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

Jai #442: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

It's time for the new Just Add Ink challenge! This week Kim has designed a sketch to kick of our creativity!

I really love this sketch, and the Design Team have done some fabulous things with it, so clearly they love it too! What comes to your mind when you see it? The elegant curls to the side made me think of a wedding card, so that's what I decided to make.

I wanted to go really subtle with the curls, so I cut them from Soft Sea Foam Cardstock, which is the same as the layer underneath, which was embossed with the Subtle 3DTIEF. The little flourishes were from the new Well Written Framelits dies. Aren't they pretty? I wanted to add a little splash of colour, so I used some of the Petal Promenade DSP on the card. The gorgeous rose paper is perfect for a wedding card, as it looks just like a bouquet of roses.

How much fun I this stamp set? It's a new purchase from Ink Road Stamps, and it's called 'As You Wish' and is full of quotes and fun images inspired by the movie The Princess Bride. In case you're not familiar, the priest doing the wedding ceremony in the movie has a speech impediment and can't pronounce the letter r. Now I just need to find a bride and groom who love the movie so I can give them this card!

On the inside I used one of my favourite sets for sentiments - Beautiful Bouquet. There wasn't another quote in the As You Wish set that would work on the inside, so I thought a simple congratulations would be best. Oh, and more of that gorgeous DSP!

The Just Add Ink team have had a lot of fun with this week's sketch. You can see all the cards, and then link up your own over at the blog. See you there!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #213: Floral Romance

Hi!

Welcome back to CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge and Blog Hop.

Being a blog hop, all the blogs are linked in a loop, so you just keep hopping until you get back to where you started. The blog before mine was the lovely Elizabeth Gross. You may have started here, there, or anywhere on the hop - it really doesn't matter - but do make sure you see everyone's creations as they are always fabulous.

This week we are CASEing the Floral Romance section of the Occasions Catalogue. I'd sort of skipped over that section when I first looked at the catalogue, as I'm not big on Valentines and I don't make a lot of wedding cards. I realised what I was missing when I was made to look for this challenge. So many gorgeous things!

For the challenge, I settled on this pretty gift box. I don't have any of the product, but that's not really the point of CASEing. You don't have to copy exactly! Having said that, I did copy fairly closely, but I used alternate products.

My first thought when looking at this box was that I don't have the die used on the background. A quick flick through my Annual Catalogue reminded me that there was a similar piece in the Delightfully Detailed SDSP. I layered it over the top of some of the soft pink paper in the Petal Promenade DSP and then mounted it on some Smokey Slate cardstock that I'd run through the Big Shot with the Subtle 3DTIEF.

The main floral panel is also from the Petal Promenade DSP, cropped with a Stitched Oval Framelit. The leaves were cut using the Flourish Thinlits leaf from Mint Macaron and Soft Sea Foam cardstock. I love how the soft grey, pink and green work together!

I used a second piece of the Delightfully Detailed SDSP to create the border piece along the side of the inside. Silly me used the Very Vanilla side rather than the Whisper White side. Oh well, most people wouldn't even notice that! The hearts, like the vellum heart on the front, are cropped using the Support Ribbon dies.

Now you're off to Peta Stephen's blog so that you can continue your way around the Blog Hop.

Don't forget to join us in our Facebook group. It's where you can see what everyone has made for the challenge, and you can add your card to the group to join in the challenge too.

Bye for now,

Tina

Dragonflies In The Mossy Meadow

Hi!

This week's Colour Creations features Mossy Meadow, a colour I am yet to really warm to. It's a part of the Neutrals family and is a dark, earthy green. It's a feature colour in the gorgeous Petal Promenade DSP pack, so that was my starting point for this card.

My class ladies had seen this card on my blog, featuring the Inlaid Dies Technique, and were keen to give it a go. That card was too complicated for a class situation, so I made this as a simpler alternative. I love how the floral paper looks cut into the dragonfly shape!

So as a recap, the technique is a bit like masking, but with dies. You start at the back by cutting the circle. The hole is then 'filled' by the same sized circle in a different pattern paper, held in place with washi tape on the back. Next I cut the top dragonfly, again filling the hole with the floral paper. Finally, I cut and filled the lower dragonfly. You need to use a *lot* of washi on the back to hold it all in place, but it's worth it - I love the look!

I kept the circle from the front, and also the first dragonfly die cut, to use on the inside. The dragonfly wasn't a complete cut, so I made sure he was flying off the edge to disguise that fact.

I hope you like the card and try out the technique - it's a fun one!

Why not pop on over to Catherine's Blog, where you can see what everyone else has done with Mossy Meadow this week?

Bye for now,

Tina

Double Folded Grapefruit

Hi!

Thanks for joining me for another Colour Creations Blog Share.

This week we are looking at Grapefruit Grove. At the risk of becoming an outcast, this isn't a colour I've yet warmed to. I like that it's a very different colour to anything else in our range, and I will acknowledge that it's a useful colour, but it's just not one that I find myself reaching for unless I have to. I'll duck for cover now!!

I often start my Colour Creations process by looking at which DSP has the colour of the week. In this case it was the Petal Promenade DSP. As soon as I realised and saw the pieces with the frames, I knew exactly what I was going to make.

I can't recall what this fold is called, but it's super easy to make. It's just two top fold cards, one slightly smaller than the other that is adhered upside down to the front of the larger base, and then folded to create the extra little bit at the front. The floral frames are actually quite small, so I started with them and built my card up from there.

I had to use one and a half of the frames to make the card, and the trickiest part was cutting the half piece so that it lined up exactly with the full frame behind it. The photo doesn't show it very well, but I managed to get it pretty spot on. I was quite chuffed!

The DSP piece along the bottom was from the same sheet of paper as the frames on the front. The flowers reminded me of a wedding bouquet, so that's where I went with the inside of the card.

Why not pop on over to Catherine's blog so that you can see the rest of this week's Grapefruit Grove cards? Maybe the colour will warm on me by the end of the Blog Share!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #430: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

Hooray for Friday and a new Just Add Ink challenge! This week Rochelle found this gorgeous picture to inspire our creativity. Wouldn't you just love to receive a bouquet like this? I would!

My eye first jumped to the thick twine tied around the neck of the jar, so that's where I started with my card.

I cheat a little to get a round shape - I punched a large circle from Whisper White cardstock and then ran a line of glue around the edge. I then lay the twine over the glue and held in place until it dried. Instant twine circle for the wreath! Because I adhered it to Whisper White card, no-one can tell that I used the circle!

I used my new Sprig punch to cut some leaves in Soft Sea Foam to go under the flowers. I also stamped some similar leaves in SSF using a stamp from the Notes Of Kindness Card Kit, but they are a little tricky to see in the photo. The flowers are ones from my stash that I've had for yonks! I used some new Frosted Epoxy Droplets for the centres.

I wanted to give the card a floral border, so I used some of the lovely Petal Promenade DSP as a layer on the card. I like that it gives a dark border, but not a solid dark - there are some areas of softer colours.

You can see cards made by the rest of the Design Team over at the Just Add Ink blog. Those girls do florals so well!

Bye for now,

Tina

The Early Bird Catches The Espresso

Hi!

Welcome to the new Colour Creations Blog Share.

This week we are all using Early Espresso on our cards. It's a rich brown that works fabulously as an alternative to Basic Black when you're wanting a dark neutral colour. It took me a little while to warm to Early Espresso when it first came out - I was a Chocolate Chip girl - but now it's a colour I use a lot.

For my card today I've paired it with Grapefruit Grove and Very Vanilla. I recently purchased the Botanical Tags Thinlits, and thought that they'd look great as a silhouette effect on my card.

It might be a little difficult to see, but I've painted the two birds and the word 'amazing' with a layer of Wink Of Stella. Can you see the new Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder on my card? It's so pretty!

Again, it's difficult to see in the photo, but instead of using Very Vanilla cardstock on my card I've actually used a sheet of DSP from the Petal Promenade DSP pack. It's got a very subtle pattern that's perfect for stamping on. Can you see the swirls through the paper on the inside of my card? I also used it under the sentiments on the front of the card. It's a quick and easy way of creating a subtle effect on a card.

You can see the rest of this week's cards over at Catherine's Blog. Now I'm off to get stuck into making next week's card.

Bye for now,

Tina