Just add Nature...JAI #296

Welcome to another Friday and the end of the first week back at school for the year those here in Australia. I hope your little ones are feeling excited to be back seeing their friends again and that it means a little more "me time" for all parents and grandparents too!

Now, in case that means you are looking for some inspiration to go with the extra time you have to spend in your craft room....then you'll be excited to know we have a brand new challenge at Just Add Ink!

The lovely Di has suggested that we Just Add.....Nature!  So what do we mean by "nature"? Flowers, animals, birds, fish, sun.....yes, anything found in Nature that you'd like to star (yes, stars too!) on your project, we would love to see. The design team havel come up with gorgeous creations as always to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop over and take a look :-)

Here is my card:

 The first version of this card was actually made before Christmas and this set is my favourite of all those in the new Occasions catalogue so it was an easy choice for this challenge. The large rose and leaves image was first stamped onto Water colour paper and coloured with Zig markers and an Aqua Painter and then I snipped the leaves away so that I could layer the images.
 The same was done with the white die cut layer and it means you can then position the images any way you like and makes the set so much more versatile too!
Also, instead of using plain black card stock for the banner and behind the sentiment, I went for a little added bling with the black glimmer paper  - it is quite sparkly in real life but is a little hard to see here.

Card stock: Whisper White (Thick), Black Glimmer, 

Ink: Black Archival

Stamps: Rose Wonder

Accessories: Big Shot, Rose Garden Thinlits, Triple Banner Punch, Iced and Basic Rhinestones, Aquapainter,

Non SU: Zig Clean Colour Markers

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful inspiration from the rest of the design team and I look forward to see what "nature" you will use on your creations this week!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Butterflies for JAI #295

Hello and welcome! In Melbourne we are famous for our "four seasons in one day" as the song goes...but currently we are having a series of warm and humid days - not what we are used to at all! And apparently we also have a snake epidemic.. and as some of you know I am really, really scared of snakes!! Yikes - maybe it is time to move?!

A big thank you to all of you who visited during the Blog Hop at Just Add Ink last week and left comments too  - so very appreciated!! This week we have a brand new challenge for you from Tina who has suggested this fun sketch for us all to use. The Design Team have created a fabulous array of cards 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:

This is my first try at a watercolour wash using a Zig marker and an Aquapainter. I added water to the paper first and then some colour with the marker before quickly blending it with the aqua painter and a little more water. I am no expert - but with a little more practice I think I might just get the hang of this :-) It's always fun to try something new isn't it? (and if you have any hints they will always be welcome!) For the butterflies, I stamped them in the new Archival ink from SU and then used the Zigs to colour here too - directly on the Whisper White card without water - and then fussy cut them out so as to keep the contrast of the thick black outline. 

Card stock: Whisper White (thick)

Inks: Archival Black

Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Metallic Sequins Assortment, Basic Rhinestones

Non SU: Watercolour paper (Spotlight), Zig clean color real brush markers (Cobalt Blue, Pink, Light Blue)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the fabulous cards the team have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this great sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Guy Greetings PCCCS #178

Hello and welcome to another warm Wednesday in Melbourne :-) Summer is great and this week we have the Australian Tennis Open here keeping holiday makers happy too!

This week at The Paper Craft Crew we have a new sketch for you and the design team have created a great variety of cards 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 :-)

Yes, another masculine card! This one is for a friend who has a passion for vintage car racing and so this car image was the perfect choice for him. I decided to keep the colour scheme "classic" - black, white and gold and just a little (ok a LOT :-)) of Lost Lagoon to add a little "modern" in the mix as well.

The sentiment is from the FREE set available during all of Saleabration called Perfect Pairings. I clear embossed the Happy Birthday part and you may be able to see the shine in the picture below a little better. It is so easy to do - just have both Versamark and the coloured ink pad open. First ink the stamp with Versamark and without cleaning, ink in the coloured ink and stamp. Then add the clear embossing powder and heat as usual and voila - all done!! 

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Basic Black, Gold Foil, Whisper White

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Momento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Stamps: Guy Greetings, Perfect Pairings

Accessories: Big Shot, Lots of Labels Framelits, Stylish Stripes EF, Trip;e Banner Punch, Metallic Sequins Assortment, Gold Buttons, Gold Metallic Thread, Clear EP, Black EP (Car)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and stop by The Paper Craft Crew and see all the cards the team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will make with this sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Something New JAI #294

Hello and welcome to the first Just Add Ink challenge for 2016! At Just Add Ink we always like to start the year off with a blog hop to showcase the first challenge of the year. You should have arrived here from the always amazing Di's blog.

  

 This year Rochelle has suggested we all "Just Add Something New". Now I know that won't be hard for the Stampin Up! demonstrators out there as the new Occasions catalogue and Sale-a-bration promotions have started! If you don't have anything new from SU! please join us using whatever new product you have and be sure to let us know what it is.

To make the blog hop extra special the design team have donated new SU! SAB items as prizes to the winner and two honorable mentions participants. Please note, to be eligible, you must create a "NEW" project using "SOMETHING NEW TO YOU" and leave a comment on all the design team blogs, be or become a JAI follower and blog your project exclusively linked to Just Add Ink. Any entrants that link to additional challenges will be disqualified. (The prizes are open to both international and AUS/NZ participants).
We look forward to kicking the year off with a celebration of new crafty goodness and inspiration and hope you will join the challenge with us.

You can begin the blog hop here on my blog or at any of the other design team members blog posts. Just follow the hop by clicking on the Next or Previous buttons you will find at the bottom of all the design team posts. Or you can start Here at the beginning but wherever you start,  we hope that you will enjoy it!!

For my "something new" I decided to use 3 new products - see if you can guess what they are :-)

So there is the Beautiful Ride stamp set, the World Traveller EF and last but not least, the Going Places DSP stack. To colour the car and balloons I used some new Copics of which I think I need some more colours...and added a little clear Wink of Stella to the balloons,  mirror and wheel hubs for some sparkle and shine. This is one of those stamp sets that I can see being used for a lot of masculine cards as well as different occasions and so that was my inspiration  - and of course having a VW and a black puppy who loves to have her head out the window had a little to do with it too:-)

Card stock: Real Red, Pool Party, Basic Black and Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Going Places Stack

Stamps: Beautiful Ride

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Wink of Stella (clear)

Accessories: Big Shot, World Traveler EF, White EP, Silver Cording Thread, Triple Banner Punch, Basic Rhinestones

Non SU: Copics

Thanks so much for stopping by today and don't forget to leave a comment here and on each of the Design Team members blogs to be in to win our prizes this week :-)

Next you are off to see the lovely Christine  and I can't wait to see the fantastic project she has made to inspire us all too!

 

Happy stamping until next time,

 Jan

Hello for PCCCS #177

Welcome to another Wednesday - and a hot 42 degrees here in Melbourne it is! So it really is good to be inside and in air con to be able to share with you a new challenge from The Paper Craft Crew. This week we have a great sketch for you that the Team have all used in quite different ways 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:

This card is for a special friend and is on it's way to New Zealand already. Pink, and flowers are the usual favourites for this lovely lady. The sketch has quite a few layers and I was at first a bit thrown by that till I remembered this gorgeous DSP. For those that are regular visitors you will know that using a busy DSP as a background is something I don't usually do...but I figured it fits the brief of "pink" for the recipient and I could then keep the upper layers plain and so inject the much needed white space :-) What do you think? Was I successful? 

BTW can you see the tiny gold antenna on the butterfly? It is there although hard to see in the photo :-)

Card stock: Pink Pirouette, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bouquet

Inks: VersamarkAccessories: Big shot, Bold Butterflies Framelits, Deco Label Framelits, Triple

Stamps: Hello ( Available for free with qualifying orders during Saleabration)

 Banner Punch, Gold Embossing Powder, White Embossing Powder, Iced Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones, Gold Metallic Thread

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to see what the the rest of the team at The Paper Craft Crew have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

So Pawesome

Recently, Sally the Lab went for her final Post Op X-rays after knee surgery -  the same day the Aus Post van arrived with these gorgeous stamps! So I didn't have much time to put this together before heading off to collect her so it is a rather simple card - but still an opportunity to experiment with some Copics!

These last couple of years we have been needing to visit the vet and specialist quite a lot and so I have been on the lookout for new stamps to use for "thank you's" :-)

This adorable one is called Cat And Dog Pawsome from Simon Says Stamps and comes with matching framelits to cut the dog, cat and part of the greeting. So I used some Copics to colour him (or her:-) and then cut her out. The "pawesome" is also die cut from some black glimmer card although it is a little hard to see the sparkle.

And the cute little paw prints at the bottom is a single stamp, part of Dog Sayings from Stampendous - so quick and easy to use as all are photopolymer.

Whilst really clean, some stitched squares add a little interest and  texture and there is some Cherry Cobbler striped twine peeking out from behind the first layer too. And to continue the red colour scheme,  the rhinestone was coloured with a Copic marker for a simple touch of bling :-)

Quick, easy and just ready by the time Sally was to come home - perfect!

Card stock: Whisper White - thick and standard, Real Red, Black Glimmer (retired)

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Real Red 

Accessories: Big Shot, Basic Rhinestones, Cherry Cobbler Twine

Non SU: Cat And Dog Pawsome (Simon Says Stamps), Dog Sayings (Stampendous), Stitched Square Dies (My Favourite Things)

Thanks for stopping by today!

And as always, happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy New Birthday

A very happy New Year to you!!  I hope that it is one filled with joy and peace for you and your family and of course some time for crafting too!

With the new Occasions Catalogue now live and Salabration in full swing, I have a milestone birthday card to show you :-) This was for a friend's son who on his 18th birthday,  as many in Australia do,  had his driving test and passed so this card was made to cover both happy occasions...

The outside is for the big birthday - using the new Number of Years bundle. The background is a Case of Michelle Last. I loved her repetition of the 18 in the background. To re create it I lined the numbers up together on a clear block and used the lines on Grid Paper to help keep things straight as I stamped in tone on tone ink. Being photopolymer,  it is easy to see where you are going :-)

To cut the Look who's Turning banner I used circle framelits - and used a framelit as a stamp guide too. The little balloons are from the Honeycomb Happiness set - available for FREE during Saleabration with a qualifying order...such cute images and the balloons are perfect for this occasion :-) I used Copics to colour them and added a little subtle shimmer to these and the main 18 with some clear Wink of Stella. 

And inside...the driving! The dog in the window is meant to be Monty, their white Golden Retriever and our Sally's best mate. Monty, I'm told,  has been a passenger in the new driver's car so it was fun to include him here as we all became friends through meeting at the park with the dogs several years ago. The stamp set is called Beautiful Ride and is going to be a "must have" I think!

Card stock: Pacific Point, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, Smoky Slate, Momento Tuxedo Black,
Stamps: Number of Years, Honeycomb Happiness, Beautiful Ride
Accessories: Big Shot, Large Numbers Framelits, Circle Framelits, Metallic Sequins Assortment, Wink of Stella
Non SU - Copics, Large sequin

Thanks for stopping by today and I will be back in the coming week as the Design Teams come back from their holidays with some more Occasions inspiration for you.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan