Snowfall

I wanted to make a card pairing my two favourites of the 2023-2025 in colours from Stampin' Up, boho blue and copper clay, and ended up with this card. I think the deer is on there because the die was still sitting on my craft desk from my last card, lol ... it's been put away now, I promise.

On my background piece I stencilled some star flourishes using light applications of boho blue ink over matching card. For the small feature piece I sponged boho ink over it in a sort of ombre effect from top to bottom - it's probably gotten a bit lost, but you might just notice it darker at the top. I cut two deer from copper clay, glued them together and sponged edges with matching ink. The trees were cut from watercolour card with copper clay ink for the trunks and mowed lawn oxide greenery. There's a few stars stencilled at the top of this piece too, if you look hard enough lol. Both bits were splattered very liberally with white paint plus some opaque grit paste dabbed on the ground and trees, then they were each mounted with craft foam to the next layer. I had a sentiment prepared but couldn't find a place to put it that didn't detract from the focal image so in the end just left it without - stamping on the inside would take care of that.

I love this colour combo, I think the boho blue gives it such a soft serenity. 

Materials used:

• SU products - boho blue and copper clay card and inks
• Tim Holtz products - Darling Deer thinlits, Hocus Pocus stencil, opaque grit paste, mowed lawn oxide ink, picket fence distress paint
• other - tree dies, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, paintbrush, blending brushes, watercolour card

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI#661 - Just Add Inspiration

Welcome back to a new challenge at Just Add Ink! This week we've an inspiration pic for you that could perhaps get you in the mood for Christmas (it's closer than you think, lol).

Here's how I was inspired.

Materials used:

• stamps - Leaf Creeper, Silhouette Grass (both Lavinia)
• card - basic white, crumb cake, watercolour, Wonderful Christmastime junk journal (The Journal Boat)
• Tim Holtz dies - Darling Deer, Vintage Tidings
• other dies - Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• other - picket fence, frayed burlap and tarnished brass distress paints, paintbrushes, Big Shot, craft foam, sponge dauber, Holiday Talk metallic stickers (Tim Holtz), crumb cake and vintage photo inks, Dimensionals, distressing tool 

I was interested to discover the origins of the Christmas in July tradition here in Australia - apparently it's attributed to some Irish tourists who were visiting the Blue Mountains in July (which of course is summer time in Ireland but winter here) and, thrilled to see snow and reminded of Christmases 'back home',  persuaded a local hotel owner to hold a "yulefest" party. The idea caught on and here we are!

There's plenty more inspiration to see over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #632 - Just Choose Two

This week's Just Add Ink 'choose two' is perfect if you're making Christmas cards:

I picked deer and sparkle, although there are some trees in my background too. 

This snowy scene designer paper from some years back was perfect for embellishing. I stencilled snowfall grit paste then added some freehand around the ground too. Clear rock candy glitter was spritzed all over and I added some mica flakes for that extra touch of sparkle. For good measure, I also splattered white ink everywhere - it's not quite a snowstorm, but it's definitely snowing, lol. The deer was cut from white card and ink blended, with three layers for more dimension.

It's very difficult to photograph 'sparkle' but I've tried here and if you look closely you can see the glitter in the snowflakes (you might need to click on it to enlarge it).

Materials used:

• card - night of navy, basic white, soft suede, Christmas Backdrops (Tim Holtz), Feels Like Frost DSP (SU retired), watercolour
• Tim Holtz products - Darling Deer die, snowfall grit paste, mica flakes, clear rock candy glitter, speckles stencil, spatula, glitter duster, Sidekick, Christmas token, picket fence and vintage photo distress crayons
• distress oxide inks - antique linen, vintage photo, ground espresso
• other - sewing machine and thread, black marker, craft foam, night of navy bakers twine, Dimensionals

Do check out what my team mates have made to inspire you over on the JAI blog and it goes without saying we'd love to see your own creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Serenity

I made a card for this week's Color Throwdown challenge of kraft, cream and green.

I find this combo to be very peaceful, almost serene, and that's what I've tried to convey with my card.

Well, this is definitely my first Christmas card for the year, lol! Never too early to start on those, am I right? 

Materials used:

• stamps - Treeline, Christmastime 2 (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla, crumb cake (SU)
• distress oxide inks - mowed lawn, rustic wilderness
• other - bundled sage distress ink, crumb cake ink, craft foam, blending brush, MISTI, sponge dauber, Sahara sand marker, Darling Deer dies (TH), Sidekick

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

All Is Calm

As soon as I saw the colours in the current Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge, I thought they'd make a gorgeous sunrise combo. 

This morning I got out my brayers and blending brushes and got to work and this is what I ended up with. The 'speckly' effect on the sky is from shimmer mist, which has a gorgeous sparkle when it catches the light.

Materials used:

• stamps - Wonderland (SU retired)
• card - whisper white, basic black, Sahara sand
• other - Darling Deer dies (Tim Holtz), brayers, blending brush, sponge dauber, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, white gel pen, mini Dimensionals, champagne shimmer mist

To me it's very peaceful and serene, so the sentiment stamped inside is 'All is calm, all is bright.'

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Edited to add: I was honoured to be among the Artists Pick for my card. Thank you ladies!