Colour Creations: Calypso Coral

 Hi!

Hello, and welcome to the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week it's Calypso Coral's turn to shine! I think that Calypso Coral is one of those love it or hate it colours. Having said that, I'm a bit on the fence. It has it's uses, but I don't reach for it much.

I recently purchased the Les Shoppes DSP and was keen to chop into it, hooray for Calypso Coral being one of the colours in the papers. I chose one of the shops from the papers and roughly cut around it before gluing it to some Thick Whisper White card. I then fussy cut it for the front of the card. This gives the paper some firmness when it's popped up on Dimensionals. We don't want a saggy building!

I also cropped an awning from one of the shops on the edge of the paper, and a plant pot. I gave them the same treatment as the shop, and then popped them up over the first layer. It's a lovely bit of extra dimension for the card.

I used Sending Smiles for the sentiment on the front of my card, but I've deliberately left the inside blank. I did fussy cut a paint tube to go with the art shop on the front of the card, though.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do make sure that you visit all of the blogs on tonight's hop. You'll certainly find lots of inspiration, starting with my lovely friend, Kate Morgan.

Catherine is having some much needed family time tonight, so I have taken over hosting duties for this evening's blog hop. Here's a list of all of tonight's participants in the event that you find a broken link somewhere.

Kate Morgan

Andrea Sargent 

Diane Furniss 

Rachel Palmieri 

Amie McIlroy

Christine Blain 

Theresa Gerrard

Sharon Davern

Ros Davidson

Rosa Leyden 

Tina Gillespie <-- You are here now

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 2

 Hi!

Welcome back to my blog for the second Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Do you enjoy starting your Christmas card making early in the year, or are you a last minute crafter? Either way, there's lots of inspiration for you when you are ready.

I've once again used the tags from the Love, Santa Tags Kit as the basis for my card. The tags are quite large - the perfect size to feature on a card, I think! I just chopped the tag loop off the top of Santa's head and he was good to go.

I made the tag as directed by the kit, except that I added the loops of twine under the sentiment label rather than use them in the (now chopped off) tag loop.

The inside of my card is a little nod to the fabulous Matildas - I used a little piece of left over Shaded Spruce DSP from the front of the card, and then I trimmed a little piece off the side of the laser cut elements piece from the kit for the yellow strip. 

That's all from me for tonight's blog hop, but please keep on hopping around all of the blogs. There's lots to see! Just keep on going until you get back to where you started. The next stop along the way is the lovely Amie McIlroy.

If, at any stage, you find a broken link, please pop on over to our lovely host, Sharon Davern's blog. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you going again.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Cajun Craze

 Hi!

Welcome to my blog for the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week we are featuring Cajun Craze, a terracotta colour that had a lot of us surprised when it survived the colour refresh. It's one of those colours that most of us don't use much, but is actually a really useful colour.

I decided to use some Fresh As A Daisy DSP for my card. I really like this sheet of flowers, where Cajun Craze features as the centres of the blooms. I gave them a little brush of Wink Of Stella to add a subtle little bit of pizzazz to the card.

I used my Sending Smiles bundle to complete the card. The paper is so gorgeous that it doesn't really need much else to go with it.

I had to get a bit fancy for the inside of my card. I wanted the sentiment to flow from the front to the inside, so I had to mask the '&' from a different stamp to add to the front of 'sunshine to brighten your day'. I also used some DSP offcuts to finish off the inside.

That's all from melt please do continue your way around our blog hop tonight. You won't want to miss any of the Cajun Craze gorgeousness. The next stop along the way is my lovely friend, Di Furniss.

If at any time you find a broken link, please head to the blog of this week’s host of the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop, Cathy Proctor, and she will have the list of all participants.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 1

 Hi!

Welcome to another year of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. It's great to get started early with making Christmas cards so that you're not scrambling to get enough done in December.

I was a bit slow off the mark with my preorder from the upcoming Mini Catalogue, so I've delved into my stash for this week's card. I've used elements from the Love, Santa Tag Kit and added bits and pieces to make a full card rather than a tag. It was easy enough to snip away the loop at the top of the Christmas tree to make it more suitable for a card.

I've layered the Christmas tree as it is supposed to be for the tag, but I've added it to a card base that's been embossed with the Merry Melody 3DEF. I was so pleased when this embossing folder carried over! If you look closely, you can see a little scattering of gems from the kit over some of the baubles on the tree.

I used some of the stamps from the kit to create the inside of my card. Don't forget your kits - they are a great source of stamps and are on sale this month. The Love, Santa Tag Kit is reduced from $39 to $27.30. Bargain!

Please keep on going around our blog hop tonight, as there's lots more Christmassy inspiration to be seen, starting with my lovely friend, Judy May. She's bound to have something gorgeous!

Sharon Davern is once again our wonderful hostess for the Heart Of Christmas blog hops this year. If you run into any issues with links, just jump on over to her blog where she will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 431: CASE The Annual Catalogue

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. It's such a great way to finish the weekend! This week, we are asking you to CASE any project from the Annual Catalogue.

I chose a card that caught my eye when I was looking for a previous challenge, but it didn't quite fit that challenge's brief. I filed away the idea for another time, and this week's challenge was that time!

I really liked the astronaut from Reach For The Stars stamped in the bright colours. It's absurdly fun, don't you think? It made me think of the artwork of Andy Warhol, so my card deviated a little from the original to make it more like the pop art style of Warhol's.

I used my Stamparatus to stamp the astronaut image. I wanted it to be exactly the same in each square, so it was the perfect tool for the job. I stuck with the colours from the original card - Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst and Orchid Oasis - and added Calypso Coral for the fourth colour.

I used the coordinating Stargazing DSP on the base of my card, and to matt the sentiment. I cropped a square out of the middle of the DSP where it won't be seen under the art panel and used a piece of it for the matt. Just a little trick to stretch your supplies further.

I stamped the astronaut again on the inside in Lemon Lime Twist. It's such a fun colour, and I'm glad that it made a comeback.

We'd love for you to play along with us this week - well, every week! All you need to do is make a suitable card and then add a photo to our Facebook Group before the deadline on Sunday evening. Easy!

Please keep hopping your way around all of the blogs tonight - there's lots more Annual Catalogue creativity to be seen. The next stop is the wonderful Julia Quinn, with a stunning floral card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 664: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Hooray - it's Friday! It's been a busy week for me, but for Friday through to Sunday my diary is looking very blank. I'm looking forward to having some crafty time, both with paper and fabric over the weekend. What about you? Hopefully you can find time to play along with our new Just Add Ink challenge.

This week Di has suggested this gorgeous colour combo for us to play with. I adore the blue/greens, and the soft purple is a stunning colour to complement them. I decided to go with a somewhat floral card, even though Pool Party and Lost Lagoon aren't really 'leafy' colours. I think it turned out beautifully, though.

I pulled an old stamp and die set, Happy Birthday To You, off my shelf and stamped the cake image on Shimmery White paper using Stazon ink so that I could watercolour the image. I used Pool Party for the cake and the other two colours for the blooms.

The sheer Pool Party ribbon adds a lovely bit of pizzazz to the card, don't you think? It shimmers nicely, too, to go along with the Shimmery White cardstock that I've stamped and coloured.

I stamped the cake image again for the inside, just catching a portion of it on the edge of the card. It's a bit too big to stamp the whole image on the inside!

What do you see with the colours? There are so many possibilities. You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with the colours over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also add your card to our Linky when you're ready to enter the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Blueberry Bushel

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Colour Creations blog hop, otherwise known as Tina's 20 minute cards.Sigh, once again I found myself short of time and racing to make a card using one of my favourite ever colours, Blueberry Bushel. I was so excited to see it return in the colour refresh, as it's a really lovely blue.

I finally received my Sending Smiles bundle, so I decided that it would be my stamp set of choice this week.  As I was short on time, I decided to CASE a card by Teneale Williams using the same bundle. I pretty much CASEd exactly her card, I just changed the colours to feature Blueberry Bushel.

LOL, from this angle it looks like I've used Wink Of Stella on the flowers. I haven't, I think it's just that the stamps are new and inked a little unevenly as I didn't take the time to clean them before I stamped. I like it, though!

One more sweet little stem completed the inside of my card. I had a lot of fun with this bundle, and I can't wait to explore it some more.

Please continue your way around out blog hop tonight - there's lots more Blueberry Bushel goodness to see, starting with my lovely friend, Kate Morgan.

If at any time you find a broken link, please head to the blog of this week’s host of the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop, Cathy Proctor, and she will have the list of all participants.

Bye for now,

Tina