Heart Of Christmas: Week 22

 Hi!

Well, here we are at the twenty-second, and final, Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop for 2021. I hope that you've managed to join us for most, or even all, of the hops. It's been a fabulous round with plenty of Christmas inspiration each week. I'm a little sad that this is the last one for 2021, but at the same time I'm glad to have one less commitment as we move into December.

As always, I have used a Sheetload Of Cards template for my cards this week. It's from November 2021, however I have simplified it a bit by removing one layer. The red strip was divided by another layer, but I felt that my card was busy enough that another layer would be a bit OTT. The template showed a loop of twine/thread under the sentiment banner, but I chose to use one of the Wonderful Snowflakes instead.

The DSP I have used is my favourite Heartwarming Hugs, and my two favourite sheets of paper. I will miss this paper when it goes. The sentiments are from Words Of Cheer.

Here's my group of cards, ready to add to my stash. Speaking of which, I was asked last week where I'm up to with that. Here's a look!

The cards on the left and the back half of the right are all my Sheetload cards - there's 84 in total, as for one week of the Hops I ran out of time and only made a single card. The front half of the right box has 19 cards, so a grand total of 103. I have four half-finished cards on my desk that may end up finished, or perhaps they will wait for next year's stash. Either way I'm set, except for the writing and addressing part!

For one last time in 2021, please do continue your way around our Hop by jumping on over to Caroline Manwaring's blog. 

Before you go, I want to take the opportunity to say thanks to all the ladies who have hopped along with Sharon, Rachel and I as we organised this year's series of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. It's been wonderful to see everyone's gorgeous cards, and read the supportive comments that everyone has left along the way. And thank you, also, to those of you that have hopped along with us every week. I hope you've found plenty of inspiration.

I am the lucky last Host for this year's Hops, so please pop back here if you run into any issues. The full list of Hoppers is as follows:

Caroline Manwaring

Kathryn Mangelsdorf

Kate Morgan

Theresa Gerrard

Catherine Proctor

Christine Blain

Claire Daly

Michele Taylor

Rosa Leyden

Rachel Woollard

Ros Davidson

Sharon Davern

Andrea Sargent

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 346: CASE With A Christmas Twist

 Hi!

Welcome back for another week of the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. It's a great way to finish the weekend, don't you think?

This week we are asking you to choose any non-Christmas card (from either catalogue) and give it a Christmas Twist. Hmm, thinking cap on!!

I ended up going for this turtle cutie, from the Punch Bundle section of the Annual catalogue. I've recently purchased the Penguin Place bundle, and I thought it would be perfect for the Christmas Twist part of the challenge.

As you can see, I pretty much kept everything the same on my card, just swapping the penguin for the turtle. Of course, my penguin has the reindeer antler headband to provide the Christmas Twist.

The Polished Pink banner is a piece of the Hostess DSP pack, Pattern Party. I simply used a Blending Brush to apply the Polished Pink ink.

I couldn't resist adding the second penguin to the inside of my card. Isn't he having a grand time, sliding around in the snow?

We'd love for you to join us by creating a card for our challenge. Just make a suitable card and upload it to our Facebook group. No blog necessary! We'd love to see where your imagination takes you.

I'm the final stop on this week's Blog Hop, but if you started somewhere in the middle, just keep going until you get back to where you started. The first blog tonight is our Christmas elf, Rebecca. She's got a stunner for you to see!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 582: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday and the start of a new Just Add Ink Challenge. Rachael has found this fabulous Christmassy photo for our Inspiration Challenge this week.

What catches your eye in the photo? The colours, the theme, perhaps one of the elements? For me it was the stockings hanging from the mantle. I don't have much current stuff that includes Christmas stockings, so I reached for my retired Tag Buffet Project Kit and the stocking element it included.

It was a lot bigger than I remembered! I started by using a Blending Brush to apply some Pool Party ink to the card base, under where I wanted the stocking to sit. I then randomly stamped the little 'merry' stamp from Christmas To Remember all over the sponged area.

The tag was popped up over this, with the sentiment also popped up. A sweet bow, using metallic twine from the same kit, was the finishing touch.

I used a little more of the twine on the inside, just to finish off the stocking here. It was fussy cut from the Sweet Stockings DSP and glued over some more brushed ink. I didn't notice until. took the photos that I'd forgotten to stamp another sentiment on the inside - I will fix this before sending it out.

Please pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. It's been interesting to see what inspires them from the photo - there are lots of things to grab your attention and spark your creativity. You can also link up your card for our challenge once you've finished it. I can't wait to see what you make.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Melon Mambo

 Hi!

Hello, and welcome back to a new Colour Creations Blog Hop. It's Melon Mambo's turn! I used to think that it was a bright pink, but some of the new pink additions to the colour range are way brighter, so now I'm thinking it's more of a darkish pink. Either way, it's often my go-to pink, as I'm not a big fan of pale or super-bright pinks.

Tonight's card was inspired by one I saw on the SU Facebook page this week. Their card used the Artistic Dies, and used the Playful Alphabet Dies to say 'hello', but otherwise I pretty much CASEd the card exactly. I loved the white on white look with the bold pop of colour for the sentiment.

I used my Biggest Wish stamp set to add the 'birthday' part of the sentiment. I popped it up with Mini Dimensionals, after using the Foam Adhesive Sheets behind the Alpha die cuts.

I decided to go with a pop of pink no the inside. I used the same dies as the front of the card - Many Layered Blossoms - and some Adhesive Sheet to make sticking it down a breeze.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop until you get back to where you started. The next blogger is my wonderful friend from across the newly opened SA-Vic border, Theresa Gerrard.

Keeping us well and truly organised this week again is another wonderful friend, Catherine Proctor. Pop on over to her blog if you run into any problems. She has a full list of hoppers at the end of her post, and you should be able t pick up your trail there.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 21

 Hi!

Thanks for once again joining me for another week of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. It's our second last week of hopping, and we hope that you've followed along with us every week to be dazzled by our Christmas creations. 

Once again, I have a group of cards made that is based on a Sheetload Of Cards template - June 2021, to be exact. I am really loving how quick and easy the templates are - the hardest part is sometimes having to adjust them to Australian card sizes. I've chosen to use the Sweet Stockings DSP and my Christmas To Remember stamp set.

Actually, I change my main about the hardest thing about using the templates - it's actually choosing which DSP to use! LOL! Sweet Stockings has been a favourite of mine this year, but sadly it will retire very soon - so make sure you grab a pack or two if it's one you love.

I played around with the position of the Cherry Cobbler DSP strip on my card, purely because I didn't want to cover up that goofy dog. I'm sure that I've mentioned before that he's the reason I purchased the DSP. HIs other friends are cute, but he takes the cake!

The next hop on tonight's blog is my wonderful friend, Kate Morgan. I'm sure she's got a visual feast ready for our eyes to devour!

Our Hostess this week is another of my fabulous friends, Sharon Davern. Pop on over to her blog if you run into any issues. She's got a full list of hoppers on her blog to help you to find your way.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 581: Just Add Legs

 Hi!

Thanks for popping back to see what the Just Add Ink Design Team are up to this week. Our challenge has been set by Lou, who is asking us to Just Add Legs to our cards. And thanks to Lou, I've had 'Legs' by ZZ Top on repeat in my head all week! Argh!! LOL!

But seriously, what a fun challenge - a great chance to think outside the box. When you think about it, there are lots and lots of things with legs. For me, it was a chance to use my Sun-Lovin' Santa stamp set from My Favourite Things.

I love that Santa is set for the beach and his legs are peeping out from under his boardies! Then I spotted the flamingo stamp in the set and had to find a spot for him on my card. He's got the longest legs of all!

My background was created by masking off the palm trees and gifts and using my Blending Brushes with Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel and Bumblebee inks. I used sticky notes to give the crisp lines for the sand and ocean. I didn't want to spend too much time on the background when the focus is Santa.

I used a few more of the same images on the inside of my card. They were all coloured with Stampin' Blends. I was tempted to add another flamingo, but I couldn't get the proportions to look right, so I satisfied myself with just the palm, ball and gifts.

Is your mind madly spinning though your craft stash, wondering what you could use that has legs? I hope so! We'd love to see what your creative mind comes up with, so don't forget to link your entry over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also see the cards that the rest of the Design Team created. 

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Mango Melody

 Hi!

It's time for the new Colour Creations Blog Hop! This week it's Mango Melody's turn to feature on our cards. It's a lovely orange tome from the Brights colour family. I don't use orange a lot, but Mango Melody is my go-to when I do.

I was a bit stumped for ideas this week, so I went for a fairly classic card layout. The four squares are a great way to feature either a small image or die cut, and I chose to use my Pierced Blooms Dies. It's been a while since I played with them!

I used my Stitched Greenery Die on the background, but I think it would look just as good with just a white background. You can't see it, but I have added a swim of Wink Of Stella to the white centres of the flowers. Each square was popped up using Dimensionals.

One final flower completes the inside of the card. The flowers are double layered, as I thought that the single layer wasn't quite enough.

Thanks for joining me again - I do hope that you continue your way around our Blog Hop tonight. The teams has been fabulous each week, full or inspiration for the feature colour. The next blog in the hop tonight is my lovely friend, Theresa Gerrard. I'm sure she's got a stunner for us, waiting over on her blog!

Jump on over to Catherine Proctor's blog if you run into a problem - she's our fabulous hostess, and has a full list of all tonight's hoppers on her blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 20

 Hi!

Welcome back once again to another Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. It's Week 20 of a 22 week series. All of the Christmas inspiration so far has been fabulous, and I'm sure that the final three weeks will be no different. Let's get to it!

I have very much enjoyed playing with the Heartwarming Hugs DSP for the past two years. I love that the paper uses Christmassy colours, but fun, non-Christmassy patterns. I've paired the paper with the March 2021 Sheetload Of Cards template and my Penned Flowers Dies were used to cut the scalloped layer.

I used my favourite Christmas sentiment stamp set, Christmas To Remember, for both the front and inside of my card. I really like that it has a saying that's specific to friends, and I've used this stamp a lot this year.

As always, here's my group of four. It's been miserably cold and rainy here in Adelaide, so I had to dash outside to grab my photos in between showers of rain. It was too wet to lay them on the grass as I usually do. I can't believe that I'm wearing flannelette pyjamas and that it's snowing in parts of Australia in November - it's nearly summer!!

Well, that's all from me for this week, but I hope that you'll continue your way around our hop by jumping over to my friend, and fellow South Aussie, Andrea. I hope she's staying warm and dry!!

It's my turn to host this week's Blog Hop, so please pop back here if you run into any troubles. Here's the full list of tonight's hoppers:

Andrea Sargent

Michele Taylor

Kate Morgan

Caroline Manwaring

Christine Blain

Catherine Proctor

Rachel Woollard

Rosa Leyden

Theresa Gerrard

Judy May

Sharon Davern

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 344: CASE An Embossing Project

 Hi!

Wowee, that week whizzed by very quickly! I can hardly believe that it's Sunday night again! My plan this weekend had been to put up our Christmas Tree, but it didn't happen. Before you say "it's too early!", it was Pageant Day yesterday in Adelaide, and that's the traditional day to put up your tree, so I will be late this year. Oh well!

This week's CASEing The Catty challenge is to CASE an Embossing Project. You could choose heat embossing, dry embossing, or embossing paste, so there's plenty to choose from! Much to my embarrassment, I purchased the Merry Melody 3DEF during the demo pre-order period, but I had yet to use it! I am a musician, which is why it appealed to me, and why it's embarrassing that I haven't used it yet! I decided that my card tonight HAD to use it, so I jumped to the catalogue page and found this card.

I don't have the angels, so I had to improvise. I chose to use the Poinsettia image from Words Of Cheer instead.

I coloured the image with my Blends, and then popped it up over the embossed panel I used a retired  Paper Pumpkin stamp set, Joy To The World, as that's the song on the Embossing Folder!

I often see this folder used on cards, but stuck on upside down. Oops! Here's a way to get the orientation correct: can you see the tiny dots that are after some notes? They should always be on the right of the note, never on the left. 

I used the poinsettia image again on the inside, with my favourite stamp from the Joy To The World set. It's such a lovely sentiment!

That's all from me for tonight, but your part in this challenge is just beginning! Just choose an embossing project to CASE, make your card, snap a photo and upload it to our Facebook group. Which type of embossing appeals to you? Hehe, I like the no-mess dry embossing!

Before you dash of to get creating, please do finish our hop. Next up is my lovely friend, Monique. I absolutely love her non-traditional coloured card - and I'm sure that you will, too!

Bye for now,

Tina