JAI #358: Just Add Stitching

Hi!

This week's challenge at Just Add Ink was suggested by Rochelle, and it's one that's right up my alley! This week we are adding stitching to our projects. It cane be real stitching, or faux, it really doesn't matter as long as it's stitching.

I've been sewing since I was a very little girl, and it's something that I've wanted to incorporate more in my card making. I've recently purchased/modified a new desk so that I can have my paper crafting on one side and sewing on the other. It's not quite finished (IKEA has temporarily sold out of the drawers I need!), so the sewing side has become a little bit of a dumping ground. I managed to clear a little space to allow me to sew on my card though.

I went for a mix of retiring and new products on the card. I stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic (retiring) on some Powder Pink cardstock in the matching ink (new!). I then laid the two die cuts from Sunshine Wishes (carrying over) on the card and sewed through the three layers. I finished by stamping the You from Crazy About You (retiring).

I then adhered the Powder Pink panel to some Berry Burst cardstock (new!) and stitched around the edge of the BB card to give a border. Now, if I'd been paying attention and not trying to cook dinner at the same time, I would have noticed that the tension was all wrong on the sewing machine. Whoops! I did notice in time to sew a much nicer looking border on the PP panel. Lesson learned!

I probably should have stitched a border on the inside BB card too, but by this point of time in making the card and trying to cook dinner the vultures children were circling and demanding to be fed. Oh well!


I hope you can join us - will it be real or faux stitching on your card? I can't wait to see it over at Just Add Ink.


Bye for now,


Tina

Unexpectedly Grungy

Hi!


Today's card 2was one that was a bit of a surprise for me. Let me explain! My granny upline, Claire Daly, occasionally sets challenges in our team forum - I've probably mentioned this before. This time she gave us a pic of a bed with a geometric style doona and challenged us to use the colours. I loved the colours, but was also inspired by the geometric patterns in the doona. However, when I sat down to create, this is what I came up with.

I think grungy must be nearly the complete opposite in style to geometric! When the mojo's flowing, you just have to go along for the ride. The colours I used are Island Indigo, Pool Party, Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake. The retired Expressions "Thanks" was pushed into my Island Indigo inkpad to colour it, even though it looks nearly black in the pic.

After I'd assembled the card front it looked a little blank, so I ended up adhering a scattering of Gold Metallic Sequins.

So there you have it, my unexpectedly grungy challenge card!


Bye for now,


Tina

JAI #307: Just Add Colour

Hi!

Waa Hoo!  Not only is it Friday, and therefore Just Add Ink challenge day - it's also the last day of school for Term 1! It's been a long few weeks watching a lot of my interstate friends enjoying their holidays on FB, but now it's our turn!

This week Nikki has set a colour challenge, and it's fabulous!  I'm a real fan of yellow paired with gray, so thisd one was right up my alley!

Here's what I came up with using the colours.

I quite like the way that the sunburst and stars lok like a firework going off in the background. I stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic, but stamped it off first so that the Delightful Dijon wouldn't dominate the card too much. The stars, from Perpetual Birthday Calendar, were stamped in Smokey Slate over the top.

The 'happy' fromt eh Hello You thinlits makes for a bold sentiment over the top of everything else.

What will you do with the colours this week? Can't wait to see what you create. Don't forget to link up at Just Add Ink.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #251: Just Add Thanks

Hi!

I'm sure everyone has someone in their life that they are thankful for - I know that I have lots of people!  This week at Just Add Ink we are challenging you to Just Add Thanks - make a Thank You card and hopefully send it to someone deserving.

I love this sentiment from Kinda Eclectic and it's perfect for Thank You cards. Would you believe that the DSP on this card started life as a 4 inch square sample? It's from the Something Borrowed DSP pack in the Occasions Catalogue.  I simply cut an inch off the bottom to split the paper.  The sentiment conveniently covers the gap.

I'm really loving the new Butterflies Thinlits, also from the Occasions Catalogue.  I think they look a little naked without something on the body section.  I love the Jumbo Rhinestone, however they are retired so I'm going to have to start thinking of something else to put there as I think I only have 2 more left in my stash!

So, who are you thankful for? I can't wait to see your card over at Just Add Ink.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #249: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Ooh, these Fridays are rolling around so quickly! I can't believe my children are finishing their second week at school - where is the time going?

We have a sketch challenge this week at Just Add Ink, designed by me!  I quite enjoy designing sketches, and then seeing how others interpret them.

Hexagons are so much fun to play with, but I decided to take a less literal approach to the sketch.

This card was made with someone specific in mind,  I knew she was a fan of neutrals with splashes of green and orange, so that's where I started from.

I think that sunburst from Kinda Eclectic is becoming one of my most used stamps! It's fab for adding just that little extra something to a card.

So there you have it!  What do you see in my sketch?  The Design Team at Just Add Ink have interpreted it in many beautiful ways - can't wait to see what you do with it!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #247: Just Add A Blog Hop!

Hi!

I hope you've had a great January so far.  I've had a nice break from my Just Add Ink Design Team duties, but now we are back with our first challenge for the year.  We have decided to kick off the new year and this challenge with a blog hop around the Design Team.  If you get lost just click on the badge to go back to the Just Add Ink blog.

So, what's the challenge?  It's a challenge with a twist this week!  The theme is Just Add Love, and the twist is that you need to incorporate the following sketch.  You can use the whole sketch, or just use the tag part of the sketch on a bag or a box.  Easy!

I decided to use the whole sketch as the basis for my card.  My first step was to make the tag.  I used some of the SAB Specialty DSP Irresistibly Yours and sponged it in Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette and Rose Red.  I love the effect it gives!

I don't tend to make 'Love' cards, so I struggled a bit finding a sentiment for the front of the card.  I finally settled on the stamp from Itty Bitty Banners.  I didn't want the banner part of it, so I just coloured the text with my Rose Red marker.

I had the same struggle with finding a sentiment for the inside, so in the end I just left it out.  Doesn't the effect of the sunburst behind the hearts look great?

Well, that's me done! You can continue on to Shona's blog to see her fabulous card by clicking on the badge below.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layout 82: Halloween 2014

Hi!

I've had a little burst of scrapping lately, mostly back to the more traditional 12x12 instead of Project Life.  It's been a while since I've done any 12x12 and I'm really enjoying it.

Rob took the kids Trick or Treating last week.  They really enjoy the dressing up part of it.  Ada plans her outfit for weeks, while Alex just throws something together at the last minute!  Lucky he and Rob had built a 'Steve' head (from Minecraft) for a birthday party earlier in the year, so it wasn't too difficult for him to put together his outfit.

The house is from the Set Holiday Homes.  You can purchase it as a Photopolymer set out of the current Holiday Catalogue, or you can do as I did and purchase the MDS download.  I opted for the download as I wanted the flexibility of being able to resize the images.  In this case I printed the house at approximately 3 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches, printed it and then coloured it with my Blendabilities.

I did a lot of soft collage stamping in the background of my layout.  I deliberately used softer colours so that I didn't take too much focus away from the photos and the house.  A bit different from more traditional Halloween colours, but I love the effect.  I used Soft Sky, Crumb Cake and Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layout 80: Sweet Moments

Hi!

I've been a bit slack in keeping up with my scrapping lately, and my self-challenge to scrap 100 layouts this year.  I am getting close to my target, but the end of the year is rapidly approaching!  Today's layout came about as I had a left over photo from a recent mini album project that I didn't want to waste.

I started with a base of the Typeset Specialty DSP and then used the Dots Decorative Mask, my Lost Lagoon inkpad and marker and a sponge dauber to create a background.  I tilted the mask a bit so that the dots weren't too evenly lined up and then I randomly daubed a few, traced a few with the marker, and on some dots I did both.  I wanted a fairly rough look to the background.  I then stamped over the top with some of the stamps from Kinda Eclectic.

In a couple of places I punched the side of the SDSP with my trusty Spiral Border Punch.  I'm so pleased that this punch has made a come back - it was one of my old favourites that I could never bear to part with.

I wanted to do a little journalling, but I couldn't work out where to place it, so I ended up going with the old hidden journalling trick by creating a tag to pop in behind the photo.  Easy!

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic Convention Make and Takes

Hi!

One of the best parts of going to Convention is getting to be creative and do some stamping.  Today's card was inspired by one of the (many!) Make and Takes we made this year at Convention.

I made this card as a class sample not long after I got back from Melbourne.  As I didn't have the new In Colours I had to use their close approximates from the colours I did have.

I've said many times that Kinda Eclectic is not a stamp set I would have purchased myself, but it's now one I love.  It's fabulous for collage stamping  -especially the larger sunburst and leaf stamps.

I also love the dotty stamp.  It's great for creating another layer without adding a layer of cardstock.

Here's my card on the left and the card I made at Convention on the right.  A few differences, but nothing major.

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic CASE

Hi!

Today I have a card for you that I CASEd from the very talented LeeAnn Greff.  You can see her original card here.

I kept the basic layout of the card the same, but I changed the colours completely.  I also added some DSP where LeeAnn had plain cardstock.

I really love that speckled DSP - so very cute!  It's from the Confetti Celebration DSP pack.  I'm also loving the new Tangelo Twist In Colour.  I'm not usually an orange person, but it's such a delicious colour!

I liked the card so much I decided to make a second, but changing it to a birthday card.  I quite like it!

Thanks for the inspiration LeeAnn!

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic In Neutrals

Hi!

Over the weekend I have been participating in a Cyber Crop with some of the Art With Heart team.  A Cyber Crop is basically a stamping session done over the internet.  I was asked to design a sketch and a sample card for a challenge during the Cyber Crop.

Here's the sketch I designed and the card to go with it.

I used the new In Colour Blackberry Bliss as the base for the card.  It's fast becoming one of my favourite colours!  I love it teamed with the Neutral colours I've used on the rest of the card.

I stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic in Hello Honey that I stamped off once before stamping on the card.  The vellum circle over the top helps to soften the card too.

The other main colour I used was Crumb Cake.  I need to reink my pad, but I like the effect the drier pad gives on this card.

I made another card using this sketch during the Cyber Crop, so I'll be back later with that one and some of the other cards I made for the challenges over the weekend.

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic for Twins

Hi!

Today I have a pair of cards to show you that I made for my twin nieces.  I usually make them the same cards with different colours, and this year was no exception.

Their favourite colours are pink and yellow, so that was the obvious place to start!  The background panel was made by colouring the Positively Chevron stamp with my Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Markers.  I made the one wider panel and cut it in half - much quicker and easier than making two!

I preferred the way the large pink/small yellow butterfly combination looked against the yellow starburst, so I decided to make the main panels the same.  I just changed the colour of the matt to contrast with the card base.

Here they are side by side so you can see how they are the same, but different - just like my gorgeous nieces.

I forgot to take photos of the cards before they were written on, and I was too lazy to edit the photos to blur the writing, so you'll just have to imagine how the insides might look!

Bye for now,

Tina

Farewell Off The Grid

Hi!

Another sad farewell for another fabulous stamp today.  Off The Grid has been one of my absolute favourite stamps for adding a touch of interest to a background.

As well as farewelling Off The Grid I was playing with some new product that I got while at Convention.  We all got the Kinda Eclectic stamp set and I was lucky enough to win the new Sweetheart punch at a Prize Patrol.

I'm really loving the look of collage stamping, where you stamp a heap of different images over the top of each other.  On this card I've used Off The Grid, Gorgeous Grunge and Kinda Eclectic.  I was inspired by the card on page 164 of the new Annual Catalogue.

For all the grunginess on the outside, I went really for a really clean look on the inside.  I think it helps make the sentiment stand out more, which is really important when you are thanking someone for their kindness.

Bye for now,

Tina