Festive Friday #38

Hi!

Time for some Friday Christmassy inspiration from the new Festive Friday Challenge.  This week Nicole has designed a sketch for us to play with.

I loved this sketch - it allows a lot of room for playing and could be interpreted in soooo many ways.  Here's how I chose to use the sketch.

I used the new In Colour Midnight Muse as the base of my card, with Brushed Silver as the matt.  I quite like this rich new blue to play with.

The centre panel was embossed and then I used some Frost White Shimmer Paint on a sponge dauber to dab lightly over the panel.  Most of the paint settles on the raised sections of the cardstock, but little bits also land on the lower sections.  I like the 'dusted' look this gives.

Stamps: Snow Swirled, For My Family
Ink: Midnight Muse
Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Petals A Plenty Embossing Folder, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Sponge Dauber, Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Dimensionals

I hope you can play along with the new Festive Friday challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

French Foliage

Hi!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  I thought I'd post today's card before the weather warms up too much.  You see, it is one stamped using winter/autumn colours and now that it's spring the colours don't match the season anymore.  Do you ever get 'stuck' on things like that? lol

This card was made as a sample for my monthly stamping ladies.  I love the simplicity of the card - so easy to make but it looks so good.

After I photographed the card I looked at the picture of the inside and thought I probably should have stamped the splatter stamp over the leaves, like I did on the front.  Oh well, maybe next time!

Stamps: French Foliage, Just Believe
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, More Mustard
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Bye for now,

Tina

Lolly Bags Stampin' Up! Style

Hi!

If you've been reading my blog lately you'd know that my youngest had a big week last week.  He had his final day at Kindy (preschool) on Wednesday, he turned 5 and had his graduation from Kindy on Thursday and on Saturday he had his 5th Birthday Party.  We invited his friends to the local pool for a pool party!  We all had a blast and there were 10 very tired children come Saturday night.  I'd imagine there were some very tired grown ups too.  I was so tired Saturday night I opened my Stampin' Scrub and almost wrote in it before I realised I hadn't picked up my notebook!

Anyway....  I thought I'd show you the very quick and easy lolly bags I made for his friends to take home.  It was based on an idea I'd seen several times floating around on FaceBook.  First I gathered the materials I needed.

I love the Googlie Eyes from Stampin' Up!  They are self adhesive, which means you only need to pick them up off the backing sheet and stick them straight onto your project.  No more messing around with glue to stick them on.  Bonus!

Here's what I made with the materials above:

Butterfly lolly bags!  Aren't they the cutest???  I chose the Floral District DSP because I thought it coordinated well with the colours of the Smarties.   Here's the rest of the flock?, flutter? of butterflies.  What do you call a group of butterflies?

Oops, I spy one with no eyes!  Oh well!  I suggested to the mums that they could stick a magnet onto the back and use it on the fridge once the lollies were gone.

So there you go, a quick and easy way to make some lolly bags.

Bye for now,

Tina

New Annual Catalogue Blog Hop

Hi!

Here we are once again on another blog hop.  I love blog hops - they are such a wonderful way to spend some time gaining lots of inspiration.  The only thing better is stamping time!!!  There are 7 of us on this hop today so it won't take you long, but you're bound to find some fabulous ideas along the way.  We are all focusing on products from the New Annual Catalogue  The blog before mine is the clever Margaret Knoops.  Start or stop anywhere, it doesn't matter - just keep following the links to hop round the circle until you get back to where you started.  Please leave some comments along the way - we all love to know what you think of our projects.

My projects today were made for a special purpose.  My youngest finished preschool last week so they were made as gifts to give to his teachers and aides.

I made each teacher a card and decorated a candle to go in a goodie bag with some wine and chocolate.  I used the Floral District DSP as the basis for all my cards.  Here's a closer look at the stamped panel, cut using a Floral Frames Framelit.

The butterfly from Papillion Potpourri was stamped directly onto the panel, and then a second time onto a scrap of cardstock without reinking.  This gives a more muted effect with the colour.  I then punched it with the new Elegant Butterfly punch, curled the wings and adhered it with a glue dot over the top of the first butterfly.

The handprint isn't a stamp - it's Hudson's actual handprint.  I rubbed his hand on my Daffodil Delight ink pad and then stamped his hand onto the cardstock.  He had great fun 'helping' me.  I did it just before bathtime so I didn't have to worry about inky handprints everywhere!

Here's the same card and candle, just in Rose Red.  I made three sets at the same time in a bit of a production line.

The candles were bought as a set of three, I just cut a small strip of DSP to stick to the glass and tied some coordinating ribbon around the DSP.  I popped them in a cellophane bag and tied the top with more ribbon.  How lucky to find candles that colour matched the DSP so well!

Finally, the Baja Breeze card.  This one was for the Director of the centre, who is a man, so I tried to tone down the 'girliness' of the cards.  I kept the butterfly though, as I thought it was a great symbol of how Hudson has grown and changed while he's been at preschool.

Here they are together.  I had fun making these special gifts, and I hope the recipients love them.  It's hard to say but I think I like the Baja Breeze set the most - but I am a bit partial to blue!

Stamps: Notable Alphabet, Papillion Potpourri, Daydream Medallions, For My Family
Ink: Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight
DSP/Cardstock: Floral District DSP, Confetti White (retired), Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Floral Frames Framelits, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Glue Dots
Non-SU: Scented Candles, Cellophane Bags

Now you're off to see the fabulous creations over at Di Dunk's blog.  Please remember to leave a comment before you go, just click on the but below that says "Comments".

Bye for now,

Tina

Just Add Ink #136: Just Add Kids!

Hi!

It's Friday!!!!  Delys has come up with a fab challenge for us at Just Add Ink this week - Just Add Kids!  It's especially good timing for myself and Christine, as our youngest boys both had birthdays this week so we were able to kill two birds with the one stone.  Brilliant!

My little man Hudson is severely vision impaired and so I incorporated a lot of textures and contrasts into this card for him.  Basic Black and Daffodil Delight provide a strong contrast in colour for him. The bottom Daffodil layer has been embossed using the Chevron embossing folder for a bit of texture.  The 5 is cut from chipboard so it is raised from the card.  I painted it with crackle paint for a bit of added texture for his little fingers to find!

I pierced around the two Window Frame Framelits, although in hindsight I should have pierced from the back so he could feel the bumps more.  The truck is in two layers, popped up on Dimensionals, and the wheels have been covered in Crystal Effects for a bit more texture.  The card took a long time to make, but I'm very pleased with the outcome!

Another truck on the inside.  Yellow doesn't have much contrast on white, so I stuck with black and white for the inside.

I hope you can play along with us at Just Add Ink this week.  If you don't have a kid's birthday coming up, make a card anyway - they're always handy cards to have in the stash for when your children forget to give you the birthday invitation until the night before the party (or even worse, on the day of the party!).

Stamps: I Dig You, Happiest Birthday Wishes (retired Hostess), It's Your Day (retired)
Ink: Black Stazon, Daffodil Delight
DSP/Cardstock: Polka Dot Parade DSP, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Chevron Embossing Folder, Window Frames Framelits, Typeset Alphabet Dies, Piercing Tool, Piercing Mat, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Crackle Paint (non SU)

Bye for now,

Tina

A Pretty Party Card

Hi!

A super quick post from me today, as I have been very busy this week.  My youngest starts school next term and I've been in flurry of activity organising his enrolment and all the other little bits and pieces he needs!

The card I have for you was one made as a Make and Take at a party I did a couple of months ago.

There's a few retired items on this card - the Rhinestone brads and the birthday sentiment, but these are both easily substituted with new products from the catalogues.  I love the colour combination I used on this card: Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose and Whisper White.  Wild Wasabi is fast becoming a favourite colour of mine!

I hope to see you again soon - I have a Just Add Ink card ready for the new challenge on Friday, and on Saturday I am participating in a blog hop showcasing projects made featuring products in the Annual Catalogue.  There's sure to be lots to inspire, so don't forget to come back to see them.

Bye for now,

Tina

Guest Designers: Rob and Ada Gillespie

Hi!

A little something different today!  A few weeks ago Ada was invited to the birthday party of a classmate who she told me was mad on Star Wars.  She therefore wanted to make him a Star Wars card.  Hmmm.... So I handballed the job to my Star Wars mad husband, Rob!  Rob and Ada put their heads together and this is the card they came up with.

Not bad!  Even I recognise the Death Star out in space.  Here's a closer look.

I spy a snowflake stamp from Snow Swirled, and also one of the border stamps from Bordering On Romance.  Who knew they could be used to help create a futuristic space ship? lol

I think they had run out of ideas before they got to the inside!  Oh well, from all accounts the birthday boy loved the card.

Bye for now,

Tina