Colour Creations: Gorgeous Grape

 Hi!

Hooray for Colour Creations Showcase time! This week we are looking at Gorgeous Grape, which is a colour that I like, even though I don't use it much. It's in the Brights colour family and pairs beautifully with Highland Heather. Like all of my Colour Creations cards this year, I have opted to use it on it's own, with just neutral colours.

Hehe, I was watching The Block while I was making this card and guess what rooms they were working on? Yep, bathrooms! So many bathrooms feature subway tiles and it's a look I really like, so I decided to incorporate it into my card. I started with a 5 x 7 inch piece of Gorgeous Grape cardstock, which I backed with a similarly sized piece of Adhesive Sheet. I then chopped up the piece to create 10 strips that were 1/2 x 7 inches. These were then adhered to a 5 x 7 inch piece of Basic Black cardstock, leaving a small gap between each strip - the Adhesive Sheets make this a super easy task!  After applying a second 5 x 7 inch piece of Adhesive Sheet to the back of this piece, I turned it sideways and cut it into 1/4 x 5 inch strips. As with the first strips, these were adhered to a second 5 x 7 inch piece of Basic Black cardstock, leaving gaps between each one. This time, however, I staggered the placement of the strips so that I got the brick wall pattern. All that was left to do was to trim the piece to be card front size and adhere it to my Basic Black base. 

To finish the front, I selected a wreath design from my Forever Gold Laser Cut Paper pack and adhered it using some glue dots. A few flowers with Gorgeous Grape Rhinestones in the centre, a Gold Twine bow and a sentiment from A Good Man and it was done. I didn't want to cover up too much of the background!

The reason I created such a large background before trimming it down was so that I could use a left over piece on the inside. It's so much easier to do it all in one go, even if you end up needing a bit of muscle to trim all the layers down!

As always, Catherine is playing Hostess for our Creative Showcase. You can find the links to the rest of this week's Gorgeous Grape posts over on her blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #286: CASE A Leaf Or Tree Project

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me once again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. This week we are challenging you to find a Leaf Or Tree Project from the August-December Mini Catalogue and CASE it.

For these kinds of challenges, I always start at the back of the catalogue and flick forwards. I kinda assume that most people start at the front, and I don't want the back of the catalogue to feel unloved! I got to page 49 before I found a suitable candidate for CASEing.

Part of the reason that it took quite a few pages was that I don't really have a lot of leaf or tree stamps or dies, so I had to find something that would translate to the products I do have. In this instance I liked the DSP that both framed the main panel and peeked through the leaf opening. I also liked the stitched detail around the leaf, so when it came time to reach for my supplies, I pulled out my Stitched Stars Dies.

I die cut three star windows, because that suited my layout better. The Brushed Copper Foil, layered over some Night Of Navy and Copper DSP from the Brightly Gleaming SDSP pack, is so lush for a Christmas card.

The hardest part of this card was getting the 'on Earth' part of the sentiment. I didn't want to add another colour to the mix as it would have been really glaring. Embossing with Copper powder on Night Of Navy cardstock was a fizzer, as was the retired Delicata inks. I ended up using Bright Copper Shimmer Paint. The paint pooled into the letters, which I was trying not to do, but in the end I actually preferred how it looked. Gotta love those happy accidents!

I had a tiny strip of DSP left from the front, and the three stars cut from the main panel. I may as well use them on the inside, alongside a sentiment from Itty Bitty Christmas.

Our challenge is hosted in our Facebook group. It's super easy to participate - just join the group and post your photo. Easy!

Next up on our Blog Hop is the lovely Julia, who has made a stunning Christmas card for the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #524: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday - and even better, this Friday marks the start of school holidays here in South Australia. I'm very much looking forward to lazy mornings/days with the kids!

This week for the new Just Add Ink challenge, Jo had given us a fabulous colour combination to work with.

I like the two different shades of pink with the mint green. I decided to do a sponged background with the pinks, and go from there with my card.

I used blending brushes to add the colour to a piece of Whisper White card, starting with the Rococo Rose. I then added Merry Merlot around the edge and finished by flicking some Frost White Shimmer Paint over the top.

The tree/hill die is from the Home Together Dies. I coloured the trees using my Dark Mint Macaron and Bronze Stampin' Blends (just a little colour cheat there!). Finally the sentiment and polar bear from Warm & Toasty finished off the card.

I couldn't resist using the baby polar bear on the inside. I used the blending brushes again to add a little colour to the corner of the card and layered the bear over the top. This certainly isn't my usual style Christmas card, but I love how it turned out.

The rest of this week's Design Team cards can be found over on the Just Add Ink blog, were you can also link up your entry. Don't have these exact colours? That's ok - just use the closest match that you have.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Garden Green

Hi! 

Thanks for joining me again for the new Colour Creations Creative Showcase. This week it's the turn of Garden Green. It's a Goldilocks green - not too dark, not too light, but just right! I don't use green a lot, but when I do Garden Green is one of the greens I tend to consider first.

This week I revisited a technique that I'd tried a while ago. It's one by Jennifer MacGuire, where she used die cuts to create a layer card front. Last time I used daisies, this time it is butterflies. I just punched a heaps from Thick Whisper White and layered them until they were large enough to be a card front. I adhered them together at the points of overlap.

They didn't quite have enough definition, so I used a fine tip marker to hand-draw around the edges of each butterfly. I then added a few of the little butterflies and a large black butterfly, each given a coat of Clear Wink Of Stella. I heat embossed the sentiment from Free As A Bird onto Garden Green cardstock and double punched it with my Classic Label Punch.

The card is a tri-fold, so that I could add a plain background behind the butterflies. It then opens up again for the writing panel. I added another hand-outlined butterfly, a piece of left over DSP and the sentiment from Seaside Notions.

That's all from me tonight. As always, please head on over to Catherine's Blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Garden Green cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas: September

 Hi!

Welcome to September's Heart Of Christmas Creative Showcase. Each month, bloggers from the Art With Heart team bring you some gorgeous Christmas inspiration. The card I have for you tonight is based entirely around a left over piece from the letter board card that I blogged yesterday.

I used the letters on he previous card, so I had the negative left to use for tonight's card. Thankfully I'd had the foresight to cut the piece with a Stitched Rectangle Die before cutting the letters from it. I also added a piece of Foam Adhesive to the back. All I had to do when I popped out the letters was to make sure that I didn't lose all of the little pieces from within the letters.

I layered it up over some Brushed Copper Foil from the Mini Catalogue and some Brightly Gleaming SDSP on a Night Of Navy card base.

Here's a little trick for keeping the dies lined up: use your grid paper to line the dies up in a straight line (cutting side down) and then use a fully adhesive sticky note to pick them up. It must be a fully adhesive sticky note, as it has adhesive covering most of the back. You can then flip them over and use the sticky note to hold the dies to the cardstock while you run it through your die cutting machine. This trick is especially useful if you're making multiples, as the dies will stay lined up perfectly.

Once again, I used an offcut from the Brightly Gleaming SDSP on the front of my card to decorate my inside. A sentiment from Itty Bitty Christmas finished off the card.

Each month, the Heart Of Christmas is hosted by my lovely friend, Judy May. Please pop on over to her blog, where you will find the rest of the links for tonight's Creative Showcase.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #286: AC Project With A MC Twist

 Hi!

Wow, I hope that wherever you are you've had the glorious weather that Adelaide had today! We had a lovely, sunny 24ºC -perfect weather for my youngest to turn 13.

This week the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge is a mash up - we want you to CASE a project from the Annual Catalogue, but give it a Mini Catalogue twist. It sounds trickier than it really is - just pick a card and make it using stuff, or ideas, from the Mini Catalogue.

I was inspired by some of the team last week, who CASEd this card from the Annual Catalogue. The letter board is such a fun idea for a card, and I liked the idea of giving it a Chrismtassy twist.

It took me a little while to think of a Christmas message to go on the letter board. I can't stand 'X-mas', so that was a no-go. Peace & Joy fit perfectly! I cropped the letters with some Adhesive Foam Sheet on the back so that they had dimension. To add to the Christmas feel I stamped some holly and berries from the Peace & Joy stamp set and fussy cut them to go on the frame. A piece of retired Basic Black twine turns it into a hanging frame, with some more holly holding it up.

I scored the Basic Black cardstock that was the base of the frame to add to the letter board look. The wooden frame was made with some DSP from the In Good Taste DSP pack. The red DSP is from the Heartwarming Hugs DSP.

I finished off the inside with a sentiment from Itty Bitty Christmas and a bit more holly.

That's all from me tonight! As always, you can enter this week's challenge via our Facebook group. Just make your card, photograph it and post the photo in the group. Easy!

Before you go, please do finish the Blog Hop. Next up is my fellow South Australian, Michelle. She's CASEd a very fun card!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #523: Just Add A

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday! Friday means two things - it's nearly the weekend, and it's Just Add Ink time! This week it's one of my Alphabet challenges, and we are back to the beginning on the alphabet - Just Add A.

To enter our challenge, you just need to make a card with some sort of A element. It could be the name of a stamp set, technique, colour, theme - anything that you can think of that starts with A. Just make sure you let us know what your A element is. I decided to make an Asian themed card.

I won this Uniquely Creative stamp set, called Lucky You, in a Facebook competition quite a while ago. I hadn't used it yet, so this was the perfect opportunity. The prize pack also included some patterned paper with an Asian theme, so I decided to use it too. Can you see a sort of fan-like design on the paper? I used this particular sentiment from the stamp set, as it's an Affirmation - another A element for my card!

I coloured the dragon with my Balmy Blue, Night Of Navy, Bronze and Ivory Blends. I also used a Gold Sharpie to colour the dots and spikes on the dragon It's hard to see in the photo, but it gave a nice metallic look. He was popped up over a background on which I'd sponged a bit of Balmy Blue ink. A scattering of gold sequins finished off the front.

I stamped the dragon again on the inside, this time in Balmy Blue ink. A quick google search tells me that blue dragons symbolise new growth, good health and the approach of spring. I could do with a little of those!

Please head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of this week's cards. Everyone has interpreted the Just Add A theme so differently. I wonder how you will interpret it?

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Flirty Flamingo

 Hi!

Welcome back to my blog for the new Colour Creations Showcase. This week we are up to Flirty Flamingo. It's a gorgeous, retro pink that I have come to love since it has joined the colour line up. I wasn't keen on it to start with, and I know a few of my fellow bloggers tonight aren't too keen on it, but it has certainly grown on me.

Despite it not being a very traditional Christmas colour, I decided to use it on a Christmas card, featuring my Peace & Joy bundle. I started by embossing my card front with the Dainty Diamonds 3DEF - also fast becoming a favourite! I like how it sort of reflects the 'sparkle' image I stamped on the centre square.

The other two squares were stamped with the holly image and one of the leaves. I heat embossed the 'merry' and 'and' stamps using white embossing powder. I think it's gone off though, as it's not very white! Clearly, I need to emboss more so that it doesn't have time to go off!

A second strip of the Dainty Diamonds embossing was used to decorate the inside panel. The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Christmas. I only recently purchased that set, and I'm finding it to be a great set. Lots of different Christmas sentients in different shapes, so there's always one that suits.

As always, the lovely Catherine is hosting tonight's Showcase, so please pop on over to her blog. You'll find the links for all of tonight's Flirty Flamingo cards there.

CTC #285: CASE The Sketch

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me once again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. It's been a very long week for me - after a week of the rest of the family being home sick, I've finally caught their bug. Just a cold and not COVID, thankfully, but still not very fun. They are all well enough to go back to school/work tomorrow, so I think I'll have a quiet doona day at home.

This week our challenge is to CASE the cards on page 29 of the August-December Mini Catalogue. To make it a little easier, Rebecca has designed a sketch to follow.

It certainly helps to picture the card in a more simplified way, don't you think?

I decided to flip the layers of the sketch, and make the strips more of a feature on my card. My lovely friend, Judy, sent me a sample of the gorgeous flocked Plush Poinsettia Specialty Paper, and I thought it was too nice to hide behind other layers. I started by colouring the flocked parts with my Stampin' Blends, using Light Shaded Spruce, Light and Dark Cherry Cobbler and Dark Mango Melody. I have two hints: don't colour at night, unless you have super vision; and don't colour over one spot too much, or you will end up with a bald patch!

I trimmed the coloured paper into three strips and added them to my card, layered over a Gold Foil Stitched Rectangle piece. The rectangle was a little too long for my purposes, so I cropped out a section from the middle, which is hidden under the sentiment.

I used a left over piece from the coloured Plush Poinsettia Specialty Paper to finish off the inside. I didn't realise that I'd forgotten to stamp a sentiment on the inside until I went to photograph the card. I will blame it on a cold-addled brain! 

To play along with us in our challenge, all you need to do is join our Facebook Group and add your photo to the wall. We'd love to see what you would do with this sketch.

For now, though, please do continue on with our Blog Hop. Next up is my wonderful friend, Kathryn. I love the imaginative way she's used the sketch. So clever!

Bye for now,

Tina