I Like You In Wisteria Wonder

Hi!

The hostess stamp set I Like You was made for the Blendabilities I think!  It's a fabulous set for colouring, especially when you are just starting out.  The smaller areas are a little easier to blend with great effect.

This card was made as a sample for a Blendabilities colouring class.  The simple white on white design of the card really lets the gorgeous flower take centre stage on the card.

You can see that I popped the smaller flower up to give a little more dimension.

This little flower on the inside is also popped up.  The main reason for this is that when you colour with Blendabilites the colour shows through on the back of the cardstock.  I didn't want the very back of my card to have colour on it, so this was a nice solution.

If you'd like to learn how to colour with Blendabilites please get in touch with me.  I can offer small group classes at a time that suits you.  It's lots of fun!

Bye for now,

Tina

Kinda Eclectic Convention Make and Takes

Hi!

One of the best parts of going to Convention is getting to be creative and do some stamping.  Today's card was inspired by one of the (many!) Make and Takes we made this year at Convention.

I made this card as a class sample not long after I got back from Melbourne.  As I didn't have the new In Colours I had to use their close approximates from the colours I did have.

I've said many times that Kinda Eclectic is not a stamp set I would have purchased myself, but it's now one I love.  It's fabulous for collage stamping  -especially the larger sunburst and leaf stamps.

I also love the dotty stamp.  It's great for creating another layer without adding a layer of cardstock.

Here's my card on the left and the card I made at Convention on the right.  A few differences, but nothing major.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 61 and 62

Hi!

It's a picture-heavy post today as I bring you my next two Paris album layouts.  They are of the Catacombes of Paris and the Pantheon, both of which we found to be amazing places.

The Catacombes was one of the only places we had to wait in line to get in.  I think we waited around 30 minutes - luckily there was a crepe vendor nearby! There was a long climb down before we got to the tunnel entrance.  Rob was a bit creeped out by the dripping limestone, but it didn't worry me too much.

 

In case you weren't sure, the Catacombes are where the French government relocated the remains of millions of people were reburied after the cemeteries overflowed.  The tunnels were originally the quarries, and were starting to collapse under the city - so the government solved two problems at once! At first the bones were just thrown in, but then the workers began to arrange them into pretty patterns using the skulls and long bones.

According to the audio guide they even used to hold musical concerts in the part of the tunnels shown above!  We found it to be a very fascinating place, but we were very glad to be above ground again at the end of the tour.

Next stop was the Pantheon, which is this huge, magnificent building that now houses the remains of many of France's most notable citizens.

 

We toured the ground level first.  It was a huge, open area that had many sculptures and artworks.  My favourite was a scale model of the building with cut away sections to view the inside.  We then went underground to explore the crypt, where we viewed the resting places of people such as Voltaire, Dumas, Braille, Cure and Hugo.

Unfortunately the Dome was closed, so we were unable to take in the view from the top.  It was fun to do a little people watching from the steps at the front of the Pantheon.  It is located in a University Precinct so there are a lot of students in the area.  Many of them were enjoying the sunshine on the steps at the front of the building where you got a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #227: Just Add Chipboard

Hi!

Oh boy, theses Fridays are really sneaking up on me!  Time for another Just Add Ink Challenge. This week Chantell has challenged us to add chipboard to our creations.  When I use chipboard it's typically for a mini album cover, not as a feature on a card, so I decided to try something new and use it as a feature.

If you're not sure what chipboard is, it's really just the heavier cardboard that is sometimes used in crafting.  I use the backing board from my Glimmer Paper packs to die cut shapes from.  In this case though I have used some thinner chipboard that I have cut using the new Party Pennants Bigz die.  I used the thinner stuff because I wanted to emboss it as well.  I used the new Large Polka Dot embossing folder.  Just be careful not to force the sandwich through your Big Shot - you don't want to ruin your machine!

I'm still loving the new Blendabilities and had lots of fun colouring the new Bundled Baby stamp set.

Another little cute baby for the inside to finish off the card.

I hope you can play along with us at Just Add Ink - I'm sure you've got some chipboard (or something similar) you can use in your stash!

Bye for now,

Tina

Papillion Potpourri Tag

Hi!

A quick post today, as I missed posting yesterday and I'm flat out today.  Phew!

I made this tag as a second Make and Take project for a party a few months ago.  The party was quite large and I wanted a second project to keep everyone busy and not waiting around for supplies to be passed around the table.  It uses a few retired products and colours, but I thought I'd post it anyway as it's so cute, and a really quick and easy project to put together.

It's a bit hard to see, but the tag was embossed with the retired frames embossing folders. The Oval punchie fit perfectly inside the embossing.  We also used the Mosaic and Butterfly punches to create the layers.  The Papillion Potpourri stamp set is a lovely one and I sold a few that night!

Bye for now,

Tina

Masked Stars

Hi!

I mentioned recently that I participated in a cyber crop last month.  Today's card is another of the cards I made for one of the challenges we were set on the weekend.  The challenge was to use the colours in an inspiration picture that we were given.

There were a lot of bright colours in the inspiration picture we were given.  They were such a happy combination so I decided to make a happy card to go with them.  I used the new Stars Mask to create my happy card.  I held the mask over the cardstock and used my daubers to sponge the colour over the mask.  My old style inkpads worked the best, but I think that's because they are less 'juicy'.  I just need to remember to press a little lighter on my newer inkpads!

I didn't have the Star Framelits at that time, so I used my Eclectic Paper Piercing templates to pierce a star pattern and then I hand cut around the piercing.  I layered it on some Daffodil Delight cardstock and hand cut the matt.  Easy!

I also used the mask on the inside, but to make it a bit easier I sponged in Daffodil Delight only and they added some star punchies to bring in some colour.

The masks really are a heap of fun to play with!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 59 and 60

Hi!

As another weekend draws to a close I realise I have forgotten to do my 100 Layouts post.  For those of you new to my blog I have challenged myself to scrap 100 layouts this year and I'm posting them 2 at a time on the weekend.

LOL, I call this one my 'Pretty Woman' layout! Not because someone was rude to me in a shop, but because I was carrying so many bags by the end of my shopping trip.  Rob and I had a free afternoon so we decided to hit the Avenue des Champs Elysees for a spot of shopping.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I wanted to go shopping and Rob was happy to tag along and carry my bags for me!

I had lots of fun, especially choosing some things for the kids.  Ada's favourite was some Disney Princess perfume from the Disney shop.  I enjoyed the experience, but the strangest part for me was the communal change room in one shop.  I was in line waiting to try on a top and I was able to work out that the shop assistant was telling us that if we didn't mind an open change room we could jump to the front of the line. I said "oui" and went straight in!  It was women only, but a big open room.  A great idea to move things along a bit faster, but not so great for your self esteem if you happen to be next to a gorgeous, slim woman!

The next day we took the Metro out to Saint Denis to see the Cathedral out there.  It's kind of the 'sister' to Sacre-Coeur, as apparently St Denis had his head chopped off at Sacre-Coeur, picked it up and walked off to where the Cathedral at Saint Dennis now stands!

The Cathedral is where a lot of the French Royalty are buried, but it's a very long and turbulent history.  As fascinating place, but so very cold inside!  The guides all had very thick jackets and little heaters under the desks they sat at.

Bye for now,

Tina