Best Birds in Nature's Poem

Hi!

Today's card is one I made for a class way back in July. I wanted to do a bit of watercolouring with my class ladies, and also to show off parts of the Share What You Love Embellishment Kit. In the end, I only used one of the labels, but it's the thought that counts!

You can see on the card that I used the larger label, but I cut it in half so that I could make twice as many cards with it. I love finding ways to stretch my crafting dollar further! The DSP is from the Nature's Poem pack. I love the subtle pattern that looks a little like some woven fabric. It's one of my favourites from the pack.

The bird was coloured to match the colours of the paper and cardstock - Grapefruit Grove and Rich Razzleberry. Bits of it look very yellow in the photo, but that's just the tones in the Grapefruit Grove as compared to Rich Razzleberry. Soft Suede and Shaded Spruce were used on the branch and leaves.

I had a flower left over from the front of the card, so I popped it on the inside beside the sentiment. It was just the perfect space for it!

Bye for now,

Tina

Nature's Poem Doubled

Hi!

Today's card features a new fold that is trending at the moment. I can't recall what it's called - double easel maybe? - but it's a fun one, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Have you seen it around? Think it looks to tricky to try? It's not at all tricky! Start with a standard card base (Soft Suede) and then cut another card base in a contrasting colour (Cajun Craze), but slightly smaller all around. Adhere the smaller card base to the front of the first card base, but upside down. Then just fold the part of the smaller base that isn't stick down in half, so that it forms the zig saggy bit that sits at the front. Decorate, and you're done! I haven't given measurements, because it varies according to the size of your A4 card, but it would be easy enough to google a tutorial for your country.

I used Nature's Open DSP to decorate my card. I don't own the coordinating stamps and dies, so I used ole favourite Lovely As A tree and Picture Perfect Birthday instead. This is what the card looks like closed flat. You could decorate the back section of the front if you desired, but I thought the wodgrain paper didn't need anything else.

I used the same two stamp sets to finish off the inside.

Are you keen to try this card fold yet? It really isn't tricky, but it's WOW enough that the recipient will probably think you spent hours and hours making it. It will be our secret 😜

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH Blog Hop: Designer Series Paper

Hi!

Tonight the Art With Heart team are sharing creative projects featuring Designer Series Paper. This month, Stampin’ Up! have a special on selected Designer Series Paper packs that allows you to get one free pack when you purchase 3 packs. That's 4 packs for the price of 3! We hope our blog hop inspires you to get crafting with your DSP. 

When I was thinking about what to make for this blog hop, I did a google search that was something like "fun things to make with designer series paper". One of the things that came up with this fun No-Cut Patterned Paper Folder by my good friend Di Barnes. Bingo! Di's tutorial is awesome (and free!), and has lots of info, especially on which types of papers work best. Having read all the info, I went for a piece in the Nature's Poem DSP, which is one of the packs on sale this month. It's one of the popular designs from this year's Annual Catalogue.

I kept the front of my card fairly basic, as the inside is where the magic is! The contrast between the two patterns in the DSP is so lovely.

The paper is folded (no cutting!) in such a way that it forms two pockets on the inside - how cool is that? I've cut an insert for each pocket, but Di's instructions also include an adaptation so that you can fit a few cards/envelopes in each pocket.

Here's the two inserts. You can see that I've used another small piece of the DSP to create a place for a gift card. You could probably just tuck the gift card into the the pocket on the card base, but this way it's not going to accidentally slip out of the card. I left the back of the inserts plain, but it would be great as a group card, as there's lots of room for many people to sign. You could even add a photo or two to the back. Lots of ideas!

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, my friend and fellow South Aussie, card maker extraordinaire Kathryn Mangelsdorf.

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below: 

Rebecca Jacovou 

Caroline Manwaring

Catherine Proctor

Kate Morgan

Ros Davidson

Tina Gillespie

Kathryn Mangelsdorf

Kim Dallinger

Alisha Watson

Sharon Davern

Kimberly Hern 

Rachel Woollard
Leanne Mitchell 
Monika O’Neill
Rachel Palmieri 

Bye for now,

Tina

Crazy for Cajun

Hi!

Welcome to this week's Colour Creations Blog Share, where we are looking at Cajun Craze.

When SU announced the new colour revamp, there were a few moans about why Cajun Craze was carried over and not retired. I'm thrilled it stayed a part of the range, as it's a colour like no other in the line up. It's a gorgeous orangey-brown that is so rich. Have I talked it up enough? Let's move onto my card!

I've been having a lot of fun lately playing with water and ink, and this card is no exception. Other techniques I've used have been quite messy, but this time I decided to watercolour an image. I purchased Crafting Forever a little while ago, but hadn't yet played with it. Cajun Craze makes the best terracotta pots, so that's where I started. I stamped my image on Watercolour paper as opposed to Shimmery White, as I wanted to do some serious colouring, rather than my usual 'slap it on' method of watercolouring.

I started with the pot and Cajun Craze. I learned quickly that I needed to let one layer of colour dry before adding the next. I also learned to use a darker colour to create more depth. In this case, I used my Early Espresso marker to draw lines under the rim of the pot and down the right side. I blended a little with my Aquapainter, just enough to create a subtle shadow effect. I used the same technique on the handles of the paintbrushes. They were coloured in Blueberry Bushel and Call Me Clover before having some Night Of Navy and Garden Green added for effect. Again - it's so important to let one colour dry before adding the next. If something happens like one colour bleeding over to the next, you can quickly sop up the water and it will usually stop the colour bleeding into the wrong area. This small panel took me quite a number of hours to colour, but the results were well worth it. While I love my slap it on style, there's a lot to be gained from taking time to colour correctly!

The Cajun Craze piece along the bottom of the inside was a test piece before I started colouring the main image. I really liked it, so I kept it for the inside. Waste not, want not!

I'e rambled on enough for now, so why not pop on over to Catherine's blog where you can find the rest of the links for this week's Blog Share?

Old & New Are Better Together

Hi!

Today's card is one that features some old favourite Stampin' Up! stamps with some new product. It's Lovely As A Tree and Nature's Poem DSP. Although the DSP is a part of the new Nature's Poem suite of products, it was also designed to compliment the everlasting Lovely As A Tree stamp set.

I love this pattern from the DSP pack. The veiny, translucent leaves are just gorgeous! I thought the softer, muted colours (there's also the same pattern, but in a richer colour palette in the pack) were very suitable for a more masculine sympathy card.

All that Crumb Cake looked a little stark on it's own, so I stamped the tree from LAAT in the corner. Although it doesn't stand out much, it really adds some interest to the card. Any how gorgeous does Crumb Cake look teamed with Tranquil Tide?

I let the inside mirror the outside by using a smaller strip of the Nature's Poem DSP. It's definitely a pack to add to your DSP stash - or should I say DSP hoard? LOL!

Bye for now,

Tina

Kelly's Birthday Blog Hop

Hi!

Tonight I have something a little different for you. I'm blog hopping with the lovely Kelly Kent and 18 of her friends to celebrate her birthday. What a fun way to celebrate!

Being a blog hop, you should travel around each of the blogs until you get back to the blog you started on. The blog before me was the fabulous Jacqui Crouch. We don't get to see what the other hoppers have created until the blog hop starts, but I'm sure she's bound to have created something gorgeous!

I decided to make a birthday card using some new, returning and retired products. I especially loved saying a big 'welcome back' to Mint Macaron. I was sooooo happy to see that name on the list of returning colours! I was so happy that I couldn't resist sneaking a little bit of the retired Mint Macaron Glimmer paper onto the card. It's so pretty and sparkly, as are the retiring Glitter Epoxy dots.

So, let see, what's new on my card? Look at that fantastic new butterfly die! It's so pretty! It's from the new die set called Springtime Impressions, and has a whole suite of products that it coordinates with that includes stamps, DSP, ribbon and embellishments. Speaking of DSP, the paper I have used today comes from the new Nature's Poem pack. It also has a whole suite of coordinating products! Finally, I've used a new stamp set called Pick A Pennant to stamp the sentiment.

I was very happy to see that Picture Perfect Birthday is carrying over to the new Annual Catalogue. It's such a fun set!

Well, that's it for me now. The blog hop will now take you on to the blog of the wonderful Jan McQueen. Just click on the Next button to get you there. Once you've finished this hop, why don't you pop on back to Kelly's blog? She's actually running TWO blog hops tonight for her birthday, so there's a whole other 20 gorgeous projects to look at. It's like a set of steak knives - buy one, get one free LOL. Click here for Kelly's second hop, but do finish this one first!

Bye for now,

Tina