Best Day Kitties for JAI #788

Happy Friday and welcome! This weekend we will have the Shortest Day here in the Southern Hemisphere or the Winter Solstace on Sunday. It's a day that I really look forward to. As after this, the days start to get longer again despite being cooler and we can start to look out for all the colours of Spring. So whilst we might still need our woolly jumpers, it is all downhill to Spring and we also get more time to take daylight photos of our craft projects too!

And this week's Just Add Ink's Colour and Inspiration Image from Kerry continues with the warm, woolly thoughts with this cute little kitten curled up in it's knitted blanket or jumper. 
Just a reminder that for these challenges, you can choose either the image OR the Colours OR Both. But if you do choose to go with Colours only, you will need to use at least 3 of them.  And you have until Wednesday July 2 to enter your project in the challenge on the Just Add Ink blog.

For my card this week, I chose the Image Only option but I did end up using 2 of the colours as well. I hope that is not too confusing!
I was initially inspired by the cute kitten, the wool and the textures in the woven baskets and the jumper or blanket. I also needed a card for a cat lover who has a couple of colours of cats. So I coloured the image from Cutest Crew first and that is when I decided on using Coastal Cabana to emboss using the Crochet EF (retired) as it went better with the browns in the images than the challenge blues/ purples. Then the kitties and little butterflies all received a liberal coat of Wink of Stella.

Keeping all those little paws inside the in line die was a challenge in itself! Adding adhesive needed to be done carefully and I was probably more OTT with how I wanted this to line up and stay together than I was with most other elements on this card! 😅The sentiment is stamped and placed on dimensionals and so sits above both the paws and diagonal lines and it also provides a spot for the woolly bow to sit on.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the design team projects and we'd love to have you join us! 

Card stock: Basic White, Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana.

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana

Stamps: Cutest Crew

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Cutest Crew Dies, Crochet EF, Coastal Cabana Twine, Basic Rhinestones, Wink of Stella.

Til next time,

Jan

 

Exploring Unbridled Beauty for JAI #787

Happy Friday and the first week of Winter if you're in the Southern Hemisphere or a wonderful, beginning to Summer for you, Northerners! I am certainly not a Winter fan....the cold but especially the shorter, darker days, I find tough. But it is definitely a good excuse for being inside the craft room if you need one!

This week at Just Add Ink we have a fun Choose Two or more Challenge for you. Tristan suggested that we Choose Two out of:  Patterned Paper, Animals, People, Twine or Shadows.

Our design team have showcased all sorts of choices for you but it is true that most of us did choose animals.  I'd love to see what Two or more items from this list that you might choose to create with!

You have until Wednesday 18 June to share your project with us at Just Add Ink.

I'm sure that many people who follow my blog and / or Instagram feed would be expecting me to showcase dogs - as I usually do. Well, maybe next time, but not today! 😀 

I am one of 4 horse loving girls in my family. I share the love of horses with two of my gorgeous nieces and also my fab Sister in law who all ride in NZ. For the challenge, I have also chosen to use Patterned Paper and Twine.

The horse and country images are all from the Unbridled Beauty set. This is still available in the Last Chance ordering section. The paper is long retired as is the twine but all the colours went together rather nicely. The horse was stamped in Early Espresso, coloured with Copics and then fussy cut. He's layered over trees that are stamped in the new In Colour, Peaceful Pine. It matches well with the Background DSP and the Fence is is also stamped in Espresso and coloured with Copics.

The sentiment is first stamped in Early Espresso ink and then Clear Embossed to help it stand out on the patterned paper. I used the new Stampin Positioner to help with this - it makes stamping the same image several times easy. 

As you can see, the bottom of the "f" in "free" is also stamped and embossed on the white circle too. Having the Stampin Postioner made lining up the circle for this, so much easier! 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the cards from the rest of the design team and all the entrants too. I hope that you are able to join us for this Challenge which closes on Wednesday 17th June.

Card stock: Early Espresso, Basic White

DSP: Adventure (retired)

Ink: Early Espresso, Versamark, Peaceful Pine

Stamps: Unbridled Beauty, Exploring Nature

Accessories: Die Cutting machine, Spotlight On Nature Dies, Clear EP, Coastal Cabana Striped Twine, Metallic Sequins.

'Til next time,

Jan

 

Polkadot Flowering Meadow for JAI #786

 

It is almost Winter here in Australia and the days are getting shorter, cooler and wetter already in Melbourne. Thankfully, spending time inside in our craft spaces is as handy in Winter as it is in the heat of Summer!

It's time for a new Challenge at Just Add Ink. This one is from Kerry and she would like us to "Just Add Polka Dots" to our projects this week. Our design team have all created projects featuring different Polka Dots in different colours and textures. We look forward to seeing what you would like to create for this.

You have until Wednesday 3 June to enter this challenge.

My card for this challenge features some new products from the Flowering Meadow Suite and a die from the Spotlight On Nature Circle dies creates the front window that opens all the way to the inside of the card.

The flowers and leaves are attached to the outside of the window using glue dots and some flowers have stems that attach to other flower heads. This gives the flowers a little more strength and also the front of the card in general.

And inside the card there are a couple of supporting leaves that add to the design when closed and give a clean design of their own when open.

The Polka Dots that are the Challenge focus are from the Striped and Dotted DSP and is in Lost Lagoon, one of my all time favourite colours. The sentiment is from the Fabulous Sayings set and was still available last time I looked if you are interested in getting it.

The flowers were inked first in Pretty in Pink and then some Petunia pop is sponged onto the stamp before it's stamped onto paper. This was to celebrate the retiring In Colours. Next the flower stems were die cut and attached to the flower heads - and to the lower ones too using glue dots.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope that you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the cards created by the rest of the design team and entrants too. And I look forward to seeing what you might create for this challenge too!

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Basic White, Coastal Cabana,

DSP: Striped and Dotted Specialty

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Pretty in Pink, Petunia Pop

Stamps: Flowering Meadow, Fabulous Sayings

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Flowering Meadow Dies, Basic Pearls.

'Til next time,

Jan

Simply Beautiful watercoloured for JAI #785

Happy Friday and welcome to you! We've been a bit spoilt in Melbourne by a warmer than usual Autumn. But in the last 24 hours we've gone from a maximum of 21-25 degrees Celsius to having snow on the hills! So we've quickly pulled out the jumpers (sweaters) scarves, puffer coats and electric blankets and I'm writing this post snuggled up in bed, finally nice and warm! Hopefully it's a bit warmer where you are but cold weather is the perfect excuse to stay inside in your craft space and make a card or layout for this challenge isn't it?😄

This week at Just Add Ink is another of our now standard and rotating challenges: Just Add Stencils, Dies or both. You have until 7pm on Wednesday 20 May to join with us for this fun challenge. The design team have used all sorts of themes, dies and stencils in our projects to hopefully inspire you and so can you! We'd love to see what stencils and dies that you love to create with.

My card features lots of dies this week. There are the Simply Beautiful bundle dies that are used to cut these gorgeous floral images and the main flower centre. This is a gorgeous SU Online Exclusives bundle that is now in the Last Chance section and soon to be gone forever so if you like it, then you will need to be quick. It is great for colouring with blends or water colouring  I have again gone with water colouring and have CASED (Copy and Selectively Edit)  a similar card I made for an earlier challenge that you can see below and here. Yes, I mostly kept the design!

The background, detailed Leaf EF came as part of the Starter Kit bundle of products from Sizzix when I recently bought a new Big Shot. Also included were a number of framelits -  an arch, square and sentiment frame plus a number of leaf dies - including the two Smoky Slate ones used here.

When watercoloring, I love adding a light layer of colour first (Balmy Blue) and then, as it is drying I'll add another layer of usually the same colour. Here, though is some diluted Azure Afternoon to add a little more oomph to the flower centre and inner parts of petals. For the leaves, there is Smoky Slate and those delicate leaf dies.

The sentiment is from the January SU Stamp of the Month, Fabulous Sayings. I love that there is an array of both handwritten sentiments and incredibly, it is still available for only $9.00 with a qualifying order.

These sentiments don't have dies so a quick and easy way to cut them out is to trace around the stamp with a pencil, stamp inside this outline and then fussy cut it using the pencil line.

I really look forward to seeing what Dies or Stencils or combination of them that you would like to use in  and your project at  Just Add Ink this week!

Card stock: Basic White, Thick and Standard,Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon, Silver Foil

Inks:  Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon, Smoky Slate, Versamark 

Stamps: Simply Beautiful, Fabulous Sayings

Accessories: Die cutting machine, Simply Beautiful Dies, Metallic Sequins Assortment (retired). 

Non SU: Sizzix Starter Pack Thinlits - Leaf dies x 2,  Sizzix EF - Leaf Motif, Tim Holtz Watercolor Card Stock.

'Til next time,

Jan

 

Simply Beautiful Die Cut for JAI #784

 

Happy Friday and welcome! Here in Australia and New Zealand we are preparing to commemorate ANZAC Day tomorrow. A day where Australians and New Zealanders remember the times we have stood together in war and also in peace.

This week at Just Add Ink we have a great Sketch challenge for you suggested by Tristan.  

Sketches are great as the design is done for you and you just need to fit pieces into it. 
Our design team have all come up with all sorts of themes and colours to inspire you. We'd love to have you join us and see how you would use this. You have until Wednesday 6th May til this challenge closes.

For my card, I used the Simply Beautiful dies. I have created a card with the stamp before but this time I wanted to use just the dies. The flowers and most leaves were cut from Basic White card stock and then the centres with coloured using ink blending. Then I used a Water Painter and pushed the tip into the ink pad and used the cap to flick the same coloured ink over each piece. For the centre of the main flower, I used the beautiful new Velveteen Specialty Paper from the Velvet Meadow Suite. 

Whilst these coloured leaves and blooms fulfilled the sketch, I wanted some bigger, longer leaves to just add a little height. I found the Coastal Cabana cut leaves in a long retired bundle called Poppy moments. It's a set that I have always thought of around ANZAC Day so it seemed totally appropriate for this week's card. And I bought a bright pink bulb to plant ready for next Spring so that inspired my colour choices.

Thanks for popping by to see my card. I'm always grateful for the time people take in visiting and leaving comments.

I hope that you can take another moment and pop over to  Just Add Ink and see all the other cards from the design team and entrants and know that we'd love to see what you create this week too!

Card stock: Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Velveteen Assortment (Bubble Bath)

Inks: Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green

Stamps: Artistically Inked

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Plaid EF, Simply Beautiful Dies, Poppy Moments Dies, Basic Rhinestones.

'Til next time,

Jan

Happy Mothers Day for JAI #783

Happy Friday and welcome! Here in Melbourne we are definitely experiencing Autumnal conditions this week. The leaves are changing colours and falling. Yesterday we had a sunny, warm 25 degrees and windy morning and by 2pm we had thunderstorms and the temperature plumetted. More of the good old four seasons in one day that we are famous for to come for sure!

At Just Add Ink we have a Colour & Inspiration challenge for you suggested by Nikki. With these types of challenges you can either add at least 3 Colours of the ones suggested above, OR use the Inspiration photo OR both of these options. Our design team have, as usual, created a variety of projects to inspire you using all these different options. We'd love to have you join us!

For my card this week, I chose to use the colours - there is a pink, caramels, greys and whites to create a Mother's Day card for my friends at Guide Dogs Victoria here in Melbourne. 

I have been asked to facilitate a Mother's Day crafting morning for Guide Dogs clients and volunteers. This will be a card I will have on display and will create a slightly less detailed (and time consuming) version for the class. I was inspired by Andrea Sargent to create a puppy heart for this card.

This card features the wonderful Online Exclusive bundle, Cutest Crew for the pups, the Family Ties set for the sentiment and the long retired Happy Tails bundle with a coordinating punch for the "Mum". 

It was so fun to colour the potential Lab pups from the Crew set to look like the colours that Guide Dogs breed along with the much loved Happy Tails Lab "Mum." 

The pups are stamped and coloured with Copics and Blends, then die cut and fussy cut. 

The sentiment is stamped first on a piece of Basic White card using a stamp positioner to help align the three stamps and also because my hands shake these days so this makes it so much easier for me  to get that crisp and clear image that we all prefer. 

Next, the stamped Basic White card was embossed with the Crochet EF and the pups are arranged around the sentiment in a heart shape. A sparkly, shiny ribbon that was once a Saleabration option was cut lengthwise to make it thinner and used to form the bow and wrap around the card. 

Thanks for stopping by today! This challenge at Just Add Ink is open til 7pm on Wednesday 22 April so you have almost 2 weeks to make your project. I look forward to seeing whether you will choose colours  or the doughnuts to create with. I hope you are having a fabulous Autumn - or Spring - whichever Season it is in your part of the world.

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Pretty In Pink, Basic White

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Blends and Copics

Stamps: Cutest Crew, Family Ties, Happy Tails

Accessories: Die cutting machine, Crochet EF, Cutest Crew dies, Dog Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Pink sparkly ribbon (retired).

'Til next time,

Jan

 

 

Cutest Puppies for JAI #782

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to the last Friday in March. In a week's time it will be the end of Daylight Savings here in Australia. For some it means another Summer done and dusted. For many of us crafters, it means a little less daylight to take photos of our projects and some adjustments for blog post and Social Media timings. 

At Just Add Ink this fortnight, the lovely Lou Kitzelman has given us this challenge. It's to Choose Two or More from: Twine, Ribbon, Sequins, Buttons, Brads or Rhinestones. So there is a lot of choice amongst all the embellishments many of us have in our crafting stash. The ladies in our design team have all created some fabulous projects to inspire you. So I hope that you can pop on over to the JAI blog and hopefully join us.

For my card, I chose Twine, Sequins and what the heck, I added some Rhinetones over the flower centres as well!!

The fabulous Cutest Crew stamp bundle is already a favourite for me and I have plans to use it for a future, special card making workshop I've been asked to run for an organisation close to my heart. More on that later...

But getting back to this card, the middle dog is the focus and so is popped up on dimensionals for added emphasis for the recipient as that's the dog special to them.  Normally, I would've popped the DSP up on dimensionals too but I knew this card was going to be posted overseas so I wanted to keep it a little flatter. 

When posting a card that has rhinestones and sequins etc on it,  it is a good idea to add a piece of loose card stock in the envelope over these as they can pierce an envelope when the weight of other mail is added onto them or through the postal system's machinery.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and be inspired by the rest of the design team and other challenge entrants to join us. I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge.

Card stock: Shaded Spruce, Basic White

DSP: Full of Life (retired)

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Blends and Copics

Stamp: Cutest Crew

Accessories: Die cutting machine, Cutest Crew Dies, Nested Framelits (retired), Linen Thread, Rhinestones, Metallic Sequins

'Til next time,

Jan