JAI #624 - Just Add a Diorama Card

This week at Just Add Ink we're challenging you to make a diorama card. Diorama cards can be as simple as a shadow box card or more complex with many layers, but whichever style you choose it should contain a scene which is viewed through an opening.

I chose a Halloween theme for my project and kept it structurally simple (just three layers) as I wanted the hard work to go into the details and not the design. And oh boy, I had so much fun making all these quirky/spooky bits and pieces!

On the middle layer I put the tree - made up of three branch die cuts - on the left side.

And on the right side of the middle layer is the front pumpkin. The back pumpkin, together with the cat, gravestone and crow, are attached to the base layer.

The 'sky' background and sentiment lettering are coloured with mica sprays so they have a wonderful sheen to them when they catch the light. I mixed some crypt grit paste with green reinker to make lichen to cover bits of the 'tree'.

And there's more crypt paste on the gravestone to give it that lovely aged and weathered look.

Bring on Halloween, I say! I'll be interested to see if I get any trick or treaters in my new neighbourhood - though, regardless, it's a great excuse to have lollies on hand! 😂😉

Materials used:

• stamps - Unraveled (Tim Holtz)
• card - black mixed media heavyweight, watercolour
• Tim Holtz dies - Mr Bones, Mischevious, Pumpkin Duo, Regions Beyond
• distress mica sprays - flickering candle, jack-o-lantern, peppermint stick, hocus pocus
• distress oxide inks/sprays - antique linen, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, black soot, stormy sky, weathered wood, speckled egg
• other TH products - crypt texture paste, rustic wilderness re-inker, moon mask, iced spruce and shabby shutters distress crayons, candied apple distress paint, Idea-ology adornments - Halloween, picket fence distress ink
• other - water spritzer, heat tool, blending brushes, Dimensionals, stitched square die, white gel pen, branch die, white embossing powder, Stamparatus, Big Shot, Sidekick, paintbrush, sponge dauber, mini glue dots

Check out more diorama cards over at the JAI blog and, as always, we'd love to see your creation in our gallery this week.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Colours of Autumn

Welcome to a new inspiration challenge with The Card Concept. This week's picture is full of the rich, earthy tones of autumn/fall but it may inspire something completely different for you!

I absolutely love the foliage colours and made a mixed media card inspired by these. The timber boat and dock are represented by the woodgrain panel.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla and blackberry bliss (SU), woodgrain (TH), watercolour, Woodland Fall papers (PhotoGraphicScrap)
• TH dies - leaf fragments, fall foliage
• distress sprays - crackling campfire, crushed olive, villainous potion, rusty hinge, antique linen
• distress inks - antique linen, vintage photo
• other - blackberry bliss ink (SU), Versamark, vintage pearl embossing powder (Ranger), MISTI, Dimensionals, craft foam, Big Shot, water spritzer, heat tool, sponge daubers, amber gems (SU), paintbrush, blending brush, stitched rectangle die, distress micro glaze

Do check out the lovely cards my fellow team mates have created to inspire you over at The Card Concept blog and as always, we'd love you to join the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Live in the Moment

Hello and welcome! The card I have for you today is for two challenges:

I chose the middle horizontal row of the grid - splatters, any sentiment, circle - and as luck would have it, items from my favourite-of-the-moment Curators Meadow collection use exactly the right colours of turquoise, yellow, brown and green. Here's my card:

I added touches of the challenge colours on my background too but muted them with gesso to allow the circles to stand out. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness - Elements (Stamperia)
• card - watercolour, Curators Meadow (49andMarket), crumb cake (SU)
• distress sprays - antique linen, uncharted mariner, vintage photo
• distress archival inks - vintage photo, ground espresso
• circle punches - 38mm, 32mm, 1", 3/4", 1/2"
• other - water spritzer, white gesso, paintbrushes, white calligraphy ink, Dimensionals, Curators Meadow rub-ons (49aM), craft foam, sponge dauber, Small Talk stickers (Tim Holtz)

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Edited to add: My card was picked as the Designer's Choice for the Tic Tac Toe challenge. Thanks so much to the design team for this honour! 

JAI #622 - Just Choose Two

It's time for another Just Add Ink challenge and this week it's a 'pick two' variety.

I chose 'friends' and 'foliage' for my mixed media piece.

I can definitely picture these three birds having a good old natter as they perch there, can't you? Just catching up or maybe sharing where the best food supplies or nesting materials are. 😀

Materials used:

• stamps - Entomology (Tim Holtz)
• card - crumb cake and basic black (SU), Curators Meadow Solids pack and 6x8" Collection pack (49 and Market)
• other Curators Meadow Collection items - 12x12" Rub-On Transfer Sheet, Laser Cut Elements
• other Tim Holtz products - picket fence and frayed burlap distress paints, vintage photo distress archival ink, ground espresso distress oxide ink, rusty hinge distress spray stain, distress crackle texture paste, mini bubble stencil, palette knife, water spritzer
• other - sponge daubers, distressing tool, craft foam, Dimensionals, Wordies Sentiment Sheets - Friendship (Creative Expressions)

Head on over to the JAI blog to see which two items my team mates picked for their amazing creations, and of course we'd love you to 'choose two' and join us.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Travel at Home or Abroad

Welcome to another inspiration challenge with The Card Concept. This time around we have two pictures for you to choose from to jump-start your creativity (we'll be doing this every second challenge).

Option 180a is travel abroad themed, while 180b is travel at home. You pick whichever one inspires you!

For my mixed media card I picked travel abroad focusing on London, which is one of the destinations shown in the pic and one of my all-time favourite places to visit. 

I liked the colours of both options so used a combination of these, giving everything but my focal image a sepia tint to tie them together and help the stylised scene to really pop. The map in the background is an actual old map of London.

Materials used:

• card - black, kraft, basic white
• Tim Holtz dies - Specimen, Postale
• other TH products - Backdrops Vol 1, quote chip, Eccentric rub-ons, vintage collage medium, gauge dials, tarnished brass distress paint, distress crayons in vintage photo and walnut stain, vintage photo archival ink, thought token, jump ring, salvaged tags, Memoir ephemera pack, arrow adornment
• other - Big Shot, rub-on tool, sponge dauber, paintbrush, crop-o-dile, string, craft foam, Dimensionals, mounting strips, corner rounder punch

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own card based on option a or b and share it with us in our gallery. Do take a look at the gorgeous creations my fellow team members have made over on The Card Concept blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Great Adventure

I really liked the colours for this week's Color Throwdown challenge, so I sat at my craft desk yesterday to see what I could come up with. I was in the mood for mixed media and had a very happy time with inks, stencils, texture paste, stamps and dies.

I picked salvaged patina as my aqua blue, frayed burlap for my kraft and of course antique linen for the cream. Here's the result:

I used just a thin layer of texture paste and love how it gives such a subtle result while still making me want to touch it, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness - Elements (Stamperia), Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, watercolour
• distress sprays/oxides/archival inks - salvaged patina, frayed burlap, antique linen
• stencil - Create Happiness - Compass (Stamperia)
• dies - Silhouette Birds (Tim Holtz), branch
• other - blending brush, sponge daubers, picket fence distress paint, paintbrush, heat tool, water spritzer, matte texture paste, Dimensionals, craft foam, small pearl, distress micro glaze

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #620 - Just Add Inspiration

We've a stunning inspiration pic for you this week at Just Add Ink.

That glorious rich blue with a hint of turquoise immediately made me think of uncharted mariner, the latest distress ink colour, which in turn brought water to mind and that's how I ended up with an aquatic themed card!

I just adore the supremely unimpressed expressions on the faces of these fish! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Oddball Fish (Stamping Bella)
• card - basic white, Idea-ology Kraftstock Stack - Warm
• distress/oxide inks - uncharted mariner
• Copic markers - Y11,Y15,Y19,B00,B000,B0000
• other - MISTI, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool, wave stencil, blending brushes, black marker, 2022-2024 in-colour matte decorative dots (SU)

Pop over to the JAI blog to see how this picture inspired my fellow team mates. 

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Change of Seasons

Hello and welcome to a new season of challenges with The Card Concept. In case you haven't visited before, our challenges are held every two weeks (Sept thru June) and offer an inspiration picture for you to draw ideas from for your cards. You might choose the theme, the colours, or even one small aspect from the picture as the stepping stone for your creativity.

Here's our inspiration picture for challenge #179, Change of Seasons.

Here in Australia we're emerging from the cold winter months so I've used fresh spring colours on my shabby/mixed media card inspired by that gorgeous swallowtail butterfly. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness Elements (Stamperia), Butterfly Brilliance (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white, ARToptions - Viken (49 and Market), old olive
• Copic markers - BG72, C4, V09, BV00, BV01, BV11
• inks - mint macaron, old olive (SU), villainous potion distress ink (Tim Holtz), Memento tuxedo black
• other - Viken repositionable fabric tapes (49aM), distressing tool, Dimensionals, craft foam, picket fence distress paint (TH), brayer, paintbrush, clear embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, sponge daubers, stencil, texture paste, spatula, Holiday Greens thinlits (TH), Big Shot, quote chip (TH)

If you create something we would love to see it in our gallery - you can find that here (as well as the rules for playing along) and also see more samples from my fellow design team members to inspire you. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #619 - Just Add Masculine

I'm playing along with the Just Add Ink challenge again this week. It was a case of an idea popping into my head that wouldn't leave me alone - I'm sure many of you know exactly how that goes, lol - so of course I gave in to it and headed off to my craft room. 

And here's my card. 

Isn't that background a-maz-ing? Love, love, love the depth you get on 3D embossing folders - this is a Tim Holtz one called Mechanics. I embossed a piece of silver foil card then added black soot distress paint and distress crayon to highlight all that wonderful texture. To me it looks just as real as the actual pieces of metal on there, which are the gauge frame and the 'screws' on the quote chip.

Materials used:

• card - crumb cake, silver foil, real red (all Stampin' Up)
• inks - black soot distress archival (Tim Holtz), crumb cake (SU)
• Tim Holtz products - Mechanics 3D embossing folder, gauge dials, gauge frame, quote chip, Postale die set, memoirs ephemera pack, mini paper dolls, hardware heads, black soot distress paint, black soot distress crayon
• other - Big Shot, sponge daubers, craft foam, Dimensionals, corner rounder punch, Copic markers E31, E55

Of course it's always handy to have masculine cards on hand and there's plenty more ideas to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #618 - Just Add a Colour Combo

Are you in the mood for colour? This week at Just Add Ink we've got a colour challenge for you - check it out:

I've made a mixed media card featuring a Splendid Fairy-wren (aka splendid wren/blue wren) as my focal point - specifically a male wren in his breeding plumage. Apparently, the rest of the year they're a dull brown! I love the pop of colour he gives to the neutral, earthy tones around him. 

I didn't have Pacific point - it's one of the very few SU colours I've never liked, so when I moved I just didn't bring any with me. I've used orchid oasis as my blue instead.  

For my greenery I began with some old olive cardstock then ink smooshed the matching ink over it, layering and drying until I was happy with it for variation and depth of colour. The background is watercolour card, again ink smooshed and stamped with crumb cake, while the bird was cut from basic white and coloured with alcohol markers.

Materials used:

• stamps - Music & Advert (Tim Holtz)
• card - crumb cake, watercolour, basic white, old olive
• dies - Feathered Friends, Holiday Greens, Mini Holiday Greens, Fall Foliage (all Tim Holtz), stitched rectangle
• inks - crumb cake, old olive (SU), antique linen, brushed corduroy, vintage photo (Distress oxides - Tim Holtz)
• other - blending brush, picket fence distress paint, paintbrush, black rhinestone, Dimensionals, Small Talk stickers (Tim Holtz), craft foam, orchid oasis Stampin' Blends, Copic marker B06, black marker

My fellow teammates have plenty more samples to inspire you so do check out the JAI blog, and of course we'd love you to join the challenge and see what you come up with for these colours.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Moonlight Mischief

Today's card is for the following challenge:

Having gotten some ideas from watching the Tim Holtz Halloween YouTube over the weekend, plus having a new die set just burning a hole in my craft desk waiting to be used 😉, I was only too happy to play with distress goodies to create a spooky, sparkly background.

It's a dull, wet day here so it's very difficult to catch the sparkle on camera, lol. 

I masked the area for the moon then sprayed the background with distress spray stains. Once they'd been dried off I spritzed with water to get the ink to 'wick' into the moon area. Love the spooky effect this gives. The final touch for the moon was moonscaping using the second part of the mask. Next I added some sparkle to the sky with two mica sprays, then set about making my roof and that adorably sassy cat from new die set Mischevious (and it couldn't be more appropriately named!). 

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic black (SU), Metallic Jewels kraft stock (Tim Holtz)
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischevious, Village Collection
• Distress spray stains - wilted violet, uncharted mariner, villainous potion, iced spruce, hickory smoke, black soot
• Distress mica stains - flickering candle, hocus pocus
• other - black soot distress archival ink, sponge dauber, blending brush, Sidekick, water spritzer, heat tool, moon mask (Tim Holtz), picket fence distress crayon, computer and printer

So much fun! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #616 - Just Add a Sketch

Hello and welcome. This week at Just Add Ink we have a sketch for you to play with. 

And here's my card:

I've taken a little artistic licence and in lieu of the sentiment across the circle, I've used the tree branch as my horizontal element - well, horizontal-ish, lol.

Materials used:

• card - basic black, black watercolour
• distress oxide inks - dried marigold, ripe persimmon, crackling campfire, pumice stone, picket fence
• dies - layering circles (SU), branch (Impression Obsession), birds (stash)
• other - craft foam, heat tool, blending brushes, moon mask (Tim Holtz), Big Shot

There's plenty more samples to inspire you over on the JAI blog so do pop over for a look. As always, we'd love you to create your own Just Add... for our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Mixed Media Case-ing Heaven

I fell instantly in love the second I saw a card recently made by Tiffany Solorio and wanted to try recreating it. Luckily for me Tiffany put a tutorial on YouTube, so after watching it a couple of times I went to my craft room and got to work. 

I've made some changes from the original and of course when it comes to ink smooshing backgrounds, you can NEVER make exactly the same as someone else - or even yourself, roflol - so there are definite differences. But I had sooooooo much fun making it and am very happy with the outcome, and that's what matters.

Materials used:

• stamps - Entomology (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)
• card - basic white, heavy watercolour, vellum
• distress spray stains - antique linen, speckled egg, iced spruce, rusty hinge, crackling campfire
• distress oxide ink - speckled egg, antique linen
• distress paint - picket fence
• dies - Specimen, Brushstroke Butterflies (both Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
• other Tim Holtz products - mummy cloth, hardware heads, brickwork 3D embossing folder, mini cobblestone 3D embossing folder, ground espresso archival ink, water spritzer, Small Talk sticker
• fan paintbrush, heat tool, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponge dauber, basic grey marker (SU), distressing tool, white embossing powder, Versamark ink

If you're interested, here's the link to Tiffany's tutorial.

I'm so grateful to makers who post videos or blog entries so I can learn from their experiences and try out new (to me) things, especially as I delve more into mixed media. I'm definitely doing as the sentiment says and going where my heart takes me. 

Do you like to learn that way? Would you prefer it if I gave detailed explanations of how my projects are made? I'd like to hear what you want to get from your visits here so please let me know in a comment. You're so quiet out there, lol!

Thanks for calling in. Have a crafty day!

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #615 - Just Add Inspiration

Although it's not my week for a Just Add Ink project, a glance at the inspiration picture set off a design idea in my head and of course I had to sit at my craft desk and create. Here's the pic:

The combination of black, white and brown, along with those lovely pops of bright green foliage, are what inspired me. 

My card echoes the clean, straight lines as well as rectangular and square shapes from the picture, and for the touch of whimsy instead of the hats on the wall I used my bird. The white rub-on I used was cut to give the shape of a wing. I die-cut two of the slides and attached them using mounting strips to give dimension so I'd have a little 'pocket' to tuck the leaves and moss into.

This is a card that can be used for many occasions so I've left off a sentiment for now.

As luck would have it, these are the exact same colours in this week's Color Throwdown challenge, so I'm entering that.

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness Elements (Stamperia)
• card - basic black, basic white, granny apple green (SU), distress black/kraft (TH)
• dies - Specimen, Silhouette Birds, Funky Florals #3 (all Tim Holtz)
• other - rhinestone, craft moss, Dimensionals, mounting strips, blending brush, sponge dauber, Create Happiness - Writing, white rub on (Stamperia)

What does the inspiration picture bring to your mind? We'd love to see you create a project and share it in our gallery. Pop on over to the JAI blog to see what my team mates came up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

An overcast, dismal day yesterday was the perfect excuse to be in the craft room (not that any was needed 😉) and I was happily occupied for some time with this creation. I probably should have been creating a summer themed card rather than winter, as it was cold enough already without thoughts of snow to give me chills, lol. 

Materials used:

• card - basic black, real red (SU), watercolour (Cansen), Frosted Collection patterned papers (Kaiser), shadow card (Kaiser), vellum (SU)
• dies - Tall Pines, Vault Series Christmas 2021 (both Tim Holtz/Sizzix), ornate frame (unknown origin)
• distress inks - picket fence, frayed burlap oxide, black soot archival
• other - Y19 Copic marker, Big Shot, distress paint picket fence, Holiday Talk metallic stickers (TH), mounting foam, Dimensionals, fan brush, sponge daubers, distressing tool

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry