One For The Boys | Let's Get Hopping #36

Hello and welcome to another Let's Get Hopping blog hop. This month we are sharing projects created in the males in our lives in mind. Masculine cards usually seem to challenge most card makers but Stampin' Up! offer so many great stamp sets that are perfect for masculine cards and Geared Up Garage is one of my favourites.

Using the coordinating Garage Gears dies, a little sponging of white craft ink and some blends, this card came together fairly quickly and it could be easily recreated in a whole range of colours. 

Next up in the hop is my talented friend Alicia Yap. I'm looking forward to seeing what she and the rest of the team have to share with us all.

 

Ink Blending | TGIF Challenge #283

Whoop whoop. It's Friday again and the end of another busy week. This week our fabulous friend Tami Hewlett has taken over TGIF Challenges and has challenged us to all get our fingers all inky with some ink blending.

And here is my project.

I used a sponging technique to create my ink blended background and chose to go with Real Red, Melon Mambo and Flirty Flamingo as my colour combo. Since the challenge was an ink blending challenge I kept the other details quite simple with some Whisper White die cut hearts and a white embossed sentiment on Basic Black.

To see what the other talented TGIF designers have created and to join in the challenge head over to the TGIF Challenges blog 

Thanks for joining me today.

-Tan xx

 

Happy 3rd Birthday to Us | Let's Get Hopping #35

Hello and welcome everyone to an extra special Let's Get Hopping blog hop. Today's hop just happens to be going live on the same date that our very first Let's Get Hopping blog hop was published three years. Wow, I cannot believe that its been three years already!! 

If you have been already been hopping along you would have come from the blog of my amazing friend and our Let's Get Hopping founder, Jennifer Frost. Jenn started this blog hop for a group of us that had just started blogging and for most of us it was the first hop we had participated in. I'm so grateful of Jenn creating this opportunity for me as it opened up so many more opportunities for me to grow as a papercrafter and a blogger.

Moving on to today's projects, the challenge this month was to take one of the themes we have worked with in the past three and I chose the CASE Yourself theme from March of last year.  

Here is the card I chose to CASE. I created this card earlier this year and at the time I knew it would be a card that I would one day CASE.

And here is my CASE. For this card there were a few things I chose to CASE from the original project and a couple of elements I have included in both cards. I really loved this sentiment from the So Sentimental stamp set and I loved how the die cut vellum panel added some softness and subtle detail to the card.

Instead of adding a water coloured flower, I chose to go with a 3D Peony flower created with the Peony Dies and rather than a tone on tone stamped background I went with this patterned DSP from the Peony Garden DSP pack. 

Thanks for joining me today. Next up in the hop is my Kiwi friend Alicia Yap. I'm excited to see what theme she has chosen for this month

 

Punch It Out | Be Inspired Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome. Here we are again, getting towards the end of another month and time for the Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop. Is it just me, or is this year just flying along? This month the Be Inspired team are playing with punches and when it comes to punches my absolute favourite go-to is without a doubt the Medium Daisy punch.

Given the focus of this card was to use punches I wanted the daisies to be the focal point and kept the rest of the card fairly simple. The sentiment panel is actually a card from the Flowers for Every Season Memories & More card pack. The teeny tiny daisies tie in with the larger flowers and I love the bright pop of Magenta Madness in the sentiment. I added some texture to the Misty Moonlight background by embossing it with the Pinewood Planks 3D Embossing Folder.

One of the things I love about the Medium Daisy punch is that the daisies can easily be punch out of plain cardstock and still look great, however to add a little extra detail I chose to stamp and heat emboss the daisies in white with the Daisy Lane stamp set. I also added some Just Jade leaves from the Sunflower Dies.

Thanks for joining me today Next up in the hop is my lovely friend Janneke Dijkstra de Jong. I can wait to see what she has "punched out" for us. 

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Roll

 

Tanya Rees (You are here)

Janneke Dijkstra de Jong

Cathy Caines

Manuela Geiswinkler

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Angela Meiritz-Reid

 

Step It Up or Scale It Back | Let's Get Hopping #34

Welcome everyone. It's time for another Let's Get Hopping blog hop and I have really been looking forward to this one. This month's challenge encouraged us to think about the type of crafter we were, an avid crafter who loves to add lots of layers, textures and embellishments or someone who prefers to keep it simple. Whatever our style, the challenge was to create a card and then create a second card that was either a "Stepped Up" or "Scaled Back" of the original. I'm sure it's no surprise to you all that I am more of an avid crafter, in fact creating a scaled back version of my card was a challenge, however it was a challenge I enjoyed. So here are my cards.

When creating my original project I was inspired by an incredibly talented friend, Cindy Schuster. Cindy is part of The Crafty Carrot Collective and during this month's program Cindy shared two stunning cards with the Beautiful World Stamp Set, her tutorial project was the inspiration for the layout of my card while the colour scheme was drawn from the sneak peek Cindy shared in the lead up to this month. (You can see both projects here).

Rather than using the Beautiful World stamp set I chose to go with the Tasteful Touches stamp set and In Good Taste DSP and I have used a number of different techniques to create the card. The flowers have been stamped and coloured with blends, the branches of leaves have been heat embossed in copper on vellum and both images have been fussy cut. I've also added some detail in the background by adding strips of the DSP rather than one full panel.

For my "Scaled Back" version I opted for a simple panel of DSP for the background and rather than stamping on and fussy cutting vellum, I stamped and embossed the branches of leaves directly on the DSP. The flowers have still be fussy cut by have been stamped in Petal Pink and Bumble Bee rather than coloured. Lastly I kept the sentiment panel as a simple rectangle of Very Vanilla.

Next up in the hop is my talented friend Shelly Wadge. I can't wait to see how she has tackled this challenge

 

Gingham Christmas | #TGIFC 277 Sketch Challenge

 

Whoop whoop!!! It's Friday again and I'm back playing along with another TGIF Challenge. This weeks challenge is a sketch challenge.

And here is my take on the sketch

When creating this card I used the scallop dies from the Budding Blooms Dies to create two scalloped slits and then die cut the word "Happy" in the centre with the Playful Alphabet Dies. Initially wanted to insert a Magenta Madness water coloured panel beneath the "Happy", but try as I might I just could make the concept work and instead I substituted the water colour panel with a piece of gingham patterned DSP from the Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper pack. I then added a bauble and holly sprig from the Tag Buffet Stamp Set and the word "Christmas" from Peace & Joy. I think my favourite parts of this card, though, is the pops of Magenta Madness, don't they look great with the Mossy Meadow and Whisper White?

Thank you for joining me again today. If you haven't already, make sure you pop over to the TGIF Challenge blog to see what the rest of the team have come up with for this challenge.

- Tan xx 

Sunflowers | #TGIFC 275 Inspiration Challenge

Yay!! It's Friday, and time for another TGIF Challenge and this week is an Inspiration Challenge.

So I'm sure it's no surprise that I inked up my Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set again for this challenge. Why not, since it's my focus set for July. However instead of going with a green plaid pattern for the background I chose to go with some Mossy Meadow watercolour stripes and a bolder pop of yellow for the sentiment.

Since I've been playing with this big sunflower a bit lately I thought I'd try something a little different to add colour to the flower. A couple of months ago I was watching a tutorial by the fabulously talented Jennifer Frost, where she used a dot colouring technique to colour some poppies and I thought is would be a fun technique to use here. Using the pen tip of my Stampin' Blends pen I added lots of little dots of colour, layering darker colours over the top of the lighter tones in places where I'd normally blend a darker shade. 

Thank you for joining me today. Make sure you head over to the TGIF Challenge page to see how the other designers have been inspired by this challenge and if you feel inspired to play along with the challenge we'd love to see what you create.

Sunshine & Happiness | Be Inspired Blog Hop

Hello everyone. Wow!! I can't believe it's already the last Wednesday of the month and time for another Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop. This month's theme is Sunshine & Happiness and, Boy, do we need some sunshine and happiness is the world right now. 

When I think of sunshine, bright yellows always come to mind and my happy colour is pink so I immediately knew I had to include this gorgeous striped pattern from the Flowers For Season Designer Series Paper in this design. With such a busy background I wanted to keep the rest of the card fairly simple with the word "Sunshine" die cut with the Playful Alphabet Dies and a sun created with  medallion from the North Pole Wonder dies.

What do think? I'm sure receiving this card in the mail would bring some sunshine to someone's day. Next up in the hop is my talented friend Janneke Dijkstra de Jong with another bright and happy project for you.

Thanks for joining me today

- Tan xx

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Roll

 

Tanya Rees (You are here)

Janneke Dijkstra de Jong

Cathy Caines

Carolynn Sander

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Stesha Bloodhart

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Peony Garden | Stamping Sunday

Hello and welcome. Well it's been a while since I've joined the Stamping Sunday crew for a blog hop but I'm glad to be back sharing with everyone today. I'm particularly excited to be sharing projects featuring products from the Peony Garden Suite from the Stampin' Up! 2020-2021 Annual Catalogue. 

Today I'm sharing three cards created the same set of supplies but each with either a beginner, casual or avid crafter in mind. I absolutely adore the soft tones of grey and Petal Pink in this suite however for these projects I wanted to try a slightly bolder colour scheme.

When creating this first card I have coloured the Basic Grey and Whisper White pattern from the Peony Garden Designer Series Paper with blends in Rococo Rose, Old Olive, So Saffron and Pool Party. Then I've layered a piece of Whisper White with a Basic Gray matt and stamped the sentiment from the Prized Peony stamps set in Basic Gray. Finally to finish it off I've added a few Elegant Faceted Gems.

  

For this second card I have created the same background by colouring the DSP with blends, however keeping the casual crafter in mind I've added a centre panel with a peony image stamped in Pool Party, some linen thread, a heat embossed sentiment and a trimmed section of a Vellum Sqaure Doily.

Finally, I stepped up my last card to a more avid crafter level by including a die cut panel and peony, some subtle background stamping and a fussy cut sentiment. As I wanted the peony in the centre to be the focal point, I only coloured the background portion of the DSP in Pool Party and left the flowers and leaves in their original colours of Whisper White and Basic Grey. Isn't it amazing how you can get two completely different looks from the same piece a DSP?

Thank you for joining me today. Make sure you check out what the rest of my Stamping Sunday friends have created with this beautiful suite by clicking the links below.

- Tan xx

Let's Celebrate You | #TGIFC 271 Colour Challenge

Hello everyone and welcome.

Today I am so very excited to be participating in my very first colour challenge as a designer for the TGIF Challenges Design Team. I am so completely honoured to be asked to be part of this team of incredibly talented designers. So here I go, jumping in head first into a Colour Challenge.

Now if I'm completely honest, I find colour challenges the hardest and on this occasion it took me a while to find my mojo with this combo, but I have to admit I'm really happy the end result. What do you think?

Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo and Mango Melody are such bright, fun colours and really pack a punch on any project however they can also be really pretty softened with a little water colouring. To create this background I started with a piece of Shimmery White cardstock that I lightly swept over with a clean water painter before gently applying the ink, lightly at first and then building up the colour to achieve the desired effect. Then to add an element of interest to the background I added some water splatters which, once dry leaves this splochy look.

Subtle is not usually the first word that comes to mind when you think of a sunflower but the fine detailed lines of the this gorgeous flower from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set gives a soft subtle effect to the background when heat embossed in white. I finished off the card with some simple white die cuts, a heat embossed sentiment, some gold thread and a scatter of sequins.

Thank you for joining me today. Make sure you head over to the TGIF Challenges page to see what the other designers have created with this fun combo and if you feel inspired to play along with the challenge we'd love to see what you create. 

-Tan xx

Something New | Be Inspired Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to another Be Inspired Design Team blog hop. 

This month's theme is "Something New" and with a brand new Stampin' Up! catalogue bursting with new products this theme is perfectly timed. However, I have decided to not only feature a new stamp set and new in-color in my project but I think the style of card is something a little different or "new" to what I would normally create.

I just love this feather image from the Tasteful Touches stamp set and for this card I was inspired by the TGIF Challenge team to create my own  have used the embossed resist technique with Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and one of the new 2020-2022 In-Colors, Magenta Madness sponging over the white embossed image. 

With such a bold background I decided to keep the other elements fairly simple with another feather embossed on vellum and some gold thread.

Next up in the hop is Janneke. I'm sure she has something amazing to share with us.

Thanks for joining me today

-Tan xx

 

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Roll

 

Tanya Rees (You are here)

Janneke Dijkstra de Jong

Carolynn Sander

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Scrap It | Let's Get Hopping #32

Hello and welcome to another Let's Get Hopping blog hop. The challenge set for this month's hop was to create with the scraps leftover from other projects. Whether it be thin strips of cardstock off cuts, stamped or die cut images that didn't quite look right on even the leftover card from where a shape has been punched or die cut out, I'm sure we all have a stash of scraps that we just can't bear to throw away in case they can be used later. 

Now the interesting thing about my project for you today is that it's been created using the scraps from a card that ended up being scrapped. (You know those cards that look great in your mind but in reality are terrible 😆) 

So have you worked out what the scraps are? Well believe it or not, the scraps are the water-coloured petals in the sunflower. When working on the original project that didn't make it off my desk I had water-coloured and die cut a sunflower with the intention to use the outline portion of the sunflower but as I was popping out the petals I couldn't bear throw them away. So instead of discarding them I die cut another outline in Cinnamon Cider and set about putting together the jigsaw puzzle. A little tip if you plan to have a go at this technique yourself, make sure you cut out a solid sunflower shape to glue the outline and little petal pieces to.

Inspired by the TGIF Challenge Blog Sketch for this week I trimmed an inch off the edge of the card front so the piece of In Good Taste DSP on the inside of the card was peeking out. 

Next up in the hop is my super talented friend, Alicia Yap. I can't wait to see the creative ways she has used scraps.

Until next time

-Tan xx

Stampin' Fancy Friday | CASE a Fancy Friend

Hello everyone and welcome, 

It's Stampin' Fancy Friday time again and this month we are CASEing our Fancy Friends. Being part of this amazingly talented team initally had me overwhelmed with choice. How could I possibly choose just one designer to CASE, let alone choose one project? After a little time scrolling through Instagram I settled on this beautiful card by Krista Frattin.

Krista is a self-proclaimed "Lazy Stamper" but if you have seen any of her projects you wouldn't know it. She has an amazing talent of layering stamped images and die cuts to create stunning projects. 

When casing Krista's card I've gone with a similar layout featuring the Tasteful Touches stamp set. One of my favourite parts of the stamp set is the patterned stamps that are perfect for adding detail to the background of a card, so of course I had to add some tone-on-tone stamping to the Smokey Slate background and no "Krista inspired" card would be complete with a little ink splattering. The fussy cut flowers have been stamped in Basic Gray and then coloured with Rococo Rose blends. I've layered them over a die cut label from the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper and have then added some touches of texture withe some In Good Taste elements, Denim Ribbon, Scalloped Lace Trim and a few Metallic pearls. 

Thanks for joining me today. To see more CASE your Fancy Friend projects make sure you follow the Stampin Fancy Friday Instagram and Facebook pages.

-Tan xx