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

Recycle - Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

This month I'm delighted to be a Guest Stamptember Designer over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  I'll be sharing a project each Monday in September alongside the regular members of the Design Team and hope you'll pop back each week to join me. 

This week's theme is RECYCLE and as it's the first Monday of the month, Simon Says Stamp are showcasing a brand/company and the design team are all using products from Brutus Monroe. (You don't have to use them to join in with the challenge, but if you have them they'd love to see them used.)

So, without further ado, let's dive into my project! 

I recycled a die-cut Spellbinders dancin' birthday dragon from an earlier card (this one). For the background I used distress oxide sprays and inks then stamped polka dots from Tim Holtz's Mr Rabbit set and splattered with Dina Wakely white gesso. I then sprayed with worn lipstick and picked raspberry Distress Spritz through the Brutus Monroe vortex stencil. I finished with a Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Birthday sentiment and some clear sequins. The whole panel was mounted on recycled corrugated cardboard to give depth and dimension. 

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! I hope to see you back next Monday.

Cheers

Kerry

You're Not Old...

The current theme at Seize the Birthday is a fun opportunity to turn back time ...

And here's my card

This really makes me think of the TV series 'Happy Days' I used to watch as a kid - shame I don't have a jukebox die, lol. I used Tim Holtz's Retro TV die instead along with some retro papers. And yes, I am old enough to remember having a TV set just like this one with the rabbit ears aerial and manual dials for changing the channel (mind you, we only had two or three channels at the time, lol). It wasn't in the fabulous 50's, I'd like to point out, though admittedly not much after that ...

Now, who shall I give this card to ... hmmm 🤔

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Trick or Treat - Just Add Ink challenge #717

 

Tina suggested this sketch for the new challenge over at Just Add Ink and while it's not unusual for me to play along on my non-rostered week, it is definitely unusual for me to do so when it's a sketch, lol. Sketches are often the most challenging themes for me but this one sparked an idea for a card, perhaps because I'd been using the die for other projects and had it on the table in front of me. 

I've been seeing a fair bit of pink for Halloween this year and love it as much as I love the more traditional Halloween colours. To me, it adds charm and whimsy.  

I blended three shades of pink oxide inks on my background, masking the moon after the first and lightest shade had gone on. As the regular distress inks are a bit more vivid than the oxides, I also sponged a little of that at the top to darken up my edges. Then I sponged grey and black for the ground using a stencil and stamped 'Happy Halloween' in repeat across the page. For a bit of shimmer and sparkle, I sprayed Distress Spritz over everything and cut two layers of the trick or treaters die. 

Materials used:

• dies - Halloween Night (Tim Holtz)
• distress oxide inks - spun sugar, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, hickory smoke, black soot
• other - moon mask (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, Sidekick, picked raspberry Distress Spritz, craft foam, Happy Halloween stamp, drifts and hills stencil (My Favorite Things), picked raspberry distress ink

Do check out what my team mates created with this sketch to inspire you by following this link to the Just Add Ink blog, and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Joy

The good folks at the Color Throwdown challenge must really love this colour combo, as it's the third time this year they've given it to us to play with (see CTD785, CTD788) - but as I love it too, I'm certainly not complaining!

The summery vibe in the pic made me think Christmas (which is a summer event here Down Under), so I got out my inks and a stencil and got to playing.

I blended two shades of pink on the flowers and added tiny touches of gold paint to the centres. The same colours were used for the inner pieces of the Joy die and I must say I am loving pink for Christmas! It's just a softer shade of traditional red and works so well with other seasonal colours. 

Materials used:

• distress inks/oxides - tattered rose, worn lipstick, bundled sage, scattered straw
• stencil - Poinsettia background (Waffle Flower)
• card - watercolour, vellum, gold foil, pink
• other - gold Posca pen, Dimensionals, blending brushes, Holiday Talk metallic sticker (Tim Holtz), Sidekick, Joy die, craft foam

It won't be long until we're all crafting Xmas goodies in earnest - where on earth does the time go? 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Vista View - Just Add Ink #716

It's inspiration week at Just Add Ink and here's the picture to draw that inspiration from:

The main two elements which inspired me are the gorgeous blue tiles on the step risers and the terracotta pots, which on my card became blue bricks and a terracotta planter. 

The brick wall was created using a stencil, Versamark ink and embossing glaze. I used the same shade of blue to colour my window frame, the top layer of which was cut from woodgrain card. I used acetate for the glass and vellum to give the impression of sheer curtains inside the house. For all the flora, I cut two of everything and coloured with distress inks then placed them in the planter, greenery towards the back and flowers up front, along with a few ferns and a butterfly. 

Materials used:

• dies - Vista View Window and The Botanical Solarium (both Spellbinders) 
• other - Versamark ink, uncharted mariner distress oxide ink and embossing glaze (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, Big Shot, Dimensionals, distress inks, acetate, vellum, woodgrain card

I haven't put a sentiment on it but think it would be useful for a number of occasions, especially to give to a keen gardener or someone who has just moved house.

Check out how my fellow team mates were inspired and of course we'd love to see your own creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Shabby Vintage for Two Challenges

Two challenges made me swoon this week:

 

I simply adore the colour combo the Color Throwdown people are offering and you know already that I love to dabble in a bit of shabby/vintage every now and then, so it's really a no-brainer that I'd want to play along. In a further stroke of kismet, I knew I had some shabby/vintage-vibe papers and embellishments in exactly the challenge colours - it was absolutely meant to be, lol. Here's my card:

Once I'd decided on which pieces to use and their layout, I sponged all edges and distressed a little. I stamped images and text on the tags then added some light background script stamping on the clock and flowers as well as randomly on the background paper. All the pieces are layered and I sewed around the border - plus, of course you knew there'd be ink splatters. As I'd used materials from a collection called Grandma's Attic, I thought 'Hugs' was a most appropriate sentiment because that's what grandma's give - this nana certainly does! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Postmarked (Honey Bee Stamps)
• papers and ephemera - Grandma's Attic collection (Mintay)
• distress oxide inks - antique linen, vintage photo, brushed corduroy
• other - Dimensionals, craft foam, sponge daubers, white bakers twine, sewing machine and thread, hugs and shadow dies, Sidekick, soft sky card (long retired SU), vellum, white ink (Kuresake), fan brush

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Cake?

My zany sense of humour has struck again! As soon as I saw the Inquisitive Seagulls stamp set and dies from Waffle Flower, I absolutely fell in love - the humour is sooooooo me, lol! When they arrived in my mailbox yesterday, there was no way I wasn't going to have a play - and, as luck would have it, the challenges at Just Us Girls and Seize the Birthday gave me the perfect opportunity...

Inspiration for this card came from when we used to have chickens and they would flutter up to the window ledge of my daughter's bedroom and peck on the glass, demanding food. If the window happened to be open, they'd just wander right on in, lol. 

I cut four layers of the window frame for depth, adding a sheet of acetate between two layers for 'glass'. Then I cut a background piece of card to size and stencilled the sky/clouds before adding those adorable cake-hungry gulls and some stamping. Too funny! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Inquisitive Seagulls (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Inquisitive Seagulls (Waffle Flower), Vista View Window (Spellbinders)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), MISTI

Hope you have some cake in your day! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Hello Friend - Just Add Ink Challenge #714

Welcome to a new challenge with Just Add Ink and this week we've a colour combo for you to play with:

These gorgeous rich colours would be perfect for an autumn theme, but for today's offering I decided to use birds instead and pulled out my Songbirds on Branches suite. 

I stamped, stencilled and die-cut the images before arranging them on my peacock background, which I'd inked darker around the edges to draw the eye into the centre. They're attached with dimension and a little excess trimmed off the edges. Once the sentiment was on, I covered it and the birds then splattered liberally with gold paint.

Materials used:

• stamp/stencils/die - Songbirds on Branches (Pinkfresh Studio)
• card - pretty peacock, basic white (Stampin' Up)
• other - blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, MISTI, sticky mat, Big Shot, Wordies Sentiment Sheets - Friendship (Creative Expressions), tarnished brass distress paint, fan brush, VersaFine Clair nocturne ink

I hope you'll check out what my fellow team-mates created and decide to join us using these beautiful colours.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Getting an Early Start

Over the past few years I've come to love orange and hot pink together, so when I saw the Just Us Girls challenge had this combo, I was highly motivated to play along. 

For some reason my first thought was Halloween and although I tried thinking of other themes, that thought persisted - so of course, eventually I gave in, lol. Here's what I ended up with.

Materials used:

• stamps - Unraveled (Tim Holtz), Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Trick or Treat colorize, Mischevious (both Tim Holtz)
• distress and distress oxide inks - spiced marmalade, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin
• other - Sidekick, MISTI, Dimensionals, blending brushes

I know it's early for Halloween craft but I am sooooooo in the mood for it this year! This is also being entered in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, which is Anything Goes.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Comfort & Joy

I've been doing a bit of a clean up in my craft room and came across I card I made quite some time ago. At the time I couldn't decide whether or not I liked it, but today I decided yes I do, lol. I think I was experimenting with slightly non-traditional Christmas colours.

After so long I can't remember exactly what I used, but I'll try to give details as close as I can! There's a layer of something over the whole panel that gives it that soft, muted look and it's driving me crazy that I can't recall what I used! I THINK it was clear rock candy glitter, though it's not really glittery - but perhaps that's a 'been stashed away for ages' thing, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Winter Watercolor 2 (Tim Holtz), Christmas Classics (Stampin' Up)
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, moon mask (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, MISTI, abandoned coral distress oxide ink, craft foam, Versamark ink, clear rock candy glitter (Tim Holtz), lost lagoon (retired) SU ink and cardstock

Hope you like it too! Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

Happy Birthday Gullfriend - Just Add Ink Challenge #712

Jo has given us a sketch for this week's Just Add Ink challenge. 

I've created a sunrise over the sea scene with a bit of a pun sentiment that appeals to my quirky sense of humour, lol. 

My background is stencilled on watercolour paper using distress oxide inks. All the die-cut pieces were cut from white cardstock and coloured using oxides also. I have used some creative licence in moving the focal shape down a bit from what's in the sketch - well, those posts would look silly floating in mid-air/mid-ocean!!! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Postage Collage Beach Days (Waffle Flower)
• distress oxide inks - squeezed lemonade, saltwater taffy, dusty concord, villainous potion, uncharted mariner, black soot, brushed corduroy, vintage photo, spiced marmalade, lost shadow, walnut stain
• stencils - Uncharted Waters (Spellbinders)
• dies - Oh, Buoy! (Spellbinders)
• other - sticky grid mat, blending brushes, Sidekick, Dimensionals, craft foam, white embossing powder, MISTI, heat tool

What does our sketch make you think of? We'd love to see your creations in our gallery - just head off to the Just Add Ink blog and while you're there, check out what my fellow team mates have made to inspire you.

Entered in the Just Us Girls stencil challenge. 

Thanks for cruising by.

Cheers

Kerry

Promise of Peace

Every now and then I enjoy the challenge of making a clean and simple (CAS) card and the theme at Addicted to CAS caught my eye and sparked an idea. I really hope I'm not the only one whose creative muse won't let me rest until I've sat down to see whether or not my idea will work ... 

And here's my offering:

This was a very quick card to make, probably no more than 10 mins start to finish. I die-cut the splat shape out of a piece of scrap card to use as a mask, blended with distress inks, stamped the sentiment and die-cut the gulls. Card done! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Sunrise, Sunset (Fairy Hugs)
• dies - Nesting Splat (Paper Rose), Guiding Light (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - scattered straw, saltwater taffy, abandoned coral, salvaged patina, mermaid lagoon
• other - blending brushes, MISTI, craft foam, Big Shot, VersaFine Clair Twilight ink

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

A Cup of Christmas - Just Add Ink Challenge #711

Totally loving the inspiration pic for this week's Just Add Ink challenge and couldn't resist playing along. 

Christmas in July, a warm blanket, hot chocolate, marshmallows ... I'm there! 

Taking a deep dive through my stash of random dies, I was delighted when I found some I thought made the perfect combo for this challenge. I chose to use pastel tones for a soft, almost watercolour kind of effect. 

All the bits were die cut from white and coloured with Altenew inks. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Merry Cafe (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white, sandstone
• other - hot cocoa cup and marshmallow dies (stash), Christmas die (stash), snowflake embossing folder (Crafter's Companion), Altenew inks, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, Big Shot, T4 Copic marker

Do check out what my fellow team-mates created over on the Just Add Ink blog, and thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry