Sending Love

I think I might have mentioned in a previous post how much I LOVE the current Color Throwdown colour combo, so when I saw the Tic Tac Toe challenge board and an idea came to mind, it was beyond my capabilities to resist using them again! And yes, it's another Christmas card, lol.

  

From the TTT board I picked the diagonal row of letters, free and rectangle shape. Here's my card:

I began with my envelopes - die cutting, sponging the edges and stencilling the features on the fronts. Then I worked on the foliage, cutting from teal card but adding depth of colour with Copics. Rhinestones were used for the berries and I clear embossed the sentiment after stamping in red. 

Materials used:

• stamp - Sending Love (Hero Arts)
• dies - nesting postage stamps infinity dies (Hero Arts), mini holiday greens (Tim Holtz), postage collage mini seals, envelopes (both Waffle Flower)
• stencil - postage collage addressed envelope (Waffle Flower)
• patterned paper - Cool Collab (MFT)
• SU cardstock - pool party, coastal cabana, Bermuda bay, poppy parade
• other - Copic markers, Big Shot, clear embossing powder, heat tool, sponge dauber, craft foam, rhinestones

Hope you're having as much fun in your day as I did making this! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Merry Birdie

I absolutely love, love, LOVE the combo at this week's Color Throwdown! 

I've often used this combo and especially love it for Christmas - it's just that little bit different and also bright and cheerful. As soon as I saw the board I knew I had to play along and that I had to dig out some papers I bought a few years back that fit the challenge to perfection! They feature red, white and three shades of aqua. 

So cute! 

I cut several layers of  'Merry' for depth, also raising it with foam. The little birdie was coloured with Copics and a bit of paper piecing. On the background I blended some aqua ink then stencilled over it with the same colour. 

Materials used:

• dies - Overlapping Vertical Merry Word die, Birdie Friends in Winter (both Waffle Flower)
• papers - Cool Collab 6x6 (My Favorite Things)
• other - Copic markers, Sidekick, silver thread, silver pearls, blending brush, sparkle fade stencil (Tim Holtz), Dimensionals, craft foam, white gel pen

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

He Knows If You Are Sleeping...

I'm taking part in this week's Color Throwdown challenge. Here are the colours:

Now, you might not think these are Christmas in July colours (or in December, for that matter lol), but sshhhhhhhh! someone is peeking around the door frame to see if you're sleeping or awake...

This was very simple to make. Once the stencilling was done, I simply cut out the image and attached it to some grey card which had been edged with ink. The last step was stamping the sentiment over the top. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Bold Tidings mini (Tim Holtz)
• layering stencils - Peeking Santa (The Ton)
• distress inks - squeezed lemonade, mustard seed, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry
• other inks - blush blossom, smoky slate (SU)
• other - blending brushes, MISTI

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Beach Life for Me - Color Throwdown Featured Stamper

Howdy and welcome! Today's card is for Color Throwdown challenge #836 where I'm honoured to be Featured Stamper. 

Up in the northern hemisphere they're enjoying summer and these colours are absolutely perfect for that, aren't they? So bold and cheerful! I've used summer as inspiration for my card.

All the die-cuts were cut from white card and coloured with inks. That gorgeous large 'beach' die-cut is three layers and given an ombre look, which regular visitors will know I love to use on my large sentiments. The background was stamped with three inks using a sea sponge for a light, speckled effect I hoped would imitate sand but it's very subtle and you have to look hard to see it, lol. There are three shades of orange on the beach towel and I love how vibrant this is! All in all, a very fun card to make, with the added plus of giving me warmer days to look forward to as winter digs her claws firmly in, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamp & die combo - Oversized Beach (Waffle Flower)
• other dies - Lovely Layers: At the Beach (HoneyBee)
• inks - antique linen, dried marigold, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon, picked raspberry, brushed corduroy, picket fence (Tim Holtz distress), crumb cake (SU)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, MISTI, white embossing powder, heat tool, sea sponge

I hope these colours inspire something in you too. Pop over to the Color Throwdown blog to see what their design team came up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

You Rock, Gullfriend

I'm joining the Color Throwdown challenge this week with a fun and playful card.  

The water and duck in the pic, as well as turquoise being one of the options, made me think ocean theme. From there it wasn't much of a leap to those irrepressible, irresistable, inquisitive gulls you've met here before. 

Aren't they a hoot? I think they have a bit of a Blues Brothers vibe going on with their sunnies, lol, hence the choice of sentiment. 

I began with ink blending my background, turquoise for the water and oranges for the sunrise/sunset sky or beach sand, however you'd like to interpret it. To make the sea foam I applied Versamark ink using a sea sponge then sprinkled with white embossing powder - love how wispy the effect is! 

Materials used:

• dies - Inquisitive Seagulls (Waffle Flower), Smart Glasses (Spellbinders), other glasses from stash
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, dried marigold, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon, antique linen, pumice stone
• other - blending brushes, sea sponge, white embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, G09 Copic marker, sentiment strip (Paper Rose)

Also entering in Inkspirational Challenges, where the colours match their mood board. 

Hope your day rocks and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Quilted Hugs

When I saw the picture and colours for this week's challenge at Color Throwdown, I immediately got an idea and today I sat down to make it happen.

Totally inspired by the quilted fabric in the pic, I broke out some new goodies for my card.

The same colour inks have been used throughout but for the quilted background I kept them light, going heavier on the stencils and die cuts. For the scissors I cut two, colouring them separately then attaching the red handle over the grey body. I had sew much fun putting this all together! 

Materials used - all stamps, dies and stencils are Waffle Flower:

• stamps - Postage Collage Sew Fun 
• dies - Postage collage die, Postage collage blocks die, Sew fun die, Tiny square texture die 
• stencils - Postage collage sew fun, Tiny square
• distress inks - barn door, tumbled glass, faded jeans, lost shadow, lumberjack plaid, hickory smoke, vintage photo, antique linen
• other - Subsentiments Quilted Diecut (WF), craft foam, Big Shot, Dimensionals, blending brushes, MISTI

I hope you have as much fun in your day. Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Hello Friend

Today's card is for the current challenge at Color Throwdown.

Such gorgeous colours! I used them on a simple floral friendship card.

All the pieces were die cut from white and coloured with inks. The adorable little seal had two applications of clear embossing powder added to the outer ring and an epoxy heart centred to match the heart on the envelope. Because the sentiment is in gold, I added a smidge of gold wax around the edges of the embossed background. 

Materials used:

• dies - Wildflower Stems #2 and #3 (Tim Holtz), Dry Flowers (Waffle Flower), Postage Collage Mini Seals (Waffle Flower)
• inks - antique linen, fossilized amber (Ranger distress), soft lilac, lavender fields, volcano lake (Altenew), wintergreen (Catherine Pooler), lemon lolly (Stampin' Up)
• other - blending brushes, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Distressed Tile embossing folder (Stampin' Up), metallic word sticker (Tim Holtz), vintage gold wax (Art Alchemy), craft foam, white bakers twine, epoxy heart (Altenew)

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Live Gently

Happy new year!

I'm starting off 2025 with joining in the Color Throwdown challenge, and what a challenge it is! 

It was lovely to be getting inky and playing again and I just could not go past using a birdie die, one of my most favourite tools.

I used a circle punch to create a mask for the moon and blended two shades of grey and some black ink for my background, adding a touch of shadowing to the moon afterwards with ink leftover on the brush. My branch was die cut from black, the bird from white and coloured with inks, again in two tones of grey, black, and a touch of cream. These were mounted with dimension, as was the back panel, and the finishing touch was a sentiment sticker.

Materials used:

• card - white, black
• distress inks - lost shadow, hickory smoke, black soot, antique linen
• dies - layered chickadee (Simon Says Stamp), branch
• other - 35mm circle punch, moon mask (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, Small Talk sticker (TH)

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Joy

The good folks at the Color Throwdown challenge must really love this colour combo, as it's the third time this year they've given it to us to play with (see CTD785, CTD788) - but as I love it too, I'm certainly not complaining!

The summery vibe in the pic made me think Christmas (which is a summer event here Down Under), so I got out my inks and a stencil and got to playing.

I blended two shades of pink on the flowers and added tiny touches of gold paint to the centres. The same colours were used for the inner pieces of the Joy die and I must say I am loving pink for Christmas! It's just a softer shade of traditional red and works so well with other seasonal colours. 

Materials used:

• distress inks/oxides - tattered rose, worn lipstick, bundled sage, scattered straw
• stencil - Poinsettia background (Waffle Flower)
• card - watercolour, vellum, gold foil, pink
• other - gold Posca pen, Dimensionals, blending brushes, Holiday Talk metallic sticker (Tim Holtz), Sidekick, Joy die, craft foam

It won't be long until we're all crafting Xmas goodies in earnest - where on earth does the time go? 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Shabby Vintage for Two Challenges

Two challenges made me swoon this week:

 

I simply adore the colour combo the Color Throwdown people are offering and you know already that I love to dabble in a bit of shabby/vintage every now and then, so it's really a no-brainer that I'd want to play along. In a further stroke of kismet, I knew I had some shabby/vintage-vibe papers and embellishments in exactly the challenge colours - it was absolutely meant to be, lol. Here's my card:

Once I'd decided on which pieces to use and their layout, I sponged all edges and distressed a little. I stamped images and text on the tags then added some light background script stamping on the clock and flowers as well as randomly on the background paper. All the pieces are layered and I sewed around the border - plus, of course you knew there'd be ink splatters. As I'd used materials from a collection called Grandma's Attic, I thought 'Hugs' was a most appropriate sentiment because that's what grandma's give - this nana certainly does! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Postmarked (Honey Bee Stamps)
• papers and ephemera - Grandma's Attic collection (Mintay)
• distress oxide inks - antique linen, vintage photo, brushed corduroy
• other - Dimensionals, craft foam, sponge daubers, white bakers twine, sewing machine and thread, hugs and shadow dies, Sidekick, soft sky card (long retired SU), vellum, white ink (Kuresake), fan brush

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Birthday Dinosaur

When I saw the options in this week's Color Throwdown challenge I immediately had an idea.

I thought they suited a card for a little boy, so got out my dies to have a play and this is what I came up with:

I stencilled the terracotta layer to get the look of plaid fabric. The pocket I curved to give it shape and adhered it only around the U portion so you can actually add something in there. 

Materials used:

• card - night of navy, copper clay, basic beige, basic white, basic black (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Birthday Dinosaur (Spellbinders), overalls and number die from stash
• other - Plaid Builder stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brushes, Dimensionals, Big Shot

So cute! 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Dancin' Birthday Dragon

The Color Throwdown people have given us another gorgeous combo to play with, nice and bright and cheerful. 

Rather than a birdie, I went for another creature that flies - and dances!

I've done some ink blending on the dragon, stencilled clouds behind and stamped on my background piece. In case you're not familiar with this die, the head and body are attached separately and the body swings from side to side in a dance. I did take a short video to show you but Blogger is being uncooperative. It worked on my instagram, so click here and scroll to the second image.

Materials used:

• stamps - You Matter background stamp (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - basic white, lemon lime twist (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Dancin' Birthday Dragon, Essential Arches (both Spellbinders)
• distress inks - kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, squeezed lemonade, mustard seed, spun sugar
• other - cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brushes, lemon lime twist and crushed curry markers (SU), mounting foam tape, craft foam, MISTI, Big Shot, Wordies sentiment sheets - Everyday (Creative Expressions) 

Thanks for calling in. Have a dancin' day!

Cheers

Kerry 

Just Add Ink #695 - Just Add Chocolate

It may not be my week to create for Just Add Ink but there was no way in the known universe I would miss the opportunity to ...

I mean, come on! 😂😉 CHOC. O. LATE.!!! 

A number of years ago (we're talking more than 10 years, ohmygosh) Just Add Ink had a challenge to be inspired by the wrapper colours of our favourite chocolate bar (yep, they seriously expected us to pick just one, lol). I was lucky enough to win that challenge, so the bar is set high to best that mouthwatering winner, lol! As luck would have it, I not-so-long-ago scooped up a number of items from Stamperia's Coffee and Chocolate range - serendipitous, right? You betcha whipped ganache! Here's my card, which I feel is perfect for many occasions (and do try not to drool all over your keyboard!):

Mm mm mm m mmmmm... 

BTW, while much fun was had, sadly no chocolate was consumed in the making of this card. I know, I know - I really didn't plan that terribly well, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew)
• card - basic white, early espresso
• Stamperia Coffee & Chocolate collection - stencil, paper and Collectibles
• distress oxide inks - Victorian velvet, vintage photo
• other - white gesso, distress opaque texture paste, craft foam, MISTI, Sidekick, blending brushes, sponge dauber, creamy caramel ink (retired), fan brush, water spritzer, Nothing's Better Than die (SU retired)

I started by applying some texture paste through the stencil, inking once it was dry. The 'chocolate' die cut word has three layers, darker behind for a bit of shadowing and lighter on top - I even dredged out a very old ink pad to try for a close colour match. The cupcake and chocs were fussy cut and sponged around the edges then raised at different levels for dimension. The splatters are watered down gesso and I couldn't resist using paper with just blocks and blocks of choccy over my base card.

Check out some more chocolatey creations on the Just Add Ink blog and if you're inspired to make, we'd love to see your work in our gallery.

I'm entering this card in this week's Color Throwdown challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Love Every Minute

I'm back again with another entry for The Color Throwdown challenge - just kept getting ideas for these gorgeous colours - and this time I'm incorporating it with a second challenge, Inspired By.

And here's my card:

The flowers and leaves are watercoloured and I set them on some distressed woodgrain card for subtle, organic texture. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Do What You Love (Pinkfresh Studios)
• dies - Wildflower Stems 1 and 3 (Tim Holtz)
• other - woodgrain cardstock (Tim Holtz), Zig Clean Color real brush markers, water brush, distressing tool, Dimensionals, craft foam, Big Shot, opal rounds, white baker's twine, sponge dauber

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

I Meant to Behave...

I'm playing along with the Color Throwdown challenge this week.

Isn't that picture adorable? I so want to cuddle some baby ducks right now, lol. Anyways, back to card making business! I used the colours as backgrounds for some just as adorable but definitely-up-to-mischief cats.

I think that snarky sentiment is just perfect for this lot! 😂

Materials used:

• card - basic white, basic black
• dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower), cats (stash)
• stencils - Postage Collage Everyday (Waffle Flower)
• distress oxide inks - spun sugar, squeezed lemonade, shabby shutters
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Small Talk Snarky stickers (Tim Holtz), mounting foam, Dimensionals

Thanks for calling in!

Cheers

Kerry

Best Birthday

I was lucky enough to be picked as Featured Artist for the Color Throwdown challenge #780 (see my entry in this post), so this week I'm Guest Star Stamper and just take a look at this gorgeous combo!

As soon as I saw the palette I couldn't wait to sit and play - here's how my card ended up:

It gave me the opportunity to play with this new-to-me die set and I sure did have a lot of fun colouring and assembling. The largest rose has 8 layers (eight!) but they all come together very easily. I cut two layers of a fine border to add to the arch and love the subtle flourishes on the paper I used behind it. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - merry merlot, basic white, retired SDSP (Stampin' Up)
• Copic markers - R81, R83, R85, T1, T2, T4, YG63, YG67
• dies - Lovely Layers: Sweetheart Roses (Honey Bee Stamps), Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• other - Big Shot, MISTI, Versmark ink, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, gems

I hope you'll get the chance to play along. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Best Friends

I was chatting with my bestie earlier today, telling her I had tidying to do in my craft room. Her response was to tell me to remind myself, 'it's tidy time, not play time'. A couple of hours later ... a die I was "tidying" caught my eye and gave me an idea for a card for the Color Throwdown challenge this week. 

I might have sat down to play...

You can see why I was distracted, can't you? Red challenge, red cardinals - well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! She will still give me grief for it though, lol. 

I cut two layers for the branch and darkened it a little with ink so it would stand out from the background. I also cut two of each bird so I could cut the wing separate and give it dimension. The birds were edged with ink and I used markers to colour the faces and beaks with a dot of white gel pen for the eyes. 

Materials used:

• card - distress kraft heavystock (Ranger), real red, basic white (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Cardinals and Birdhouse (Cottage Cutz)
• other - picket fence distress ink, Dimensionals, craft foam, white gel pen, alcohol markers, blending tool, Wordies sentiment sheets - Friendship (Creative Expressions)

Thanks for dropping by!

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

Distress Dragonfly

I just love the options on the Color Throwdown board this week.

Here's my entry

I sprayed some watercolour card with distress antique linen, using both the spray stain and oxide spray as they do give different effects. Once dry I stamped script and splodges randomly using crumb cake ink (my kraft) and distressed the edges. The dragonfly was die-cut and coloured using oxide inks. Love, love, love the pop of colour the rust gives, so gorgeous. I also sprayed another piece of watercolour with forest moss oxide spray and used that for my die-cut embellishment - a close look will show all the speckly goodness. There are two layers of that of course - you know me, I love the extra depth. The piece of mossy meadow behind was dry embossed for added texture and also distressed. My crumb cake/kraft card base was sponged heavily around the edges and the final step was adding white gesso splatters. I've left a sentiment to be added when the occasion arises.

Materials used:

• stamps - Entomology (Tim Holtz), Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up)
• card - crumb cake, mossy meadow (SU), watercolour
• distress spray stains/oxide sprays/oxide inks - antique linen, rusty hinge, forest moss, black soot
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, heat tool, distressing tool, craft foam, foam strips, white gesso, fan brush, SU crumb cake ink, Subtle embossing folder (SU)

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a crafty day!

Cheers

Kerry

 

I'd Pick You

This week's palette over at the Color Throwdown caught my eye, but it's taken me a few days to sit down and put ink to card.

I seem to have pumpkins on my mind - perhaps because of all the fall/Halloween creations popping up everywhere I look, lol. 

I cut the pumpkins and wheat from watercolour card and coloured them using a variety of dye inks, then sponged some light aqua on my background and gave it a little water splatter. The fruits were arranged on some navy gingham and the sentiment also stamped in navy. I also die cut some leaves/vines and coloured them with a dark aqua. In fact, it's so dark it's almost green, so I'm not sure if it will be allowed for the challenge but I'll enter anyway. A very simple card but I love it and this colour combo is one I'll try to remember for another time.

Materials used:

•  stamps - Pretty Pumpkins (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white (SU), navy gingham (Etsy), watercolour
• inks - night of navy, pumpkin pie, wild wheat (SU), fossilized amber, ripe persimmon, crackling campfire (Tim Holtz Distress), mountain mist, volcano lake, lagoon (Altenew)
• dies - garden builder, seasonal decor (Spellbinders Country Road collection), stitched rectangle (Paper Rose), pumpkin leaves (stash)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, MISTI, water spritzer, brown Copic markers, sponge daubers, white gel pen

Hope you're having a crafty day. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry