Happy Swirly Birthday

Hello and I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! We have had a beautiful sunny start to Winter here in Melbourne but oh it was chilly this morning!!  The good news though, is that thanks to the fact that Autumn was so mild the sales that will start any day now will be massive :-)Also on sale starting today is Stampin Up's new Annual Catalogue - lots of new stamp and die bundles and pretty colours too....so that is most of my savings for the other sales blown now isn't it ;-)

Today's card is for another lovely friend's recent birthday who is partial to the colour blue.  I was inspired by this beautiful card on Pinterest and whilst the die's Virginia's used aren't Stampin Up, the design was translatable and was one that I really wanted to try with a few little changes.
So I got out my brayer and the Colourable DSP from last year's Saleabration (there is some similar  in the new Catalogue too!) and it grew from there. With the background so full of colour and pattern I kept the rest rather clean apart from a little bling of course. Some vellum circles behind the die cut - and Winked - flowers  help them to stand apart. And yes, the larger flower is one of the new In Colours - it's called Flirty Flamingo and is a beautiful soft coral that I think will go with so many other colours :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick), Melon Mambo, Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy (new fave too!) Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Colour Me (Saleabration 2015)
Inks: Marina Mist, Versamark, Flirty Flamingo
Stamps: Swirly Bird, Crazy About You
Accessories: Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Rose Garden Thinlits, Iced Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones, White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Brayer
Non SU: Stitched Circle and Rectangle Dies - Simon Says Stamps

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are in the world today.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

For the New Two JAI #313

Happy Friday to you and welcome to a brand new challenge at Just Add Ink. Tina has suggested we "Just Add.....B" Be that a stamp set beginning with B, a technique or colour - whatever "B" idea you have to create with we would love to see! Our lovely design team have all come up with beautiful creations to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look.

A couple of week's ago a much loved Uncle of mine married his sweetheart and this Bouquet of flowers was created for them :-) It is his only marriage and a very happy and special occasion for them and of course all the family shared their joy :-)

The flowers are made using the Botanical Blooms framelits. With them being so lush I went for a simple colour palette of white and gold. So the leaves are cut from Gold Foil card,  the greeting gold embossed and the pearls - well they are so shiny and gold thanks to the Gold Wink of Stella pen! I love this new friend!!

 The trick is to colour them evenly - make sure the tip of the Pen is full of ink -  and allow them to dry before attempting to move them - or you'll need to use your white Gel Pen for the smudges :-) I find this is a brighter and shinier gold than you can get with heat embossing them so it matches the foil and embossed images better but I'd love to know what you think.

Card stock: Whisper White - thick and standard, Gold Foil

Ink: Versamark

Stamps: For the New Two (Retiring - but I'll keep it )

Accessories: Big Shot, Botanical Builder Framelits, Gold EP. Basic Pearls, Gold Wink of Stella

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 creations our talented team have made and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this fabulous theme of "B" too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan 

Swirly Birthday - Sneak Peek

Hello and welcome to a wet and wintery Thursday here in Melbourne! We had a quick dog walk in the rain this morning - truly the first time I've had to find wet weather gear in months so we do really need it.  And the car said 11.5 degrees Celsius - yes, Winter is indeed coming after our warm Autumn! The snow fields that are a few hours north got a good dumping of snow...all good for those who want to go skiing in a few weeks when the Ski fields open.  I'll happily stay warm and dry inside though  :-)

Today's card was for a lovely friend's recent birthday. Her style of card making often involves beautiful layering and as this was also my first play with the new Swirly Bird stamp set I decided to create a layered flower for her.  I've also used a couple of the new In colours - Emerald Envy is such a lovely and warm green - and Sweet Sugarplum for the flower centre. It is teamed here in a girly combo with Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette. I hope she likes it :-)

The inside is quite clean and simple so there was room to write :-)

And it's hard to see but there is some sparkly Wink of Stella on the coloured card stock floral layers. The background is water coloured using a lot of water and a little Pacific Point ink. I find adding a layer of thick white card stock under the water colour paper helps with reducing the warping effect. It also gives it the additional height without needing to use dimensionals - which is especially good if it needs to go through the post :-)

Card stock: Melon Mambo, Sweet Sugarplum, Whisper White - standard and thick, Water Colour Paper
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Sweet Sugarplum, Black Stazon, Emerald Envy, Pacific Point
Stamps: Swirly Bird, Suite Sayings, Birthday Blooms
Accessories: Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Basic Rhinestones, Aqua Painter, Clear Wink of Stella

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Watercolour Sneak Peek

Hello and welcome! It's Monday and the start of a new week and today I have another card made with the same design I used for this week's Just Add Ink colour challenge. You can see that post here or just scroll down as it's the next one. Today's card is for close friends whose mother passed away recently.

