Because Monday

It's time for a new challenge with All About Papercraft and this month it's...

There are plenty of great techniques in papercraft and I love many of them, so whittling the list down was a tough ask, lol. 

Back in my very early days of card making I was thrilled to discover rubber stamps and how I could use them to continue my love of colouring in (especially as I can't draw to save myself, lol). Watercolouring stamped images was a revelation to me and it's something I still love to do, so I chose that technique to use for my project as well as some ink smooshing, masking and heat embossing.

I began with stamping my main image on watercolour card then masking it before ink smooshing and stamping on my background. Once that was dry I did my watercolouring and shading. The sentiment was heat embossed twice with clear embossing powder over ink and I fussy cut the teal layer to go over the brown. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Coffee is Not Enough (Unity Stamp Co), Coffee Run (Echo Park), Timeless Textures (SU), Coffee Blends (stash)
• dies - stitched rectangles
• other - water brush, water spritzer, Big Shot, clear embossing powder, heat tool, foam dots, SU markers, distress inks, craft foam

Hopefully you have a favourite technique or two or three that you will want to create with and join the challenge. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Let Life Surprise You - Just Add Ink Challenge #726

It's Friday, which means a new Just Add Ink challenge, and this time around it's an inspiration moodboard. 

I couldn't resist using the adorable little ginger kitten and tartan blanket as inspiration for a simple layered card.

Kittens are so playful and sweet, I challenge anyone not to go gaga over them, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Three Little Kittens (Mo Manning), Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• other - Copic markers, blending brush, MISTI, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, craft foam, white gel pen, blue distress ink

Which aspect of the pictures makes you want to create? Whatever you choose, we hope you'll share and link up on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for calling in.

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

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

JAI #683 - Just Choose Two, Take Two

I've made a second project for the Just Add Ink choose two theme this week, picking trees and ornaments. It's a card design I've been wanting to make for some time after seeing gorgeous samples on Pinterest, and as the elements fitted right in with our 'just choose two' options, what better time?

Anyone dreaming of a white Christmas?

I cut the ornament die from masking paper and attached the outside portion to my kraft card, sponging inside with white ink and adding white artist's pastel around the edges for extra intensity. Using a white gel pen I went around the outline of the ornament then used my MISTI to stamp the image in permanent ink just where I wanted it. The gel pen was used again for the snow highlights on the cabin, trees, smoke and ground before the mask was removed. Next I set the inside part of the mask (the ornament) over my image and gave a light sponge of brown ink around it for shadowing. Once that was removed, the whole front panel got a splattering of white paint.

Materials used:

• stamps - Winterscape (Tim Holtz)
• card - distress kraft heavystock (Tim Holtz)
• inks - picket fence distress ink, vintage photo oxide ink (Tim Holtz), Nocturne (Versafine Clair), titanium white (Pan Pastel)
• other - ornament die (stash), Big Shot, blending tools, MISTI, white gel pen, craft foam, picket fence distress paint (Tim Holtz), paintbrush, gold cord, mini glue dot, sponge dauber, masking sheets (Lavinia)

Which two of our options will you pick? We'd love to see your projects in our gallery!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Down to the Wire

Browsing around tonight I saw the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge and an idea for a card immediately popped into my head - so what could I do but create? Here's the challenge:

And here's my entry. 

Materials used:

• card - basic white, copper clay (SU)
• dies - Layered Songbird (SSS), Tropical Leaf Bunch (SSS), branch (stash)
• SU inks - pretty peacock, calypso coral, copper clay, early espresso
• distress inks - uncharted mariner, twisted citron, mowed lawn
• other - blending brushes, moon mask (Tim Holtz), Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, Wordies Sentiment Sheets - Everyday (Creative Expressions), rhinestone, basic grey marker, C5 Copic marker, water spritzer, distressing tool

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #608 - Just Add a Colour Combo

We've a colour challenge at Just Add Ink this week, something to really sink your teeth into.

I had so many ideas for this challenge it was difficult to make a final decision, lol. In the end I went with some stamping and masking.

I haven't tried two-tone clouds before but love how they turned out and must thank Michelle Zindorf for the inspiration.

Materials used:

• stamps - Treeline (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla, basic grey
• other - mini cloud stencil (MFT), blending brushes, 1 1/4" circle punch, craft foam, hickory smoke distress oxide ink, hickory smoke embossing glaze, heat tool, basic grey marker, post it note, MISTI

 

There's plenty more samples to get your creative juices flowing over on the Just Add Ink blog and as always, we'd love you to join our challenge.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #594 - Just Add Masking

Welcome! Are you ready for another challenge? At Just Add Ink this week we're asking you to

There are so many ways to use this versatile technique and we can't wait to see what you come up with. 

My project is one of those where you get the germ of an idea and it stays in your mind, persistent and inexorable, until finally, for the sake of your sanity, you just have to sit down and try it, lol. I'm sure I'm not alone in this, right? Right?

Here's my monochromatic landscape.

I used bought stencils/masks for the hills and moon but made my own for the trees by cutting a die from some stencil film.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla
• distress oxide ink - frayed burlap
• stencils/masks - drifts & hills stencils (regular and slimline) by MFT; moon mask by Tim Holtz
• other - blending tool, Treeline die (Tim Holtz), stencil film, picket fence distress paint, paintbrush, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot Switch, masking tape, craft foam

I do hope you'll visit the Just Add Ink blog to check out the samples my fellow team mates have made for you, and hopefully be inspired to have a go yourself. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Neutral Palette

The colours for this week's Color Throwdown challenge intrigued me and once an idea came to mind, of course I couldn't rest until I sat at my craft table to see if it would work. 

They described these as black, grey, cream and kraft. Here's my card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Christmastime 2, Treeline (Tim Holtz)
• card - watercolour, very vanilla, crumb cake
• distress inks - hickory smoke, black soot, tea dye
• SU ink - smoky slate
• other - Versamark ink, vintage pearl embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, moon mask (Tim Holtz), blending brush, foam sponging tool, Stamparatus, slimline nesting rectangle die, Big Shot

I began with masking the moon while I sponged the sky with two shades of grey then added the moon detail with beige/kraft ink and a touch of grey. Stamping the trees came next, then more sponging around the edges with black and the final detail was stamping and embossing the sentiment. 

Colour challenges are always fun, especially when they push you to try combinations you wouldn't usually use.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Just Believe

As Oscar Wilde wrote, 'I can resist anything except temptation' - and so it is with me and the Just Add Ink challenges at the moment! LOL. This week it's a sketch and I thought I might possibly give it a miss ... but then an idea came to me and I couldn't rest until I sat down to see if it would work. 

The purview is to 'use the sketch elements as inspiration' and once I mentally let go of the need to copy it exactly (still working on my anal retentive tendencies, roflol), I came up with the following:

Materials used:

• card - basic black, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - blueprint sketch, chipped sapphire, black soot
• dies - The Park (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), stitched rectangle, layering cirlces (SU)
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, craft foam, white gel pen, Small Talk stickers (Tim Holtz), Dimensionals

I began with cutting my 'Mary Poppins' die (two layers) so I could use it to judge dimensions for the circle and frame elements. Then I cut a piece of watercolour card slightly smaller than my card base and decided what size dies to use for the frame and circles. I masked off the centre for my moon then blended my three oxide inks, lastly spritzing with water and blotting to get the galaxy effect (and was thrilled when this turned out even better than I hoped for). Then it was a simple matter of cutting the frame, raising it with craft foam, and assembling all the elements. 

This was so much fun to make! I wonder if I'll be able to resist the next challenge ... but won't hold my breath, lol! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Toucan Do It

Day 5 of the hostage situation...

How are you? I hope you have something pleasant planned for your day or, if you're reading this at night, that you've done things you enjoy.

The silver lining to this pandemic cloud is the amazing preparedness of we crafters! While others may have previously scoffed at our craft-apocalypse tendencies, we can finally say...

ROFLOL!!! Mind you, I'm just grateful that there was no craft store within a 30km radius for me to feel bereft with non-essential businesses closing down; at least I can always keep shopping online! (Yes, I can say that safely with DH in the other hemisphere, lol.)

So, today I made a simple but sweet card. There's a little bit of masking and a smidge of colouring in (which you know I love) but that's really all there is to it (okay, and some fussy cutting too because I didn't buy the matching dies). The twine and sequins are a Sale-a-bration freebie, so score! Lol.

Materials used:

• stamps - Some Birdie Loves You (Clearly Besotted)
• card - whisper white, Bermuda bay, basic black, calypso coral, Butterfly Gala DSP
• other - Stampin Blends, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, post-it notes, mini Dimensionals, metallic baker's twine and sequins combo (SAB), glue, craft foam

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well.

Cheers

Kez

Brighter Days

Over at Simply Less is More they have an interesting challenge at the moment and I couldn't resist playing along.

It's like two challenges in one!

Here's my card:

I stamped the girl first and coloured her, then covered her with a mask and sponged the background. The raindrops and sentiment were added after that. I just had to make the umbrella yellow as DD21 has one and it makes me think of her.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You, Under My Umbrella
• card - whisper white
• other - Stamparatus, blending brush, sticky note, Stampin' Blends, basic grey marker

Why not pop over to the SLIM blog and check out the other entries - or better yet, enter the challenge yourself.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez