Blissful Starfruit

 

 

At Just Add Ink this week we have a colour challenge.

 

I must say I did find it challenging.  It’s the first time I’ve used any of the new in-colours and I haven’t bought any inks or markers (as yet anyway). I did have the cardstock though and so I decided to white emboss over the top of it.

 

 

I used a few new goodies from my big SU spending spree in September on this card.

The ornament keepsakes bundle, delicate designs folders, good cheer wheel and Blissful Bird.

When I had worked out my order and was just about to submit it, I looked down at the catalogue which was open at the page with this bird on it and on a whim decided I had to add it too.  I hadn’t even noticed it before, even though I’d looked over the catalogue hundreds of times and agonised over what to buy.  Possibly because it is on the same page as the stamp I wanted most of all - Poppies.  Anyway when I saw it I thought it would make a great Christmas bird, even though SU haven’t put it in the Christmas section, that’s what I think it is.  I thought he might look great holding one of the ornaments.

 

Ingredients :

Stamps : Ornament Keepsakes, Blissful Bird, Good Cheer wheel

Card : confetti white, basic grey, starfruit

Ink : white

Other : white ep, big shot, holiday ornaments, delicate designs ef, bakers twine, sewing machine, bird punch, square lattice ef

 

It’s an unusual colour choice for a Christmas card I know, but I think it works.

Please take a look at what the rest of the team at JAI have come up with this week.  There are some gorgeous creations to inspire you.

 

Kathy

Merry Dasher

Last week my Merry Monday card was chosen as a winner. Thanks Lesley :)
Which means I get to be a guest designer for this week’s Merry Monday challenge.  YAY!
Here is the wonderful sketch we got to work with.


I decided to use my Dasher stamp for the first time this year.



I brayered the background using mustard and cherry at the top and wisteria and baja at the bottom.  Then I stamped various christmas images over the top of the brayering using crumb cake.
Dasher was then stamped using a mixture of espresso and champagne mist shimmer paint.  He is actually a nice sparkly, rich espresso colour but that was a bit hard to capture in the photo.

Ingredients :
Stamps : Dasher, winter post, lovely as a tree, tiny tags
Card : espresso, crumb cake, white, dsp (ret.)
Ink : espresso, baja, wisteria, mustard, cherry
Other : linen thread, rhinestones, tag punch, mat pack, white pen, big shot, square lattice ef, brayer

Please take a look at what the rest of the design team have created for Merry Monday this week and play along too.

Kathy

Wedding Flower

If you’ve been following my blog you’ll know that last week I was asked to make a wedding card for one of the teachers at school. I was happy with how it turned out but then I was asked a couple of days ago to make another wedding card for the same person.   That made it hard because I have no wedding sets and I didn’t want to use the set I used last time (Always) again.

So I started looking at challenges for some much-needed inspiration today.
I found a great sketch of Rita’s at Freshly Made Sketches. 



And The Paper Players have a theme challenge this week which is Spring and that means flowers and butterflies to me.

So I decided to combine the two challenges and this is what I came up with:





I made a big paper flower again using very vanilla and spritzed it with champagne shimmer mist. I made another crumpled double bow too (thanks Ann).  I  clear embossed the butterfly from Kindness Matters and coloured them  with a blender pen and baja and river rock. I  have bent up their wings and attached them with mini glue dots.


Ingredients :
Stamps : Kindness Matters, Tiny tags, Cheer and Wishes
Card : vanilla, baja, suede, river rock
Ink : suede, versamark, crumb cake, baja, river rock
Other : tag punch, big shot, polka dot ef, lattice ef, swirls scribbles, island floral, 5 petal flower punch, fancy flower punch, antique brad, lace, crumb cake seam binding, blender pen, champagne shimmer mist/alcohol, clear ep, linen thread


Hopefully the person I made this for will be happy with the card.  I may just have to invest in a wedding set, it would make things so much simpler!


Kathy

Embossing 4 ewe

 

This is the other card we did at club last week using the inset embossing technique.

Isn’t it cute!

 

I also showed the ladies how to do the “squiggly button thingy” technique.

Not quite sure if that’s its correct name. Ha ha :)

 

Ingredients :

Stamps : pun fun

Card : pink pirouette, pip, regal rose, basic grey, celery, confetti white

Ink : pip, stazon

Other : crayons, aquapainter, button, white pen, piercer, big shot, square lattice ef, heart to heart punch, scallop trim border punch

 

I can’t believe Stampin Up are retiring Pun Fun!!!

It was the first set I chose as a demo.  I loved it and still do!

It’s a keeper for sure.

 

Kathy

Father’s eggs

 

For our stamp club last week the hostess asked if I could show them a technique with the big shot embossing folders and if we could make it a Father’s Day Card.

So I decided to teach them Inset Embossing and this is the card some of the ladies made.

Of course I used the Teeny Tiny Sentiments set so that they could change the sentiment and make it for whatever occasion they liked.

The ladies were pretty “wowed” by this technique.  It is so easy but very effective.

 

Ingredients :

Stamps :  Teeny tiny sentiments, nature’s nest

Card :  espresso, artichoke, crumb cake, confetti white, white

Ink :  stazon, crumb cake, artichoke

Other : big shot, square lattice ef, little leaves, window punch, modern label punch, aqua painters, crayons, neutral brads

 

Generally, for my stamp club, I do 2 different cards that use the same technique.  I will show you the other one later on this week.

 

Kathy

Trendy wood

 
This week at Just Add Ink we have a colour challenge for you.

I have never tried this combination before but I liked how it turned out.
I decided to make a Thankyou card for a teacher from my daughter’s school, who gave up his entire Sunday recently to take a school team to an Epilepsy trivia challenge in Launceston. I just wanted him to know how much we appreciated it.

I had seen some really gorgeous cards by Jan Tink using the woodgrain stamp a while ago but I had only recently given in and bought it.  I had been dying to try it out and when I saw the colours for this weeks challenge I thought that choc chip and sahara sand might work well with this technique.
Jan has a great tutorial on her blog here.  Take a look if you’d like to see how it’s done.
I did the same as she does in the video except that I stamped and sponged with choc chip and sahara sand and I used white craft ink.
For the trees I “rock and rolled” the leaves using celery and NQN and the trunks are choc chip but I also used my white pen on one side to highlight them.

Ingredients :
Stamps : Trendy trees, teeny tiny sentiments, woodgrain
Card : choc chip, sahara sand, vanilla, celery, white
Ink : celery, choc chip, sahara sand, white, NQN
Other : Big shot, square lattice embossing folder, choc chip button, linen thread, sponges, white pen

Please take a look at what the rest of the Just Add Ink design team have come up with using these colours and give them a try yourself.

Kathy

Pretty pink pig

It’s the start of a new month and that means another round of Splitcoast Creative Crew challenges to take part in.
CCREW0711CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Catalog focus: Show off your favorite new catalog or mini catalog item.



In the US the new Stampin Up catalogue has just been released.  We have to wait till September for ours but this is a sneak peek of one of the new sets.
My oldest daughter loves pigs and collects all things “pig”.  This card is for her.  Can you guess what I’m writing on the inside by looking at the front of this card?

Ingredients :
Stamps : Button Buddies, confetti
Card :  pink pirouette, regal rose, pip, white
Ink : pip, white
Other : big shot, square lattice, square scallop, timeless type alpha, rhinestones, white taffeta ribbon, regal rose grosgrain, subtle button, nesties

Hogs and Kisses!
Kathy

Thank you nature

 

At Just Add Ink this week we (it feels so good to be able to say that now) :) have a sketch challenge for you.

I decided to use the Nature Walk set from our new mini.

It is a gorgeous set and I will be showing you a lot more Nature Walk cards over the next few weeks.

I stamped the flower onto very vanilla, brayered crumb cake onto the square lattice embossing folder and then put it through the big shot.  I embossed everything else with soft suede and clear embossing powder and coloured the bird and eggs with baja.

The ribbon is white organza that I just coloured using a dauber and soft suede.  Then I just pulled a thread in it.  It coloured really easily and looks beautiful this new colour.

 

Ingredients :

Stamps :  Nature walk, Because I care

Card : vanilla, suede, baja

Ink : baja, suede, crumb cake, versamark

Other :  clear embossing powder, organza ribbon, dimensionals, big shot, square lattice embossing folder

 

Head over to Just Add Ink and see what the rest of the design team did with this sketch and then why not give it a try yourself.

Kathy

Explosion Purse

 

I was asked to be a Guest Design Team member for April at Just Add Ink. 

What an amazing honour!  The Design Team are all so talented and they have great challenges each and every week.  I am very excited to be a part of the team (for a month anyway)!

This weeks challenge is Just Add a Box or a Bag.

I found this little bag over on Brenda Quintana’s blog.  It’s called an Explosion Purse.  It’s a wonderful design and it’s easy to make too! Bonus!

 

This is my cute and simple version.

Ingredients :

Stamps : Punch Bunch

Card : Perfect plum 12”, regal rose, white, brights dsp stack

Ink : Melon mambo

Other : big shot, top note, scallop square punch, cropadile, turquoise ribbon (ret.), sticky strip, velcro dot.

 

And this is my Classy “stepped-up” version.

 

I like the other one, it’s cute. But I love how this one turned out!  I embossed a stamp from Elements of Style with silver embossing powder on black card.  It did take quite a while to emboss the whole sheet, but it was worth it, (it looks so luxurious!)  I also used shimmery white card and embossed it in the big shot using the Square Lattice folder and cut it using the top note die.  I trimmed this down so that it would have an edging of Rich Razzleberry and I used some Razzleberry satin ribbon for the handle and an Antique brad added that extra special touch.

 

Ingredients :

Stamps :  Elements of style

Card : black 12”, shimmery white, razzleberry

Ink  : versamark

Other : silver embossing powder, razzleberry satin ribbon, antique brad, big shot, top note, square lattice folder, cropadile, sticky strip, velcro dot

 

Brenda has instructions for the purse on her blog Qbees quest if you’d like to give it a try.  She is so clever! 

And make sure to head over to Just Add Ink and check out all the wonderful bags and boxes the rest of the design team have to show you too.

 

Kathy

Olive tree

 

I was a Colour Queen Courtier last week for my giraffe card hurray!!!

I feel very honoured (and excited) when I win a challenge. 

Anyway here is this weeks challenge at ColourQ.

 

Gorgeous colours and again the design team have come up with some really inspirational cards. You should take a look and why not enter the challenge yourself.

Here is my entry:

 

I had to make another male card this week so I thought I would use the challenge for some inspiration.  They’re always hard for me to make, but I’m quite pleased with how this turned out.

I made it sort of like a little book.  I folded the early espresso card on the side, glued an embossed piece of kiwi kiss to the front and then glued a piece of daffodil delight dsp around the “spine” and attached 2 jumbo brads with the crop a dile through all layers. Then I used my bone folder to score the front and back of the card where the dsp ends.

For the tree I inked it up with espresso and then used a baby wipe to get rid of the ink from the leaves and used an old olive marker on them.  I sponged espresso and crumb cake around the edges of the tree piece and sponged espresso on all other pieces. 

The Just for you was stamped in espresso and then the “YOU” is coloured in with an olive marker, but you can’t see it much in the photo unfortunately. Then I sprayed the tree with champagne mist shimmer paint.

 

Ingredients :

Stamps : Thoughts and prayers, oval all

Card : white, espresso, kiwi kiss, brights stack dsp

Ink : espresso, olive marker, crumb cake

Other : cropadile, jumbo brads, linen thread, dimensionals, oval punch, big shot, square lattice, champagne shimmer mist

 

I was asked to make this card by a friend who said “Do you make male cards?” and I said “Sure!”  (trying to sound confident even though I don’t feel confident at all when I have to make one).  Anyway I hope I succeeded and she is happy with it.

Kathy

Wild giraffe

There is a wonderful challenge at SUO Challenges to use your favourite retired Stampin Up set.  You should go and check out all the wonderful cards there and see which sets people miss.
My favourite is definitely Wild About You.
I also saw a colour challenge at ColourQ and knew I had to combine the two challenges and make a card with my favourite old set.

You know these are actually cookies? Aren’t they gorgeous! 
It is a wonderful colour combination,  I used Tempting Turquoise instead as I don’t have Cool Caribbean.


Ingredients :
Stamps :  Wild about you
Card : white, black, turquoise, daffodil delight, pumpkin,
Ink : pumpkin pie
Other : button (retired), pumpkin ribbon, turquoise ribbon (ret.), big shot, circle punches, timeless type junior alpha, square lattice

As well as loving this set because you can make a great card for anyone with it, it makes me smile every time I look at these stamps.
I started as a Stampin’ Up demo in August 2008.  I got a few stamps with my kit but I wanted more of course.  So I asked my sisters if they would buy me some things from the catalogue for my birthday in September. I wrote them a little wish list of different ones I really needed to have and one of my sisters bought me this one.  So when I got it I was very excited but was good and put it on my stamp shelf, unmounted, to be saved and not used till my actual birthday.
Well my birthday arrived and my husband and daughters gave me a birthday card they made with this set! They had put so much time and love into it, it was sweet.  I then remembered though that I hadn’t even mounted it! And this was back when the stamps weren’t cut for you already!
This is how it looks now:
 
The way he had mounted it was by cutting the rubber into rectangles the size of the blocks, stamped them onto the wood with choc chip and then stuck the rectangle of rubber onto the block.
When I laughed he just said “well that’s how you do it isn’t it?”
Umm…. NO.
I had to pull all the rubber off the block and try to cut it when it was very sticky. Put it back on the block and hope it still stuck and then put the stickers over his stamped images.
There’s no way I’ll ever part with this set.  (And probably no one would want it looking the way it does anyway!)

Kathy

Hip-hippo-ray

 

I had a wonderful Christmas with my family, I hope you did too!  I didn’t get any “craft” related presents, but I’m buying myself some new things when Sale-a-bration is on so that I can get some free sets as well.  I just have to wait 26 more days! I did get a great present though, a brand new camera.  It’s actually a family present, that’s how I’m justifying the cost of it to myself.  Anyway hopefully there is a noticeable difference in my photos of my family and my cards.  I will be so upset if it wasn’t the cameras capabilities, but my capabilities as a photographer!

I haven’t made any cards since my Christmas lot and it felt weird to not have something to focus on.  So I went looking for card challenges again to motivate me.  There was a great sketch at Stamping 411 again, I really love that site.  It was a square card and I am really enjoying making square cards at the moment. I also found a new challenge site called colourQ and decided to play along with their chosen colours for this week.  They had so many gorgeous samples I had to give these colours a try.  It was kraft(crumbcake),  basic grey, black, old olive, vanilla  and white.

 

 

The spotty background is made using a new technique called inset embossing.  It is so simple to do and looks very effective.  All I did was punch out some black and grey circles of different sizes and glued them onto a square of naturals ivory cardstock.  Then I ran it through the big shot using the square lattice folder.

When I had this piece made and looked at all the colours I was using together I just knew it would make a great “man’s card”.  But just look how it ended up!!!!  I decided to go back to one of my favourite old sets that I haven’t used for a long time , Pun Fun and make something gorgeous and cute instead. 

Ingredients :

Stamps : Pun fun

Card : black, crumb cake (kraft), naturals ivory, basic grey, old olive, watercolour paper

Ink : stazon

Other : watercolour crayons, aquapainter, mistletoe ribbon, dimensionals, big shot, square lattice

2nd challenge card

I got some great news about my metal petal card last week. It was one of the top picks at Stamping 411!  I was so excited!!!!  So now I have 2 little awards for my cards in the side bar.  Woo hoo!
Okay, back to business!  I have already entered the challenge at Just Add Ink this week but I have been trying to come up with some more Christmas card ideas and I decided to use their sketch again, because it’s a great one.
I have used something from the new summer mini catalogue (starts Dec. 1) on this card.  It’s a new embossing folder called Square Lattice and I really like it. Perhaps because I used crumb cake, it looks a lot like I have hessian or something behind the images.  I think I will be using this folder a lot.
This card is very Clean and Simple and has no ribbon or bling (can you believe it!) So it would be a great one for posting.



Ingredients : 
Stamps :  Winter Post, Occasional Greetings, Sanded
Card :  not quite navy, very vanilla, crumb cake, naturals ivory
Ink :  not quite navy, crumb cake
Other : big shot, square lattice embossing folder, square punch

Make sure you check back here December 1 for a link to the new mini catalogue and there is also a great December sale that I’ll let you know about.  Perhaps you could buy yourself a Christmas present!
Kathy