Pink is a family favourite colour so it was always going to be pink - and the Scribble Thinlits in gold foil help give the illusion of a basket of flowers - or that's what I was going for :-) The blooms are coloured using an Aqua painter and ink pads and I felt to just keep it simple and so added some Sahara Sand DSP and a small strip of Gold Washi tape along the side. The main panel is then added on dimensionals.

Of course, couldn't not add a little Wink of Stella :-)

The clear "bubbles" is something I learned recently from the lovely Tina at JAI. It is simply the White Perfect accents with the sticker removed. These will get a lot more use from me now!! The sticker has the colour as well as adhesive but a little glue works just fine :-)

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White (Thick), Water colour Paper, Gold Foil
Designer Series Paper: Neutrals Stack
Inks: Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzaz, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Black Stazon, Versamark
Stamps: Birthday Blooms, Rose Wonder
Accessories: Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Gold EP, Gold Washi Tape (Saleabration), White Perfect Accents,

Thanks for stopping by today and I look forward to sharing another sneak peek of these fun dies and also the stamp set that goes with it in coming days.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy New Baby JAI #312

Hello and welcome! This week has gone really fast...Already we are half way through May and whilst we can certainly tell the sun is lower in the sky it still has a little more warmth in it than we expect for this time of year. Not that we could ever complain about that :-)

And it's time for a new fun challenge at Just Add Ink. This week Patrice has put together a really soft and beautiful colour combo for us all to use. Our talented team have all created gorgeous cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look.

Here are the colours:

And here is my card:

This baby card is for some lovely friends who have just welcomed their second beautiful boy. 

And yes, there is a new sneak peek of the new Swirly Scribble dies! These will be available to order June 1st and I can see they are going to be so useful already! Here, 3 are layered on top of each other to make a frame around the water coloured deer. 

The little deer is stamped in Versamark and Pacific Point and then embossed with Clear EP so I could colour it using an Aqua Painter and some Marina Mist and Bermuda Bay inks. The sentiment is white embossed and layered over the top. And the fourth colour you can see in the DSP and Twine - to get the Mint twine, I simply unraveled some of the Mint Macaron and Black Combo Bakers Twine.

Of course, a box was needed to go with the gift - and btw Pumpkin Patch gift cards don't expire - so is really handy if the recipient has plenty of new baby boy clothes already ;-)

To create the box I used the same DSP as on the card and found on Pinterest, a square shaped box by Michelle Long. I adjusted the measurements as I needed a larger size - 11cm square. I will come back during the week with a tutorial.

Here it is closed - I used a vellum belly band just like Michelle did - using the Scallop Tag Topper punch on both ends of the vellum  trip and tied it together using the Mint Macaron lace ribbon. Then it just needed a little tag :-)

Another little "deer" and a few touches of silver, sparkle, vellum and pearls :-)

Card stock: Mint Macaron, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer, Water Colour Paper, Vellum

Designer Series Paper: Silver Fancy Foil Vellum, Birthday Bouquet 

Inks: Versamark, Pacific Point, Bermuda Bay, Marina Mist

Stamps: Made With Love, Hello (Saleabration)

Accessories: Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Envelope Punch Board, Triple Banner Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Aqua Painter, Basic Pearls, Mint Macaron Lace Trim, Silver Sequin Trim, White EP, Clear EP

Non SU: Stitched Circle Dies - Simon Says Stamps, White tissue paper- $2 Store.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see the wonderful creations from the rest of the team and I look forward to seeing what you will create with these gorgeous colours this week.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Butterfly Birthday JAI # 311

The weather continues to be mild for May - we've had the odd storm this week but temperatures are still around 20 degrees and we are looking forward to another sunny weekend.

And it's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week Nikki has suggested we "Just Add...Masking." It's such a fun technique and so often helps us create a scene and add a little more or maybe use less of a detail. Our fabulous Team have created a beautiful array of examples to inspire you so I hope you can pop on over and take a look.

Can you see my masking element? Yes, I used the inside space of one of the Circle Framelits over the Happy Patterns Stencils. This limited the amount of colour applied to the background and gives it its shape. Sadly both these stencils and this pretty butterfly are both retiring in a few weeks so best to get in quick if you'd still like to get them. I've used this set a fair bit this year and it's one I will really miss but I know that means there will be other lovely toys to use soon too :-)

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

Designer Series Paper: Brights Stack

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Black Stazon (Vellum), Melon Mambo, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky

Stamps: Floral Wings

Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Happy Patterns Stencils, Silver Bakers Twine, Triple Banner Punch, Basic Pearls

Thanks again for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to see what the rest of the Team have come up with to inspire you at Just Add Ink and I look forward to seeing what you will create using the much loved Masking technique too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Water Coloured Rose JAI #310

Happy Friday folks, and welcome :-) The start of May and already we are almost half way through Autumn and the evening's are getting darker so much earlier - starting to impact on our evening dog walk. It is time to bring out the red LED light that attaches to Sally's collar as being black, she sure disappears in the dark and her selective hearing seems to kick in if she knows she can't be seen!! Something common in more than dogs, I'm sure ;-)

And it's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week Tina has created a fabulous sketch for us all to use that is really versatile and our lovely and talented Team have had such fun using it so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and be inspired to join us.

Here is the sketch:
Just the circle ...:-)

So cool isn't it?!

And here is my card:

Yes, I've used the lovely Rose Wonder image as my circle and made a top folding card - and kept the background and leaves white to highlight it.

To create the background for the rose, I first watercolored blocks of colour onto water colour paper using ink pads and an Aqua painter. Whilst it was drying, I stamped and embossed the Rose image onto vellum and then fussy cut it really close to the image so could use it to trace around over the watercoloring and then fussy cut that too. The "you" is die cut from the same - going over the joins in the blocks of colour. 

So how to adhere the vellum so it can't be seen? Hide your adhesive under the top layers! A little Snail under the banner, and a touch of the Fine Tip Glue under where the word is attached. 

If you'd like some tips on using Vellum, there is a new "Sheer" class at Online Card Classes  which covers using acetate as well. So many great ideas :-)

Card stock: Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Basic Black, Water colour paper, Vellum card stock

Designer Series Paper: Botanical Gardens Designer Vellum Stack (Saleabration)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral, Versamark

Stamps: Rose Wonder, Work of Art

Accessories: Big Shot, Rose Garden Thinlits, Hello You Thinlits, Triple Banner Punch, White Embossing Powder, White Perfect Accents, Brights Sequins Assortment. Fine Tip Glue Pen, Snail.

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

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Birthday Celebrations

It would seem our mild start to Autumn has ended as the last few days have been filled with rain, wind and cooler temperatures. Of course it had to come but on a positive note it does mean we can finally get out those winter woollies that have been waiting to be worn :-)

Today's card was made for a friend's recent birthday and doesn't have any sign of cool weather about it LOL - and has safely arrived so I can now share it with you.

The main image is stamped on watercolour paper and coloured using an Aqua painter and ink pads before being fussy cut and added with dimensionals. It's still my favourite way to colour and I love that the lines in this image give you some ideas on where to add shading and detail.
A few scattered gold embossed dots, a gold Washi strip and thread add a little bit of bling whilst trying not to take away too much from the star blooms :-)

Card stock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White (thick), Watercolor paper
Designer Series Paper: Brights Stack
Inks: Black Stazon, Momento Tuxedo Black, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Versamark
Stamps: Birthday Blooms, Suite Sayings
Accessories: Gold EP, Gold Metallic Thread, Metallic Sequins Assortment, Gold Washi Tape (Saleabration), Aquapainter, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are enjoying the change of Seasons and taking time to enjoy the little things about today.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan