Just Add A Sketch

Welcome to the last Friday in Summer - already!! It seems as though it hasn't been as hot a Summer as usual so maybe that's why it seems to have gone so quickly? Can hardly believe that the evenings are indeed getting a little shorter even though we still have Daylight Savings time for another month.

And this week at Just Add Ink  we have a great sketch for you by Kim. The Team have come up with some fabulous ideas to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop over and take a look.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

The big and bold "@" teamed with the Back To Black DSP make for a card that hopefully will appeal to a Teen male  - that was the look I was going for anyway :-) A few splashes of silver Grunge and sequins and the card is done. The angled piece did take a bit of measuring but is well worth the effort as the sharp angles work so well with the circles.

Card stock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Back to Black

Inks: Real Red, Silver Encore

Stamps: # Hello, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle and Starburst Framelits, Frosted Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see the fabulous ideas the Team have created to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will make with this fun sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Crazy For Birthdays

After a bit of a rush this morning to get there am now resting after having a surgical procedure at the Dental Hospital…a huge thank you to my good friend Bernie who played Taxi and stayed for a coffee afterwards -  it was good to have a bit of time to catch up too as it's been a couple of weeks since we've seen each other. We never seem to run out of things to talk about - just one of the signs of a good friendship I think :-) And yes - we are having a Stamp and Chat night tomorrow and it was Bernie that introduced me to stamping. We started off as work colleagues 15years ago….where has the time gone?!

Talking of time…it's Wednesday and so time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew! The Team has a new member this week  - Crystal aka Super Stamp Girl - so I hope you can take a moment and pop over to see all the wonderful creations from the Team and give Crystal a warm welcome too :-)

When I first saw this it just screamed "star shaker " to me so I couldn't help but listen :-)

So to create the shaker element I used our Shaker Frames - they are a good height and width to keep all the bits and pieces inside and if you snip a side it is quite easy to shape them any way you  like. So I first put my DSP layer onto the front of the card and cut the top star with the Star Framelits. The Navy layer underneath is cut with the next larger size star enabling the Frame adhesive to be hidden. And the Window sheet is just behind the Gold star frame - gives plenty of room to fill and shake and as this will be heading off to my turning 7 years old Nephew….it will get a bit of shaking for sure :-)

And thanks to the fabulous Hello You Thinlit dies there is very little stamping on this card too!

Card stock: Night of Navy, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Gold Foil Specialty

Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bash Specialty

Inks: Versamark

Stamps: Crazy For You

Accessories: Big Shot, Star Framelits, Hello You Thinlits, Itty Bitty Punch pack, 13/4" Circle Punch, Hexagon Punch - for banner ends, Gold Embossing Powder, Basics Hodgepodge Clips

Thanks for stopping by today and I do hope you can take a moment and pop on over to The Paper Craft Crew and check out what the rest of the Team has made to inspire you. And I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add "Thank You"

Welcome to another fabulous Friday :-) Today the heat returns so the tomatoes in the garden will be happy but the doggie best mates won't be so impressed at no evening Park meeting. So we might have to take Sally over to visit earlier. We are pretty spoilt to have a key to Monty's yard and now as Sally is regaining her strength after several rounds  (and $$$$!!) of surgery they are now able to enjoy a "play date" again.
 Over the last four years they would play/ tease each other all day if they could and it has been a long time coming but to see them both so happy again - after 10 months -  it is what we dared to hope for. Their vigorous play "like the old days"as Monty's Mum observed is so heartwarming to watch! These are two best friends that when parted for more than a day or so get depressed and so it has been a hard road for both of them  - they've had to get by with kisses through the gate :-) So we are so grateful to the many people involved in getting Sally back on her feet quite literally.

So how appropriate is the Theme Challenge this week at  Just Add Ink?  Patrice has suggested to "Just AddThank You" and the Team have created a wonderful variety of cards to inspire you so do take a moment to pop on over and check them out won't you :-)

Here is my card:

 It uses a new technique for me thanks to a card class that aims to make a repeated die cut  the feature of a Clean and Simple card. So for this I used the Scallop Border Die from the Adorning Accents pack and then when I had them held in place with some Post it Notes, sponged a light ombre-ish panel to highlight part them a little more and try and give a water / sky effect for the little pink butterfly to flutter above. I'm not sure that it doesn't look a bit like a blue building here but that was the aim ;-)

The butterfly was stamped and then coloured with Melon Mambo Blendie markers…a few random pieces of bling and all done! 

Card stock: Whisper White

Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Momento Tuxedo Black, Melon Mambo Blendabilities Markers

Stamps: Sassy Salutations, Papillon Potpourri

Accessories: Big Shot, Adorning Accents Dies (Retired), Basic Rhinestones

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and be ready to be inspired by all the wonderful creations from the Team this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create for this challenge too :-)

And just in case there is any doubt -Sally (black Lab) is still the boss too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

New Two for the Paper Craft Crew

Welcome to another Summer's day in Melbourne :-) And happy Lent too! Today actually is more like Autumn than Summer outside but I am not complaining - so many people suffering through snow and freezing conditions and we are living comfortably in short sleeves every day  -  and the Veggie garden is flourishing too :-)

And being Wednesday it is also time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew and the Design Team have come up with a lovely variety of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and be inspired.

Now I tend towards the Clean side so this was indeed a good challenge for me as at first I wondered what DSP to use.... But once I settled on a theme it all came together quite quickly. Love it when that happens - and "Love" it is!

 I have a good friend getting married in April :-)

So the DSP is the Irresistibly Yours available for Free as part of Saleabration. It is one that you can colour any way you like but I decided to leave it white here :-) And it is actually a slightly different white than the Whisper White card so the card base and label greeting is also the DSP - just the reverse side which is blank.

To create the gold doily I simply covered a paper one in Versamark ink and then gold embossing powder and heated it -  I used some tweezers to hold it and laid it against some scrap paper for the process and it worked really well. So I used the same process to colour the 3 Pearls too!

Card stock: Brushed Gold

Designer Series Paper: Irresistibly Yours

Inks: Versamark

Stamps: For The New Two

Accessories: Big Shot, Label Framelits, Paper Doilies, Gold EP, Satin Gold Ribbon, Vanilla Rosette Trim (retired), Basic Pearls

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to the Paper Craft Crew  this week and be inspired by the many varied cards of the DT and I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Be The Star

Today's card is a special one for a special young friend's birthday! Natalie first started accompanying her mother to card making workshops when she was 6 years old - and now is turning 11!! Where has the time gone?!  She has become such a bubbly and full of life  young person and whilst card making is maybe not her number one hobby currently, she still shows her wonderful creativity in her scrap booking,  dancing and her love of singing and music. She is indeed a bright little star :-)

So Happy Birthday Natalie - this one is for you :-)

Of course I do know that "Purple" is her favourite colour so the decision to make was which one to use as we have so many lovely varieties  so eventually went with the newest and current favourite :-)

To make the Shaker element I used the Star Framelits and our Shaker Frames - and yes, these come in circles! However, I've found in the past that if you cut the circle frame you can then mould it into any shape you like. This large star needed a couple of Frames and because they are the same width and height, they provide an easy uniformity when joined together. 

However, they are higher than our other foam adhesive, the dimensionals - so in order to allow the whole card front to be flat and appear seamless, I  cut a co-ordinating star from the Gold layer underneath so the Blackberry layer can sit above on dimensionals and not look "lumpy" :-)
The gold star inside is stamped in Encore Gold ink - to allow the Be the Star to sit over the top  and these images as well as the background stars are all part of the fun Be The Star stamp set - I love how versatile it is! And inside? A mixture of leftover sequins from the Perpetual Calendar Kit and the fun In Colour Sequins - several stars amid the mixture of course :-)

For the greeting I used the Crazy For You stamp set and gold embossing powder to match the wonderful gold  "happy" cut with the co-ordinating Hello You Framelits.

Card stock: Blackberry Bliss, Brushed Gold, Gold Foil, Whisper White
Inks: Encore Gold, Blackberry Bliss, Versamark
Stamps: Be The Star, Crazy For You
Accessories: Big Shot, Star Framelits, Hello You Framelits, Shaker Frames, Gold EP, In Colour Sequins, Perpetual Calendar Kit, Gold Sequin Trim, Hexagon Punch, Window Sheets

Thanks for stopping by today! And one more little announcement! My good friend Louise is participating in the Creative Blog Hop today so do take a moment to pop on over and see her always gorgeous creations and say "hi" :-)

Happy stamping until next time.

Jan

Rev Up for a Sketch

Welcome to a hot Sunday evening in Melbourne!! Yes, I know there are some people who are experiencing major snow falls….and that's something I sure wouldn't want to be in. But let me tell that you that the car at one point today was reading 39.5 degrees Celsius and when the car stopped it felt like we were melting!! Thank goodness we came home to Air Con and it meant I had the best excuse to make a card as it was too hot to move too much :-)

I needed a masculine "Thank You" card and with a stamp set in mind to use, found the perfect sketch to inspire me by Kim at Freshly Made Sketches :-)

I have some DSP on my table from the last card I made and it will suit this sketch and my theme perfectly - don't you just love it when that happens :-)

Yes, a retired favourite stamp set but what else do you give a professed "car enthusiast" aka Rev head??

To help this be slightly less retired looking I added the fresh "Back to Black" DSP and the teamed it with the Large Polka Dots EF. The randomly placed "black dots" are Basic Pearls coloured with a black Permanent marker. In the past I have teamed this stamp with Gorgeous Grunge and simply couldn't resist doing it again.

And the greeting itself is also covered in Crystal Effects - as is the little heart  to give it a little shine :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, 

Designer Series Paper: Back to Black

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Smoky Slate, Real Red

Stamps: Rev Up The Fun, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Large Polka Dot EF, Crystal Effects, Owl Punch (heart), Basic Pearls, Black Permanent Marker, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to go and check out all the fabulous cards by the Freshly Made Sketches Design Team and maybe you might be the next to enter the challenge.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Ink # 250

Today in Melbourne we have been enjoying the cool change after the heat yesterday - and although it will be short lived apparently, it has been very welcome!

Now this week at Just Add Ink we have an awesome Photo for the Challenge inspiration. So there are many different directions you can take this I think :-) The Design Team have made some wonderful projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and have a look.

It will be no surprise to some that Pink is one of my favourite colours  - and I do love the polka dots here too ( so pretty!!) And did you notice the little pop of multicoloured DSP in the background?

Here is my card:

Yes, I chose to use some dotty DSP - this one is part of the Best Year Ever pack available for FREE during Saleabration. I love how fresh it looks and that it could easily work as some "sky" for a balloon or 2 :-)

It was such fun to team the new DSP and Balloon stamp and framelits with the much loved Hearts A Flutter stamp set that has been around a little longer. Some pink and silver hearts, and a little twine to connect the balloons with the word "you"and the card is ready to take flight!

Card stock: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer 

Designer Series Paper: Best Year Ever

Inks: Pink Pirouette, Strawberry Slush

Stamps: Celebrate Today, Hearts A Flutter

Accessories: Big Shot, Balloon Framelits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Hello You Framelits, White Bakers Twine, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink to see the wonderful projects the Team have made to inspire you this week - and I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy 4th Birthday

Welcome to a very hot Summer's day in Melbourne - 36 degrees Celsius! We got our doggie walk in nice and early and are now enjoying an afternoon in aircon.The forecast is for a dry cool change tonight - which will be a change from the usual stormy versions we get - just in time for sleep hopefully :-) So strange to think that many in the Northern Hemisphere are covered with snow while we are positively melting!!

And it is time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew. The team have a very varied and awesome collection of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop over to see them :-)

So here is the sketch:

And here is my card - for my oldest Niece  :-)

Yes, I have resisted the urge to do a "Frozen" card ;-) and instead went with pinks and silver sparkle for her 4th Birthday card! Hopefully she will like it! It still has stars and sparkle which hopefully will appeal to her  as she loves anything Princess related :-)

For the background I first stamped with both Gorgeous Grunge and Work of Art before punching some silver and and red Glimmer Paper and adding some of the stars to the background.

Card stock: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer, Red Glimmer

Inks: Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette, 

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Work of Art, Starburst Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Circle Framelits, Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlits (Retired), Itty Bitty Banner Framelits, Star Border Punch, Silver Twine

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to check out all the great inspiration the Team at The Paper Craft Crew and I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Guest Designer for Just Add Ink!

Yes,  I am Sooo excited to share with you that I have been invited to be a Guest Designer for Just Add Ink for the next little while!! Just Add Ink was the first challenge blog that I saw when I first started card making back in 2007. I was in awe of the wonderful cards people made for their challenges let alone what the Design Team made!!! Then a year or so ago I started entering challenges after the encouragement of some wonderful friends - and JAI was one of those…and now what seems like such a short time later here we are: as Guest Designer!! I have to pinch myself to make sure it's real :-) Such a fantastic Team of beautiful people as well as inspirational crafters and I am indeed honoured.

So this week at Just Add Ink we have a wonderful sketch by Tina for you and the Team have come up with some amazing ideas to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and have a look.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

OOPS!

Here is another look at it with the twine and bow that I somehow missed seeing originally!

For this card I created a Bokeh background using a technique I saw in a video by Dawn Olchefske. Bokeh is a technique often used in photography to blur the image and makes an interesting effect for a card background :-) You can create this effect in many ways - by water colouring or sponging ink on the white card stock to create your coloured background. And when it is dry apply white Craft ink in circles one the top - for this I used the Circle Framelits to cut a stencil with different sizes of circles .out of Window Sheet And once the white ink was dry I used a hexagon punch as well as circle framelits again for the central layered image.

Card stock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Window sheets (For stencil for background)

Inks" Calypso Coral, Crushed curry, Coastal Cabana, Craft White, Momento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Perfect Pennants, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Hexagon Punch, Window Sheet

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink to check out all the wonderful inspiration from the Team and I look forward to seeing what you will create for this challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Razzleberry Sympathy for The Paper Craft Crew

Welcome to another wonderful Wednesday - whilst the sun has been hiding behind the clouds the last week the heat is set to return tomorrow and by the weekend it will be 37 degrees or so again. I haven't minded the cooler weather to be honest but the veggie garden and tomatoes will enjoy the sun for sure! The veggie garden has had its most productive summer yet and we have been so blessed with fruit and veg that we have been able to give a lot away too which has been just fabulous to be able to do. I'm new to gardening and loving seeing what veggies I can get to grow in our limited but sun filled space.

Maybe that has something to do with the floral theme I went with for this week's sketch from The Paper Craft Crew :-) We have a great sketch for you this week and the Team have been busy making some wonderful cards to inspire so I hope you can take a moment to pop by and see them all.
So here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

So yes, a few variations: I have turned the sketch on its's side and decided to make a rectangular card so it fits into a standard envelope.

This card is also for a good friend and so the theme was really chosen for me. Sympathy - and the Bloom With Hope stamp set seemed the obvious choice. As did making a tag which could double as a bookmark for the centre panel …

Card stock: Garden Green, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper:Painted Blooms

Inks: Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities Markers, Rich Razzleberry, Smoky Slate, Versamark

Stamps: Bloom With Hope, Papillon Potpourri, Butterfly Basics

Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes EF, Hexagon Punch, Angled Tag Topper Punch, Gumball Green Ribbon (retired), Banner Punch

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop by The Paper Craft Crew and see the wonderful inspiration the Team has for you and I look forward to see what you will create with this sketch :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Thank You - again :-)

It's been a wet start to the first day of February but the sun is trying to break through the clouds and we are having a lovely relaxing Sunday! For those following the surgical exploits of Sally (the Lab) the saga continues…and she had hopefully her last procedure on Friday. A pin in her leg was looking like it might come through the skin and so it was removed before it could cause any problems. It was a small procedure compared to the "never been done before" last op to remove an unusual mass and going by how keen she was for a walk this morning I am so glad we did it! She is as happy as ever and walking at least as well as before the op already - it will be tricky holding her back for the next week or so!

So after taking her in on Friday morning I thought it was time to make a couple of cards to say "thank you" both to the surgeon and his wonderful team and to one of the nurses who has in particular gone out of her way to spoil Sally too. 

And there is of course no other stamp set more suitable than the retired D is For Dog for a black Lab :-)

So a simple sketch but a little "modernising" of the retired stamp with the Large Polka Dots EF and the wonderful Hello You Framelits.

And although the word framelit is actually "thanks," I wanted something a little more formal for this occasion and so cut off the "s" and stamped the word "You" instead. 

Tip: to get the lighter versions of the dog, I used a Stamp-a ma-jig and stamped off once and then twice to get the right shades.

Card stock:Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Gold Foil Specialty

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Real Red

Stamps: D is for Dog (retired), Crazy For You

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Framelits, Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine, Basic Rhinestones, Stamp-a-ma-jig.

To go with the card I also stopped by Arnolds - one of the best cake shops in Melbourne and picked up a freshly made and full of cream, custard and everything else  decadent little wonder  - though I probably should've brought it out of the fridge for the photo :-)

And next is the card for the special Nurse that has done what I never thought possible - and made friend's with Sally. Poor Sally is really scared at Vet's but she always gets very well treated here and it's the one place she doesn't tremble with fear in the waiting room!

And so still D is for Dog but this time used the fun Balloon Framelits :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Silver Foil Specialty

Designer Series Paper: Best Year Ever (Saleabration)

Inks: Real Red, Momento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: D is For Dog ( Retired), Crazy for You, Celebrate Today

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, Balloon Framelits, White Cotton Twine ( Saleabration), Basic Rhinestones

And here she is looking a little sleepy still from her previous op - the little cute dressing from her favourite nurse of course :-) Now you can see why D is for Dog was the obvious stamp choice too!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan