CTC #217: Happiness Blooms

Hi!

Oh, wow, where did that week go? They are just flying by right now! Suddenly it's time for the Sunday night CASEing The Catty Blog Hop. Yay! The blog before mine was my fellow South Aussie and friend, Kathryn.

This week we are looking at the Happiness Blooms section of the Occasions Catalogue. It is quite a large section, clocking in at a whopping 9 pages. Plenty of inspiration to be found!

My eye was caught by the 'smile' card from page 26, and so that's what I CASEd this week - in particular the colours and the vellum element.

I started by stamping the image from Lovely Lattice on Shimmery White cardstock using Stazon ink. I then watercoloured the image using Lovely Lipstick, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover and Night Of Navy ink. I'm very much a 'slap on the colour' type of watercolourer - so while I try to get colour variations in each section I'm not really hung up on trying to get the shadows just right.

I love the used of vellum for a sentiment where you don't want to cover your image. If you've just spent all that time and effort colouring, why cover it up? Vellum is a great compromise. I stamped on this strip with Stazon and then wrapped it around the main panel, adhering it at the back and solving the problem of needing to hide the adhesive.

Sigh, I've tried so hard to get my cards out early this year, but it's late February and I've already had to drag out the 'happy belated birthday' sentiment. Oh well, March is a fresh month to get back on track!

It's your turn now - which card inspires you? Do you like the layout, the colours, or maybe a technique? Get creative and share your card over in our Facebook group.

Before you dash off to make your card for this week's challenge, don't forget to complete the Blog Hop! Next is the lovely Monique.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #445: Just Add Embossing

Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week Rochelle has challenged us to add embossing to our cards. You can use any type of embossing - heat, dry or even the embossing mats.

When planning my card I decided to use heat embossing, but I also ended up using dry embossing too. I recently received the Lovely Lattice stamp set as a Sale-A-Bration freebie and I was keen tp try it out.

I heat embossed the main image on Shimmery White cardstock using white embossing power. I then watercoloured the image using my ink pads and a pair of Aqua Painters. I used two, as I used the colouring technique where you 'fill' an embossed area with water and then drop a little bit of ink into the water and allow the colour to spread. It's a bit of a cheats way to watercolour.

I used Granny Apple Green on the leaves and Flirty Flamingo and Crushed Curry on the flowers. I then used Sahara Sand to colour the lattice and Balmy Blue to outline the image to help it pop.

I used two of the smaller flowers on the inside, this tie using the no line watercolouring technique on them. It was my first time trying that technique and I'm definitely going to give it another go soon!

That's it for me this week. What type - or types - of embossing will you use? You can see what the Design Team chose over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card. See you there!

Bye for now,

Tina