Birthday Zinnias for JAI #704

 

Happy Friday everyone and welcome! We have had a couple of mild sunny days this week but the wind is blustering outside and the rain has arrived...it definitely feels like Winter is here already in Victoria.

This week at Just Add Ink we have a pretty colour challenge from Rochelle. The design team have all created cards using these colours in a variety of ways. And we'd like to welcome a new member to the team - Karen Rogers. So I hope that you can pop on over to the blog and help welcome Karen and be inspired to join us!

Do you have a type of challenge that you find harder than others? I do, and for me it is colour challenges. It doesn't matter how many I do - it must be hundreds over the years - I still find it a hard place to start.
With this challenge, I am grateful to another JAI teamie, the lovely Lou Kitzelman as she sent me some images from the Simply Zinnias stamp set recently which is available to purchase online.

 As it turned out, these blooms were perfect for this challenge! I used all four colours to colour up the flower heads and then I coloured some white ribbon with the Lemon Lolly blends to give a little bit of interest and a pop of colour behind the sentiment banner.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you can head on over to Just Add Ink and see how everyone has used this colour combination and welcome Karen to the design team. I really look forward to seeing how you have used this colour combo as you inspire me each week with all you create too!

'Til next time,

Jan

Goodbye Artistic for JAI #702

 

Happy Friday and welcome to you! I hope that you've had a great week and are ready for a weekend at hopefully a slightly slower pace and perhaps some crafting too. I know that I am definitely ready for a bit of a rest and have a couple of crafting projects on my "urgent" list yet. 

This week at Just Add Ink we have this cute and fabulous sketch by the lovely Lou Kitzelman to spark your creativity. Sketches are great as you can add images following the sketch layout and it's one less design choice to have to make. Our design team had fun with this which you will see if you can pop on over to the JAI blog and I hope that you will join us for this challenge!

For my card, I chose to use a retiring favourite stamp bundle - Artistically Inked. The DSP that came with this set when originally launched was very special too as had an alcohol ink appearance. The main floral image fits the sketch here though and so I chose to use it to say goodbye to this set. At least for now.

I added the die cut stitched squares directly to the DSP layer and then looped a length of Linen Thread around the outside to further link these squares together and only then added the stamped images.
This year it was a fabulous surprise to welcome back a long retired favourite colour - Pretty In Pink. It is so nice to have some soft pinks back on the colour list.

To create the stitched sentiment panel, I first stamped the sentiment in Versamark Ink and embossed it using White Embossing Powder. Then I used a rectangle die that is as wide as I wanted and cut close to one edge of the sentiment, and then ran this through the die cutting machine again, this time using the other side of the die to cut the same distance from the other side of the sentiment.

Card stock: Pretty in Pink, Basic White, Basic Black

Designer Series Paper: Expressions In Ink (retired)

Inks: Pretty In Pink, Lemon Lime Twist, Shaded Spruce, versamark

Stamps: Artistically Inked

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangle DiesArtistic Dies, Gold Faceted Gems, Metallic Sequins, Linen thread

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and I look forward to what you might make for this challenge too!

'Til next time,

Jan

Graduation Card for Funky Folds Blog Hop

Welcome to the third Funky Fold Blog Hop!

We are a group of like-minded paper crafters who love to make cards with funky folds. Funky actually means "modern and stylish in an unconventional way"... so we are featuring cards that are not your usual rectangle / square portrait or landscape style. Think 'easel', 'pop up', 'gatefold', 'Z fold', shaped or 3 D cards etc. The list is endless.

You may have come from Rochelle Laird-Smith and her wonderful project or you may be starting here.
I hope that you are inspired by all of our creations to try a Funky Fold yourself!

My Funky Fold card is a little twist on the Diamond Point Card created by Sam Colcott of Mixed Up Craft. 
I really wanted to create a card that opened to reveal a surprise but I learned that you do have to be careful about the amount of weight that you add so as to enable the card to remain upright. 

 So the top of the cap lifts from the left to reveal a more colourful layer that is a little unexpected but also light on additions so that the card doesn't get to heavy to stand up.

As per the original tutorial, there is a piece of blank card inside on the back to write a personal message.

Here, you can also see the mechanism that enaables the basis of the card. 

The flap that allows the black cap top to open is attached in behind the card front and is hidden by the white card stock layer.

I hope that you enjoyed my sparkle filled Funky Fold! Thank you for popping by.

Up next is Elizabeth Gross with her fabulous project! 

If you love to make cards with creative folds and would like to join in with our monthly Funky Folds Blog Hop, you are welcome to head on over to our community group on Facebook to be part of the fun. https://www.facebook.com/groups/funkyfoldsbloghops

'Til next time,

Jan

 

 

Special Shimmer and Shine Diamond Easel for JAI #700

 

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to this special 700th Challenge for Just Add Ink! 

It is hard to believe that we have hit so many challenges! I started as an entrant back around Challenge #150...and then joined the team around Challenge #230 or so. It is so special each time that we pass another 100 and it is also lovely to reflect on all our design team members past and present, regular followers and what products we might love at the time.

So here it is: Just Add Ink Challenge #700 is Just Add Shimmer or Shine as suggested by the lovely Rochelle!  This is such a broad and open challenge where you can add anything that Shimmers or Shines - or perhaps both!

The design team has had a lot of fun with this one and there are lots of pretties amongst our creations this week. I hope that you can pop on over to the blog to take a peek and join us in this special challenge!

I needed a card for a friend that is a huge music lover and a concert promoter in her spare time.

So this set that is sadly retiring already seemed so totally appropriate. 

The Yellow guitar is in memory of a particualar Les Paul Gold guitar and is coloured using copics and a top coat of Wink of Stella for Shimmer. The Microphone is similarly coloured and thenWinked...the sentiment is stamped in Versamark ink and then topped with Black Shimmery Embossing Powder.

 And then there is that not so subtle, huge Pink guitar pick in the background cut from Foil - I just couldn't resist it!😀

The card design is based on a Diamond Point Card by Tami White - I didn't change the basic mechanism that Tami created. But I did add a gold record inside the diamond "album cover" because I'm quite sure my friend would like that. It is created using different circle dies. Back in the day, before illness and disability caught up with me, we would attend gigs and collect guitar picks together...so I had to add a little collection of them here too.

On the inside of the card, the white panel with a couple of drum sticks stamped on it is where a message can be written.

So is this enough shimmer or shine for you? Have you gained any ideas for what you might like to create for our Just Add Ink #700 Challenge? I hope so! I can't wait to see what you will make for this fun milestone challenge!

'Til next time,

Jan