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

A Day As Sweet As You - Just Add Ink Challenge #730

Welcome to a new challenge with Just Add Ink. This week we are asked to...

So many options for this one but I ended up using one of my favourite Stamping Bella images for a very simple card.

Who else remembers toffee apples being a childhood treat? I don't recall the occasions, but I do remember that satisfaction of biting into the juicy apple and then the crunch as you bit through the toffee coating. Ours were always red toffee - and now that I think about it, they were probably chock full of red food colouring and we all know how bad that is today. Ah, nostalgia!

Materials used:

• stamps - Caramel Apple Bundle Girl (Stamping Bella)
• other - Copic markers, computer & printer, Essential Arches dies (Spellbinders), Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, Autumn Spice papers (Etsy)

We'd love to see your fruity concoctions in our gallery, so do share if you create. And pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see more samples to inspire you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

We Wish You Joy

I love this week's word theme at the Just Us Girls challenge and happily played along.

I'm also loving this new-to-me die set from Honey Bee Stamps. You just can't help but adore this sweet face!

I die cut all the pieces from white, vanilla or beige card and added shading with either ink or Copic markers. The antlers have two layers to give them a bit more strength, likewise the letters J and Y have three layers for dimension. The sticker initially read 'we wish you a merry Christmas' but I just cut off those first three words to use. 

Materials used:

• dies - Lovely Layers Vintage Reindeer (Honey Bee Stamps), Large Letters (retired SU)
• other - gold glitter card, Christmas patchwork papers (Etsy), Big Shot, Copic markers, blending brush, metallic sticker (Tim Holtz), vellum, Dimensionals, white gel pen

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Naughty or Nice - Just Add Ink Challenge #728

It's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink and this week we've a Choose Two option.

Patterned paper and pens were my picks for a fun festive card.

The looks on their faces is rather sassy, so I just had to go with an equally sassy sentiment, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Oddball Boy and his Reindeer (Stamping Bella), Stamptember 2020 (Tim Holtz)
• other - patterned paper (SU retired), MISTI, water brushes, Clean Color real brush markers (Kuretake), small pennant punch, Sahara sand marker (SU retired)

We have more samples to inspire you over on the JAI blog and we can't wait to see which options you choose to create!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Thankful Blessings - The Card Concept Challenge #211

Hi there and welcome/welcome back! Today's card is for the new Card Concept challenge for November. Here's the moodboard:

I took those gorgeous autumn leaves as inspiration for my card featuring some very happy, free-flying mice, lol.

Lots of colouring and fussy cutting for this one, but they're so adorable, how could I resist? 

Materials used:

• stamps - You Autumn Know (Lawn Fawn)
• dies - stitched rectangle
• other - Copic markers, blending brush, white pigment ink, cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), Dimensionals, black marker, white gel pen, white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, craft foam

Do check out more samples from my team mates over on The Card Concept blog and if you're inspired to create, we'd love you to share in our gallery.

Thanks for floating by!

Cheers

Kerry

Winter Wonderland

Experiencing a white Christmas was on my bucket list for quite some time and it almost happened the year my daughter was living in Scotland ... until a little ol' global pandemic came along and then nobody was going anywhere - hardly leaving the house, let alone to the other side of the world. Ah well, such is life. Now I enjoy winter in December through card making instead, lol. 

Today's card is for three challenges which happen to dovetail together very nicely.

 

 

My Tic Tac Toe choice was the top row of ink blending, snow and tree.

I began with masking my paper for the snowy ground and blended the sunset sky (red sky at night, shepherd's delight 😉). Stamping came next, then small touches of puff embossing powder on the tree branches and at the feet of the deer before gesso splatters for falling snow. I die cut some snowflakes to tuck behind, cut my scene into three parts to mount, stamped a sentiment and called it done!

Materials used:

• stamps - Postage Collage Winter View (Waffle Flower), Tiny Text Christmas (Tim Holtz)
• inks - blushing bride, lumberjack plaid, cherry cobbler, Versafine Clair nocturne
• other - snowflake dies, Sidekick, blending brushes, hills and drifts stencil (My Favorite Things), MISTI, craft foam, paint brushes, white puff embossing powder, heat tool, Versamark pen, white gesso

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry