March Creative Showcase

 Hi!

Welcome to March's Creative Showcase. This time around, we are all basing our creations on a sketch designed by Rachel.

I quite like this sketch - how about you? I pulled out some Dandy Garden DSP to see how it would work with the layout. I think it works very well!

I started by adhering two pieces of the DSP to a card front sized piece of Whisper White card. I then cropped it with the second largest Stitched Rectangles Die and layered it on another piece of Whisper White card.

The dragonflies were punched from another sheet of the DSP, and popped up on Dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment in Misty Moonlight ink and cropped it with a die from Ornate Layers.

I used the left over piece of DSP from the front of my card to frame the writing panel on the inside. Waste not, want not! One final dragonfly and I was done!

You can find the rest of the links for this month's Showcase over on Rachel's blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Purple Posy

 Hi!

Thanks for once again joining me for the Colour Creations Creative Showcase. This week we have one of my all-time least favourite colours, Purple Posy. To me, it's just not a very interesting colour. My apologies if you're a big fan!

I had the idea with this card to sponge some Purple Posy ink around the woman to give a bit of a sunset/dusk like glow. I still have my Purple Posy ink pad , and while it's not a great ink to stamp with, it's OK with sponging. I stamped the image of the woman and then masked her off before using a Blending Brush to add the ink all around her. It's very subtle!

You can sort of see the effect in the second photo. I used the new Pearlescent Paper as my base. I think that it doesn't 'take' ink as well as plain Whisper White, which is why it's quite pale.

Just a bit of simple stamping on the inside, no sentiment. This makes the card a bit multi-purpose, as the front sentiment, "Thinking of You" is generic enough for be suitable for a few different situations.

As always, you can find the rest of this week's cards over on Cathy's blog. 

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 308: CASE The Sand And Sea Colours

 Hi!

Welcome back for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Although it doesn't really feel like a Sunday, as it's a long weekend here in South Australia. This week we are asking you to CASE the colours of the Sand & Sea DSP. There's six different colours in the papers, so plenty to choose from.

I'm very definitely a blue girl, so after my attempt using the pinks went into the bin, I went with my strengths and used the non-pink colours.

It's been a while since I played with my Stitched Triangles Dies, so I pulled them out for a play for this card. I cut a heap of Equilateral triangles from Seaside Spray, So Saffron and Sahara Sand and then just laid them on my Whisper White card front until I was happy with the positioning.

It was actually a lot of fun trying to find a pleasing arrangement. Once I was happy, I glued it all down. The sentiments over the top are from Pretty Perennials. The first part (sending lots of) actually covers a bit of a gap in the triangles that I could not make work. LOL, if you can't fix it, cover it up!

I had quite a few left over triangles, so they were put to use on the inside of the card. The sentiment on the inside is from the Joy To The World Paper Pumpkin kit, with the word 'Christmas' masked off and replaced with 'Birthday' from Pretty Perennials.

Our weekly challenge is run through our Facebook group, which means that to join in the fun all you need to do is post a photo of your card in our group. You don't need a blog, just. Facebook account.

Before you dash off to create, please do finish our blog hop - there's plenty of inspiration to be found. Next up is the lovely Rebecca, who did a much better job of getting the pinks to work than I did!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 544: Just Add L

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. Hopefully you have time to play along with us. It's a long weekend here in Adelaide, which always means a little extra crafting time for me. I'm hoping to get the next block in the quilt top I am working on done - what about you?

If you're paper crafting, why not join in our Just Add L challenge? Your card just needs to have one thing that starts with L on it. Maybe a stamp set, or a colour, technique, embellishment, theme, whatever you can think of that starts with L!

I went for Lipstick! I haven't used my Dressed To Impress stamps much lately, so this was a good excuse to pull them out. I stamped the lipstick with Memento ink and coloured it with my Watercolour Pencils and Wink Of Stella. It's lovely and shimmery in real life!

For a bit of added texture, I ran my DSP through the Big Shot with the Subtle 3DEF. It's such a pretty effect, and makes the paper look like fabric.

The DSP on the inside got the same treatment as on the front. And I'm happy, because I now have one of the two Mother's Day cards that I need for this year made. Now just to put it in a safe spot where it won't get lost!

Time now to pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of this week's Design team cards. I love these alphabet challenges, as everyone is so creative in interpreting them.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Pumpkin Pie

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Colour Creations Creative Showcase. Fittingly, for our first colour of Autumn, it's Pumpkin Pie being featured this week. It's a lovely orange, and a very classic addition to any Autumnal colour scheme.

My card was built around the 'happy' part of the sentiment. I've seen this technique, where you fussy cut around die cut letters, around a lot recently and I wanted to give it a go. It was certainly fun to try!

I also wanted to play with my Stampin' Blends to create the background. I used the Dark Pumpkin Pie Blend to scribble on a piece of Vellum and then I spritzed it thoroughly with the heavy duty isopropyl alcohol. This allowed me to move the ink around on the vellum for a short period of time before it dried. I used a piece of acetate to help move it. It was a lot of fun.

Of course, I made my vellum piece a bit larger than I needed it to be for the front so that I could have an offcuts to use on the inside. I work smarter, not harder, as my good friend Rachel taught me!

Please pop on over to Cathy's blog for the rest of this week's Pumpkin Pie cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #307: CASE The SAB Catalogue

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. Today is the very last day of Sale-A-Bration, so we are CASEing the SAB Catalogue one last time.

You can choose any card or project from the catalogue that takes your fancy. My eye was caught by this A Touch Of Ink card on page 12.

I decided to use the Berry Blessings stamp set to create my card, which is another SAB freebie choice.

I started by embossing a piece of Night Of Navy card using my Pinewood Planks 3DEF. It's such a great folder, I really should use it more! The next layer is from the Ornate Layers Dies. I cropped the shape from Whisper White card and then masked off the edge. I used a Blending Brush and Balmy Blue ink to add a layer of colour to the frame that still left the edges white. I love how this adds a visual layer without adding a physical layer.

The berries and leaves were all stamped and fussy cut before being adhered to the card.

I had a few blueberries left over, so I added them to the inside of the card, after adding a little bit of Balmy Blue ink to the panel. I'm not a big fan of the "you sweet thing" part of the Sweet Strawberry sentiment, so I masked it off before stamping it on the inside of the card.

You can join in with our challenge by CASEing any card from the SAB catalogue and adding a photo to our Facebook group. No blog, fancy camera or software required!

Next up is my lovely friend, Rachel, with what is bound to be a gorgeous card!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #543: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week Kelly has designed a really fun sketch for us to use.

What do you think of when you see the sketch? I am quite a logical person, and I like the orderliness of the grid. It made me think of a die that I'd purchased recently, but had yet to use. It's the Circle Coverplate Die, from Uniquely Creative.

You didn't think I'd cut all those circles individually, do you? LOL! The die cuts them all at once, and the stitched border too. The stars were cut individually though, using the Stitched Stars Dies. I used Magenta Madness, Basic Black and Silver Foil. 

When I was finished adding all the stars, I realised that there wasn't really a good place for a sentiment. I tried a few different things, but nothing that I was happy with. In the end, I just left it blank. The repeated stars and the bold magenta make enough of a statement, that I think a sentiment isn't really necessary.

I didn't have a suitable sentiment for the inside, so I used my retired Labeller Alphabet stamps to create my own. The star die was used to create the opening to allow the magenta to peek through. I'm not sure what I'll use this card for, but like for my daughter next time she dances in a performance. The colours fit her dance studio colours perfectly!

Please head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You can also enter your card in our challenge - what do you see in the sketch?

Bye for now,

Tina