JAI 603: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Woo hoo for Friday! It's been a busy week, so I'm looking forward to the weekend. I hope that you are, too. 

This week at Just Add Ink, Nikki has given us a pretty colour combo to create with. Hehe, I think that a lot of the Design Team thought that it was a very floral combo, as there are lots of flower cards in the gallery. I was no exception!

These colours work so beautifully with the Butterflies & Flowers Layering Masks, don't you think? I started with a base of Blushing Bride and added the Rich Razzleberry over the top. The final layer was the Mint Macaron leaves.

I had some Mint Macaron Glimmer Paper in my stash, so I used the long-retired Expressions Thinlit Dies to crop the word 'love'.

I made this card to give to my Mother-In-Law for Mother's Day, so finished it off with some more stencilling and a sentiment from Timeless Tulips. She loved the card (and the gift) that we gave her.

You can see the rest of this week's Design Team cards over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also link up your card for our challenge. What do you see in our colour combo this week?

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

Colour Creations: Petal Pink

 Hi!

Welcome to Petal Pink week of the Colour Creations Blog Hops. I thought that I'd give a Fancy Fold a spin this week. I'm not exactly sure of the name of the fold, it's just something that's been bouncing around in my 'must try this' part of the brain for a while. I guess it's some kind of Easel card. I'm certainly not claiming to have invented the fold -I just can't recall where/when I saw it.

Here's the card flat. I scored the front of the card base in half and then ran it though my Big Shot with the second largest Layering Circles Die, but with the top plate of the sandwich only covering the top half of the card front, level with the score line. I hope that makes sense! The effect of this was that only the top half of the circle die cut through the card stock.

You can see it a bit better when it's open in the easel position. The top half of the circle pops up from the top. You could probably get the same effect by just adhering a circle die cut to sit over the top of the fold, by this way just adds a bit more fancy to the fancy fold, LOL.

Here's a closer look at the inside, with plenty of room to write a message.

The next stop along the way is the lovely Rachel Woollard. I can't wait to see what she's made with Petal Pink.

Catherine Proctor's blog is the place to go is you run into any difficulty. She's got a list of all participants on her blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

Freshly Made Sketches 517

 Hi!

EDIT: how exciting! My card was chosen by Linda to be a Princess! Thank you!

I've once again found myself with time to play along with Freshly Made Sketches. I've been watching the Ashes Test Cricket and crafting along at the same time. What fun!

I took a few days to ponder in how to interpret this sketch and decided that a slimline card with butterflies was the go.

I don't often make slimline cards, but I think this occasion called for it. It's a great way to fit a heap of big images without them getting too crowded. The butterflies are from the retired Butterfly Bijou DSP and the sentiment is from Timeless Tulips.

I stamped a row of splatters using a stamp from Sweet Ice Cream. You can't really see much of them after the butterflies were added over the top, but I still like the little peeps here and there.

You can see them a little more on the inside, though. The inside sentiment is from Peaceful Moments. The card is going to someone near and dear to me who just tested positive to Covid, so I used a 'gushier' sentiment on the inside than I would usually use.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 350: CASE The Mini Catalogue Cover

 Hi!

Welcome back to the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hops for 2022! The Crew have had a short break, but now we are back and raring to go! 

With a new Mini Catalogue due to go live to customers in the next day or so, we are challenging you to CASE the cover of the catalogue. There are lots of ways you could do this - the theme, the colours, the layout, the techniques - your imagination can go wild!

I chose to make a tulip card for my CASE. I pulled out my trusty Timeless Tulips stamp set and my Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green and So Saffron inks and off I went! I really liked the colouring of the tulips on the cover, but I chose to replicate this in the inked strip behind my blooms. I just masked off the area and used my Blending Brushes to apply the ink.

I also liked the thin black frame around the main elements in the cover photo. Rather than mess around with a ruler, I chose to hand-draw mine. I deliberately make the lines a little wobbly so that it's a design choice,  rather than attempting straight lines and messing it up.

One more tulip, with a bit of ink blending, on the inside and I was done! I quite like this colour combo - it's very soft and pretty.

Have you joined in with our challenges yet? To do so, you need to be a member of our Facebook group. Click on the button below and request to join the group and the hardest part of the challenge is done!

Please continue your way around our blog hop to see all of the gorgeous inspiration we have for you. The next hopper is my wonderful friend Judy - I really can't wait to see what she's made, as she's a super-star with floral cards!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 583: Just Add A Sketch

Hi! 

Hooray for Friday! It's been a long week in my household, as Hudson has been home sick with a cold. During the week Alex also got sick, so I'm pretty much expecting that all of us will come down with the bug. Not fun when the warmer, summery weather is just starting! The upside of staying home and cancelling appointments is more crafting time. Yay!

This week Kim has designed this fun Sketch for our Just Add Ink challenge. I do love a good sketch, and I knew the exact stamp set from my stash that would be perfect for the layout. It's called A Fox's Life, from the Colorado Craft Company.

Isn't it gorgeous???? If the artwork seems a little familiar, the artist, Anita Jeram, is also the illustrator of the Guess How Much I Love You books.

I stamped the image twice on watercolour paper, and then used the coordinating A Fox's Life Dies to crop one version. The other I watercoloured roughly as the background, starting with the moon. The rest of the sky uses Night Of Navy ink, I just faded out the colour as I got closer to the moon. A bit of Shimmer Paint flicked over to top to give the illusion of stars finished off the front.

You can see that I popped up the cropped section of the scene over the top of the background. I carefully coloured around the edge of the die cut, as I did not want a white halo surrounding the popped up section. This way it still gives dimension, but looks more natural.

I stamped the same image in Balmy Blue ink on the inside of my card. The inside sentiment is from Timeless Tulips, as the font is a pretty close match to the one used in the Fox's Life stamp set. A very happy coincidence!

That's all from me for tonight, but your job is just beginning! After you've checked out all the Design Team cards, you can get creating on your card. Once you've finished, just link it up over on the Just Add Ink blog. You must link it there to be in the running.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Melon Mambo

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me on another Tuesday evening for the new Colour Creations Showcase. This week we are all using Melon Mambo in our creations. Many years ago, the release of Melon Mambo as an additional In Colour was the start of the process of bringing the South Pacific market into line with the North American market. Although it's not a colour that I use a lot, it has that special little place in my SU journey.

I paired it with a stamp set that I don't use a lot either - Timeless Tulips. I was inspired by some cards by Michelle Taylor recently. She's the queen of In The Round stamping, or wreath stamping, where you use your Stamparatus to stamp in a circular design. My base layer has the largest tulip flower stamped either time in a circle. I layered a piece of Vellum, cropped with the swirly Painted Labels Die, over the top. I also teased out a length of the Forever Greenery Gold Thread and layered it over the Vellum.

Finally, I used my Stamparatus again to stamp the smallest tulip bud in the round. I fussy cut around the edge and them popped it up over the other layers. The smallest circle Stitched Shapes Die was the perfect space for the sentiment.

I layered the same two tulips on the inside, this time on the straight instead of in the round. I didn't usually pop up elements on the inside, but I felt that the row of smaller tulips needed it.

As always, it's time to pop on over to Catherine's blog, where she's hosting all of the rest of this week's Melon Mambo links. I can't wait to see what everyone does with this bold colour!

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Highland Heather

 Hi!

It's time once again for the new Colour Creations Creative Showcase! This week we are up to Highland Heather, a soft purple from the Subtles colour family. It's a lovely purple, and the addition of it, and Gorgeous Grape, to the colour line up a few years ago made lots of people very happy.

A couple of months ago I participated in an ATC swap that featured the Faux Mother Of Pearl technique, and I thought it would be a good one to use again with Highland Heather.

I started by masking off the strip along the bottom of my Thick Whisper White card base with some sticky notes. I then scrunched up some soft plastic wrap and dipped it onto some Frost White Shimmer Paint. I then dabbed the plastic all along the masked off section. You don't want the paint to completely cover the cardstock, so don't be too heavy handed. Once if was dry I sponged some Highland Heather ink over the top, and then peeled away the sticky notes.

In this extreme side shot you can see the white of the shimmer paint a little better. The poppy was coloured with my Highland Heather Blends and cropped using a Painted Labels Die. The sentiment, from Timeless Tulips, was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto Highland Heather card and cropped with the Banners Pick A Punch.

The bottom of the inside also has the Faux Mother Of Pearl treatment. I was unsure of how to proceed after applying the Highland Heather ink. I was going to stamp the same poppy as the front, but I though it might look too sparse. Luckily the Painted Poppies stamp set has the row of poppies. Perfect! I considered colouring the poppies that sit above the Faux Mother Of Pearl with my Blends, but I decide I liked them better plain. What do you think?

The rest of this week's links can be found over on Catherine's blog. I can't wait to see what everyone else has made with Highland Heather.

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

CTC #266 Week 2: Easter Cards

Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the second week of our CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. I don't know about where you are, but it was a wet, miserable weekend in Adelaide - perfect for crafting!

Once again, we are making Easter cards based on the sketch below.

I went way more literal this week than last week!

I started by making the daisy, and everything else flowed from that. I cut three daisies of each size from Whisper White cardstock and then glued the three layers together. I used my sponge dauber and some Rococo Rose ink to lightly sponge around the edges of the petals before adhering the small daisy to the larger one. The centre of the flower is just a 1/2" circle, sponged as well.

The leaves are actually from the Poppy Moments Dies. I don't know if they are accurate daisy leaves, but they are good enough for me! I cut them in Soft Sea Foam, to match the card base.

I used a left over strip of Rococo Rose gingham DSP on the inside, alongside the sentiment from Peaceful Moments.

I hope you are staying home and staying safe. I certainly am! The kids are on school holidays now, which should mean more crafting time for me. If it means more crafting time for you too, why not join in our challenge? You just need to join our Facebook group.

That's it from me, so now you're off to see the sweet Easter cards that my lovely friend, Rachel has made.

Bye for now,

Tina