Just Add a Sketch

The weather this week has been lovely and mild for the end of Autumn - plenty of cool nights and some beautiful sunny days that have made the chilly mornings worth it.

And at Just Add Ink we have a new challenge for you! The lovely Kim has suggested a fabulous sketch for you to work with this week. It is very clean and open to interpretation and I hope you have a moment to pop on over and see the wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you.

Here is the sketch:

And here is what I made with it:

I started with the fabulous greeting from #Hello and after adding to the black circle it reminded me somewhat of a record and it's label - so I decided to go a little more Retro and added the silver details. And there also is a new colour here to introduce - the fun Watermelon Wonder which is one of the new In Colours coming in the Catalogue that starts next week - not long to wait now :-)

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Watermelon Wonder, Silver Foil

Inks: Watermelon Wonder, Momento Tuxedo black

Stamps: #Hello

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framleits. Large Polka Dots EF,  Hexagon Punch, Silver Ribbon,  Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you this week. And I look forward to seeing what you will create with this Challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Starburst Wedding PCCCSC #146

Well, the last few days have flown past pretty quickly for me - yesterday was my first full day out of bed after being really unwell after a seemingly "dodgy"Calamari Salad that I had when out with a friend just before the weekend.  Incredibly high temperatures and the usual gastro symptoms….we've all been there I'm sure!  And now nearly a week later am still rather tentative with food which is not going to be that helpful later as I am supposed to be going out for dinner before a little show :-) Evening nights out are a bit of a rarity of late but this is one night we have been looking forward to for a while now. I've been a fan of Neil Finn (Crowded House and Split Enz) for longer than I can remember…(cue the rolling eyes of the siblings about now :-)) and tonight is a small venue solo show which will be something a little different and special. I am going with some friends for dinner beforehand and will catch up with others at the show itself. So it should be a lovely night!

And in the meantime, I have what you really want to hear about - this week's sketch from The Paper Craft Crew :-) The Team have created a great variety of cards to inspire you this week so I hope you can take a moment and take a look and be inspired.

And here's my take on it:

 The Starburst Sayings image was the first thought that came on seeing the sketch this week and I've long learned the value in going with that first idea. It's been a little while since I've played with this set and am still getting used to the idea of it Retiring so it seemed the perfect time to use it with a new colour combo. Fabulous white and silver and the new Mint Macaron - one of the new In Colours that is coming in the new Catalogue available next week.

Card stock: Mint Macaron, Whisper White

Inks: Versamark, Mint Macaron, Silver Encore

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri, Hearts a Flutter

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Mint Macaron Lace Trim, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop over to The Paper Craft Crew and be inspired to enter this week's challenge too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Wedding - JAI #263

This week at Just Add Ink we have a new challenge for you that I suggested -  that we  "Just Add Wedding." The wonderful Team  have come up with amazing ideas to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to head on over and have a look. And yes, this is the first time that I have suggested a Challenge with the lovely JAI ladies - such a privilege and I hope that you enjoy the challenge too.
I'm not sure if I was over thinking this one but my card did take a little longer to come together than usual.

The stamp set For the New Two is quickly becoming a favourite  - beautiful script and a variety of greetings make it so versatile so I couldn't resist using it here. This time pairing it with the gorgeous Designer Gold Vellum and the hearts are retiring but I think I will hold onto them for now at least :-)

Card stock: Whisper White, Gold Foil card stock

Designer Series Paper: Gold Vellum Specialty

Inks: Versamark, Blushing Bride

Stamps: For the New Two, Hearts A Flutter

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Hearts Framelits, Occasions Paper Piercing Pack, Gold Satin Ribbon

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop over to Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this theme too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Paper Craft Crew #146 and an 80th Birthday

On Monday I had the great honour of being invited out for dinner to celebrate a lovely friend's 80th birthday. I haven't come to know and respect this lovely lady over the last six months and so it was a great honour to be among the seemingly small number invited. It was a lovely and relaxed evening and it turned out that the one couple on the table I hadn't met before was also from New Zealand originally and funnily enough we had friends in common! Some of my Aussie friends just laughed at this - like New Zealand is that small!! (well, about the same population as Melbourne!) but it did make the night for us both - an unexpected joy :-)

And of course, a special birthday needed a special card, so I used this week's sketch at The Paper Craft Crew. The Team have created a great collection of cards to inspire you this week so I do hope you have a moment to pop over and check them out.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card :-)

To fit in the silver 80 I needed to move the vertical panel to a straight position and it seemed the perfect occasion to use the Painted Blooms DSP too :-) And the banner ends were made with a fabulous new punch in the upcoming Stampin Up! new Catalogue that is due on June 2 called the Triple Banner punch - able to punch three different sizes of banners and one I can see I will use often :-)

Card stock: Pacific Point, Rose Red, Silver Foil Specialty

Designer Series Paper: Painted Blooms

Inks: Pacific Point

Stamps: Four You, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Butterfly thinlits, Timeless Type Alphabet (Retired), White Organza Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Triple Banner Punch.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and visit the Paper Craft Crew and see the fabulous cards the Team have to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch this week.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add a Colour Challenge - JAI #262

With the temperature dropping and Autumn quickly turning into Winter the leaf colours on the deciduous trees are providing a dramatic display amongst the evergreens. Such vibrant and rich colours are so nice to see and I love the "crunch" underfoot of the fallen leaves as it always brings back childish memories of walking through them on the way to school. Of course in those days we didn't necessarily have to rake them up though ;-)

And talking of lovely colours :-) this week at Just Add Ink we have a beautiful "Just Add Colour "Challenge that's been suggested for you by Di.  Such gorgeous fresh colours and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and see all the wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you.

These fabulous colours are some of my current favourites (If you didn't know that already :-) ) and you can combine them on any type of project you wish for the Challenge too! So I decided to go with the fun Mini Treat Bag and make something other than a regular card this time.

So here is the "card in a bag" with a decorated Tag ready for gifting. Don't you just love that Pom Pom Trim lol?! And I am very happy to report that there are little Pom Poms coming in a another colour very 

soon too :-)

And here together with the inside  :-) 

A combination of Kinda Eclectic and the Butterfly and Treat Bag framelits with a little Hemp Twine and touches of bling thrown in for good measure :-) The message can be written on the back of the card.

Card stock: Calypso coral, Pear Pizzaz, Pool Party, Vellum

Designer Series Paper: Best Year Ever (from Saleabration)

Inks: Crumb cake, Pool Party, Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: Kinda Eclectic, Four You

Accessories: Big Shot, Mini Treat Bag Framelit, Butterfly Framelits, Banner Framelits, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Hemp Twine, Pool Party Seam Binding, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to head over to Just Add Ink to see all the wonderful projects the Team have made to inspire you and I look forward to see what you will create with these gorgeous colours too.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Ink Convention Swap

Recently on the Gold Coast was the Annual Stampin Up! Inspire Create Share event. Most of the lovely Just Add Team were able to attend and enjoyed a lovely time of catching up and sharing with each other. These are a wonderfully talented group of ladies and generous too because even those of us who were unable to attend were still able to take part in an organised Swap for the occasion :-)

So here is the card I made to swap:

The inspiration for the colours and Bokeh background came from a previous colour challenge and the butterfly shaker element was added to take it up a step. One tip I can share with you is that I found it best to wait approximately 24 hours for all the layers of ink in the Bokeh background to dry - otherwise the Shaker Frames adhesive will not stick to it :-).

And some stamping on the inside too :-)

Card stock: Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Inks: Blackberry Bliss, Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo, Craft White

Stamps: Crazy for You

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You thinlits, Frosted Sequins (retired), In colour Sequins, Silver Twine, Shaker Frames Adhesive, Window Sheet

And it was such a delight to receive a very happy package in return late last week and see all the wonderful creations the rest of the Team had made. Such lovely ladies and oh so talented too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Tangerine Flower Patch

Today is indeed Winter (and not Autumn!) - we have a forecast of 12 degrees Celsius, rain, thunderstorms and hail and it is apparently snowing on the nearby Dandenong ( pronounced "dandy-nong") Mountains - so am really  glad  that I don't actually need to go out today except to take Sally the Lab for a walk. And yes, we've been out -just - because between the downpours there is the odd  short "moment" of blue sky and sun so Sal had a whole 10 mins at the Park lol! Not quite her usual 2.4km morning walk but it IS only 8 degrees as I type and the central heating was calling both of us :-)

And being Wednesday, it is also time for a new sketch at The Paper Craft Crew! I hope you have a moment to pop on over and see what the Team have made to inspire you this week. 

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card - I kept pretty close to the sketch but be prepared - it is a little brighter than usual!

In retrospect, some Pear Pizzaz card might have made a softer base card - and I might still try that - but in the meantime the Tangerine Tango is quite bright and cheerful on a cold winter's day don't you think?! I started from the bright piece of DSP which is not my usual comfort zone so thought I'd give myself and extra challenge :-)

Card stock: Tangerine Tango, Pear Pizzaz, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bash

Inks: Tangerine Tango, Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: Flower Patch

Accessories: Big Shot, Flower Fair Framelits, Banner Framelits, Linen Thread and Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop by The Paper Craft Crew and see what the rest of the Team has made to inspire you this week.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Confirmation Shaker Card

It is one of those cold, wet and miserable Winter days so I thought I'd share with you a happy little card I made at the weekend for a friend's daughter who was Confirmed. She is just 13yrs and so I wanted this card to be a little fun as well and so it ended up as a Shaker card :-)

I started by stamping the Cross image from Blessed By God in Strawberry Slush ink on Pink Pirroute. Next I used some tracing paper to trace the outline and transfer the outline to a piece of Whisper White. I then used my paper cutter to cut the Cross a little bigger than the image and attached some Window Sheet to the back before filling with some silver sequins and some Strawberry and Pink Pirouette stars made by using the Stars Confetti punch. To make the word Confirmation I turned to the Alphabet Rotary Stamp which is so handy - and even had one more space for another letter if a longer word was needed - love it!

Card stock: Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Inks: Strawberry Slush

Stamps: Blessed By God, Alphabet Rotary

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, Shaker Frames Adhesive, Silver Bakers Twine, Window Sheets

Thanks for stopping by today - and as I made this card it reminded me I have another card to show you with a similar design - pop back later today to see a special swap card :-)

Until then,

Happy stamping :-)

Jan

You Rock Just Add Ink Inspiration

This week has seemed to fly by with family birthdays and other activities and now it's Friday and time for a fun challenge at  Just Add Ink. This week Trish has suggested this beautiful "Just Add Inspiration" theme for us all. Such gorgeous colours and details! I hope you can take a moment and pop over to see all the wonderful cards the Team have made to inspire you this week :-)

The first thing I saw in these photos was the delightful chair and it brought to mind the now retiring stamp set You Rock that I haven't used in a while...

There is a layer of vellum over the stamped leaves and the chair is coloured with a Blender Pen (am missing those Blendies!) before being added. And the flower cushion is actually cut from a piece of the Painted Blooms DSP as I don't have this stamp set - yet :-)

Card stock: Marina Mist, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Vellum

Designer Series Paper: Painted Blooms

Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Marina Mist

Stamps: You Rock, Kinda Eclectic, Crazy For You

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, Baked Brown Sugar Twine, and non SU Blue sequin.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to see all the the wonderful creations the Team at Just Add Ink have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Be the Star for The Paper Craft Crew

This morning it was a little chilly but the sun was shining and it was looking like another stunning Autumn's day….then around 2pm the clouds rolled in and now (just on School pick up time - eek!)  the heavens have opened and it is pouring!! Dark AND chilly again - another classic Melbourne "Four Seasons in One Day"….there's even a song about it :-)

So is a good time to share with you this week's sketch at The Paper Crew! The Team as always have created a great variety of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and have a look.

And without further ado…here is the sketch:

And I've only just noticed that I must have have picked up on the colours in the sketch drawing as well - that wasn't planned but :-)

I started with a shape for the circles on the right - and once I'd decided on stars the next choice was which colours and DSP to use. The Moonlight DSP Stack has so many great combos and is probably the most used of all my DSP's this last year. And I am not really a yellow person but I do like this shade - Crushed Curry  - and how well it goes with Lost Lagoon :-)

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Designer Series Paper: Moonlight Stack

Inks: Crushed Curry, Lost Lagoon

Stamps: Be the Star

Accessories: Big Shot, Stars Framelits, Circle Framelits, In Colour Sequins, Sweet Dreams Designer Washi, Saleabration Twine Pack (2014), 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop on over to The Paper Craft Crew and see what the Team have created to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch this week.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add a Sketch - Version #2

Today is another gorgeous sun-filled Autumn day - I sure hope this is a taste of what lies ahead for Winter. Usually Melbourne has a lot of grey days in Winter but these frosty mornings with days full of sunshine remind me of my home town of Nelson in NZ. Walking to school we sometimes used to pray for rain and cloudy skies so that the frosts wouldn't seem so freezing!! Funny how things change :-)

And today's card is another for the sketch challenge that is still open at Just Add Ink. This challenge is running over two weeks (and still has two days to go!) to enable all those going to the Stampin Up! Convention on the Gold Coast to take part too. You can see my original post and card here :-) The Team made a fabulous variety of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and take a look.

Here is the sketch again:

And here is version 2:

So another masculine birthday using the same DSP - have simply switched around the colours for a different look. Do you think the slightly "faded" look to the balloon looks like a favourite pair of jeans? It was supposed to be rich and blue…but I quite like how it's turned out :-) What do you think??

Card stock: Night of Navy, Garden Green, Tangelo Twist
Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bash
Inks: Night of Navy, Versamark
Stamps: Celebrate Today
Accessories: Big Shot, Balloon Frameltits, Banner Framelits, Large Polka Dot EF,  Gold EP, Gold Twine

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are having a great start to the week and have a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the original post for the Challenge and all the wonderful ideas the Team has to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan