Getting Cozy - Time Out Challenges Guest Designer

This week I'm Guest Designer with Time Out Challenges and the theme is

This challenge is being sponsored by Newton's Nook with a $25.00 store credit as the prize for the challenge winner as chosen by the Design Team. Winner also gets an invitation to Guest Design for a future challenge.

I don't know about you but I don't need it to be cold out to be happy to sit down with a chai latte and a good book - I'll quite happily admit to those addictions, lol. Having said that, I did use autumn tones for my card because one, it's my favourite season and two, they're just cozier - and of course, Melbourne weather does often forget it's spring and tosses in a few autumnal/wintery days too!

Materials used:

• stamps - Exquisite (Tim Holtz), Itty Bitty Greetings (Stampin' Up)
• papers and die cuts from Mintay Golden Days collection
• dies - Papercut Cafe (Tim Holtz), book die (stash)
• distress oxide inks - antique linen, brushed corduroy
• other - blending brushes, Dimensionals, Big Shot, MISTI, Copic markers C0,C2

There's more card samples on the Time Out Challenges website and if you're inspired to create, they'd love you to share.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Easter Cutie

I have a sweet Easter card for you today - I know, you're thinking, "What! It's too early for Easter stuff!" but as my local supermarket had hot cross buns in store on New Year's Day (I kid you not!) it put me in the mood, what can I say? 😁 Also, when I looked at my Easter themed dies, it was pretty hard to resist this newly-hatched cutie, lol. 

The die cuts were coloured with Copic markers, while I sponged some ink around the edges of the tag and sewed a border on the gingham backing paper after distressing the edges a little. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (Stampin' Up)
• card - pool party, basic white, retired gingham DSP
• dies - Chick with Egg (A Pocket Full of Happiness), Bunny Games (Tim Holtz)
• other - Copic markers, Big Shot, Dimensionals, mounting tape, sewing machine and thread, blending brush, pool party ink, MISTI, clear sequins, mini glue dots

Thanks for stopping by.

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

JAI#669 - Just Add a Colour Combo

It's time for another Just Add Ink challenge and this week we have a colour combo for you to play with using three of Stampin' Up's neutral colour family. If you don't have SU inks, just use whatever you have that is a close match.

Sympathy cards are never nice to need but helpful to have on hand, so I made what I hope is a quiet and peaceful card.

I began with the sky area using misty moonlight. I decided I didn't want just a plain ink blend, though I did begin with that as my first step. Then I added a little watercolour brushing followed by ink smooshing, drying in between each application of colour, until I felt it was a little misty and mysterious. One of those skies you can gaze at for ages finding shapes and oddities, you know? Next came stamping the forest and it's all done with just one tree stamp. I began with first generation stamping using mossy meadow ink, then moved on to second generation stamping. I gave it a little water to get a bit of a softer, watercolour effect and dried it before adding more green trees, then stamping in black along the front. Using darker tones at the front, medium tones in the middle and lighter tones at the back gives great depth. Once I was happy with that I stamped the birds, masking off some of the stamp as I didn't want some larger birds that were on it. A coat of distress glaze went over everything to protect it before it was matted and mounted and my last step was to add the sentiment strip. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Fir tree 1, Birds (both Lavinia), Itty Bitty Greetings (Stampin' Up)
• card - crumb cake, basic black, watercolour
• other - masking paper, 1 1/4" circle punch, blending brush, water spritzer, heat tool, MISTI, Dimensionals, craft foam, sponge dauber, paintbrush, white embossing powder

I do hope you'll visit the Just Add Ink blog to see how my fellow team mates used these colours, and even be inspired to create and join us. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #192

It's time for some inspiration! At The Card Concept we offer a picture to stir your creative juices and this week we've something to get you in the mood for Easter.

I was inspired by the Easter theme and have used an egg and flowers as symbols of new life and rebirth for my mixed media card.

After cutting the egg I coloured it with oxide ink then used texture paste and the flourish stencil. My wildflowers are watercoloured using distress inks and distress crayons. For the sentiment I stamped 'Easter blessings' on vellum, embossing it with clear powder, and cut a double layer of the 'friend' die. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (SU)
• card - basic white, orchid oasis, watercolour, pastel polka dots and pastel ginghams (Etsy), vellum
• distress inks/oxide inks/crayons - scattered straw, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, dried marigold, ripe persimmon, shaded lilac, twisted citron, mowed lawn, crushed olive
• other Tim Holtz products - flourish stencil, texture paste, wildflower stems dies, 
• other - nested eggs die (Waffle Flower), spatula, waterbrush, Big Shot, blending brush, distressing tool, ribbon (SU retired), Dimensionals, craft foam, mini glue dots, Well Written dies (SU), clear embossing powder, heat tool, orchid oasis ink

I do hope you'll be inspired to join us in creating and post to our gallery. As always, there are more cards to see from my fellow team mates over on The Card Concept blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Challenge Duo

Today's card is for two challenges: my old friends at CAS on Friday are challenging us to use stencils and the good folks at Color Throwdown have another lovely combo to try.

 

Lime green, aqua and gold

Now, you know I'm a sucker for a good colour combo plus how could I resist the chance to use stencils? As an added bonus, it gave me an excuse to play with two of Stampin' Up's new in colours. Here's my clean and simple card:

I firstly stamped in gold ink then used layering stencils to colour the stamped image, brushing lightly for the first layer then putting more concentrated ink on for the second layer. I cut out the image using the matching die, found a sentiment and added a few gold pearls and voila! card done! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (SU)
• stamp/die/stencils - Songbirds on Branches (PinkFresh Studios)
• inks - Tahitian tide, parakeet party (SU), Golden Glitz (Delicata), Tuxedo Black (Memento)
• other - clear embossing powder, heat tool, gold pearls, Stamparatus, Big Shot, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, stitched rectangle die, black marker

I hope you get the opportunity to be crafty today. Thanks for stopping by. 

Cheers

Kerry

Feel Better - CAS on Friday Challenge #222

Hello and welcome to our first CAS on Friday challenge for 2022! 

Our theme for challenge #222 is FEEL BETTER. 

It's always lovely for someone who's feeling low to receive a handmade card you've put thought into, so these are great to have a stash of on hand all year round.

For mine I coloured and fussy cut this beautiful rose, layering it over a partial stencilled background.

Materials used:

• stamps - Merci Beaucoup (Clearly Besotted), Itty Bitty Greetings (SU) 
• card - basic white, crumb cake
• Copic markers - V0000,V000,V01,G40,G43
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot Switch, craft foam, Dimensionals, blending brush, Bubble mini stencil (Tim Holtz), antique linen distress oxide ink, MISTI

We'd love you to join in the fun and share your creation with us. Take a look at what my team mates came up with on the CAS on Friday blog for more inspiration.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Happy New Home - CAS on Friday Challenge #203

Welcome everyone. The time has come for another clean and simple challenge with CAS on Friday. This is challenge #203 and our theme is NEW HOME.

For my card I chose a slimline style and some bright, funky papers. The black spotty paper is flocked and velvety, so it's beautifully tactile and I have to touch it every time I see it! 😀😉

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (SU)
• card - whisper white, basic black, lemon lime twist, patterned papers from stash
• other - slimline stitched dies (Paper Rose), homemade holiday dies (SU retired), craft foam, Stamparatus, Sidekick

We'd love you to join in our challenge. If you need more inspiration, head over to the CASOF blog to see what my fellow DT members have created for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Poor Ted - CAS on Friday Challenge #196

Welcome to the very first CAS on Friday challenge for 2021! I hope you all have a wealth of wonderful crafting goodness ahead of you in this new year.

To start us off our theme for Challenge #196 is FEEL BETTER. 

Two old favourites were used on my card: this adorable stamp from Lili of the Valley and one of my all-time fav techniques, watercolouring. I got out some long-retired ink colours from SU and spent a very pleasant few minutes giving life to the image.

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (SU), Get Well Soon (LOTV)
• card - pistachio pudding, watercolour
• ink colours - strawberry slush, baked brown sugar, Baja breeze, pistachio pudding, petal pink, so saffron, smoky slate
• other - aquapainter, craft foam, Dimensionals, pennant punch, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, pool party and Sahara sand markers

Poor Ted!

When I was a child my mum had a linctus for coughs that had to be diluted in warm water and it was horrible! Very hard to keep down, lol. My younger daughter couldn't physically keep liquid medicines down - and of course most children's medicines come in liquid form. Doctors always gave us the side eye when we asked for it in tablets. Happy days.

I do hope you'll join our challenge and make your own Feel Better card - perfect to have on hand for those summer colds and winter ills alike. And don't forget to pop over to the CASOF blog to see what lovely creations my fellow DT members have come up with for your inspiration - and comment love is always welcome and appreciated!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

My First Foray...

In complete contrast to my CAS cards, today's sample is pretty much all that is NOT clean and simple, lol. I've signed up for some online classes with Altenew in Demystifying Mixed Media and this is my 'homework' for the first lesson, incorporating techniques taught in that lesson.

It's not perfect, nor is it exactly how I pictured it before I started, but I'm reasonably happy with it. My first mistake was choosing a piece of card that was too small for my stencil - or a stencil that was too big for my card, depending on how you want to look at it, lol. Then the only embossing paste/texture paste I had on hand was shimmery rather than matte, but that's okay - in the lesson, the tutor had a matte background but added shimmer to her focal image, and I've just done the opposite.

So, here's my first go:

Materials used:

• stamps - You've Got This (SU), Itty Bitty Greetings (SU)
• card - whisper white, basic black, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - cracked pistachio, wild honey, ripe persimmon, black soot
• SU inks - crushed curry, calypso coral, shaded spruce
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, shimmer white embossing paste, spatula, paint brush, aqua painter, Dimensionals, word window punch, Mesh stencil (Memory Box), craft foam

It was lovely playing with embossing paste, inks and watercolouring and I'm really looking forward to seeing what I get to try next in lesson two!

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

Feathered Friends

I think the brand of stamp I've used for today's card is a wonderful coincidence because I do seem to be quite besotted with 'Things with Wings' this week, lol. Here's another card featuring some feathered friends.

Materials used:

• stamps - Some Birdie Loves You (Clearly Besotted), Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - pool party, whisper white
• Altenew inks - mountain mist, volcano lake, lagoon
• other - Stampin' Blends, Copic Markers, Dimensionals, blending brushes, craft foam, masking tape

For the background I masked off the outside edges with purple tape, then blended three Altenew inks in an ombre effect. The birds were coloured with a combination of Copic and Stampin' Up markers and fussy cut before being attached with Dimensionals. A clean and simple card but I love it. Pool party is one of my all-time favourite SU colours.

I hope you're not sick of 'wings' yet - just in case I come up with any more before the week of the challenge is over, lol. 

Thanks for calling in. Stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

Labour of Love

You all know how much I love watercoloring so the fact I tackled the new Breathtaking Bouquet background stamp will come as no surprise. I used the method where I 'painted' an area with clear water first, then touched the ink to that and let it flow around, helping as needed for it to reach everywhere. Needless to say, this took rather a long time - it's a big stamp! I'd leave an area to dry and head off to do something else, then come back and colour some more. It's so relaxing and I was in no rush. The difficult part was deciding which bits would get cut off when I pared it down to fit on my card front!

Materials used:

• stamps - Breathtaking Bouquet, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - watercolour, highland heather, gorgeous grape
• other - aqua painter, inks, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, craft foam, white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, Stamparatus, mounting strips

The sentiment needed to be small so as not to detract from the wow power of the flowers and I used purple to make a triangle of colour, which balanced the card out nicely. I must say I'm loving those colours; not sure I want to send this off to anyone - it might just have to stay in my 'private stash' *wink* lol. I'm looking forward to trying some other techniques with this stunning stamp.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Bright and Breezy

I was having a play day with my BFF yesterday and whenever we get together we do a 'show and tell' of the cards we've been making. Upon seeing one of mine she pronounced, "This one hasn't been on your blog," and after I admitted it hadn't, she ordered "Well put it up there!". So this is me following instructions (enjoy it while you can, Rob) and showing you my tropical-flavoured, bright and breezy card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tropical Chic, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - pineapple punch, coastal cabana, whisper white
• ink colours - Bermuda Bay, gorgeous grape, lemon lime twist, coastal cabana, pineapple punch, lovely lipstick, granny apple green, watermelon wonder
• other - tropical dies, Big Shot, sequins, mini glue dots, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella, Bermuda bay marker, ruler

The flowers have a touch of shimmer and look gorgeous when they catch the light. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Best Wishes

From the new Sale-a-bration catalogue you can earn for free the gorgeous set called, rather prosaically, Happy Birthday to You. Don't let the hum-drum name fool you though - this is a very versatile set that can be used for much more than just birthdays and as well as the beautiful image I've used on my card today, there are also a few sentiments in attractive fonts. It's well worth having this on your list of 'Must Gets'.

Here's the card I made with it:

I stamped the cake image on watercolour paper using Versamark ink and white embossed it, then coloured with soft applications of subtles inks. Remembering the adage 'less is more', I began with a light layer then went back and added more until I was happy with the result. Hope you like it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Happy Birthday to You, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - soft sea foam, whisper white, watercolour
• ink colours - soft sea foam, pear pizzazz, so saffron, blushing bride, smoky slate
• other - subtle embossing folder, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, stitched frame die, aqua painter, Dimensionals, gems

I did fussy cut around the cake but before long you won't have to do the same - next month there will be a promotion called Coordination Product Release and you'll be able to buy the dies to match this set. It will have dies for the cake, stand, flowers and some extra leaves for decoration. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

When You're Feeling a Little Prickly

I may or may not have been chuckling to myself as I made this fun little 'get well' card using two images from SAB set The Gang's All Meer which I introduced to you yesterday. I'm not sure if this is a lizard or chameleon but it certainly reminds me of the chameleon character in the animated movie, 'Tangled', don't you agree?

I stamped the two images on the coastal cabana background then stamped again on whisper white, coloured and fussy cut. Doing it that way you can cut off the really tricky parts like the thorns on the cactus and the lizard's tongue and they're still there on the underneath image.

Materials used:

• stamps - The Gang's All Meer, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - coastal cabana, pineapple punch, whisper white, Butterfly DSP
• other - Stampin' Blends, coastal cabana, pool party and basic black markers, white embossing powder, heat tool, Stamparatus, craft foam, embossing buddy

I'm certainly getting a lot of mileage from Itty Bitty Greetings lately and can recommend it as an extremely versatile set.

Well, that's it. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Vintage Butterfly Hello

Our team's challenge this month is a fancy fold card and I immediately got it stuck in my head that I wanted to do a centre-step card. I had no idea what design to use until I was inspired by a card I saw ... guess where? Yes, you know me well. Pinterest, of course! Gosh, I remember the days I'd spend a small fortune on craft magazines for ideas, now all I have to do is sit in front of my computer for hours a short time.

Anywho, here's the card I made. I'm very happy with it (except for a small snaffoo drawing the antennae which hopefully nobody will notice lol) and suspect it may end up in my 'too nice to give away' pile.

A few speckles of gold in the background tie in with the gold embossing on the base piece, as does the sentiment panel.

I did three layers on my butterfly: the initial stamp on the background piece then two more coloured and cut and adhered with black mini dimensionals to give the wings some 'lift'.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala, Climbing Roses, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, basic black
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, black Dimensionals, sponge dauber, black marker, butterfly punch, embossing buddy, post it note

Be sure to leave some comment love if this one turns your crank! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Stampers Anonymous November Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stampers Anonymous Team Blog Hop!

It's been an age since our last blog hop but we hope you will enjoy visiting each site to see what we've created for you. For this inaugural hop we had a sketch as our inspiration:

My three offerings not only have the sketch in common, but also all use the Buffalo Check background stamp. I've been having such fun with this amazingly versatile stamp!

First up is a soft baby card with some three-step stamping.

Materials used:

• stamps - Buffalo Check, Baby Bear
• card - soft sea foam, granny apple green, whisper white
• inks - soft sea foam, granny apple green
• other - Stamparatus, markers, ruler

Isn't that bear adorable? Makes me wish I had grand-babies to spoil!

Next is a fun little card I know one of my daughters will love to have. I angled my background and moved the sentiment panel a little to preserve the balance of the card. The coffee cup is covered with a die cut piece of acetate to give the look of those clear plastic cups they use for iced coffees, and I made my whipped cream from shimmery white embossing paste. It has tons of texture and looks amazing in real life.

Materials used:

• stamps - Buffalo Check, Coffee Cafe
• card - basic black, whisper white, daffodil delight
• inks - daffodil delight, Memento tuxedo black, crushed curry
• other - Stamparatus, shimmery white embossing paste, spatula, Coffee Cups framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, markers, ruler

For my third card I deconstructed the background a little, tilting again for added interest. The dog and bird were coloured with a blender pen and inks, then fussy cut and raised on my sentiment panel.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bella and Friends, Itty Bitty Greetings, Buffalo Check
• card - lemon lime twist, gorgeous grape, whisper white
• inks - lemon lime twist, Memento tuxedo black, crumb cake, daffodil delight, poppy parade, gorgeous grape
• other - circle dies, Big Shot, Stamparatus, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella, scissors, blender pen, gorgeous grape marker, ruler

Well, that's it from me; now click on one of the links below to be taken back or forward and see what the other ladies in the team have created for you. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Symbiosis

Isn't that a gorgeous word? It just rolls right off the tongue. I like to apply it in my crafting world as mixing SU product with other brands in a mutually beneficial relationship and today's first card is an example of that.

Materials used:

• stamps - Abstract Impressions, You Matter (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - whisper white, daffodil delight, basic black
• inks - daffodil delight, crushed curry, granny apple green, Tuxedo black
• other - SSS die, stitched scallop edge die (unknown origin), two-way glue pen, sponge, striped decorative mask, glitter epoxy shapes

I particularly love those roses in yellow, so cheerful. I cut two of the 'you' die and layered them for extra depth.

Here's another mutually beneficial relationship - it's My Favorite Things' mini cloud stencil paired with SU's Enjoy Life.

Materials used:

• stamps - Enjoy Life
• card - balmy blue, basic black, whisper white
• other - MFT mini cloud stencil, sponge, sponge daubers, Stamparatus, mounting tape

The next two cards are completely SU product but they are also wonderful pairings of products (in my humble opinion!).

Here's the gorgeous Serene Garden; a departure from my usual style, this set nonetheless caught my attention on my first browse through the new catalogue back in April and I finally succumbed to its allure.

Materials used:

• stamps - Serene Garden
• card - whisper white, pool party
• other - markers, Stampin' Blends, Dimensionals, mounting tape, Big Shot embossing mat, Garden Scene framelits, Big Shot

Another new item in the catalogue that caught my eye instantly is the Tufted embossing folder and I've finally managed to use it on this last card we'll be making at our next class. I absolutely love the combination of Bermuda bay and calypso coral.

This card has plenty of subtle shimmer - rather than spraying my card with water before deep embossing, I used shimmer mist instead and also added some clear Wink of Stella to the flowers. Don't recognise the lovely stitched die cut the flowers are on? It's a brand new item available to demos only this month but for everyone in August. 

Materials used:

• Itty Bitty Greetings, Love What You Do
• card - whisper white, Bermuda bay
• other - tufted embossing folder, shimmer mist, clear Wink of Stella, Big Shot, Bermuda bay and calypso coral ribbons, Stitched Seasons framelits, word window punch, Dimensionals, mounting tape, Stampin' Blends

We don't usually make four cards but we'll be missing a class in August (as I'll be away) so I thought I'd treat my ladies. They are all so supportive and enthusiastic and I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful group to craft with and for.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez