Beautiful Day

Welcome to another Tic Tac Toe challenge! This week we have the following grid for you to pick three-in-a-row:

I chose the middle vertical column of die cut/punch - embossing - layers to make a shabby/vintage easel card.

I worked on my card front first, choosing papers and distressing them before layering. The nest was die-cut from papers in the collection and given a little ink for shading, while the bird was cut from white and coloured with distress inks. Once they were attached I added the grasses, wheat sheaf and butterfly. On the inside I carried through the papers and distressed edges, heat embossed my sentiment and added the flower and leaf. Everything was given some white gesso splatters before assembly.

Materials used:

• stamps - Gnomes for Summer (CTMH)
• papers & ephemera - Whispering Way collection (49andMarket)
• dies - layered warbler (Simon Says Stamp), bird nest (stash)
• other - blending brushes, MISTI, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, clear embossing powder, heat tool, gesso, splatter brush, distress inks

There's more samples to see from my team mates over on the Tic Tac Toe Challenge blog and if you are inspired to choose a row and create, be sure to share!

Thanks for dropping by and have a beautiful day.

Cheers

Kerry

Tea and Biscuits

Welcome to a new challenge with Just Add Ink. This week we have a sketch for you to interpret and play with. 

Ever since I saw a funny meme on Pinterest I've been wanting to make this particular card and I'm so glad I could make it using the sketch. 

I cut all my die pieces first from white card then coloured with inks and assembled. The 'flavours' of the biscuits were heavily influenced by a selection from my favourite macaron patisserie here in Melbourne, La Belle Miette.

For funsies I stencilled my background with a newspaper pattern, as if it's saying 'Stop the Presses!' or 'News Flash!', lol. I guess it's almost a thing of the past to sip your tea while you read the paper ...

Materials used:

• dies - Cafe Colorize (Tim Holtz), macarons (brand unknown)
• stencil - media stencil KSTD149 (Stamperia)
• Altenew inks - buttercream, warm sunshine, frayed leaf, forest glades, mountain mist, volcano lake, lagoon
• other inks - saltwater taffy (Distress), basic beige (SU), coral reef (Pinkfresh)
• other - blending brushes, grip mat, foam squares, computer & printer

Do head over to the Just Add Ink blog to see how my fellow team mates used this sketch, and if you decide to play along we'd love you to share.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Baked With Love

The Time Out challenge for this fortnight held great appeal so I couldn't resist having a play with dies, stencils and pastels. 

Here's my offering:

Other than the yellow postage frame, everything else was cut from white card and coloured with inks. As usual, there are multiple layers to my sentiment die-cut. 

Materials used:

• dies, stencils and subsentiment die-cut - Waffle Flower Baking Fun collection
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, foam squares, sheer ribbon, stitched rectangle die

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Sprinkled With Joy

Welcome to another Just Add Ink challenge and this time around we have a colour/inspiration pic combo for you to play with.

Those scrummy looking donuts were the inspiration for a sweet birthday card.

Everything (except the black pieces) was cut from white as usual and coloured with inks - well, except for the sprinkles, where I coloured the card first before die-cutting. I wasn't going to try to colour all those tiny fiddly bits, lol! As it was, my tired old peepers went cross-eyed putting the white dots in four pairs of eyes! 😜 And how adorable are those little panda slippers?! 

Materials used:

• dies - doughnut girl and ice cream cone (stash)
• distress inks - kitsch flamingo (dye and oxide), picked raspberry, mustard seed, speckled egg, abandoned coral, candied apple
• other - blending brushes, caramel toffee ink (Altenew), foam squares, computer & printer, white gel pen, fine black marker

I hope the picture or colours or both inspire you to create and join us. Check out more samples over on the Just Add Ink blog, and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers 🍩

Kerry

Best Era Yet

It's challenge time once again at All About Papercraft and this month it's ...

April is definitely all about birthdays in our clan; quite a few family members have or had birthdays this month. My own is tomorrow then just two days later is my elder daughter's, so my project is the card I made for her. She's a die-hard Swiftie and I bought this stamp with her in mind. 

I used Copic markers to colour the singer and holographic glitter for her shiny outfit, which I set with a spray sealant so it wouldn't brush off. The background was ink blended and given some water splatters before stencilling over with a baby wipe to remove ink. I love that it looks like a cool lighting effect. As one foot was raised, I thought it appropriate she would be standing on the sentiment, lol. Tiny rhinestones were the finishing touch and you really need to move this around to catch the light and see it's full glittery glory! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Uptown Girl Loves to Sing, Shake It Off Sentiments (both Stamping Bella)
• other - Copic markers, holographic glitter (Lavinia), foam squares, MISTI, Vortex stencil (Brutus Monroe), baby wipe, tiny rhinestones, subsentiment sticker (Waffle Flower)

We would love to see your birthday themed creations in our challenge linky this month! And do pop over to the All About Papercraft blog to see more samples from my team mates to inspire you.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

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