HOC Week 17

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Can you believe that it's week 17 already? I have another set of four cards to show you tonight, created using the July 2020 Sheetload Of Cards template.

I also used the Celebrate Everything Host DSP. I really, really love the bold, bright colours and fun patterns in the papers. I felt that the finished design needed a little more, so I opted to add the large outline tree die cut from Spruced Up Outlines Dies. The Sheetload template had a few loops of twine, but I liked the tree.

I also used Jingle Jingle Jingle again for the sentiments. Last week I embellished with Santa hats, this week it's the sweet little bells.

Here's my group of four. I love that the front is narrower than the back, allowing the strip of sparkly Polished Pink DSP to do double duty, decoration both the front and inside of the card. The strip I cut off the front of the card is used for the sentiment. Such a great design!

Thanks again for joining me, but please continue your way around the hop to see the rest of the Christmassy gorgeousness that the team has made this week. The next stop is my lovely friend, Theresa Gerrard.

Big thanks to the wonderful Sharon Davern, who keeps us all organised every week. If you find a broken link somewhere along the way, just pop on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all of tonight's participants.

Bye for now,

Tina

HOC Week 16

 Hi!

Welcome back to Week 16 of the Heart Of Christmas blog hops. We are on the countdown now, with only 6 more weekly hops after tonight's hop. I'm feeling good about being ready for Christmas, as just from the HOC blog hops, I have added 64 cards to my stash. By December the biggest job will be sitting down to write in the cards and address them all!

Tonight's cards use the November 2021 Sheetload Of Cards template. I really wanted to use my Jingle Jingle Jingle stamp set, as I feel it's been a bit unloved lately. This template was a good choice, as the sentiment banner was the perfect shape and size for the 'believe' image.

The paper I have used is from the Celebrate Everything Host DSP pack. It's got so many fun patterns, and a few that I hadn't yet used. The Granny Apple Green background paper is one that got it's first outing tonight.

How sweet is that Santa hat on the inside of my card? I though it was the perfect match for the sentiment.

Here's my group of four cards, ready to add to my stash.

Thanks again for joining me, but please do continue your way around our blog hop. There's lots more gorgeous Christmas inspiration to be seen, starting with the lovely Caroline Manwaring.

If you find yourself in a spot of bother with broken links, please jump on over to the blog of our lovely host, Sharon Davern. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants on her blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

HOC Week 14

 Hi!

Welcome to Week 14 of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. We are motoring ever closer to Christmas, aren't we?!

This week's group of cards was made using the first Sheetload Of Cards template, from June 2019. I deliberately chose bright, colourful papers from the Celebrate Everything Host DSP pack to go with it. I wanted a happy riot of colour, and I definitely achieved it!

For the sentiments, I used my long neglected Jingle Jingle Jingle stamp set. I split the handwritten-looking greeting across the front and inside of the card. It didn't make much sense to have the whole sentiment on it's own on the front!

Here's the group of four cards together. They will definitely bring Christmas cheer to the recipient!

That's all from me, but we'd love for you to continue your way around the hop. Just keep on going until you get back to where you started. The next stop along the way is my lovely friend, Andrea Sargent, with what I'm sure will be a wonderful card.

If you run into any problems with links, our lovely hostess Sharon Davern will set you right. Just jump on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all of tonight's participants.

Bye for now,

Tina

HOC Week 9

 Hi!

Welcome back for the ninth week of the 2022 Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop series. Can you believe it's been nine weeks already? I hope you're making progress on your Christmas card stash.

This week has been a crazy-busy week for me, so I stuck with a fairly easy Sheetload Of Cards template. This one is from May 2022, and I paired it with the Celebrate Everything Host DSP from the current Mini Catalogue. I'm really loving the Christmas themed papers in the pack.

I hadn't used my Jingle Jingle Jingle stamp set in a while, so it was dusted off to provide the sentiments for my cards. I used my Stamparatus to line up the two-layer sentiment on the front of the cards, but just eyeballed the inside ones. The bell looks very cute with the ribbon on top!

Here's my group of four cards. It is wet and miserable here today, so I had to photograph them under the pergola where it was dry. It's a good day to be home and crafting. Poor Hudson is home with me too - he has a cold and is sneezing a lot. He thinks it's great fun, as I always come running with a tissue after every sneeze!

Speaking of running, it's time to run on over to the next blog in our hop, Rosa Leyden. Actually, maybe I'd better walk on over, as knowing me, I'd break an ankle trying to run! 😂

Please pop on over to Sharon Davern's blog if you run into any issues. She keeps us all organised every week, and will have a list of all tonight's participants at the end of her post.

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

CTC 376: CASE The Mini Catalogue

 Hi!

Thanks for stopping by for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We have had two new catalogues go live this week, which are going to provide many weeks of CASEing inspiration. We are starting with the new Mini Catalogue though.

This week we'd like you to CASE any project from the July-December Mini Catalogue. You don't need to have the actual products in the sample you choose, you may be inspired by the layout of the card, or the colours, or even a technique. As long as we can see how the original card inspired you, anything goes!

The only stamp set that I have from the new Mini is the Jingle Jingle Jingle set, so I chose to CASE some cards featuring the stamps. I sort of mixed these two cards on page 26, as I liked the repeated background stamping on the left card, and the framed sentiment panel on the right side card.

I started my card by stamping the image of the Christmas lights all over the background. If you're very clever, you can line the stamp up just so, and it will look like a continuous line of lights. I then used the little filler stamp to colour all of the lights using Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green, Orchid Oasis, Daffodil Delight and Pacific Point inks.

I used the same colours as fillers on the jolly stamp. I don't own all of the colour markers, so I had to mask, ink and stamp each letter individually. A lot of effort, but worth it, I think!

A couple more rows of lights finished off the inside. Often the images I stamp on the inside are near the bottom of the card, so it's fun to switch and stamp the lights at the top. The inside sentiment is from Christmas To Remember.

Do you have a favourite project from the new Mini catalogue yet? If not, it's a great excuse to sit and have another flip through the catalogue. When you've found your favourite, CASE it, and add a photo to our Facebook Group. We'd love to see your card!

Before you go, please do finish tonight's blog hop. The next stop is the lovely Julia Quinn. I wonder what she'll CASE?