressions DP with the Subtle 3D folder, just to enhance the 'paint on canvas' look of the DSP.

The sentiments I used are both from the Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin box. It's nice to use them - I often forget about them!

Time now to head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can find the rest of the Design Team cards, and you can also add your entry to the challenge. We'd love to see what you do with Kim's sketch!

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH March Creative Showcase: Monochromatic Cards

Hi!

Welcome to the new Art With Heart Monthly Creative Showcase!

This month the Art With Heart Team are featuring Monochromatic cards, that is cards that only use different shades of the same colour. This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the wonderful range of Stampin’ Up! colours across our inks, papers and embellishments that can be combined to produce the amazing monochromatic samples we have to share with you.

I actually found it quite difficult to narrow down which colour I was going to use! There are so many fabulous colours to choose from in Stampin' Up!'s colour families. In the end I went with Bermuda Bay and Pool Party, mostly because of this sheet of DSP in the Lily Impressions pack - why have I not played with this paper sooner??? I love how it looks like paint smeared on a canvas, and best of all, it is free with a qualifying order during Sale-A-Bration!

I stamped the lady and lanterns from Power Of Hope in Memento ink and coloured them with my Bermuda Bay and Pool Party Stampin' Blends. I didn't colour the lanterns or umbrella much - just a quick swipe of Light Pool Part in key places.

I used another Sale-A-Bration freebie to decorate the card - some Bermuda Bay sequins from the Metallic Baker's Twine and Sequins Combo Pack. The sentiment is from Label Me Bold, stamped in Bermuda Bay.

In order to get the white streaks in the DSP in the spot I wanted on my card, I had to crop a wide strip from the DSP first. Waste not, want not, I used it on the inside of my card! It's wider than I'd usually crop the paper, so I chose not to add a sentiment to leave enough room for writing.

That's all from me, now you're off to see what the wonderful Kate Morgan has made. What colour has she chosen? We don't see each other's cards until we do the hop, so it's a surprise for us too!

Bye for now,

Tina

If you have a broken link or have come to this blog hop midway, you can view all the participants below:

Rebecca Jacovou

Tina Gillespie

Kate Morgan

Sharon Davern

Vicki Boucher

Catherine Proctor

Rachel Woollard

Andrea Sargent

Caroline Manwaring

Claire Daly

Michele Taylor

CTC #265 Week 1: Second Release Sale-A-Bration

Hi!

Thanks for joining me again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Blog Hop Challenge. We are at the start of a new fortnight's challenge, which is to CASE any project from the Second Release Sale-A-Bration catalogue. Have you arrived here from Michelle's blog, or are you starting here? As always, just keep hopping around all the blogs until you get back to where you started.

My inspiration this week is the card on page 4, that has the mugs facing in opposite directions.

I wracked my brain for a while about what I could use to get that effect, and then I remembered my Bird Ballad DSP. It was very simple to fussy cut two of the bird images that faced in different directions. They were popped up on my Pool Party card.

I embossed the top layer with the Subtle 3DEF, just for a bit more interest, and because I love the folder! I used a strip of card for the sentiment, like the original card, but I only flagged on end. A few Iridescent sequins finished off the front.

For the inside I fussy cut a third, smaller group of birds. I couldn't find a sentiment I felt suited the card for the inside (I like to try to match fonts!), so I just left it blank - more room for writing!

Apart from the fussy cutting, this was such a fast and easy card to put together. I was very pleased with how it turned out!

To enter our challenge you don't need a blog, just a Facebook account. Simply join our Facebook group and upload a photo of your card to the wall. Easy!

Thanks again for stopping by. Next you're off to the lovely Peta's blog. I wonder what Marvi has been up to this week?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #496: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

Thanks for joining me again for the latest Just Add Ink challenge. This week Lou has found a beachy Inspiration photo for us to work with. It was good timing, as Adelaide has had a little burst of days over 30C, so it felt right to be playing with a summery image!

I don't have a lot of beachy themed stuff, so I decided to play more with the colours in the photo. I like the mix of the blue(ish!) water and the brown sand.

I started with a Sahara Sand card base, embossed with the Subtle folder. The DSP is from the Woven Threads pack. I love the rustic look of these papers, and thought they worked well as a water substitute.

Normally I'd use either Whisper White or Very Vanilla on a card, but this time I used both! I was hoping they looked a bit like the foamy water at the edge of the ocean, especially with the curly die cut (a sneak peek!!)

To give the card a bit more of a beachy feel I used the seahorse and shell from Seaside Notions on my card. They were stamped in Seaside Spray on Very Vanilla and fussy cut.

What do you see in the Inspiration Photo? The Design Team have taken a whole lot of different ideas and made some amazing cards! You can see the over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card for this week's challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

Sneak Peek...

Hi!

One of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! Demo is that we often get access to new products before anyone else. SU released a new suite of products early, they will be in the new Annual Catalogue, but demos can get them in March, and they will be available to customers in April. Happily, my preorder arrived on Saturday morning, so I was able to have a play over the long weekend.

Isn't this floral image stunning? It's such a sweet bunch of flowers. I have no idea what kind of flowers they are meant to be, other than maybe daisies at the top. I stamped it in Memento ink and coloured it with my Blends.

The colours I used were Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Purple Posy, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Bronze and Pool Party. How lovely is the die cut panel? It's from the dies that come in the bundle with the stamp set. I love that this one is a better size for Australian sized cards, as it's slightly longer than the largest Stitched Rectangle die.

This is another stamp from the set - a single daisy that I stamped twice. I left the inside sentiment free, so that the card is a little more multipurpose. The 'For You' on the front covers a wide range of occasions.

I also purchased the DSP from the suite, which is very retro and reminds me of sheet sets that my nana used to have. I can't wait to play more, skeet your eye out for more samples in the future!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #264 Week 2: A Masculine Twist

Hi!

Hello, and welcome back to the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We are half way through this fortnight's challenge of taking a card from the current Mini Catalogue and giving it a masculine twist. Did you arrive here after seeing the tree-mendous card on Julia's blog? Or are you starting here? Either way, just keep on hopping until you get back to your starting point.

I didn't have to go far into the catalogue before I found the card I wanted to CASE - in fact, it is on the front cover!! I really liked the repeated circles in the background of the card.

I started thinking about which shapes I had that could make this card masculine. I toyed with using the golfing paper, but in my house the male members are gamers, so my thoughts naturally went more that way.

I recalled seeing the new Tulip Builder punch being used to create the ghosts from Pacman, so that's what I decided to do! Rob helped me choose the colours of the ghosts - we went with Real Red for Blinky, Blushing Bride for Pinky, Balmy Blue for Inky and Pumpkin Pie for Clyde. I learned a lot about Pacman while making this card!!!

I went with a Pacific Point border around my main panel, as it was the closest I had to the electric blue that defines the maze in the game. Rob knew straight away why I'd picked it, so I guess I chose correctly! Pacman was simply a 1 3/4" circle with a wedge cut out and popped up with black dimensionals, and the sentiment is from Label Me Bold.

On the inside we have Blinky chasing Pacman. Quite by coincidence, Blinky is the leader of the Ghosts - I just picked red as I thought it would be the one to stand out most against the white background!

That's all for me this week! It's the final week to get your entries in for our challenge. Just add your photo to the wall in our Facebook group - it really is that easy!

In the meantime, though, please do continue on with our Blog Hop! Next up is the lovely Angela's blog - she's been busy this week and has lots to show you!

Bye for now,

Tina