CTC #270 Week 2: CASE Your Favourite Retiring Punch Or Die

Hi!

Wow, what a contrast in weekends! Last weekend was sunny and we just had to get out and enjoy it, but this weekend was wet and cold, so perfect for staying home and crafting! I got into a cleaning/sorting mood yesterday, so I may have even done some online shopping to get myself some pretty containers from IKEA. I amongst that, I did get my card made for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. We are mid way through our current challenge, which is to CASE our favourite retiring punch or die.

As I did a die last week, I looked to my collection of punches for this week's card. I settled on the Decorative Ribbon Border Punch. After searching the Annual Catalogue, this Bird Ballad card, from page 15, was the only sample I could find that used the punch, so that's what I CASEd.

I have used the punch in the same way as on this card a lot - as a subtle little edge underneath a piece of DSP or card. I tend to use the small scallops, as I like that side best. For my card today, I decided to again use the little scallops, but to make them a bit more of a feature.

To do this, I punched the ribbon four times - three in Blackberry Bliss, and one in Gold Foil. You can see that on the bottom edge of the Best Dressed DSP I layered the punched ribbon, offsetting the scallops each time. The final punched ribbon went along the top of the DSP.

At this angle you can see the impact of the Gold Foil a bit more. The dreary weather made photography difficult today! To bring the Gold into the card a little more, I used a second retiring punch, Pretty Label, as a base for the fussy cut Best Dressed flower and Label Me Bold sentiment.

I used the Decorative Ribbon punch again on the inside. I like a little strip of cardstock under the DSP, but the scallops just add a little sweet touch to the card. The sentiment is from the Peaceful Moments stamp set.

That's all from me this week. To join in the fun with our challenge, you simply need to become a member of our Facebook group, and then start adding your pictures. Easy!

Before you go do that, don't forget to finish the blog hop! Next up you can float on over to Siobhan's blog, where you might go above the clouds!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #423: Just Add Colour

Hi!

This week at Just Add Ink we have a colour challenge for you. Kim has given us the following colours to work with.

Just a note that our Colour Challenge rules have changed slightly. Where previously we allowed the addition of any of the Neutrals to the challenge colours, with the Colour Revamp at Stampin' Up! we are now only allowing the addition of any of the Basics or Metallics.

I loved this colour combo, but I found Soft Suede the hardest to include. In the end, I decided to use it to make some earth for my sweet little elephant to stand on. Once I go my head around that, the rest came together easily! I used my Basic Grey Watercolour Pencil to colour the elephant and then blended (as usual!) with my Wink Of Stella pen. I think I've forgotten how to use the pencils with water!

To bring some silver into the mix, I heat embossed some stars and the sentiment. I didn't feel like it was enough silver, so I decided to add some to the edges of the main panel and the card base. To do this I swiped my Versamark inkpad over the edges of the cardstock and then tipped the embossing powder over the edges. I then heat set the powder as usual. It's such a cool effect, as it's not uniform all the way around the edge. It was my first time trying this technique, but certainly not the last!

I just had to include the back side of the elephant on the inside. It's hard to see in the photos, but I used my new Tufted DTIEF to emboss the Bermuda Bay cardstock on the front. I also embossed the smaller strip for the inside to tie them together.

That's ti for me today - you can see the gorgeous cards the rest of the team have created with Kim's colours over at the Just Add Ink blog. Don't forget our rules have changed slightly when you are making your masterpiece!

Bye for now,

Tina