JAI 574: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Hey there! Are you ready for the new Just Add Ink challenge? This week Nikki has challenged us to Just Choose Two.

Hmmm, which two to choose? It's a tough choice, but in the end I went for Silhouettes and Stars on my card. I struggled for a long time to think about which products I owned that could be used for the silhouette part of the card, and then I remembered my Eat Your Heart Out stamp set from Ink Road Stamps.

Do you recognise the hair silhouettes? I'm a huge fan of this movie (and it's sequel), but even the one at the bottom left stumped me! Who do you think it is? The stars on my card are from the retired Label Me Bold stamp set.

I haven't played much with the Be Dazzling Specialty Paper, and now Sale-A-Bration is finished! I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it. This time, I coloured it with my Dark Basic Black Blend. It looks a lot like snake skin, I think! Colouring it is such a cool effect, and it doesn't lose any sparkle in the process.

The sentiments I've used on the inside come from a Kindred Stamps set, called Electrifying. It goes with the Ink Road set perfectly, as they are based on the same fandom. Black and pink are iconic colours, so I've stuck with them for the whole card.

Now that I've told you more 😉 about my card, I'm flying out of here! I hope you're peachy keen, jelly bean, to join in with our challenge! You can link your card and see what the rest of the Design Team have created this week over on the Just Add Ink blog. See you there!

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Garden Green

 Hi!

Are you a fan of Garden Green? I used to think it was a dark green, but with the addition of Mossy Meadow and Shaded Spruce to the Stampin' Up! colour range, I've changed my mind and decided that it's more of a mid-green. However you think of it - it is tonight's Colour Creations Blog Hop feature colour.

My card features the soon-to-be-gone Sale-A-Bration DSP, Beautifully Penned. It's a B&W DSP, but I have given my card some colour with my Garden Green watercolour pencil and a Wink Of Stella Brush. WOS is my favourite way of blending the pencils for a smooth, shimmery finish. I simply coloured the background fairly roughly with the pencil, and then smoothed out the colour with the WOS.

I recently purchased the Tasteful Labels Dies (why did it take me so long??), and so I used them to crop my Biggest Wish sentiment for the front. Some Organdy ribbon finished it off nicely.

I used all of the same products, except the dies, to finish off my inside. I actually coloured the whole DSP piece in one go and then cropped off a length for the inside. So much easier!

Don't forget to continue your way around our blog hop. The next blog belongs to my lovely friend, Di Furniss. You won't want to miss what I'm sure will be a fabulous card!

If you get a little lost, or find a broken link, please pop on over to Catherine Proctor's blog. She's our host tonight, and she has a comprehensive list of participants at the end of her blog post.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 13

 Hi!

Wowee! Week 13 of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops already! That means that I've added over 50 Christmas cards to my stash already this year. I think it will be a very important year for sending Christmas cards this year, so I'm thrilled to be so organised so early.

This week my Sheetload Of Cards template is from June 2020. Have you looked them up yet? They make it a snap to make a heap of cards that uses up a heap of DSP - and let's face it, who of us doesn't have a heap of DSP to be used up? LOL! I've selected the Peaceful Prints DSP, as it's a Sale-A-Bration choice that will very soon be gone. I have been yet to use the birch tree print, so that's where I started with my card.

As you've probably worked out, I am really loving the Christmas To Remember stamp set for it's wonderful sentiments. They are all kinds of shapes and sizes, so you are bound to find the perfectly sized sentiment in the set.

I went back to an old favourite combo of the Pine Tree punch embossed with the Tasteful Textile 3DEF folder to decorate the front of my card. I think I might dig up a sparkly star of some sort to add to the tree, though - when I look at this photo they all look a little plain. What do you think?

Thanks again for stopping by, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop. The next blogger on the list is my fabulous friend, Cathy Proctor. She'll have something wonderful to see, I'm sure!

That's all I have for you this evening, but if you'd like to see a list of all participants, or if you've come across a broken link, please jump on over to this week's Hostess, Sharon Davern, for a full list of hoppers.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 337: Step Up A Mini Catalogue Project

Hi! 

Hello, and thanks for stopping by for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. I wasn't sure if I was going to have a card made in time for the hop tonight, but I just squeaked in. The concert band that I play in staged a large Proms concert last night, which was a lot of fun, but a lot of energy. It went very well, and I woke up feeling great this morning, so I was able to get crafty.

This week we are asking you to step up a Mini Catalogue project. What does this mean? Basically, make your chosen project more fancy! You could add more layers or colours or embellishments, or do what I did and turn it into a fancy fold.

I chose this cute card from page 68 of the Mini Catalogue. I don't have the bundle, but I do have the coordinating Penguin Playmates Sale-A-Bration DSP, so I used that instead to make a rocking card.

I started by roughly cutting five of the penguins from the DSP and gluing them to some Thick Whisper White cardstock. This gives them strength, but also makes the back of the card look a little nicer. Once dry, they were fussy cut and had Wink Of Stella added to their beanies and scarves. The base of the card was some die cut circles, cropped from Fresh Freesia cardstock and some of the DSP. The penguins were glued (back row) and popped up over the top, ensuring that the card stayed balanced. It rocks nicely if you give it a little push, but stays straight when it's not rocking.

Another die cut circle, from Whisper White card, completes the inside, along with a sentiment from Words Of Cheer. I cut the white circle in half so that the card still folded nicely. Too much bulk in the crease would prevent it from sitting nicely.

Again, thank for joining me tonight. We'd love for your to join in with our challenges, It's as easy as joining our Facebook group and adding a photo of your card for each challenge. No blog or fancy equipment/software/apps necessary. Just snap a photo and upload it to the group. Easy!

I'm the last stop on tonight's hop, but if you started mid-way, just keep on going until you get back to where you started. The next stop is my lovely friend from Queensland, Rebecca, with a gorgeous Christmas card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 573: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Welcome back to a new week of Just Add Ink, and a fresh challenge for you to sink your teeth into. This week Jan has designed a sketch for us to work with.

I like this one! The strip down the side adds a little touch of something extra to an already versatile sketch, don't you think? My son, Alex was invited to a birthday party, and so I used the sketch to create a fun card for the birthday boy.

I started with that cheeky strip down the side. I purchased the paper many, many years ago, and this was one of the last strips left from it. I don't have any information about which company made it, sorry! The rest of the card base was Basic Black card, embossed with the Subtle 3DEF folder. I popped it up over the strip of Lego paper.

The little figure was from a Kindred Stamps set, called Building Blocks. I coloured him with my Copic Markers and popped him up over the stamped Number Of Years numbers, finishing with a sentiment from Label Me Bold. Lots of retired products on this card!

I stamped the figure on the inside, but this time I gave him glasses. I did this because Alex wears glasses, but the birthday boy does not. It was probably too subtle a touch for either of them to notice, but it tickled my funny bone!

That's all from me for the new challenge, but please do pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you will find the rest of this week's Design team cards. They've done an amazing job with this sketch! You can also link up your card in our challenge. I can't wait to see what you create.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Flirty Flamingo

 Hi!

Hello, and thanks for joining me for Flirty Flamingo week of the Colour Creations Blog Hops. I wasn't a fan of Flirty Flamingo to start with, but now it's a pink that I do like. It certainly had a useful place in the Stampin' Up! colour range.

I had intended to make another birthday card this week, but for some reason I switched to make a sympathy card. Sometimes you've just got to go where the muse takes you!

I started the card with the colour wash over the Shimmery card, and then layered the butterflies over the top. I tried the trick of cutting the Glittered Organdy ribbon in half length-wise, and I quite liked it! The same effect as the whole ribbon, but a lot more delicate, which suits the butterfly die cuts.

I used the retired Sale-A-Bration set, Heal Your Heart, for the sentiments, as it's the only Sympathy set that I own. It's definitely a keeper!

Thanks again for joining me, but please do continue your way around our hop tonight. Just keep on hopping until you get back to where you started. The next stop along with way is my fellow South Aussie, Andrea Sargent. I must confess that I was thinking of her when I made my card, as it's similar in style to some of her gorgeous cards. A very simplified version, though!

As always, our lovely host for tonight's Blog Hop is the lovely Catherine Proctor. Pop back to her blog if you find a broken link - she will have a list of all participants and you can pick up your trail there.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 12

 Hi!

Phew! Can you believe that we are up to week 12 of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops? I'm pretty sire I say that every week (with the relevant week number), but I somehow seem to be surprised all over again each week at how fast the year is flying by.

I'm once again using a Sheetload Of Cards template, along with my SU supplies, to create a group of four cards this week. It's the May 2020 template, and I've combined it with some Peaceful Prints DSP and Christmas To Remember stamp set.

This was a pretty quick set of card to make. The trickiest part was cropping the DSP for the front to create the four different panels. So that each set of papers matched, two layers of DSP were cropped at once. Any slightly dodgy bits were hidden under the sentiment circle - not that I'm admitting to any dodgy bits! LOL!!

I played with the layout of the cards by flipping the DSP panel upside down for two of the cards. I don't think that I have a preference for the circle being high or low - I quite like both!

That's all from me for tonight, another four cards added to my stash, so I am very happy. Next up on our Blog Hop this evening is my lovely Victorian friend, Ros Davidson. Ros is always so clever with her ideas for cards!

If at any time you find a broken link please head to the blog of this week’s host of The Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all those participating.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 572: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Nikki has found a glorious photo to inspire our creativity.

Doesn't it make you so happy that Spring has finally arrived? I certainly love the warmer weather! This photo gave me a great excuse to play with two new purchases that I had yet to use. They worked so well with my favourite Pierced Blooms Dies.

The first new product is an embossing folder from Altenew, called Cloudy Day. The layers of clouds are wonderful! I used my chalk marker to highlight the top edges of the clouds to give a little more definition.

The second new product is the Uniquely Creative Stitched Sun die. It's so happy and cheerful!! I heat embossed the sentiment from Sweet Strawberry and cropped it with a circle punch before popping it on top of the sun. 

I added an extra flower to the inside of my card. I had thought about using the stem die for the flowers, but it would have been way too fiddly, so I used the leaf die instead. I like the effect, even if I'm not sure that the extra leaves are correct. But who cares, really? It's a fun, happy card and the friend I gave it to was delighted to receive it - and that's all that matters.

That's it from me for now, but please pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design team cards. We have some new members on the Team, so please go and give them a warm welcome. Sadly, we are also farewelling one of our wonderful long-term members of the DT. While on the blog, you can also link up your card for our challenge. I can't wait to see what you make.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Early Espresso

 Hi!

It's time for our regular Wednesday evening Colour Creations Blog Hop, with the feature colour this week being Early Espresso. It is, as the name suggests, a very rich, dark brown colour that falls into the Neutrals colour family.

I started my card with the background. I inked up one side of my Brick & Mortar 3DEF with Early Espresso ink and then ran it throughly Big Shot with a piece of Vern Vanilla cardstock. I was very pleased with the mottled effect of the bricks.

The focal panel was created using my Perfect Plants dies. I cropped a circle first, with the Layering Circles Dies, and then ran the circle  through my Big Shot again with the leaves die, and then a third time with the pot die. Another circle was cropped from Very Vanilla card, and then embossed with my Tasteful Textile 3DEF. I quite like the use of the negative die cut.

As I'm not one to waste anything, I used the cropped leaves and pot on the inside of my card. The sentiments I've used are both from the Sweet As A Peach stamp set.

That's all from me tonight, but the Hop does continue! Just keep going until you get back to where you started. Next in line is Caroline Manwaring, who makes the most beautiful cards each week for Colour Creations. I'm sure you won't want to miss her card this week!

If you find a broken link at any point along the way, please take note of where you're up to and then jump to Catherine Proctor's blog. She has a complete list of participants on her blog to help you get back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 11

 Hi!

Welcome back to the eleventh week of Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. I hoe you've been following along each week, as we've had plenty of gorgeous Christmas inspiration for you to see.

I was a little more organised this week, so I was able to get back to the Sheetload Of Cards templates. This week I used the April 2020 template.

I based this design completely around the Silver Foil layer that is peeking out from under the spotty layer. It's the purplish foil in the new silver pack, that I don't particularly like. This was a good way to use it up! I cropped the Gingerbread Dies bauble from the centre of the foil panel before I embossed it with the Subtle 3D folder.

The DSP that I've used is the Hostess Pack, called Pattern Party. I've just used B&W papers so that I can use whichever colours I like with it - in this case I chose Mint Macaron. The sentiments are from Christmas To Remember.

As always with the Sheetload cards, I made four to add to my stash.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop - there's lots of wonderful cards to see, starting with my lovely friend, Kate Morgan.

I'm once again hosting this week's Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Pop back to my blog if you have a problem along with way with links - you'll be able to pick up your trail again here.

Kate Morgan
Catherine Proctor
Christine Blain
Michele Taylor
Sharon Davern
Caroline Manwaring
Rachel Woollard
Andrea Sargent
Theresa Gerrard
Rosa Leyden
Ros Davidson

Bye for now,

Tina