Birthday Roses

The new challenge at Just Add Ink is one of my favourite regular themes:

Dies and stencils are so much fun to play with and for my card I've used both. 

I started by cutting and stencilling the roses. Some polka dot stencilling was added to the paler purple background behind the flowers as well as to my top darker layer. I used the flower pieces cut off from the inside to add on the outside. There's mounting foam between each layer to add even more dimension, and the sentiment strip and some clear dots were my finishing touches. 

I am really loving the orange/purple combo, which always reminds me of a scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral. Anyone else? lol

Materials used:

• die & stencil combo - Rose Bouquet (Waffle Flower)
• other die and stencil from stash
• distress inks - carved pumpkin, ripe persimmon
• SU inks - highland heather, gorgeous grape
• other - Subsentiment strip (Waffle Flower), Dimensionals, foam squares, Big Shot, blending brushes, clear dots

I hope you'll pull out some of your own dies and stencils and join the challenge.

Thanks for calling in.

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

Simple and Elegant - Just Add Ink Challenge #741

It's Friday, which means it's time for another challenge with Just Add Ink and our brief for you this week is to:

I made a soft-toned sympathy card - something we unfortunately often need to have on hand, especially as we get older. 

For my focal feature I used a stamp/die/stencils set from PinkFresh Studios. A few pearls were all the embellishments needed.

Materials used:

• stamp, die, stencil set - Butterflies in Bloom (PinkFresh Studios)
• sentiment stamp - Country Flowers (Stampin' Up)
• distress inks - antique linen, dried marigold, saltwater taffy, shabby shutters
• Altenew inks - alpine aster, soft lilac, lavender fields, deep iris
• other - blending brushes, pearls, MISTI, grip mat, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals

Do visit the Just Add Ink blog for more samples of simple and elegant to inspire you and if you create, we'd love you to share in our gallery.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Be Curious

I had a late afternoon burst of creative energy yesterday, so decided to have a go at this week's Just Add Ink challenge.

For my "N" I chose Nature and a mixed media card and as it's almost Spring, I used soft colours.

The background was smooshed with distress oxide inks and I love, love, love the gorgeous oxidisation effect I managed to get from dusty concord - wowser, such a beautiful colour. I cut some hexagons and stencilled them with a floral pattern using texture paste and once dry, watercoloured over the paste. For my dragonfly I cut the three layers from watercolour card then used a combination of ink smooshing and watercolouring. Each layer of the wings has also been given subtle sparkle. Some rub ons added a bit of interest and the last feature was the word chip.

Here's some close ups so you can see the layers of the dragonfly and the sparkle on the wings (which is easier to see if you click on the pic to enlarge it).

Materials used:

• card - smoky slate, basic grey, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - dusty concord, tattered rose, squeezed lemonade, hickory smoke, twisted citron
• Tim Holtz/Sizzix dies - Funky insects, Stacked hexagons
• other Tim Holtz products - remnant rubs - Specimen; word chip; matte texture paste; floral stencil
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, water spritzer, Dimensionals, heat tool, sponge dauber, water brush, clear Wink of Stella, embossing tool

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Flowerful Thanks - CAS on Friday Challenge #207

 

Welcome to CAS on Friday challenge #207. This time around our theme is FLOWERS.

There are an endless number of possibilities for this theme and, of course, floral cards can be used for so many different occasions. It's no wonder most stamp companies issue plenty of flower stamps!

For my offering I chose to use layering dies from Tim Holtz/Sizzix. Doing all the layers in the same colour card and just using ink sponging to give definition makes it a much simpler task than layering with different colours. (Excuse the shadow showing behind there - vagaries of the weather while taking pics lol)

The white-on-white background adds interest and texture without detracting from the floral focal point. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Greetings (SU)
• card - basic white, so saffron, old olive, early espresso
• other - Bloom dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), Gothic stencil (TH), texture paste matte, Dimensionals, craft foam

I'm sure you've got some flower stamps or dies in your collection, so why not join us in the challenge? We'd love to have you! Just click HERE to go to the blog post and also see what gorgeous samples my fellow team mates have created for your inspiration.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry