JAI 788: Colour and Inspiration

 Hi!

Hello, and welcome to another challenge from Just Add Ink. This fortnight we have a Colour & Inspiration Challenge, suggested to us by Nikki.

It's a wet, windy, cold evening here in Adelaide as I write this post, and the cat snuggled up in a blanket is the perfect image to describe where I'd like to be. Although, being human, I'd like a cup of tea and a good book with me as I snuggle!

I'm definitely a blue girl, so this colour scheme was right up my alley. I don't have any suitable cat themed things in my stash, so I decided to go with birds instead. I fussy cut these birds from a sheet of Flight & Airy DSP. The backing DSP is also from the same pack. The watercolour effect is so pretty!

I'm not sure why I chose to make a sympathy card. I (fortunately) don't have need for one at the moment, but it never hurst to have a few in the stash, just in case. The sentiment is from Heal Your Heart, cropped with a Tasteful Labels die. I layered it over a Layering Ovals diecut, that I embossed with my Subtle DTIEF. It's hard to see in the photo!

The inside of the card includes both another bird and another sentiment from the supplies that I mentioned that I used on the front of the card.

What will you take inspiration from in this fortnight's challenge? You can see what the rest of the Design Team have created over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also find our challenge gallery there when you're ready to link up your card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #509: Just Add Colour

Hi!

Woo, it's Friday, which, as always, meant it's time for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Di has put together a very sweet colour combination for us to use.

As soon as I saw the combo, my first thought was 'baby card', but clearly the rest of the DT thought 'floral card'. LOL! I teased them that out 'F' challenge was last week, not this week.

I've been chasing my tail all week, so quick and easy was definitely the go for this card. I used the just-retired Elephant Builder Punch for the card. It's so cute for baby cards! I think it will find a home in my stash for a while yet.

I embossed both the So Saffron layer (after I'd cropped it with the largest Stitched Rectangle Die) and the elephants with the Subtle 3DEF. You'll notice that I didn't emboss the elephant ears though. This was deliberate, to hopefully make them a little more visible from the elephant's bodies. The stamped sentiment is from the Peaceful Moments stamp set.

I used the same set for the inside sentiment too, along with another wee elephant. I stamped with Crumb Cake ink, but I think my ink pad needs reinking, as it's quite light. Luckily that works well for a baby card!

Time to head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of this week's Design Team cards. I hope you can find time to play along with us - it's a great colour combo to work with.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #507: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

It's been a bit of a cold and wet week in Adelaide this week, so perfect weather for crafting! I had a play day on Wednesday, where I watched both Mamma Mia movies and crafted the day away. It's been a long time since I've been able to do that, so it was heavenly! One of the cards I made was for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Jackie has designed a fun, funky sketch for us to use.

I love the quirk of the angled line at the bottom. While it would be easy to just go straight across the card, the diagonal adds a touch of fun to a card.

Speaking of fun, I took the opportunity to play with a Stamp set that I recently purchased from Kindred Stamps, called Legendary. The gamers out there may think that this character looks familiar. I'm not very 'up' with him, but my kids and hubby know exactly who he looks like! I created a forrest background for him, as it suits his outfit and pointy ears. I used a mix of Waterfront and Snow Front to create the scene. Did you notice the cloud? I stamped it with some First White Shimmer Paint to give the wispy look of a cloud.

The character himself was coloured sing my Stampin' Blends. I used both my Ivory and Bronze Blends to colour his skin - Ivory for the bulk of the area, and then the Bronze to add shadows around his hairline or the edge of his clothing. It's a great trick when the Ivory on its own is too flat. The legendary die is from Sweet Stamp Shop and it just called Legendary Word. It's a match made in heaven with this stamp set!

I recreated much of the same scene, including the wispy cloud, on the inside of my card. The female character has made her home here. I had assumed that she was the main character, and should be on the front of the card, but Rob tells me that the male character is the main character, even though the game is named for her. Go figure!

That's all from me this week. Did you like my card with Jackie's fun sketch? You can see what the rest of the Design Team made with it over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card to enter our challenge. Can't wait to see what you make of the sketch!

Bye for now,

Tina

AWH April Creative Showcase: Mother's Day

Hi!

Welcome to the Art With Heart Stampin’ Up! Team Monthly Creative Showcase. The theme for this month’s showcase is Mother’s Day. Under the current conditions Mother’s Day this year is going to be completely different to any other Mother’s Day celebrations.

I'm not sure yet how we will celebrate! My mum lives in a different state and my MIL lives in a little town nearly an hour away from us. I see several FaceTime calls on the horizon for Mother's Day! I guess a mother's job is to keep her family safe and healthy, so we will do that by staying in our little household bubble.

The Art With Heart Team are hoping to share a little Mother’s Day love and inspiration with you tonight.

My Mother-In-Law loves her cruising - although that might change! When I thought of what card I could make for. her, I decide to go with a tropical theme to fit with the cruises she's taken recently. I started by stamping a heap of images from Timeless Tropical in Memento ink. I then coloured them using my Watercolour Pencils, blending with my old favourite, Wink Of Stella. The piece they are layered on comes from the temporarily retired Nature's Thoughts Dies. I sponged the top half with Pool Party ink, and the bottom half with So Saffron, hoping it would look like sand and sky.

I googled frangipanis to see what colours to use, and I found a gorgeous variety called Darwin Monsoon. They are tricolour, so I used Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight to colour the blooms. I layered a couple of ribbons under the sentiment, which is a shortened image from the Beautiful Day stamp set. I didn't have any Rich Razzleberry ribbon, so I coloured a length of Whisper White Seam Binding with my Dark Rich Razzleberry Blend.

I used the same DSP from the front on the inside. Both pieces of Tropical Oasis DSP have been dry embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder. The inside sentiment is from Timeless Tulips. I hope my MIL likes her tropical Mother's Day card, even though she won't be going on any tropical cruises for a very ling time!

That's all from me tonight, now you're off to see the wonderful creations of the lovely Rebecca Jacovou.

Bye for now,

Tina

If you have a broken link or have come to this blog hop midway, you can view all the participants below:

Rebecca Jacovou

Vicki Boucher

Rachel Woollard

Sharon Davern

Catherine Proctor

Kate Morgan

Andrea Sargent

Kathryn Mangelsdorf

Rachel Palmieri

Caroline Manwaring

Michele Taylor

Tina Gillespie

JAI #497: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

Hooray, it's nearly the weekend! Time for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Kim has designed a sketch for us to follow. I love all of the different sized squares/rectangles!

I super-sized the shapes so that I could use the Power Of Hope stamp set.

The shapes are just perfect for the images in the stamp set! I stamped them all in Memento ink and then coloured them with my Stampin' Blends. I used Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Night Of Navy, Balmy Blue, Basic Black, Bronze and Ivory.

I'm not sure if you can see, but I embossed the gorgeous Lily Impressions DP with the Subtle 3D folder, just to enhance the 'paint on canvas' look of the DSP.

The sentiments I used are both from the Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin box. It's nice to use them - I often forget about them!

Time now to head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can find the rest of the Design Team cards, and you can also add your entry to the challenge. We'd love to see what you do with Kim's sketch!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #265 Week 1: Second Release Sale-A-Bration

Hi!

Thanks for joining me again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Blog Hop Challenge. We are at the start of a new fortnight's challenge, which is to CASE any project from the Second Release Sale-A-Bration catalogue. Have you arrived here from Michelle's blog, or are you starting here? As always, just keep hopping around all the blogs until you get back to where you started.

My inspiration this week is the card on page 4, that has the mugs facing in opposite directions.

I wracked my brain for a while about what I could use to get that effect, and then I remembered my Bird Ballad DSP. It was very simple to fussy cut two of the bird images that faced in different directions. They were popped up on my Pool Party card.

I embossed the top layer with the Subtle 3DEF, just for a bit more interest, and because I love the folder! I used a strip of card for the sentiment, like the original card, but I only flagged on end. A few Iridescent sequins finished off the front.

For the inside I fussy cut a third, smaller group of birds. I couldn't find a sentiment I felt suited the card for the inside (I like to try to match fonts!), so I just left it blank - more room for writing!

Apart from the fussy cutting, this was such a fast and easy card to put together. I was very pleased with how it turned out!

To enter our challenge you don't need a blog, just a Facebook account. Simply join our Facebook group and upload a photo of your card to the wall. Easy!

Thanks again for stopping by. Next you're off to the lovely Peta's blog. I wonder what Marvi has been up to this week?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #496: Just Add Inspiration

Hi!

Thanks for joining me again for the latest Just Add Ink challenge. This week Lou has found a beachy Inspiration photo for us to work with. It was good timing, as Adelaide has had a little burst of days over 30C, so it felt right to be playing with a summery image!

I don't have a lot of beachy themed stuff, so I decided to play more with the colours in the photo. I like the mix of the blue(ish!) water and the brown sand.

I started with a Sahara Sand card base, embossed with the Subtle folder. The DSP is from the Woven Threads pack. I love the rustic look of these papers, and thought they worked well as a water substitute.

Normally I'd use either Whisper White or Very Vanilla on a card, but this time I used both! I was hoping they looked a bit like the foamy water at the edge of the ocean, especially with the curly die cut (a sneak peek!!)

To give the card a bit more of a beachy feel I used the seahorse and shell from Seaside Notions on my card. They were stamped in Seaside Spray on Very Vanilla and fussy cut.

What do you see in the Inspiration Photo? The Design Team have taken a whole lot of different ideas and made some amazing cards! You can see the over at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card for this week's challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #263 Week 2: CASE The Kerchief Colours

Hi!

Thanks for joining us on Week 2 of our CASE of the Kerchief Card Kit Colours blog hop. You may be arriving here from Rebecca's blog, or you may be starting here. Just keep going until you get back to where you started. Have you checked out the kit? It's got the sweetest floral design printed on the card bases!

Last week I made a card that used the Coastal Cabana card, and my natural inclination for this week was to use the Poppy Parade card. However, I had a lovely day stamping with Kathryn Mangelsdorf and Rachel Palmieri recently, and I was able to stamp some images from Kathryn's Above The Clouds stamp set. I thought it would be a great way to get lots of the colours onto one card!

I started with a Balmy Blue base that I used my Shimmery Embossing Paste and the cloud mask to create a sky. To make the clouds look fluffy, I slapped the flat side of my fat palette knife over the smooth paste. I learned this technique when making lemon meringue pie, as it makes lovely peaks in the meringue. Don't you love it when skills from one area translate to other areas of your life? LOL!

The hot air balloons were coloured using Poppy Parade, Night Of Navy, Balmy Blue, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede and Mossy Meadow. I was colouring them while watching a movie with my daughter, who was home sick from school. She told me that the top balloon looked like a strawberry, so I had to add the bunting to make it less strawberry-like!

I used my cloud mask with some Balmy Blue ink to create the scattering of clouds across the bottom. Although, now that I think about it, I probably should have put them at the top of the card. Oh well, maybe I'll just pretend that the balloon is floating above the clouds!

That's all from me for tonight. Our challenge is run through our Facebook group. You can see all of the Crew cards posted during the week, and you can also post your card to enter our challenge. You don't need a blog or fancy equipment, just snap a photo and add it with a description. Easy!

Before you go, please do continue on with the hop. Next up is my wonderful friend, Judy, who always has something spectacular to see!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #263 Week 1: CASE The Kerchief Colours

Hi!

Hello, and welcome once again to the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. I'm the first stop on this week's blog hop, so you may have come here from our Facebook group, or you may have come from Judy's blog. Either way, just keep hopping until you get back to where you started!

This fortnight we are CASEing the colours of the Kerchief Card Kit. There are a heap of colours (Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana, Early Espresso, Gold, Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy, Petal Pink, Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade, White), so there are lots and lots of options. I recently received the card kit, and so I pulled it out to inspire some creativity. I naturally lean towards blues, so this week's cards focus on that side of the palette. I thought it would be pretty to punch some butterflies from the floral part of the card, and that naturally led to making a paid of Floating Frame cards.

Have you tried your hand at Floating Frame cards yet? They were all the rage about a year ago, and I haven't made one for a while. I punched as many butterflies as I could from the front of the pre-stamped card. I was so right about the butterflies looking pretty in the floral print!

This first card features most of the butterflies. The Press 'n' Seal pulled off a bit of the top layer as I peeled it away, but I decide to just go with the distressed look to some of the butterflies. I cut a Stitched Circle and layered it under a Subtle embossed layer for my sentiment. The gaps in the front were filled with gold sequins.

A couple of spare butterflies were used to finish off the inside.

The second card uses the butterflies cut from the centre of the first card. A larger gold Stitched Circle layers underneath, and the background is embossed sing the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. A Sentiment from Label Me Bold finished off the front of the card.

I had run out of Kerchief butterflies, so I used a gold one to complete the inside, LOL!

You have two weeks to get your card made and entered into our challenge. It's super easy - just photograph your card and post it to our Facebook group. Done!

Now it's time for you to hop on over to Michelle's blog. Au revoir 😉

Bye for now,

Tina