Happy Birthday Ada!

Hi!

Last week my daughter had a birthday, turning 14. Ada's a mad Harry Potter fan, and so I usually make her a Harry Potter themed card. She's been talking lately about getting a Dark Mark tattoo when she's old enough (gulp!), so I decided to go with that theme for her card. For those not in the know, the Dark Mark is a magical tattoo on the 'baddies' (Death Eater's) arm that they use to summon each other.

The Dark Mark is a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth. I certainly don't have any stamps for that! In the end I purchased a cut file from an Etsy store and cut it from some Shaded Spruce cardstock.  The Basic Black cardstock was a little to stark, so after I adhered the Dark Mark I misted it with some old Smooch shimmer mist that I found on my desk.

I can't take credit for the sentiment on the card. -I googled 'Death Eater Birthday Cards' and found one that I liked. Avada Kedavdra is an Unforgivable Curse that kills the person it's aimed at, hence the second part of the sentiment!

The inside sentiment is from an Ink Road Stamp set called Expecto Stampo. Incendio is another spell to light a fire, so it's perfect for the birthday candles. These were just stamped using the retired Incredible Like You stamp set. Did you notice I stamped 14 candles?

In case you were wondering, Ada loved the card!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #224: Favourite Occasions Big Shot Project

Hi!

Hooray for a new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop! This week we are choosing our favourite Big Shot project from the Occasions Catalogue to CASE. You've arrived here from Siobhan's blog, or you may have started here. Doesn't matter, grab a cuppa and hop, hop, hop away!

A quick flick through the catalogue, and my eye caught on the card on the bottom left of page 27.

Part of the reason I selected this card to CASE was that I wanted to make a thank you card for my CTC teammate and New Zealand travel buddy, Judy May. She's a pink girl, and the splashes of Berry Burst in this card really appealed.

As I mentioned, Judy loves pink, so I switched out the Pool Party panel for a Blushing Bride panel. I also added a couple of layers so that I could use a Berry Burst card base. All the stamping is the same as the catalogue sample, although I used Very Vanilla card to match the Tea Room ribbon.

I also changed the sentiment on the front. It was my first cut into my Copper Foil paper - isn't it gorgeous? Why, oh why, did I take so long to use it? LOL!

I repeated the same style of stamping on the inside. Still not a fan of the big flower, but I do like how it sits over the stamping. What do you think?


While that's it for me this week, it's not it for you! Continue on with the Blog Hop by hopping on over to Julia's blog!

Don't forget to stop by the Facebook group to join I the fun there too!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #223: Classic Garage

Hi!

Yay! It's just three more sleeps until I fly out for Auckland and Stampin' Up!'s OnStage event, and it's starting to get really exciting! I can't wait to see all my demo friends and to get the goss on all the new SU stuff being released. In the meantime though, it's time for the new CASEing the Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. You may ave arrived here from Sandra's blog, or be starting here - it doesn't matter, just keep hopping until you've seen everyone's blog.

This week we are CASEing projects from the Classic Garage section of the Occasions Catalogue. I have really enjoyed making cards using the Classic Garage DSP, but this time I decided to go the complete opposite direction.

I started with the layout of the grey card above, but pulled out my Petal Promenade DSP to make it as girly as possible. Do you think I've succeeded?

You can see how I've kept everything as much the same as I can in terms of the layout and elements, I've just swapped for very feminine alternatives. The rose paper that forms the larger banner was distressed around the edges, scrunched and then smoothed to create some texture and dimension. The smaller banner already looked scrunched, so it was just adhered as is!

I stamped the flowers from Bike Ride in Sahara Sand, stamped off once, around the Stitched Labels die cut. The flowers in the Label Me Pretty image were stamped in Tranquil Tide and then coloured with my Blushing Bride marker. I had to be careful to not colour over the TT lines, as this would pull the colour into the BB and make it look muddy.

A strip of that gorgeous rose DSP was used to finish off the inside. It's such pretty paper - it reminds me of a bridal bouquet.

Don't forget to pop on over to our Facebook group to join in the fun each week.

Before you do, don't forget to finish the hop! Michelle's blog is next.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #215: How Sweet It Is

Hi!

Time for the new CASEing The Catty blog hop! I do love these hops - don't you? Hop, hop, hopping around in a circle until you get back to where you started, seeing lots of yummy Stampin' Up! inspiration as you go. What could be better? Did you come from the lovely Kelly's blog, or start here at mine? Doesn't matter, just keep on clicking!

This week we are CASEing the projects from the How Sweet It Is section of the Occasions Catalogue, which runs from pages 14 to 23. Lots of pages in which to find a project, technique or idea to CASE. What will you choose?

I didn't go any further than the first page of the section. I didn't CASE a card, this time I used a technique on several different cards. Have you noticed the Sweet Pins and Tags in the catalogue on page 15? What are you waiting for, they are sooo much fun! Look at the two front jars and the bag of yellow lollies. They come in three different shapes, each white with an iridescent border. Here comes the fun part - you can colour them! I pulled out my sponge brayer and went to town!

I chose the medallion shaped tag and coloured it with Tranquil Tide ink using my sponge brayer. When I had the colour I wanted I took a piece of towel and wiped over the iridescent border to remove any excess ink. Then I was set to decorate! The tags on page 14 are layered with strips of ribbon, DSP and stamped images, so I did the same.

The motorbike was fussy cut from a piece of the Classic Garage DSP and the birthday was cut from Black Foil using my Well Written Framelits. I have used them so much! The front was completed with a length of Flax ribbon, a piece of Smokey Slate DSP from the Neutrals pack, Basic Grey cardstock, cut with a Rectangle Stitched Framelit, and a Tranquil Tide base, embossed with the Subtle DTIEF.

I used a scrap of the Classic Garage DSP to finish off the inside, which also includes a sentiment from the new Incredible Like You stamp set.

That's it from me, next is the wonderful Rose Packer!

Don't forget to also check out our Facebook group, where you can add your card inspired by something in the How Sweet It Is Suite of the Occasions Catalogue.

AWH January Blog Hop: Occasions Catalogue

Hi!

Tonight the Art With Heart team are sharing creative projects using product from the Occasions Catalogue. The Occasions Catalogue is current now until June 3rd. Be sure to request your copy of the catalogue today (along with the Sale-A-Bration brochure).Did you know that Sale-A-Bration is also a great time to join our fabulous team? Ask anyone on the blog hop if you’d like more details. 

I decided to use one of the smaller items in the Occasions Catalogue for tonight's projects. It may even be one you've overlooked - the Sweet Pins and Tags, on page 15 of the catalogue. They are part of the How Sweet It Is suite of products. I'm not a big fan of that suite, and I'm not really even sure why I ordered the tags. Maybe to bump up an order so that I reached a SAB threshold for a freebie? Sound familiar? LOL

As I sat to craft, I looked at page 14 of the Occasions Catalogue and noticed that the samples had coloured tags.  I was so excited by this - it makes the tags so much more interesting! The basic tags are white with iridescent foil edges - pretty, but a bit ho-hum. How much nicer does it look in Calypso Coral? The iridescent border stands out soooo much more, and you really get to see the features like the stripes on the corners.

To colour the tag, I simply used my sponge brayer, but you could probably just apply the ink with a spritzer, dauber or sponge. I completed the card with two more Occasions Catalogue products - Happiness Blooms DSP and Itty Bitty Birthdays stamp set. The flower on the tag was fussy cut from the DSP, as is the flower on the inside.

Now, once I'd coloured one tag, I couldn't stop there. The pack has three different shaped tags, and you get 8 of each, plus some cute little pins that you could use to attach them to ribbon, etc. I chose not to use the pins as they don't really make sense on a card.

This card features the round tag, brayered with Lovely Lipstick ink. Once again, the DSP is from the Happiness Blooms DSP pack. I love the bold colours and patterns in the papers!

The stamp set I used on the inside is also a new set from the Occasions Catalogue, called Incredible Like You. I really love the cursive font - what do you think?

I've cheated a little on this last card, as apart from the tag, it's mostly SAB products. As soon as I saw the tag I decided it would make a great resting spot for a butterfly from the Botanical Butterfly DSP. I was right!

This tag was brayered with Balmy Blue ink to match the colours in the DSP. Even though it's a softer colour it really makes the tag pop.

I returned to Itty Bitty Birthdays for the inside sentiment.

Here are all three cards together. Are you rethinking the tags now? At only $8.95 for a pack of 24, they are a value buy, and definitely worth another look, especially as they can be changed to any colour you desire. Just doing a spot of enabling there!

Phew! That's finally it from me, now you're off to visit Ros Davidson, who always creates something pretty amazing!

Here's the list of links in case you get lost or find a broken link along the way.

Tina Gillespie
Ros Davidson
Kate Morgan
Caroline Manwaring
Sharon Davern
Kimberly Hern

Sue Madex
Claire Daly

Bye for now,

Tina

Incredible Night Of Navy

Hi!

Time for this week's Colour Creations Blog Share. This week it's Night Of Navy, which recently got shifted to the Neutrals colour family. It makes sense if you think about things like clothing - navy items are often used as a neutral with other items.

I started my card by using my sponge brayer to colour the bottom corner of the card. I then used my Aqua Painter to drip and then flick some water over the coloured area. You can see the difference - the drips are big and round, while the flicks are much smaller. It's a fun way to add interest to a block of colour.

The flowers from Incredible Like You are stamped in Berry Burst. I didn't stamp off the colour - the more solid stamp in the two stamp pair is designed to transfer less ink to the card, giving a lighter shade. So clever! The leaf stamps are the same design as the flower. I stamped them in Old Olive, which incidentally, is next week's colour.

I recreated a mini version of the front on the inside. I realised after I'd stuck everything down that I'd forgotten to do the water flicks over the Night Of Navy. Oops!

Why not head on over to Catherine's blog, where you can see the rest of this week's Night Of Navy cards?

Bye for now,

Tina

Getting Merry With Merlot

Hi!

Welcome to the final Colour Creations Blog Share for 2018. We are having a little break over the Christmas/New Year period, but we'll be back on January 8 with the next colour in our series. It's one of my favourites!

This wee, though, we are looking at the new Neutral, Merry Merlot. It's not a colour I've used much of - probably because my old high school uniform was maroon. I finished high school 25 years ago, so you'd think I'd be over it by now but apparently not! I did enjoy using it on my card though, so maybe I'm on my way to liking maroon.

I tried and rejected all kinds of things until this card rose from the debris on my craft desk. Most of it was playing around with Stitched Rectangle dies, which are so much fun! I also used the new stamp set, Incredible Like You, available in January. Oh, and don't forget the Tin Tile 3DTIEF on the Sahara Sand layer - it's carrying over to the Occasions Catalogue, so we get it for at least a few more months. Yay!

I'm still deciding if I like the flowers from the stamp set. They are pretty, and I love the way the two layers work together, but I find the flower to be a bit 'floaty'. I anchored this one by adding a Mint Macaron twine bow to the base.

I used another flower and some more leaves on the inside. A couple of the leaves were stamped direct to the base cardstock and a few were fussy cut and layered underneath the flower. It adds a bit more dimension to the arrangement.

You can find the rest of this weeks cards over Catherine's blog. It's a small group on the Blog Share today, but still worth the look as everyone is so creative. Don't forget that we return on the 8th of January.

Bye for now,

Tina

Incredible Like Mambo

Hi!

Hello, and welcome to this week's Art With Heart Colour Creations Blog Share. This week we are looking at a former In Colour turned Core Colour, Melon Mambo. If my memory serves me, the South Pacific market got Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Soft Suede as In Colours at a time when SU was shifting to align their markets more closely. It's been a favourite ever since!

Today's card is a super cute, fast and easy card. The front uses one stamp from a new stamp set called Incredible Like You. I simply repeatedly stamped the lines without reinking the stamp so that I got an ombre effect in Melon Mambo. I didn't use my Stamparatus for this, I just eyeballed it. I then trimmed the cardstock into a triangle shape that's 2 1/4 inches across the bottom and 4 inches tall. The star and trunk were just cut from scraps of Glimmer Paper and then all 3 pieces were popped up. Done!

I didn't put a sentiment on the front as I didn't want to cover my tree. Therefore I went big on the inside! I think this has been my favourite inside sentiment stamp for Christmas 2018.

The rest of this week's cards can be found over at Catherine's Blog. I wonder if everyone else is still doing Christmas cards, or if they've moved on already? Only one way to find out!

Bye for now,

Tina