JAI 695: Just Add Chocolate

 Hi!

Hello, and welcome to the new Just Add Ink challenge. I hope that you have lots of crafty time over the Easter Long Weekend. I will be playing in the National Band Championships on Saturday, and then volunteering on Monday, but otherwise I plan to craft the time away!

This week Kerry has challenged us to Just Add Chocolate to our cards. Perfect timing for Easter crafting!

I searched through my stash and didn't find much that was chocolate related. I did find this gorgeous DSP, called Abstract Beauty. It reminded me of chocolate packaging, especially the gold foil streaks.

I also found this fun sentiment from a Rabbit Hole Designs set, called Sassy Sentiments. I cropped it using a Nested Essentials die and popped it up over some old Balmy Blue ribbon.

I didn't stamp the inside yet, as I don't know what I'm going to use this card for. I did use a piece of left over DSP on the bottom though. It needs something pretty!

We'd love for you to play along this week with our Just Add Chocolate challenge. You can see the creative ways that the Design Team have interpreted this challenge over on the Just Add Ink blog. You'll also find the Linky there when you're ready to add your card.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Smoky Slate

 Hi!

Welcome to this week's edition of the Colour Creation Blog Hop. This week it's Smoky Slate's turn to be the hero colour. It's a tricky colour to make the star of the show, as it's usually a soft, background neutral.

I decided to play with my Smoky Slate Blends, and the soon-to-retire Vellum Cardstock, and create an alcohol ink panel for my card. I also grabbed my Pool Party and Poppy Parade Blends. Isn't it a gorgeous colour combo?

There are lots of tutorials on the technique - I watched Alisa Tilsner's for a refresh before I began playing. I was very pleased with the effect that I got. A simple Biggest Wish (also retiring - sob!) and Nested Essentials sentiment, and the front was done.

I usually do an extra panel for the inside, but I forgot today, so I had to make do with a quick swish of the Blends over a scrap of cardstock. It was fun to make!

Pleased keep on going around the blog hop tonight. The next stop is the lovely Rosa Leyden, and I'm sure that she'll have something gorgeous for you to see.

If you run into any problems with links, pop on over to the wonderful Cathy Proctor's blog. She'll have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Shaded Spruce

 Hi!

Welcome to Shaded Spruce week of the Colour Creations Blog Hops. Are you a fan? I am, even though I don't use Shaded Spruce much. I guess that I don't use green a lot, but Shaded Spruce is a favourite shade when I do.

I don't have a lot of Shaded Spruce products, but I do have the Les Shoppes DSP, which has this fabulous Shaded Spruce bakery. Yum! I used the coordinating ink and my Biggest Wish stamp set for my sentiment. I cropped it with my Nested Shapes banner die. I actually cropped it twice - once to get the banner end, and then a second time across the top to reduce the length.

I popped the shop and the sandwich board up over the top of a layer of the blueprint type DSP from the pack. I wanted to give the look of a group of shops, but still keep the focus on the Shaded Spruce shop. I love the effect!

 A little Shaded Spruce coloured pot of flowers was a great way to finish off the inside of the card.

Next you're off to see something marvellous from the craft desk of Kate Morgan. I always love seeing what she's created, and I'm sure that you will too.

Week after week, the lovely Cathy Proctor does a wonderful job of keeping us all on track. If you find yourself off track, just pop on over to her blog. You'll find a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 461: Lighter Than Air Colours

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me on a Monday for the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. That's right, we are hopping a day late due to so many of the team having been to Melbourne for Stampin' Up!'s OnStage event over the weekend. They needed an extra day to recover, LOL!

This week we are asking you to CASE the colours from the Lighter Than Air DSP. It's a lovely set of soft, pastel colours to choose from.  I looked at which colour I used least, which was Bubble Bath, and built my card from there.

I didn't choose a card from the suite to CASE, I just used Bubble Bath, Pool Party and Lemon Lolly (another colour that I haven't used much) to do my own thing.

I used Sending Smiles for the flowers, and More Wishes for the sentiment. The circle die is from Everyday Details Dies, and the embossing folder is Layered Florals. A little piece of Lemon Lolly twine from the three pack that coordinates with the DSP finished off the front nicely.

Some more flowers, and sentiments from Biggest Wish finished off the inside. I adore how the sentiments from Biggest Wish and More Wishes can be mixed and matched!

We'd love to see what you do with the colours from the Lighter Than Air DSP. Will you CASE a card from the Catalogue, or go your own way, as I have? Just take a photo of your card and add it to our Facebook Group.

The next stop along the way is the lovely Monique Fielder, who has made a very clover and gorgeous card for you to see!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 693: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week it's a Choose Two challenge, suggested to us by Di Barnes. She'd like us to choose two of either circles, squares or sayings to add to our cards.

Hmm, what to do? I spotted (ha, pun unintended!) some new washi tape on my desk, and the choices were made for me!

I purchased this washi in a pack from Daiso last week, mostly to use for masking purposes, but when I saw the wide tapes with circles on one and squares on the other, it was fated! I started by applying the washi to a square of Whisper White cardstock, which I then matted with Highland Heather cardstock. The retired Decorative Dots embossing folder was the perfect choice for the background of the card.

I was all set to use my Stylish Shapes dies to crop the circle for the sentiment, when I remembered that the Everyday Details dies featured circles within a circle - the perfect choice for this challenge!

I used a couple more strips of the washi to decorate the inside of the card, and a stamped sentiment from Biggest Wish, and the card was done!

We'd love to see which two you choose to use on your card. You can pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll see what the rest of the Design Team chose to use. You can add your card to our linky when you're ready.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Pumpkin Pie

 Hi!

It's that time of the week again - Colour Creations Blog Hop time! This week it's Pumpkin Pie's turn to have the spotlight. It's a nice, bright orange that must be popular, as I think it's been around as long as I have!

Once again, I was very time poor, so I went for a simple design. The gorgeous flowers from Sending Smiles really don't need much else to go with them.

I do think that my Pumpkin Pie ink pad needs replacing, though!

I added some more of the flowers in the inside of my card. I stamped the smaller flower on a scrap of Whisper White card, cropped it using the matching dies, and glued it over the other flowers. I preferred this to the look of the flowers stamped over the top of each other.

Now you're off to see what my lovely friend, Di Furniss, has created. I'll bet that it's something fabulous!

If you run into any issues with broken links, just pop on over to Cathy Proctor's blog. She's the Blog Hop Hostess with the Mostess, and does a wonderful job of keeping us all organised.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 459: Perennial Lavender Section

 Hi!

It's been a while for me, but here we are again with the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Is it just me, or are Sunday evenings rolling around so much ore quickly these days?

This week we are asking you to CASE the Perennial Lavender section of the current Mini Catalogue. It's a pretty suite, but I don't have any of it except for the butterflies, so I had to think a little about what I was going to make.

This sweet butterfly card caught my eye. I loved the all over DSP background, and the butterfly layered over both a vellum and a cardstock label.

I chose to use my Lighter Than Air suite products, especially the DSP. I fussy cut the hot air balloons from the paper to pop up over my labels and that delightful spotty paper.

I used my Everyday Details die for the labels - circles instead of rectangles from the original. Hello is from Biggest Wish, and is highlighted with a bow from Lemon Lolly Baker's Twine. A trio of Rainbow Dots finishes off the front of the card.

These two partial balloons are from the top corner of the sheet of DSP. I don't like letting them go to waste, and they sit perfectly at the top of the inside of the card.

That's all from me, but now your part of the challenge begins. Find a card from the Perennial Lavender suite to CASE, make the card and then post a photo into our Facebook Group. Easy!

If you started the Blog Hop in our Facebook Group, I'm the last stop. If you joined us part way through, keep on going until you get back to where you started. The next stop is the lovely Julia Quinn.

Bye for now,

Tina