Simply Soft Card

Hi!

Today I have a Thank You card, made using one of the brand new Hostess Sets called Simply Soft.  It's a gorgeous two-step set that has three floral outline images and three more images for easy colouring of the flowers.  It's called two-step because first you stamp the outline and then you stamp the solid image over the top which colours the flowers.  And if you buy the clear mount option like I did, you don't need a stamp positioner to line the stamps up.  How much easier can it be?

I used Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz to colour the flower.  The leaves were coloured by hand using my inkpad and a Blender Pen.  Here's a closer look at the flower image.

I also spritzed the panel with my Sahara Sand marker and my Colour Spritzer.  Isn't the flower a lovely soft image?

I also completed the inside of my card using the same stamp as on the front.  I stamped it in Blushing Bride, so it's little hard to see.  Here's a closer look.

The hostess benefits system has changed with the new Idea Book and Catalogue.  Now once your order or Workshop sales reaches $300 you receive $50 Hostess Dollars to spend on anything you'd like from the catalogue.  There are specially priced sets just for Hostesses that you can spend your Hostess Dollars on, or you can buy your choice of items.  I love the new system!

Stamps: Simply Soft, Curly Cute

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Sahara Sand, Basic Black

DSP/Cardstock: Hostess In Colour Patterns Stack (retired), First Edition, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride

Other: Big Shot, Circle Cutter, Blushing Bride Ribbon, Blender Pen, Sponge Dauber

Catch you later,

Tina

Simple Thanks

Hi!

I've long admired Gardenia's scrunched flowers. She always does such a good job of them! She very kindly shared her secrets with me, so I decided to give them another go.



Turns out I'd been too stingy with the DSP. I'd only used 3 layers in the past but for this card I used 9. It makes all the difference!



Add a Chit Chat rub on, round the corners and it's done!

DSP/Card Stock: Regal Rose Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, Kraft
Other: Scallop Circle punch, Corner Rounder punch, silver brad, Chit Chat rub on (retired)

Catch you later,

Tina

Punch Art Baby

Hi!

Last night at Punch Art Tuesday on the Swap Sisters website we learned how to make punch art babies. Here's my baby on a card:



Great for a new baby card. We were challenged to put the baby on a card along with two elements. I chose ribbon and brads.

DSP/Card Stock: Brocade Blue and Apricot Appeal Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, Brocade Blue, Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: LOTS of punches, Brocade Blue 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Brocade Blue Brads, Chit Chat Rub Ons (retired), Big Shot, Timeless Type Alphabet Die

Catch you later,

Tina

A Flower For All Seasons

Hi!

Today I thought I'd have a go at Just Add Ink's latest challenge. The very clever ladies decided to combine the latest challenge with a Blog Hop. Each blog demonstrated a different technique and to enter the challenge you had to pick a technique to try. I decided to try watercolouring a la Sarah Klass!

Here is the card I made. I used the same stamp set but different stamp. They are great for colouring.



Here's a close up of the watercoloured panel:



I liked Sarah's technique of colouring all around the image, but I didn't have the courage to do that in case I ruined my image. Instead I coloured a little shadow underneath so the basket wasn't hanging in space.

Stamps: A Flower For All Seasons, Happy Moments (retired SAB 2010)
Ink: Stazon, Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand
DSP/Card Stock: Regal Rose Hostess Patterns Pack, Watercolour Paper, Old Olive, Whisper White
Other: Aqua Painter, 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon

Catch you later,

Tina

Punch Art Kangaroo

Hi!

Last Tuesday night at Swap Sisters the very clever Anne Brignall taught us how to make a kangaroo using our Stampin' Up! punches. The challenge was to then use the kangaroo on a project. As usual I have left my project til the last moment, despite my kangaroo sitting all forlornly on my desk for a week.

To make up for his lonely week, I decided to make him a lovely sunny green hillside to bounce through. Here's what I came up with:



Now, a kangaroo isn't really a kangaroo if he can't bounce. I decided to give him a bit of bounce by attaching him to the card using a small piece of zig zagged cardstock. It acts like a spring so that he has some movement. Here's a close up so you can see what I mean:



DSP/Card Stock: Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, Creamy Caramel, Kraft, Basic Black, Real Red
Other: LOTS of punches, Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker

If you'd like to join Swap Sisters so that you can benefit from the classes and tutorials we hold on line please let me know and I'll arrange for an invitation to be sent to you.

Catch you later,

Tina

Soft Suede Vase

Hi!

I just thought I'd share a card I made a little while back. It was a quick and easy card to put together and uses the new In Colour Soft Suede in combination with Apricot Appeal. Not a combination I would have thought worked, but I quite like the look of them together with hints of Whisper White.

Here's the card:



I drew some spirals in the centre of some of the flowers with the thin tip of my Apricot Appeal Marker, and some dots in others using the thicker tip.

Apricot Appeal is one of the colours that are being farewelled at the end of August, so if it's a colour you love you'll need to stock up soon. When time gets closer I imagine sales of farewelling colours will become 'while stocks last', so get in quick! There's a link to the chart of colours that will be retiring on the right side of my blog.

Stamps: Best Yet (level 1 hostess set)
Ink: Apricot Appeal Stampin' Write Marker, Basic Black Stampin' Write Journaller
DSP/Card Stock: Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Other: Soft Suede 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Curly Label Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Oval Cutter (non SU)

I also made the same card in Melon Mambo and Very Vanilla, but silly me forgot to take a photo before I gave it away. Oops! It looked very pretty though.

Catch you later,

Tina

Punch Art Tractor

Hi!

Once again, Tuesday night was Punch Art night on Swap Sisters. I'm really enjoying these online classes, run by Melissa. Her blog is here. This Tuesday Melissa taught us how to make a tractor and a scarecrow and challenged us to incorporate one or both into a project. I was all set to do a scrapbook layout, as my children had recently had a ride in a MASSIVE tractor. However, I realised I'd only printed 2 of the 3 pics I needed, so a change of plans was necessary.

I put the tractor on a little card instead. My friend's son is turning one in a couple of weeks so I thought it would make a great card for him. Here's my version of Melissa's tractor:



What little boy doesn't like a tractor!

Stamps: Happy Moments (retired SAB set)
DSP/Card stock: Brocade Blue Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, More Mustard, Garden Green, Basic Black, Going Grey
Ink: Basic Black
Other: LOTS of punches, Big Shot, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Die

Catch you later,

Tina

Trendy Trees

Hi!

I was quite keen to have a go at the latest sketch challenge at Card Patterns. It's quite a challenging sketch:



See what I mean? Those wavy lines are a doozy! I decided to go for a fairly literal interpretation.



Nice and simple! I really love the Garden Green/Chocolate Chip colour combination. I think it works well with the Trendy Trees stamp set.

Card Stock/Paper: Garden Green Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, Kraft, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Trendy Trees
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Garden Green
Other: 1/4" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Paper Piercer, 1 1/4" and 1" Circle punches, Circle Cutter and Wavy Trimmer (both non SU)

Don't forget the Art With Heart Blog Hop on the 31st!

Catch you later,

Tina

Whimsical Words Birdie

Hi!

I've been a little quiet of late. There's been lots happening that has prevented me from blogging as much as I'd like. I guess life's like that! You'll be seeing some of the reasons why I've been quiet in April, but it's all very hush hush til then!

I did get the chance last night to do some crafting, so I thought I'd give the Inkspirations challenge a go. This week it's a colour challenge:



I haven't ever used Taken With Teal before, but the other colours are old favourites. It's great being pushed to try new things every now and then!



I used birdie die cuts that I was gifted by a friend. They are the same as the new Extra-Large Two-Step Bird Punch available soon in the upcoming Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue, just a little larger. I also used the Sale A Bration stamp set Whimsical Words. There is less than 2 weeks left of SAB, so hurry if you don't want to miss out on this set. They will never be available for purchase after SAB.

Card Stock/DSP: Regal Rose Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP, Regal Rose, Taken With Teal, Whisper White
Stamps: Whimsical Words, En Francais Background
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
Other: Regal Rose 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Chocolate Chip 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Chocolate Chip Flower Brad (retired), Sponge Dauber, Oval Cutter (non SU)

Catch you later,

Tina

Stamp A Memory Challenge #5

Hi!

The current challenge over at Stamp A Memory was set by Sue Madex. She asked us:

Do you have a famous quote that means a lot to you? Or perhaps a funny quote from a family member or friend that you'd like to record? I've got scribbled down quotes from my two munchkins that always make me laugh.

Include a quote on your layout for this challenge.

The quote that immediately popped into my head was something my children ask me regularly - 'Can you see me with your mummy eyes?' I'll explain soon!

The quote has a lot of meaning to me and my family, and I was really keen to incorporate it into a layout but I had one fairly major problem. How do you photograph something that doesn't really exist? It came down to having to do a layout with no photos! Eeek! I thought about this a lot more and decided I would try a progressive layout. I thought this would be a good way to fill my page despite the lack of photos.

Here is the first part of the page: a 6 inch layout with the quote included. Can you see me with your mummy eyes?



Next, I incorporated the 6 inch layout into an A4 layout. I have never scrapped in this size, so I found it a bit tricky to get my head around.



The journalling reads:
I can't remember exactly how it began, but it was probably after one of the children got in trouble for doing something they thought I couldn't see. My answer to how I could see them was MUMMY EYES. Now I get all kinds of questions - what are they made of, where are they, and how do they work? But the question I get asked most often? Can you see me with your mummy eyes?

You see? Mummy eyes are how I know what my children are up to even when I can't see them. All mummies have mummy eyes!

Here is the final 12x12 layout:



I kept the final layer fairly simple, as the flowers in the A4 layer were quite busy.

Here is a close up of the flowers. They are popping up everywhere lately! I made the 3 large ones and then decided to make 3 smaller ones to fill in some of the gaps around the large ones. I used the largest flower in the Boho Blossoms punch for the smaller flowers. They look a bit like lotuses (sp?) because they are fairly spiky.




Cardstock/DSP: Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP, Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP
Stamp sets: All In The Family, Jumbo Outline Alphabet, Short Order Alphabet, Always
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Rose Red, Ballet Blue, Stazon, Rose Red Marker
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Curly Label Punch, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Brocade Blue 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, Blender Pen, white brads and buttons (both non SU)

Thanks for hanging in 'til the end of this post!

Catch you later

Tina

Pun Fun Thank Ewe!

Hi!

Last night I decided to work on the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #57. It was a bit of a doozy this week, so I decided to go fairly simple and use tones of colour.



See what I mean about a doozy!



Detail of the ewe (apologies for the bad pic - camera troubles!):



Once again I had a go at paper piecing. I'm really liking this technique. My card was quite quick and easy to put together. I actually ended up liking this sketch!

Card stock/DSP: Basic Black, Whisper White, Rose Red, Basic Grey Hostess Patterns Pack II
Stamp: Pun Fun
Ink: Basic Black

Catch you later,

Tina

Mojo Monday #126

Hi!

Last night I decided to have a got at the sketch challenge over at Mojo Monday.



I often check out Gardenia's blog, A Little Less Useless. Lately she's been doing some paper pieced cards and she's inspired me to have a go too. Go on over and check out her blog - she's got a free pass to the next UStamp with Dawn up for grabs!



For this card I pieced the flower from For Everything using the current Hostess DSP for the leaves and some Regal Rose card stock for the flower, which I also raised using Dimensionals.

Card stock/paper: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, Hostess Patterns Pack II DSP
Stamps: For Everything, Happy Moments
Ink: Stazon, Basic Black, Garden Green, Rose Red
Punches: Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge, 1 1/2" Circle (non SU), 1 1/4" Circle
Other: Very Vanilla 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Blender Pen, Dimensionals

Catch you later

Tina

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #18

Hi!

I'll show you my card for Makeesha's challenge soon - but first some big news. My youngest son Hudson, who's 2 1/2 and has multiple disabilities, took his first steps along the lounge (cruising) last night! It was only 2 steps, but for me that's just like Neil Armstrong's first steps onto the moon - a massive event! Just thought I'd share my 'proud mummy' moment.

Anyway, this week the Inkspirations challenge is a colour challenge:



Now, I don't know about you but these colours screamed male card to me.



This was the first time I've inked up Trendy Trees and Good Neighbor, but I'm sure they're going to become favourites.

Card stock/Paper: Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Brocade Blue Patterns Pack II DSP (Level 1 Hostess)
Stamps: Trendy Trees, Vintage Labels (SAB) and Good Neighbor(SAB)
Ink: Stazon, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red
Other: Paper Crimper, Blender Pen

Catch you later,

Tina