Life Happens...for JAI #374

Hello and happy Friday everyone and welcome! It's been a bit of a busy week and whilst we have been driving to appointments it has been lovely to notice that more and more blossoms are out.  And whilst our own fresias are still only showing greenery, the bulbs must be due to flower soon!

It's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink  and this photo is suggested by me so I hope that you enjoy working with it :-) You can choose what inspires you from the photo - it might be the coffee/drinks or phone theme  or the colours and textures or idea of spending time with friends. The design team have all created beautiful projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and hopefully join us.

My card was made after a conversation with friends where we were talking of how "life happens"...and so when I saw this sentiment it simply had to be used! I then had a few "life" things happen myself which I may share a bit later but that was days after I made the card... Does that sort of thing ever happen to you?
I layered some of the Coffee Break DSP 's together which could seem a little masculine so I inserted a bit of feminine pink to change it up a little - "girlie" done easy :-)  As I wanted to add this colourful layer on dimensionals, some card stock added behind gives it strength to hold up the coffee cup and to go through the mail.

The lovely Copper Trim is teased out a little before adding to the background  - as I'm sure when "life happens" it can also get a little messy too :-) To make the cup was a process...There are three sizes of the die, and I first stamped and die cut one of the larger ones and then cut two of the smaller corrugated ones to place on top. A little fiddling to make sure they lined up and some added marker edging and it is complete!

I am loving the new Metallic Sequins - not only do they have multiple sizes and contain copper but also a pale pink!! How perfect is that :-)

Card stock: Berry Burst, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Designer Series Paper: Coffee Break, Colour Theory Stack
Inks: Soft Sky, Early Espresso Marker
Stamps: Coffee Cafe
Accessories: Big shot, Coffee Cups Framelits, Copper Trim, Metallic Sequin Assortment, Wink of Stella

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the fabulous inspiration from our lovely design team and I look forward to seeing what you will create inspired by this photo too!

Happy stamping until next time<

Jan

More Happy Birthday Gorgeous for JAI #373

Hello everyone :-) There is snow just outside the city today and it has been pretty chilly! Tomorrow Sally the Lab goes into hospital at Hallam to have a second CT and Bronchoscopy - her allergies are out of control with the Spring pollens and it is thought she will end up with a steroid inhaler and we both seem to have an ongoing Strep throat infection. Apparently Strep is one of the few bugs we humans and dogs can share...Sal will stay overnight in ICU to have her breathing monitored and hopefully come home the next day.

Here is another card I created for Just Add Ink #373 -  you can see my original post here. For this card I used re -inkers to colour the embossing paste before adding over the stencil. Again the inspiration came from the Rainbow Maker class at Online Card Classes, this time from a project by one of my all time favourite designers - Laura Bassen :-)

With these softer colours, a gold die cut add over layers of white adds a little extra bling and there is again, a sprinkling of sequins. I am really loving the new Sequins Assortments as they feature different sizes of the colours and it makes a fabulous difference!

Card stock: Whisper White (thick), Basic Black, Gold Foil, Vellum
Inks (refills): Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Berry Burst, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: BS, Happy Birthday Thinlits, Embossing Paste, Iridescent sequins assortment, Seasonal Masks (retired),
Non SU: Stitched Circle Dies - SSS

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Birthday Gorgeous For JAI #373

This week has really flown and the Spring blossoms are popping out which is so lovely!! Even more than usual the "Four Seasons In One Day" that Melbourne is well known for is really apparent too - so Spring is definitely coming- woo hoo!

And just in time for the weekend we have a fabulous fun new challenge at Just Add Ink for you! This week Karren has suggested we Just Add Stencils to our projects. Such a lot of scope for using ink or paste or even making your own stencil to use.  As always the design team have created a wonderful array of projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and take a look and maybe join us :-)

This last week I've been enjoying the new Rainbow Maker class at Online Card Classes. Day 5 featured using stenciling to make a Rainbow and my card idea was born, lol!  Jennifer McGuire used her Zig Clean Color markers to create a rainbow on Bristol card stock as it is a heavier weight, to take all the ink. As I happened to have some of both I just had to give this a try and I must admit, am loving the results :-) I did also try this with regular Thick White card stock - but the colours didn't blend but I'm sure that water colour paper would work if you wanted to give this a go.

I first did some block colouring with the Zigs and spritzed with water to enable the colours to blend - just hold the paper horizontally so the colours don't run into each other from top to bottom or you could end up with a brown mess lol!
Once it was completely dry it was time to find a stencil.... I went with one from the retired Happy Patterns set from a few years back and applied as light a coat of embossing paste as I could. There must be some water in the paste as the colour from the Zigs - although dry - reacts and colours it in places - giving a lovely opaque look which was what I was hoping for :-)

Once it was all dry, I added the 3 layers of the die cut sentiment over vellum with a sprinkle of sequins to finish as it didn't seem to need anything else :-) 

Card stock: Whisper White (thick), Vellum

Accessories: Big Shot, Happy Birthday Thinlits, Embossing Paste, Happy Patterns Decorative masks.
Non SU: Bristol card stock, Zig Clean Color Brush Markers, Stitched circle Die (SSS), Sequins - PPP

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can take a moment and pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the fabulous inspiration from our lovely design team and I look forward to seeing what you will create with Stencils as your main focus this week :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy Eclectic Birthday for JAI #372

Happy Friday already as the last week seems to have just flown....and welcome! We are really starting to notice that the sun is a little higher in the sky and some of the Spring blooms are out already. Whilst not so great for allergies, it is a great sign that we've not long to go til Spring is truly here :-)

If you're looking for more flower inspiration then this soft and pretty colour combo at Just Add Ink is for you! Suggested by Nikki, it is perfect for florals and many other themes and the design team had such fun creating with it so I hope you can pop on over and take a peek and join us.

I made two cards for this challenge :-) This is actaully the second - using Oh So Eclectic and was my first real play with Embossing Paste. I coloured the paste with the two green re-inkers and in doing so, found that taping it down to a board before you start helps the card stock dry flat for easy mounting afterwards - just like with water colour paper.

Card stock: Tranquil Tide, Pool Party, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Inks: Tranquil Tide, Pool Party, Powder Pink,
Stamps: Oh So Eclectic, Sunshine Wishes
Accessories: Big Shot, Eclectic Layers Thinlits, Burlap Ribbon, Tranquil Tide Ribbon, Pattern Party Decorative Masks

This was the first card I made with this pretty combo - it's more my usual CAS style and is a Case (Copy and share everything) of Rachel Brumley. All I needed to change was add the pretty pink blooms and some silver sequins.

The daisy petals are stamped on both Powder Pink and White card stock along with a little sponging and I used dimensionals between the layers to give it....yes, more dimension :-)

Card stock: Tranquil Tide, Pool Party, Whisper White, Powder Pink, Blushing Bride Glimmer
Inks: Tranquil Tide, Powder Pink
Stamps: Daisy Delight, Sunshine Wishes
Accessories: Daisy Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Metallic Sequins Assortment

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop on over to Just Add Ink and see what all the design team have created to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will make with this pretty colour combo too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Pawesome New Puppy for JAI #371

Happy Friday and welcome! There is only one month left of Winter to go - and seeing as we've just had our coldest day in over 30 years here in Melbourne that is definitely a good thing :-)

We have a fun new challenge at Just Add Ink this week suggested by Di. And that is to choose two of three suggestions in your crafting this week - either kids, pets or patterned paper. The design team have created some fabulous creations to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on on over and take a look and welcome two more new Guest Designers too!

A year ago, some lovely friends had to say goodby to their older dog, and recently they have welcomed a new puppy - another little Jack Russell - into their home. He has brought such joy already and it is wonderful to see everyone so happy. I'm sure many would agree that as hard as it is to say goodbye to our faithful pets of all kinds, it is a real joy to welcome new ones to the family. So this week's challenge was perfect timing to welcome little Scotty to the neighbourhood :-)

Maybe here you can see the sparkle of the Wink of Stella that's been added to the little puppy and balloon?

Wee "Scotty" is coloured with Copics whilst the Bella and friends stamp was used to add interest to the DSP background paper.

Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Real Red

Designer Series Paper: Naturally Eclectic DSP

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, 

Accessories: Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Brights Enamel Shapes, Wink of Stella, Bermuda Bay Ribbon, Mini silver Sequins

Non SU: Cat and Dog Pawsome Dies - SSS, Copic Markers

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the fabulous inspiration from the design team and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this fun challenge theme too!

Happy stamping until next time,'

Jan