End Of Year Teacher Gifts

Hi!


Yay! School is nearly out for the year! One of mine has two days to go, and the other two have three days. We've all been so busy with end of year and Christmas activities, but I found time to sit last night and create these cute little gift bags for Ada's teachers.

I used the Gift Bag Punch Board to create the little bags. They are actually made from Real Red cardstock, despite them looking orange in the photos. I used a few scraps of Candy Cane Lane DSP to decorate the front and the flap.

The tags were made using the Stitched Shapes Thinlits, Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set and Endless Thanks stamp set. I made three of these bags, so I wanted a quick and easy tag for the bag. Inside the bag is a Christmas ornament and a handful of chocolates. I forgot to photograph it before I closed the bag. Oh well!


Bye for now,


Tina

Diagonal Cookie Cutter Christmas

Hi!


Do you sometimes like to mix things up a bit in your card making? I know I do! When I was designing today's card I decided to have a bit of fun.

I had originally intended that the Candy Cane Lane DSP would be a straight piece, but at the last minute I decided to cut it on the diagonal. What do you think?

You can see that I stamped the Gingerbread Man over the base of the card, along with the bow.

The placement of the bow is the difference between a Gingerbread Man and a Gingerbread Lady. So cute!


Bye for now,


Tina

A Gingerbread Man on Candy Cane Lane

Hi!


I'm in the full swing of things now with Christmas cards - are you? My favourite DSP from the Holiday Catalogue was the Candy Cane Lane pack. I loved the non-traditional colours and all of the gingerbread houses.

This was a card I made quite a few weeks ago as a class sample. It was a CASE of one of my recent Just Add Ink cards, with a few changes to make it easier to make in a large group.

He's a bit out of focus, but I think the Gingerbread Man is my favourite stamp in the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set.

I especially love the way that, by changing the placement of the bow, you can also have a Gingerbread Woman!


Bye for now,


Tina

JAI #337: Just Add Two

Hi!


Yay! it's the tail end of the working week, and the weekend is just around the corner! I'm excited because Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them has just opened. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go see it with the family very soon.

But that's not why you are here - you're here for the new Just Add Ink challenge! This week Kim is challenging you to Just Add Two to your cards. What two? You have the choice of either doilies, die cuts or Designer Series Paper. Just choose two and off you go!

I ummed and ahhed a little before having a little bit of a brainwave while I was in the shower. It's a great place to think! I went with die cuts and DSP.

In order to fit all the letters in, I had to make my card a tad longer than usual. It's actually 7 inches in length, and the usual 4 1/4 inches tall. It will fit in a business sized envelope, so it will still be easy to post.

You can see in this picture that I popped all of the letters up on Dimensionals. The edge pieces of the sheets are great for this, as they are already smaller than whole Dimensionals so they fit nicely behind the letters. I don't like wasting things, and this is a fab way of using up the edge pieces.

Speaking of not liking to waste things....

I also used the negative piece created when I cut the letters. I made sure to cut them in a straight line so that I could use this piece.

I used lots of Dimensionals to pop the piece up from the DSP underneath, including the two pieces in the top of the R's.

I made both of the insides of the cards the same. The cute little holly sprig is from the Hostess set, Time Of Year. I had intended to use the Christmas banner image from the set on the front of the cards, but in the end I decided they looked OK without it.

Here are the two cards together so that you can see how they are opposites.


Which two items will you choose for this week's challenge? You can see what the Design Team have chosen over at the Just Add Ink blog.


Bye for now,


Tina

A Merry Mice CASE

Hi!


On Saturday Adelaide put on the Annual Christmas Pageant. It always signals the start of the Christmas season for us. Many Adelaide families come home from watching the Pageant and put up their Christmas tree. We didn't quite get that done, but we are definitely feeling the Christmas spirit! Rob took Alex and Ada to the first Christmas party of the year on Sunday, so it's on like Donkey Kong.


After all that lead up, I have a Christmas card for you today. It's a CASE of a card by Claire Daly, but I can't link to the original as she hasn't blogged it yet. I saw it in our team FB group. It uses the Merry Mice stamp set, which is on sale at a 25% discount this month. Grab it now and get a bargain!

I love that sentiment - Merry Christmouse! Adorable! The mouse was stamped on Shimmery White cardstock and then watercoloured with my inkpads and an Aquapainter. I'm very much a 'slap on the colour' type water colourerer - how about you?

I used the small star stamps in the set to add a subtle little touch to the base card. The DSP is from the Candy Cane Lane DSP pack, which is where I pulled most of the colours I used.

There's some more of those cute little stars surrounding the sentiment on the inside.


Have you started your Christmas cards yet? I think I counted around 30 in my stash already, so I'm well on my way to the 100 cards I usually send out.


Bye for now,


Tina

JAI #333: Just Add G

Hi!


Are you ready for another Just Add Ink challenge? I'm still off my feet by doctor's orders, but I did manage to do a little bit of stamping. It's not easy using a lap table, but where there's a will, there's a way!

This week it's another one of my challenges, and I'm challenging you to Just Add G. What will you think of? Ghouls and ghosts for Halloween, greenery in a garden or glitzy, glittery gold? The list is endless!

I always start by brainstorming a list of G things, and then go from there. Top of my list this time was ginger bread men, but I ended up going a slightly different direction.

I fussy cut one of the ginger bread houses from the Candy Cane Lane DSP as a feature element on my card. The houses are so cute!

I added some of the sweet little jingle bell embellishments in the bow on the tag. A few tips - use a needle threader to attach them to the Baker's Twine, and take care if you thread them onto the metallic Twine, as I found the metallic thread frequently broke as I slid the bell into place.

I fussy cut another house to go on the inside. I used one of the houses on the edge of the paper that was only missing a little bit on the side. Most people wouldn't even notice!


What will you create this week? How will you feature 'G' on your card? You can see the fabulous Design Team creations over at the Just Add Ink blog.


Bye for now,
Tina

JAI #325: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!


We have just had the most lovely few days of sunshiny, warm weather - so very untypical for winter, but also very welcome! Sadly, it's back to more winter-like weather tonight and over the weekend. Oh well, great stamping weather!

This week at Just Add Ink we have a sketch challenge for you, and it's one designed by me. I've done a few tricky ones lately, so I went super simple for this one!

What do you think? Plenty of room for interpretation in this one? I think so! My first (little) preorder for the Holiday Catalogue arrived this week, so I took the opportunity to have a play.

Can you spy a few new goodies in this one? There's not much 'old' stuff at all! How sweet is the new Candy Cane Lane DSP, with the Christmas Tree shaped confetti?

Here's a closer look at the cute new Cookie Cutter bundle. It's soooo adorable! I could just munch that gingerbread man.

Of course, he made a repeat appearance on the inside of my card.

I hope you play along with us this week at Just Add Ink. The Design Team had a lot of fun with this sketch, and I'm sure you will too!

Bye for now,

Tina