A Thing for Plaid

The current theme at Inkspirational Challenges really caught my eye.

  optional twist of PLAID

Plaid was the magic word, lol, as I absolutely love it. Coincidentally, I had some plaid sitting on my craft desk from a previous project, so that dictated the theme I chose.

I cut my hello die from plaid card and edged it with a brown marker, stamped the Autumn and leaves then coloured with Copics. Wanting to define the edges of the card but not looking to add more layers, I used my marker there too. 

Materials used:

• stamps - You Autumn Know (Lawn Fawn), More Than Autumn (Stampin' Up)
• Copic markers - YR02,YR61,YR82, E13
• other - MISTI, Big Shot, patterned paper from Mintay, ruler

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Wickedly Awesome

This week I'm delighted to be guest designer at AAA Cards Challenge who have a fun colour combo for us to play with:

I managed to incorporate all four colours on my card.

I stamped and watercoloured my focal image first before fussy cutting with scissors and scalpel. Next a patch of ink blending on the backing card and some water splatters for interest and texture. I used masking to get my sentiment two different colours and outlined and tilted 'wickedly' for emphasis. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Pink Green (CC Designs)
• dies - stitched rectangles, sentiment strips
• other - Big Shot, water brush, watercolour pencils (Tim Holtz), foam squares, MISTI

I hope you'll join the fun and play along with these colours. Check out more inspiration on the AAA Cards blog!

Thanks for flying by.

Cheers

Kerry

Witchy Business

It's time for a new challenge with Just Add Ink and this time around we're asked to ...

As I'm enjoying making Halloween crafts I thought it would be fun to try a bit of witchy paper piecing.

I used digital papers so I could reduce the size enough to get maximum pattern within the confines of the stamp. The rest of the image was coloured with Copics then fussy cut, while the spiderweb background was foiled.

Materials used:

• stamps - Miss Witch (CC Designs), If the Hat Fits (SSS)
• dies - essential stylish ovals (Spellbinders), spider web (Tim Holtz)
• other - Copic markers, MISTI, digital papers, foam squares, foil machine, silver foil, spiderweb press plate (Spellbinders), silver sequins, clear embossing powder, heat tool

Have you got stamps with nice open areas suitable for paper piecing? We'd love you to play along! Check out more inspiration on the challenge blog.

Entering in the following challenges:

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - W is for Witch

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - Halloween

Two Old Bats - Halloween

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Frightfully Fun

Following on from the dragon-mouse of my last post, I'm adding a vampire-mouse to the menagerie. This little cutie is the epitome of sartorial splendour and on his way to some frightfully fun shenanigans, no doubt - at the Blood Bank, perhaps? 😜 

Isn't he adorable? There's two layers to 'fright', of course, and I inked a little behind that and the mouse for a bit of shading. And on the inside:

Materials used:

• stamps - Ghostly Greetings (Catherine Pooler)
• dies - Little Mouse, Halloween Costumes Scary (both Elizabeth Crafts), Vault Gothic Portraits (Tim Holtz), Capsule Basics (The Greetery)
• other - blending brushes, paper from Etsy, foam squares, Big Shot

Inspired by and created for the following challenges:

Two Old Bats challenge - anything Halloween

Colourful Options challenge (red, black, white, orange)

Just Us Girls challenge (die week - Halloween)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie challenge

Die Cut Divas challenge - shaped cards (no squares or rectangles)

Thanks for swooping by!

Cheers

Kerry

Trick or Treat

Having grandchildren is a wonderful excuse to make cutesy cards and though my grandbabies are a little too young still to appreciate them, I don't let that deter me! 😂 Today's card is one such, featuring an adorable wee mouse dressed as a dragon for the all-important trick-or-treating.

All the die pieces were cut from white and coloured with inks. For my background I masked the moon and blended oxide inks around it then stencilled the shading and a touch of a pattern for added interest. 

Materials used:

• dies - Little Mouse, Halloween Costumes Cute (both Elizabeth Craft), sentiment from stash
• stencils - moon mask, Gothic (both Tim Holtz)
• other - distress and oxide inks, water sprtizer, Big Shot, blending brushes, foam squares

Inspired by and entering in the following challenges: 

  

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Farm Fresh

Today I'm playing along with the Festive Friday challenge with a sweet friendship card.

The options I included on my card are brown, burlap, farm animals and distressed technique.

I stamped on an offcut piece of card (the inside of a frame used for something else) and watercoloured then edged with a brown marker to match the bottom background layer. The sentiment was the perfect fit for a very old speech bubble die - proof you should never throw stuff away! 😁 The background papers were torn or distressed apart from the gingham, which I was going to sew but forgot before it was attached to everything else and then was too bulky. Duh! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Seen & Herd (Unity Stamp Co)
• other - distress inks, MISTI, speech bubble die (SU), Farm Shabby patterned papers from Etsy, linen thread, foam squares, water brush, Big Shot, E47 Copic marker, distressing tool

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Twinkly Christmas

Today's card was inspired by the Passion for Markers challenge, which has the theme 'for a child'. I stamped my image and coloured with Copics for a cute and fun child's Christmas card.

How adorable is a baby reindeer?!! There is Glossy Accents on his red nose of course and I added touches of sparkle to the lights/baubles and stars with clear Wink of Stella. A little tinsel trim adds more sparkly delight.

Materials used:

• stamps - Twinkle Toes (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - Essential Stylish Ovals (Spellbinders)
• Copic markers - E50,E51,E53,E55,E57,E47,R24,R27,RV11,Y35,B0000,B06,T1,T2
• other - MISTI, papers from Etsy and Mintay, Big Shot, craft foam, Glossy Accents, clear Wink of Stella, mini tinsel trim (Stampin' Up)

Have a twinkly day and thanks for calling in!

Cheers

Kerry

M is for ...

Today I'm playing along with the AAA Cards challenge.

I picked Minnie Mouse as my M and made a clean and simple birthday card.

Isn't she a sweetie? 

Materials used:

• stamps - Your Day Sentiments (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Classic Mouse (Spellbinders), Beach Bound Christmas Additions (HoneyBee), Hearts Balloon (Waffle Flower)
• other - Big Shot, Y08 and T1 Copic markers, MISTI, craft foam, polka dot paper (Etsy)

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Bold is Beautiful

Today I'm playing along with the current Just Us Girls challenge.

For my card I used bold colours and a bold stamp for the sentiment. 

I die-cut the balloon border first, along with extras of the heart and small round balloons, and chose a palette of bold colours fresh enough to brighten anyone's day. That's mounted with foam onto my base and then it all received a liberal spritz with shimmer mist, so there's a lovely shine everywhere. My sentiment was stamped and cut before adding and the final touch was some glitter card stars. A very simple card that gives a bold wow!

Materials used:

• stamps - Your Day sentiments combo (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Balloon Frame (Waffle Flower)
• distress inks - picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, mustard seed, peacock feathers, wilted violet
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, shimmer mist, MISTI, white gel pen, foam squares

Have a good day and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Still Making Waves

Welcome to a new challenge with All About Papercraft. This month the theme is...

I picked a nautical theme for a birthday card and was in my happy place colouring die cuts and getting inky with stencils.

The focal feature is all cut from watercolour card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Postage Collage Beach Days (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Fair Winds Sailboat, Stylish Ovals (both Spellbinders), Sentiment Strips (Paper Rose), gulls (stash)
• Stencils - Fair Winds (Spellbinders), Clouds (My Favorite Things)
• other - blending brushes, Castaway embossing folder (Spellbinders), foam tape, Big Shot, water brush, MISTI

Check out more masculine goodness from my team mates on the All About blog and of course we'd love you to create and join us.

Entering this in the Krafty Chicks challenge, which has a birthday theme.

Thanks for sailing by.

Cheers

Kerry

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

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 

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