Getting an Early Start

Over the past few years I've come to love orange and hot pink together, so when I saw the Just Us Girls challenge had this combo, I was highly motivated to play along. 

For some reason my first thought was Halloween and although I tried thinking of other themes, that thought persisted - so of course, eventually I gave in, lol. Here's what I ended up with.

Materials used:

• stamps - Unraveled (Tim Holtz), Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Trick or Treat colorize, Mischevious (both Tim Holtz)
• distress and distress oxide inks - spiced marmalade, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin
• other - Sidekick, MISTI, Dimensionals, blending brushes

I know it's early for Halloween craft but I am sooooooo in the mood for it this year! This is also being entered in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, which is Anything Goes.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Just Add Ink #702 - Sketch

It's time for another Just Add Ink challenge and this week we've a sketch for you to play with. 

Curiosity killed the cat, they say, so the very curious felines I've used on my card are in grave danger! 

I cut two of each of the cat dies and layered them, then added googly eyes to make them even more curious and adorable. The hexagons were cut from scraps I had on hand which were made with inks and mica stains and they have a lovely sheen. The plaid die and clear enamel dots give the white background interest without drawing attention away from the focal point.

Did you notice how the tails look like question marks? 😂😂😂 Love that!

Materials used:

• card - black, white, watercolour, Capri (Kaisercard)
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischievious, Stacked Hexagons, Layered Plaid
• other - distress inks, distress mica stains, Dimensionals, craft foam, Big Shot, googly eyes, Label Stickers - Thoughts (TH), crystal clear enamel dots (Altenew)

Check out what my team mates have done with this sketch over on the Just Add Ink blog and if you're inspired to create, we'd love you to share it with us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Cats Don't Share

Once again the challenge at AAA Cards caught my eye:

I mean, come on! Ink blending? Yeah, baby! In what universe was I ever going to turn that away? 😂😉 

Nothing came to mind immediately so I just let it percolate in the back of my brain for a day or two until an idea started brewing ...

I die-cut first then coloured with oxide inks - I may have mentioned a time or two (thousand) how amazing these are for blending. It was very difficult to stop the orange bleeding into the white, but hey, them's the breaks. I just kept cleaning my brush and hoping, lol. Then it was a matter of picking which mischievious feline from the set would best suit, and as they're all so fabulous that was the hardest part of the card, lol. I think this one really looks like it's saying "mine!" 😂😂😂 So yeah, a very simple card but I love it.

Materials used:

• card - kraft, basic black, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - picket fence, carved pumpkin, mustard seed
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischevious, Bold Text Halloween
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, craft foam, Ranger white pigment ink

Thanks for stopping by. May you have some ink blending in your day too!

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #624 - Just Add a Diorama Card

This week at Just Add Ink we're challenging you to make a diorama card. Diorama cards can be as simple as a shadow box card or more complex with many layers, but whichever style you choose it should contain a scene which is viewed through an opening.

I chose a Halloween theme for my project and kept it structurally simple (just three layers) as I wanted the hard work to go into the details and not the design. And oh boy, I had so much fun making all these quirky/spooky bits and pieces!

On the middle layer I put the tree - made up of three branch die cuts - on the left side.

And on the right side of the middle layer is the front pumpkin. The back pumpkin, together with the cat, gravestone and crow, are attached to the base layer.

The 'sky' background and sentiment lettering are coloured with mica sprays so they have a wonderful sheen to them when they catch the light. I mixed some crypt grit paste with green reinker to make lichen to cover bits of the 'tree'.

And there's more crypt paste on the gravestone to give it that lovely aged and weathered look.

Bring on Halloween, I say! I'll be interested to see if I get any trick or treaters in my new neighbourhood - though, regardless, it's a great excuse to have lollies on hand! 😂😉

Materials used:

• stamps - Unraveled (Tim Holtz)
• card - black mixed media heavyweight, watercolour
• Tim Holtz dies - Mr Bones, Mischevious, Pumpkin Duo, Regions Beyond
• distress mica sprays - flickering candle, jack-o-lantern, peppermint stick, hocus pocus
• distress oxide inks/sprays - antique linen, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, black soot, stormy sky, weathered wood, speckled egg
• other TH products - crypt texture paste, rustic wilderness re-inker, moon mask, iced spruce and shabby shutters distress crayons, candied apple distress paint, Idea-ology adornments - Halloween, picket fence distress ink
• other - water spritzer, heat tool, blending brushes, Dimensionals, stitched square die, white gel pen, branch die, white embossing powder, Stamparatus, Big Shot, Sidekick, paintbrush, sponge dauber, mini glue dots

Check out more diorama cards over at the JAI blog and, as always, we'd love to see your creation in our gallery this week.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Moonlight Mischief

Today's card is for the following challenge:

Having gotten some ideas from watching the Tim Holtz Halloween YouTube over the weekend, plus having a new die set just burning a hole in my craft desk waiting to be used 😉, I was only too happy to play with distress goodies to create a spooky, sparkly background.

It's a dull, wet day here so it's very difficult to catch the sparkle on camera, lol. 

I masked the area for the moon then sprayed the background with distress spray stains. Once they'd been dried off I spritzed with water to get the ink to 'wick' into the moon area. Love the spooky effect this gives. The final touch for the moon was moonscaping using the second part of the mask. Next I added some sparkle to the sky with two mica sprays, then set about making my roof and that adorably sassy cat from new die set Mischevious (and it couldn't be more appropriately named!). 

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic black (SU), Metallic Jewels kraft stock (Tim Holtz)
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischevious, Village Collection
• Distress spray stains - wilted violet, uncharted mariner, villainous potion, iced spruce, hickory smoke, black soot
• Distress mica stains - flickering candle, hocus pocus
• other - black soot distress archival ink, sponge dauber, blending brush, Sidekick, water spritzer, heat tool, moon mask (Tim Holtz), picket fence distress crayon, computer and printer

So much fun! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry