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

Best Birthday

I was lucky enough to be picked as Featured Artist for the Color Throwdown challenge #780 (see my entry in this post), so this week I'm Guest Star Stamper and just take a look at this gorgeous combo!

As soon as I saw the palette I couldn't wait to sit and play - here's how my card ended up:

It gave me the opportunity to play with this new-to-me die set and I sure did have a lot of fun colouring and assembling. The largest rose has 8 layers (eight!) but they all come together very easily. I cut two layers of a fine border to add to the arch and love the subtle flourishes on the paper I used behind it. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - merry merlot, basic white, retired SDSP (Stampin' Up)
• Copic markers - R81, R83, R85, T1, T2, T4, YG63, YG67
• dies - Lovely Layers: Sweetheart Roses (Honey Bee Stamps), Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• other - Big Shot, MISTI, Versmark ink, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, gems

I hope you'll get the chance to play along. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept #203 - New Year Love

Welcome to the first challenge of 2024 with The Card Concept! Our monthly challenges give you an inspiration photo and colour palette and you can take any aspect of our mood board as the springboard to spark your creativity.

Here's our first challenge for the year, aptly titled New Year Love:

The combination of little houses and 'Our Nest' sign brought birdhouses to mind and were the inspiration for my mixed media card, as well as the colour palette. 

I assembled my birdhouse first, running the main part through Tim Holtz's mini lumber 3D embossing folder then inking everything up with oxide inks antique linen, gathered twigs, vintage photo and candied apple. For my background I did more 3D embossing, this time with the pine branches folder which I then sponged with mowed lawn and rustic wilderness oxides. I used whatever ink was on my blue blending brush for the other areas then blended it with a water brush and dabbed off to get lighter patches. Once it was all dry I cut it into an arch and ran it through the embossing folder again to revitalise the impression. The patterned paper is a free Stampin' Up Sale-a-bration offering called Flight & Airy (aptly named, lol) and the sentiment is SU also, from the Feels Like Home set. 

What elements of our January mood board inspire you? We'd love you to join us by adding your card to our gallery, and of course there's more cards to see from my fellow design team members over on The Card Concept blog. And if you're on social media, we're on Facebook and Instagram too, so check us out!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #677 - Just Add a Sketch

Welcome to another Just Add Ink challenge and this week we've a sketch for you:

Keep in mind the shapes you use don't have to be squares, nor do they have to be the same shape as each other - as long as you have two images, one larger than the other and set behind, you're golden! You can also rotate or flip the sketch if you wish. 

With Halloween over, I'm now firmly in Christmas crafting mode, lol, so my offering is a Christmas card  and I kept the sketch as is. 

I began with ink smooshing pieces of card in blue and greens. Once I'd decided which bird die to use I could choose a size for the arched piece behind, then had to make sure the sentiment stamp I wanted would fit with those parameters. Luckily it did, so I set about die cutting bird, arch and greenery, followed by stamping the greeting and colouring the bird. The finishing touch was splatters of white gesso which has become one of my favourite mixed media techniques and really brought this card to life.

Materials used:

• stamps - Christmas Classics (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white (SU), kraft, watercolour
• dies - Layered Warbler (Simon Says Stamp), Holiday Greens mini (Tim Holtz), Essential Arches (Spellbinders), stitched rectangle (Poppystamps)
• distress oxide inks/sprays - speckled egg, vintage photo, gathered twigs, antique linen, barn door, candied apple, rustic wilderness, evergreen bough
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, MISTI, water spritzer, heat tool, fan brush, white gesso, Dimensionals, craft foam

I hope you'll check out more samples from my team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog and with any luck, be inspired to create and share.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #199

Welcome to the first Card Concept challenge after the holiday break and we've a fabulous inspiration photo for you called Country Style. 

The challenge is to create a card inspired by any aspect of this photo, whether it's the theme, the colours, the flowers, rooster, barn, door, ribbon, wreath - just any idea that comes to mind. Plus of course we'd love it if you shared your card in our gallery. If you post on social media, please tag @thecardconceptchallenges2 and use the hashtag #tcc199. 

My mixed media card was inspired by the country theme, flowers and black gingham ribbon.

Lots of layering and dimension on this one. Everything was cut from watercolour card and coloured using oxide inks, and you all know how much I love using those! 😉 SU's in-colour dots came in very handy for flower centres.

Materials used:

• stamps - So Sincere (Stampin' Up!)
• card - black, watercolour, gingham digi paper (Etsy)
• dies - Country Wheelbarrow, Garden Builder, Essential Arches (all Spellbinders)
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, blending brushes, in-colour dots (SU), distress oxide inks, MISTI, fine-tip glue

I do hope you'll pop over to the Card Concept blog to see what my fellow team mates created, and that you'll be inspired to join us. The challenge runs for a month, ending on Monday 9th October. 

Happy crafting and thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Gather Love

As crafters I'm sure you understand completely that feeling of instantly falling in love with a stamp or die or stencil set. Such was the case for me when I first saw the Country Road collection by Annie Williams for Spellbinders. I've bought just a couple of the sets so far (though I'm pretty sure more will make their way here before long) and love that I can pair them with bits and pieces already in my stash. Today's card came from a play with the Welcome Sign & Sentiments stamp and die set. 

I really wanted the sign to look a bit weathered, so hopefully I've achieved that. Many of the dies were assembled late at night, so do forgive any mishaps, lol. Those small, fiddly bits can get the better of me when I'm tired! And does anyone else always lose the flower centres (and tiddles from letter 'i's) and have to cut more?

Materials used:

• stamps - Welcome Sign & Sentiments (Spellbinders)
• card - basic white, basic black
• dies - Welcome Sign & Sentiments (Spellbinders), Bunny Games (Tim Holtz), Cats at Play (stash), Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• distress oxide inks - hello honey, carved pumpkin, picked raspberry, seedless preserves, villainous potion, mowed lawn, mustard seed, wilted violet
• other - blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, picket fence distress paint, paintbrush, Big Shot

More to come from this collection I'm sure, so stay tuned! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Let's Get Tropical

For some reason my blog title has been playing in my head to the tune of 'Physical' by Olivia Newton-John - and yes, I'm well aware that that dates me, lol. Let's get tropical, tropical, I wanna be tropical...'. That was so true last night when I began making this card, with rain pounding on my roof, wind rattling doors and windows and the heater chugging to keep me warm. A tropical escape seemed like just the ticket, lol. A lovely touch of escapism. 

This card is as close as I'll get to that for a while though, so I'll be sure to enjoy it. If you're languishing somewhere tropical right now, spare a thought for us winter-bound folks and have another umbrella drink. 

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which has LOTS OF LAYERS as the theme this week and the Happy Little Stampers ANYTHING GOES WITH DIES challenge. 

Materials used:

• card - basic white, basic black
• distress oxide inks - tumbled glass, stormy sky, mustard seed, picked raspberry, twisted citron, mowed lawn
• dies - Feathered Friends set 9 (Papertrey Ink), Essential Arches (Spellbinders), Tropical Leaf Bunch (SSS)
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, black gem, water spritzer, fan brush, Tufted 3D embossing folder (SU), YR16 & YR07 Copic markers, Wordies Sentiment Sheets (Creative Expressions)

I began with ink blending my bird using mustard seed and picked raspberry oxides. I'll admit to sneaking some Copic marker in there for the feet and beak - much easier on tiny fiddly bits. I prefer the dimension of a black gem for eyes rather than the small circle die cut piece (which I often lose anyway, lol). Once that was assembled I worked on my leaves and background, adding water splatters to both. After everything was attached on the arched background I decided I needed a simple base but with a little texture for interest, hence the dry embossing. Last was choosing and attaching the sentiment.

Hope you enjoy this touch of tropical in your day! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry