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 #220: Sale-A-Bration

Hi!

It's time for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. I do love these hops, there's so much inspiration and talent in the CTC Crew and I feel so fortunate to be part of the team. My friend Kelly was the blog before mine, but just keep hop, hop, hoping until you get back to where you started!

This week we are back to CASEing the Sale-A-Bration catalogues, and there are two to choose from. I'm a bit battered and bruised this week - I had a fall on Friday night and scraped a lot of skin off my hand, elbow and knees. I'm ok, just feeling a bit sore and sorry for myself. I had promised to make a card for a lady that was retiring, so I decided to go a bit easy on myself and do a fairly direct CASE.

I chose the Highland Heather card on the front of the first catalogue, but changed it to a square card, as a lot of people need to sign it. The finished card is nearly 6" square.

You can see straight away that I kept many of the same elements. I switched from flowers to butterflies, as I had a punch for the butterflies and I didn't need to colour them.

It's hard to see on the photo, but I went over the Thank You die cut with my Wink Of Stella pen for a bit of added glimmer. It's so pretty in real life. The lady this card is for ran the support group I attend that's for parents of special needs kids. She's had to step down for personal reasons and will be very much missed. I was quick to volunteer to make a card for her, as it's so much more personal than a shop bought one.

There's a dozen or so of us in the group that want to sign, so I had to supersize the card. To add to the space to write on, I adhered a writing panel to both sides of the inside of the card. The floral DSP is so pretty, so I used strips to decorate the panels.

Isn't this the perfect sentiment for someone who has supported the group through both good and bad times? She really is the best.

That's it for me, don't forget to add your CTC card to our Facebook group. In the meantime though, you're off to see the gorgeous card that Lauren has made.

Bye for now,

Tina

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

JAI #433: Just Choose Colour

Hi!

As you're reading this (assuming you're reading it on Friday!), I'm on my way to the USA to attend Stampin' Up!'s OnStage event in Orlando, Florida. How exciting! I've been planning this trip for a long time, it's the trip of a lifetime for me!

But for now, I have this week's Just Add Ink challenge card. Actually, this challenge will run for a fortnight as most of the JAI Design Team will be attending various OnStage events. I wish they could all come with me to Orlando!

This time we have a gorgeous, bright set of colours set by Jo. I really love them - so happy and fresh!

This card was made using a heap of scraps I had on my craft desk. I had a stack of triangles left over from making my swaps using the Animal Expedition DSP, and once I realised that some of them were Berry Burst and Lemon Lime Twist, I decided they'd be perfect for this card. The Blueberry Bushel triangles came from the Best Route DSP.

Originally I was trying to recreate a toy I had when I was a kid - you may have had one too. It was a sort of black and white 'snake' that you could twist and bend into nearly any shape you could think of. Do you remember the toy I'm talking about? I couldn't quite get that to work on my card, so instead I used the concept to create a series of 'L' shapes on the front.

Once all that was done, I kind of got stumped on what to do next. I then remembered these wooden words I had left from an old catalogue and decided to colour them. I first pushed it into my Blueberry Bushel ink pad, but the result was a bit darker than I'd hoped. I was able to soften it by painting over the top with some Frost White Shimmer Paint.

Thankfully, I had enough triangles left over to complete the inside. This card is going to be given to a North American demonstrator who was kind enough to arrange some Paper Pumpkin kits for us, so I thought the 'you're the best' sentiment was perfect for the inside. I can't wait to stamp and put together the kits with her and my housemates in Orlando.

Are you in love with this colour combo yet? I am! You can see what the rest of the Design team has made over at the Just Add Ink blog. Remember, you've got two weeks to join in the fun this time.

Bye for now,

Tina

A Pretty Tranquil Label CASE

Hi!

Today's card is one that I CASEd from the magazine that Stamping' Up! sends out to all demonstrators. It uses the new Label Me Pretty stamp set and coordinating punch, which I hadn't yet inked up! The card in the magazine was a birthday card, but I'd had a class request for a sympathy card, and I thought this design worked well.

The sentiment is from the Flourishing Phrases stamp set. I was quite surprised at how well the two colours worked together - Tranquil Tide and Powder Pink. I never would have thought to put them together, but quite like it when I did. Do you ever find that?

I really loved the ribbon as a layer under the punched sentiment. I think it can be easy to forget to use ribbon in this way, but it adds so much more to a card than a strip of card or DSP.

Sadly, I had to use this card much sooner than I expected. It was definitely handy to have it in my stash ready to go, than to try to sit and make it when I needed it. What do you think? Do you have sympathy cards ready to go, or do you prefer to make them at the time they are needed?

Bye for now,

Tina