JAI 779: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Welcome back to the newest Just Add Ink challenge. This time around it's a sketch challenge, designed by Jan.

My first thought was of a polaroid photograph! What fun would that be to incorporate into a card? Ultimately, though, I went in a very different direction.

I decided to use my Stitched Shapes Dies to create some dimension in my card. I started by stamping the flowers from Pretty Perennials and the leaves from Beautiful Friendship in Strawberry Sluch, Powder Pink, Garden Green and Mint Macaron. I do love the watercolour look of the images!

I then cropped the image with the largest square die. I glued the die cut piece to my card base and then popped up the rest using Dimensionals. I love the idea of the main part of the image being inset rather than popped up. A sentiment and a scattering of sequins finished off the front of the card.

I used similar stamping on the inside of the card. I really loved revisiting these older stamp sets!

What do you see in the sketch? You can see what the rest of the Design Team created over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also add your card to our challenge gallery when you are ready. I can't wait to see what you make!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 715: Just Add Shading or Shadows

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Nikki has challenged us to Just Add Shading or Shadows to our cards.

Hmm, this one required a bit of thought, but then I remembered that I had Sending Smiles stamps and dies. The 'Sending' die also has a coordinating shadow die. Bingo!

I started by stamping the flowers and leaves from Beautiful Friend ship on my card. These stamps are DistINKtive stamps, so I suppose that they also add the shading element to my card! I used Petunia Pop and Summer Splash ink, with a touch of Early Espresso for the stamens.

Here's a closer look at the shadow die. I like how it gives another layer to the sentiment to help it pop from the background.

I also added a little more stamping to the inside of the card. I love the flowers from this stamp set so much.

We'd love for you to play along with us this week. You just have to decide of you're adding shading or shadows to your card - or maybe both! You can see what the rest of the Design Team have created over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also add your card to our Linky to enter the challenge. We'd love to see what you make.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 611: Just Add A Sketch

Hi! 

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a sketch for you, designed by Di for us.

As it turns out, I had been looking through my retired stamps collection just before I saw this sketch, and I decided immediately that the swing from Sitting Here was absolutely perfect for this sketch. I pulled out my Stampin' Blends and set about making a scene to go with it.

The only stamped elements in this card are the swing, the sentiment (In The Moment) and the leaves in the tree (Beautiful Friendship). I started by stamping the swing in Memento ink, and then using a pencil to lightly draw in a horizon line. The rest is all hand-drawn/coloured using various Blends. A white Gel Pen was used to add snow to the mountain.

I left the inside super simple. The sentiment on the front lends itself to a wide variety of situations, so I didn't stamp an inside sentiment. I will either just hand-write something, or stamp an appropriate sentiment when I decide to use the card.

Thanks again for joining me - now your job begins! Pop on over to the Just Add Ink website, where you'll find our linky for this week's sketch challenge. What do you see in it? You can also see the rest of the gorgeous cards made by our talented Design Team.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 608: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a colour combo for you, with the colours selected by Rochelle. 

To me, it's a very retro vibe! Having said that, I decided to make a floral card even though this colour combo wouldn't usually evoke thoughts of flowers.

I recently rediscovered my retired Beautiful Friendship stamp set. I stamped the big roses in Pumpkin Pie, with Basic Gray centres. The leaves were also stamped in Basic Gray, but this time stamped off first. I'm hoping that they look like the silvery leaves that you sometimes get on plants!

The flowers were fussy cut and popped up over my background. I stamped the Rays Of Light stamp in stamped-off Crushed Curry ink. It was still too dark for my purposes, so I covered it with a layer of vellum to tone it down.

The sentiments, both stamped and die cut, are from the Sweet Sentiment Builder stamps and Dies from Uniquely Creative. It's a great set that allows you to mix and match words and phrases to suit a variety of occasions.

That's all from me for tonight, but your job is just starting! Please jump on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You'll also find our Linky, where you can add your card to our challenge gallery.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 313: Favourite Retiring Stamp Set

 Hi!

Hello, and welcome to the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Our challenges around this time of year are always a little sad, as we CASE products that are retiring from the Stampin' Up! lineup. Some products you're happy to wave goodbye to, as they've been around a while, but others you are left wishing for a little longer with them.

This week our focus is on retiring stamp sets. I'm losing about half of my collection this year. Some will shift shelves to my permanent collection, others will find a new home with someone else. The stamp set I've chosen today, Beautiful Friendship, is definitely a favourite of mine that may just find it's way into my permanent collection.

I selected this sample, from page 115, to CASE as I really liked the layering down the left hand side of the card. However, I rotated the design to flow down the right hand side of my card.

I started with a Thick Whisper White base, and stamped the Garden Green leaves down the right side of the front, making sure that they overlapped each other. I then fussy cut along the edge. I repeated this process for the Rococo Rose roses, on a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock.

I used a Blending Brush to apply some Pacific point ink to the right side of the inside of the card, and the left side of the front of the card. I love how this gives the illusion that the blue is on one piece of card. The roses were then popped up over the top and the sentiment added.

I'm not sure that I like the inside - it looks a bit unfinished. I'll probably go back and change it before I send the card.

What is your favourite retiring stamp set? It's soooo hard to choose! I hope that you can decide so that you can play along with us this week. Pop on over to our Facebook Group to check out all the action.

Before you go, though, please do finish our Blog Hop! Next up is my lovely friend, Rachel. I was lucky enough to spend some time with her when she visited SA recently.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Rococo Rose

 Hi!

Welcome back to my blog for the new Colour Creations Creative Showcase. This week we are featuring one of the soon to be retired In Colours - Rococo Rose. At this start of this Showcase series, I would have described it as a dirty pink, but I have changed my ways and will now describe it as a dusky mid-pink. LOL! It's duskiness is what makes it a favourite pink that I will have a bit of trouble saying goodbye to.

Another thing that I will have trouble farewelling is the gorgeous Beautiful Friendship stamp set. I'm not really big on floral stamp sets, but I loved how this one does all the hard work for you because the stamp itself is designed to leave different intensity of ink for different parts of the image.

I also used another favourite, retiring, stamp set for the sentiments - Seaside Notions. It's been a go-to set this year, especially for the sentiments, as I love the mix of fonts and the size is usually perfect. Speaking of retiring, I have cropped the sentient with one of the dies in the Stitched Shapes set, which is also retiring. Sob! The Layering Oval underneath is also on the way out.

I stamped the flower stamens in Memento ink, and then dotted over the top of them with a white gel pen. It helps to soften the starkness of the black ink.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do pop on over to Cathy's Blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Rococo Rose cards. I can't wait to see what everyone has made!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #294: CASE The Colours

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. This week we have chosen a page in the Annual Catalogue, and we are CASEing the colour scheme of the cards on that page.

These cards are a great example of how to 'step up' a card design - start with a simple idea and add layers, elements and products to make it more detailed.

I haven't stamped with my Beautiful Friendship stamp set in a while, so I pulled it off my shelf for this challenge. It's a pretty set, and I thought that it would work well with the colour scheme of Blushing Bride, Petal Pink, Mint Macaron, Soft Sea Foam and Gray Granite.

I also haven't used my Story Label punch in a long time, so it was also dusted off for this card. A few rhinestones and a length of Sliver Metallic Edge ribbon, and the front was done!

I kept my stamping on the inside to one corner, so that I have plenty of room in which to write a birthday message when I give this card away.

As always, our challenge is run through our Facebook group, so you don't need a blog or a fancy camera or editing tools to join in. Just make the card, take a snap and add it to the group. Easy!

Before you race off to make your card, please do finish the Blog Hop. Next up is my fellow South Australian,  the wonderful Michelle Stradz. She's made a super sweet pair of cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Daffodil Delight

 Hi!

Thank you for joining me once again for another week of the Colour Creations Showcase. This week we are looking at Daffodil Delight. As I said last week, I'm not a huge fan of yellow, but I do like the cheerful yellow that is Daffodil Delight.

I saw a card recently, where the top panel was cut on the angle like I have done.I quite liked the look and wanted to try it out. I chose to use the roses from Beautiful Friendship to use along the edge. I love how big and bold they are - they really make a statement!

Would you believe I've only just purchased the Dainty Diamonds 3DEF? I've been using it on nearly every card since! I embossed the Daffodil Delight card front and adhered it to the Thick Whisper White base. A smaller piece of Whisper White was embossed using the Subtle 3DEF and layered over the top using Dimensionals. The leaves peeking out from underneath have a coat of Wink Of Stella for a little bit of bling.

I repeated the look for the inside, minus the Subtle 3DEF and the leaves. 

The lovely Catherine is once again hosting the Showcase, so please do pop on over to her blog, where you'll find the rest of this links for our Daffodil Delight cards. They are always a fabulous collection of cards, well worth the look.

Bye for now,

Tina

August Creative Showcase: Rainbows

Hi!

With all that’s happening worldwide at the moment the Art With Heart Team are here with a Rainbow Creative Showcase to brighten your day. Every month the talented ladies share their inspirational ideas in a monthly Showcase and this month our projects are inspired by Rainbows.

I recently cracked open my new Stitched Triangles Dies, and have been having a wonderful time playing with them ever since. I decided that I could quite easily use them to create my rainbow for tonight's Showcase.

I used the largest isosceles triangle die to cut tow triangles in Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Granny Apple Green and Gorgeous Grape. I decided upon my focal point and then glued the triangles onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, cut slightly smaller than my card base. I was aiming for rainbow order, but my daughter pointed out that I got blue and green the wrong way around. Oops!

The sentiment is from Beautiful Friendship, and was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black so that it didn't compete with the colour on the rest of the card. The ribbon was added to try to hide the evidence that I didn't quite line up the triangles correctly!

I used the offcuts from the front of the card to create the little strip along the bottom of the inside. I was quite pleased with how that bit turned out! The sentiment here is from Itty Bitty Birthdays.

The next stop on the Rainbow Tour is the lovely Vicki Boucher. LOL, now I have the Evita soundtrack playing in my head!

If you have a broken link or have come to this blog hop midway, you can view all the participants below:

 

Rachel Woollard

Tina Gillespie

Vicki Boucher

Sharon Davern

Ros Davidson

Catherine Proctor

Caroline Manwaring

Michele Taylor

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #505: Just Add Thinking Of You

Hi!

Thanks for once again joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Chantell has set the challenge, and it's very appropriate for right now!

Aww, who doesn't like to get a Thinking Of You card in the mail? I hope once you've made your card for our challenge, you send it to someone who might need to hear that someone is thinking of them.

I used the Beautiful Friendship stamp set and my Stamparatus for the front of my card. I started with the big double flower stamp, positioning it on my Stamparatus so that it was in the top half of my card. I just stamped it, spun the card, and stamped again. I did the same with the rest of the flowers and leaves - the whole card is symmetrical, even though it doesn't really look that way.

I then took my blending brush and used it to add a light layer of Balmy Blue ink around the outside of the flowers. It's very subtle - you can only really see the difference up against the white base. The sentiment comes from Seaside Notions, and is stamped in Rococo Rose, to match the large bloom. I'm so happy that both the stamp sets I used on today's card are carrying over to the new Annual Catalogue.

I didn't use my Stamparatus to stamp the inside of the card. The flowers and leaves were stamped along the bottom, and then I used the blending brush again to add a little Balmy Blue ink above them.

Have you thought of someone to send a Thinking Of You card to? You can enter your card into our challenge on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also see the rest of this week's Design Team cards.

Bye for now,

Tina