HOC Week 21

 Hi!

Welcome back to the 21st, and second last, week of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. I'm still a little in disbelief that Christmas is so close, but at least I have more than enough cards ready to write on and send out. If only I was so organised with my Christmas shopping!

This week's Sheetload Of Cards template is from January 2020. I was looking for a super quick and easy sketch for tonight's cards. I had two half hour windows today in which to get them made, and I was successful in my aims. 

I was really pleased with this inside of my cards. I liked just the antlers as a hint of what was stamped on the front of the card. Usually I'd stamp the whole penguin, but just a tease is nice, too.

I was going for a snowy look to the card. Hopefully the paper on the bottom, from the Celebrate Everything Host DSP, looks like snowy hills for the penguins to frolic amongst. Either way, it's a super-cute set of cards.

Thanks again for joining me, and I hop to see you again next week for the final blog hop. In the meantime though, there's plenty more inspiration to be seen on tonight's blog hop, so please jump on over to Christine Blain's blog, where she's no doubt made a gorgeous card for us to see.

As always, the lovely Sharon Davern has done a wonderful job of keeping all of the HOC hoppers organised. If you run into any issues with links, please jump on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all of tonight's participants with the correct links.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 391: Mini Catalogue Bundle

Hi! 

Thanks for joining me for the new CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. This week we have jumped to the back of the current Mini Catalogue, and we are asking you to CASE a card from the Bundle Section.

Although I don't own this bundle, I chose the card from page 72 that uses the Bewitching Bundle.

I loved the three hats on whimsical angles on the card. I think it's lots of fun!

What's more fun than a trio of penguins whizzing down snowy hills on their bellies? LOL!

At the top of the card, I stamped some trees from the Penguin Place stamp set. It adds some lovely depth to the card.

I repeated the scene on the inside of the card on a smaller scale. Hopefully you can see the sentiment right at the bottom of the card - I like putting sentiments in unexpected places on the inside of my cards.

We'd love for you to join the challenge. All you need to do is make a card inspired by one of the cards in the Bundles section of the Mini, and upload a photo to our Facebook Group. We'd love to see what you make!

Please now jump on over to my wonderful friend, Judy May's blog. She's certainly got something gorgeous for you to see!

Bye for now,

Tina

HOC Week 12

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for Week 12 of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. We are inching towards Christmas, and it's nice to feel a little more organised by having my cards well under way.

This week I used the February 2022 Sheetload Of Cards template. I really like the three strips of DSP on the front, so it's a template that I return to often. It's a great way to use up those long, thin strips of DSP that I always seem to end up with!

The stamp set that I used is Penguin Place. It's such a fun stamp set! I really love the sentiment that I used on the inside. It's very different to a lot of other Christmas sentiments!

I chose to dress the penguin with a beanie this time, rather than the antlers. Lazy me decided that it was far easier to fussy cut the beanies than the antlers! I finished off the front with a few Iridescent snowflakes.

Thanks again for joining me, but please do continue your way around our blog hop. Just keep on going until you get back to where you started! The next stop in the hop is my friend, Theresa Gerrard.

This week, I am hosting the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. If you get stuck with a link, please jump back here and use these links to get to the next blog in the hop:

Theresa Gerrard

Kate Morgan

Rosa Leyden

Andrea Sargent

Caroline Manwaring

Kathryn Ruddick

Catherine Proctor

Christine Blain

Tina Gillespie <you're here!

Bye for now,

Tina

HOC Week 2

 Hi!

Here we are again, it's time for the second Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. I hope that you saw some fabulous Christmas inspiration last week - I sure did! This week, and subsequent weeks, will be no different, I'm sure. Let's go!

I still have not received my Christmas DSP, so I'm once again using the Design A Daydream Host DSP from the Annual Catalogue. I used two of the same papers as I used on last week's cards, as I thought they worked pretty well for a non-traditional Christmas card.

Aren't the penguins from Penguin Place super cute? I couldn't resist using them and adding the antlers to add to the whimsy of the card that the DSP provides.

I used the June 2021 Sheetload Of Cards template for my cards this week. I used the same template last year, and thought that it was a good one to revisit.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do continue your way around our blog hop tonight. The next stop along the way is my wonderful friend, Andrea Sergeant. Your won't want to miss her gorgeous card!

As always, if you get a little lost or find a broken link, please jump on over to Sharon Davern's blog. She has a list of all participants to help you to get back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 610: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have an Inspiration Photo challenge for you, suggested by Kerry. I really love the pops of colour that the balloons provide in the B&W photos.

Today's card features a digi stamp from Simply Cards Magazine. I've had it in my collection for many years, but when I went to try to find it again to link to it, I could not find it. Still, it was so cute that I couldn't resist using it.

The sentiment and bunny are two separate stamps. I printed them on Whisper White cardstock and coloured them using my Copic markers. I also used a Gold Sharpie for the stars, to coordinate with the Gold Foil card base.

The totally adorable bunny was fussy cut after I coloured him, and the popped up over the card base. I'm not sure who will get this card, but I think I'll add another digi stamp of a number balloon for him to hold in his other hand. You can't ever have too many balloons!

I forgot to print a second bunny for the inside, so I got lazy and just stamped some balloons from Penguin Palace on the inside. I did use some of my new Masking Paper, so I wasn't too lazy!

We'd love to see what you make using our Inspiration Photo as a guide. The Design Team have had plenty of fun ideas, so there's lost of creativity to spark your muse over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also link up your card when you've made it.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Tahitian Tide

 Hi!

It's time once again for the new Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week we are looking at the last of the new In Colours, Tahitian Tide. It's a very bright blue that I think fits nicely into the colour range.

Brian King once again provided a lovely colour combo featuring Tahitian Tide. I wanted a colour scheme that would work for a set of cards aimed at children, and I think this fits the bill. I paired the five Sheetload Of Cards templates with the Penguin Place bundle. This bundle isn't currently available, but it will return in the upcoming Mini Catalogue. I kept with the Silver Foil feature by using my retired Balloon Punch to crop the foil.

February 2022

May 2022

March 2022

November 2020

August 2020

Here's my Tahitian Tide cards all together. Aren't they a bright, happy bunch?

In case you're interested, here's the whole group of cards. To recap - I've made the same five cards using each of the five new In Colours to create a gift set for someone special. Now I just need to make a box to put them all in!

That's all from for for tonight, but please do continue your way around our blog hop. There's plenty more Tahitian Tide yumminess to be seen, starting off with my lovely friend, Sharon Davern. She's usually got a pretty awesome fancy fold for us.

Another lovely friend is Cathy Proctor - and she's the one who will get you back on track if you find a broken link. Just pop on over to her blog, where she has a list of all participants.

Bye for now,

Tina

Colour Creations: Real Red

 Hi!

Hello, and thank for joining me again for the Colour Creations Blog Hop. This week we are looking at Real Red, which is from the Regals colour family. I think it used to be a Bright, but got moved in a colour shuffle. Either way, it's a nice red.

I decided to make a card for a child, as I think it's a happy red, and very suitable. I started with some Sweet Talk DSP that I got in a paper share from the current Mini Catalogue. I'm not much for lovey-dovey papers (or anything, really!), so the plainer sides are more to my taste. This paper looks a bit like confetti, so works with my birthday card, I think.

I used my Penguin Place stamp set to create the focal panel. I stamped the penguin first, and then masked him off before stamping the balloon strings. Hopefully it looks like he's holding a bunch of balloons.

I don't have anyone in mind yet for this card, but when I know who will get it I will add a number to the inside - kids get excited by things like that!! People my age, not so much! LOL.

Thanks again for stopping by, but please do continue your way around our Blog Hop by jumping around the blogs until you get back to your starting point. The next blog tonight is my fabulous friend, Rachel Palmieri.

As always, the wonderful Catherine Proctor keeps us all organised each week. If you get stuck, she's got a list of all participants on her blog to get you back on track. 

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC 349: CASE The Mini Catalogue

 Hi!

Woah, it's time for the final CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop for the year. I'm still in disbelief that Christmas and the New Year are right around the corner!

This week we are asking you to CASE any project from the current Mini Catalogue. One last hurrah, as it will be retired by the time we start up our challenges in 2022.

I chose this Penguin Place cutie card, as I am well and truly finished with Christmas cards - I wanted to make anything but a Christmas card!

One of my pre-order purchases from the upcoming Mini Catalogue is this new Supple Shimmer paper. There's one sheet of this blue and another of pink. It's a sort or iridescent blue, which I thought worked well as a sky behind the penguin. What do you think?

It's very shimmery at the right angle! I otherwise mostly kept the card the same. I popped the sentiment at the bottom of the card so that I have the option to add a number to the balloon at a later date.

I used the offcut Shimmer paper as a border on the inside of my card. Another cute little penguin with his balloon finishes off the inside. 

To join in with us for our Challenge, all you need to do is upload a photo of your card into our Facebook group. We can't wait to see you play along with us.

I'm the last stop on our BLog Hop tonight, if you started in the FB group. If you started somewhere in the middle, keep on hopping until you get back to where you started. Our first hopper tonight was Sandra, who has made a very sweet Christmas card.

Bye for now,

Tina