Love & Hugs

It's the first Friday of the month, which means it's time for a new challenge with All About Papercraft. 

I made a card featuring my favourite postage frame and some gorgeous poppies.

I cut three postage pieces, two from blue and one white. On the white one I ink blended and stamped before attaching it to one of the blue pieces. From the second blue piece I cut a rectangle within the postage edging to make my frame, adhering it over the white at the top only at  first then the lower half once the poppies were in place and stems trimmed. The poppies themselves were cut from watercolour card and coloured with distress inks.  

Materials used:

• stamps -  Caring Thoughts (SSS), music & script collage (stash)
• dies - Into the Blooms: Poppies (Papertrey Ink), Nesting Postage Infinity (Hero Arts)
• distress inks - tattered rose, saltwater taffy, abandoned coral, black soot, peeled paint, rustic wilderness, antique linen
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, foam squares, craft foam, MISTI, paper from Etsy

Check out more inspiration from my fellow design team members over on the All About blog and we do hope you'll play along.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry 

Happy Holidays, Theodore

It's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink so let's take a look at the theme:

July in Australia is, of course, mid-winter, so the Christmas in July theme has become a popular way to celebrate with things we might not do in December when it's far too hot to contemplate roast dinners and steamed pudding! 

Here's Theodore the polar bear ready for some Christmas fun.

Materials used:

• dies - Theodore colorize mini, mini Accessories Colorize, Tall Pines (all Tim Holtz), stitched rectangles
• distress inks - antique linen, candied apple, lumberjack plaid, aged mahogany, mowed lawn, rustic wilderness, black soot, stormy sky
• other - white gel pen, blending brushes, Big Shot, foam squares, remnant rubs - Christmas Tiny Text (Tim Holtz), white gouache, fan brush

I hope you'll join the fun and create something Christmassy! Check out more samples to inspire on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Entering in Inkspirational challenge, also Christmas in July.

Hay thanks!

I was very happy when I saw the new challenge at TGIF, which gave me the excuse to play with some adorable stamps and dies.

I'd love to have a couple of these cuties running around my backyard 🐮 but alas, sadly one of the drawbacks of urban living, lol. Though I'm sure my grandbabies would love it too... 😂😉 Anymoo, here's my card:

I assembled the barn first then watercoloured the stamped images and fussy cut. 

This really takes me back to my childhood when we used to love visiting my aunt's dairy farm, helping feed the bobby calves and playing with our cousins amongst the hay bales in the barn. For kids who always lived in cities, it was a wonderful adventure. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Little Cow Agenda (Mama Elephant), Seen & Herd (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - barn, fence, sentiment strips (Paper Rose)
• other - MISTI, water brush, Big Shot, papers from Etsy, foam squares, distressing tool

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Patchwork Wishes

Welcome to a new Tic Tac Toe challenge! Here's the grid to pick three-in-a-row elements:

I chose the left vertical line of friendship, any colour, any shape die for some colourful rooster fun.

Materials used:

• die & stencil combo - Country Rooster (Papertrey Ink)
• other dies - Essential Arches (Spellbinders), Best Wishes (stash)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, paper clip, gingham ribbon, craft foam, distress tool, foam squares, sewing machine

I hope you'll join the fun and create and share. Be sure to check out more samples from my team mates over on the Tic Tac Toe blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Keep Swimming

It's time once again for a new challenge with Just Add Ink.

For my card I've used both dies and stencils to create an underwater scene.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bubbly Sentiments (WF)
• dies - Coral Reef, Postage Collage Fish (WF)
• stencils - Coral Reef, Under the Sea background (WF)
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, foam squares, MISTI, white gel pen, black marker

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

My Kind of Weird

It's time for a new challenge with All About Papercraft and this month we're celebrating friends.

The world would be a darker place without good friends. I love that my bestie and I chat multiple times a week in spite of living thousands of miles apart and not having seen each other in person for a while. We were initially drawn together through our shared love of crafting but over the years have found many other commonalities, including a zany and sometimes weird sense of humour, so my card was created with her very much in mind and I know she'll crack up when she sees it.

The speech bubble die I used actually cuts in the opposite direction so I flipped it over, drew around the inside edge with a white gel pen, then fussy cut and sanded to get the look I wanted. Behind the patterned paper pieces I dry embossed some black with a hearts folder - it's not terribly obvious, but gives a little texture and interest IRL. 

Materials used:

• stamps -  Little Weirdo (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - stitched rectangle (Poppystamps), speech bubble (SU)
• SU inks - Bermuda bay, lemon lime twist, calypso coral, Sahara sand
• other -  triple heart punch, MISTI, Big Shot, water brush, craft foam, patterned papers from stash, white embossing powder, heat tool, white gel pen, acrylic dots, hearts embossing folder

We'd love you to play along with the challenge! Check out more samples to inspire from my teammates as well as our special guest designer, over on the All About Papercraft blog.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

Man Zone

The new challenge with Just Add Ink is a sketch:

I used the slatted eclipse design technique with some amazing papers and simple sentiment for a Father's Day card.

I do hope you'll be inspired to play along. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

You Make Me Smile

Are you ready for a new Tic Tac Toe challenge? Here are the combinations we have to play with this time around:

I chose the middle horizontal line of pink, square card and CAS (clean and simple).

Isn't that face absolutely adorable? 🐷

Piggy is watercoloured and I added a touch of white gel pen to the eyes and cheeks. I love that the dies used for 'smile' are uneven sizes - for me, it adds to the playfulness of the card. I even used the number one for the 'l' rather than the capital L in the set. These dies have different font styles and sizes for all the letters and remind me of a ransom note with the letters cut from a magazine, lol.  

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Pig-Cause (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - Word Play (Tim Holtz)
• other - MISTI, water brush, Sidekick, sentiment strip, white gel pen

I hope you'll get the chance to play along. Check out more samples to inspire you over on the TTTC blog.

Thanks for oinking by!

Cheers

Kerry

Warm Cozy Hugs

It's time for a colour/inspiration challenge with Just Add Ink.

I was pretty happy when I saw this inspiration pic because I knew I had a stencil set with a scene so similar it was uncanny! It was no hardship at all to adopt the colours as well to create a card.

Aww, both kitties look so relaxed and sweet! Makes me want to curl up with a nice warm blankie for a nap too, lol. 

The sentiment on the inside reads, 'Sending you warm cozy hugs.'

Materials used:

• stamp/stencil combo - Postage Collage Sew Fun (Waffle Flower)
• other stamps - Stay Warm (Mama Elephant)
• dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower)
• 3D embossing folder - Knitted (Lisa Horton)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, grip mat, linen thread, tiny tag punch, Dimensionals, MISTI, mini pins (Tim Holtz)

How do the colours or picture inspire you? We hope you'll play along with us! Check out more samples over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Make a Wish

This week I'm honoured to be the Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday challenges. Here's the challenge brief:

My mixed media card uses both mediums.

I began by adhering a transparent layer (acetate sheet) over an oxide spray background then cut four frames from coral card, glueing them together and inking the edges. The bird is another acetate layer. On my background I embossed some vellum with a 3D woodgrain texture and attached it with the rough side up. Everything was given some white gouache splatters before the sentiment was added.

Materials used:

• acetate - Transparent Layers, Transparent Things 2 (both Tim Holtz)
• frame dies - Nesting Piercing Ticket Frames (Waffle Flower)
• oxide sprays - salvaged patina, saltwater taffy, scattered straw
• embossing folder - Lumber Large 3D Texture Fades (Tim Holtz)
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Pixie spray adhesive, foam tape, white gouache, fan brush, Metallic Sticker Book (Tim Holtz)

I hope you'll check out the lovely projects the STB design team made and be inspired to play along with the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Sea Ya!

Today I'm playing along with the Simply Clean and Simple challenge for June. Their theme is always Anything Goes and this time around there's an optional topping of Nautical. 

As I do love me a nautical card and relished the challenge of making one CAS, I browsed through my Pinterest board and found a card by Ksenija that inspired me. Here's my card:

I masked off my paper and blended three shades of blue, then used a stencil on the back as a guide for the wavy lines, cutting and slightly separating them. The submarine has vellum windows and clear dots make great bubbles. I kept the sentiment short, sweet and punny, lol.

Materials used:

• dies - submarine (stash)
• stencils - slimline drifts & hills (MFT)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, uncharted mariner, scattered straw, spiced marmalade
• other - blending brushes, clear dots, Coastal subsentiments (Waffle Flower), foam tape, vellum, Big Shot

Thanks for coming by.

Cheers

Kerry

Room to Bloom

It's the first Friday of the month, which means a new challenge over at All About Papercraft. This time around we're given a colour palette and have to use at least three of the colours on our creations.

I managed to incorporate all of them on my card:

I had fun watercolouring the sweet image and adding it to layered papers in the challenge colours. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Puddles to Petals (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• other - papers from Etsy, linen thread, Big Shot, water brush, distressing tool, craft foam, blue marker

We can't wait to see what you can create with these colours! Do check out more inspiration from my fellow design team members over on the All About Papercraft blog.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Feel Better Soon

It's Choose Two challenge time with Just Add Ink and here's the options:

For my get well card I chose patterned paper and animals.

Materials used:

• stamps - Ruff. Ruff. Ruff. (Unity Stamp Co)
• patterned papers - Pet Puppy (Etsy)
• other - Big Shot, distressing tool, Dimensionals, water brush, linen thread, dog paws embossing folder, Bandaid dies, stitched rectangle dies, craft foam, sponge dauber

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Out of This World

I was recently commissioned by my daughter to make some birthday cards for my grandson's friends. Although they're not due just yet, the new challenge at AAA Birthday prompted me to get this one made early.

 

This card is for Flynn, who apparently is keen on space and very interested in the recent Artemis II mission, so I made the astronaut's suit similar to theirs, even printing a tiny NASA patch lol. 

There's plenty of mica stain in the background which gives a lovely shine and sparkle that you can see better in this second pic.

The sentiment on the inside reads 'Hope your birthday is out of this world'.

Materials used:

• moon masks - Tim Holtz
• distress spray stains and mica stains
• astronaut dies - stash
• alphabet dies - Stampin' Up Playful Alphabet
• other - blending brushes, foam squares, star die, silver glitter card, water spritzer, heat tool

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Oceans of Love

It's my last week guesting with Just Us Girls challenges and I've had such a lot of fun playing along each week; I hope you have too. This week it's stencil week.

I created a fun under-the-sea scene using stencils and die cuts.

I began by stenciling the two-tone water background, overlayed with seafloor silhouettes and that fabulous sunken ship! Wanting one more layer in my foreground, I created a makeshift stencil using a die and acetate. I stamped the tiny fish silhouettes and added water splatters. All die pieces were cut from scraps of card I had on hand from previous playing. I sponged the edges of the rock and raised it so things could be added underneath. 

Stencils used - Drifts & Hills slimline (My Favorite Things), Sea Floor Silhouettes (Waffle Flower)

I hope you'll have the opportunity to get out your stencils and play along, and don't forget to check out what the design team ladies created to inspire you.

Thanks to the Just Us Girls team for having me and thanks to you for swimming by!

Cheers

Kerry