Wickedly Awesome

This week I'm delighted to be guest designer at AAA Cards Challenge who have a fun colour combo for us to play with:

I managed to incorporate all four colours on my card.

I stamped and watercoloured my focal image first before fussy cutting with scissors and scalpel. Next a patch of ink blending on the backing card and some water splatters for interest and texture. I used masking to get my sentiment two different colours and outlined and tilted 'wickedly' for emphasis. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Pink Green (CC Designs)
• dies - stitched rectangles, sentiment strips
• other - Big Shot, water brush, watercolour pencils (Tim Holtz), foam squares, MISTI

I hope you'll join the fun and play along with these colours. Check out more inspiration on the AAA Cards blog!

Thanks for flying by.

Cheers

Kerry

Creepy Peekies

Welcome to a new challenge with Tic Tac Toe, where you pick a row - horizontal, vertical or diagonal - and create using the three elements in that row. 

For my project I made a set of Halloween themed tags using elements from the bottom horizontal row of metal embellishment, Halloween colours and die cut (and also fit the right diagonal of twine, free, metal embellishment).

I die-cut my tags then stamped and watercoloured the adorable images before sponging the edges. The backing was attached and distressed before a black eyelet was added with some mummy cloth threaded through and tied off with baker's twine. I stamped the sentiments, attaching them with staples, and added some ink splatter to my backgrounds.

Materials used:

• stamps - The Creepy Peekies (Unity Stamp Co)
• dies - stitched tags (stash), sentiment strips (Paper Rose)
• other - distress inks, water brush, MISTI, Big Shot, mummy cloth, baker's twine, black eyelets, Crop-O-Dile, blending brush, stapler, fan brush, water spritzer

Do check out projects from my team mates over on the TTTC blog and I hope you'll be inspired to join us and create.

Thanks for creeping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Hey Pumpkin - Just Add Ink Challenge #771

Howdy and welcome to the first challenge under our new format at Just Add Ink! We do hope you'll embrace the changes and have fun joining us in creating. For this fortnight's challenge we have upsized our classic Choose Two - now it's Choose Two or More and your options are:

I couldn't help noticing the alliteration going on in those choices, lol, and for my card I chose plaid, patterned paper and pets plus added a couple more 'p' words - purple and pumpkin. 

The pupkin is cut from watercolour card and coloured with distress inks. There are three layers to the frame and two for the sentiment.

Materials used:

• dies - Pupkin (Spellbinders), Nesting Piercing Ticket Frames and Hey Pumpkin (Waffle Flower)
• other - distress inks, blending brushes, Big Shot, black marker, Dimensionals, Hocus Pocus Worn patterned paper (Etsy)

Check out the rest of the design team's samples over on the Just Add Ink blog. I hope you'll choose two or more items from our list and have some creative fun of your own - and if you do, please share with us! Remember, you now have longer to create as the challenge doesn't close until Wednesday 22nd.

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

Keeping You In Sus-Spencer

I honestly thought I was done with Halloween craft, but the perfect storm of new-to-me digi papers, a couple of dies I hadn't used and a spooky challenge conspired to lure me ... last one, I promise! (I think! 😉)

The theme is SPOOKY over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and here's my entry:

Spencer was cut from watercolour card and coloured with oxide inks before assembling. The big EEK! has a purple cardstock layer under the batty purple paper for depth, and I trimmed the shadow die down between the letters as I wanted the background paper to show through. I went crazy with my sewing machine attaching the bones (might have gotten a bit carried away here) and making a border, leaving the threads for added creepy ambience (pretend they're spider web threads). A couple of stickers, moss and some bats added the perfect final touches.

Materials used:

• card - granny apple green, gorgeous grape, basic black (Stampin' Up), Hocus Pocus Worn papers (Etsy), watercolour
• dies - Spencer colorize, Big Frights (Tim Holtz)
• distress oxide inks - frayed burlap, antique linen, pumice stone, hickory smoke, lost shadow
• other - Curiosities sticker book (Tim Holtz), sewing machine and thread, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, distressing tool, moss, hickory smoke archival ink, sponge dauber, craft blade, steel ruler

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #676 - Just Add Inspiration

It's an inspiration challenge this week at Just Add Ink!

If you've been here lately you'll know I've been having tons of fun with some Halloween themed cards and more, so it will come as no surprise, I'm sure, that a pumpkin would conjure up more wicked fun in my head!

Cute as a ... well, as a pumpkin, lol. 

The layers are coloured with Copics and the spider webs were stamped with white pigment ink. The final touches to Edison were some googly eyes and tendrils of spagnum moss (which dropped dust everywhere, let me tell you! lol)

My daughter and a friend carved some jack o'lanterns over the weekend (she loves Halloween as much as me!) - here's a pic:

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Frights, Unravelled (both Tim Holtz)
• card - basic black, basic white, Halloween stripes (Etsy)
• dies - Edison colorize (Tim Holtz)
• Copic markers - YR04,YR07,YR09,YR14,YG25,G99,T10
• other - MISTI, white embossing powder, heat tool, picket fence distress ink, craft foam, Dimensionals, 7mm googly eyes

Check out what aspects of our mood board inspired my fellow team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog. 

Happy Halloween! and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

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

JAI #673 - Just Choose Two

In the mood for crafting? At Just Add Ink this week we've our Choose Two option to inspire you.

I chose doors and windows for another decor piece. This project was very time intensive to make but extremely satisfying once completed.

The whole house was made from heavyweight black cardstock. Once I'd die-cut all the pieces, I spread grit paste randomly over the walls, allowed it to dry then dry-brushed with various distress paints. The marks on the window panes were made with a white gel pen to mimic cracks and cobwebs and there's semi-transparent plastic on the insides for glass. 

The grass is crypt paste coloured with reinker and all the leaves were adhered to the house using glossy accents and spread over the lawn while the paste was still wet. The thin threads are the string from a hot glue gun (how perfect are they?) and I grunged up the tiny jack o'lantern with some distress crayon. The same heavyweight card was used for the fence and for the sides of the box I created a kind of gothic wallpaper vibe by stamping a damask pattern and embossing in black. 

But the most fun part? It lights up!

As Tim Holtz would say, "tiny lights for the win!" lol.

This is not a large piece - the box measures just 12cm x 12cm and the mansion is about the same height. Fine-tip glue and squeezers (reverse tweezers) were definitely my friends, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Damask (Tim Holtz)
• card - black mixed media heavyweight
• dies - Village Collection, Graveyard colorize (both Tim Holtz)
• distress paints - black soot, pumice stone, hickory smoke
• other - Big Shot, hot glue gun, distress grit paste opaque, distress grit paste crypt, rustic wilderness oxide reinker, spatula, white gel pen, artificial leaves and jack o'lantern (Temu), square vignette box (Tim Holtz), glossy accents, tiny lights clear (Tim Holtz), black embossing powder, heat tool, Sidekick, collage medium opaque

Check out what my team mates made using their two choices over on the Just Add Ink blog and, as always, we'd love you to join us by adding your creation to our gallery. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Trick or Treat

Still got my mind on Halloween, lol - perhaps it's the anticipation of the excuse to have lollies around the house! 🍭🍬🍫 No matter the motivation, I had a ton of fun with this slimline card. Purples again with touches of orange, green and black - the perfect Halloween combo. 

I drew the faces on the pumpkin baskets with a marker and love the touch of whimsy they add. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tree Branch (Lavinia)
• card - old olive, basic black, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - dusty concord, villainous potion, black soot, ripe persimmon, crackling campfire
• Tim Holtz dies - Halloween Night, Bold Text Halloween
• other - moon masks (Tim Holtz), blending brushes, MISTI, Big Shot, black marker, craft foam, sponge dauber, Versafine Clair nocturne ink

Entering in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge to use your favourite technique, which is ink blending (especially with distress oxide inks) and the Two Old Bats Halloween challenge which has a great inspiration board. Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Here for the Candy

Another Halloween play, trying out an idea to fill the witch's cauldron with sweets instead of potion. I just love these confections - both Halloween and Christmas versions - but these ones in particular do make me crave candy corn! You can get it here in Australia but I usually try to be good and resist, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Unravelled (Tim Holtz)
• card - smoky slate, basic black, watercolour, vellum, mixed media black heavystock
• distress oxide inks - milled lavender, dusty concord, villainous potion, lost shadow, black soot
• dies - Toil & Trouble (Tim Holtz), Witch Please (CZ Designs)
• other - blending brush, MISTI, villainous potion embossing glaze, heat tool, confections Halloween, craft foam, Dimensionals, distressing tool, water spritzer, craft scalpel, Big Shot, sponge dauber, hickory smoke archival ink

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry 

Boo

I've been seeing Halloween makes for a few weeks now and thought, "come on people, it's only July!" Now we're into August and I've been sucked into the vortex ... roflol. 

Saw a card that inspired the idea for the raised portions I've done here. Wasn't sure if it would work but I like it, I think the splintered vibe adds to the creepy ambience. 

I began with stamping the webs onto two pieces of black card and embossing with white, then cut one with the diamond die and stuck some of the shapes onto the other black piece. Once attached I spritzed with various oxide inks (dye inks won't show over black, you need the pigment) and also sprayed oxides onto watercolour card to use for my skeleton. The bats were cut from black gloss card and I bent their wings to give them some movement. When they catch the light they reflect other colours and look terrific.

There are two layers to the sentiment, as usual, as this adds more depth, and the background piece is watercolour card sponged with ink then spritzed. 

Materials used - all stamps, dies and inks are Tim Holtz unless otherwise noted:

• stamps - Unravelled 
• card - basic black, watercolour
• dies - Mr Bones, Toil & Trouble, Alphanumeric Theory
• distress oxide sprays - antique linen, frayed burlap, pumice stone, lost shadow
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, MISTI, craft foam, Dimensionals, blending brush, Simply Diamonds die (Pink Fresh Studios)

Thanks for creeping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge - Pumpkin Party

This week's Card Concept inspiration pic is these gorgeous pumpkins! 

The first thing that came to my mind was Halloween - seems to be an automatic thing with me when given that particular colour combination and pumpkins, lol. I guess if we decorated for fall/autumn here like they do in the US, it might be a different story. Anyway, I've used a Halloween theme for my clean and layered easel card featuring two adorable Mo Manning images.

Those two cuties were coloured with Copics and I loved the idea of the jack o'lantern container protruding past the edge, so cut around it. I was very happy when I found some papers on Etsy that mirrored the 'candy' I was using. The resin Confections are so cute, simple to colour with alcohol markers (I added the orange to the stripes) and easily cut in half to save on bulk. I even used one of them as the stopper to hold the easel open, lol. Aaaaannd, now I want some candy! 😂😂😂

Materials used:

• stamps - Mummy Baby, Halloween Ghost Baby (both Mo's Digital Pencil)
• card - basic black, basic white
• Copic markers - E00,E21,E11,C0,C2,C4,W0,W2,W3,B00,YR09,YR12,YR15
• other - Idea-ology confections and confections - candy corn (Tim Holtz), pumpkin pie Stampin' Blends (SU), craft foam, jet black archival ink (Ranger), craft scalpel

There's plenty more inspiration over on The Card Concept blog for you to check out.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #624 - Just Add a Diorama Card

This week at Just Add Ink we're challenging you to make a diorama card. Diorama cards can be as simple as a shadow box card or more complex with many layers, but whichever style you choose it should contain a scene which is viewed through an opening.

I chose a Halloween theme for my project and kept it structurally simple (just three layers) as I wanted the hard work to go into the details and not the design. And oh boy, I had so much fun making all these quirky/spooky bits and pieces!

On the middle layer I put the tree - made up of three branch die cuts - on the left side.

And on the right side of the middle layer is the front pumpkin. The back pumpkin, together with the cat, gravestone and crow, are attached to the base layer.

The 'sky' background and sentiment lettering are coloured with mica sprays so they have a wonderful sheen to them when they catch the light. I mixed some crypt grit paste with green reinker to make lichen to cover bits of the 'tree'.

And there's more crypt paste on the gravestone to give it that lovely aged and weathered look.

Bring on Halloween, I say! I'll be interested to see if I get any trick or treaters in my new neighbourhood - though, regardless, it's a great excuse to have lollies on hand! 😂😉

Materials used:

• stamps - Unraveled (Tim Holtz)
• card - black mixed media heavyweight, watercolour
• Tim Holtz dies - Mr Bones, Mischevious, Pumpkin Duo, Regions Beyond
• distress mica sprays - flickering candle, jack-o-lantern, peppermint stick, hocus pocus
• distress oxide inks/sprays - antique linen, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, black soot, stormy sky, weathered wood, speckled egg
• other TH products - crypt texture paste, rustic wilderness re-inker, moon mask, iced spruce and shabby shutters distress crayons, candied apple distress paint, Idea-ology adornments - Halloween, picket fence distress ink
• other - water spritzer, heat tool, blending brushes, Dimensionals, stitched square die, white gel pen, branch die, white embossing powder, Stamparatus, Big Shot, Sidekick, paintbrush, sponge dauber, mini glue dots

Check out more diorama cards over at the JAI blog and, as always, we'd love to see your creation in our gallery this week.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Moonlight Mischief

Today's card is for the following challenge:

Having gotten some ideas from watching the Tim Holtz Halloween YouTube over the weekend, plus having a new die set just burning a hole in my craft desk waiting to be used 😉, I was only too happy to play with distress goodies to create a spooky, sparkly background.

It's a dull, wet day here so it's very difficult to catch the sparkle on camera, lol. 

I masked the area for the moon then sprayed the background with distress spray stains. Once they'd been dried off I spritzed with water to get the ink to 'wick' into the moon area. Love the spooky effect this gives. The final touch for the moon was moonscaping using the second part of the mask. Next I added some sparkle to the sky with two mica sprays, then set about making my roof and that adorably sassy cat from new die set Mischevious (and it couldn't be more appropriately named!). 

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic black (SU), Metallic Jewels kraft stock (Tim Holtz)
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischevious, Village Collection
• Distress spray stains - wilted violet, uncharted mariner, villainous potion, iced spruce, hickory smoke, black soot
• Distress mica stains - flickering candle, hocus pocus
• other - black soot distress archival ink, sponge dauber, blending brush, Sidekick, water spritzer, heat tool, moon mask (Tim Holtz), picket fence distress crayon, computer and printer

So much fun! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #581 - Just Add Legs

Welcome! It's time for another weekly challenge with Just Add Ink and this time around we want you to

So many possibilites - we can't wait to see what you come up with!

I decided to feature a creepy crawly with lots of legs (could have been influenced by the huntsman spider that's been wandering around my place for the last few weeks, lol). Now, as luck would have it, around the same time I began to think about creating, my new distress colour arrived and was needing to be used - you know how it is ;-D My first play was to combine this luscious purple (villainous potion) with the gorgeousness of orange (crackling campfire) and when I saw them together - oh wow! Immediately a vision of a card came to mind - and the rest, as they say, is history, lol.

My grunge side has definitely come out to play with this mixed media card - take a look, then I'll tell you all about it.

My first step was to create the background on thick watercolour card. I sprayed with villainous potion and crackling campfire oxide sprays and once they were dry, did a little stamping in black before stencilling with distress crackle paste. I wanted fine crackles, so applied only a thin coat here and there through my stencil. Once it had done its magic, I rubbed distress crayon into the crackles to highlight them then sponged black ink around all the edges to create a border and draw the eye in to the centre. The last step was to add some paint splatters in both black and white. Just love all the speckly, crackly goodness!

I made a second background in predominantly orange ink with some purple speckles, cut out a piece for my tag, stamped my creepy crawly on it and again on plain card. It was coloured with a distress marker then I added glossy accents to give it that creepy, shiny hard shell look. I added a few pieces of ephemera and a remnant rub to the tag as well as some grunged-up mummy cloth. 

Like I said, I really got my grunge on! Not my usual style but it's fun to step outside your box every now and then, don't you think? 

Materials used:

• stamps - Fragments, Damask, Entomology, Specimen (all Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)
• card - watercolour, basic black, basic white
• distress oxide sprays - villainous potion, crackling campfire
• distress oxide inks - crackling campfire, black soot
• distress paint - black soot, picket fence
• distress marker - mowed lawn 
• distress crayons - black soot, crackling campfire
• other Tim Holtz products - distress crackle paste, Harlequin stencil, Remnant Rubs-Specimen, Ephemera Pack-Field Notes, Halloween Trimmings
• other - water spritzer, heat tool, tag die (Kaisercraft), Crop-o-dile, MISTI, craft foam, Dimensionals, embossing stylus

We'd love to see your creations in our gallery. Meanwhile, head on over to the JAI blog to see the jumble of legs my fellow team-mates have created to inspire you!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry 

Who's Your Mummy? - CAS on Friday Challenge #216

Time once more to dust off your craft goodies and keep things simple - clean and simple, that is. Over at CAS on Friday we've got another challenge for you and this time you can pick between AUTUMN or HALLOWEEN.

Anyone else's kids read the Goosebumps books? 'Who's Your Mummy' was the title of one from which I took my blog post title to go along with this adorable little baby mummy out to scare absolutely no-one, lol.

Isn't it just the cutest? We don't really get trick or treaters calling here in my little part of Aus (even before the pandemic), but I still buy lollies just in case...😉

Materials used:

• stamps - Baby Mummy (Mo Manning)
• card - basic white, basic black, tangelo twist, Monochrome Basics 1.1A designer paper (Paper Rose)
• Copic markers - E00, E01, E11, C0, C2, W0, W2
• dies - Nesting Tags (Kaisercraft), Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower (Tim Holtz)
• other - Big Shot, mummy cloth ribbon (Halloween Trimmings - Tim Holtz), 4/10" circle punch, Crop-o-dile

We'd love for you to share your favourite Autumn or Halloween things with us and of course there are more cards to inspire you over on the CASOF blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Creative Crew October Challenge - DSP Focus

Another month has rolled by already and it's time for the October challenges from the Creative Crew over at Splitcoaststampers. I must admit that I was so excited when we were given this month's brief that I started on my first project on the second of September!!! LOL! It has been terrible having to wait this long to share it with you!

CCREW1013DF - DSP/Colour focus: Celebrate Halloween by making a project using Witches' Brew dsp from p21 of the Holiday catalogue, or use the colour combo Basic Black, Basic Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit and Very Vanilla.

I may have gotten a little carried away with this challenge! I love the playful aspects of Halloween and had so many ideas teeming in my brain that limiting myself to just one project was simply impossible!

I began with a candy box made from the fancy favour die and filled it with a bag of snakes - I even stamped on the cellophane bag!

 

Then I was really looking for an excuse to use this wonderful stamp from Halloween Bash, so I made a card to go with the box:

And then I made this BOO plaque using wooden letters covered in dsp. I found a cheap wooden plaque at the Reject Shop and painted over the picture, then went to town stamping and sponging to give it the look I was after. If you click on the photos to enlarge them you'll get a better view of the background stamping. I had so much fun making this it was scary!

Materials used:

• stamps - Halloween Bash (MDS), Wicked Cool, Out on a Limb, Spooky Bingo Bits, Toil & Trouble
• card - pumpkin pie, Witches' Brew dsp, very vanilla, basic black
• other - fancy favour box die, decorative label punch, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, summer starfruit ribbon, dimensionals, sticky strip, sponge dauber, rhinestones, heat tool, dazzling diamonds
• non SU - wooden letters, Tim Holtz medium rosette die, hot glue gun, Cuttlebug spider/bat die and matching embossing folder, black rhinestones, Versamark marker, wooden plaque, black paint

I'll be back tomorrow with the Creative Focus challenge. Meanwhile, why not pop over to the challenge gallery and take a look?

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez