Just Add Ink Blog Hop

At Just Add Ink challenges we're starting off the new year with a blog hop and the theme is 

If you've come from Rochelle's blog then you're in the right place. If you're starting here, you'll be able to keep following all the links to take you around the hop. 

My two favourites pasttimes are crafting (naturally) and reading - I'm rather a voracious reader and always have been and it's something I wanted to pass down to my girls. Elder Daughter seemed keen for a while  but her interest began to wane when she was in year one.

Then something happened that changed everything.

She came out of school one day chattering and excited about a book all her friends were talking about. Having never heard of it, I asked some of the other mothers, to be told it was a new phenomenon everywhere and that some of them had read it too. So I bought the book and we took turns reading it - and thus began her love for the fantasy genre and reading in general.  

The book? Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

So for my favourites project, I'd like to share an item that combines my two favourite pasttimes as well as being something I made for one of my two favourite people. 

There were lots of steps in making this, as you can imagine, but it was a labour of love. I began with making the 'book' base to support all the other bits - this is made from a wooden box (Tim Holtz vignette box) and I pretty much followed a tutorial by Tami Bastiaans here but changed a few things to suit, using a copy of the original bookcover, which is the edition we have. 

The suitcases were made using the SU retired matchbox die and some TH cracked leather cardstock. Luckily we live in a digital age, so I was able to find copies of the Hogwarts letter to Harry and his ticket for the Hogwarts Express. 

For the inside of the 'textbooks' I scanned pages from the actual book and cut them to size. The covers are TH ephemera. For the 'potions' inside the bottles I coloured glossy accents with alcohol ink, mixing them together with a toothpick. The bottles were grunged up a bit with collage medium and touches of distress crayon. I rolled up vellum for parchment (in the cauldron and down front with a quill die).

The owl was bought from a dollhouse miniatures place here in Melbourne. I did have to shave a bit off the tail to make it fit in the birdcage, lol.

As this represents Harry at the train station ready to head off to Hogwarts for the first time, I know that strictly speaking the broomstick shouldn't be there, but it was so adorable I just couldn't resist. Call it poetic licence, lol.

If you're a fellow Harry Potter fan, I hope you enjoyed that walk down memory lane! And I'm very happy to report that ED loves it.

Materials used:

• card - Coastal (Kaisercraft), basic white, vellum
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology - birdcage, cauldron, broomstick, potion bottles, vignette box, Memoir ephemera pack, 
• other TH products - collage medium matte, walnut stain and vintage photo distress crayons, vintage photo archival ink, antique linen distress paint, jump rings, alcohol inks,Regions Beyond die
• other - linen thread, computer and printer, Wee Creations miniatures, glossy accents

Thanks for calling in. I hope you find plenty to love along the hop and of course we'd love to see YOUR favourites on our challenge board this week.

Cheers

Kerry

Click on the icon below to hop to the next blog, which is Narelle.

The Card Concept - Winter Cocoa or Winter Snow

Welcome to another challenge with The Card Concept! Being the second challenge of the month, we're giving you a choice of two wonderful inspirational images.

I picked the Winter Snow theme and used the optional colour palette on my mixed media card.

I began with stamping the house image then coloured using distress crayons. After embossing those gorgeous pine branches I sponged over them with white ink then liberally pounced over them with white distress crayon to give it more depth of colour plus more texture. Further white crayon was added to the roof and trees then everything was splattered with white distress paint. The edges were sponged and distressed.

With the crazy weather we've been having the past couple of months, somedays it feels like winter and on the days it doesn't, it's so hot and humid I wish it were! Lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Winterscape, Tiny Text Christmas (both Tim Holtz)
• card - baked brown sugar
• other TH products - picket fence distress ink and paint, pine branches 3D embossing folder, black soot oxide ink
• distress crayons - picket fence, walnut stain, squeezed lemonade, mowed lawn, forest moss
• other - clear embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, craft foam, paintbrush, sponge dauber, Big Shot, distressing tool

We'd love to see your creation in our gallery and of course there are more cards to inspire you from my fellow team members over on the Card Concept blog. 

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - May Flowers

Our challenge theme this week over at The Card Concept is May Flowers. With the rest of the design team in the northern hemisphere, they're enjoying all the new spring growth in their gardens. Here's our inspiration picture:

For my mixed media card I was inspired by the floral theme and the soft shades in the colour swatch, and I've given it an Aussie twist with a flowering gum as my feature.

Materials used:

• stamps - Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew)
• card - watercolour, very vanilla
• distress oxide inks - saltwater taffy, fossilized amber, abandoned coral, barn door, evergreen bough, lucky clover
• distress crayons - barn door, fossilized amber
• other - aquapainter, Big Shot, craft foam, stitched rectangle die, Stamparatus, heat tool, Gum Leaves 1 die (Paper Rose), water spritzer, Quilted 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz), Dimensionals, ground espresso archival ink, blending brush

There's plenty more inspiration for you over on The Card Concept blog and we do hope you'll join in the challenge with us.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Crazy Birthday - CAS on Friday Challenge #226

Hi all, welcome to another clean and simple challenge with CAS on Friday. I'm hosting challenge #226  where our theme is a ONE LAYER BIRTHDAY CARD. 

For my sample I chose to do some simple masking and watercolouring with an adorably quirky bird. Just love this little guy.

Materials used:

• stamps - Mini Bird Crazy and Things (Tim Holtz), Typed Sentiments (Paper Rose)
• card - watercolour (300gsm)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, black soot
• distress crayons - mermaid lagoon, twisted citron, prize ribbon, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, mustard seed, crackling campfire
• other - post-it notes, MISTI, aqua painter, black soot archival ink, clear embossing powder, heat tool, white gel pen, black marker, water spritzer, blending brush

We'd love to see your card in our gallery and of course do follow the link to the CASOF blog to look at the other samples created to inspire you. 

This is my last challenge with CAS on Friday as I've chosen to step down from the design team after two years. It has been a pleasure and a wonderfully growing experience as a crafter and I hope if CAS is your jam that you'll continue to support their challenges moving forward. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #590 - Just Add Inspiration

It's inspiration photo time at Just Add Ink and how could you resist this pic? So sweet. Succulents are very big in the crafting world at the moment and although I'm really not into them, this made me go 'awwwww' big time!

I took the pot and pink flowers as inspiration for my shabby mixed media card, with some dark green thrown in too. 

For the flower pot I began with inks on heavy watercolour card, then embossed it for added texture. Next I used distress crayons to add what I hope is a mossy, weathered look. I gave it a slight curve and once the flowers were in place, popped in some craft moss for that extra touch of authenticity! I added an antique brass embellishment at the top of my card and used a ribbon slide which echoed the same shape as a frame for my sentiment.

Materials used:

• stamps - Field Notes (Tim Holtz), Merci Beaucoup (Clearly Besotted)
• card - watercolour, mossy meadow, Spring Botanic designer paper (Stamperia), Marina designer paper (Mintay)
• distress crayons - kitsch flamingo, tea dye, rustic wilderness, forest moss, picket fence
• Tim Holtz dies - Potted, Wildflower Stems 1
• other - gathered twigs and antique linen distress oxide inks, distressing tool, craft foam, mounting tape, aqua painter, blending brush, Subtle embossing folder (SU), craft moss (Spotlight), Big Shot Switch, hodgepodge hardware embellishments (SU retired), paper piercer

Do pop over to the Just Add Ink blog to see what gorgeous creations my fellow team mates have come up with for you. Of course, as always we'd love you to make your own and take part in the challenge.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry