JAI 789: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

welcome to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This time we have a sketch for you, designed for us by Tristan.

I love all of the stripes in the sketch! When I sat down to create, I misremembered the sketch and thought that they were stripes, not separate strips. The chunky stripes on the DSP I used work perfectly though, I think.

The DSP is from the You're A Peach pack. The mix of Balmy Blue and Calypso Coral stripes are an unexpectedly lovely combination. Running the stripes in different directions adds interest and movement to the card.

The Layered Poppy stamps are from Altenew. I actually found the stamp set in an op shop, would you believe? It was a freebie with a magazine that clearly someone had not wanted. Their loss is my gain! It's a lovely mix of poppies, leaves and sentiments.

I used the same stamp and DSP on the inside. It's a lovely way to finish off a card.

We'd love to see what you'll do with Tristan's sketch. You can jump on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of the Design Team's gorgeous cards. You can also add your card to our challenge gallery when you're ready.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Balmy Blue

 Hi!

Thanks for stopping by for our Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are looking at Balmy Blue this week, a lovely, light blue. It's a blue that I really like and use a lot.

I've once again chosen to use a Brian King colour combo for my card. I thought it suited a masculine card, so I pulled out my On The Horizon bundle. I'm so sad that it is retiring at the end of the month!

I had fun playing with the Horizon Dies to create a scene on my card front. The Navy hill is actually in reverse - I felt it suited the layout better to have the bigger hill on the left. I had to creatively trim the piece so that it would fit across the card - it's more suited to a landscape card. 

I messed up the stamping on the front of the card - I forgot to stamp the Happy Birthday until after I'd put the Dimensionals on the back. I gave it a try, but as you can see, I had to cover the mess with a stamped banner instead!

Nice and simple on the inside. I really like the combo of the die cut trees and the stamped birds.

That's all from me for tonight - short and sweet! Next stop along the way is my lovely friend, Rachel Palmieri.

Catherine can help if you get stuck. She has a list of all participants on her blog, so jump on over there is you find a link that isn't working.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 354: Abstract Beauty Suite

Hi!

Hooray, it's time once again for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. This week we have returned to the Mini Catalogue and are asking you to CASE a project from the Abstract Beauty Suite pages of the catalogue.

At the time I made my card I was waiting for the dies to arrive, so instead of waiting I decided to choose a card that didn't use the dies. I settled on the card below.

I really liked the strong diagonal line in this card, with the busier DSP at the bottom of the card. I didn't want to make a small card, so I had to translate the idea to a regular sized card. I also thought that it's been while since I've used my Sweet As A Peach stamp set (other than for the sentiments), so that's what I decided to use.

I chose my DSP for this card based on the original card - I tried to get a plainer pattern on top, with the busier pattern at the bottom. I used some retired ribbon to hide the join. A few rhinestones were added instead of the hearts on the original card.

I stamped the peaches using both Pale Papaya and Calypso Coral ink. I inked the whole stamp with Papaya ink and then sponged some Coral ink along the sides. It's subtle, but I was pleased with the effect!

The DSP panel I created for the front of the card was actually full sized before I cropped it. As you can see, I've used the left over frame on the inside of the card, along with another stamped peach.

It's very easy to join in with our challenge, you just need to upload a photo of your card into our Facebook Group. We'd love for you to play along.

But before you dash off, please do continue your way around our blog hop. The next stop is the very clever Julia Quinn, who has a sweet fancy fold card for you to see.

Bye for now,

Tina

Just Us Girls 615

 Hi!

I'm sneaking in another challenge entry. Once again I found time to make a card while watching the Ashes cricket. Now that it's all over I may actually have to take down my Christmas decorations! 

A google search for card challenges led me to Just Us Girls and their colour challenge. Blue, Silver and White is definitely a 'me' combo!

I still had my Kindred Stamps Showtime and Showtime Sentiments stamp sets out, and would you know it - one of the characters is blue! I coloured him with my Copics - I think B95 anda B97, with a random yellow for the feet.

I grabbed some You're A Peach DSP for the striped background. Hehe, I thought that the subtle Stars and Stripes look would be good for him - not that he's subtle!

And of course, I couldn't resist adding a few more Silver Foil stars on the inside.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 323: CASE A Card Featuring Food

 Hi!

Hooray, it's time for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. It's such a great way to end the weekend!

This week we are asking you to CASE any card that features food on it. There are lots of different options - fruits, berries, ice creams, biscuits, and cooking utensils, to name a few. Flipping through my Annual Catalogue for inspiration, I found this card made with the Sweet Strawberry bundle.

I liked how the leaves and flowers behind the strawberries were stamped directly on the DSP, and how they cascade down the front of the card. However, instead of strawberries, I chose to go with peaches and used the Sweet As A Peach bundle.

I started with the Pear Pizzazz DSP from the coordinating You're A Peach DSP. The leaves from the stamp set were stamped from the top right corner, down towards the bottom left. Although the stamp has blank spots where the peaches or flowers are meant to be stamped, I ignored this and just stamped the leaves a heap of times. I then stamped the flowers and peaches separately and adhered them over the top

Some where popped up, others adhered flat to the DSP. I also cropped some leaves for the peaches from a scrap of the DSP and added them to the card. The finishing touch were a few Bumblebee Enamel Dots.

I kept the stamping much more simple on the inside - just the one set of leaves and flowers. I don't think it needed more than that.

That's my card for this week's challenge - what will you make? You can enter our challenge by posting a photo of your card in our Facebook group.

Before you race off to get inky, please do finish our blog hop! Next up is the lovely Sandra, with her super-cute card.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Balmy Blue

 Hi!

It's Colour Creations Blog Hop time again! This week it's Balmy Blue's turn. I'm very much a 'blue' girl, and this is probably the shade of blue that I reach for most often when I'm crafting. Today's card was made for my niece, who turns 15 this week. She and her mum (my sister) taught me and my other sister how to do macrame over Zoom last year, and so when I thought of a card for her, I wanted to include some macrame on it.

LOL, yes, that was handmade, using a bamboo skewer and some retired Thick Very Vanilla Baker's Twine. My fingers aren't nimble enough to use standard Baker's Twine! The Balmy Blue DSP is from the You're A Peach DSP pack. I popped it up over the Thick Very Vanilla base so that I could attach the macrame piece to the card. I first adhered the DSP to a piece of Balmy Blue cardstock to give it enough strength.

The sentiment is from the Sweet As A Peach stamp set, cropped with a Suit & Tie Die.

Like all good macrame crafters, nothing gets wasted, so the offcuts from the front piece were used to make a feather for the inside. It's going to be a thick card to send, but it's for someone special, so that's OK.

That's all from me for now, but please do continue on with the Blog Hop. Next up is my lovely friend, Di, who grows the most delicious apples and makes the most wonderful cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

In the event that a link is broken, here is the full list of tonight's participants:

Michele Taylor
Rachel Palmieri
Kate Morgan
Catherine Proctor
Caroline Manwaring
Sharon Davern
Christine Blain
Tina Gillespie <- you are here
Diane Furniss
Ros Davidson
Theresa Gerrard
Rachel Woollard
Rosa Leyden
Fiona Bell Ryan
Vicki Boucher