Hello - Tic Tac Toe Challenge #287

Welcome to my first challenge as part of the Tic Tac Toe Challenge design team! Here's our grid to choose three elements in a row - vertical, horizontal or diagonal. 

I picked the right vertical row of embossing, enamel dots/sequins and frame for a soft and sweet friendship card.

My background piece was dry embossed, sponged on the edges and lightly distressed. The flowers were die cut then stencilled and attached to the background, then I added the frame. I stencilled a second layer of flowers, trimming them to include just a few key blooms, and added these with foam over the first. There are two layers to the frame and sentiment and the last touch was a couple of groups of enamel dots.

Materials used:

• dies - Rising Wildflowers die/stencil combo (Pinkfresh Studio), Nesting Postage Stamps (Hero Arts), hello and rectangle from stash
• inks - serenade and wintergreen (Catherine Pooler), indigo skies (Altenew), bundled sage (distress), soft sea foam (Stampin' Up)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, Scripty embossing folder (SU), matte decorative dots (SU), foam squares, distressing tool

I hope something in the grid will inspire you to create and join us. Do pop over to the Tic Tac Toe blog for more ideas from my fellow DT members, and thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Birthday Roses

The new challenge at Just Add Ink is one of my favourite regular themes:

Dies and stencils are so much fun to play with and for my card I've used both. 

I started by cutting and stencilling the roses. Some polka dot stencilling was added to the paler purple background behind the flowers as well as to my top darker layer. I used the flower pieces cut off from the inside to add on the outside. There's mounting foam between each layer to add even more dimension, and the sentiment strip and some clear dots were my finishing touches. 

I am really loving the orange/purple combo, which always reminds me of a scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral. Anyone else? lol

Materials used:

• die & stencil combo - Rose Bouquet (Waffle Flower)
• other die and stencil from stash
• distress inks - carved pumpkin, ripe persimmon
• SU inks - highland heather, gorgeous grape
• other - Subsentiment strip (Waffle Flower), Dimensionals, foam squares, Big Shot, blending brushes, clear dots

I hope you'll pull out some of your own dies and stencils and join the challenge.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Sew Amazing

I just couldn't resist playing along with the Time Out challenge after seeing their inspiration prompt:

Sewing theme? Yes, please! 

I began by cutting and inking my background pieces then used a stencil or stamp to add the polka dot and ticking details. Once that was done I die cut the sewing machine and accessories, again using inks to colour everything. All the colours were taken from the prompt pic, either the purple from the main body of the pouch or the stripes on the base.

Materials used:

• stamps - Ticking and Grain (Tim Holtz)
• dies - Postage Collage A6 and A6 Blocks dies, Sew Fun, Notions, Meandering Texture die (all Waffle Flower) 
• Altenew inks - strawberry, lemon ice, mint choc, pistachio
• distress inks - shaded lilac, shabby shutters, brushed corduroy
• other - mini bubble stencil (Tim Holtz), Big Shot, Dimensionals, blending brushes, silver metallic cardstock, MISTI

Colouring and assembling die pieces is my happy place, so I had a ton of fun making this card!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

We're All Crazy

The image from the current Inspired by challenge got me thinking...

It brought back memories of all the teapots, cups and saucers we gathered quite a few years back now, when my younger daughter had an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday tea. And that memory gave germ to the following card:

The Mad Hatter's hair was made with flower dies and, as usual, everything was cut from white and coloured with inks. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Love You a Latte (Lawn Fawn)
• dies - Papercut Cafe, Tailored (both Tim Holtz), flowers from stash
• distress inks - mowed lawn, evergreen bough, crushed olive, spun sugar, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, scattered straw, fossilized amber
• other - blending brushes, Sidekick, Dimensionals, Small Talk Snarky sticker book (Tim Holtz)
• idea inspired by an Emma Williams make

It was fun to make a quirky card! Hope it gives you a chuckle, and thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Love You - Just Add Ink Challenge #779

It's time for a sketch challenge with Just Add Ink and Jan gave us a very simple one to play with.

I opted for a Valentines theme with a quintessential couple.

The heart is distress spray stain and oxide on watercolour and my background teal piece was looking a bit plain so I stencilled lightly with matching ink and gave it a black edge. Mickey is offering a paper rosebud to Minnie.

Materials used:

• stamps - Short & Sweet (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Steamboat Willie Duo (Spellbinders), True Love (Tim Holtz)
• other - distress sprays and oxides (kitsch flamingo and picked raspberry), heat tool, Big Shot, wired paper rosebud, Dimensionals, craft foam, Diamond Motif stencil (Pinkfresh), blending brush

Check out what my team mates created for you on the challenge blog, and do share with us when you play along! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

More Than Chocolate

Today I'm playing along with some challenges that have a love/Valentines/heart theme.

 
I've had this die set for some time and only ever used the outline heart piece, so spent a very pleasant day yesterday making chocolates, lol. I admit I had to watch some YouTube videos a few times to understand how to assemble them, but once I had it sorted in my head, I was good to go! 

Here's the cover:

And the inside:

Materials used:

• dies - True Love colorize (Tim Holtz), Love You More Than (Stampin' Up)
• inks - kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, candied apple (distress), mocha, espresso (Altenew), silvery shimmer (Delicata)
• other - Big Shot, Dimensionals, blending brushes, computer & printer

(From the Festive Friday list, I used pink, ink blending, die cuts, love sentiment and hearts. Items picked from the Time Out list are red, heart and pink. And for Just Us Girls, lots of heart die cuts!)

All layers of the chocolate box were cut from red card and inked for shading (apart from that one pink piece on the front). The chocolates, including wrappers, were cut from white card and coloured using the inks listed. 

I had a ton of fun making this - it took quite a while, but compartmental making helped, for sure. A real labour of love - pun intended!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Sending Love - All About Challenges #2

It's time for a new challenge with All About Papercraft Challenges and this month it's...

My crafting journey began with scrapbooking, but discovering stamps - red rubber mounted on wood blocks in those days - got me hooked on cardmaking. They're so versatile!

For my project I've made a card with a faux postcard scene. Apart from the stencilling on the base card and a little masking, the rest is created entirely with stamps. 

My first step was stencilling the base card, then I cut the main panel to size. I began stamping with the four lines and the vertical break design using archival ink (to avoid smudging when I inked over them later). Then came the postcard header and the postage stamp, after which I stamped Bundle Girl. She's coloured with Copics, as are the hearts. I tore a scrap of paper to use as a mask for inking the ground and created another mask of the little girl so I could ink the blue portion. The sentiments in the lines were stamped next and the little heart and hugs and kisses in the "stamp" were my last step before mounting the panel on the base.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bundle Girl with Falling Hearts (Stamping Bella), Stamps #521 (Poppy Crafts), Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew), Basic Sentiments (Pinkfresh Studio), Merci Beaucoup (Clearly Besotted), Hot Cocoa (Mama Elephant)
• other - postage collage colouring stencil (Waffle Flower), blending brushes, Copic markers, MISTI, craft foam

Pop over to the All About blog (just click on the challenge icon) to see more inspiration from my fellow design team members, then get out your stamps and join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Let's Go To The Beach - Just Add Ink Challenge #778

It's time for an inspiration/colour challenge with Just Add Ink and this gorgeous summer mood board.

My beachy mini slimline card was inspired by both image and palette.

I blended inks for my background then gave it plenty of water splatter. Once dry, I used a fine glue pen to dot along the edge of the 'sand' and added white embossing powder as a representation of sea foam. The shells were die cut and coloured with inks before being attached. As usual, there are two layers to my large die-cut sentiment and the stamped portion was white embossed on vellum.

Materials used:

• stamp/die combo - Oversized Beach Word (Waffle Flower)
• other dies - Seashells (Waffle Flower)
• SU inks - lost lagoon, crumb cake
• distress oxide inks - fossilized amber, barn door, dusty concord
• other - blending brushes, glue pen, white embossing powder, heat tool, water spritzer, craft foam

We do hope you'll be inspired to create and share, whether it's the image or the colours that spark your muse. Check out lots more samples over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

More Exciting News!

I'm thrilled to announce I have joined the Design Team at Tic Tac Toe Challenges. After a holiday break, the challenges will be ramping up again next month, where you get to choose 3 items from a grid to use in your designs.   

I'm looking forward to lots of fun creating and inspiring and hope you'll be back to join me in this new adventure.

Cheers

Kerry

Seasonal - Just Add Ink Blog Hop Challenge #777

Welcome to the Just Add Ink new year blog hop! I hope you have lots of fun hopping around to all the stops and getting tons of inspiration along the way. Whether you've come from Lou's blog or are starting here, you can follow links on each blog to move along to the next. 

The theme for our 2026 hop is:

As it's summer here that seemed the perfect season to choose, and to represent it I've incorporated tropical colours, frangipanis and a cheeky cockatoo.

The branch and flowers were coloured with alcohol markers, while the rest was predominantly coloured using inks and blending brushes. I die-cut two branches as they're so narrow, to give a bit more strength.

Materials used:

• dies - Flying High and Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• stamps - Polynesian Paradise (My Favorite Things), Cheerful Chirps (Spellbinders)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, foam pads, white embossing powder, heat tool, Copic markers

Just click on the blinkie below to be taken to the next blog in the hop, which is Tristan.

As you're doing the rounds, if for some reason a link doesn't work, head to the Just Add Ink blog to get a new link from there. Thanks for calling in and happy hopping!

Cheers

Kerry

I Knew You Could Do It

This week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches sparked an idea this morning, then that idea sparked another and before I knew it, I was making a card for two challenges lol. Cutting close to the wire for FMS, but I made it!

  

Here's my deceptively simple card - 

The background is distress spray stains on watercolour card and it took me four attempts until I was happy with it, lol - that's what I meant by deceptively simple! Once I had that right, the rest was easy. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew)
• dies - Pooh & Friends Silhouette (Spellbinders)
• distress spray stains - dried marigold, ripe persimmon, barn door
• distress mica spray - flickering candle
• other - Big Shot, water spritzer, heat tool, craft foam, white embossing powder, MISTI

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Covered with Love

It's been so hot this week and today is expected to reach 43℃ (109.4℉) which is too draining to do much other than try to stay cool - and make a card, lol. I saw a challenge to use a cover plate so I thought I'd play along, but unfortunately I was too late to enter, lol. Not to worry, it gave me the oppotunity to try out a new die & stencil set Santa brought me (lucky me!).

Materials used:

• coverplate die - Cross Stitched (Papertrey Ink)
• die & stencil set - Rose Bouquet (Waffle Flower)
• inks - saltwater taffy (Distress), passion fruit (Pinkfresh), bamboo & parrot (Altenew)
• other dies - With Love Word die (Waffle Flower)
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, mounting squares, rhinestones

I hope you get the chance to craft today too. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Berry New - All About Challenges #1

Happy New Year! 

I'm thrilled to be starting off 2026 on the design team for a brand new challenge called All About Papercraft Challenges and the theme for our very first challenge is, appropriately...

For my project I chose the new-to-me technique of a folio journal using new products combined with some old favourites. 

This journal measures around 6" x 4 1/2". I kept it fairly simple as it was my first attempt, using papers, rub-on transfers and die-cut embellishments with a nature and strawberries theme.  

Here are the front and back covers

It opens up to this

The left flap opens up to reveal a pocket for tags. I made sure to leave blank spaces for journalling on the backs of tags, cards etc, as well as some of the pages. 

In the middle section I used a file folder as a flap, which holds three decorated cards.

The right side has a fold over portion and holds an envelope. Inside that is another decorated card with space on the back for journalling. 

I made the base folio journal following measurements and instructions from Julie at Camelia Crafts Designs (with a tweak or two). Follow this link to her YouTube tutorial if you're interested. 

Materials used:

• papers, rub-on transfers and die-cut embellishments - Nature's Haven collection (49 and Market)
• Tim Holtz dies - Collector, Postale, Specimen
• other - tag dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponge dauber, brushed corduroy distress oxide ink, rub-on tool, bamboo cord, 

Click on the challenge icon to visit the All About papercraft challenges blog and check out what 'new' projects my fellow design team members created to inspire you. We do hope you'll join us and play along!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Top Nine 2025

Can you believe it's the last day of 2025 already? It is absolutely true that the older you get, the faster the days, weeks and months seem to fly by.

Over on my Instagram feed, these are the Top Nine most liked projects I posted. Personally, I'd pick 4 of these for sure, maybe 5. How many of your own favs are in the list?

Cheers

Kerry

So Mush Love

I do enjoy using my papercrafting skills to make gifts for others and this particular project has been on the go for a while now, with me doing some compartmental making here and there to fit in around other activities.

It's my first time making altered embroidery hoops and I do hope the recipients like them. They're intended to hold a very special photo ... more on that at a later date.

My process began with applying gesso to the wooden hoops, then paint once that was dry and lastly some grit paste highlighted with crayon. The backgrounds were done with sprays of both distress and oxides, as were the leaves. I ink blended the 'shrooms and of course did some splatters with both water and paint. The parts that are overhanging the "photo" portion are free of adhesive so a photo can be printed to size and slotted easily in. Lastly I adhered some sisal threads and Spanish moss.

They can be hung on the wall or sit on a plate stand. These particular ones are 20cm hoops but they come in a variety of sizes and I recommend them as a great fun alternative to the usual photo frames. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and restful holiday season, however you celebrate, and thank you for your visits and support throughout the year.

Cheers

Kerry