In the Clear

Today's card is for the current Time Out challenge.

The clear elements on my card are vellum leaves and clear enamel dots.

Materials used:

• dies - A7 Postage Collage and Postage Collage Blocks (Waffle Flower), script shadow words
• punch & emboss combo - rose leaves (Floral Punch)
• other - craft foam, Big Shot, clear enamel dots, Pastel Watercolour Elegance papers (Etsy)

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Hoppy Easter

Oh. My. Goodness.

Take at look at this!

I'm not ashamed to admit I was completely defenseless against all the cute adorableness! I mean, look at those bunnies! Their sweet little faces! You just know I immediately had ideas running around in my brain, lol. Here's the outcome of all that thinking.

I took inspiration from the bunnies, colours and terracotta gingham. There's another bunny and carrot on the inside and a sentiment that reads 'Hope your day is bunny-tastic'.

Materials used:

• stamps - Postage Collage Egg Hunt (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Postage Collage Bunny Silhouettes, Postage Collage, Postage Collage Blocks (all Waffle Flower)
• other - blending brushes, MISTI, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, winter watercolour patterned papers (Etsy), fine black marker, various inks, white Pan Pastel, white embossing powder, heat tool
• design inspired by Karen Downs

It's less than a week now until Easter and the things I look forward to the most, as I do every year, are spending time with my family and eating Cadbury chocolate marshmallow eggs. The eggs are a 'tradition' from growing up in New Zealand and the holiday just wouldn't be the same without them, lol. 

Thanks for coming by and have a hoppy Easter.

Cheers

Kerry

Happy Egg Hunt

It's time for a new challenge at Tic Tac Toe. Here's the grid to choose from for challenge #289:

I picked the middle horizontal row for my offering.

The grass, eggs and bow were cut from designer paper, while the bunnies were cut from beige card. I gave them fluffy little white cottontails which I think looks very cute! That one bunny is so excited for eggs he's leaping over them all, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamp & die combo - Egg Hunt Sentiments (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Postage Collage Egg Hunt Icons, Nesting Eggs, Postage Collage Bunny Silhouettes (all Waffle Flower)
• other - thick bakers twine, clear dots, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, blending brushes, distressing tool, white PanPastel

I do hope you'll pick a row of three elements and join us for this fun challenge. Check out what my team mates created to inspire you over on the Tic Tac Toe blog, and thanks for hopping by!

Cheers

Kerry

Chicken You Out

It's time for a new challenge with Just Add Ink and it's our Choose Two or More theme, with the options being:

Unusually for me, I chose only two elements from the list, lol, using twine and a button on my punny country-shabby style card.

I sponged and distressed the top and bottom edge of each of the papers, adding a couple of rips and some folds. The chicken and fence image were stamped twice and on the second one I coloured and fussy-cut just the fence, adding it with dimension over the first. 

We'd love it if you choose two or more items to play with and join the fun with us! Head over to the Just Add Ink blog to see which elements my team mates picked for their offerings.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Bunnies and Eggs and Easter, Oh My!

The Festive Friday Easter challenge inspired me to sit and play. My three elements for this card are rabbit, Easter eggs and Easter greeting, with a couple of pastel colours thrown in there too.

For the flowers I dragged out a punch I've had for goodness-knows how many years - and boy, it showed. I had to stand over it and press so hard my hand hurt! Lol. (That could be why there's only 3 flowers in there! 😉)

It was so much fun making that one, I kept going and made another. This time my picks from the list were rabbits, chicks, Easter eggs, Easter greeting and pastel colours.

I love those little carrots, they're just too cute! For this, all the die-cut pieces were cut from white and coloured with distress inks.

Thanks for popping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Possibilities

Howdy and welcome! Today is a new challenge with Just Add Ink and we are asked to...

I've made a mixed media card featuring autumn colours and a sweet fairy.

I began with my background, using watercolour card and distress spray stains to create the look I wanted. Once it was dry I die-cut the border then stamped over using archival ink. The little lad was fussy cut and raised on foam pads. I had some leftover card from the background so used that to die cut the leaves, adding some bolder colour inks to them before gluing them in place. The sentiment came from a sticker book and is mounted on black card for dimension. Lastly I sponged ink around the pile of leaves where the fairy is standing to create a 'ground' look, mounted the panel on craft foam and attached it to my card base.

Materials used:

• stamps - Exquisite (Tim Holtz)
• dies - Fall Foliage (Tim Holtz), stitched rectangle
• ephemera - Autumn Stories & Backgrounds (Maremi's Small Art)
• distress spray stains - dried marigold, speckled egg, weathered wood
• distress oxide inks - weathered wood, vintage photo, crackling campfire, frayed burlap, rusty hinge
• other - water spritzer, heat tool, frayed burlap archival ink, foam squares, craft foam, Big Shot, Small Talk sticker book (Tim Holtz), blending brushes

If you've got any kind of wings in your stash, we'd love you to play along! Check out more samples for inspiration over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

My Favourite Peeps

I've been having a lot of fun playing with some Easter-themed schtuff inspired by the challenge graphic at Four Seasons Challenges.

I took the chicks, eggs and basket as prompts for my card.
 

Unusually for me, I didn't cut everything from white - I used coloured card throughout and added shading with inks. The eggs I stencilled with various patterns using white artists pastel to keep that soft look. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Egg Hunt Sentiments stamp & die combo, Postage Collage Egg Hunt (both Waffle Flower)
• other dies - Postage Collage, Postage Collage Egg Hunt Icons (both Waffle Flower), Papercut Chicks (Tim Holtz)
• Tim Holtz stencils - mini bubble, mini grid, mini hocus pocus
• other - Big Shot, MISTI, foam squares, blending brushes, white embossing powder, heat tool

Aren't those little chicks adorable? They look really weird till you add the eyes and beak, lol, and then they come to life. 

I hope you're having some fun Easter craft in your day. Thanks for peeping in!

Cheers

Kerry

Leaves are Falling, Autumn is Calling

It's time for another challenge with All About Papercraft and this month it's...

My featured season is autumn, which runs March through May here in Australia. And while summer hasn't quite done with us, I am very much looking forward to cooler days and nights, vibrantly colourful leaves, feasting on pumpkin soup, and reading a book with a warm blanket over my lap and a hot drink in hand. Bliss!

Here's my project:

All the pieces were cut from white or vanilla card and ink blended using distress inks. The little bit of stamping was done with archival ink. This is the (US) size A7 postage collage die, so it's bigger than our standard card size at 16.5cm x 11cm but perfect for the elements I've used.  

Materials used:

• stamps - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower)
• dies - A7 Postage Collage and A7 Postage Collage Blocks (Waffle Flower), Fall Foliage (Tim Holtz), Into the Blooms: Mushrooms (Papertrey Ink), Little Sunflower Bloom (Simon Says Stamp), Autumn Elements (Karen Burniston), Country Road Seasonal Decor (Spellbinders)
• other - distress inks, blending brushes, Dimensionals, Big Shot, frayed burlap archival ink, photo frame (Officeworks)

What's your favourite season? Or maybe you're just enjoying the season you're in now? We'd love you to join in the fun with our challenge, plus we've more samples to inspire you over on the All About Papercraft blog.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Blooming Thanks

It's stencil week at Just Us Girls and I couldn't resist playing along.

I kept it very simple because, let's face it, you want those gorgeous blooms to be the star of the show! The die chosen for the sentiment is slim and 'open' so it doesn't obscure anything or steal the limelight. The edges were sponged and very lightly distressed (just using a fingernail) for a softer look. 

 

Materials used:

• stencils - Majestic Roses (Altenew)
• inks - coral reef, passion fruit, berrylicious, candy apple (Pinkfresh Studios), sagestone, olive grove, mossy granite (Altenew)
• other - blending brushes, craft foam, word dies (stash), Sidekick

Hope your day includes some crafty play. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

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