JAI 699: Just Add Colour

Hi! 

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

I really love this combo, and I feel like, depending on how you use the colours, it could be either masculine or feminine. This is a bit of a last hurrah for Starry Sky, as it retires at the end of the month.

My oldest son recently turned 21, and so he needed a special card. I decided to make a Double Z Fold card for him. On the front I stamped a combination sentiment from a long-retired SAB set, called Amazing Phrasing. I used three separate stamps for the sentiment, mixing and matching from the options available in the set. A couple of Coastal Cabana Stitched Star die cuts finished off the front.

I used the Alphabet A La Mode Dies for the foil numbers, and Number Of Years (also long-retired) to stamp around them. Another Stitched Stars foil star finished off the front of the card.

I decided to add an extra panel to the back of the card to give us plenty of room to write our messages to Alex. I couldn't resist dressing it up with yet another foil star.

We'd love to see what you make with this week's colours. I think they are gorgeous, and hopefully you do too. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll see what the rest of the Design team have made with them. You can also add your card to our Linky to enter the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 636: Just Add Your Favourite

 Hi!

Welcome back to another wonderful year of Just Add Ink challenges. As we do every year, we kick off the new challenges with a blog hop. Hopefully you've either started the hop here, or arrived from Tristan Dawes' blog. Either way, just keep on hopping until you get back to where you started.

For this challenge we are asking you to Just Add Your Favourite.... whatever you'd like! It could be your favourite colour, theme, stamp set - your imagination is the limit. I recently purchased a new stamp set that is based on one of my all-time favourite movies, The Sound of Music. It's from Scrappy Boy Stamps, and is called Climb Every Mountain.

I decided to recreate the iconic opening scene, and thought that a Bridge Fold Card would give my card the perfect dimension for the scene. I started by masking a horizon line and then stamping the mountains across the width of the card. These were ink using a blending brush and lots of masking. While the masks were in place, I also inked the sky using a template made from the cloud line die from the Basics Borders Dies. The trees are from Snowfront. The grass was also masked and inked. I splattered gold ink over the top, trying to get the look of flowers in the grass.

Maria was coloured using my Copic markers, as were the Edelweiss blooms.

The mountain part of the scene was recreated on the back of the card, where a message can be written to the recipient.

That's all from me and my favourite movie. Hmm, now I feel like watching it! While I go do that, please do keep going around our hop by jumping on over to Fiona Bradley's blog. I love her take on the favourite theme!

When you've finished hopping, get creating! You can link your card up for our challenge over on the Just Add Ink blog. So long, farewell!

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Granny Apple Green

 Hi!

Welcome to a new week of the Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week we are featuring Granny Apple Green, a lovely green from the Brights colour family. I think it's my favourite of all of the SU greens (not counting Mint Macaron!).

I once again went with a Brian King colour combo. I loved the mix of bright colours - such a happy combination.

I've been wanting to try this fancy fold for a while - only I can't find a name for it! I got the instructions off Beth McCullough's blog, however, she didn't give it a name. It's some kind of gatefold, as you pull on both sides of the card to open it up. I used the Hostess Celebrate Everything DSP to decorate the card.

Here's a top view of the card, so that you can see the folds. Maybe it's some kind of double z gatefold card? If you know the name, let me know please!

Here is the inside of the card. I've stamped the card using one of my current favourite stamp sets, Simply Fabulous. I've also used my Stylish Shapes dies on the front of the card.

The nexts top in tonight's blog hop is my lovely friend, Rachel Palmieri. Make sure you jump on over to her blog to see the Granny Apple Green gorgeousness she has waiting for you.

I've jumped in to host the Colour Creations Blog Hop this week, as Cathy has some family commitments. Please jump back here if you run into any issues with broken links. Here are all of tonight's participants:

Kate Morgan

Tina Gillespie >> you are here!

Rachel Palmieri

Kathryn Ruddick 

Andrea Sargent

Christine Blain

Di Furniss

Rosa Leyden

Catherine Proctor

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 624: Just Add A Diorama

 Hi!

Welcome back for a new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have an extra-fun one for you!

Kerry has challenged us to make a Diorama card. I've gone a bit OTT with mine, but that doesn't mean that you have to. A diorama is a 3D replication of a scene, but it can be as complex or as simple as you'd like - you just need the layers and a scene.

I decided to create a jungle diorama scene for my hero to come running out of. I tried to create a rolling boulder chasing him, but I just couldn't get it to work to my satisfaction. The snake will have to do! I created the frame for my card using the cutting files in this tutorial. I inked each layer in increasingly darker shades of brown and green as I went backwards with the layers. The final layer is just black.

The leaves were cropped from green cardstock using my retired Tropical Thinlits. I used darker greens at the back and lighter as I moved forwards in the layers. The rocks on the ground are stamped using my Oceanfront stamps. The hero, snake and sentiment are from the Kindred Stamps set, called Treasure Hunter. I coloured the images with my Stampin' Blends.

I'm not sure who I'll give this card to yet. While it does fold somewhat flat, it would take a custom envelope to send it. It's 5" square and 1 1/2" deep! For now, it will just go on display in my stamping room!

We'd love for you to play along this week with us at Just Add Ink. Go crazy, or go simple, or anywhere in between in creating a diorama card to share with us. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see the rest of the Design Team's diorama cards, and then use the linky to add yours to the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop

 Hi!

To celebrate World Card Making Day, I am participating in Kathryn's Blog Hop of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from All Around the World to share a card that I have made today (or recently). She has also challenged us to post it within a week to someone special, as we all forget sometimes to send cards that we make and they just sit in a box.

I've slightly cheated with my card, in that the recipient already has it! I was asked to make a card for a lot of people to sign that was for the conductor of a development band. She unfortunately had to step down, and we wanted to acknowledge her hard work over the years. I don't like making oversized cards, so I try to look for cards that open up to allow for many people to sign. The closed card is 6 inches square.

The design is based upon a tutorial I found on Lisa's Stamp Studio website for a Diagonal Explosion Card. Her original was 4 inches square, so I played around with the measurements to make it just that little bit bigger. The photo above shows it half way open.

And here it is, fully open. Lots of space for people to write on! I knew that the recipient was a fan of this singing bookworm and the house full of magical objects, so I was sure to include them on the card. I coloured them with my Copic markers.

It's time now to jump on over to the next hopper, Elizabeth Gross. We'd love for you to hop your way around all of the blogs tonight, so just keep on going until you get back to where you started.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 620: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have an Inspiration photo, suggested to us by Nikki.

Isn't it fabulous? For some reason, I didn't see flowers, I thought of fireflies in a jar. The moody background made me think of a forest at night, full of magic and adventure.

I started my card by inking my background. I used So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Bermuda Bay and Night Of Navy to get the graduation I was after. I then chopped into the base - 1 1/4 inches from each side, to create the base for a Spanner Panel fold card. The trees were added to the front, and allowed to overhang the cuts. The curved ground pieces were added to hide the bottom of the trees, and to connect the two edge pieces.

The front piece folds back to revel the next part. Before I adhered all the trees, I inked the now-revealed outer parts of the card inside to match the card front. This way you still get a complete scene when the first part of the card is lifted. The ground is continuous across these three sections. The deer was a clip art silhouette that I printed and fussy cut. I wanted her to look like she's leading the way into the forest and adventure.

Finally, the inside of the card. I allowed the trees to overlap into the writing panel to soften the hard lines of the inking. I was quite pleased with how this turned out!

That's all from me for now, but please head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design team cards. You'll also be able to link up your card for our challenge there. What do you see in our Inspiration Photo? Your imagination is your limit!

Bye for now,

Tina

Freshly Made Sketches 548

 Hi!

Just a quick post from me for today! I was saddened this week to hear of the passing of Olivia Newton-John, and so I wanted to make a card in her memory. When I saw the new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, I had an idea.

I thought that the feature strip along the right edge could be a beam of light, shining down on her. I'll let you decide if it's a stage light or a heavenly light.

I used my Kindred Stamps Stage Builder Stencil for the light and it's puddle. It's just inked in So Saffron ink using a Blending Brush. The stamp set is also a Kindred Stamps product, called Electrifying. I coloured her with my Copic Markers.

I needed a card worthy of her magnificence, and a Double Z Fold fit the bill. I backed the card with some Be Dazzling paper, which is so amazingly sparkly IRL.

Here's the card fully open so that you can see the full effect of the three panels. Isn't it a fun tribute?

EDIT: How exciting, my card was chosen as a Princess this week!

Bye for now,

Tina

Bron's Birthday Blog Hop - August

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the second to last Birthday Blog Hop for Bronwyn Eastley, as she celebrates her 60th birthday. If you've followed Bron for a while, you know that she's the Queen of Fancy Fold cards. She creates the most amazing cards! Fittingly, this month's theme is Fancy Folds!

My daughter, Ada, celebrated her 17th Birthday last month, and she'd always talked about the ABBA song, Dancing Queen. I decided to make her card in this theme. The front pink panel was a download that I purchased from Etsy and printed to card front size. I then purchased a disco themed SVG bundle, which included the mirror ball. I used my Scan'n'Cut to crop it to size. I used a circle die to cut an opening in the pink panel so that the Be Dazzling paper would show through. I think it makes a fabulous mirror ball!

The inside of the card is where the Fancy Fold shines through - some more images from the disco SVG pack were used to decorate the Twist And Pop Fancy Fold. The text at the top was another Etsy purchase.

Here's a video so that you can see how the card opens up. Hopefully it works! I'm pleased to say that Ada loved it, and it has pride of place on her desk.

I wanted to get my money's worth out of the Etsy purchase, so she also got a custom made top. She hasn't worn it yet, but it will likely get an airing in summer.

And last, but not least, was the cake topper!

That's me done for tonight, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop. There's also an Instagram Hop - you'll find the details over on Bron's blog. Next up though is my Kiwi friend, Jan Clothier.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 612: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. I hope that you find time to play along with us, as it's a fun one!

This week, Kim has challenged us to Choose Two of Fur, Clouds or Stitching to add to our cards. Hmm, what a choice! I went for Fur and Clouds.

I also decided to make a fancy fold, so that the castle sat back from the front of the card. This fold is called a Reverse Centre Step card. I love the dimension that it gives my scene. The castle is a digi stamp from Kindred Stamps, called Little Town Life Bonus. As you can imagine, it coordinates with the fur element of my card - the beast on the front. He's from a physical stamp set, called Little Town Life.

The clouds were created using a template cut from the Rainbow Builder Dies and a Blending Brush with my Balmy Blue ink. The grass is a Hello Sweetums Die, called Grass Is Greener.

The images on my card were all coloured using my Copic markers. It's such a relaxing way to unwind from a busy day.

Now it's your turn! Stop on by the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You'll also find our linky for when you've made your card. Which two will you choose?

Bye for now,

Tina

HOC Week 1

 Hi!

With the start of the new July-December Mini Catalogue, it's also time to kick off the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops for 2022. Each week on a Monday night we will provide plenty of Christmassy inspiration for you, and we are all very excited to get started! For most of us, starting our Christmas card making in July means that we are ready to send our cards in December, and avoid the rush of having to make a heap of cards at the last minute.

I'm once again looking to the Sheetload Of Cards templates for my cards this year, as it worked so well for me last year. Tonight's cards use the June 2022 template, and are a double card fancy fold. I don't yet have any current Christmas DSP, so I've used the Annual Catalogue Host DSP, Design A Daydream. They aren't typical Christmas colours, but I think that the pinwheels look a little like the peppermint lollies (if you squint a bit!).

The card opens to the left first, and then to the right, to reveal the writing panel. I've used Christmas To Remember for the sentiment here, as a second sentiment from Jingle Jingle Jingle would take up too much of the writing area!

Here's my group of four cards together. I'm off to a flying start with my stash of Christmas cards!

Please continue hopping your way around our Blog Hop. The next stop is my lovely friend, Catherine Proctor.

If you run into any trouble, jump on over to Sharon Davern's blog. She'll have a list of all participants on her blog.

Bye for now,

Tina