Once in a Blue Moon

Once in a blue moon...I make a clean and simple Halloween card. 

The sketch at AAA Cards Challenge caught my eye this week, so I sat at my craft desk and this is what transpired.

I knew I wanted to use this little ghostie, so began with stamping and colouring it and accessories. Then the idea of the blue moon came to mind, so that was blended next, then it was simply a matter of stamping the bats and sentiment. Too easy!

Materials used:

• stamps - Boo Crazy, Mini Bird Crazy & Things (Tim Holtz), Boo Sentiments, Postage Collage Spooktacular (Waffle Flower)
• other - blending brushes, blender pen, moon mask (Tim Holtz), circle punch, MISTI, Dimensionals, craft foam

I've been giving my Halloween cards to my daughter to give away but this one might get saved for my grandson - not that he's old enough to appreciate it, lol, but it's the thought that counts, right? He is definitely too cute to spook!

Thanks for floating on by.

Cheers

Kerry

Double Trouble

Today's card was inspired by a wicked challenge. 

I used four options from the inspo list - black, orange, candy and bats. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Boo Crazy, Mini Bird Crazy & Things (Tim Holtz), Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up), Postage Collage Spooktacular (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower)
• stencils - Postage Collage Spooktacular (Waffle Flower)
• distress inks - wilted violet, carved pumpkin, picked raspberry, black soot, lost  shadow 
• other - blending brushes, Dimensionals, Boo Diecut Subsentiments (Waffle Flower), Big Shot, white gel pen

It's getting close to the 31st but there's still plenty of time to get some more fun Halloween craft made! 😆👻 

Thanks for ghosting by.

Cheers

Kerry

Birthday Leaves - Just Us Girls Challenge #748

It's time for another challenge with Just Us Girls, where I'm guest designer for this month. Our theme this week is

I love the colours of foliage at any time of year, especially during my favourite season of autumn, but to celebrate it being spring here I went with bright, fresh rainbow colours and blended three shades of ink for an ombre effect. 

Materials used:

• dies - Foliage Shaker (Pinkfresh Studios)
• inks - distress inks and Altenew inks
• other - Big Shot, gems, Dimensionals, craft foam, blending brushes, Wordies sentiment sheet (Creative Expressions), rainbow alcohol ink paper (Etsy)

You'll find more samples over on the Just Us Girls blog and if you are inspired enough to create, we'd love you to share and join the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Pumpkin Season - The Card Concept Challenge #210

Now that we're into October the weather here has finally realised it's Spring and is giving us fresh green grass and buds on trees, but up in the northern hemisphere they're celebrating Fall/Autumn, and that means pumpkins...

The pumpkins were my main inspiration but I also used the orange, black and steel grey/blue (from the buckets) as my colour palette and added touches of gold. 

I stamped and gold embossed the pumpkins, then watercoloured using oxide inks. Once dry I splattered liberally with brown, gold and white. The sentiment is also gold embossed and mounted on black then gold glitter.

Materials used:

• stamps - Pumpkin to Talk About (Simon Says Stamp)
• distress oxide inks - carved pumpkin, iced spruce, black soot, frayed burlap
• dies - stitched rectangle
• other - paint brush, MISTI, Big Shot, craft foam, gold embossing powder, heat tool, gold glitter card, white gesso, tarnished brass distress stain, fan brush

There's plenty more inspiration for you from my team mates over on The Card Concept blog, so do check those out, and of course we'd love you to create and share with us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Optional Autumn

I had some bits and pieces left over from a design team project I was working on yesterday and as they were a perfect fit for the current AAA Cards challenge, I decided to use them for a sweet CAS card.

I had the coloured pieces, so it was simply a matter of some fussy cutting, a little sponging on the background, attaching the strip of paper and stamping the sentiment. Easy peasy!

Materials used:

• stamps - You Autumn Know (Lawn Fawn), Autumn Leaves (Poppystamps)
• other - Copic markers, blending brush, white gel pen, Golden Days patterned paper (Mintay), Dimensionals, cajun craze ink (Stampin' Up)

Hope your day is as happy as that little mouse's, and thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Feathery Thanks - Just Add Ink Challenge #722

It's time for another Just Add Ink challenge and this week Lou has given us a sketch.

This was definitely a challenge for me as it's so far outside of my wheelhouse, as they say, so it was great to be pushed to create something I usually wouldn't. After looking at a few ideas, I settled on some beautiful glittery feathers for an elegantly simple thank you card.

Materials used:

• dies - Feathery (Tim Holtz), Thanks (stash), stitched rectangle
• card - basic black, gold glitter
• other - Dimensionals, Big Shot, craft foam

For the sentiment I cut two layers in black, then the gold on top, and it sits on a black feather. 

What will you do with this sketch? There's more inspiration from my team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog and of course we'd love you to share whatever you create in our gallery. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Something Wicked - Just Us Girls Challenge #747

Welcome! This month I'm honoured to be Guest Designer with Just Us Girls challenges and for this week it's a colour combo.

The chartreuse and grey immediately made me think Halloween but the light blue threw me for a bit of a loop, I must admit. Luckily it didn't take long before an idea came to mind that I hoped would work.

The drink was coloured with Copic markers then I sponged some oxide ink through a bubbles stencil to make it look a bit more 'evil potion'-esque, lol. I shaped the bubbles to give them roundness and added some shimmer to the drink, drips and bubbles. Does it look suitably wicked? 👻

Materials used:

• stamps - Unravelled (Tim Holtz), Lovely Legs - Best Witches (Colorado Craft Co)
• dies - Boos Cocktails, Olive Martinis (Spellbinders)
• other - Copic markers, white gel pen, clear Wink of Stella, shaping mat and tool, Dimensionals, blending brush, MISTI, Bubbles stencil (Tim Holtz),  twisted citron and hickory smoke distress oxide inks, hickory smoke distress glaze, heat tool, gold POSCA pen, tumbled glass distress ink, hickory smoke archival ink, craft foam

We'd love for you to be inspired by this colour combo to create, and of course to share your creation! Do check out what the design team came up with over on the Just Us Girls blog.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Christmas Blessings - Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

 

It's my last week as Guest Designer with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I've really enjoyed taking part and hope you've enjoyed seeing my creations each week. For this challenge we're to make a CHRISTMAS OR WINTER themed card.  Here in Australia Christmas happens in summer, but I love making winter-themed cards so I've incorporated both. 

This scene was a lot of fun to put together. I really wanted anyone looking at it to feel like they're there in the snow so was very generous with my gesso splatters, even extending them to the card base itself. And in case you didn't notice, the music in the background is 'White Christmas', lol. 

I used Lawn Fawn's Build a Birdhouse and Christmas add-on dies, distress oxide inks, Waffle Flower mini slimline nesting rectangle frames dies, Wow white puff embossing powder, white gesso and Waffle Flower Elegant Christmas 2 stamp and die set.

Do head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog to see what the design team have come up with to inspire you.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a fabulous $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store - all you have to do is take out your crafting supplies, make something following this week's prompt, and link up at the bottom of the Challenge Blog post. You can join up to 5 times, giving you 5 chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Monochrome - Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge

Welcome! It's a brand new Monday, which means a brand new challenge from the Simon Says Stamp peeps, where I'm guest designer for the month of September. 

This week our theme is MONOCHROME. I picked green as my colour of choice and had a lot of fun making this mixed media card.

I used papers, laser-cut elements and rub-ons from the 49andMarket Color Swatch Willow collection, Tim Holtz Exquisite stamp set, together with Specimen thinlit dies, also from Tim Holtz, and Simon Says Stamp Layered Hummingbird wafer die. 

Do head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog to see what the design team have come up with to inspire you.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a fabulous $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store - all you have to do is take out your crafting supplies, make something following this week's prompt, and link up at the bottom of the Challenge Blog post. You can join up to 5 times, giving you 5 chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance.

Feel free to leave me some comment love and thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Kerry

You Colour My World - Just Add Ink Challenge #720

This week at Just Add Ink, Tristan brings us a challenge to

Soooooooooo many possibilities, I really did have trouble narrowing this one down! In the end I've gone for cuteness factor, lol.

I started with stamping and embossing my ghosts on watercolour card, coloured with Zig markers then die-cut them. I sponged the edges lightly with grey so the white wasn't quite such a stark contrast but is just enough to give them that ethereal ghostly aura, lol. For my background I stencilled clouds on light grey card then stamped trees to create the mood. The sentiment was done on the computer - do you know any couples who call each other 'Boo'? 💀 Well, I do, so I made this for one to give the other.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tree Branch (Lavinia), Frightful Little Bits (Hello Bluebird)
• card - smoky slate, soft sea foam (Stampin' Up)
• other - slimline cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brush, waterbrush, Zig Real Color brush markers, Dimensionals, craft foam, computer and printer, Big Shot, clear embossing powder, heat tool

Check out what rainbow inspiration my team mates came up with over on the Just Add Ink blog and of course we'd love to see your own creations.

Thanks for floating by.

Boo!

Kerry

Not a Card - Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge

Welcome! Once again I'm joining in with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge team for some creative fun.

This week we are being challenged to make something that is NOT A CARD. 

For my project I made tags (inspired by Alison Bomber) using Tim Holtz Moon Mask Stencils and distress inks together with Tiny Text and Winter Watercolor 2 stamp sets. 

Do head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog to see what the design team have come up with to inspire you.

Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store - all you have to do is take out your crafting supplies, make something following this week's prompt, and link up at the bottom of the Challenge Blog post. You can join up to 5 times, giving you 5 chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance.

Feel free to leave me some comment love and thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you back next Monday.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #209

Are you itching for a challenge to get your creative mojo raring to go? The Card Concept challenges are back after the summer break and here's our first inspiration pic to springboard your ideas:

I used autumn tones and a floral theme for my card.

I added patches of crackle texture paste to the distressed background paper, coloured the die-cut flower using distress inks and painted the stem and leaves with crackle paint for the tiniest of fine cracks. Strips of co-ordinating papers form the stage for my die-cut sentiment and a few gems and gesso splatters added the finishing touches. 

Materials used:

• designer papers - Autumn Splendour (Mintay)
• dies - Sunrise Stem (Simon Says Stamp), Hugs (stash)
• distress inks - dried marigold, spiced marmalade, brushed corduroy, walnut stain
• other - Dimensionals, blending brushes, craft foam, white gesso, fan brush, gems, texture paste crackle (Tim Holtz), distress crackle paint (Ranger)

We'd love you to create a card inspired by our board and share it with us on The Card Concept blog, where you'll find more samples from my fellow design team members. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Stamp It! STAMPtember - Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Welcome! It's my second week being in the Designer Spotlight with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, and this week it's all about celebrating STAMPtember, a month-long fete of stamping, crafting and cardmaking that hopes to inspire and educate as well as celebrate the fun of stamping and creating. Our theme is STAMP IT!

The lovely people at Simon Says Stamp sent me a brand new stamp set to play with and I had sooooooo much fun! 

Regular visitors will know I do love me a punny sentiment and the idea for this card tickled my funny bone on so many levels. When I showed it to my friend, she nearly wet herself laughing - I guess that's why she's my bestie, she just "gets me". Hope you enjoy it even if you don't share my wacky sense of humour, lol.

I used Simon Says Stamp Pumpkin to Talk About clear stamp set and googly eyes. 

Do head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog to see what the design team have come up with to inspire you featuring stamps.

The nice folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a fabulous $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store - all you have to do is take out your crafting supplies, make something following this week's prompt, and link up at the bottom of the Challenge Blog post. You can join up to 5 times, giving you 5 chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance.

Feel free to leave me some comment love and thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Kerry

Nobody or No Body?

My attention was caught by the theme for the latest challenge at Addicted to CAS.

You all know I am partial to a pun, but I have to admit to being a bit unsure at first on what I had that would suit a clean and simple design. As luck would have it, I was sorting through some stuff and came across my dancing skeletons dies and the well-known phrase, 'Dance like nobody is watching' came to mind - and I realised I had my pun. Subtle but golden, lol. Here's my card:

I read enough whodunnits to know that skeletons are rarely just all white/cream, so I used a lovely mottled piece I had on hand from some oxide ink smooshing play. The sentiment was done on the computer and that's pretty much all there was to it apart from a little layering.

Thanks for dancing by!

Cheers

Kerry

PS - If you like a pun too, be sure to come back Monday night for a very special punny card...

Thinking of You - Just Add Ink challenge #718

It's Friday, which means a brand new Just Add Ink challenge, and this week we've our choose two combo:

As happens often with a choose two, I ended up using all three, lol. I love the many ways you can add texture (both physical and visual) and this is most definitely a favourite with me. 

Working on watercolour card (texture) I blended a mix of green inks. After die cutting the 'shrooms (more texture from the embossed bits) and foliage, they were coloured and everything splattered with both brown paint and white ink (more lovely texture). I love layering dies that have an embossed aspect to them, making them more realistic - what's not to love? Once they were all placed I wrapped linen thread around and lastly added a sentiment strip. 

 

Materials used:

• distress oxide inks - bundled sage, forest moss, antique linen, gathered twigs
• distress inks - barn door, lumberjack plaid, aged mahogany, scorched timber, rustic wilderness
• distress paint - scorched timber
• other - watercolour card, mushroom dies, Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, linen thread, All Occasions sentiment strips (Paper Rose), Dimensionals, craft foam, Kuratake white ink, fan brush, Country Road Garden Builder die (Spellbinders)

There are more samples to see over on the Just Add Ink blog. I do hope you'll be inspired to play along.

Entering in challenge #255 at Tic Tac Toe, choosing the left vertical row of leaves, ink blending and multiples. 

And also Time Out Challenges #271 where the theme is friendship/encouragement/support. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry