Simple and Elegant - Just Add Ink Challenge #741

It's Friday, which means it's time for another challenge with Just Add Ink and our brief for you this week is to:

I made a soft-toned sympathy card - something we unfortunately often need to have on hand, especially as we get older. 

For my focal feature I used a stamp/die/stencils set from PinkFresh Studios. A few pearls were all the embellishments needed.

Materials used:

• stamp, die, stencil set - Butterflies in Bloom (PinkFresh Studios)
• sentiment stamp - Country Flowers (Stampin' Up)
• distress inks - antique linen, dried marigold, saltwater taffy, shabby shutters
• Altenew inks - alpine aster, soft lilac, lavender fields, deep iris
• other - blending brushes, pearls, MISTI, grip mat, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals

Do visit the Just Add Ink blog for more samples of simple and elegant to inspire you and if you create, we'd love you to share in our gallery.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Sending Love - Just Add Ink Challenge #739

This week at Just Add Ink it's our choose two challenge and our options are:

For my simple card I picked colouring and a variation on thinking of you.

Materials used:

• stamp & die combo - Overlapping Hugs Additions (Waffle Flower)
• stencils - Postage Collage Roses (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower), large love (stash)
• other - dye inks, blending brushes, Big Shot, mini pearls, Dimensionals

There's more samples to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog and if you do create, please share it with us in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Hello

It's stencil week over at Just Us Girls and I'm playing along.

Also entering in Addicted to CAS challenge #275:

I began by cutting three 3cm squares and rounding opposite corners, then put them on my grip mat and used stencils for the water and land. The sky was blended with three colours and the birds were die-cut and given a little colour too. For the sentiment I die-cut three layers but used the third layer only behind "h", "e" and "o" to allow for the dimension under the "l".

Materials used:

• stencils - Uncharted Waters (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, shabby shutters, peeled paint, squeezed lemonade, saltwater taffy, picked raspberry, lost shadow, pumice stone
• other - blending brushes, grip mat, birds in flight die (Poppystamps), hello die (stash), Sidekick, craft foam, Dimensionals

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Floating By - Just Add Ink Challenge # 735

Welcome to Friday and a new challenge with Just Add Ink. This week it's a colour combo suggested by Rochelle.

With summer splash in there I immediately thought 'water', so created a fun pool/beach scene.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bubbles (Tim Holtz), You Autumn Know (Lawn Fawn)
• dies - Poolside (Concord & 9th)
• other - Big Shot, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, MISTI, vintage gold wax (Art Alchemy), sponge dauber, craft foam

Check out more samples over on the Just Add Ink blog. We'd love to inspire you to create and join us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Oceans of Love

Which kind of challenges do you find the most ... well, challenging? For me it's often the sketches that stretch my crafting muscles more than others, so you may have noticed that I participate in sketch challenges much less often than, say, colour or inspiration ones. But this week the Freshly Made Sketches post caught my eye and sparked an idea ...

I flipped it 180 degrees and got busy getting inky, lol.

I began with embossing a piece of heavy watercolour card, then inked it and embossed again before giving it a water spritz. Love this new embossing folder from SU, those swirls are just gorgeous! Trust me, it looks even better in real life. The whale was just black and white card (obvs, lol) and the other die-cut pieces were coloured with distress inks. 

Materials used:

• dies - Whale in a Bottle (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, uncharted mariner, lucky clover, wilted violet, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, abandoned coral, hickory smoke
• other - Big Shot, Soft Waves embossing folder (Stampin' Up), water spritzer, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, clear acrylic dots

Hope you've had some crafting in your day and thanks for swimming by.

Cheers

Kerry

Beachy Delight - Just Add Ink Annual Blog Hop

With a whole new year of crafting to look forward to, at Just Add Ink we begin with an all-team Blog Hop to celebrate. We do hope you'll join us in creating and sharing, and our theme to inspire you is

Santa very kindly brought me a wonderful scrapbooking page kit so I've made a layout featuring my adorable grandson having a blast at the beach:

I used elements from the page kit but changed them up a little, adding some stamping and chipboard pieces.

Materials used:

• stamps - Gorgeous Grunge (SU retired)
• papers, chipboard pieces, die cuts - Summer Porch collection (49&Market)
• other - Dimensionals, sponge dauber, basic beige ink

The link below will take you to the next blog on our hop, which is Jan. Do please leave everyone some comment love as you browse through the hop. If you get stuck at any point, the list and links of all participants is on the Just Add Ink blog here. 

Thanks for calling in!

Cheers

Kerry

Nobody Can Be Uncheered With a Balloon

Especially a shiny red balloon!

In what I'm calling my Pooh series, I'm back with another card using Spellbinders Pooh Bear dies, this time featuring everyone's favourite depressive donkey. The quote from Pooh himself is very fitting for Eeyore and I'm thinking some (uninflated) balloons inside the card is a great way to send a simple pick-me-up.

I made some modifications to the die-cuts - I cut two heads, trimming the second to make a muzzle and inner ears. Apparently this colouring is more used for merchandise rather than the classic look from the books, but I think it gives him a bit more cheer. 

Materials used:

• dies - Tigger & Eeyore, Pooh & Piglet etched dies (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - kitsch flamingo, lost shadow, hickory smoke, candied apple, brushed corduroy, tumbled glass
• other - Dimensionals, craft foam, Sidekick, blending brushes, computer & printer, alpine aster ink (Altenew), clear embossing powder, heat tool

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Favourite Day

Drawn by the irresistable nature of a Pooh Bear, I've made another card for the Festive Friday challenge.

This time my picks from the inspo list are yellow, red, bear, colouring techniques and friend sentiment. 

Once again I die cut from heavy watercolour card and coloured on the more textured side to give a real 'fuzzy/furry' kind of look. Unfortunately I kept smudging black all over Pooh's face, so had to compromise and cut the black parts from black cardstock. (Yes, there were a few non-Pooh-approved words bandied around when things smudged for the second time! Piglet was definitely blushing.) This time I created Pooh's red shirt by cutting two lots of body and arms, then trimming them down. My sentiment is a Pooh quote, again typed on the computer in Pooh font. 

Materials used:

• dies - Pooh & Piglet (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - fossilized amber, candied apple, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, seedless preserves, brushed corduroy, tumbled glass
• other - Dimensionals, craft foam, blending brushes, Bubble Bath ink (Stampin' Up), Big Shot, computer and printer

I think I may possibly have one more Pooh card in me ... hmm, ok, maybe two. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Silly Old Bear

The card I have for you today is for two challenges. Firstly, Festive Friday made my day, my week, my month, my year with their current challenge celebrating the incomparable Winnie the Pooh (yup, huge Pooh fan). 

And the Seize the Birthday challenge is to use something new. 

Coincidentally, just a couple of days before I saw these challenges I had ordered some Pooh Bear dies from the new Spellbinders release! Of course, their arrival was the perfect excuse to sit and play. From the inspo list for FF, I used yellow, bears, honey, colouring techniques and bees.

I die cut all my pieces from heavy watercolour cardstock and coloured with distress inks. While I wanted the honey drips to be shiny, I didn't have the patience to wait for glossy accents to dry (lol) so used clear embossing powder instead. My sentiment was done on the computer using Pooh font.

Materials used:

• dies - Pooh & Piglet, Pooh's Honey Pot (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - fossilized amber, wild honey, faded jeans, chipped sapphire, tumbled glass, prized ribbon, black soot, mustard seed, brushed corduroy
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Versamark ink, clear embossing powder, heat tool, computer and printer, sticky grip mat, craft foam

Thanks for dripping by (a little hunny humour 😉).

Cheers

Kerry

Live Gently

Happy new year!

I'm starting off 2025 with joining in the Color Throwdown challenge, and what a challenge it is! 

It was lovely to be getting inky and playing again and I just could not go past using a birdie die, one of my most favourite tools.

I used a circle punch to create a mask for the moon and blended two shades of grey and some black ink for my background, adding a touch of shadowing to the moon afterwards with ink leftover on the brush. My branch was die cut from black, the bird from white and coloured with inks, again in two tones of grey, black, and a touch of cream. These were mounted with dimension, as was the back panel, and the finishing touch was a sentiment sticker.

Materials used:

• card - white, black
• distress inks - lost shadow, hickory smoke, black soot, antique linen
• dies - layered chickadee (Simon Says Stamp), branch
• other - 35mm circle punch, moon mask (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, Small Talk sticker (TH)

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Every year I'm surprised at which of my creations catch other people's interest and attention. The old adage of 'different strokes for different folks' certainly rings true in the creative world. Here are the nine cards of mine that garnered top votes on Instagram for 2024:

This prompted me to scroll back through my blog over the past year and choose my own personal top nine - though mine aren't in any particular order. 

I had to laugh at there being only two on both grids! How many (if any) of your favourites are here, I wonder? I'd love you to tell me in the comments!

Meanwhile, as this will definitely be my last post for the year, I would like to thank you all sincerely for taking this creative journey with me. Thanks for calling in, for commenting, and for coming back, lol. I hope 2025 brings you much crafty joy.

Cheers

Kerry

Always Believe - Just Add Ink Challenge #733

Howdy! It's not my week to create for Just Add Ink challenges, but with this choose two combo, how could I possibly resist? Plus, it was yours truly who suggested it in the first place, lol!

I had plenty of ideas for this but in the end went with a stamp set I've had for three years and never used. GASP! I know, I know! Mind boggling! I'm so glad I did though 'cos it was lots of fun inking and colouring. Here tis:

I masked off my moon and did the background first, using oxide inks on watercolour paper then adding water splatters and the moon detail. Once that was all dry I stamped Santa and his sleigh, colouring it with distress watercolour pencils - these are pigment, so they show up over ink. Because the pigment tends to obscure lines, I stamped again over the top once all the colours were dry. I embossed the 'magic swirl' in gold and added gold to the edges as well, co-ordinating with a gold on black sentiment sticker.

Materials used:

• stamps - Stamptember 2021 (Tim Holtz)
• distress oxide inks - wilted violet, villainous potion, black soot
• other Tim Holtz products - moon mask, distress watercolour pencils, Holiday Talk metallic sticker
• other - aqua painter, blending brushes, gold embossing powder, heat tool, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, kraft heavystock card, watercolour card, Versamark ink

We'd love you to join in our challenge and create, so grab your Santa supplies. This challenge runs for two weeks and there won't be voting as normal, it's completely for fun! 

As always, there's more samples to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog. 

This will probably be my last post before Christmas, so I just want to wish you all a happy and safe holiday season. Thank you for your support during the year, it means a lot.

Cheers!

Kerry

Happy Birthday Gullfriend - Just Add Ink Challenge #732

It's new challenge time at Just Add Ink and this week Tina gives us a sketch to play with.

For my card I turned the sketch to landscape orientation and got out a cute and whimsical seagull.

Materials used:

• stamps - Inquisitive Seagull (Waffle Flower)
• dies - stitched rectangle, wave, Inquisitive Seagull (Waffle Flower), Dancin' Birthday Dragon (Spellbinders)
• distress oxide inks - tumbled glass, uncharted mariner, squeezed lemonade, saltwater taffy
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, Copic markers YR04 and YR07, white gel pen, blending brushes, water spritzer, MISTI

Do check out the great samples my fellow team mates made to inspire you and we hope you'll share your own interpretation of our sketch if you create.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Christmas Wreath - The Card Concept Challenge #212

It's time for a new challenge with The Card Concept and this month the moodboard features a stunning Christmas wreath to inspire you. 

I chose to go vintage collage for my card which incorporates both wreath and tartan from the pic. 

I added ink to the background pieces to provide cohesion as well as enhance the vintage vibe. My wreath was cut from card coloured with various inks as well as some mica, so it has a lovely sheen and glow when it catches the light. For the bow I attached plaid washi tape to card and die cut from that. The stars were thick chipboard but I removed a couple of layers as I didn't want that much bulk; the chipboard sentiment strip I left as is, as it provides a nice base for the gentleman to stand on. 

Materials used:

• dies - Vault Collection Christmas 2021 (Tim Holtz)
• papers - Christmas backdrops (Tim Holtz)
• ephemera - Christmas ephemera pack, Baseboards & Transparencies Christmas 2023 (TH)
• other - antique linen and vintage photo distress inks, sponge dauber, blending brush, Big Shot, Christmas design tape (TH), distress inks and mica stains, Dimensionals

I hope the moodboard gives you inspiration for your own cards and that you'll share them with us over on The Card Concept blog. Do check out the samples from my fellow design team members. 

This card is also being entered in the current Christmas Kickstart challenge. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Happy Holidays - Just Add Ink Challenge #731

Looking for ideas for more Christmas cards? We've got you covered this week at Just Add Ink with this lovely inspiration pic:

I was lightly influenced by the red and white colours but didn't pick any particular item, rather using the overall Christmas theme as inspiration for my card.

As I didn't want the sentiment to steal any limelight from those gorgeous images, I chose a silver-on-white sticker. 

Materials used:

• dies - Postage Collage and Postage Collage Blocks (Waffle Flower)
• papers - Merry & Joy 6x6, 6x8 add-on pack (Mintay)
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, sponge dauber, Holiday metallic stickers (Tim Holtz), Dimensionals

There's more samples to see over on the Just Add Ink blog, so do pop over and check those out, and of course if you create, we'd love you to share your projects using the Linky tool. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry