Butterfly Basics No Longer

Hi!

I'm squeezing in an extra blog post this week so that I can show you some more cards that use very soon to be retired products. As is usual lately, I have two cards for you today. This pair both use the retiring Butterfly Basics stamp set. There were a lot of shocked people when they realised all of the current butterfly stamps and dies were being retired, me included. After a little thought though, I was OK with it, as it means new stuff, and the new butterfly die is gorgeous! Time for a change!

On to today's cards! The first card is a CASE of this card by Jenny Hall. I had a request from one of my class ladies to do it in a class, and I was happy to comply. There's not much I changed, apart from locating my main panel a bit higher on the card, and using the sentiment from Butterfly Basics instead of from Painted Harvest.

Sadly, the Painted Harvest set I used was faulty, so the detail isn't visible in the sunflower petals. Thankfully Stampin' Up! replaced the set with a brand new copy that wasn't faulty.

I also did a different inside to Jenny's card - it was a great excuse to stamp the sunflower again!

This second card was also a class card, designed to show my ladies how to do the wreath technique on the Stamparatus. We used the leaves and flowers from the also retiring Number Of Years stamp set. Can you see a new colour on the card? Grapefruit Grove is an early favourite from the batch of new In Colours.

It's a little easier to see in this photo that I used Soft Sky (retiring) to stamp some scattered dots in the gaps between the leaves. It's a subtle effect, but helps to reduce the stark look of the blank space.

 I really love the mix of fonts in the Butterfly Basics sentiments, especially the script font. It's so deliciously like old fashioned hand writing.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #379: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

I hope you're ready for Friday and the new challenge!

This week at Just Add Ink Kelly has provided a beautiful Inspiration Photo for the challenge. I love it, as it makes me think of summer. I am soooo over winter and ready for summer to roll around, so I was excited to create using this photo as my guide.

I decided that rather than my usual literal approach to Inspiration Photos, this time I was going to find inspiration in another way. After a bit of consideration, I decided to use the colours as the basis for my card.

I mostly went with the pink and the green from the photo, with touches of brown, black and white. The pitcher reminded me of a strawberry champagne cocktail I particularly enjoy over summer, so I decided to include some 'bubbles' in my card as an extra little tribute.

I used the Lemon Lime Twist Foil Frenzy SDSP to represent the bubbles. The foil finish adds a touch of glam to the card without being overwhelming. Sometimes a little bit of the Foil Frenzy SDSP goes a long way!

I used a spotty stamp from No Bones About It to carry the bubbly look through to the inside of the card. It seemed a bit funny to use a dinosaur stamp on a girly, butterfly card - but it works!

What do you see in the Inspiration Photo? You can link your card over at Just Add Ink, where you can also see the cards that the rest of the Design team have created. It's a fabulous lot, as usual!

Bye for now,

Tina

Lift Me Up With Colour Theory

Hi!

Today's card is a quick and easy one that I made to show off the gorgeous ombre papers in the Colour Theory DSP Stack. I love the ombre look, and while it's not difficult to achieve the look yourself with some cardstock and a sponge brayer, there are times when it's easier to just grab for the DSP.

I was after a bit of a sunrise effect with the background, so I arranged my Crushed Curry DSP so that the darker section was at the top, rather than at the bottom like I usually do. I think I stamped my sentiment too close to the bottom, but that's because I completely forgot to stamp it until I'd adhered the Crushed Curry DSP to the base using Dimensionals. Those little suckers really grip! Rather than trying to remove the whole lot, I just removed the one under the sentiment and replaced it with a new one after I'd stamped.

I kept the rest of the card nice and simple - just the little scattering of balloons and clouds.

I think this would be a great card for those times where you need to whip up a card in a rush. What do you think?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #373: Just Add Stencils

Hi!

Welcome to a new challenge from Just Add Ink!

This week Karren has challenged us to use stencils in our card making. There are so many ways to use stencils - you can use embossing paste with them, sponge or mist through them, or even brayer over them.

After a bit of thought, I decided to try a new to me technique. Not sure what it's called, but I really enjoyed it!

To get this look, I placed my stencil over some Shimmery White yardstick and then used my 0.01 Journaling Pen to outline each of the shapes in the stencil. It's a retired stencil from the last Holiday Catalogue in the Seasonal Masks pack. I then removed the stencil and used my Watercolour Pencils and Blender Pen to colour each shape.

I picked a point on my card, which was the top left corner. I used my Pencil to colour the section of the drop shape that was closest to that point, and then blended away from the point with the Blender Pen.

I used a small piece of Shimmer White that I've coloured the same way for the inside. I had only intended to trace a few of the drop shapes in each corner, but Ada insisted I needed to bring in the ribbon from the front of the card, so she made sure I did the inside 'right'. LOL.

The rest of the Design Team have had a marvellous time adding stencils to their cards this week. You can pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see what they've done. I hope we inspire you to play along with Karren's challenge this week.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #364: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

It's an Inspiration Challenge this week at Just Add Ink!

Kelly selected this fabulous photo of the flowers in a gorgeous copper jug. I struggled a bit to incorporate the copper into my card, as I don't have any of the metallic paper or embossing powder, but then I remembered I have some of the stunning new Copper Trim.

I was very excited to see the brick wall in the background of the photo, as it gave me a good excuse to break open my new Embossing Paste and Pattern Party Decorative Masks. I mixed a drop of Basic Grey reinker into the paste to get the darker colour. It's quite easy to use, and makes a great textural addition to a card.

I stamped a heap of flowers from the Jar Of Love stamp set to create a bouquet for the front of the card. I also punched two strips of the new Decorative Ribbon Border punch. I love that they look like a lacy ribbon when they are laid down back to back like I have. The overlap was hidden under the Copper Trim.

I had a few extra flowers left over, so I added a smaller bouquet to the inside. I used the new In Colour, Fresh Fig as the base of my card and the feature colour. It's a colour I'm still warming to, but I love how it pairs with Sweet Sugarplum on my flowers.

What do you take inspiration from in the photo? You can see what the rest of the team have done with it, and link your creation over at Just Add Ink. See you there!

Bye for now,

Tina

Vintage Delicate Details

Hi!


Have you earned yourself a Sale-A-Bration freebie yet? One of the first stamp sets I chose was Delicate Details. I love the different lacy patterns, and thought they'd look perfect on a vintage style card.

I made this card for a card class, and decided after I'd made it that I probably should have stamped the lace down both sides of the flower panel. It was all stuck down, so I couldn't pull it up to stamp it, nor did I have time to make it again. I still like it this way though!

I ended up with two spare kits, so I decided to have a play and actually make it with the second lace border.  What do you think? It's a definite improvement, I think.

I stamped it with a bit more splatter the third time. I probably went a little overboard on this one though!

Here's the inside of the card. I left it the same for all three versions. What do you think of the lace in Elegant Eggplant? I love it!


Bye for now,


Tina

Circle Of Spring Butterflies

Hi!


Do you sometimes forget about your old favourites in the rush of new products? I know I do! It's often worth Getting them out and looking at them with new eyes. In this case, I pulled out my Fringing Scissors.

The colour combo is Dapper Denim, Peekaboo Peach and Whisper White. Don't they look great together? I love the way the fringing adds a fun, flirty touch to the front of the card.

The Thick Baker's Twine is a great way to finish a card, and is very cost effective. Bonus!

I quite like this colour combo - I think it would make a great masculine card too. What do you think?

Bye for now,

Tina

Some Fancy Folding

Hi!


Today I have a Fancy Fold card for you. I'm not sure what it's called - triangle pocket card maybe? Whatever it's called, it's a very easy fold that looks fabulous.

Doesn't it look great? The most difficult part was working out how to cut the DSP, but even that was relatively easy. You simply cut a sheet of A4 cardstock in half longways and then score diagonally. Fold along the score, and then fold the whole lot in half, so that the on the bottom of both the front and inside you end up with a triangular pocket. Decorate, and you're done!

I found it better to make two cards at once, as the DSP panels are rectangles cut in half. I don't tend to use triangle shaped DSP on my cards, so by making two I wasn't wasting any DSP. I used the Blooms and Bliss DSP on this card.

The inside of the card has a little pocket, which is the perfect spot to pop a gift card for the recipient. Why don't you give this Fancy Fold a go - it really is very easy!


Bye for now,


Tina

JAI #315: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!


Oh, what a miserable, wet week it's been. The upside of that is that it's perfect card making weather. Well, any weather is perfect card making weather, if I'm really honest!

We all love card making at Just Add Ink, and this week we are doing a sketch challenge.

Lots of layers in this one! I decided to cheat a little and turn some of the layers into non-layers using some faux stitching. Does that make sense?

See what I mean? I actually did the same thing for the smaller layer under the flower, but I made it far too small to be seen behind the flower. A handy piece of DSP to the rescue!

My Flower Patch stamp set has been a little neglected lately. OK, a lot neglected. My stamp shelves are looking VERY empty at the moment as I'm waiting for my new catalogue things to arrive. It's a great excuse to drag out some old favourites to play with.

I had a spare leaf left from the front of the card, so I used it to finish the inside, along with a little more faux stitching.


The Just Add Ink Design Team have done a great job making cards based on this sketch. You can see their cards over on the Just Add Ink blog. See you there!


Bye for now,


Tina

Black Mambo Swirls

Hi!


I've been having a lot of fun playing with the new Swirly Bird bundle. I'm sure you've seen a lot of cards made using the bundle on the internet! I especially love the scribbly circles in the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits. I've been wishing for a set like this for ages. For today's card, I decided to go for a bold colour combo and let the die cuts shine.

It's been a while since I've used Basic Black, Melon Mambo and Whisper White together. They work beautifully together. On this card the front of the card is not full sized. I adhered the wavy die cut a couple of centimeters in from the right edge and then trimmed carefully to give a thin black border. The white you see on the front is actually the inside of the card.

Here you can see the card open a little more, making it easier to see how it's not a full front. You can also see better that I used silver star sequins on the front, not black as it looks in the first photo. You can also see that the scribbly circle overlaps the new edge of the card.

I punched a 2" Circle to sit behind the scribbly circle and to stamp the sentiment on. It's not a perfect fit, but I still love the look.

I had to remember to stamp the inside sentiment all the way over to the left so that it can't be seen when the card it closed. That's tricky, when the natural inclination is to centre it! I also used some black star sequins to finish off the inside.


Stay tuned for lots more Swirly cards!


Bye for now,


Tina

Lost Lagoon On The Open Sea

Hi!


Today I have a card for you that uses some of my most favourite retiring products. The very top of that list would be the World Map background stamp and the Lost Lagoon In Colour. Sigh. It's always a bittersweet time when favourites retire.

This card was actually a bit of a CASE of one of my own cards from nearly a year ago. You can see the original card here. You can see I've stayed with the World Map/Gorgeous Grunge combo for the background, but this time I've stamped some images from The Open Sea over the top.

I think the sentiment from Butterfly Basics works so well with the card. It reminds me of an old fashioned script, rather like you'd find in a Captain's Log!

I'll be featuring cards with retiring products for the next few weeks - I have plenty in my 'To Blog' folder and I want to show them off before it's too late!


Bye for now,


Tina

Watercolour Wings On A Brick Wall

Hi!

Today's card is an older one that's been sitting patiently in my "To Blog" file on my computer waiting for it's own blog post. I've been doing a fair bit of Project Life scrapbooking lately and haven't made many cards, so this card is getting it's turn today.

I'm pretty sure this card was a CASE of some sort. I don't think I copied directly, more made this using another card as inspiration, but I really can't recall. Do you think I can find the card I CASEd though? Sigh. If you think it's yours, please let me know so I can give credit.

The Crumb Cake background was embossed with the Brick Wall TIEF and then lightly sponged in Crumb Cake ink to give the bricks a bit of definition. The ferns were then stamped over the top. The smaller butterfly was cut from Silver Foil paper - so pretty!

The inside, as usual, got a similar treatment as the outside. I think it's so important to 'do' the inside as well as the outside - it really is a lovely finishing touch to a card.

Bye for now,

Tina

Sky Is The Limit

Hi!

I'm finding that the Sky Is The Limit stamp set has been a very popular choice in this year's Sale-A-Bration line up. Are you aware though, that you only have a couple of weeks left to get your hands on it? There are a few SAB items marked 'Limited Time Only', and Sky Is The Limit is one of them.

Sky Is The Limit coordinates brilliantly with the Going Places Suite in the Occasions Catalogue.  On this card I've paired it with the Going Places DSP stack and used colours from the DSP, including Sahara Sand, Lost Lagoon, Basic Black and Very Vanilla.

There's lots of paper piercing on this card, as it's a great way to add a feature to the card.

The plane on the inside was stamped in Lost Lagoon, but I stamped it off once first. This just helps the sentiment to stand out more.

Bye for now,

Tina