Another Bat-Card

Hi!

Sometime Stampin' Up! release a product that I know, as soon as I see it, that I have to have it and it will never leave my collection. This bat punch was one of those products, simply because my family and a lot of my friends are big superhero fans. I will definitely get my money's worth out of this punch!

 Today's card was one I made as a sample for a card making session I ran towards the end of last year. The ladies coming were making a floral/butterfly card, but one lady had to bring her young son, so this was an alternative I made for him to copy.

I kept it super simple (excuse the pun!) so that all he had to do was punch the bat, stamp the sentiment and glue it all together. Easy!

He had a lot of fun using the punch and ended up with a lot more bats on his card than I had on mine!

This card would be great for one of those "need a card in a hurry for a kid's birthday party" situations that we all seem to find ourselves in!

Bye for now,

Tina

Enjoying Macaron On The Waterfront

Hi!

Welcome back to Colour Creations for 2019! This year/week we are kicking off with one of my all-time favourite colours - Mint Macaron. When I found out that is was returning in the recent Colour Refresh I may have jumped up and down and even squealed a little. LOL!

The idea for todays card came about because I had a piece of Mint Macaron DSP from the Tranquil Textures DSP pack that was too small to be used as a full sized card front. Easy fix - chop it up and stretch it out! I started by chopping a piece off the bottom and then chopping that in thirds. The top piece was then chopped the same way before all pieces were adhered to the Night Of Navy cardstock. The trick is to just adhere a small section until you are happy with the placement.

I tried something new to me with stamping the main panel. After I cut the Stitched Circle, I left the cardstock in the die while I stamped the scene. I like that it leaves the stitched border white, but not in a uniform way like masking would. I think I'll be trying this again!

I repeated the same scene on the inside. Did you notice that on the palm trees I stamped the trunks twice, but the fronds a heap more, including second generation stamping to get different shades of Mint Macaron? It makes the palms so much more lush, as befits a tropical scene.

As always, head on over to Catherine's Blog to see the rest of this week's cards. I can't wait to see what everyone's made.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #210: Sale-A-Bration

Hi!

I'm back to blogging a little sooner than I expected this year, but that's because I have some exciting news!

I've joined the Crew at CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge! Each Sunday evening I will be blogging the card I have made for their weekly challenge, which is always about CASEing a card from one of the current Stampin' Up! catalogues.

The Sunday posts are a blog hop around the blogs of the Crew participating each week. You may have started at my blog, or come to mine from Peta's, in either case, just keep hopping until you get back to where you started! When you've made your card, just post it in the Facebook group.

This week the crew are CASEing cards from the brand new Sale-A-Bration catalogue. Have you got your hands on it yet? There's lots of fab stuff to be earned for free. I didn't have to go any further than the front of the catalogue for my inspiration this week.

Hopefully you can see straight away the card that I CASEd!

I didn't really change much from the card, using all the same DSP from the Botanical Butterfly DSP pack, which is one of the FREE SAB choices. It's such pretty paper!

I did simplify the front a little, leaving off the washi tape, sentiment, button and linen thread. I liked the idea of this card being an all-purpose card that I can add to my stash. I can always add a sentiment later on.

I carried over the same papers and colours to the inside of the card. I chose a butterfly with the same colouring as the one on the front for the inside. I like it when things match!

I hope you can join in the challenge this week. You don't need to have a blog, just photograph your card and add it to our Facebook group. Easy!

Now you're off to the next blog in this week's hop. This week it's Lauren Meiklejohn!

Don't forget to add your card to the Facebook group - it's super easy to do! I look forward to seeing what you CASE from the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue.

Bye for now,

Tina

Merry Christmas!

Hi!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I've been learning how to say this in AUSLAN (AUStralian Sign Language), so I probably should have shot a video to post. However, I'm a bit frazzled with all the Christmas preparations, so I would not have looked my best! Maybe next year 😉

Instead, here's a picture of Hudson wishing you a Merry Christmas in PODD. His teacher had these wonderful t-shirts made for the whole class.  PODD is an Alternative Communication Device used at his school.

See you in the new year, sometime around mid-January! In the meantime, I'm off to spend some quality tie with my family 💙

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #439: Just Add A Gift Box

Hi!

It's time for the final Just Add Ink challenge of 2018 - it feels so weird to be saying that!! Patrice has challenged us to make a gift boxer very appropriate challenge for this time of year. Thos round will go for two weeks and is a just for fun round. The Design Team are taking a well earned break and will be back again in 2019 (another thing it feels weird to say!).

I struggled a bit with this challenge, in that I couldn't decide what to make! I had so many options, and in the end I reached for an old favourite, the Petal Cone Bigz Large Die. I can't remember how long ago it retired, but it's one I've not been able to part with.

The tag is made using current Stampin' Up! product though. The DSP is the Santa's Workshop Specialty DSP, with all the lovely flocking on the designs. I also used a stamped and die cut image from the Tags and Tidings Bundle. My lovely friend Ros stamped and cut them for me. This tag was on Whisper White, but I wanted a blue colour so I coloured it with my Light Pool Party Blend.

The box itself is also made from the Santa's Workshop SDSP. This piece has lots of flocking, so it was *just* heavy enough to use to make the box. If you recall, the box that the die makes comes to a point, which mine clearly does not have! I simply scored the cut pieces near the bottom and folded them in to make a flat bottom.

I used a piece of the gorgeous Black Glittered Organdy ribbon from the Holiday Catalogue to wrap around the box. It doesn't actually hold it closed, as the overlapping top flaps do that, but it's a lovely way to add a touch of glimmer to the box. I will miss this ribbon when it retires in January!

Thanks for joining me for the current Just Add Ink challenge. Remember, it's a just for fun round that will go until January 2. Plenty of time for post-christmas crafting, hopefully with some new goodies left by Santa!

Bye for now,

Tina

Getting Merry With Merlot

Hi!

Welcome to the final Colour Creations Blog Share for 2018. We are having a little break over the Christmas/New Year period, but we'll be back on January 8 with the next colour in our series. It's one of my favourites!

This wee, though, we are looking at the new Neutral, Merry Merlot. It's not a colour I've used much of - probably because my old high school uniform was maroon. I finished high school 25 years ago, so you'd think I'd be over it by now but apparently not! I did enjoy using it on my card though, so maybe I'm on my way to liking maroon.

I tried and rejected all kinds of things until this card rose from the debris on my craft desk. Most of it was playing around with Stitched Rectangle dies, which are so much fun! I also used the new stamp set, Incredible Like You, available in January. Oh, and don't forget the Tin Tile 3DTIEF on the Sahara Sand layer - it's carrying over to the Occasions Catalogue, so we get it for at least a few more months. Yay!

I'm still deciding if I like the flowers from the stamp set. They are pretty, and I love the way the two layers work together, but I find the flower to be a bit 'floaty'. I anchored this one by adding a Mint Macaron twine bow to the base.

I used another flower and some more leaves on the inside. A couple of the leaves were stamped direct to the base cardstock and a few were fussy cut and layered underneath the flower. It adds a bit more dimension to the arrangement.

You can find the rest of this weeks cards over Catherine's blog. It's a small group on the Blog Share today, but still worth the look as everyone is so creative. Don't forget that we return on the 8th of January.

Bye for now,

Tina

Well Said Butterflies

Hi!

On Saturday I held a stamping day for my class ladies who were able to attend. Sadly, I missed a lot as it's a busy time of year, but those who made it had a lovely time catching up and hearing about my trip to the USA. They also got to make a card using some of my new goodies from the Sale-A-Bration and Occasions Catalogues.

This was the card I made as a sample for them to follow. I was so pleased with how it turned out! I started with a base of Highland Heather and then added a piece of Lemon Lime Twist DSP from the Botanical Butterfly DSP, which is a free SAB reward option when you spend $90 on catalogue items. The butterfly was also fussy cut from another sheet of the DSP. There is a coordinating punch for it, but I don't own it (yet!).

The Lemon Lime Twist ribbon is another SAB reward option. There are a whopping five rolls of ribbon in the pack, that also includes Balmy Blue, Daffodil Delight, Grapefruit Grove and Highland Heather. The thing I love most about the ribbons is that the colours not only coordinate with the Botanical Butterfly DSP, but also the super sweet Gingham Gala DSP, which you can find in the Occasions Catalogue.

I can't forget the new Well Said bundle from the Occasions Catalogue. It's a huge bundle, with 51 stamps and 24 dies that all mix and match to create an endless array of sentiments for nearly every occasion you could think of. It's a must have bundle, and one that will never leave my collection!

The inside was kept super simple, just another fussy cut butterfly (which also coordinates with the new punch) and another stamp from the Well Said stamp set.

I wanted to give my ladies some choices with the card they made, so I offered 3 different cards. The layouts were the same, I just switched up the colours and papers. Two of my ladies were kind enough to allow me to photograph their cards so that you could see the alternate versions. Thanks, Noreen (left) and Lillian (right).

Bye for now,

Tina