JAI 764: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Welcome to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a Just Choose Two challenge for you, suggested to us by Nikki.

Which combination of Pearls, Patterned Paper or Pastels will you choose? I'm not usually a pastel person, but something about it called to me this time. I also had my Inspiration Squad stamp set on my desk and thought that a pastel dragon would be super cute!

What do you think? Was I right? I coloured him with my Soft Sea Foam, Petal Pink and Ivory Stampin' Blends.

I fussy cut him out and the popped him up over a Stylish Shapes circle die cut. I used the same die set to crop the sentiment, from Simply Said. A scattering of Party Dots in Pretty In Pink finished off the front of the card.

The Patterned Paper that I used was from a 2024-26 In Colour DSP pack. I'm a sucker for stripes, and the delicate stripes on the paper worked well with the pastel theme. While I used the stripes horizontally on the front, I chose to use them vertically on the inside, along with a second dragon. He's so cute!

I can't wait to see what you choose to use on your card. You can pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll see what the rest of the Design Team chose. You can also link up your card when you're ready to enter the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Peach Pie

 Hi!

Wow, welcome to the first of the new series of Colour Creations Blog Hops. We are back to the beginning, starting with the new 2024-2026 In Colours. This week we are featuring Peach Pie, a soft orange that I think I will grow to like!

I nearly wasn't able to participate tonight, as I hadn't ordered any of the In Colour products from the new Annual Catalogue. Thankfully, my wonderful friend, Andrea Sargent came to my rescue and gave me some things to use. I received a lovely little pack of cardstock, DSP and the loan of an inkpad. Isn't she fabulous?

I put it to good use on my card, using both the In Colour DSP and the Unbounded Beauty DSP on my card. I love those Petunia Pop stripes with Peach Pie, and how they pick up the pink in the floral DSP. You'll have to forgive my use of a now retired stamp set, I don't have any sentiment stamps left that were suitable.

Nice and simple on the inside, and the card is done! Would you believe that I made this card yesterday, and not in 15 minutes after getting home this afternoon and realising I still need to make a card? LOL!

This next stop on tonight's blog hop is the lovely Michele Taylor. I always enjoy seeing what she's made, and I'm sure that you will too.

If, at any point, you find a broken link, or you just get lost, pop on over to our lovely hostess, Cathy Proctor's blog. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Tahitian Tide

Hi!

Welcome to the final blog hop in the 2023-24 Colour Creations series. I can't believe that, once again, we have hopped our way through all of the colours in the Stampin' Up! range. We are finishing with one of my favourites. -Tahitian Tide. It's a lovely, bright blue that is, sadly, about to retire. I haven't used it anywhere near enough!

Also retiring, and also not used anywhere near enough, is the On The Ocean stamps and dies. They will certainly remain as a permanent part of my stamp collection. As will Rays Of Light, another retiring stamp that I have used as my background on this card. I love the way it can be used to draw your eye to a specific part of a design.

I had fun making the waves for the card. I cropped a piece of Whisper White using the solid wave die, and then inked both of the parts with Tahitian Tide ink. I left the tops of the waves white to give the effect of the breaking waves. I also cropped some Tahitian Tide, backed with Adhesive Sheet, using the outline wave die. The three layers look fantastic together!

I stamped a similar scene on the inside of the card, instead of using die cuts like on the front. The set is so versatile to allow both! I believe that the stamps and dies are around half price in the Last Chance sale, so snap them up if you're keen!

The next stop on tonight's Blog Hop is my lovely friend, Kate Morgan. I can't wait to see what she's made.

A huge thank you to the wonderful Cathy Proctor for keeping us going with the blog hops. We'll be back next week with Peach Pie, one of the new In Colours, to kick off the new year of Colour Creations.  In the meantime, pop on over to her blog if you you run into any issues with the links on tonight's hop. Cathy will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Sweet Sorbet

 Hi!

Hello, and welcome to the second last Colour Creations Blog Hop of the 2023-2024 season. It's so strange to be nearly complete! This week were are looking at Sweet Sorbet, a gorgeous pinky-red that I will really miss when it retires next month.

It's school holidays here, and I completely forgot about making a card for the hop until I was about to start cooking dinner tonight. Oops! Luckily, I seem to have mastered the 15 minute cards lately, as that's all this card took to make.

A lovely friend recently gifted me the Deckled Circles Dies, so I started this card by cropping some Whisper White card using one. I left the cardstock in the die, and then used a small Blending Brush to carefully add a very light layer of Soft Sorbet ink around the edge. The die acts as a mask, leaving a lovely white border. I removed the die, and then stamped the flower from Sending Smiles and the sentiment from Biggest Wish.

A scrap of DSP and another sentiment from Biggest Wish completed the inside of the card. Easy!

Please do continue your way around tonight's blog hop. The next stop is my lovely friend, Andrea Sergeant, with what's bound to be a gorgeous card.

As always, the wonderful Cathy Proctor keeps us all organised each week. If you come across a broken link, just pop on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 684: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the final Just Add Ink challenge of 2023. We'll be back in the New Year with another year of fun challenges, but we are taking some time off to be with loved ones. For now, though, let't get going with the challenge!

Rochelle has selected a Christmassy colour combination for us this time, handy for all those last minute Christmas cards. Or maybe you're over Christmas and you will make a different card. It doesn't matter, as long as you use the colours.

I chose Evening Evergreen, Real Red to go with the Gold in the combo. Can you spot the Gold on may card? In the bright sunshine it was difficult to capture!

Maybe this angle shows it better. Dasher was het embossed in Gold. Isn't he magnificent?

The stamped sentiments I've used are from Joy To You, and the die cut 'merry' is from the Christmas Greetings Thinlits dies.

This challenge is a non-voting one, meaning that we won't be choosing winners. We'd love for you to play along. There's plenty of time - Linky will be open for three weeks.

I hope that you have a lovely Christmas and New Year, with plenty of time for doing what you love to do. I have a quilt top that is very close to completion, so I will be madly trying to get that done by the end of the year.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 3

 Hi!

Welcome the third week of the Heart Of Christmas blog hops. I hope you've found lots of Christmas inspiration as you've joined us each week. I know that I have!

I'm still using my Love, Santa Tag Kit as the basis for my cards. I'm loving that the extra large tags are the perfect size to add to a card with very little extra work or supplies.

Once again, I just snipped off the loop for the twine at the top of the tag and made the tag up as per the kit instructions. I used Sweet Sorbet DSP on my card base, as the pink in the kit (Polished Pink) has retired. It's a reasonable match! 

The leftover DSP and another stamp from the kit were the perfect choice for the inside of the card.

The next stop in tonight's hop is the lovely Michele Taylor. You won't want to miss her project!

If you run into any issues with links, jump on over to the wonderful Sharon Davern's blog. She'll have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Polished Pink

 Hi!

It's Wednesday, which means that it's Colour Creations time! Woo hoo! This week we have Polished Pink, one of the outgoing In Colours. If it's a colour that you love - stock up now!

I quite like Polished Pink. It's a bright pink, but not too overpowering. I absolutely adore this combo by Brian King. Such a great idea to pair it with Blackberry Bliss and Crumb Cake. I chose my new Taco Fiesta stamp set to use for this week's card. Probably not what you'd expect with this colour combo - but I love the card I made!

When I buy a new stamp set, I often start by CASEing another card that I like that uses the set. In this instance, I CASEd a gorgeous card by Heidi Collins from On Y Go Stamping. Her card used different colours, but I kept the layout basically the same.

I stamped the piñata on Shimmery White cardstock with Crumb Cake ink, and then watercoloured the body with the same ink. I wanted a very soft effect. The rest was coloured with my Stampin' Blends to get the bolder, rich colours.

I used the hat on the inside of the card, but I'm a bit worried that it doesn't look much like a hat! Maybe I should have left it uncoloured, or stamped it in black. You may notice that I've split the sentiment over the front and inside of the card - I just masked off the section that I didn't want in each case. Easy!

The next stop in our Blog Hop tonight is the lovely Caroline Manwaring. We've missed her on the hops, so it's great to see her back.

As always, the wonderful Catherine Proctor keeps us all organised each week. Jump on over to her blog if you run into any issues with links - she'll have a full list of all of tonight's participants on her blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Evening Evergreen

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. It's Evening Evergreen's turn to shine. I nearly wrote that it was one of the new In Colours, but I'm a year too late - it's actually an 'old' In Colour that will retire mid-next year. It's a lovely grey-green that I quite like.

Brian King has paired Evening Evergreen with Crumb Cake and Blushing Bride. I like the mix of a Neutral and soft pink with the deeper green.

I began my card with a Evening Evergreen base, and a layer of Brick & Mortar Embossed Crumb Cake over the top. A strip of Evening Evergreen DSP and White Baker's Twine proved a lovely anchor point for the Stylish Shapes die-cut circle.

My Plentiful Plants stamp set was a great choice for the focal stamping. I stamped one set of leaves onto the circle, and stamped and die cut two more sets to go in the Blushing Bride pot. I looked to Forever Fern for the sentiment, which fits perfectly into the Stylish Shapes banner.

My choice for the inside sentiment is a little controversial - I know some people don't like it, as one word is grammatically incorrect, not that I'm naming names! I created the pot plant in the same way as the one on the front of my card.

Well, that's all from me with Evening Evergreen, but please do keep jumping your way around our blog hop, as there's plenty more to see. Just keep on going until you get back to your starting point. The next stop along the way is the very lovely Kate Morgan.

We are kept organised each week by the very capable, and delightful, Catherine Proctor. If you get stuck, just jump on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 383: Artistic Expression Section

 Hi!

Welcome back to a new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge. This week we are asking you to CASE a card or project from the Artistic Expression Section of the Annual Catalogue.

As is my habit, I skip to the back of the section and work my way forward until I find a card that I like. I found this beauty on page 118.

I really liked the bright and cheerful colours, the simple white panel as the focal point, and the sweet twine bow. I kept all of these elements, but changed them up quite a bit!

I started with a base of Parakeet Party DSP with a Sweet Sorbet DSP banner over the top. The banner was actually a small scrap, so I split it under the main panel. It looks like a full length banner, but the gap is hidden by the main panel. A very clever trick for using up scraps!

I used my Simply Fabulous stamp set for the flowers and the sentiment. I hadn't yet included any Daffodil Delight from the original colour combo, so those little circle things on top of the flowers were stamped in the yellow ink. I have no idea what the circles are meant to be, but I think they look great on the flowers! The final colour, Shaded Spruce was used for the sentiment and the layer underneath, with a white twine bow to finish off the front.

A little more stamping and my card was complete. I call it my People's Choice card - if you know of the credit union, you'd know that these are their colours! I didn't notice until I stamped and layered the sentiment onto the front of my card! I never really liked the colours at the credit union, but I love them on my card.

We'd love for you to make a card from the Artistic Expression section of the catalogue and enter it in our challenge. Which card will you choose to make? Just add a photo to our Facebook group when you've made it.

For now, though, please do continue your way around our Blog Hop. The next stop on the way is my wonderful friend, Rachel Palmieri. I can't wait to see what she's made, and you won't want to miss it, either.

Bye for now,

Tina