So Mush Love

I do enjoy using my papercrafting skills to make gifts for others and this particular project has been on the go for a while now, with me doing some compartmental making here and there to fit in around other activities.

It's my first time making altered embroidery hoops and I do hope the recipients like them. They're intended to hold a very special photo ... more on that at a later date.

My process began with applying gesso to the wooden hoops, then paint once that was dry and lastly some grit paste highlighted with crayon. The backgrounds were done with sprays of both distress and oxides, as were the leaves. I ink blended the 'shrooms and of course did some splatters with both water and paint. The parts that are overhanging the "photo" portion are free of adhesive so a photo can be printed to size and slotted easily in. Lastly I adhered some sisal threads and Spanish moss.

They can be hung on the wall or sit on a plate stand. These particular ones are 20cm hoops but they come in a variety of sizes and I recommend them as a great fun alternative to the usual photo frames. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and restful holiday season, however you celebrate, and thank you for your visits and support throughout the year.

Cheers

Kerry

Peaceful Poinsettia - Just Add Ink Challenge #774

It's time for a new challenge with Just Add Ink and this time anything goes as long as we ...

I made a simple Christmas card focused on dies.

This was very straightforward to create, the main work was in the colouring. I cut all the floral pieces from heavy watercolour card and used distress inks. Once I was happy with an arrangement, I began by adhering the poinsettia then tucked everything else behind or around it. The sentiment has multiple layers.

Materials used:

• dies - Festive Blooms (Concord & 9th), CZ Design Peace wafer die (Simon Says Stamp) 
• distress inks - worn lipstick, abandoned coral, scattered straw, antique linen, brushed corduroy, walnut stain, shabby shutters, peeled paint, twisted citron, mowed lawn, rustic wilderness
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, sticky mat, glue gun

I hope you'll have a chance to sit and create with dies and/or stencils over the next two weeks and join our challenge. Do be sure to check out more samples over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

I Pick You

It's apples galore today with a card made for the Color Throwdown challenge.

  

The apples in the mood board look scrumptious so I decided they were the perfect pick (pardon the pun!) for my card:

I started by die cutting a bunch of apples and leaves from watercolour card then colouring with distress inks. Initially they were to sit in a wheelbarrow so that was cut, coloured and assembled next - then I discovered the proportions were out and the apples looked rather giant in the barrow, lol, so it was exchanged for the barrel. I put the barrel together and arranged the apples then glued them in place, added the extra leaves and blossom, then stamped and cut the sign. Some gingham paper gives it a real country feel as well as more yellow.

Materials used:

• stamps - Berry Special (Lawn Fawn)
• dies - Autumn Elements (Karen Burniston), Bushel Basket (The Greetery), Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - twisted citron, mowed lawn, abandoned coral, festive berries, lumberjack plaid, antique linen, brushed corduroy, vintage photo
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Copic markers, Dimensionals, craft foam, acrylic dot, white gel pen, MISTI

I'm pretty sure colouring and assembling die cuts is my favourite crafty task, so you can be certain I had tons of fun putting this together!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

He Knows If You Are Sleeping...

I'm taking part in this week's Color Throwdown challenge. Here are the colours:

Now, you might not think these are Christmas in July colours (or in December, for that matter lol), but sshhhhhhhh! someone is peeking around the door frame to see if you're sleeping or awake...

This was very simple to make. Once the stencilling was done, I simply cut out the image and attached it to some grey card which had been edged with ink. The last step was stamping the sentiment over the top. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Bold Tidings mini (Tim Holtz)
• layering stencils - Peeking Santa (The Ton)
• distress inks - squeezed lemonade, mustard seed, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry
• other inks - blush blossom, smoky slate (SU)
• other - blending brushes, MISTI

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Oceans of Love

Which kind of challenges do you find the most ... well, challenging? For me it's often the sketches that stretch my crafting muscles more than others, so you may have noticed that I participate in sketch challenges much less often than, say, colour or inspiration ones. But this week the Freshly Made Sketches post caught my eye and sparked an idea ...

I flipped it 180 degrees and got busy getting inky, lol.

I began with embossing a piece of heavy watercolour card, then inked it and embossed again before giving it a water spritz. Love this new embossing folder from SU, those swirls are just gorgeous! Trust me, it looks even better in real life. The whale was just black and white card (obvs, lol) and the other die-cut pieces were coloured with distress inks. 

Materials used:

• dies - Whale in a Bottle (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, uncharted mariner, lucky clover, wilted violet, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, abandoned coral, hickory smoke
• other - Big Shot, Soft Waves embossing folder (Stampin' Up), water spritzer, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, clear acrylic dots

Hope you've had some crafting in your day and thanks for swimming by.

Cheers

Kerry

Favourite Day

Drawn by the irresistable nature of a Pooh Bear, I've made another card for the Festive Friday challenge.

This time my picks from the inspo list are yellow, red, bear, colouring techniques and friend sentiment. 

Once again I die cut from heavy watercolour card and coloured on the more textured side to give a real 'fuzzy/furry' kind of look. Unfortunately I kept smudging black all over Pooh's face, so had to compromise and cut the black parts from black cardstock. (Yes, there were a few non-Pooh-approved words bandied around when things smudged for the second time! Piglet was definitely blushing.) This time I created Pooh's red shirt by cutting two lots of body and arms, then trimming them down. My sentiment is a Pooh quote, again typed on the computer in Pooh font. 

Materials used:

• dies - Pooh & Piglet (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - fossilized amber, candied apple, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, seedless preserves, brushed corduroy, tumbled glass
• other - Dimensionals, craft foam, blending brushes, Bubble Bath ink (Stampin' Up), Big Shot, computer and printer

I think I may possibly have one more Pooh card in me ... hmm, ok, maybe two. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Double Trouble

Today's card was inspired by a wicked challenge. 

I used four options from the inspo list - black, orange, candy and bats. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Boo Crazy, Mini Bird Crazy & Things (Tim Holtz), Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up), Postage Collage Spooktacular (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower)
• stencils - Postage Collage Spooktacular (Waffle Flower)
• distress inks - wilted violet, carved pumpkin, picked raspberry, black soot, lost  shadow 
• other - blending brushes, Dimensionals, Boo Diecut Subsentiments (Waffle Flower), Big Shot, white gel pen

It's getting close to the 31st but there's still plenty of time to get some more fun Halloween craft made! 😆👻 

Thanks for ghosting by.

Cheers

Kerry

Thinking of You - Just Add Ink challenge #718

It's Friday, which means a brand new Just Add Ink challenge, and this week we've our choose two combo:

As happens often with a choose two, I ended up using all three, lol. I love the many ways you can add texture (both physical and visual) and this is most definitely a favourite with me. 

Working on watercolour card (texture) I blended a mix of green inks. After die cutting the 'shrooms (more texture from the embossed bits) and foliage, they were coloured and everything splattered with both brown paint and white ink (more lovely texture). I love layering dies that have an embossed aspect to them, making them more realistic - what's not to love? Once they were all placed I wrapped linen thread around and lastly added a sentiment strip. 

 

Materials used:

• distress oxide inks - bundled sage, forest moss, antique linen, gathered twigs
• distress inks - barn door, lumberjack plaid, aged mahogany, scorched timber, rustic wilderness
• distress paint - scorched timber
• other - watercolour card, mushroom dies, Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, linen thread, All Occasions sentiment strips (Paper Rose), Dimensionals, craft foam, Kuratake white ink, fan brush, Country Road Garden Builder die (Spellbinders)

There are more samples to see over on the Just Add Ink blog. I do hope you'll be inspired to play along.

Entering in challenge #255 at Tic Tac Toe, choosing the left vertical row of leaves, ink blending and multiples. 

And also Time Out Challenges #271 where the theme is friendship/encouragement/support. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Joy

The good folks at the Color Throwdown challenge must really love this colour combo, as it's the third time this year they've given it to us to play with (see CTD785, CTD788) - but as I love it too, I'm certainly not complaining!

The summery vibe in the pic made me think Christmas (which is a summer event here Down Under), so I got out my inks and a stencil and got to playing.

I blended two shades of pink on the flowers and added tiny touches of gold paint to the centres. The same colours were used for the inner pieces of the Joy die and I must say I am loving pink for Christmas! It's just a softer shade of traditional red and works so well with other seasonal colours. 

Materials used:

• distress inks/oxides - tattered rose, worn lipstick, bundled sage, scattered straw
• stencil - Poinsettia background (Waffle Flower)
• card - watercolour, vellum, gold foil, pink
• other - gold Posca pen, Dimensionals, blending brushes, Holiday Talk metallic sticker (Tim Holtz), Sidekick, Joy die, craft foam

It won't be long until we're all crafting Xmas goodies in earnest - where on earth does the time go? 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Vista View - Just Add Ink #716

It's inspiration week at Just Add Ink and here's the picture to draw that inspiration from:

The main two elements which inspired me are the gorgeous blue tiles on the step risers and the terracotta pots, which on my card became blue bricks and a terracotta planter. 

The brick wall was created using a stencil, Versamark ink and embossing glaze. I used the same shade of blue to colour my window frame, the top layer of which was cut from woodgrain card. I used acetate for the glass and vellum to give the impression of sheer curtains inside the house. For all the flora, I cut two of everything and coloured with distress inks then placed them in the planter, greenery towards the back and flowers up front, along with a few ferns and a butterfly. 

Materials used:

• dies - Vista View Window and The Botanical Solarium (both Spellbinders) 
• other - Versamark ink, uncharted mariner distress oxide ink and embossing glaze (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, Big Shot, Dimensionals, distress inks, acetate, vellum, woodgrain card

I haven't put a sentiment on it but think it would be useful for a number of occasions, especially to give to a keen gardener or someone who has just moved house.

Check out how my fellow team mates were inspired and of course we'd love to see your own creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Promise of Peace

Every now and then I enjoy the challenge of making a clean and simple (CAS) card and the theme at Addicted to CAS caught my eye and sparked an idea. I really hope I'm not the only one whose creative muse won't let me rest until I've sat down to see whether or not my idea will work ... 

And here's my offering:

This was a very quick card to make, probably no more than 10 mins start to finish. I die-cut the splat shape out of a piece of scrap card to use as a mask, blended with distress inks, stamped the sentiment and die-cut the gulls. Card done! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Sunrise, Sunset (Fairy Hugs)
• dies - Nesting Splat (Paper Rose), Guiding Light (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - scattered straw, saltwater taffy, abandoned coral, salvaged patina, mermaid lagoon
• other - blending brushes, MISTI, craft foam, Big Shot, VersaFine Clair Twilight ink

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Summer Fun

It seems like almost every challenge blog based in the northern hemisphere has Summer has their theme at the moment. Certainly it's no hardship to be thinking of warmer days and outdoor fun instead of the rain and cold, lol. A couple of clean and simple challenges caught my eye and when an idea popped into mind ... well, you know how that goes ...

And here's my offering:

This was most definitely a challenge for me, I kept wanting to add things, lol. Even now my fingers are itching ...

Materials used:

• stamps - Postage Collage, Postage Collage Beach Days (Waffle Flower)
• stencils - Postage Collage Beach Days (Waffle Flower)
• dies - Postage Collage (Waffle Flower)
• inks - crumb cake (Stampin' Up), salvaged patina, peacock feathers, candied apple, carved pumpkin (distress), hickory smoke (distress archival), black
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, MISTI, mounting tape

Still a ways to go before we can say goodbye to winter, but thoughts of sunshine and beaches are always welcome!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Beach in a Bottle

This week's Tic Tac Toe challenge really got the old grey matter ticking and cranking, lol. Here's the board:

I was sorely tempted by the beach option. It's been so cold here the last couple of weeks, courtesy of a polar blast from Antarctica, that the idea of a sunny beach really appealed. So I picked the middle horizontal row - Beach, Yellow and Fun Fold - and let an idea percolate for a day or two until this morning I sat down to see if it would pan out. Happily, it did! Here's my offering:

Everything was cut from white cardstock and coloured using distress inks. I repeated the sunrise colours on the inside, stamping towards the bottom so it shows in easel mode, and attached the seagull from the set to act as a 'stopper' - and because it looks so cute there! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Polynesian Paradise (My Favorite Things)
• dies - Surf Shack (Cottage Cutz), Whale in a Bottle (Spellbinders), 
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, squeezed lemonade, mustard seed, antique linen, tea dye, brushed corduroy, vintage photo, twisted citron, mowed lawn, abandoned coral, scattered straw, saltwater taffy
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Dimensionals, circle punch, masking paper

Hope this brings a warm wish and sunny smile to your day! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Travel - Just Add Ink Challenge #708

It's a choose two option this week with Just Add Ink! Here's what we've got for you:

I chose blending and embossing, though I did end up - as so often happens with a choose two - using some of the third element as well, lol. 

My turquoise background piece is a blending of two inks, then I lightly applied some embossing ink through a stencil and added embossing glaze in a matching tone. The glazes are transparent, which was ideal when I was after more of a 'hint' of colour, rather than a full-on immersion. My globe was cut from card in my stash that had ink blending already and I added more blending around the edges of the continents to mimic the look of an atlas (for those of us old enough to remember what they are, lol). There are multiple layers to my airplane for extra depth and sturdiness. I chose a lowercase alphabet for 'travel' to contrast with the uppercase stamped sentiments.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• dies - Vault World Travel (TH), Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower (TH), stitched rectangle (Paper Rose)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, wild honey, twisted citron
• other - compass stencil (Stamperia), salvaged patina distress glaze (TH), distress embossing dabber (TH), craft foam, MISTI, Dimensionals, Big Shot, blending brushes, heat tool

There are more samples to inspire you on the Just Add Ink blog and as always, we'd love to see your creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping 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

Happy Easter, Mr Rabbit

I'm sure you've probably met the very dapper Mr Rabbit already if you haunt blogs, Pinterest or social media like I do. He joined me a week or so ago but I have been saving him for closer to Easter and now it's almost here I happily sat and became acquainted with the gentleman. Here's how our first meeting went:

I began by stamping him on two pieces of Tim Holtz's specialty stamping paper so I could get the crispest, clearest image. One of those pieces became my background, which I sponged over with distress ink and did some stamping with other stamps from the set. The second piece I coloured using distress watercolour pencils then restamped - this brings back any detail lost because of the pigment from the pencils - before fussy cutting him out and attaching over the first piece. I die cut some eggs in different sizes then coloured those with distress inks, stamping dots over the top with oxide ink and sponging the edges. The plaid stamp was used on my base and then I assembled all my layers. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Mr Rabbit (Tim Holtz), Create Happiness - Elements (Stamperia)
• card - Distress specialty stamping paper (Tim Holtz), mossy meadow (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Nesting Eggs (Waffle Flower)
• other Tim Holtz products - distress inks, distress watercolour pencils, water brush, antique linen and vintage photo oxide ink, ground espresso archival ink, vintage photo archival ink
• other - blending foam tools, sponge dauber, Dimensionals, craft foam, mossy meadow ink (SU)

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Easter/Spring), Sunday Stamps #331 Easter Bounty (I used pink, yellow and brown), and Tic Tac Toe #243 (I used the top horizontal row - Easter eggs, yellow and free). 

 

Luckily there's still time for more meetings with Mr Rabbit before Easter is upon us, so I'd better get hopping! Thanks for moseying on by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept #204 - Winter Warmth

We've a brand new monthly challenge and inspiration pic for you at The Card Concept, this one entitled Winter Warmth.

There's certainly plenty of warmth going on around here, as February is the hottest month of summer for us. This week we've had more than one day of 37degC (98.6degF) temps so I am most definitely looking forward to the cooler days of autumn not far away (hopefully!).

The animal, trees and colours on the rug gave me an outdoorsy/nature vibe, which became the inspiration for my mixed media card. 

Curvy Girl was stamped on my background piece of watercolour card first then I sponged the clouds, sky and ground around her, and stamped her again on another piece of card. She was watercoloured using distress inks and after some fussy cutting attached to the background.

Materials used:

• stamps - Curvy Girl Loves to Hike (Stamping Bella), Spectacular Adventures (Altenew)
• card - pecan pie (Stampin' Up), watercolour, Happy Camper plaid paper (Etsy)
• distress inks - bundled sage, peeled paint, forest moss, stormy sky, spiced marmalade, wild honey, tea dye, rusty hinge, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, vintage photo
• dies - alphanumeric tiny type lower (Tim Holtz)
• other - water brush, mini cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brushes, Sidekick, MISTI, vintage photo embossing glaze, heat tool, black archival ink

Hopefully some aspect of the inspiration picture and/or colour palette will make you want to create. If so, do share it with us on The Card Concept blog and don't forget to check out all the cards made by my fellow design team members.

Thanks for hiking by.

Cheers

Kerry

It's a Blackout!

For something just a wee bit different, today's card features a new-to-me technique called Blackout Embossing.  

I did encounter a problem straight away though - and that is most of my 3D embossing folders are texture patterns like brick, timber, weaving, etc, rather than a focal image. So I settled on Tim Holtz's gorgeous poinsettia and decided to use some non-Christmassy colours to hopefully make it look like just any old flower, lol. 

The technique is you emboss, then ink inside the debossed portion of the image (in this instance, flowers and leaves). Once that's done, use direct-to-paper with a dark coloured ink pad, in my case black. You have to be fairly lighthanded so it doesn't get in too much of the debossed areas but I must admit to also using a sponge applicator when my direct-to-paper didn't give me quite as much coverage as I wanted. I absolutely love that I ended up with this slightly patchy effect - it has so much more texture and character than an all-over smooth finish would have. I paired it with a gold foil die-cut sentiment and some gilded gems.

The end result is what I term a bit 'arty-farty' lol, but I rather like it. It's not grungy nor is it clean - kind of an in-between - and makes me think of a burned wood etching for some reason. I'd love to hear what you think.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Just Add Ink #686 - Just Add Inspiration

It's time to get this party started with an inspiration challenge from Just Add Ink! Here's our image:

The first thing I thought of when I saw this was the 'Put the lime in the coconut' scene from the movie Practical Magic - anyone else's mind go there? Such a fun way to enjoy a margarita, lol.

I took the blue sky and palm leaves, as well as the general tropical vibe, as inspiration for my Hello, Sunshine card.

I cut plenty of flowers and leaves then coloured with inks and played with an arrangement until I was happy with it. The sentiment is three layers, the top one inked to match the frangipanis. On my background I embossed with leaves and sponged some matching ink around the edges, as well as around the edges of the die-cut piece the sentiment sits on. The flowers and monstera leaves were shaped before being attached.

Materials used:

• card - basic white, starry sky (Stampin' Up)
• dies - Hello, Sunshine (CZ Designs), Countryside Corners (SU), Tropical (Tim Holtz)
• distress inks - twisted citron, mowed lawn, picked raspberry, candied apple, mustard seed, saltwater taffy, peacock feathers, wilted violet
• other - starry sky ink (SU), floating foliage 3D embossing folder (Altenew), Big Shot, Dimensionals, shaping mat and tools, blending brushes, mounting tape

What comes to mind when you look at our inspiration pic? See what my team mates thought of over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Aloha!

Kerry

Hey Boo

When I saw this week's challenge theme at AAA Cards I was immediately keen to play along. 

Halloween is a perfect opportunity for some playfulness and fun and that's what I was after with my card.

The cobweb was embossed in white then I went over it with a glue pen and sprinkled liberally with clear rock candy glitter. Even the anti-static wipe can't keep some of those minuscule specks from sticking where they shouldn't, lol, but them's the breaks. Gotta love the shimmer though!

Materials used:

• stamps - Unravelled, Tiny Frights (both Tim Holtz)
• card - melon mambo, basic black (Stampin' Up), watercolour
• distress inks - dried marigold, carved pumpkin, worn lipstick, picked raspberry, picket fence
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, blending brushes, white gel pen, Edison colorize dies (Tim Holtz), craft foam, Dimensionals, banner punch (retired SU), Quickie glue pen, clear rock candy glitter (Tim Holtz)

When this die set was released, one of Tim Holtz's makers, Debi Adams, used the orange and pink combo and I fell in love with it, wanting to try it out ever since, so I'm happy now! 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry