JAI #490: Just Add An Easel

Hi!

Thanks for popping back to check out what the Just Add Ink team are doing for our new challenge. This week Lou has challenged us to add an Easel to our creations.

There are *lots* of different types of Easel Cards out there, but I decided to do something a little different and actually use an easel image on my card. I don't have any stamps or dies, so I googled free easel clip art, and when I found one I liked I cut the shape on my Scan 'n' Cut.

I really loved this vintage woman. Check out the hairstyle! I'm sure it was very fashionable over 100 years ago. This image set the tone for the card - I went for vintage colours and papers. The newsprint behind the image is from the Come Sail Away DSP pack. I tried to cut a piece that wasn't obviously sailing related, and then inked the edges to age it further.

Perennial Essence DSP was the perfect choice for the artwork, don't you think? I used another piece from the pack to cut the oval background. This sentiment from It Starts With Art was also perfect for the card. The metal flower underneath is from the retired Share What You Love Embellishment kit. I aged the silver flower by colouring over it with my Bronze Stamping' Blend.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll use this card for - I guess it could be anything, depending on what I write on the inside!

I hope you have a lot of fun thinking of easel ideas for our challenge at Just Add Ink. I can't wait to see what you make!

Bye for now,

Tina

OnStage Sydney Beautiful Moments Presentation: Avid Samples

Hi!

Here's the third and final part of my OnStage Presentation sample posts. This time I have my Avid Crafter samples for the gorgeous Beautiful Moments stamp set. An Avid Crafter is one who stamps nearly every day and has to have it all! Sound familiar? I am definitely an Avid Crafter!! They definitely want more difficult projects and are willing to spend a lot of time (and money) on one card.

This card, using the Reflection Technique on my Stamparatus, was the card I demonstrated live on the day. It was a little nervewracking, but I did it! The hardest part is getting the water wash over the reflection part of the image to look right. I used Blueberry Bushell ink and an Aqua Painter. The rest of the image was coloured beforehand with my Aqua Painter and ink pads.

Once the Blueberry Bushell was was dry, I flicked my Chalk Marker over the top to give the look of light reflecting off ripples in the water.

I finished the inside with the image again in Crushed Curry Ink.

This image was originally a 'just trying things out' sample that turned out nicely enough to go on a card. I stamped the image on Shimmery White card using a no-line stamping technique and then coloured them with my Watercolour Pencils and an Aquapainter.

I layered two of the Stitched Labels to go behind the image panel.

The girls were stamped in Coastal Cabana to finish off the inside.

I used the Bridge Fold to create this card. All of the colouring was done on Watercolour Paper using my ink pads and Aqua Painter. I stamped using Stazon Ink.

I added a second row of flowers to the middle of the card, between the front layer and the back, to give the card more depth.

The back of the card uses Shimmery White card, as it copes well with watercolouring, but is smooth to write on.

This card is my absolute favourite of all the cards I made. It was the very first idea I had when I saw Jacque's stamp set - how well it would work with A Good Man. 'Perfectly' is the answer!

I used my Stamparatus and stocky notes to stamp and mask the images, starting with the dad/girl, then the mum/girl, and finally the island - which is actually an outline of Rangitoto Island, just off Auckland. A nice homage to Jacque's adopted hometown! I stamped on watercolour paper using Stazon ink and then coloured with my ink pads and Aqua Painter.

Once again, I used Shimmery White cardstock on the inside so that I could watercolcour.

I also made a couple of scrapbook pages for the Presentation, to show how versatile the set is for all paper crafters. I'd recently been in Auckland for April's OnStage event, so I scrapped a photo of the family there, and another of Rangitoto Island. This will be the opening page of my album.

I also made a pocket page of my sisters and I when we were lots younger and entered a sandcastle building competition.

The two little girls on the beach were the perfect image for this page!

Thanks for checking out my samples. You can see my Beginner Samples here, and my Casual Samples here.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #249: Toile Tidings

Hi!

Once again, it's time for this week's CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. The blog before mine is Rebecca's, but you can join in at any point - just keep hopping until you get back to where you started.

This week we are CASEing cards from the Toile Tidings section of the Holiday Catalogue. It's a section that I usually skip over, as I'm not a big fan of the suite. However, this card on the right caught my eye - I liked that the front was cropped on the side to reveal some of the inside of the card. I was determined to make my card very differently to the sample, but it ended up quite similar. Oh well!

I started with a base of Thick Whisper White and cropped an inch off the front. I then added a strip of DSP cut to 1 1/4 inch wide to the inside. There was the first unintentional similarity - both cards used striped DSP on that part! I then added a narrow strip of Night Of Navy cardstock to the front edge of the card, and a second piece of DSP to the rest of the card front. I found it needed the Navy strip to define the edge. The DSP is from the Come Sail Away pack, which I purchased last month in the DSP sale.

The next unintentional similarity is the circle on the front. While the sample is a wreath and mine is a solid circle, it's still a lot more similar than I wanted. Once again - oh well! My circle was cropped from our new Watercolour Paper using my Stitched Shapes Circle die. have you tried the new Watercolour Paper? It is fabulous!

I started by stamping the man and child in Stazon ink. I used my Stamparatus, as I wanted to be able to stamp a second time if the first impression wasn't good. The rest of the scene was hand painted using my inks and an Aqua Painter. I started with the ocean, creating a horizon line. I used Blueberry Bushel ink. The land, man's jeans, and child's hair were all Early Espresso. The lighthouse (I was so impressed with myself over that!!) and child's pants were Basic Grey. I used Balmy Blue for the sky, Terracotta Tile for the child's top and Garden Green for the man's top. Oh, and Flirty Flamingo (very diluted!) for the skin tones.

I kept the inside nice and simple. By using sentiments that don't reference a birthday, I can use this card for several occasions - maybe Father's Day or a retirement?

Which Toile Tidings card will you CASE this week? There's lots to choose from on pages 6 to 11. Don't forget to post your photo in our Facebook group when you're done.

Now you're heading on over to Peta's blog. I wonder what Marvi has been up to this week?

CTC #235: CASE A Card

Hi!

Hooray, time for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop! Hopefully you've arrived here from Liz's blog, as ever, just keep hopping until you get back to where you started.

This week we are trying a slightly new challenge. Instead of a whole section to CASE, we are giving you one card to CASE. That sounds a bit easy, but it's not really - don't just copy the card, put your thinking cap on and get inventive!

You can find the card to CASE on page 159. It's a fairly simple layout, with a couple of layers, the nice bow and a decorative edge. I decided I'd reverse the layers on my card, by using a window to a scene.

I started by watercolouring the ocean and sky on a piece of Shimmery White cardstock. The lighthouse was from my Make and Take pack in Auckland, as was the DSP, twine and the metal anchor. The lighthouse was floating a bit in space, so I added the row of trees from Waterfront as a way of grounding it. The background was adhered to my card base with the lighthouse popped up over it.

I used my Stitched rectangles to cut a window in the Come Sail Away DSP. The trees were adhered to the back of the window, and then the whole lot was affixed to the base using Foam Adhesive Strips. The top Night Of Navy layer was cut in half using another Stitched Rectangle so that I had stitched lines on both halves. I then embossed it with my Subtle folder and adhered it to the card base with more Adhesive Strips. The card was finished with the sentiment and the anchor.

I had a small strip of the DSP and the Subtle embossed cardstock left, so they were used to decorate the inside. I'm still on the fence over the Come Sail Away suite. What do you think of it?

Once you've finished the hop, you can add your card to the challenge over in our Facebook group. It's fabulous to see how everyone interprets the challenge each week!

That's it from me, now you're off to see what my friend Judy has done with this card.

Bye for now,

Tina