Layouts 53 and 54

Hi!

In my last Paris post I showed the layouts about the Eiffel Tower and our behind the scenes tour.  I'd booked a late afternoon tour so that we could watch the sun set from the Tower. We also ascended to the top of the Tower to watch the light display.  Every hour, on the hour, for about 5 minutes the Tower sparkles as thousands of lights twinkle on and off.  It's so very pretty!

After watching it from the top of the Tower we descended and crossed the Seine to watch it again from the huge open space opposite the Tower.  While we settled in to wait we munched on crepes (what else!) and people watched.  It was about 11pm by this stage but the city was still bustling.

The next day we travelled out to Rouen to meet up with Rob's cousin.  Unfortunately the day was a shambles from start to nearly the finish!  We didn't realise it was the start/end (?) of Daylight Savings, so we slept in and only just made it to the train on time.  This was the only day I let Rob organise and he did a pretty poor job of it!  He hadn't managed to get in touch with his cousin before we got on the train, so we didn't even know if we'd meet him or not.  Rouen is a beautiful, old city and is the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.  So much history that we totally missed because we were waiting around!

We did tour their Notre Dame Cathedral, but there was so much more we could have done.  You may notice that in all the photos of me I had my arms crossed and in some I'm even scowling.  I was so very cross at Rob that day!

In the end we did catch up with Rob's cousin and his gorgeous son for a lovely, but very quick, lunch.  We were strongly encouraged to try some of the more rustic local cuisine but after watching a lady on the next table eat her frog's legs I just couldn't face it!  We then had another dash (uphill!) to make the train back into Paris as we had tickets for the Moulin Rouge that night.  I think we got onto the train about 30 seconds before the doors closed!

I can laugh now, another memorable day and memory of Paris!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #223: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!

It's nearly the end of the school holidays here.  One weekend to go!  We are having a group of giggly girls for a sleep over tonight for Ada's birthday.  She turned 9 a week ago, but we delayed her party until the end of the holidays.  I mention her birthday because the card I made for the new Just Add Ink challenge was her birthday card.

This week it's s sketch designed by yours truly.  I love designing sketches, but I love seeing what people do with them even more!

Here's the card I made for her.  I turned the sketch into an easel card and stamped it using the new Flower Patch Photopolymer stamp set.

I really love this set and the endless possibilities for combining the images and colours.  Ada's favourite colour is blue, so I stuck with blues for her card.

All little girls love some bling, so the 9 was the perfect way to add it to her card.

A bit more bling on the base to keep the card propped open!

I'm pleased to say that she loved the card!

I hope you find time to play along with my sketch at Just Add Ink this week.

Bye for now,

Tina

Tap Tap Tap

Hi!

In my last post I showed you a card that I'd made for a sketch challenge on the Art With Heart Cyber Crop day.  Today I have another card I made used using the sketch and a new stamp set called Tap Tap Tap.

As soon as I saw this set in the catalogue I loved it! I started by stamping the tap tap tap stamp repeatedly to create the circular element of the sketch.  The typewriter was stamped and the coloured using the lightest Coastal Cabana Blendabilities Marker and the Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker.

I used the alphabet stamp on the inside to tie it in with the front of the card.

It's a fabulous stamp set and I can't wait to play some more with it.

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic In Neutrals

Hi!

Over the weekend I have been participating in a Cyber Crop with some of the Art With Heart team.  A Cyber Crop is basically a stamping session done over the internet.  I was asked to design a sketch and a sample card for a challenge during the Cyber Crop.

Here's the sketch I designed and the card to go with it.

I used the new In Colour Blackberry Bliss as the base for the card.  It's fast becoming one of my favourite colours!  I love it teamed with the Neutral colours I've used on the rest of the card.

I stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic in Hello Honey that I stamped off once before stamping on the card.  The vellum circle over the top helps to soften the card too.

The other main colour I used was Crumb Cake.  I need to reink my pad, but I like the effect the drier pad gives on this card.

I made another card using this sketch during the Cyber Crop, so I'll be back later with that one and some of the other cards I made for the challenges over the weekend.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 51 and 52

Hi!

I'm a day late with my usual scrapbooking post, but better late than never I guess! It's a photo heavy post today as my layout of the Eiffel Tower spread over 4 pages!  First was the Musee Rodin though.

We pretty much went to the Musee Rodin to see the Thinker sculpture.  We'd seen the back of it from the Hop On Hop Off bus several times but we wanted to see it up close.  The Museum had 2 entry prices.  It was only €2 to tour the gardens and a bit more to add in the Museum.  As the Thinker was in the gardens we only paid the €2.  It was a lovely day to wander the gardens and see the sculptures.

I was actually a little surprised by the number of his sculptures I knew, even though I didn't know they were Rodin's.  I think most tourists pose by the top left sculpture.  The cheeky ones do the Beyonce pose, but I wasn't feeling cheeky that day!  Outside the museum was a light post where people leaving the museum leave the stickers you are given upon entry. We skipped that 'tradition'.

We then strolled around to the Eiffel Tower.  I'd prebooked a behind the scenes tour and we had a little time to kill before it started so we grabbed something to eat and sat and people watched.  We got scammed into having a portrait drawn of us and paid a ridiculous amount for a really bad caricature.  Sigh, you live and learn!  I'm glad I booked the tour as only one of the three lifts was working on the day so it was at least a 2 hour wait in line to ascend unless you wanted to take the stairs.  No thanks!  We got to go underground near the tower to a radio control room that was used during the War.  It's now mostly used as storage and as a secondary kitchen area for the restaurants on the Tower.

We then got to skip the line (yay!) for a behind the scenes look at the Tower itself.  We saw the machinery that powers the lifts and heard more about the history of the Tower.  We were then taken to the second level of the Tower and some of the landmarks pointed out to us.  I'd planned the timing of the tour so we would be on the Tower as the sun set.  It was very romantic!  It was also very cold up there, so we enjoyed a hot chocolate while we waited for the sunset.

We also went right up to the top of the Tower.  It was a bit scary in the lift as you can feel the structure swaying a little in the wind.  The views are incredible though!  We were up there while the lights were flashing on the Tower so we could see all the flashes going off as people took photos of the lights from the Trocedero.  The bottom right photo shows the finishing line of a marathon race.  It was on the second level of the Tower.  I felt so sorry for the runners - they started out near Versailles and after running all that way they had to finish the race by running up the stairs to the second level of the Tower!  There were quite a few runners getting treated for cramps at the finishing line.

As we were waiting in line to catch the lift back to the ground level we heard a few Australian voices, and then a whole lot more!  Some of them were runners and their support people and others were diners in the very posh Jules Verne restaurant.  We all had a chat while we waited and laughed about how you can't get away from Aussies - you're bound to find some no matter where you go!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #222: Just Add Colour

Hi!

It's Friday so I'm here with the new Just Add Ink Challenge.  This week we have a gorgeous colour combination for you courtesy of Mae.

It took me a little while to think of what to do with this card, but once I got an idea it came together pretty quickly.  I used a lot of retired product on this card - some recently retired, some has been retired for a while.

I started with the DSP on the base.  It's from the long retired Twitterpated DSP - a favourite of mine.  I didn't have enough to cover the entire front so I trimmed it into four pieces.  To soften the gaps I covered the bottom one with the retired Flower Trim and the top ones with the leaf die cuts.

I was a little worried that the Bermuda Bay would be too strong a colour for the rest of the card so I stamped it off once before I stamped on the card.

I liked the leaves so I added a few more to the inside to finish it off.

I hope you can play along with us at Just Add Ink this week - it's a great colour combination.

Bye for now,

Tina

Wildflower Meadow Candles

Hi!

I have been doing a little bit of stamping on candles lately.  They have been on commission - my client wanted a set of 4 candles with a card to match.

The brief was pink and floral, so I thought that Wildflower Meadow in Melon Mambo and Old Olive fitted perfectly.

I used my Stampin' Write markers to colour the rubber to get the mulitcoloured image.  I also added some Rhinestones to the centres of the flowers.

I like using the sweet little flower stem on the inside - such a perfect little touch for the card, and easy to achieve using the markers to selectively colour the image.

I also used the markers to create the image for the candles, as well as rhinestones to finish off the flowers.

My client loved the gift set, and the recipient does too. Great result!

Bye for now,

Tina