CTC 430: CASE A Colouring Project

 Hi!

Welcome to the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We enjoy CASEing projects from the Stampin' Up! catalogues, and we hope that you do too. They are a great source of inspiration.

This week we are asking you to CASE a project that uses a colouring technique. You could watercolour, colour with Stampin' Blends, or with pencils.

I chose to CASE these Taco Fiesta cards. I hadn't used the stamp set in a while, so that guided my choice. They are super adorable three inch square cards, perfect for tucking into a little gift.

I pretty much kept my card the same as the sample, only making a few changes. Most obvious is the use of the More Dazzle paper. It's so much fun, and I can't resist adding it to everything lately.

The other two changes were the use of White Twine instead of Linen Thread. I also used the piñata image rather than the food images. I just really love the piñata!

I stamped him again on the inside of my card. I stamped a few of the lollies and confetti images around the sentiment on the inside. It echoes the sentiment label on the front of the card - if you look closely you can see the image stamped around the sentiment.

We'd love to see which colouring project you will choose to CASE. All you need to do is make the card, snap a photo and then add it to our Facebook Group. I can't wait to see which project you choose.

Before you go running off to create, please continue your way round tonight's Blog Hop. There's lots more inspiration to be found, starting with my lovely South Aussie friend, Michelle Stradz.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Blackberry Bliss

 Hi!

Welcome to the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week's colour is Blackberry Bliss - a rich purple that I quite like, but don't use often. Sometimes it's a struggle to know quite what to do with it! It was an extra struggle this week, as once again I had a very short period of time in which to make a card. I think this one took 20 minutes, but I didn't set a timer this time.

I had hoped that my new Sending Smiles stamp set and dies would arrive today, but despite being 'on board for delivery', they were a no show. Take 2 uses the Songbird Builder Punch in a very pared back design.

I'd originally only intended on having the bird and the Stylish Shapes circle, but I felt that the card was TOO plain. The punched Clouds were a great addition, and a very logical choice for a bird card.

It's hard to see the cloud that the inside birdie is perched on, but it's definitely there. I used sentiments from Days To Remember on my card. It's an easy set to overlook as just a 'calendar' set, but it has a good range of sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop tonight. The next stop is my lovely friend, Andrea Sargent, and I'm sure that she's done marvellous things with Blackberry Bliss!

If at any time you find a broken link, please head to the blog of this week’s host of the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop, Cathy Proctor, and she will have the list of all participants.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 662: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Just Add Ink challenge. It's such a great way to kick off the weekend! This week we have a Sketch Challenge for you, designed by Lou.

My card was a bit of an accident - I started making a card for my daughter's 18th birthday, and then realised that it fitted the sketch perfectly!

This style of card is called a Bay Window Card, as the front of it folds out to look like the shape of a bay window. Of course, you then cut a window into the front to reveal the inside of your card. My daughter recently purchased a very popular video game, and so I designed the card to look like a bit of a portal opening to the world in the game - hence the space paper and the game controller as the window.

Here's the card folded flat, to show you both how it fits the sketch, and that it can easily be sent in the post. Luckily I was just able to hand the card to Ada!

Here is the inside of the card, showing the main character of the game and the world that he is running around in, getting up to all kinds of adventures. I coloured him with my Watercolour Pencils to suit the look of the DSP better than Copics would.

And here's the back of the card, where I wrote my message to Ada. This character is one of the key characters in the game

There's lots of inspiration on how to use this sketch over on the Just Add Ink blog. The Design Team ave done a wonderful job with it. Now, we'd like to see what YOU will do with it! Just add your card to our Linky when you've made it.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Berry Burst

 Hi!

Welcome to the new Colour Creations Blog Hop, where we are celebrating a colour that I was thrilled to see make a return to the colour lineup. Berry Burst was a favourite, and one that I'd kept when it retired last time. Very handy when it was announced in the latest colour refresh!

I had thought to make a floral card with Berry Burst, but when I went to look at my current stamp sets, I could not find a single floral stamp set! Luckily today was a snap sale from Stampin' Up! with 15% off of all stamp sets.

I still wanted to make a feminine card, but I had to pivot just a little. I was also thrilled that the Dazzle paper (now known as More Dazzle) was making a return in this catalogue, so my card concept was based around both it and Berry Burst.

I used my Dots & Spots Die to crop the Berry Burst card and layered it over the More Dazzle paper. An extra little scrap was used as a banner under the 'birthday' part of my sentiment. I don't want to waste any of the paper!

Another little strip was used on the inside. While I don't want to waste it, I certainly don't want to hoard it! 

My lovely friend, Sharon Davern is the next stop on tonight's Blog Hop. I wonder what Berry Burst deliciousness she will have for us?

If you run into any problems with the Hop tonight, just jump on over to the wonderful Cathy Proctor's blog. She does a marvellous job of keeping us all organised.

CTC 428: Artistic Expression Section

 Hi!

Thanks for once again joining us for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. It's such a great way to finish off the week, don't you think?

This week we are asking you to CASE a project from the Artistic Expression section of the Annual Catalogue, which goes from page 94 to 119. It's a section that's jam packed with inspiration!

I chose this card from page 101. I don't have any of the products used in the catalogue sample, but I didn't let that stop me! Half the fun of CASEing is taking something and making it yours. In this case, I loved the way that part of the stamped image is cropped and popped up. I think it's such an effective look.

As I mentioned, I don't have any of the products used in the original, so I decided to use It's A Science as my stamp set. I used my Stamparatus to stamp the row of beakers I then coloured them with my Berry Burst, Lost Lagoon, Lemon Lime Twist and Blueberry Bushel Stampin' Write Markers.

The centre section was then cropped using a Layering Squares Die, matted and popped up over the rest of the row. I took the colours from the Bright & Beautiful DSP that I used on the base of my card. I masked off half of the sentiment, and just used the It's Your Birthday section for the front of the card.

I used the other half on the inside, along with a beaker left over from the front of the card. I added bubbles to this beaker, as I thought that it worked nicely with the 'overreact' part of the sentiment. I really love the puns in this stamp set!

We'd love for you to play along with us on this challenge. All you need to do is make a suitable card and add a photo to our Facebook group. It's really very easy!

If you started the Blog Hop in the Facebook group, I am the last stop tonight. If you started mid way, just keep on gong until you get back to where you started. The next stop is the lovely Julia Quinn, with a gorgeous card that you won't want to miss.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Basic Gray

 Hi!

Thanks for once again joining me for the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week we are making Basic Gray the hero colour on our cards - a tricky task, I think! It's not a colour that naturally takes the limelight, it's more of a supporting actor.

I still had my Level Complete stamp set on my desk, and it seemed the perfect choice for featuring this dark gray. In my day, all game consoles and controllers seemed to be made of dark gray, black or beige plastic. I've paired Basic Gray with Lemon Lolly and Azure Afternoon. I love a gray and yellow combo, and the pop of blue sets both off nicely.

The main controller is heat embossed using Silver powder on Basic Gray cardstock. I actually meant to emboss it in black, but I picked up the wrong powder and it was too late before I realised. Oh well - I think I actually prefer the silver now! I used some Fine Tip Adhesive glue on the buttons to give them a bit of texture.

Apologies for the photos tonight - I've had a sick young man all day who is very cuddly when he's poorly, so I've had to make this card in bits and pieces while I could. It was dark before I got to take photos. Family comes first, and he's a little more important than nice photos!

It's time to move on from my blog to that of my lovely friend, Christine Blain. She's a whizz with masculine cards, but she may just trick us and make a feminine card with Basic Gray. I can't wait to find out!

If you run into any issues with links, please jump on over to Cathy Proctor's blog to help get you back on track. She does a marvellous job each week of keeping us all sorted.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 427: Die Cut Project

 Hi!

Hello, and thanks for joining me for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. It's been a while since I've been able to play along, and I'm so glad to be back!

This week we are asking you to CASE a Die Cut Project. Just choose a project from the catalogue that in some way uses a die cut and CASE it - too easy! The hard part will be choosing which project to CASE.

I went for this card from page 86 that features the Stargazing Suite of products. I purchased the Reach For The Stars stamp and die bundle a couple of months ago, but had yet to play with it. I was able to get the Stargazing DSP last month on special, too. Winning!

I kept my card nearly the same as the catalogue sample. I often find that's the best way to kick start my creativity when I'm using new products for the first time. The Stargazing DSP is awesome - I love the mix of papers and patterns in the pack. I don't have the Holographic Trio DSP, so I used Silver Foil for those elements.

As I was constructing the card, I noticed that the astronaut's helmet in the catalogue was a little different to the stamped image. The catalogue sample uses the smallest circle die to crop some of the space DSP and adhered it over the helmet to make it look like space is reflected in the clear dome. What a cool trick! I took it one step further by giving the DSP a coating of Fine Tip Glue to make it look more like a real helmet.

I also had a play with the dies on the inside of my card. As well as using one of the circular dies to crop the planet, I used the star dies to crop around the sentiment. The black that you see is the card base through the windows created by the die cuts.

We'd love for you to play along with us. Just CASE a project that uses a die cut in some way and add a photo to our Facebook group. It's that easy!

Before you go to get inky, don't forget to finish the blog hop. The next stop along the way is the fabulous Monique Fielder.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 660: Just Add A Die Cut Inlay

 Hi!

It's time for the new Just Add Ink Challenge, and this week Kerry has suggested that we add a Die Cut Inlay to our projects.

What is a die cut inlay? To me, it's when you use a die to cut away part of a piece of DSP or cardstock and then drop a different piece of DSP or cardstock cropped using the same die into the space left behind. You could also just pop back the same piece that you cut for a subtle effect.

I went bright and bold with mine! I used the circle dies from my Stylish Shapes Dies and scraps of cardstock from my Brights colours to create a bright, bubbly background. My initial thought was to reach for my white cardstock as a background, but changed my mind at the last minute to use black. It really makes the bright colours pop!

I cropped a circle from the background and then dropped in place a circle of the same size, but different colour. I used adhesive tape on the back to keep it in place, and then cropped another circle, making sure to overlap the previous circle. I kept going until I had a background that I was happy with. The sentiment over the top is from Uniquely Creative, called Sweet Sentiment Builder stamps and dies.

I didn't do an inside yet, as I ran out of time, but I will get one done soon. I'm trying to think of a way to use the discarded pieces from the front of the card. Thinking cap on!

I hope that your thinking cap is on too. We'd love to see what you make for our challenge. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You can also link up your card when you're ready.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Balmy Blue

 Hi!

Welcome back to this week's Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week it's Balmy Blue's turn to get a run. Hopefully you are well familiar with the soft blue, as it's been in the colour line up for a while now!

I recently purchased the Level Complete stamp set - it was a must-have for me, as three out of five of my family members are gamers. I'm sure that the fourth would be too if it was possible! I had fun with this card, starting with the arrows on the left side. I just measured and hand cut the arrows and layered the cardstock to get the effect. The sentiment actually says 'levelled up', but I chose to mask off the 'ed' so it just says level up.

I debated which colour to colour the controller. The temptation is to go the classic black/grey, but I didn't want a solid lump of dark colour on my card. Balmy Blue it was! I'm also aware that usually the buttons are all different colours, my brain was just too tired to think about that!

A bit of partial stamping and another sentiment, and my card was done! I really love the retro, boxy, computer game look of the fonts in this stamp set. It's a keeper, for sure!

Thanks for stopping by, but please do continue your way around tonight's blog hop. The next stop is the lovely Amie McIllroy.

As always, if you run into issues with links, Cathy Proctor is the lady in the know. Just jump on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina