Beautiful Day

Welcome to another Tic Tac Toe challenge! This week we have the following grid for you to pick three-in-a-row:

I chose the middle vertical column of die cut/punch - embossing - layers to make a shabby/vintage easel card.

I worked on my card front first, choosing papers and distressing them before layering. The nest was die-cut from papers in the collection and given a little ink for shading, while the bird was cut from white and coloured with distress inks. Once they were attached I added the grasses, wheat sheaf and butterfly. On the inside I carried through the papers and distressed edges, heat embossed my sentiment and added the flower and leaf. Everything was given some white gesso splatters before assembly.

Materials used:

• stamps - Gnomes for Summer (CTMH)
• papers & ephemera - Whispering Way collection (49andMarket)
• dies - layered warbler (Simon Says Stamp), bird nest (stash)
• other - blending brushes, MISTI, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, clear embossing powder, heat tool, gesso, splatter brush, distress inks

There's more samples to see from my team mates over on the Tic Tac Toe Challenge blog and if you are inspired to choose a row and create, be sure to share!

Thanks for dropping by and have a beautiful day.

Cheers

Kerry

Nature's Bounty

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge to TIE IT UP (ie use twine/ribbon/etc) inspired me to create this morning and as I was in a mixed media mood, I made a layered collage-style card with a nature theme.

I used papers and elements from 49andMarket's Curator's Meadow collection for my background, sponging edges with oxide ink. I replaced the white string on the tags with a twine that fit better and layered them up. The 'stamps' are washi tape from the collection, adhered to white, while the leafy branch is die-cut and coloured with more oxides. My nest is a cheap craft one cut down as it was too large and I painted some tiny eggs, hot gluing them all to my card. The last step, as always - cos this is me and mixed media, after all (lol) - was paint splatters.

Materials used:

• papers, tags, washi tape, ephemera - Curator's Meadow collection (49andMarket)
• card - crumb cake, basic white (Stampin' Up), watercolour
• distress oxide inks - walnut stain, peeled paint, forest moss
• distress paint - antique linen, walnut stain
• other - Dimensionals, blending brushes, sponge dauber, craft foam, tiny eggs (Tim Holtz Idea-ology), Easter mini nest (Anko), hot glue gun, Big Shot, twine, splat box, fanbrush, magnolia leaf branch die (Memory Box)

Hope you're getting some creative time too! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #671 - Just Add Inspiration

Good morning! It's time for a new challenge with Just Add Ink and we have a gorgeous inspiration board for you this week - so many evocative images to stimulate your creativity. 

My offering is a decor piece - a set of three vignette boxes decorated with a nature theme.

To provide cohesion and continuity, the same background was used for each box, then they were decorated with various die cut elements. For extra visual interest I added some snippets of rub-ons and stamped splodges in random spots. Unusually for me, I didn't sponge the distressed edges - the raw, organic look of them appealed to me in the moment so I left them as is. 

Here they are individually.

I think my favourite part of this is the wee fieldmouse with its loooong tail - so cute!

Materials used:

• stamps - Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up)
• all paper, rub ons and die cuts from Curator's Meadow collection (49 & Market)
• wooden vignette boxes from Tim Holtz
• other - forest moss and vintage photo oxide inks (TH), sponge daubers, distress collage medium, paintbrush, distressing tool

I do hope you'll check out more offerings over on the Just Add Ink blog and be inspired to create. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #195

As usual with every second challenge, this week The Card Concept offers two inspiration pics for you to choose from as a jump start for creativity. Here are Floral Spring and Garden Birds.

  

As I adore having birds in my garden, it wasn't difficult to chose that option as the inspiration for my mixed media card.

Once I'd chosen all the bits and pieces I was planning to use, I began with blending some oxide inks on my background and added a few water splatters. Next I applied the rub on flowers, die cut birdhouse and fence before adding the quote chip, small bird and extra flowers. Lastly came the bird in flight and some white paint splatters before everything was mounted on my card base.

Materials used:

• card - basic white, boho blue (Stampin' Up)
• Tim Holtz products - oxide inks in shabby shutters, bundled sage, speckled egg; Quote Chips - Labels; picket fence distress paint
• Stamperia Welcome Home collection - rub ons, ephemera
• other - blending brushes, rub on tool, paint brush, craft foam, Dimensionals, water spritzer

I hope you'll be inspired to create with our mood boards and share in our gallery. Do visit The Card Concept blog to see more samples made by my team mates, and 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