JAI #680 - Just Add Alcohol

This week at Just Add Ink we're challenging you to...

This could be using alcohol inks or markers, featuring stamps/dies/embellishments to do with alcoholic beverages or something else alcohol-related. For my card I've used two of these.

I blended my background then stencilled over it with the same inks. The drink was coloured with Copics and I used micro glass beads for the salt/sugar on the rim - they give fabulous dimension and look so realistic I'm now craving a margarita!

Materials used:

• stamps - Supercalifragilistic (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - basic white, Bermuda bay (Stampin' Up)
• distress oxide inks - salvaged patina, twisted citron
• Copic markers - YG01, YG21, YG23, YG25, C0, C2
• other - craft foam, Dimensionals, MISTI, blending brushes, clear translucent glass beads, glue, stencil, water spritzer

We'd love to see what 'alcohol' inspires in you, and of course to have your projects in our gallery. Check out what my team mates created over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #679 - Just Add a Colour Combo

For this week's Just Add Ink challenge we've a colour combo for you to play with. Our board uses the names for Stampin' Up ink colours but you're welcome to substitute them with a similar colour from a different brand. You can also use white, vanilla, black and metallics as accents if you wish. No other colours should be used.

This combo brought to mind some designer paper Stampin' Up had a few years back - and which I bought plenty of before it retired, lol - so I dug some out for my card. I love the whitewashed look of this polka dot paper and although petal pink is definitely not one of my favourite colours, decided to feature it with just hints of the much darker calypso coral. 

I distressed the edges of the calypso coral card and the flower bud the bird is carrying was cut from the DSP, the rest of the construction is pretty self-evident. To me this card could be used for a variety of occasions so I have left off a sentiment for now.

Materials used:

• card - basic white, pool party, calypso coral (Stampin' Up), Bird Ballad DSP (retired SU)
• dies - stitched circle, Soaring Layered Bird (Simon Says Stamp)
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, blending brush, white baker's twine, mini cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), markers in black and petal pink, pool party ink

Check out how my fellow team-mates used this colour combination over at the JAI blog and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

First Rule of the Garage

I stumbled across a masculine card I made some time ago and hadn't posted. It uses garage-themed papers and ephemera from Mintay which I knew would go wonderfully with some Tim Holtz hardware and a few metal charms I already had in my stash. Now, I've had these tool charms for literally years and years, so I have no idea of their brand or origin but it's great to finally use them!

The hanging tools - crescent and pliers - are real metal, as is the gauge frame just above the sign (the Hardie Mfg Co. one) and the 'screws' at the corners. The rest is paper/card! 

Here you can see the layering. I attached the tools to my 'corkboard' (die cut from cork-look paper) using jump rings and brads. 

I love the background paper that looks like rusted metal plate but it stole the limelight a bit, so I applied some gesso here and there using a brayer to tone it down. The brass pipe along the right side is fussy cut from a sheet of 12x12" paper. I love, love, love the sentiment on the sign - just makes me smile every time I read this play on the famous line from Fight Club. 

The downside to all this metallic goodness? The card ended up being pretty hefty which means when I try to stand it up, it just falls over from all the weight on the front!!! Roflol. Ah well, the recipient will just have to prop it up or lay it down.

Materials used:

• card - early espresso, basic black
• papers - Garage collection (Mintay), Golden Days collection (Mintay)
• dies - corkboard (Paper Rose)
• Tim Holtz ideaology - machinery heads, gauge dials, metal gauge frames, jump rings, brads
• other - gesso, brayer, mini glue dots, craft foam, Dimensionals, Big Shot

Maybe you've got something in your stash that needs to see the light of day too - go on and check it out! Remember, if you use up stuff it gives you an excuse to buy more to fill the gap left behind!!!!!! 😉

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #201

It's time for another inspiration challenge with The Card Concept. Here's this month's board, Fall Leaves:

The challenge is to create a card inspired by any aspect of this photo, whether it's the theme, the colours, one or more of the items in the picture - just any idea that comes to mind. Plus of course we'd love it if you shared your card in our gallery. 

I took the leaves as inspiration but replaced the autumn/fall colours with Christmas greenery. 

The holly branches were cut from white card and coloured with distress inks, then I added some glossy accents and rock candy glitter to the berries. The "bells" are actually a coffee cup layer die upside down and for the clappers I glued two small circles together then shaped them for dimension. The 3D embossing folder gives me pine leaves/branches in my background.

Materials used:

• stamps - Christmas Classics (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic black, basic white gold glitter 
• dies - Festive Gatherings, Papercut Cafe (Tim Holtz), stitched frame (stash)
• distress inks - twisted citron, mowed lawn, candied apple, picket fence
• other - craft foam, Big Shot, Dimensionals, blending brushes, 1/4" circle punch, Glossy Accents, clear rock candy glitter, gold cord, gold embossing powder, heat tool. Pine Branches 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz), shaping mat and tool

Do head on over to the challenge blog to check out more samples to inspire you and thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #677 - Just Add a Sketch

Welcome to another Just Add Ink challenge and this week we've a sketch for you:

Keep in mind the shapes you use don't have to be squares, nor do they have to be the same shape as each other - as long as you have two images, one larger than the other and set behind, you're golden! You can also rotate or flip the sketch if you wish. 

With Halloween over, I'm now firmly in Christmas crafting mode, lol, so my offering is a Christmas card  and I kept the sketch as is. 

I began with ink smooshing pieces of card in blue and greens. Once I'd decided which bird die to use I could choose a size for the arched piece behind, then had to make sure the sentiment stamp I wanted would fit with those parameters. Luckily it did, so I set about die cutting bird, arch and greenery, followed by stamping the greeting and colouring the bird. The finishing touch was splatters of white gesso which has become one of my favourite mixed media techniques and really brought this card to life.

Materials used:

• stamps - Christmas Classics (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white (SU), kraft, watercolour
• dies - Layered Warbler (Simon Says Stamp), Holiday Greens mini (Tim Holtz), Essential Arches (Spellbinders), stitched rectangle (Poppystamps)
• distress oxide inks/sprays - speckled egg, vintage photo, gathered twigs, antique linen, barn door, candied apple, rustic wilderness, evergreen bough
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, MISTI, water spritzer, heat tool, fan brush, white gesso, Dimensionals, craft foam

I hope you'll check out more samples from my team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog and with any luck, be inspired to create and share.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Keeping You In Sus-Spencer

I honestly thought I was done with Halloween craft, but the perfect storm of new-to-me digi papers, a couple of dies I hadn't used and a spooky challenge conspired to lure me ... last one, I promise! (I think! 😉)

The theme is SPOOKY over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and here's my entry:

Spencer was cut from watercolour card and coloured with oxide inks before assembling. The big EEK! has a purple cardstock layer under the batty purple paper for depth, and I trimmed the shadow die down between the letters as I wanted the background paper to show through. I went crazy with my sewing machine attaching the bones (might have gotten a bit carried away here) and making a border, leaving the threads for added creepy ambience (pretend they're spider web threads). A couple of stickers, moss and some bats added the perfect final touches.

Materials used:

• card - granny apple green, gorgeous grape, basic black (Stampin' Up), Hocus Pocus Worn papers (Etsy), watercolour
• dies - Spencer colorize, Big Frights (Tim Holtz)
• distress oxide inks - frayed burlap, antique linen, pumice stone, hickory smoke, lost shadow
• other - Curiosities sticker book (Tim Holtz), sewing machine and thread, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, distressing tool, moss, hickory smoke archival ink, sponge dauber, craft blade, steel ruler

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #676 - Just Add Inspiration

It's an inspiration challenge this week at Just Add Ink!

If you've been here lately you'll know I've been having tons of fun with some Halloween themed cards and more, so it will come as no surprise, I'm sure, that a pumpkin would conjure up more wicked fun in my head!

Cute as a ... well, as a pumpkin, lol. 

The layers are coloured with Copics and the spider webs were stamped with white pigment ink. The final touches to Edison were some googly eyes and tendrils of spagnum moss (which dropped dust everywhere, let me tell you! lol)

My daughter and a friend carved some jack o'lanterns over the weekend (she loves Halloween as much as me!) - here's a pic:

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Frights, Unravelled (both Tim Holtz)
• card - basic black, basic white, Halloween stripes (Etsy)
• dies - Edison colorize (Tim Holtz)
• Copic markers - YR04,YR07,YR09,YR14,YG25,G99,T10
• other - MISTI, white embossing powder, heat tool, picket fence distress ink, craft foam, Dimensionals, 7mm googly eyes

Check out what aspects of our mood board inspired my fellow team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog. 

Happy Halloween! and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Ghostly Presents

I'm loving this week's theme at Inspired By challenges and couldn't resist playing along:

Here's my ghostly inspiration:

As you can see, I'm still loving some bright pink for Halloween! I ink smooshed the background and once it was dry, stamped the candy corn and sweets with oxide ink before white embossing my sentiment. The hats were coloured with markers and my finishing touches were some white gel pen and black stitching. I'm thinking I'm gonna need a second sewing machine for my cards so I can keep it set up and not have to change needles! (Mind you, threading the needle with a different coloured thread each time is a real challenge for my old eyes, so perhaps I need a number of machines, lol - one for each colour!)

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Frights (Tim Holtz)
• card - basic black, distress white heavystock, watercolour
• distress inks - kitsch flamingo spray stain, picked raspberry oxide ink and spray, cocktail party mica stain
• other - MISTI, white embossing powder, heat tool, Zig Clean Color brush markers, white gel pen, Dimensionals, craft foam, sewing machine and thread, scissors, embossing buddy

Thanks for calling in. Have a crafty day!

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #675 - Just Add the Spotlight Technique

It's technique time at Just Add Ink this week.

In case you're not familiar, this is a colouring technique used to bring attention to a focal point on your card. There are a few ways of doing it, the most common being highlighting a portion of a stamped image, especially by die-cutting a shape to isolate the area. I looked around for other methods and found two I really liked - Gina K used stencils (see here) and Jennifer McGuire used windows (see here). They inspired me to try something a little different.

I stamped and stencilled in grey, adding a pop of colour only to the birds. Once die-cut I moved the separate pieces around to give me a nice grouping for a slimline card, added a plaid die to the background for interest and texture, and embossed my sentiment. After everything was mounted the final touch was a few dew drops here and there. 

By keeping everything other than the birds in tones of grey and white, it really makes them pop visually, drawing your eye directly to them. 

Materials used:

• stamp/stencils/die combo - Songbirds on Branches (Pinkfresh Studio)
• other stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white, smoky slate 
• inks - lost shadow distress ink, hickory smoke archival ink, salvaged patina and twisted citron oxide inks
• other dies - plaid slimline die (Pink and Main)
• other - Big Shot, MISTI, blending brushes, craft foam, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool, adhesive dew drops (Craft Consortium)

There are more samples to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog. I do hope you'll join us and add your creation to our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Hey Boo

When I saw this week's challenge theme at AAA Cards I was immediately keen to play along. 

Halloween is a perfect opportunity for some playfulness and fun and that's what I was after with my card.

The cobweb was embossed in white then I went over it with a glue pen and sprinkled liberally with clear rock candy glitter. Even the anti-static wipe can't keep some of those minuscule specks from sticking where they shouldn't, lol, but them's the breaks. Gotta love the shimmer though!

Materials used:

• stamps - Unravelled, Tiny Frights (both Tim Holtz)
• card - melon mambo, basic black (Stampin' Up), watercolour
• distress inks - dried marigold, carved pumpkin, worn lipstick, picked raspberry, picket fence
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, blending brushes, white gel pen, Edison colorize dies (Tim Holtz), craft foam, Dimensionals, banner punch (retired SU), Quickie glue pen, clear rock candy glitter (Tim Holtz)

When this die set was released, one of Tim Holtz's makers, Debi Adams, used the orange and pink combo and I fell in love with it, wanting to try it out ever since, so I'm happy now! 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #200

It's time for another inspiration challenge with The Card Concept. This month's mood board, titled Autumn Chill, has some gorgeous rich colours and evocative images to get those creative juices flowing.

The challenge is to create a card inspired by any aspect of this photo, whether it's the theme, the colours, one or more of the items in the picture -  just any idea that comes to mind. Plus of course we'd love it if you shared your card in our gallery. If you post on social media, please tag @thecardconceptchallenges2 and use the hashtag #tcc200. 

My card is a simple shabby style in warm colours inspired by pretty much all of the elements in the mood board.

I couldn't go past this image, to me it embodies the spirit of the challenge board so perfectly. I chose copper coloured card to match the hair and die-cut some autumn leaves from ink smooshed card I always keep on hand. They were bent to give them movement and glued in place, while the cable-knit paper and backing card were distressed and offset slightly. 

This is so me, I'm not sure I can bear to give it away so it might end up being added to my art journal for my own personal enjoyment.

Materials used:

• card - copper clay, basic black, basic white (Stampin' Up), boho knit pattern paper (Etsy), watercolour
• dies - Fall Foliage (Tim Holtz)
• other - distressing tool, Sidekick, sponge dauber, copper clay ink, craft foam, digital image (Image Credit: R.W.K. Clark), various distress oxide inks

Do check out all the other inspiration we have for you over on The Card Concept blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #673 - Just Choose Two

In the mood for crafting? At Just Add Ink this week we've our Choose Two option to inspire you.

I chose doors and windows for another decor piece. This project was very time intensive to make but extremely satisfying once completed.

The whole house was made from heavyweight black cardstock. Once I'd die-cut all the pieces, I spread grit paste randomly over the walls, allowed it to dry then dry-brushed with various distress paints. The marks on the window panes were made with a white gel pen to mimic cracks and cobwebs and there's semi-transparent plastic on the insides for glass. 

The grass is crypt paste coloured with reinker and all the leaves were adhered to the house using glossy accents and spread over the lawn while the paste was still wet. The thin threads are the string from a hot glue gun (how perfect are they?) and I grunged up the tiny jack o'lantern with some distress crayon. The same heavyweight card was used for the fence and for the sides of the box I created a kind of gothic wallpaper vibe by stamping a damask pattern and embossing in black. 

But the most fun part? It lights up!

As Tim Holtz would say, "tiny lights for the win!" lol.

This is not a large piece - the box measures just 12cm x 12cm and the mansion is about the same height. Fine-tip glue and squeezers (reverse tweezers) were definitely my friends, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Damask (Tim Holtz)
• card - black mixed media heavyweight
• dies - Village Collection, Graveyard colorize (both Tim Holtz)
• distress paints - black soot, pumice stone, hickory smoke
• other - Big Shot, hot glue gun, distress grit paste opaque, distress grit paste crypt, rustic wilderness oxide reinker, spatula, white gel pen, artificial leaves and jack o'lantern (Temu), square vignette box (Tim Holtz), glossy accents, tiny lights clear (Tim Holtz), black embossing powder, heat tool, Sidekick, collage medium opaque

Check out what my team mates made using their two choices over on the Just Add Ink blog and, as always, we'd love you to join us by adding your creation to our gallery. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Congrats Songbirds

Over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge their theme this week is Stencil Fun, plus they're showcasing PinkFresh Studios. As luck would have it, I have some PinkFresh stencils I haven't used in a while, although it's not mandatory to use their products. 

I pulled out the beautiful Songbirds on Branches collection - stamp, stencils and die - and was in the mood for some autumn colours. Yes, I know it's actually spring here, but seriously, with the weather we're having this week it might as well be autumn again! 

I stamped in copper ink and clear embossed before using oxide inks with my stencils. Once dry and die-cut, it was a matter of moving the bits around until I was happy with the arrangement. I did some dry embossing on the background for a bit of added interest and die-cut a sentiment in copper foil and vellum. 

Materials used:

• stamp/stencil/die - Songbirds on Branches (PinkFresh Studios)
• card - copper clay, very vanilla, copper foil, vellum (Stampin' Up), watercolour
• distress oxide inks - fired brick, spiced marmalade, aged mahogany, dried marigold, fossilized amber, rusty hinge
• other - Scripty embossing folder (SU), Big Shot, MISTI, blending brushes, Dimensionals, foam strips, double stitched rectangle die, Congrats shadow die

Layering stencils are so fun to work with and take a lot of effort out of colouring images, lol. What's not to like? 

This is my second post today so scroll down for another challenge card and thanks for dropping in. 

Cheers

Kerry

Great to Sea You

I combined two challenges for today's card

  

and came up with this:

I started with some ink smooshing. The circles of light blue were punched out and I tried to make them sort of progressive - ie the upper circle is light with some white for being near the top of the ocean, concentrated light blue for the middle circle and then darker blues for the lower one to represent deeper water. The adorable seahorse has a rhinestone eye I coloured blue using a Copic marker. I stamped and clear embossed the sentiment on vellum which is adhered under the seahorse and wrapped around the edge of the card to be held on the back. I had to flip the sketch to get this to fit, lol, but I think it works ok. I was going to dry emboss the background but it detracted from the focal point so I stamped a few bubbles instead.

Materials used:

• stamps - Mermaid Kisses (Sugar Pea Designs)
• card - watercolour, soft sky, vellum
• distress oxide inks - tumbled glass, chipped sapphire, saltwater taffy, abandoned coral
• other - Big Shot, 1 3/4" circle punch, Picture Book Seahorse die (Simon Says Stamp), clear embossing powder, heat tool, water spritzer, blending brush, MISTI, rhinestone, B24 Copic marker, Dimensionals, craft foam, sponge dauber

Have a crafty day and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Cats Don't Share

Once again the challenge at AAA Cards caught my eye:

I mean, come on! Ink blending? Yeah, baby! In what universe was I ever going to turn that away? 😂😉 

Nothing came to mind immediately so I just let it percolate in the back of my brain for a day or two until an idea started brewing ...

I die-cut first then coloured with oxide inks - I may have mentioned a time or two (thousand) how amazing these are for blending. It was very difficult to stop the orange bleeding into the white, but hey, them's the breaks. I just kept cleaning my brush and hoping, lol. Then it was a matter of picking which mischievious feline from the set would best suit, and as they're all so fabulous that was the hardest part of the card, lol. I think this one really looks like it's saying "mine!" 😂😂😂 So yeah, a very simple card but I love it.

Materials used:

• card - kraft, basic black, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - picket fence, carved pumpkin, mustard seed
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischevious, Bold Text Halloween
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, craft foam, Ranger white pigment ink

Thanks for stopping by. May you have some ink blending in your day too!

Cheers

Kerry