Kinda Eclectic Convention Make and Takes

Hi!

One of the best parts of going to Convention is getting to be creative and do some stamping.  Today's card was inspired by one of the (many!) Make and Takes we made this year at Convention.

I made this card as a class sample not long after I got back from Melbourne.  As I didn't have the new In Colours I had to use their close approximates from the colours I did have.

I've said many times that Kinda Eclectic is not a stamp set I would have purchased myself, but it's now one I love.  It's fabulous for collage stamping  -especially the larger sunburst and leaf stamps.

I also love the dotty stamp.  It's great for creating another layer without adding a layer of cardstock.

Here's my card on the left and the card I made at Convention on the right.  A few differences, but nothing major.

Bye for now,

Tina

Papillion Potpourri Tag

Hi!

A quick post today, as I missed posting yesterday and I'm flat out today.  Phew!

I made this tag as a second Make and Take project for a party a few months ago.  The party was quite large and I wanted a second project to keep everyone busy and not waiting around for supplies to be passed around the table.  It uses a few retired products and colours, but I thought I'd post it anyway as it's so cute, and a really quick and easy project to put together.

It's a bit hard to see, but the tag was embossed with the retired frames embossing folders. The Oval punchie fit perfectly inside the embossing.  We also used the Mosaic and Butterfly punches to create the layers.  The Papillion Potpourri stamp set is a lovely one and I sold a few that night!

Bye for now,

Tina

Hello New Annual Catalogue!

Hi!

How exciting - Stampin' Up!'s new 2014-15 Annual Catalogue went live today.  One of the perks of being a Demonstrator is that we get access to some of the new stuff a month early.  One of my favourite new products is the Blendabilities Markers.

This was my first attempt at colouring. We were given the Calypso Coral Markers and Blended Bloom stamp at Convention and I couldn't wait to get home and get colouring.  My only trouble was that I didn't have the required Momento Ink pad.  No worries - I heat embossed the image in black embossing powder and I was set!

I paired the flower with the leaves from Kinda Eclectic and the now-retired Modern Medley DSP.  A great combination, I think!

I've been doing lots more colouring with the Blendabilities - now I just need to make some cards to put the gorgeous blooms on!

Bye for now,

Tina

Farewell I Am Me DSP

Hi!

Today is the final day of the 2013-14 Annual Catalogue, so it's my final "farewell" post.  The I Am Me DSP was one of my favourites from the catalogue.  I loved the colour combinations and patterns in the paper.

This card was a CASE of one I saw at the recent Stampin' Up! Convention in Melbourne.  I really loved it, especially as we were shown a few different versions that showed how the same design could be male, female, baby, whatever you want!  I just can't remember who the card was demonstrated by.

The hexagon that outlines the sentiment was punched from the cardstock, and then a few of the hexagons surrounding it are popped up on Dimensionals.

Nice and simple on the inside, following the hexagon theme.

I'll be back soon with some new stuff from the 2014-15 Annual Catalogue!

Bye for now,

Tina

Farewell Modern Medley DSP

Hi!

Returning to my series of farewells, today I'm saying goodbye to the Modern Medley DSP.  I thought it was a fun pack, and one that was easy to play with.  On today's card I left it as it is, but I have also coloured over it in the past to create a different look.

This card was made as a sample for a recent Flower Cards class.  I was using the new Fringing Scissors to show how you could use them to make a daisy-like flower.

I love the way the Modern Medley DSP provides a nice background for the flower to sit on without detracting from the flower.  I will miss the papers, but there is an even nicer pack of similar papers in the new Catalogue, so I don't think I'll be sad for too long. Oh, I just realised that the Jumbo Rhinestones that I used in the centre of the flower are retiring too.

This photo was to show how much depth there was in the flower.  After we adhered the strips around the circle we curled up the edges to give it more dimension.  Definitely NOT a card for mailing!

Another cute stamp set that is retiring - Express Yourself.  I really loved it for the variety of smaller sized sentiments.

Have a great week!

Bye for now,

Tina

Farewell Sweet Essentials and Beautifully Baroque

Hi!

I'm a bit late with my post today - all out of whack with the long weekend!

Today's card farewells two of my favourite stamp sets from the current catalogue.  I especially loved Sweet Essentials, as it was a versatile sentiment set that covered a wide range of occasions.

I love a simple colour scheme for a wedding card - it really adds a touch of class.

This cute little ruffled ribbon is also retiring, even though the Pistachio Pudding colour is still around for another year.  I love the look of it just peeking out from the bottom of the Silver Glimmer paper.

I loved that you could get a smaller image from the Beautifully Baroque stamp, just by selectively colouring the inner segment with a marker.  So easy, but so effective.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #216: Just Ad Watercolouring

Hi!

Oooh, these Fridays keep sneaking up on me too quickly!  Anyhoo, Friday means a new Just Add Ink Challenge!  This week we have challenged you to add watercolouring to your project.

I decided to go for something bright and cheerful, and as I had yet to ink up my new stamp set Happy Congratulations.

On the front I decided to watercolour the lanterns, but on the inside I cheated a little and used the stamp that comes with the set to fill the lanterns.

I hope you have fun with this week's challenge - I know I did!  Can't wait to see your beautiful creations at Just Add Ink.

Bye for now,

Tina

Spiral Flower Die

Hi!

As you're reading this post I'm on my way to Melbourne for Stampin' Up!'s Annual Convention.  I'm so excited, as I get to see all my Stampin' Up! friends and get inspired by lots of fabulous displays and speakers.  Let's face it, it's also nice to have a break from being 'mum' and just enjoy being Tina.

Anyway, today's card is one I made for a Flower Cards Class last month.  If you subscribe to my newsletter you would have already seen a picture, now you can see a few more.  A good reminder that it you haven't already, you can sign up for my newsletter over there on my side bar =>

The Spiral Flower Die makes making these flowers a breeze! So quick and easy - the hardest part is sitting there holding them while the glue dries, and that's only hard because I was itching to get on with my card!

I like adding a Jumbo Rhinestone to the centre of the flowers for a lovely finishing touch.

I'm still loving the sentiment at the bottom rather than in the middle.  It's great on a card where you have a lot to write and a centered sentiment would disrupt the flow of your message.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #215: Just Add Colour

Hi!

Are you ready for another Just Add Ink Challenge?  This is a super challenge - it will go for 2 weeks, so you will have plenty of time to enter.  Most of the Design Team will be heading to Melbourne next week for Stampin' Up!'s Convention (me included!) so we thought we'd allow some extra time for the challenge.

Enough chat - time for the Challenge.  This week Mae has given us a very challenging Colour Combination to work with.

I thought this combo was going to be a huge challenge for me, but once I had an idea it all came together beautifully.  Don't you love it when that happens?

The flower from Peaceful Petals was stamped in Stazon on Water Colour paper and then coloured using my Aqua Painter with Cherry Cobbler ink. I love the way that water colouring softens the colours.  I also water coloured a few of the leaves in Garden Green to pop behind the flower.

I used my last piece of this Cherry Cobbler ribbon on my card. I think I've been through two rolls of this ribbon!

Of course, I always decorate the inside of the card to match the outside.

Have fun playing along with us at Just Add Ink this fortnight, and if you're going to Convention come and say Hi!  We love to put faces to names :)

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #206: Just Add Sale-A-Bration

Hi!

Wow, where did that week go? I feel like I should be starting all my posts with "I'm sorry..." Truth is I'm still struggling with the tiredness that comes with having really low iron stores. Wish I had a dollar for every time I've fallen asleep on the couch in the evenings.  Getting back into balance again just takes time.

This week at Just Add Ink we are challenging you to show us what you can do with your Sale-A-Bration freebies.  There's lots of choices and endless possibilities!

As you can see, I decided to use the Good As Gold Card Kit.  I really love the colours and patterns in the kit.  I kept the basic layout of the card as it is suggested in the kit, with a few key changes.  I used the card front and mounted it to make the card a 'normal' sized card.  I changed the orientation of the card, but kept the flags as suggested.

It's a great arrangement, so why mess with it?

I've gone with the 'not in the centre' sentiment again.  Really loving that effect!

I'll be looking forward to seeing what you enter into our Just Add Ink challenge this week.

Bye for now,

Tina

Good As Gold Again

Hi!

I've been making some more cards using the Good As Gold card kit that it one of your freebie selections during Sale-A-Bration this year.  I'm loving the colour combinations and the hint of gold - which is really unusual for me as I'm not a gold person at all!

There are so many of the larger flag in the kit to cover all the different language options. This just means that there are more to use!  I hid the bit that I didn't want showing under a panel embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  The panel is just one of the envelope liners chopped up.

The twine and gold cord was the scrap left over from another card - I hate to throw away any pieces which may be useful.  Luckily I've become quite adept at tying bows with small lengths of twine!

I've used some more of the envelope liner to punch the flags along the bottom of the inside  -too easy!

March is the last month to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration, so get in quick if you haven't already!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #203: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Time for another Just Add Ink Challenge. Yay!  This week Paula has designed a fantastic sketch for us to use.

I made this card a few weeks ago when I was playing around with the Good As Gold kit.  I was looking for more ways to use the kit apart from the standard cards.

The spotty panel was one half of a card base from the kit and the gold panel was cut from one of the envelope liners.  The flag is one of the foreign language ones that would otherwise go unused.

I used the three circular panels instead of the fancier shape in the sketch.  I think it's a great substitute, and best of all, it was the right shape to hide the writing on the flag!

I sometimes forget that I can leave a larger border around the edge of my cards.  It's a great look - very effective.

How will the sketch inspire you? See you over at Just Add Ink!

Bye for now,

Tina

Get Well Card

Hi!

Apologies for the late posting today.  School holidays.  Christmas.  Need I say more?

Edit: I realised today that I actually posted this a day early, not half a day late as I thought!  Ooops!  I stand by my original comment: School holidays. Christmas. Need I say more? lol

Today's card was one I made for a friend undergoing the biggest battle of her life.

I made the card for a group of us to sign to wish her well for the surgery she was facing.

This was my first use of the Postcard stamp and the Simply Sketched hostess set.  I love both stamp sets.

I really liked this combination of sentiments for this card - so appropriate!

Bye for now,

Tina

Happy House Warming!

Hi!

A very close friend moved house recently, so I just had to make her a Happy House Warming card.

I wanted a bright, happy card and I think the paper from the I Am Me DSP pack was perfect.

To create the flower I folded together about 8 layers of our filter paper and punched it with a scallop circle punch.  It was easily able to punch through all layers at once.  I then punched a hole in the centre, added a brad and then scrunched the paper layer by layer until I was happy with the look.

I really love this flourish stamp from Happy Day - I really should use it more!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #191: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Welcome to frustrated Friday! Why frustrated? My internet for the month has been sucked away by kids watching YouTube videos so I've been shaped back to ssssslllllooooowwwww internet.  Thankfully it's only 'til tomorrow. For now, I'll just post my Just Add Ink challenge card, I'll edit the post tomorrow with the full set of photos. My edits are in italics.

 

This week Delys has designed a super cute sketch for your inspiration.

Isn't it fabulous?  Lots of room for interpretation in this sketch.  Here's how I used it.

Crushed Curry is NOT a go-to colour for me.  In fact it's one of the colours I like least in the SU range.  However, I think it works really well with the Bermuda Bay on the rest of the card.  I took my colour scheme from the Eastern Elegance DSP pack.  I used a small strip of it on the card - a left over from another project that fit perfectly!

Really love the medallion stamp from Happy Day - such a pretty image.

I used it again on the inside, but I stamped it off once first to reduce the intensity of the colour and let the Crushed Curry sentiment stand out.

Thanks for understanding!

Bye for now,

Tina