JAI 666: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday - it's been a long week, as Hudson has been home sick with a cold again. It feels like only a few weeks since the last cold! Oh well, winter has to be over soon, doesn't it?

Speaking of winter, Just Add Ink are using this fun, snowy Inspiration Photo to challenge your card making this week. Jan found the image for us, and it's inspired a whole lot of creativity amongst the Design Team. Hopefully it will spark something in you, too.

I went with the sky and the snow as the key focus for my card. I pulled out my old sponge rollers to ink up some Whisper White cardstock with Balmy Blue and Blueberry Bushel inks. From that point on, I think what could go wrong, went wrong on my card! The first was that I accidentally debossed the inked panel rather than emboss. Whoops!

I then decided to make the card sparkly by misting some shimmer paint/isocol over the card. Unfortunately the first mister I used came out in a stream, not a mist! I ended up with splatters through the inked panel. I kinda like the look though, even if it wasn't what I was initially going for.

The final oops was my sentiments. It's from a big Concord & 9th stamp set, called Mix & Match Holiday Sentiments. No matter what I try, I just can't get it inked up evenly. It will just have to do!

We'd love for you to play along with us this week. Maybe you're in the heat of summer and dreaming of a cooler winter. Maybe you're dreaming of summer while shivering through a cold winter! Or perhaps, like me, you're keen to get started on our Christmas card making. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll see the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You can also link up your card to enter the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 342: CASE Your Favourite Mini Project

 Hi!

Hello again! It's been about a month since I've been able to play along with the CTC Crew, and I'm so glad to be back! Last time I'd posted Hudson and I were both unwell, and it's taken me this long to get caught up with everything that needed to be caught up with. 

This week we are challenging you to CASE your favourite Mini Catalogue project. There's two months left to enjoy the products in this catalogue, so maybe this blog hop/challenge will help you to discover some new favourites. An old favourite of mine is the Heartwarming Hugs DSP, so this card caught my eye when I was flicking through the catalogue for inspiration.

I love the shimmer paste snowflakes, and the angled sentiment dividing the card is fabulous. I went for a completely different DSP and colour scheme though!

Many years ago, SU released a suite of Christmas products that included Whisper White,Coastal Cabana and Real Red. I've loved that combo for Christmas cards ever since! Today's card is a little different, as the DSP (from Pattern Party Host DSP) is Pool Party. I matched it with Poppy Parade and Silver Foil.

The snowflakes are from the Gingerbread Dies, and the sentiments are from Christmas To Remember. I applied Adhesive Sheet to the back of the Silver Foil before cropping the snowflakes. Way less messy than trying to apply glue after they are cut!

I actually made two of these cards, because the way you cut the DSP on the front suits two cards. I simply cut a card front sized piece of DSP and measured 3.5 inches down from the top left corner and up from the bottom right corner. I then cut from mark to mark. I cut through the DSP and cardstock at the same time so that they would be perfectly matched. It's never too much extra work to create a second card at the same time, and it's a great way to boost your Christmas card stash a little faster. We all need that at this time of year.

As always, you can join in with our challenge by posting a photo of your creation to our Facebook group. It's that easy!

Please continue your way around our blog hop tonight, as there's plenty of gorgeous inspiration to be found. Next up is Peta Stephen, with a beautifully, serene Christmas card.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 334: Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite

 Hi!

Happy Sunday! And Happy Father's Day to the dads out there! My kids treated Rob to a sleep in, some thoughtful gifts and pancakes for breakfast. My daughter also plans to cook dinner, so I'm sure Rob will say he's had a great day.

This week for the CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge, we are asking you to CASE the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite. We've expanded that to include pages 8 to 15, so there is plenty of choice for you to CASE. I'm very much a blue girl, so this card on page 13 caught my eye.

I loved the gold snowflakes against the deep blue, and the soft sponging over the sentiment. I'm still tossing up about buying those snowflake dies - they are very pretty, but I don't often use snowflakes on my Christmas cards.

I do have the Gingerbread Dies, and so I used the snowflake die from that set on my card. I backed a piece of the Gold Brushed Metallics paper with some Adhesive Sheet before die cutting, so that the delicate snowflake was easy to adhere to my card. 

The background of my card is a retired embossing folder, I think called Winter Snow. I sponged over the top of it with a Blending Brush and Misty Moonlight ink, making sure that it was darker around the edges and faded to white in the middle.

I did a little more sponging on the inside so that I could add another gold snowflake over the top. The sentiments I used are from Christmas To Remember, with the front on cropped using a Stitched So Sweetly Die.

After you've finished checking out our Blog Hop, don't forget to pop on over to our Facebook group. You need to be a member to enter the challenge, but that's an easy process. We can't wait to see what you make.

Next up tonight is the wonderful Peta Stephen. You won't want to miss her gorgeous metallic card.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #298: CASE An Embossing Folder Project

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. 

This week Bec has challenged us to CASE a project that features an embossing folder. You can choose a project from either of the two current catalogues, so there's plenty to choose from!

I chose my project to CASE from the back of the August-December Mini Catalogue. It's a card designed to show off the Coming Home bundle, but it features the Winter Snow Embossing Folder.

I recently purchased the Tag Buffet Project Kit, and at the end there are 5 of these Christmas Tree laser cut pieces left. I couldn't let them go to waste, so I made a set of cards for them. The sentiment banners were also left over pieces from the kit. I used the plain curved die in the Home Together Dies to cut the Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper. It's the same curve as on the original card, just upsized!

I used the inked embossing folder technique to add a little something to my card. I simply tapped my Balmy Blue inkpad all over the indented side of my embossing folder, placed my cardstock in it and ran it through my Big Shot. The ink stays on the flat sections of the cardstock, leaving the raised snowflakes white. It's so pretty!

The stamped sentiments are both from the Joy To The World Paper Pumpkin kit. I am getting so much use out of them!  I also added a little offcut from the embossed panel to the inside.

I forgot to trim one of the snowflake pieces, so I ended up with one card with a narrow border rather than the wider border, as in the CASEd card. I'm not sure which I like best! What do you think? The Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper looks much nicer in this photo too!

To join in with our challenge, just make your card, take a photo and upload it to our Facebook group. It's that easy!

I'm the last stop on this week's Blog Hop if you started with Julia or in the Facebook group. If you started mid way though, please hop on over to Julia's blog. Her cards are stunning!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #296: Step Up a Mini Catalogue Project

 Hi!

Thank you for jointing me for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. This week Bec has challenged us to take a project from the August-December Mini Catalogue and step it up.

So what does 'step it up' mean? Pretty much just to make it a bit more fancy or complicated - or a lot more if you're like me and just can't help yourself!

I had a hankering to use the Warm & Toasty stamp set, so I decided to CASE one of the samples that used the stamps. I kept my layout pretty much the same, and just tweaked a few things.

One of the easiest ways to step it up is to add layers. In my case, I added a Silver Foil layer to the card base, and a Purple Posy layer under the focal Silver Foil Oval. I made the sentiment panel a little fancied by using a Stitched Rectangle die to crop it.

My favourite part of the card, though, is the background. The sample used alternating strips of DSP, but I went a lot fancier. I started by embossing a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Winter Snow embossing folder. I then used the Faux Mother-Of-Pearl technique over the top. To do this I used scrunched up plastic wrap to apply Frost White Shimmer paint to the card in a pouncing motion. Once dry I used my blending brushes to add some Balmy Blue, Blushing Bride and Purple Posy ink over the top. It's so shimmery and pretty - but very hard to photograph!

I had a left over strip of the piece to use on the inside. The sentiment here is from the Joy To The World Paper Pumpkin kit. Have you got your's yet? It's such a lovely kit!

To join in our challenge, all you need to do is add a photo of your card to our Facebook group. You don't need a blog or any fancy photography equipment, just join the group and away you go!

Before you get creating though, please do finish our Blog Hop. Next up is the lovely Sandra with her gorgeous floral cards. You won't want to miss them!

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #293: CASE A Card From Page 36

 Hi!

I'm back with you this week for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. I had to miss last week, as my littlest boy had a few medical challenges. He's all good now though.

This week we are asking you to CASE a card from page 36 of the August - December Mini Catalogue. It features the Snowflake Splendor Suite of products. As pretty as they are, I don't have any of this suite, so I had to think a little bit out of the box.

I ended up choosing this card from the bottom left of the page to CASE, simply because of the ink blending. I do love an ombre background!

I had a piece of Whisper White card in my stash that had been embossed with the Winter Snow Embossing Folder when I had a stamping day with a friend recently. I used a blending brush to apply some Flirty Flamingo ink so that it was darker at the bottom and faded to white at the top. The original card has the fade going sideways, but I much prefer this way!

The 'joy' stamp and die is from the Peace & Joy bundle, but the wreath underneath is from the New Paper Pumpkin kit, Joy To The World. They work so perfectly together! I layered it over a piece of Silver Foil and Coastal Cabana cardstock, both cut into banners using my Banners Pick A Punch.

The inside sentiment is also from the Joy To The World kit. I really love the neat, handwritten style font. And it works perfectly side by side with Peace & Joy - you will be seeing a lot more of it on my blog!

There are five different cards and a cute little tin that you can choose from to CASE. Which one catches your eye? You can participate in our challenge by posting a photo of your project to our Facebook group.

In the meantime though, please do continue with the Blog Hop. Technically, I'm the last stop, but if you started in the middle you can hop on through to Monique's blog. Her card is so cute, you won't want to miss it!

Bye for now,

Tina