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

The Purple Emperor - Just Add Ink Challenge #765

It's colour time at Just Add Ink! Here are this week's challenge colours:

Did you know there's an Australian species of mushroom that's bright purple? I've never seen one but I love that they're out there! They were the inspiration for my card:

I cut the 'shrooms, leaves and grass from watercolour card and coloured with inks. My background piece was ink smooshed before being embossed and I think this combination is a very mushroomy sort of colour, don't you? Of course there simply had to be some splatter involved, lol, but water this time, not paint. The rough twine and sentiment strip were the finishing touches. 

Cortinarius archeri, commonly known as the "purple emperor".

Materials used:

• dies - slimline grass edges, mushrooms (stash), Funky Florals 3 (Tim Holtz)
• distress inks/oxides - antique linen, pumice stone, frayed burlap
• Stampin' Up inks - highland heather, gorgeous grape, lost lagoon
• other - mushroom embossing folder, Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, twine, Dimensionals, sentiment sheet

These are much prettier than the common-or-garden toadies I get in my lawn after a long damp patch of weather, lol. I'd be quite happy if purple emperors popped up in my yard! 

There's plenty more inspiration for these colours from my team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog, so be sure to check those out, and of course if you decide to create we'd love you to share it with us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #194

Are you ready for another Card Concept inspiration challenge? This week's Spring Banquet pic is sure to get you thinking all things sweet, fresh and pretty, even if you're not experiencing spring right now.

I was inspired by the candle, flowers and colour palette for my mixed media card.

My flowers were sprayed with two oxide pinks and I also used two shades of green for my leaves. The background was one colour but in both distress and oxide. The lantern and candle were shaded with distress inks after being die-cut, then layered together and the quote chip gives a nice solid base for them to sit on. The finishing touches were paint splatters and sponging the edges of the card.

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic grey, very vanilla
• distress spray stains - speckled egg, twisted citron, mowed lawn
• distress oxide sprays - speckled egg, spun sugar, kitsch flamingo, crushed olive
• distress ink/oxide ink - weathered wood, lost shadow, hickory smoke, antique linen, mustard seed, spiced marmalade
• other Tim Holtz products - Candlelight colorize dies, Bouquet paper flowers, Funky floral 3 dies, quote chip, picket fence distress paint
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, heat tool, Dimensionals, mini glue dots, paintbrush, sponge dauber

Do pay a visit to the Card Concept blog to see what my fellow team mates made to inspire you and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #615 - Just Add Inspiration

Although it's not my week for a Just Add Ink project, a glance at the inspiration picture set off a design idea in my head and of course I had to sit at my craft desk and create. Here's the pic:

The combination of black, white and brown, along with those lovely pops of bright green foliage, are what inspired me. 

My card echoes the clean, straight lines as well as rectangular and square shapes from the picture, and for the touch of whimsy instead of the hats on the wall I used my bird. The white rub-on I used was cut to give the shape of a wing. I die-cut two of the slides and attached them using mounting strips to give dimension so I'd have a little 'pocket' to tuck the leaves and moss into.

This is a card that can be used for many occasions so I've left off a sentiment for now.

As luck would have it, these are the exact same colours in this week's Color Throwdown challenge, so I'm entering that.

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness Elements (Stamperia)
• card - basic black, basic white, granny apple green (SU), distress black/kraft (TH)
• dies - Specimen, Silhouette Birds, Funky Florals #3 (all Tim Holtz)
• other - rhinestone, craft moss, Dimensionals, mounting strips, blending brush, sponge dauber, Create Happiness - Writing, white rub on (Stamperia)

What does the inspiration picture bring to your mind? We'd love to see you create a project and share it in our gallery. Pop on over to the JAI blog to see what my team mates came up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #595 - Inspiration

Welcome! Over at Just Add Ink this week we have this beautiful inspiration pic:

I was inspired by the flowers and textured background for my shabby/vintage mixed media card.

For the bricks I coloured some grit paste with ink to match the paper and applied it through a stencil, sponging and distressing once it was all dry. The frame was painted then sanded back in some places to reveal small metallic touches to accentuate the aged look. The writing on the sentiment is a bit small, so here's a close up:

Materials used:

• card - crumb cake, House of Roses patterned papers (Stamperia) 
• Tim Holtz products - evergreen bough distress oxide ink, Bricked mini stencil, grit paste, Transparent Wings, Bouquet flowers, Idea-ology metal ornate plates, Funky Florals 3 dies, distress crayons
• other - blending brush, paper flowers and buds, distressing tool, mounting tape, mini glue dots, glue, snail adhesive

Hopefully you'll feel inspired to create and share, and remember there's plenty more to inspire you over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry