Fight Like a Girl

Here in Australia, September is awareness month for gynaecological cancers. Every two hours an Australian woman is diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer and early in 2025 I was one of them. Thankfully the cancer was able to be removed surgically.

The new challenge theme at Festive Friday is perfectly timed to hopefully encourage women everywhere to be aware of the symptoms of these or any cancer and to seek medical help immediately if they occur.

My slimline card uses the these elements from the list: die cut words, awareness ribbon, strength sentiment. banner, hearts.

Materials used:

• dies - large letters (SU retired), awareness ribbon (Lozziecraft), slimline stitched rectangles (Paper Rose)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, clear sequins, banner punch, foam squares

I cut and coloured two of each letter using the colours of the various gynae awareness ribbons (see the diagram above) and giving the tops a little more ink for a slight ombre effect. There's also two layers to the awareness ribbon behind them. 

Thanks for dropping in and please, be aware and proactive.

Cheers

Kerry

Rustic Patchwork

It's colour/inspiration time at Just Add Ink and here's our moodboard to play with:

My card uses some colours (red, white, brown) for inspiration as well as the mushrooms from the pic. 

How does the moodboard inspire you? We hope to see you play along.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Being My Friend

Browsing through the challenge sites I found some with a common theme (click on each icon to be taken to the challenges):

A Cut Above August challenge with optional twist of Fall Flowers

Inspiration Station August prompt

So because I love (a) sunflowers, (b) Autumn colours and (c) ink blending with stencils, I decided to play along.

I cut the die from watercolour card and stencilled with distress inks. My background has been embossed with a woodgrain pattern that's difficult to see on such a dense black, but I promise you it's there! 

Materials used:

• die & stencil combo - Sunflower Cluster (Waffle Flower)
• distress inks - fossilized amber, rusty hinge, lumberjack plaid, aged mahogany, vintage photo, walnut stain, mowed grass, rustic wilderness
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, grip mat, linen thread, sentiment strip (Paper Rose), foam squares, Lumber Large embossing folder (Tim Holtz), water spritzer

Hope you have some creativity in your day. Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Birthday Under Construction

Welcome to a new Tic Tac Toe challenge! Here's the grid with options for this time around:

My picks were birthday, fun fold and free on the left vertical row to make a card for my adorable grandson who had a birthday recently. Under advisement from his mama I bought him some construction vehicle toys (one of his current loves) then decided to see what I could use to fit that theme for his card. As luck would have it, I found some dies, so set to making diggers and such, then paired these with co-ordinating clipart. It ended up being quite the loooooong card!

I started with cutting a bunch of pieces from various coloured card, adding shading and detail with ink or markers before assembling vehicles, wheelbarrow and barrier. Once I realised how big the largest vehicle was, that determined the size and style of my card. The clipart I found compliments them perfectly and I left one segment relatively clear for me to add my birthday greeting. I even decorated an envelope to match and then, of course, the wrapping paper had to match too... (And yes, I'm aware I have a matchy-matchy obsession and no, I don't need a 12-step program, lol). 

A true labour of love and he did like it, though of course the toys themselves were the star of the day! 😂

We hope you'll pick three elements in a row to create and join us. Check out what my fellow team mates made to inspire you over on the challenge blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Moo Thanks

It's Choose Two or More time with Just Add Ink and our options are

I chose gingham, circles and flowers for a sweet Thank You card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Little Miss Moo (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - stitched rectangle, thanks
• other - Big Shot, Copic markers, foam squares

We hope you'll choose two or more things to play with from the list and share with us on the Just Add Ink blog. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

S is for Sheep

You had me at sheep ...

It didn't matter how many other examples were listed for beginning with S on the AAA Cards challenge, once I saw 'sheep' I wasn't interested in anything else, lol (maybe it's the Kiwi in me 😂😂😂). My mind immediately went to the adorable stamp I've used on my card and stuck there. As it's a CAS challenge these sweet ladies get to be the star of the show and I just love the idea of them peeking around the side of the barn looking for cake!

I stamped with oxide ink and clear embossed, then watercoloured the ladies before giving them googly eyes, mounted my piece on the base and called it a day! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Shear Surprise (Unity Stamp Co)
• other - MISTI, water brush, craft foam, clear embossing powder, heat tool, googly eyes

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

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