Friday, March 29, 2024

Just Add Ink #695 - Just Add Chocolate

It may not be my week to create for Just Add Ink but there was no way in the known universe I would miss the opportunity to ...

I mean, come on! ðŸ˜‚😉 CHOC. O. LATE.!!! 

A number of years ago (we're talking more than 10 years, ohmygosh) Just Add Ink had a challenge to be inspired by the wrapper colours of our favourite chocolate bar (yep, they seriously expected us to pick just one, lol). I was lucky enough to win that challenge, so the bar is set high to best that mouthwatering winner, lol! As luck would have it, I not-so-long-ago scooped up a number of items from Stamperia's Coffee and Chocolate range - serendipitous, right? You betcha whipped ganache! Here's my card, which I feel is perfect for many occasions (and do try not to drool all over your keyboard!):

Mm mm mm m mmmmm... 

BTW, while much fun was had, sadly no chocolate was consumed in the making of this card. I know, I know - I really didn't plan that terribly well, lol. 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew)
  • card - basic white, early espresso
  • Stamperia Coffee & Chocolate collection - stencil, paper and Collectibles
  • distress oxide inks - Victorian velvet, vintage photo
  • other - white gesso, distress opaque texture paste, craft foam, MISTI, Sidekick, blending brushes, sponge dauber, creamy caramel ink (retired), fan brush, water spritzer, Nothing's Better Than die (SU retired)

I started by applying some texture paste through the stencil, inking once it was dry. The 'chocolate' die cut word has three layers, darker behind for a bit of shadowing and lighter on top - I even dredged out a very old ink pad to try for a close colour match. The cupcake and chocs were fussy cut and sponged around the edges then raised at different levels for dimension. The splatters are watered down gesso and I couldn't resist using paper with just blocks and blocks of choccy over my base card.

Check out some more chocolatey creations on the Just Add Ink blog and if you're inspired to make, we'd love to see your work in our gallery.

I'm entering this card in this week's Color Throwdown challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Monday, March 25, 2024

Happy Easter, Mr Rabbit

I'm sure you've probably met the very dapper Mr Rabbit already if you haunt blogs, Pinterest or social media like I do. He joined me a week or so ago but I have been saving him for closer to Easter and now it's almost here I happily sat and became acquainted with the gentleman. Here's how our first meeting went:

I began by stamping him on two pieces of Tim Holtz's specialty stamping paper so I could get the crispest, clearest image. One of those pieces became my background, which I sponged over with distress ink and did some stamping with other stamps from the set. The second piece I coloured using distress watercolour pencils then restamped - this brings back any detail lost because of the pigment from the pencils - before fussy cutting him out and attaching over the first piece. I die cut some eggs in different sizes then coloured those with distress inks, stamping dots over the top with oxide ink and sponging the edges. The plaid stamp was used on my base and then I assembled all my layers. 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Mr Rabbit (Tim Holtz), Create Happiness - Elements (Stamperia)
  • card - Distress specialty stamping paper (Tim Holtz), mossy meadow (Stampin' Up)
  • dies - Nesting Eggs (Waffle Flower)
  • other Tim Holtz products - distress inks, distress watercolour pencils, water brush, antique linen and vintage photo oxide ink, ground espresso archival ink, vintage photo archival ink
  • other - blending foam tools, sponge dauber, Dimensionals, craft foam, mossy meadow ink (SU)

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Easter/Spring), Sunday Stamps #331 Easter Bounty (I used pink, yellow and brown), and Tic Tac Toe #243 (I used the top horizontal row - Easter eggs, yellow and free). 

 

Luckily there's still time for more meetings with Mr Rabbit before Easter is upon us, so I'd better get hopping! Thanks for moseying on by.

Cheers
Kerry

Friday, March 22, 2024

Love Every Minute

I'm back again with another entry for The Color Throwdown challenge - just kept getting ideas for these gorgeous colours - and this time I'm incorporating it with a second challenge, Inspired By.



And here's my card:


The flowers and leaves are watercoloured and I set them on some distressed woodgrain card for subtle, organic texture. 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Do What You Love (Pinkfresh Studios)
  • dies - Wildflower Stems 1 and 3 (Tim Holtz)
  • other - woodgrain cardstock (Tim Holtz), Zig Clean Color real brush markers, water brush, distressing tool, Dimensionals, craft foam, Big Shot, opal rounds, white baker's twine, sponge dauber

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kerry

Just Add Ink #694 - Just Add a Colour Combo

Who loves colour? Meeeeeeeeeee!!!! Woo hoo, it's time for a colour combo challenge with Just Add Ink and here's what we have for you this week:


I gotta say, this particular combo was a true challenge for me because in a month of Sundays I would not have thought to put these three colours together. Peacock and Cajun, sure, both bold beautiful autumnal tones from the same colour family - but to add fresh freesia? Nikki sure wanted to test us all when she picked these!

That being said, however, once I (finally!) settled on a design idea and began colouring, I came to like this unusual pairing. For me it was all about balance and how much space I let each colour take - the softer freesia could easily be overpowered by the darker tones. Here's how my card ended up:


I started with cutting my freesia base then used the same card for my back layer but darkened it by inking around the edges with matching ink. I sponged some more freesia on my white foreground and gave that some water splatters, letting them dry naturally so I'd get that lovely dark ring around the edges of the drops. My adorable little chameleon was watercoloured and I have to admit to going through a few trial runs before settling on this one, lol. I stamped my sentiment, added some gems and called it good!

Materials used:
  • stamps - Colour My World (Clearly Besotted)
  • card - fresh freesia, basic white (Stampin' Up), watercolour
  • other - blending brush, aqua painter, MISTI, Dimensionals, craft foam, SU markers, clear gems

Why not try your hand at this fascinating combination too - you may surprise yourself just as I did! And it goes without saying that we'd love to see your creations in our gallery. Now head on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see what my fellow team mates did with them!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Thursday, March 21, 2024

I Meant to Behave...

I'm playing along with the Color Throwdown challenge this week.


Isn't that picture adorable? I so want to cuddle some baby ducks right now, lol. Anyways, back to card making business! I used the colours as backgrounds for some just as adorable but definitely-up-to-mischief cats.


I think that snarky sentiment is just perfect for this lot! 😂

Materials used:
  • card - basic white, basic black
  • dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower), cats (stash)
  • stencils - Postage Collage Everyday (Waffle Flower)
  • distress oxide inks - spun sugar, squeezed lemonade, shabby shutters
  • other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Small Talk Snarky stickers (Tim Holtz), mounting foam, Dimensionals

Thanks for calling in!

Cheers
Kerry

Friday, March 15, 2024

Just Add Ink #693 - Just Choose Two

Welcome to another Just Add Ink challenge. This week it's a choose two option, with your choices between

Here in the southern hemisphere March heralds the beginning of my favourite season of the year, autumn. Recently I noticed that one of my nearby neighbours had a crop of beautiful yellow sunflowers in their front yard and the cheerful, happy 'faces' not only made me smile but also inspired my card featuring autumn colours and sunflowers, with my 'choose two' options being squares and circles. 

For my background I did some ink blending with oxides and after dry embossing, inked over the raised areas with another oxide. To preserve the vividacity of the colours I smooshed some distress micro glaze over everything. My window frame got some distressing treatment and ink, then I added the sunflowers (which were already made up in my stash) and attached them all to my background. I made some little bunches of sisal threads and added those, splattered with vanilla and gold paints and lastly added a sentiment. 


Materials used:
  • card - blackberry bliss, very vanilla, basic white (Stampin' Up)
  • distress oxide inks - fossilized amber, ripe persimmon, candied apple, seedless preserves
  • other Tim Holtz products - baseboard window frame, ground espresso archival ink, metallic sticker, blending tool, micro glaze
  • other - floating foliage 3D embossing folder (Altenew), sunflower dies (Simon Says Stamp), Big Shot, fan brush, Dimensionals, craft foam, sisal thread, distressing tool, sanding block, sponge dauber, blending brushes, stitched rectangle die

There are more cards to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog. I do hope you'll join us and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

The Card Concept #205 - Spring Has Sprung


While we look forward to cooler temps here in Australia, the northern hemisphere is warming up and loving all the beauty nature brings with it in Spring. Spring Has Sprung is the theme for this month's inspiration challenge at The Card Concept and what a beautifully sweet mood board we have for you.

The birds, florals and colours all inspired my shaped layered card.


There are three layers of the 'hello' die for depth and I cut the little bird from the reverse side of the DSP to perch there. It's the perfect size and isn't it adorable? This card is 14cm tall and just 10.5cm at its widest point, so fits in a regular C6 envelope. 

I repeated some of the papers on the inside and left space for a handwritten message.


Materials used:
  • card - boho blue, basic white, Flight & Airy DSP (all Stampin' Up)
  • dies - hello script (stash), Bird House A2 cardbase (Honey Bee Stamps), Essential Arches (Spellbinder)
  • other - Big Shot, blending brushes, Dimensionals, sponge dauber

Check out what my fellow team members have created to inspire you over on The Card Concept blog, and thanks so much for stopping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Friday, March 8, 2024

Just Add Ink #692 - Just Add a Sketch

Hey stampers, it's time for another Just Add Ink challenge and this week we have a great sketch:


I've used a movie theme for my card - my family are all avid movie watchers and elder DD and her partner especially are fabulous at movie trivia. As a new mum, she's also enjoying the Mums and Bubs sessions at her local cinema.



