Autumn Welcome

More YouTube watching took place on a cold, wet day yesterday and I saw a card that reminded me I've been meaning to have another go at an eclipse card. The first ones I made used mounting tape to raise the die-cut lettering but I'd seen some where extra die-cut layers were used instead and liked that idea much better. So I finally sat down and made one. Kept it pretty simple, just some lovely papers, one die and one stamp - it doesn't get much easier than that, am I right? - then tossed a few sparkly embellishments on and called it done!

Materials used:

• stamps - Autumn Leaves (Poppystamps)
• card - crumb cake, basic white (SU), Autumn Garden junk journal papers (The Journal Boat)
• other - hello die, Big Shot, sponge dauber, amber gems, craft foam, frayed burlap archival ink (Ranger), crumb cake ink (SU), MISTI

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

You Make Life Sweeter

I was fortunate enough to have my entry for Color Throwdown challenge #696 picked (see my card HERE) and was consequently offered the opportunity to be Featured Stamper for their new challenge #698. Here's the combo:

How yum do those strawberries look? They're one of the things I love most about summer. I definitely wanted to use strawberries on my card so I picked an adorable image from Mo Manning and coloured it with Copics. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Berry Fairy Aliz (Mo Manning), Love & Chocolate (Newton's Nook)
• card - basic white, blushing bride patterned paper 
• Copics - R01,02,29,37,89; W0,2; G24,40,43; Y15,17; E000,00,11,13,21,23,33
• other - white gel pen, clear Wink of Stella, cherry cobbler baker's twine, craft foam, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, MISTI

Thanks again to the CTD folks and to you for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry 

The Card Concept - By the Sea

Welcome to another inspiration challenge with The Card Concept where our theme for this week is By the Sea.

Inspired by the shells and sand, I chose a beach theme for my mixed media card.

We're in the final days of autumn here and winter is just around the corner, so it's with a very wistful gaze that I look at this summery scene, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Beach Baby (Penny Black)
• card - watercolour, basic white, crumb cake
• distress oxide inks - antique linen, brushed corduroy, salvaged patina, peacock feathers, broken china
• SU inks - blush blossom, crumb cake, calypso coral, balmy blue
• other - blending brushes, white gel pen, clear Wink of Stella, Sunset Beach die cuts (Mintay), Dimensionals, craft foam, stitched rectangle die (Paper Rose), Big Shot, Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), aquabrush, SU markers, Sidekick

What aspect of the picture will inspire your creation? We'd love to see it in our gallery and don't forget to check out the cards my fellow team mates have made as well. 

The Card Concept team are taking a break now until the end of the US summer, so hopefully I'll be back with more challenges in September.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Fabulous, Flexible and Faux

Do you love the look of stepper cards but hate how fiddly they are to cut out? Measuring, scoring and cutting needs to be perfect and it can be frustrating to the point of putting you off making them entirely, am I right? Then do I have the solution for you!

I recently discovered a faux stepper card tutorial from Paul Ford which makes this whole process so unbelievably easy, you'll be making stepper cards till the cows come home! And to make it even better, the same measurements and cuts can be used for either a centre step or side step card - so you get a two-fer! I've put the link to Paul's tutorial but his is in inches to make a 5" x 7" card; this doesn't suit our card and envelope sizes here in Aus, so I adapted it so my cards measure our standard A6 size (10.5 x 14.8cm). 

Meanwhile, here are the two sample cards I made. Firstly a centre-step design:

Materials used:

• card - merry merlot (SU)
• papers - Spring Botanic (Stamperia)
• other - stitched circle die (Poppycrafts), Big Shot, craft foam, sponge dauber, brushed corduroy oxide ink

And this side-step card. 

For this one I fussy-cut a second grouping of shells to layer on top and also another small blue flower, shaped and added with a pearl centre. I also made my main panel a bit narrower to suit the size of the topper I used.

Materials used:

• stamp - Plushies Down Under (Clearly Besotted)
• card - starry sky (SU)
• papers - Marina (Mintay)
• other - shaping tool and mat, pearl, Dimensionals, starry sky ink

I do hope you'll watch Paul's video and give this a go, you honestly won't be disappointed - they are sooooooo quick and easy to make! 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Your Beautiful Self

They've given us another gorgeous colour combo over at the Color Throwdown and once an idea came to mind I couldn't resist playing along.

Orange, pink and aqua aren't colours I use together very often but I think I may have to remedy that situation given how much I love the outcome, lol. Here's my card:

Isn't this hippo totally adorable? 

Materials used:

• stamps - Hippest Hippo (SU SAB freebie), Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - basic white, Tea Break designer papers (Kaisercraft)
• dies - tag, cloud, stitched rectangle
• Copic markers - R20, R32, C0, C2, C4
• Stampin' Blends - pale papaya
• other - pool party ink, blending brush, MISTI, Big Shot, Hippo dies (SU SAB freebie), pool party enamel dots, Dimensionals, craft foam, pool party organdy ribbon, white baker's twine

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #608 - Just Add a Colour Combo

We've a colour challenge at Just Add Ink this week, something to really sink your teeth into.

I had so many ideas for this challenge it was difficult to make a final decision, lol. In the end I went with some stamping and masking.

I haven't tried two-tone clouds before but love how they turned out and must thank Michelle Zindorf for the inspiration.

Materials used:

• stamps - Treeline (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla, basic grey
• other - mini cloud stencil (MFT), blending brushes, 1 1/4" circle punch, craft foam, hickory smoke distress oxide ink, hickory smoke embossing glaze, heat tool, basic grey marker, post it note, MISTI

 

There's plenty more samples to get your creative juices flowing over on the Just Add Ink blog and as always, we'd love you to join our challenge.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

Serenity

I made a card for this week's Color Throwdown challenge of kraft, cream and green.

I find this combo to be very peaceful, almost serene, and that's what I've tried to convey with my card.

Well, this is definitely my first Christmas card for the year, lol! Never too early to start on those, am I right? 

Materials used:

• stamps - Treeline, Christmastime 2 (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla, crumb cake (SU)
• distress oxide inks - mowed lawn, rustic wilderness
• other - bundled sage distress ink, crumb cake ink, craft foam, blending brush, MISTI, sponge dauber, Sahara sand marker, Darling Deer dies (TH), Sidekick

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Stay Curious

The Less is More challenge caught my eye this week.

It's extremely rare for me to make a CAS masculine card so I was quite intrigued and gave it a bit of pondering before I came up with this card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Moth Study (Tim Holtz)
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, basic black
• Copic markers - E31,E55,YR12,YR24,BG72,BG09
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, Small Talk stickers (Tim Holtz), Specimen remnant rubs (Tim Holtz), optical lens (Tim Holtz), craft foam, crumb cake ink, MISTI, collage medium matte, sponge dauber, in-colour faceted dots (SU)

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Make It Masculine

Welcome to another inspiration challenge with The Card Concept. We've a great pic for our Make it Masculine challenge:

I used the great outdoors theme as inspiration for my 3D mixed media card.

The green area underneath is just for props, it's not part of the card. For delivering this I would make a box to fit. I did think about just making a 2D cabin but once I'd made this one up it was way too cute not to use! Lol. 

There are a few layers of trees to get that real 'in the middle of the forest' feel. The back of the card is plain for writing the greeting. 

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, crumb cake, balmy blue, vellum, mossy meadow
• distress inks/oxides - hickory smoke, frayed burlap, walnut stain, peeled paint, rustic wilderness, iced spruce
• Tim Holtz products - Mountain top dies, Tall Pines dies, Paper Village 1&2  dies, mini lumber 3D embossing folder, Quote chips
• other - Dimensionals, Card Stacks Base (Concord & 9th), sponge dauber, heat tool, water spritzer, splat box, wooden accessories, crumb cake ink, linen thread

There's plenty more to see over on The Card Concept blog to help get your creative juices flowing and as always, we'd love to see your make in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

A New Adventure

For quite some time now I've been keen on starting my own art journal and have watched a lot of YouTube videos, especially Vicky Papaioannau whose work I adore. Well, over the past few days I've actually accomplished my very first layout! 

As happens so often in creating, the end result is very different to how I imagined it beforehand - a different theme altogether, in fact, lol. But I love it, and that's what's most important. I think of it as 'glimpses at the beautiful world beyond the windows'. 

I made my journal from A5 sized heavy watercolour card, so a double page spread is A4 landscape size. This layout is very much an amalgam of products from Tim Holtz and Stamperia. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Entomology (Tim Holtz)
• papers - Provence collection by Stamperia
• distress oxide inks/sprays - milled lavender, dusty concord, villainous potion
• stencils - Trellis (TH), Wallpaper, Music & Writings (Stamperia)
• other - Small Talk stickers (TH), baseboard window frames (TH), blending brushes, villainous potion distress archival ink, picket fence distress paint, Dimensionals, paint brush, spatula, sponge dauber, Vintage Gold Icing Paste (Prima)

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're able to craft today.

Cheers

Kerry

More Peace

With all my DT work up to date I took some time to play yesterday. I'd seen an oxide ink combo I wanted to try, plus had a new stamp just busting to be used and as they went together beautifully, it was a bit of a no-brainer really.

Some of my splatters were done with gold ink and give a lovely sheen when they catch the light. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Sunrise, Sunset (Fairy Hugs Stamps)
• card - basic white, basic black
• distress oxide inks - dried marigold, worn lipstick, seedless preserves, villainous potion, black soot
• dies - Silhouette Birds (Tim Holtz), branch (stash)
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, sponge dauber, craft foam, blending brushes, paintbrush, Golden Glitz ink (Delicata), water spritzer, embossing buddy

Isn't that a beautiful sentiment? You all know I love sponging sunsets and sunrises, so I'm sure to be using it again.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #606 - Sketch

Hello! This week at Just Add Ink we have a sketch for you to play with:

I chose to make a child's birthday card using bright, colourful papers and these adorable chicks.

Small touches of sparkle were added for birthday fun - clear sequins and some clear Wink of Stella on the party hats.

Materials used:

• stamps - Birthday Chick (MFT)
• card - basic white, night of navy, retired SAB designer series papers
• dies - Happy Birthday circle (MFT), stitched circle (Poppycraft)
• other - Copic markers Y08, Y17, Y38, B0000; Stampin' Blends Bermuda bay and lovely lipstick; Dimensionals; pink twine; Big Shot, clear sequins, clear Wink of Stella

We'd love you to create something for the challenge and add it to our gallery. Meanwhile, do check out more samples to inspire you from my fellow team mates over on the JAI blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Red, White and Blue

It's a red, white and blue challenge at The Card Concept this time around. Here's our inspiration pic:

In the US my fellow team mates will shortly be observing Memorial Day, whereas here in Australia we had ANZAC Day last month,  so I used this and the swatch colours as inspiration for my clean and layered card.

Red poppies are a symbol of remembrance for the fallen in many countries around the world and most often worn on Remembrance Day in November, but in New Zealand where I grew up we always wore poppies on ANZAC Day. Here in Australia we usually wear rosemary as it grew wild on the Gallipoli Peninsula where the ANZAC troops landed.

On my background I printed an excerpt from 'For the Fallen' by Laurence Binyon, which is read at ANZAC Day services. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Wild Poppies (MFT)
• card - night of navy, basic white, orchid oasis
• Copic markers - R35,46,59; Y15,17; G43,24; YG21,25,93
• other - Lest We Forget die (Couture Creations), Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, Dimensionals, orchid oasis marker, computer and printer

Do follow the link to The Card Concept blog to view the beautiful samples my team mates have created to inspire you.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #604 - Just Add...You

For something a bit different this week at Just Add Ink we're asking you to...

Yes, just choose a card or project you've made previously and CASE (copy and selectively edit) it. You could change the stamps, dies, colours or shapes, but it needs to clearly be based on the original.

For my sample I chose to case my very first JAI design team card which was based on a sketch. Here's my original (click on it to be taken to the blog post if you'd like details).

And here's my case. I stuck with the shabby chic style and used Stamperia's totally gorgeous Provence collection which really appeals to the part of me that still loves girly and purple, lol. 

Materials used:

• card - highland heather, basic white, Provence DSP (Stamperia)
• other - Provence die cuts (Stamperia), pearls, Dimensionals, craft foam, distressing tool, sponge dauber, computer & printer, Sahara sand marker, hickory smoke distress oxide ink

Be sure to visit the Just Add Ink blog to see which of their creations my fellow team-mates decided to case and, as always, we would love for you to join the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

 

The Card Concept - May Flowers

Our challenge theme this week over at The Card Concept is May Flowers. With the rest of the design team in the northern hemisphere, they're enjoying all the new spring growth in their gardens. Here's our inspiration picture:

For my mixed media card I was inspired by the floral theme and the soft shades in the colour swatch, and I've given it an Aussie twist with a flowering gum as my feature.

Materials used:

• stamps - Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew)
• card - watercolour, very vanilla
• distress oxide inks - saltwater taffy, fossilized amber, abandoned coral, barn door, evergreen bough, lucky clover
• distress crayons - barn door, fossilized amber
• other - aquapainter, Big Shot, craft foam, stitched rectangle die, Stamparatus, heat tool, Gum Leaves 1 die (Paper Rose), water spritzer, Quilted 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz), Dimensionals, ground espresso archival ink, blending brush

There's plenty more inspiration for you over on The Card Concept blog and we do hope you'll join in the challenge with us.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry