Happy New Home

Winter has definitely returned for the last weekend of the month - its pretty chilly and we've had plenty of rain but as we need the rain (apparently :-) ) and New South Wales have had floods earlier this week I can't really complain can I? Spring is just around the corner so all good!

Today's card uses the retired Holiday Home set from last year's Holiday Catalogue. I kept it for just such a use as this - to celebrate a new home :-)

(Please forgive the bad photography - a plainer background would've been better!)

This is for someone who is big fan of Clean and Simple and so I decided to keep a lot of white space and only colour one of the houses - and used the Thick Whisper White card stock instead of water colour paper as I've found it doesn't lose it's shape when wet as much as the paper seems to do and this makes it so much easier to layer :-) And as the set came with co-ordinating framelits it was super fun and easy! The trees are also stamped and cut the same way and the little pink punched heart has some of the gorgeous Silver Metallic Thread peeking out from behind it to match the Silver Glimmer paper layer.

Card stock: Melon Mambo, Silver Glimmer, Basic Black, Pear Pizzaz, Whisper White (Thick)
Ink: Stazon Black, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Grey, Pear Pizzaz, Versamark
Stamps: Holiday Home
Accessories: Big Shot, Holiday Home Framelits, Bitty Banner Framelits, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, White EP, Hexagon Punch, Silver Metallic Thread, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are enjoying your weekend :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

D is for Cat Sympathy

Today's card is for a friend who has just had to say goodbye to their 16 year old cat who passed away this week. Such a long and good life, I'm sure he was very appreciative of the love and care he was given and he is very much missed by his human companion.
 I don't own any Cat stamps  but I do have the long retired D is for Dog and as their paws are very similar (except the retractable claws!) I decided this might hopefully work - I was inspired by a lovely saying I read on another stamp set (that I don't yet own) that our pets "leave their paw prints on our hearts":-)

I used an Aqua painter and some water colour paper to make a water colour wash background and then when it was dry, stamped the paw image using Momento ink. I colour washed another piece of card and stamped a few more paw prints, choosing the blue version to cut out and layer onto the Stitched Circle (the cat was male).
A very simple card but hopefully will bring a little comfort to a lovely friend :-)

(All items by Stampin Up unless mentioned).

Card stock: So Saffron, Whisper White, Water colour Paper

Ink: Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Tempting Torquoise, Momento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: D is for Dog (retired), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Accessories: Big Shot, Aqua Painter, Basi Rhinestones

Non SU : Stitched Circle Dies (MFT)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Flower Patch JAI #277

It's Friday and we have a fantastic new challenge for you at Just Add Ink this week. Kim has suggested these lovely colours for us all to use:

Beautiful and fresh colours that are perfect for the first week of Spring we are about to see. A colour challenge is a great way to challenge yourself to use colours that maybe you wouldn't normally use or haven't used for a while and the Team have made some wonderful creations to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and take a look.

Here is my card:

I hadn't used the lovely Mint Macaron much before so it was a great opportunity to become more familiar with this gorgeous new In Colour. I decided to use the Flower Patch stamp to make a Spring flavoured Birthday card - it is a little bright isn't it ?! And the flower centre is one of the new Iced Rhinestones soon to be available to order - I am addicted to them already!

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla

Inks: So Saffron, Mint Macaron, Calypso Coral

Stamps: Flower Patch, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Flower Fair Framelits, Project Life Framelits, Mint Macaron Ribbon, Iced Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see the wonderful cards that the Team have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will make with this colour combination too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

A Sneak Peek and PCCCSC59

Welcome to another wintery Wednesday. And it's good to know that we won't be saying that for much longer - Spring will be here next week, yay!!

We have a new sketch for you at The Paper Craft Crew this week and some information on a few exciting changes to our challenges. So I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and check them out and also the rest of the Design Team's samples which are terrific as well :-)

So here is the sketch for this week:

Such a lot of scope for interpretation and I decided to make a Christmas card with some new sneak peek goodies :-)

The colour scheme I have used for Christmas decorations the last couple of years is Red and White and so with new Red Foil sheets soon available to all order I opted to give these a try without stamping . The little banners are also cut from the new Holidays Fancy Foil Vellum which features red, green and silver foil designs in a 12x12  pack. And yes, there is a new embossing folder too - called Softly Falling and isn't it lovely and subtle?! The only stamping on this very simple card is on the banner for the greeting - embossed in White.

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

Designer Series Paper: Holiday Fancy Foil Vellum

Ink: Versamark

Stamps: Festival of Trees

Accessories: Big Shot, Delicate Ornaments Thinlits, Softly Falling EF, Triple Banner Punch, Silver Cord, White EP, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for popping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop over to The Paper Craft Crew and see the wonderful cards the Team have made to inspire you this week and don't forget to see what exciting changes are coming in September :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Butterfly Blue Birthday

Happy Tuesday to you! I hope you are having a good start to the week. Today's card was made for a friend's recent birthday. She loves Clean and Simple and the colour blue so that was the starting point for her card.  

The Watercolor Wings butterfly was stamped in two colours - Soft Sky and Tempting Turquoise - full strength for the outside and stamped off for the inside.  A vellum die cut was overlaid for a little height and softness and I couldn't resist a little Silver Metallic thread over the sparkly Silver banner and using one of the new Iced Rhinestones for the butterfly centre:-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Silver Glimmer, Vellum

Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Soft Sky, Pacific Point

Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Gorgeous Grunge, Tin of Cards

Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Triple Banner Punch,  Brights Seqins, Iced Rhinestones, Silver Metallic Thread

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

First Communion Card and Gift Bag

Today I have a special card to share for a friend's son who made his First Communion recently. As a family they are all such beautiful people and we have become good friends really easily. Young "Awesome Kid" was really excited about the occasion and it so it was a lovely opportunity to make something just for him :-)

I found this card by Barbara Kapla on Pinterest and have CASED it with a few changes.

I loved the way Barbara used the Gold Foil to create her chalice so I used the retired Vintage Vogue EF and the circle framelits for mine.I added a vellum leaf between the the Gold embossed wooden Celebrate and the gold foil to break it up a little and add some softness. For the host, I cut 3 layers of Vellum over a white circle and stamped the Sunburst from Kinda Eclectic underneath. 

Card stock: Whisper White ( normal and Thick), Gold Foil, Vellum
Ink: Gold Encore (retired)
Stamps: Kinda Eclectic
Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Vintage Vogue EF, Little Leaves Sizlit (retired), Expressions Natural Elements, Gold EP

To carry the little gift and the card as well I used the Gift Bag Punch Board and a fantastic tutorial from the lovely Nikki Spencer and I used the Thick White Card for this because it needed a little extra strength :-)

And here's a closer look at the draping tag :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (Thick),   

Designer Series Paper: Fancy Foil Designer Vellum (gold),

Ink: Versamark

Stamps: Blessed By God

Access: Triple Banner Punch, Ribbon Slide punch (retired), Gold Sequin trim, White Organza Ribbon, Bermuda Bay Thick Twine, Gold EP, Gold Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Celebrate Balloons JAI #276

At long last the days are definitely getting a little warmer as well as longer and it has been lovely to be able to enjoy some sunshine this week. Sally the Lab and her doggie Park friends are all getting a little bit "frisky" as the Spring air arrives - pollens and all!

This week at Just Add Ink we have a new fun challenge for you  - to "Just add a card for Males" suggested by me :-) Our wonderful Team have created truly fabulous cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look :-)

Here is my card:

Some people I know find cards for males quite a challenge - funnily enough for me, they are my favourite cards to make. Although this particular one took a little longer than usual to come together ( I'll blame the cold and flu tabs lol). Everyone has their own formula - I quite like to keep male cards reasonably clean although I'm not adverse to a metallic sequin or three  - here to go with the Silver Foil greeting and embossing :-) What do you like to create for males that is different - or similar - to your female cards?

 -

Card stock: Pacific Point, Whisper White (Thick and ordinary), Tangerine Tango, Silver Foil, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Brights Stack
Inks: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Versamark
Stamps: Celebrate Today, Crazy About You
Accessories: Big Shot, Greeting Thinlits, Balloon Framelits, Silver EP, Triple Banner Punch, Brights Sequins assortment, Basic Grey Thick Twine

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful male cards the Team have made to inspire you this week and we look forward to seeing what you will create for the males in your life this week too!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Sublime Thanks JAI #275

Happy Friday to you! What plans do you have for the weekend? Some crafting? Maybe some Spring cleaning? Well, I hope to do a little of both of those as well as cheer on the All Blacks to victory against the Wallabies in Auckland. Yes, you can take the Kiwi out of New Zealand but you can't take away the rugby team lol :-)

And with a new week we have a new challenge for you at Just Add Ink! Kim has a suggested a fabulous sketch for us all to use and our talented Team have created wonderful cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and have a look.

Here is the sketch:

So lovely and clean and plenty of room for interpretation :-)

Here's my card:

Yes, I know the twine has become ribbon :-) It was simply that there is no Melon Mambo twine (yet!) and the polka dots here do seem to compliment the coloured image don't you think? I've stamped the cute wheelbarrow onto the new Thick Whisper White card stock instead of using watercolour paper and I love the result! Some more of the Thick card was used for the embossed layer - and when compared with normal white card, this has a lot more definition to the embossing which with this clean design makes quite a difference although does make it a little tricky to decide where to put those pretty rhinestones :-)

Card stock: Melon Mambo, Thick Whisper White

Inks: Black Stazon, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Cucumber Crush, Basic Grey

Stamps: You're Sublime

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Boho Blossoms EF, Aqua Painter, Basic Rhinestones, Meleon Mambo ribbon (retired).

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

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Be the Star PCCCSC #157

Welcome back for another wonderful Wednesday! Today we were supposed to have a whole lot of showers and cloud so it was wonderful to see the sun for a few hours and get out and get a few pre Spring gardening jobs done! The days are definitely getting longer and it's not long now til we will be enjoying those long summer evenings again :-)

And it's time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew. The Team have created a grab variety of cards to inspire you with many different themes so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and have a look. :-)

Here is the sketch:

Lots of elements here :-)

And here's my card:

Yes, another male card :-) Am on a bit of a roll! It's been a while since I've used the Be the Star stamp set and I also wanted to use some of the fun School house DSP and this was the result! Now there s one little "sneak peek" item from the new Holiday Catalogue here as well. Can you see it? Yes! It is the new Gold Cord Trim - I just love it, a little thicker than the Metallic Thread and a little easier to handle but still thin enough to coil around and has a lovely shimmer :-)

Card stock: Island Indigo, Basic Grey, Pool Party, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Schoolhouse

Inks: Island Indigo, Versamark

Stamps: Be the Star

Access: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Stars Framelits, Stars EF, Gold EP, Gold Cord Trim ( Sneak Peek), Metallic Sequin Assortment.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to The Paper Craft Crew and see the lovely inspiration from the Team this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy Butterfly Day

Happy Tuesday to you! Today's card was made for a very lovely lady who had a birthday recently. I know she loves butterflies so that was a great starting point for her card :-)

The butterfly is stamped in only two colours ( although it is a 3 step stamp). The base layer is Blushing Bride, then Watermelon Wonder for the Edges and Watermelon again, stamped off once for the centre. Of course it wouldn't be finished without some bling -  the gold foil butterfly, gold metallic thread and topped with one of the lovely Metal Rimmed Pearls :-)

Card stock: Watermelon Wonder, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Subtles Stack (Pool Party)

Inks: Blushing Bride, Water Melon Wonder, Versamark

Stamps : Watercolor Wings, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Hello You Thinlits, Large Polka Dots EF, Gold EP, Triple Banner Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Metal Rimmed Pearls, Metallic Gold Thread, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Celebrate Inspiration JAI #274

The days are slowly getting longer if still very chilly. Apparently this has been Melbourne's coldest winter in 20years! Just over 3 weeks until Spring so not long to go now :-)

And as it's Friday we have a brand new challenge for you at Just Add Ink. The lovely Trish has found these fantastic Photos to inspire us. The talented Team have created fabulous projects from them so I hope you can pop on over and have a look :-) Photos can be a great starting point for creativity as you can take as little or as much from them as you like.

Here are the Inspiration Photos:

Lots of layers of texture - neutrals and whites - and a fabulous chevron pattern too!

And here is my card:

The layers of texture are what first jumped out to me - the fabulous lampshade and placemat along with the rounded chair..and of course those amazing chevrons. So I decided to use those elements and make a masculine card. Although as it turned out with all the addition of the gold bling, it could possibly work for females too now lol! I started with the Hardwood background stamp using Sahara Sand ink. The next layer starting point was the newThick Whisper White card stock to be strong enough to hold the heavier items and then came the gold Vellum and balloon with it's trailing hemp twine.

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Thick Whisper White, Whisper White (standard), Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Gold Vellum Specialty

Inks: Versamark, Sahara Sand

Stamps: Celebrate Today, Hardwood

Accessories: Big Shot, Balloon Framelits, Chevron EF, Wooden Accents, Hemp Twine (retired), Burlap Ribbon

(Non SU, Stitched Rectangles from My Favourite Things)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see the wonderful inspiration from the the Team and I can't wait to see what you will create with these fabulous photos this week!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan