JAI 773: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Welcome, and thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. Are you enjoying the new two-week format? I am!

This time we have a sketch for you, designed by Tristan. That huge bow is just gorgeous, but when I sat to create I wasn't in the right kind of mood for the kind of card that suits a bow like that. I went super simple, instead.

I recently purchased the Hobby Haven DSP, but hadn't used it yet. The papers I've used are the one sheet - the pink check is the reverse of the side with the chairs and plants. Doesn't this look like an awesome place to sit and read for a while - or let's face it, a really long time? LOL!

I fussy cut the scene and popped it up over a piece of vellum cropped with a Nested Essentials die. The sentiment is from Australia's first ever Paper Pumpkin kit, Hugs From Shelli. I cropped it with a Happy Little Things die.

The inside used a few left over bits and pieces from the front of the card. I really like how this one turned out! The DSP is really fun, and I can see myself using it a lot.

We'd love for you to play along with us. You can jump on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of the Design Team cards for the Sketch Challenge. You'll also find our Linky to add your card to the challenge gallery.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 378: Love, Thanks & Support

 Hi!

Hello, and thanks for finishing off your weekend with the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Isn't it a great way to end the week?

This week we have jumped back to the Annual Catalogue, and are asking you to CASE a card from the Love, Thanks & Support section, which runs from pages 56 to 77.

I started at the back of the section, and quickly found this beauty to CASE. I loved the soft colours of the flowers, and the DSP backing, all on a fresh, white card base. I don't own the stamp set, used, so I reached for my retired Bouquet Of Hope Paper Pumpkin stamp set, which has a lovely, big bouquet image.

I think that the style of the image is similar to that on the catalogue sample, don't you agree? I coloured it with my Blends from the Subtles colour family. I made the largest flowers Highland Heather, to coordinate with the paper from the retired Sweet Talk DSP.

I wanted the flowers to pop a little more from the background, so I layered them over a vellum heart. I cropped the vellum using the retired Stitched be Mine Dies. 

The sentiments on the card are from Grace's Garden, which is a (you guessed it) retired stamp set. I've used a lot of retired stuff on my card, which I didn't realise until I was writing this post! It definitely makes sense to use your stash when CASEing - you don't always have to have the exact products.

Now it's your turn! Which project from the Love, Thanks & Support section will you CASE? Once you've made your card, all you need to do is add a photo to our Facebook group before next Sunday's blog hop. I can't wait to see what you make!

It's time now to jump on over to the next blog in our hop, which is the lovely Sandra Collett. I wonder which card she's CASEd?

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 368: CASE A New Catalogue Favourite

 Hi!

Welcome back to the start of a new challenge week for CASEing The Catty. This week we are delving inside the new Annual Catalogue and asking you to CASE your favourite project.

I'm sure that, like me, you'll find it super hard to narrow it down to one favourite! Alas, it must be done! I found this stunner on page 28 and loved it immediately. 

The white borders, simple layers and the gorgeous bouquet all caught my eye and insisted that I *must* make this card! I don't own the stamp set, nor the Dots & Spots Die used to make the background, so I substituted for things that I had in my stash. 

I kept the monochrome theme for the background, however I used the recently retired Friendly Hello SAB DSP in Fresh Freesia. I really loved the splatter effect of the paper. 

If you're thinking that you've missed this stamp set in the Annual Catalogue, it's because it's actually from the  Bouquet Of Hope Paper Pumpkin box. It's currently on the Clearance Rack at half price! It was also used to stamp the flowers behind the oval. it was a dreary day when I photographed my card, so you can't see that I 'coloured' those flowers with my Wink Of Stella pen.

I repeated the bouquet again on the inside, coloured with Fresh Freesia, Granny Apple Green, Petal Pink and So Saffron Stampin' Blends. Hopefully my mum will love this card - it's on the way to her now.

W'd love for you to play along with us for our challenge. I'm sure that the hardest part will be choosing a project to CASE. Once you have your card made, just upload a photo to our Facebook Group before next Sunday's challenge begins. Too easy!

Please don't forget to finish our blog hop, though. There's plenty more inspiration to be seen, starting with the very lovely Michelle Stradz.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 586: Just Add Summer

 Hi!

Hooray! Welcome back to the Just Add Ink challenges for 2022!! Did you miss us over our Summer break? I hope you're keen and raring to go!

As always, we start the year with a blog hop, and this year the theme is Summer, with the bright and happy inspiration photo as an additional prompt. The lovely Tristan was the stop before mine.

I loved the rainbow of colour in the Inspiration photo, so that's what I went with in my card. The dies are a long-retired SU set, called Rainbow Builder Framelits. I popped them up on a Stitched Rectangles die cut and then used my Manly Moments stamp set for the sentiment. You may know that stamp set as being from the For The Guys Card Kit, but I got it when I was in the USA, and it was the Manly Moments Paper Pumpkin kit.

It's sunny in Summer, right? So I couldn't resist adding a sun to my card. It's from Uniquely Creative, called Stitched Sun Die.

The DSP I've used on the front and inside of my card is the Host pack, Pattern Party. It definitely suits the rainbow of colour theme!

Next up in our Blog Hop is another lovely friend, Denita, with her deliciously summery card!

Once you've finished our blog hop, please do enter our challenge! We'd love to see what you do with our Summer challenge. Just add your card to our Linky over at the Just Add Ink Blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 335: CASE A 3D Project

 Hi!

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend, and thanks for choosing to end it with the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Is there a better way to end the weekend? 

This week we are asking you to choose a 3D project from the Annual Catalogue to CASE. There are lots of them, all scattered through the catalogue. 

My eye was caught by this ombre gift bag on page 87. I loved the bright colour of the bag and the white-embossed cookies scattered across the front. I decided to convert these ideas into card format, rather than a gift bag.

I started with a piece of Blackberry Bliss Oh So Ombre DSP. I could have done the ink blending myself, but I decided to give myself a break and cheat with the DSP. I cropped the centre rectangle out using my Stitched Rectangle Dies. I left the rectangle in situ and stamped the flower from the Joy To The World Paper Pumpkin kit in Golden Glitz Delicata Ink repeatedly across the front, matching the gift bag.

The gold ink does not show up well in photos, but it's gorgeous on real life! I used the two stamped pieces to create the shaker card, filled with gold sequins.

I stamped the flower in gold ink again on the inside - it's so pretty!

Do you pay much attention to the 3D Projects in the catalogues? Now's your chance! You could choose to make a 3D project yourself, or convert some ideas from the project into a card, as I have done. Your imagination is your only limit! Once you've made your project, just upload a photo to our Facebook Group.

Next up on our Blog Hop tonight is the very clever Julia Quinn, who has turned her 3D project into something different - you won't want to miss it!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 567: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have an Inspiration Challenge for you, suggested to the team by Nikki.

Aren't the colours fabulous? Such a rich palette. I took my inspiration from both the colours and the rug on the floor for my card. I used Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Cinnamon Cider, Calypso Coral, Mint Macaron and Basic Black.

I started with my Stitched Greenery Die on the Island Indigo cardstock. It's a great base on which to nestle the Calypso Coral Pierced Blooms flowers, don't you think?

The sentiment is a mix of Biggest Wish and Pretty Perennials. I finished off the front with a scattering of black sequins, and a swish of Wink Of Stella on the flower centres.

When I used my Stitched Greenery die on the front of the card, I cut the cardstock a little wider so that I could trim off the extra width to use on the inside. The sweet little flower was a good way to finish decorating the inside of the card.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of the Design Team's cards. You can also link up your card for the challenge. I can't wait to see what you make!

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Bumblebee

 Hi!

Welcome back to this week's Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week it's Bumblebee's turn. Are you a fan of this mustardy-yellow? I am not! I much prefer a 'cleaner' yellow, so I really struggled with this week's card. In looking through the products I own that featured Bumblebee, I came across my What A Year Memories and More card pack, and an idea was born!

I loved the tile pattern on this card, and so it became the basis for my card. I started by cropping the curve in the bottom of the card using one of my Basic Borders Dies. I then matted the piece on some Bumblebee cardstock and cropped it again, so that I had a thin Bumblebee border all around the piece.

I couldn't resist using the retired Dainty Diamonds 3DEF on the Whisper White card - it is the perfect match with the M&M card! A few pops of black with the Matte Black Dots finished off the front nicely.

You can see that on the inside of my card I used the offcuts from the M&M card and the Bumblebee matt on the front. Not much gets wasted in my house!

Please continue your way around our Blog Hop, as there's plenty more inspiration to be seen. Next up is the AWH Team leader, Claire Daly.

If you find a broken link at any point in the Blog Hop, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog. 

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 2

 Hi!

Thanks once again for joining the AWH team for the second week of our Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Did you find plenty of inspiration last week? You'll find even more this week!

One again, I am using a Sheetload of Cards template from Crafty Al for my cards this week. This template is from July 2019. I am still waiting for my new Christmas goodies to arrive, so I have used the same paper and stamps from last week - Pattern Party DSP and Joy To The World Paper Pumpkin stamp set. Definitely not traditional colours and patterns in the DSP, but I like the modern look! You could definitely make these cards using more traditional supplies.

The templates make creating multiple cards very quick and easy. The hardest part is translating the measurements from US card size to Australian, which isn't too tricky at all. 

That's all from me for tonight, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop. Next up is my lovely friend, Theresa, who always makes such beautiful cards.

If at any time you find a broken link in this week's Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop, please pop back to my blog, where you will find the list links of all of the participants. All of the ladies will have a link to my blog at the end of their post. Just remember who is next on the hop, and then click on their name in the list below:

Tina Gillespie < You are here

Theresa Gerrard

Michele Taylor

Rosa Leyden

Catherine Proctor

Sharon Davern

Caroline Manwaring

Kate Morgan

Andrea Sargent

Christine Blain

Rachel Woollard

Diane Furniss

Ros Davidson

Vicki Boucher

Bye for now,

Tina