CTC #271 Week 1: CASE The Annual Catalogue

Hi!

Welcome back once again to the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. With the launch of the new Annual Catalogue only days away, we are kicking off with CASEing the front cover of the catalogue.

You can choose any element of the cover to CASE - the cards themselves, the colours, the techniques, the stamp sets - you imagination is your limit! I chose to CASE the cover photo itself.

The wattle was one of the first things that caught my eye on the cover. To replicate that, I used one of the Gold Foil wreaths from the Forever Gold Laser Cut Specialty Paper. I'm not a Gold person, so I'd originally skipped over these, but after a Zoom chat with my lovely friend, Judy May, I decided I had to have them! If you're not much of a gold person, you can use the flip side, which is white. There are pops of Bermuda Bay on the cover, so I did the same on my card. It's a nice balance to the blonde wood paper from the In Good Taste DSP pack.

I used a second piece of wood paper from the pack as my circle. I deliberately chose this section, with the strong lines created by the wood planks, as I thought it reflected the strong lines between the cards on the cover. I split the sentiment, from Celebrate Sunflowers, into three pieces to represent the three cards, and a scattering of sequins to finish it off.

I used a smaller gold leaf piece from the Forever Gold pack to decorate the inside, layered over a couple of sprigs cropped using the new Sunflowers Dies, with some more In Good Taste DSP over the top. I've left off a sentiment for the inside, as 'Let's Celebrate You' could work for a few occasions. I can easily stamp an inside sentiment when I know how I'll use this card.

The Annual Catalogue challenge runs for two weeks. To enter all you need to do is make a card that is a CASE of some element of the front cover and post the picture in our Facebook group. Make sure you add a little description of when you are CASEing, especially if it's not obvious.

Before you go, however, don't forget to finish the Blog Hop! Next up is the lovely Michelle, with her gorgeous green card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #507: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

It's been a bit of a cold and wet week in Adelaide this week, so perfect weather for crafting! I had a play day on Wednesday, where I watched both Mamma Mia movies and crafted the day away. It's been a long time since I've been able to do that, so it was heavenly! One of the cards I made was for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Jackie has designed a fun, funky sketch for us to use.

I love the quirk of the angled line at the bottom. While it would be easy to just go straight across the card, the diagonal adds a touch of fun to a card.

Speaking of fun, I took the opportunity to play with a Stamp set that I recently purchased from Kindred Stamps, called Legendary. The gamers out there may think that this character looks familiar. I'm not very 'up' with him, but my kids and hubby know exactly who he looks like! I created a forrest background for him, as it suits his outfit and pointy ears. I used a mix of Waterfront and Snow Front to create the scene. Did you notice the cloud? I stamped it with some First White Shimmer Paint to give the wispy look of a cloud.

The character himself was coloured sing my Stampin' Blends. I used both my Ivory and Bronze Blends to colour his skin - Ivory for the bulk of the area, and then the Bronze to add shadows around his hairline or the edge of his clothing. It's a great trick when the Ivory on its own is too flat. The legendary die is from Sweet Stamp Shop and it just called Legendary Word. It's a match made in heaven with this stamp set!

I recreated much of the same scene, including the wispy cloud, on the inside of my card. The female character has made her home here. I had assumed that she was the main character, and should be on the front of the card, but Rob tells me that the male character is the main character, even though the game is named for her. Go figure!

That's all from me this week. Did you like my card with Jackie's fun sketch? You can see what the rest of the Design Team made with it over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card to enter our challenge. Can't wait to see what you make of the sketch!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #270 Week 2: CASE Your Favourite Retiring Punch Or Die

Hi!

Wow, what a contrast in weekends! Last weekend was sunny and we just had to get out and enjoy it, but this weekend was wet and cold, so perfect for staying home and crafting! I got into a cleaning/sorting mood yesterday, so I may have even done some online shopping to get myself some pretty containers from IKEA. I amongst that, I did get my card made for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We are mid way through our current challenge, which is to CASE our favourite retiring punch or die.

As I did a die last week, I looked to my collection of punches for this week's card. I settled on the Decorative Ribbon Border Punch. After searching the Annual Catalogue, this Bird Ballad card, from page 15, was the only sample I could find that used the punch, so that's what I CASEd.

I have used the punch in the same way as on this card a lot - as a subtle little edge underneath a piece of DSP or card. I tend to use the small scallops, as I like that side best. For my card today, I decided to again use the little scallops, but to make them a bit more of a feature.

To do this, I punched the ribbon four times - three in Blackberry Bliss, and one in Gold Foil. You can see that on the bottom edge of the Best Dressed DSP I layered the punched ribbon, offsetting the scallops each time. The final punched ribbon went along the top of the DSP.

At this angle you can see the impact of the Gold Foil a bit more. The dreary weather made photography difficult today! To bring the Gold into the card a little more, I used a second retiring punch, Pretty Label, as a base for the fussy cut Best Dressed flower and Label Me Bold sentiment.

I used the Decorative Ribbon punch again on the inside. I like a little strip of cardstock under the DSP, but the scallops just add a little sweet touch to the card. The sentiment is from the Peaceful Moments stamp set.

That's all from me this week. To join in the fun with our challenge, you simply need to become a member of our Facebook group, and then start adding your pictures. Easy!

Before you go do that, don't forget to finish the blog hop! Next up you can float on over to Siobhan's blog, where you might go above the clouds!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #506: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

Welcome back to this week's Just Add Ink challenge. This week Nikki has found a gorgeous Inspiration Photo to kick start our creativity. The colours are amazing!

I am beyond excited about tonight's card, as it features some stamps from a company that I only recently found. They are a Canadian company, called Three Room Studio. I ordered the stamps just before the world went a little crazy with COVID, and they took 2 months to arrive - I had nearly given up on ever getting them. But good things come to those who wait, and they finally showed up in my letterbox.

The image comes from a stamp set called I Heart Books - which is the story of my life! The sentiments are from the One More Chapter stamp set. Oh, I can sooo relate to that too! I am a huge reader, and so these stamps called to me! I coloured her with my watercolour pencils, as always blending with my Wink Of Stella. I've used softer versions of colours from the Inspiration photo, blue, purple and yellow.

I had a bit of fun playing with her hair. I coloured it in Daffodil Delight and then used my Early Espresso pencil to add shadows. I couldn't resist adding a Melon Mambo fringe, just for fun.

The inside sentiment is another big reason why I purchased the stamps. I'm totally happy when reading books and drinking tea! As a bonus, the set has the same sentiment, with with coffee. I'm sure you'll be seeing more cards made with these stamps in the future!

Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. Once you've worked out what grabs your attention in this week's Inspiration Challenge, you can add your card to the linky there too.

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH May Creative Showcase: Sketch

Hi!

Welcome to the Monthly Art With Heart Creative Showcase. This month the Art With Heart Team have amazing projects to share with you that have been inspired by the card sketch below. The sketch is to be used as a starting point and has been interpreted in many creative ways by the Art With Heart Team.

During May, SU Demonstrators are able to preorder select products from the upcoming Annual catalogue. It's a sweet month, as we have products retiring, some carrying over, and some brand new things to play with. I have used some products from each of those categories on my card.

Let's talk DSP! The two papers I have used are from the new In Good Taste DSP pack. This is a must have! Remember the Wood Textures DSP we had a couple of years ago? This pack has a lot of similar papers, but in 12x12! Fabulous! There are also patterns of marble tiles and various textiles. The papers really are amazing. I have chosen a light wood pattern, as this makes me think of the beach, which fits my focal image. The banner was punched from one of the fabric texture sheets. You will just want to run your fingers over it when you see it in the flesh!

Carrying over from the Jan-June Mini is the gorgeous Beautiful Moments stamp set. I'm probably a little biased, as I fell in love with the set when I presented it in Sydney last November. I stamped it on Watercolour Paper in Saddle Brown Stazon, which is also carrying over.  I coloured the image with my Aqua Painters, which are retiring, but being replaced by an even better set of brushes. I love a bit of watercolouring, so I'm excited to get my hands on those! The colours I used on the image are Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel, Real Red, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green and So Saffron.

I couldn't resist adding a little more of the fabric DSP to the inside. I also used another length of the Night Of Navy/Sahara Sand Baker's Twine on the inside. Sadly, it's another product that is retiring. It's a lovely, thick twine, great for bows.

I haven't stamped a sentiment on the inside, as I'm not sure what I'll use the card for yet. The 'Thinking Of You' on the front leaves it pretty wide open for a range of occasions.

Next up is the fabulous Catherine Proctor.

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

Caroline Manwaring

Rebecca Jacovou

Tina Gillespie

Catherine Proctor

Sharon Davern

Vicki Boucher

Christina Barnes

Claire Daly

Kate Morgan

Andrea Sargent

Kathryn Mangelsdorf

Amie McIlroy

Rachel Woollard

Judy May

Michele Taylor

Thanks for visiting! Please come back next month, as our Showcase is featuring our favourite products from the new Annual Catalogue.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #270 Week 1: CASE Your Favourite Retiring Die Or Punch

Hi!

Oh, wow, it's been such a lovely, sunny weekend here in Adelaide, that I actually found it hard to sit down and craft! We've been a bit cooped up with wet weather lately, so yesterday we took the kids to walk along the boardwalk at the beach, and today we walked and biked through our local reserve. Glorious!

This fortnight's CASEing The Catty Sunday Blog Hop Challenge is to CASE your favourite retiring die or punch. As I was so time poor, I reached for a die that does a lot of the work for you, the Thank You Die. I think this die will find a permanent home in my collection, as it's a great die.

I also reached for some DSP that doesn't need much else to look pretty - the Peaceful Poppies DSP. I will miss this paper, I haven't used it nearly enough. Sigh, do you ever save stuff for 'special' and then never actually use it? Every day is special, so I should just chop it!

This piece of DSP was already cropped in the bag, saving a little more time for me! LOL. It's a little smaller than I'd usually use on a card front, so I matted it with Basic Black. I then had a dilemma - do I use White Dimensionals, or Black, to pop it up on my Whisper White card base? My Facebook followers mostly said Black, but I ended up using White, just in case the Black would show through the WW card base.

The hero of the card is the gorgeous Glimmer Black die cut. I realised after that the Black Glimmer is retired, but you could also use the Black Foil (which is about to retire). To give the die cut dimension, I cropped three in plain Basic Black card and then glued all 4 layers together before adhering it to the card base. A few black sequins from the coordinating Peaceful Poppies Sequins finished off the front of the card.

I had another little scrap of the front DSP in the pack, so I used it for the inside. No inside sentiment so that I could have plenty of room to write a message of gratitude.

To enter our challenges you just need to make a suitable card and upload it to the wall in our Facebook group. No blog or fancy photography is necessary, but of course you can have all that if you like!

You're nearly at the end of the Hop if you began at the start. If not, just keep going until you get back to where you started. The next stop is the lovely Rose, who has used a gorgeous Stitched Die set that I will miss a lot!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #505: Just Add Thinking Of You

Hi!

Thanks for once again joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Chantell has set the challenge, and it's very appropriate for right now!

Aww, who doesn't like to get a Thinking Of You card in the mail? I hope once you've made your card for our challenge, you send it to someone who might need to hear that someone is thinking of them.

I used the Beautiful Friendship stamp set and my Stamparatus for the front of my card. I started with the big double flower stamp, positioning it on my Stamparatus so that it was in the top half of my card. I just stamped it, spun the card, and stamped again. I did the same with the rest of the flowers and leaves - the whole card is symmetrical, even though it doesn't really look that way.

I then took my blending brush and used it to add a light layer of Balmy Blue ink around the outside of the flowers. It's very subtle - you can only really see the difference up against the white base. The sentiment comes from Seaside Notions, and is stamped in Rococo Rose, to match the large bloom. I'm so happy that both the stamp sets I used on today's card are carrying over to the new Annual Catalogue.

I didn't use my Stamparatus to stamp the inside of the card. The flowers and leaves were stamped along the bottom, and then I used the blending brush again to add a little Balmy Blue ink above them.

Have you thought of someone to send a Thinking Of You card to? You can enter your card into our challenge on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also see the rest of this week's Design Team cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #269 Week 2: Your Favourite Retiring Bundle

Hi!

Thanks for joining me once again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop! We are mid way through our current challenge, which is to CASE Your Favourite Retiring Bundle.

This week I have chosen to use the Varied Vases bundle.

I have used the stamp set a lot, but mostly for the sentiments! I love the curly script font, especially as it's a smaller size. For my card I decided to get a bit more adventurous and use the vases and flowers.

I started by blending some ink on the front of the card. I used Purple Posy and Soft Sea Foam. Thankfully the Posy ink behaved itself and blended nicely. I cropped the panel using one of the new Ornate Layers Dies.

The flower outlines were stamped in Memento ink and then filled with colour. Stamped of Rococo Rose for the top flower (an orchid? I have no idea!) and stamped off Rich Razzleberry for the other flower. The vases were just cropped from Whisper White card. I tried stamping different colours and metallics, but nothing looked quite right other than WW.

I recreated the same scene on the inside - hahaha, I just realised I did the same on last weeks card! The sentiment I used on the inside is my favourite from the set. It works so well with any floral card, and I have used it a lot.

That's all from me this week. AS I said, we are mid way through this fortnight's challenge, so you have another week to get your card made, photographed and posted into our Facebook group. I'd love to know your favourite retiring bundle!

In the meantime though, please do finish the hop. I'm near the end this week, so if you started at the top, you're nearly done! If not, just keep going until you get back to where you started. Easy! Next up is the lovely Shannon, who has made a super cute card!

Bye for now, and a very Happy Mother's Day to the mums of all sorts out there!

Tina