And on the inside I put a pocket just perfect for a movie gift card.


Materials used:
  • card - basic white, basic black, real red, gold foil, starry sky (Stampin' Up), Silverscreen papers (Nitwit Collections)
  • dies - Movie Icons (My Favorite Things), stars thinlits (Stampin' Up)
  • other - Copic markers, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Gardenia Filmstrip Frames (49andMarket)

What would you make with this sketch? We'd love to see your creations in our gallery. You can check out more ideas to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kerry


Saturday, March 2, 2024

Wishing You Luck

Can you believe March is here already? Yikes!

On the plus side, the March challenge over at Simply Clean & Simple to make a CAS card with an optional additional theme of 'Green' did spark an idea ... 


Plenty of ink smooshing to keep me happy here, lol, for both the background and die-cut lettering, which is three layers for depth. 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Bitty Buzzwords: Seasons (Honey Bee Stamps)
  • card - kraft, watercolour
  • dies - Bold Text 2, Tailored (Tim Holtz), Curio: Spring findings (The Greetery), stitched rectangle (Paper Rose)
  • distress oxide inks - mowed lawn, rustic wilderness, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon
  • other - Big Shot, MISTI, crackling campfire archival ink, water spritzer, heat tool, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, clear sequins, mini glue dots

Hope you get some crafting in your day! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Best Birthday


I was lucky enough to be picked as Featured Artist for the Color Throwdown challenge #780 (see my entry in this post), so this week I'm Guest Star Stamper and just take a look at this gorgeous combo!


As soon as I saw the palette I couldn't wait to sit and play - here's how my card ended up:


It gave me the opportunity to play with this new-to-me die set and I sure did have a lot of fun colouring and assembling. The largest rose has 8 layers (eight!) but they all come together very easily. I cut two layers of a fine border to add to the arch and love the subtle flourishes on the paper I used behind it. 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
  • card - merry merlot, basic white, retired SDSP (Stampin' Up)
  • Copic markers - R81, R83, R85, T1, T2, T4, YG63, YG67
  • dies - Lovely Layers: Sweetheart Roses (Honey Bee Stamps), Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
  • other - Big Shot, MISTI, Versmark ink, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, gems

I hope you'll get the chance to play along. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kerry

Friday, February 23, 2024

Just Add Ink #690 - Just Add a Fancy Fold

It's time to shake up your regular cards a little with this week's Just Add Ink challenge to ...

My choice is a centre-step card with an Easter theme. I spent about three hours die cutting, colouring and assembling this card and I am so happy with the result. (And speaking of Easter, some supermarkets had hot cross buns on their shelves on new year's day! Not that I mind, I could eat those all year long, lol, but what the heck!) 


Materials used:

  • card - green, white, beige, vellum
  • dies - Bunny Games Colorize and Potted 2 (Tim Holtz), Nesting Eggs (Waffle Flower), Happy Easter (stash), Center Step and Center Step Layers (Our Daily Bread Designs), clouds (retired Stampin' Up)
  • distress oxide inks - squeezed lemonade, saltwater taffy, shaded lilac, speckled egg, bundled sage, antique linen, brushed corduroy
  • other - Big Shot, blending brushes, basket weave embossing folder (We R Memory Keepers), R20, Y13 and T10 Copic markers, sponge dauber, crumb cake ink (SU), mounting tape, water spritzer
  • eggy hot air balloon idea inspired by Debi Adams

I began with the bunnies, cutting them from crumb cake card with the smaller pieces cut from white and coloured with markers. Once they were assembled I worked on the basket, cutting a tall pot from the Potted 2 die and trimming it down. After colouring it, I embossed with basket weave - so pleased how that turned out - and sponged a little more colour over the raised areas. Next I worked on the egg "balloons", cutting everything from white card then colouring some with a soft rainbow of oxide inks. Getting the "ropes" attached was a daunting task and I'm sure there's realistic inaccuracies, but I'm pleading artistic licence on that! The tall "balloon" at the back has a piece of thick window sheet behind it to help with structural integrity and give me more to adhere it with. The centres of the daisies were also coloured with markers while the sentiment was coloured with ink to match the bunting. The vellum clouds were my final touch, which give those side panels a purpose, lol. 

Do pop over to the Just Add Ink blog to check out more fancy fold cards to inspire you, and I hope to see your own creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Friday, February 16, 2024

Best Friends

I was chatting with my bestie earlier today, telling her I had tidying to do in my craft room. Her response was to tell me to remind myself, 'it's tidy time, not play time'. A couple of hours later ... a die I was "tidying" caught my eye and gave me an idea for a card for the Color Throwdown challenge this week. 


I might have sat down to play...


You can see why I was distracted, can't you? Red challenge, red cardinals - well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! She will still give me grief for it though, lol. 

I cut two layers for the branch and darkened it a little with ink so it would stand out from the background. I also cut two of each bird so I could cut the wing separate and give it dimension. The birds were edged with ink and I used markers to colour the faces and beaks with a dot of white gel pen for the eyes. 

Materials used:
  • card - distress kraft heavystock (Ranger), real red, basic white (Stampin' Up)
  • dies - Cardinals and Birdhouse (Cottage Cutz)
  • other - picket fence distress ink, Dimensionals, craft foam, white gel pen, alcohol markers, blending tool, Wordies sentiment sheets - Friendship (Creative Expressions)

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers
Kerry

Just Add Ink #689 - Colour Combo

Are you ready for another card challenge? It's not my week at Just Add Ink but it's a gorgeous colour combo and you know how difficult I find those to resist, lol. Here's the swatch:

I've added touches of gold to the palette for my card.

As usual, I've done multiple layers of the sentiment die for depth. I love how the white pops against that gorgeous swirling background of rich colour.

Materials used:
  • card - basic white, gold metallic, glossy photo paper
  • dies - layered hummingbird (Simon Says Stamp), hello (stash)
  • other - Big Shot, computer and printer, Dimensionals, gold pearl, craft foam, metallic sticker (Tim Holtz), alcohol ink background (Etsy)

There's lots more to inspire on the Just Add Ink blog, so head on over and take a look. We'd love to see your own creation in our gallery this week.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kerry

Thursday, February 15, 2024

The Card Concept #204 - Winter Warmth

We've a brand new monthly challenge and inspiration pic for you at The Card Concept, this one entitled Winter Warmth.


There's certainly plenty of warmth going on around here, as February is the hottest month of summer for us. This week we've had more than one day of 37degC (98.6degF) temps so I am most definitely looking forward to the cooler days of autumn not far away (hopefully!).

The animal, trees and colours on the rug gave me an outdoorsy/nature vibe, which became the inspiration for my mixed media card. 


Curvy Girl was stamped on my background piece of watercolour card first then I sponged the clouds, sky and ground around her, and stamped her again on another piece of card. She was watercoloured using distress inks and after some fussy cutting attached to the background.

Materials used:
  • stamps - Curvy Girl Loves to Hike (Stamping Bella), Spectacular Adventures (Altenew)
  • card - pecan pie (Stampin' Up), watercolour, Happy Camper plaid paper (Etsy)
  • distress inks - bundled sage, peeled paint, forest moss, stormy sky, spiced marmalade, wild honey, tea dye, rusty hinge, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, vintage photo
  • dies - alphanumeric tiny type lower (Tim Holtz)
  • other - water brush, mini cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brushes, Sidekick, MISTI, vintage photo embossing glaze, heat tool, black archival ink

Hopefully some aspect of the inspiration picture and/or colour palette will make you want to create. If so, do share it with us on The Card Concept blog and don't forget to check out all the cards made by my fellow design team members.

Thanks for hiking by.

Cheers
Kerry

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Nature's Bounty

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge to TIE IT UP (ie use twine/ribbon/etc) inspired me to create this morning and as I was in a mixed media mood, I made a layered collage-style card with a nature theme.

I used papers and elements from 49andMarket's Curator's Meadow collection for my background, sponging edges with oxide ink. I replaced the white string on the tags with a twine that fit better and layered them up. The 'stamps' are washi tape from the collection, adhered to white, while the leafy branch is die-cut and coloured with more oxides. My nest is a cheap craft one cut down as it was too large and I painted some tiny eggs, hot gluing them all to my card. The last step, as always - cos this is me and mixed media, after all (lol) - was paint splatters.

Materials used:
  • papers, tags, washi tape, ephemera - Curator's Meadow collection (49andMarket)
  • card - crumb cake, basic white (Stampin' Up), watercolour
  • distress oxide inks - walnut stain, peeled paint, forest moss
  • distress paint - antique linen, walnut stain
  • other - Dimensionals, blending brushes, sponge dauber, craft foam, tiny eggs (Tim Holtz Idea-ology), Easter mini nest (Anko), hot glue gun, Big Shot, twine, splat box, fanbrush, magnolia leaf branch die (Memory Box)

Hope you're getting some creative time too! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kerry