Just Add Mother's Day

With Mother's Day less than two weeks away it's definitely time to get started making some cards! Though I won't need one for my Mum ( who passed away over 20 years ago now) I do get requests for cards for others and for this card used the Colour Challenge this week at Just Add Ink

Now for those that visited yesterday and saw another card I made with these colours that I didn't think was up to the Challenge, YES, I am regretting not entering that card now - and you can see it here:-) (EDITED to ADD - the Plane card has now been entered too - thanks Christine :-) )

And here is today's card…

For the card base I used Bermuda Bay card and the next layer has some Very Vanilla embossed with the Polka Dots EF and some Crumb Cake stamped with the Hardwood background stamp.

To cut the frame for the flowers I used the Square Framelits and some more Crumb Cake card - just by layering the framelits inside each other.

The happy Tulips are stamped twice and then fussy cut to add a layer to each one. For the greeting I used a much loved but long retired stamp set called Well Scripted and stamped this straight onto the Hardwood using the Baked Brown Sugar ink.  I am a bit out of practice at almost Shabby chic cards these days but I thought the style might suit the colours and the theme too :-)

Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar

Stamps: Hardwood, Simple Stems, Well Scripted ( Retired)

Accessories: Square Framelits, Polka Dots EF, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Basic Pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the fabulous cards the Team at Just Add Ink have made to inspire you and maybe you too will be excited to join in!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Rev Up the Arrows for the Paper Craft Crew

It was lovely to wake to sunshine today after the last couple of days of heavy rain - while we definitely need the rain, it does make it difficult to take the dog for a walk :-) However, it is also good for an excuse to stay inside a make a card and today's card is for the sketch at the Paper Craft Crew.

What an interesting sketch we have this week! And one I thought was perfect for a masculine card and have used my favourite stamp for males - Rev Up the Fun. I am so sad this is retiring this year!!

Because of the direction the motorbike is facing I turned the arrows around to match too :-)

For the card base I used Pacific Point card and then stamped the Smoky Slate layer with Gorgeous Grunge randomly in the same ink. To cut the Silver Foil frame I used the Oval Framelits and then layered the frame over the White oval using dimensionals. And I found it easier to stamp the tyre and greeting images prior to adding the frame :-) The Fun motorbike was first stamped in Black Stazon and then the blue was added with a Blender Pen.

For the arrows I used the Label Thinlit card framelits and added these with more dimensionals and also added a few silver sequins to match the silver frame too.

Card stock: Pacific Point, Smoky Slate, Silver Foil Specialty

Inks: Smoky Slate, Pacific Point, Black Stazon

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Label Thinlit card framelit, Oval Framelits, Blender Pen, Silver Sequins (non-SU)

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the Paper Craft Crew this week and see what wonderful inspiration the Team has for you and maybe you too might like to join in the fun challenge too !

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Getting ready to say Goodbye

Today is a miserably cold and very wet Autumn (but feels like Winter ) kind of day. And I've been looking at what items will potentially retire in our current Catalogue. Whilst in the USA the New catalogue is about to be launched, we are a month or so behind here in Australia and our Retiring List won't officially be released till later this week but we can get an idea of what will go by the USA list. So saying that, I went looking through my stamps and will really miss some - like Rev Up the Fun - and decided to make a card using only stamps that are staying to say goodbye.

And although  I've based this card on the Colour Challenge at Just Add Ink this week I won't be entering this card in the challenge :-)

(EDIT: It's been suggested that I should link this card up for the JAI Challenge this week after all so will do - thanks Christine :-))

And am sorry about the shadows on the card - very wet day =  lights needed!

The card base is Bermuda Bay and the Vanilla layer is then added on some dimensionals - in fact EVERYTHING is on dimensionals here :-)

For the suitcases they are stamped in varying inks and cards and fussy cut out and layered inside the On Film Framelit die. The little aeroplane is also from the All Around the World set and is stamped directly onto the Vanilla layer and then another plane layered over the top. And a little Gorgeous Grunge is stamped behind them all to break up the Vanilla a little

Finally, the greeting is from the fun "Just Sayin'" set and is cut out with the Word Bubble framelits - so glad they are staying!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Oh happy day for the Paper Craft Crew

Welcome to another fabulous Wednesday - it was a crisp Autumn morning here in Melbourne but we've had a lovely sunny day and now its time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew - and what a fun sketch it is too!

When I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use the Starburst Sayings stamp set for the main image instead of a heart and the rest just kind of flowed from there :-)

The card base is Calypso Coral with a little layer of Pool Party card under the Whisper White too. For the background there is a little random stamping of Gorgeous Grunge just to soften the otherwise all white background. Then everything is added on Dimensionals - from the Pool Party Chevrons to the greetings and arrows :-)

To align the Chevrons too I used the squares on my Grid Paper - makes it much easier to get the distance between them even :-) And to make the banner for the Wish Big - I simply cut it out with the Itty Bitty Banners Framelits and straightened one end!

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Peachy Keen, A Dozen Thoughts, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Itty Bitty Banners Framelits, Chevron Punch, On Film Framelits ( arrow), Vintage Faceted designer button, Whisper White Bakers Twine and orange sequins ( Non - SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you might have time to visit the Paper Craft Crew to see the amazing cards the designers have come up with to inspire you and maybe you might like to join in too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Fish Big for CYCI

A very Happy Easter to you wherever you are in the world today and whatever you are doing! It is such a special time of year and one of my favourite times :-)

Today's card is inspired by the the great team at Can you Case it.

I've had the idea for this card for a few days and finally got some time to sit down and put it together. I think I had fish and Good Friday on my mind too!!

For the Chevrons I've used the Positively Chevron stamp in two ways - ideally I had wanted to run the bottom half of the white page thru the Big Shot with the Embossing Folder too but the folder is too large to go through on its side so stamping has to suffice to give the wave effects of the sea :-)

The base card is Island Indigo and then I used 2 pieces of Whisper white - the bottom piece I stamped the chevrons directly in Island Indigo ink and then for the top piece I sponged Pool Party ink onto the stamp and stamped to give a much lighter and softer look and added with dimensionals.

I wanted to give the idea of movement so added the On Film piece on an angle on dimensionals and stamped the Fish from By the Tide in Calypso Coral ink and then coloured with some Crisp Cantaloupe using a Blender Pen.

The little greeting is from A Dozen thoughts and as usual I used my Hexagon Punch to flag the banner ends - love how easy that makes it! The little button is made from Simply Pressed Clay and is quite sparkly in real life as I sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds into the mould before adding the clay. It is coloured using some Island Indigo ink and another Blender Pen :-) And finally just a few silver sequins for bubbles.

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White

Inks: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe

Stamps: Positively Chevron, By the Tide, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Hexagon punch, Simply Pressed Clay, Blender Pens, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Silver Sequins (Non- SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you and for family have a very happy Easter and maybe you might have time to see what the fabulous Team at Can You Case It have made to inspire you and see if you can CASE it too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy Easter

Its been a lovely Good Friday - starting out with clouds that later delivered the rain that was promised and finishing with sunshine. Lots of people going to Church today - including me :-) and a busy day for the Fish Mongers in town!

And so fittingly, today's card has a Good Friday theme for Easter too.

The card base is Baked Brown Sugar stamped with the Hardwood in the same colour. Then there is a piece of white card before the delightful piece of the Watercolor Wonder DSP - which just seems so colourful and celebratory for Easter!
The Cross is another piece of Baked Brown Sugar stamped with Hardwood - and the individual Planks are cut to size and layered with dimensionals.
Unfortunately, even though it is embossed with White Embossing powder, the greeting doesn't really stand out but in some ways that is good as the Cross remains the star.
Next there are two lovely Tulips from the Simple Stems set and then there are the leaves. Now ideally I would've used my Bird Punch for these but it has not yet been released from the punch "hospital" after an admission for a paper jam - fortunately it has been repaired, just not quite home yet :-) So the last resort was indeed the stems front the Simple Stems set - with the top of the stem removed.

So I hope you are having a very good Good Friday wherever you are today and whatever you are doing and wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Blue and White for the Paper Craft Crew

Its a beautiful Autumn day here in Melbourne today - a little crispy this morning but bright and sunny! The schools are on holiday and its sort of a relaxed time as we gear up for Easter.
And today being Wednesday, its time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew.

For my card I decided to use some of the Polka Dot Parade DSP before it retires soon (and I will miss it!) and also the wonderful Square framelits  -  so that was my starting point from the sketch.

And also because of the square frame, I decided to make this a square card to match it :-)

For the card base I used Marina Mist and then layered the Whisper White with the DSP on top. To cut the Frame I layered the Framelits on the beautiful Silver Foil card stock inside each other and then I used some dimensionals to pop it up onto a square of White cut with the largest of the two framelits I used. The prettyTulips were each stamped twice and hand cut and added with dimensionals between them and the soft Organza ribbon just literally ties the bunch together :-)

I think this greeting is my favourite Birthday stamp still - such a shame it is retired!! To flag the end of the banner I used my Hexagon punch as I find it so much easier than trying to cut by hand!! Simply measure the width of the banner and place a little pencil mark at half way, and slide the mark into one of the corners on the punch and you have perfect flags every time :-)

Finally, I added three little rhinestones inside the bottom corner of the frame and two to the banner as I do love a little Bling!!

Card stock: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Silver Foil Card

Designer Series Paper: Polka Dot Parade

Inks: Marina Mist, Gumball Green

Stamps: Simple Stems, Happiest Birthday Wishes ( Retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Framelits, Hexagon Punch, Decorative Dots EF, White Organza Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Now I'm thinking I might just have to make another of these soon for Mother's Day…its not that far way!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and  I hope you have time to check out all the cards from the talented Designers and join in the fun this week with the Paper Craft Crew :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Simple Stems for FMS

Autumn is truly in the morning and evening air today but we cannot complain especially as the northern part of Queensland has been hit by Cyclone Ita. There has thankfully been no loss of life despite a lot of damage to many communities. So this card is inspired by the resilient people of Queensland :-)
And it helped to follow yet another great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week.

Just click on the picture below to see it better 

Yes, I know, it is kind of pushing the boundaries a bit. I hope thats ok? There were two main reasons…

  1) I was really ("peachy") keen to use the On Film Framelits which arrived the other day and

  2) I have a friend who is "challenging" me to use more of Gorgeous Grunge than I already do ( which is a lot!!) 

So the card base is some Sahara Sand with a layer of Whisper White on top. I used the "splatter" of green for my horizontal band across the card and later added a touch of the little dots in Strawberry Slush.

To make the frame, I cut two of the Film pieces and layered them over each other to create a longer frame and added the on some dimensionals.

Next the tulip from Simple Stems is stamped twice and cut out and layered on each other and then finally a little banner is cut from some more White card and stamped with a greeting from a Dozen Thoughts.

I added a Vintage Faceted Button and made a bow with some Linen Thread and teased out the layers of thread to almost give the impression of a double bow.

Finallly a little butterfly with a Rhinestone to finish and add a little balance.

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush

Inks: Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding

Stamp: Simple Stems, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Beautiful Wings Embosilits die, Hexagon punch, Vintage Faceted Button, Linen Thread

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the fabulous cards by the team at Freshly Made Sketches and maybe you too might just be inspired to enter too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Easter Eggs

Today the sun has come out at last! After the last four days of quite heavy rain it is wonderful to be able to enjoy some sunshine and take the dog for a longer walk :-) And of course it is also only one week to Easter so another fabulous reason to celebrate!
Unfortunately my health has not been great recently but today is a better day and so am joining in the fun at Can You Case It. Where the theme this week is "Bunnies, chicks and eggs."

Now this card didn't quite turn out how I had envisioned it  - of an egg falling down steps and cracking open but its nearly there :-)

For the card base I used some Whisper White with some Coastal Cabana card between the layers.

To make the "steps" I stamped the wonderful Hardwood onto some Sahara Sand card and cut the steps and rounded the corners. I had some left over grass from a previous project and added it here to give an outdoorsy feel along with some Gorgeous Grunge stamped in Gumball Green.

Next the egg and chick were stamped in Baked Brown Sugar and the insides with some Calypso coral and the the little chickadee was coloured with Crushed Curry ink using a Blender pen and added with dimensionals.

And finally a little bling with (just a few!) sequins :-) Yes, I still love the bling!!

Card stock: Coastal Cabana, Gumball Green, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green, Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry

Stamps: A Good Egg (Retired), Hardwood, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Hexagon Punch (flag ends), Blender pens, Non-SU sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you pop over to Can You Case It and see what the wonderful designers there have made and maybe you could have a go too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Dinoroar for the Paper Craft Crew

Well it would seem that Summer is indeed over! It has been raining non-stop for well over 24 hours now and we are expecting rain all week long. So strange as it has been such a long, hot and dry Summer - and we need this rain - but I am ready for the sun to come back anytime :-)

Being Wednesday, it is also time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew.

And of course the rain gives a great excuse to stay in and make a card - or in this case, a card and a bookmark! But first, the card…

I will admit I found this sketch a bit tricky at first - having so many elements - so is a good challenge for me! But then I found the black embossed images from Dinoroar that needed colouring and the idea of a grass scene came to life :-) And I know that Dinoroar is a retired (or Vintage!) set, but I had my Nephew in mind whilst making this card and he is about to turn 6 and like most 6 year old boys he just loves Dinosaurs!

So for the card base I used some Gumball Green card and then a layer of Sahara Sand that I embossed with the Decorative Dots EF.

The grass strips are also pieces of Gumball Green that I cut using my scissors leaving about 1/4 cm with which to apply some Snail to attach. For the tag I again used the green and then some of the fun and ever so grungy Epic Day DSP.

To colour the dinosaurs which were embossed with Black EP, I used my blender pens and some Sahara Sand, Summer Starfruit, Coastal Cabana and the beautifully bright Calypso Coral ink.They are then added with dimensionals to really stand up :-) The greeting is also embossed in black and for the "black stones"…they are simply some Basic Rhinestones that I coloured with a Sharpie marker - so easy!

Inside the card is another Dino on dimensionals, along with the 6 which is cut from the same piece of DSP and the little Word Bubble from the fun Just Sayin stamp set.

Card stock: Gumball Green, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Epic Day

Inks: Sahara Sand, Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit, Versamark

Stamps: Dinoroar ( Sadly retired), Just Sayin'

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Timeless Type Alphabet dies (retired), Word Bubble Framelits, Black Embossing Powder, Blender Pens, Scissors, Coastal Cabana Stretch Trim ribbon, Baic Rhinestones, black Sharpie marker

Now when I had finished the card I did think the tag looked a little like a book mark and as my favourite Nephew is an exceptional reader for his age, I decided to make a matching one for him.

So I coloured some more Dinos and cut some more grass and Voila!! A little book mark to brighten the page of any good book :-)

Card stock: Gumball Green, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Epic Day

Inks: Versamark, Coastal Cabana, Sahara Sand, Calypso coral, Read Red

Stamps: Dinoroar, Just Sayin'

Accessories: Big Shot, Word Bubble Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Black sharpie marker, Scissors, Coastal Cabana Stretch Trim ribbon

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take time to check out what the other Design Team members have created to inspire you this week. And I look forward to seeing what you have created with this sketch from the Paper Craft Crew this week!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Doggie Coasters

Today I have something other than a card to share for a change! It is a little gift I made for one of our dog loving friends that was calling in today. I was inspired by seeing the coasters Justin Krieger made using the By the Tide stamp set that you can see here. I just LOVED these as an idea and when I needed a quick gift I knew that using the "D is for Dog"stamp set borrowed from another good friend would be perfect! But I'll let you be the judge :-)

So I had previously managed to find the Mason's Jar lids at a local Matchbox store - and bought all they had :-)

The cork I sourced from my local craft store and to make sure it would stick well to the Jar lids I used the Multipurpose Adhesive backing sheets prior to stamping with the Stazon ink. You may notice that the ink seems a bit uneven? Well, that is just the slightly uneven surface of the cork and can't really be helped. Next I used my Circle Framelits to cut the cork to fit inside - it is a little bit smaller than the lid size but still looks ok. 

And, because these are likely to get wet, I gave each coaster 2 coats of Modge Modge to seal.

Inks: Black Stazon

Stamps: D is For Dog

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets, Non -SU Cork, Mason Jar Lids

Now you can't have a gift without some packaging….so that was my next job:-)

I really wanted to make a bag using DSP and the Scallop Tag Topper punch - but at 3 inches in circumference, the coasters seemed too big. So instead I made a little box and a bookmark…

For the box I just cut a 12"x12" piece of DSP to 9"x9" and then scored at 3" and 6" on all sides and put together. For the lid I used the same DSP and cut a 4" square and scored at 1/2" on all sides. Next I used the same size circle Framelit as for the coasters in the middle and then cut a 3" x3" square from the Window Sheets and attached that to the inside of the lid using glue dots.

The little book mark has a Black card stock base and I used the other side of the same DSP page to cover it after Punching with the Scallop Tag Topper punch and stamped with the same images as the Coasters.

Card stock: Basic black, Whisper White

DSP : Sweet Sorbet

Inks: Black Stazon, Calypso Coral

Accessories: Scallop Tag Topper Punch, 1/14 and 13/8 Circle punches, Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack, White Organza ribbon

The surprise gift was well received and so I might just have to make some more! 

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Because for Just Add Ink

It has been a strange day today - warm overnight and quite humid and then as the afternoon came so did the rain! So it was a good opportunity to create a card for the lovely colour combo at Just Add Ink this week.

What a fabulous combination! Calypso Coral is my favourite colour of late so I decided to make it the hero in my almost one layer card.

For the background I turned to my favourite background stamp - Gorgeous Grunge and stamped the lines stamps to form a frame in Smoky slate and I wonder if it was the fact that it was raining outside that helped with the dotted images in the middle??

The largest butterfly from Papillon Potpourri was stamped in Versamark and then Smoky Slate before being Clear Embossed to enable colouring with an Aqua painter - and yes, I'm loving adding extra colour to the butterflies lately!! I then stamped and coloured the butterfly on the base card stock as well so as to be able to see the Antennae and added the brighter version on a dimensional.

For the Sentiment I used the lovely scripted words from A Dozen Thoughts and added a Navy Bakers Twine bow onto a Vintage Faceted button for a little touch of bling :-) 

Card stock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate

Inks: Smoky Slate, Pacific Point, Calypso Coral, Versamark

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Not Quite Navy Bakers Twine, Hexagon punch

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take time to check out the lovely cards the Design Team at Just Add Ink this week and maybe you are inspired to enter the Challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Baby Boy for Paper Craft Crew

Well its another warm Wednesday in Melbourne - I'm sure it can't last much longer but will enjoy the warmth while we can :-) And so it is time for a new sketch at the Paper Craft Crew.

There are lots of elements to the sketch this week and I think I used most of them :-)

Originally I had the idea of the T-shirts hanging on a washing line in front of a fence….so I modified that a little here. The fence was in fact quite labour intensive(pun intended LOL!) - the Hardwood stamp was stamped twice onto two sheets of card as on the stamp, the fence would've been on its's side. I then cut the planks out individually and sponged the edges before adding to a piece of Smoky Slate card leaving a little Slate showing between each plank.

The pretty little T-shirt wheel was inked up in Island Indigo ink and then I coloured in using a Blender pen and some Pool Party ink - and a Real Red marker for the little heart. After cutting out is layered onto the Oval after adding some Gorgeous Grunge.

I cut a banner using the beautiful Sweet Sorbet DSP from Saleabration and layered onto some more Pool Party card stock. And used the greeting from A Dozen Thoughts for the "announcement." And  a few little blue sequins to add to the celebratory theme.

Card stock: Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet *

Inks: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Smoky Slate

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen thoughts, Banner Blast*, Baby T'ees Jumbo Wheel

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Hexagon Punch ( for flag ends), Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack ( Pool Party Twine),Banner Punch Non -SU sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take the time to see what the Design Team have created to inspire you this week at the Paper Craft Crew and I look forward to seeing what you will create!

Happy stamping,

Jan