Healing Hugs for JAI #772

Happy Friday everyone and welcome! It was really fantastic to see the Just Add Ink gallery full with so many entries again with our refresh on challenge length and details. The design team was absolutely delighted that so many people - both regular and new were able to join us and we hope that you like the upcoming challenges just as much.

So it's time for our new Just Add Ink challenge and this week we have a Halloween inspired Colour & Inspiration Challenge for you from Kerry. You can choose to either use the Image as your inspiration OR at least 3 of the Colours for your project OR a mix of the two.  And you can also use black, white and skin tone colours and metallics if you wish. Our entire design team have created projects choosing one or the other of these options to inspire you and we would love to have you join us once again!

Halloween is not a huge deal in Australia - unless you have kids at school perhaps - so it’s not something on my radar. The Healing Hugs set arrived in my craft space recently and I thought the colours could work well for the blanket in this image. Then I used both greys and browns to colour the dog and cat. I usually tend to use 2-3 colours on a card so I surprised myself in being able to use all FIVE of these rather bold colours on one card!

The rest of the card is kept quite CAS and textural - some shiny silver ribbon and the card stock is some retired SU colours that seemed to fit the Challenge graphic colours well - Elegant Eggplant and my last piece of some very old Tangerine Tango.

Thanks for popping by and I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and check out all the design teams inspiration. And remember that you have almost two weeks now to enter - so I will look forward to seeing what you will create for this fun Colour or Inspiration challenge!

Card stock: Tangelo Tango, Smoky Slate, Elegant Eggplant, Basic White

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Versamark 

Stamps: Healing Hugs

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Mini Corrugated EF, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Black EP (sentiment), Rhinestones, Silver Ribbon

Non SU: The image is coloured with Copics.

'Til next time,

Jan

 

Yappy Birthday for JAI #771

Happy Friday everyone and welcome!!

I have some exciting news for Just Add Ink fans. This is the first week of a new format here at JAI. I hope that you can embrace these changes and have a lot of fun creating your projects.

For Challenge #771 we have a Choose Two or More. You can use as many of the 6 listed options as you'd like as long as you use at least 2 of them. Please remember to tell us which ones you use! And you'll have longer to create your projects too as we are now moving to a fortnightly challenge schedule. Our whole design team will create to inspire you each challenge too so you'll also have more inspiration. We all hope that you will enjoy these changes and, as always, we look forward to seeing and celebrating your creations!

So without further ado, here is this week's Challenge and the Six options to choose at least 2 of to use in your project. This week's challenge was also suggested by ME - so I especially hope that you that you can enjoy this and have fun with it!

For my card....it is rather obvious, (hopefully!)  that I've gone for Pets, Plaid and some Patterned Paper...and a few Pretties too!!
This card was created for a friend but  was made to be from my Labrador, Sally. so the retired Happy Tails stamp set and punch were perfect for this. I am also looking to design cards for a Dog themed Christmas for Guide Dogs Victoria clients, so this design is also suitable, with its plaid and die cut textures to potentially be used for this too.

The Lab from Happy Tails is coloured using Copics to resemble my dog Sally, a black Labrador. And her collar is stamped in Berry Burst and fussy cut.

For the base layers, the Plaid EF is used on some Berry Burst card stock and the "Patterned Paper "or DSP is from the Full of Life suite. 

And then there is the large, bold, die cut "friend"which is also from the Friends for Life Bundle. 

The other sentiment is from my stash. Sometimes, keeping the design simple so the individual elements can shine is for the best.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope that you are excited by the changes happening here at Just Add Ink which are designed to give you more freedom, inspiration and opportunity to share your wonderful creativity with us and with each other as entrants. I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge!!

Card stock: Basic Black, Berry Burst, Basic White

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black

DSP: Full Of Life 6x6

Stamps: Happy Tails (retired), Dog Sayings (Stampendous),

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Plaid EF, Dog Punch, Friends for Life Dies, White EP, Jewels, Copic Markers

'Til next time,

Jan

 

Inspired Just For You for CI #197

Happy Thursday everyone and a very warm welcome to you!! I am very honoured and was indeed a little nervous to be invited to be a Guest Designer for the fabulous Colour Inkspiration Challenges. It is very special indeed and I am very grateful!

This week's Colour Inkspiration Challenge is with these elegant colours - Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy and Crumb Cake. You can also use, Black, white, Vanilla and metallics if you would like. You can find the Challenge on Facebook  (follow the link above) and I encourage you to check out all the designers cards and see what other entrants have created there too.

I thought this was a beautiful and elegant colour combination and so chose the Inspired Imperfections bundle to use for this challenge. 

The vase image is stamped on Misty Moonlight card stock with the same colour ink. Whilst all the other blues used are Night of Navy.

The white layer is embossed using the Joined Together EF and the EF was also used on some Gold Foil which was then cut out and added to it. 

To create the flowers, I used some white card stock and the Country Flower Dies. Then alternating flowers were coloured with Night Of Navy Blends. It is a quick and easy way of creating the card stock colour you want which is especially good when just needing small pieces like these. 

Crumb Cake was used for the frame and sentiment strip and the flower branches and that is the last Challenge Colour to be included. 

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope that you check out this week's  Colour Inkspiration Challenge and consider joining in too! There is plenty of time for you to join us as the challenge lasts for two weeks!

Card stock: Night Of Navy, Misty Moonlight, Crumb Cake, Gold Foil, Basic White

Inks: Misty Moonlight, Versamark

Blends: Night of Navy

Stamps: Inspiring Imperfections, Charming Sentiments (Retired)

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Inspiring Imperfections Dies, Joined together EF, Country Flowers Dies, Crumb Cake Twine ( Essentials Pack), Night of Navy Ribbon, Gold Faceted Gems

'Til next time,

Jan

 

Sunflower 3D Birthday for Colour INKspiration #195

 

Happy Sunday everyone and welcome!
It's been quite a while since I've had the time to join in a challenge but this week's Colour INKspiration Combo is just my sort of style - a pop of colour amongst not too many others - and piqued my interest! 

Add to that the wonderful Sunflower 3D embossing folder just arrived into my craft space and I couldn't think of a better way to use it than to take a leap and enter this fun challenge that I've been watching from afar for what I think may be my first time!!

So without further ado, here is my first card...that's right! I got a bit carried away and managed to create two different looks!

I was inspired by the joyful, Sharon Armstrong whose You Tube posts always make me smile because she is so excited about what she does. She showed 10 or so ways of how to use this beautiful EF and this was one of them: 

The image is embossed onto Crushed Curry card stock and then wiped over with White Craft Ink. That is it. Simple and very effective!

I've added some leaf dies from both he Friends of Life and Memorable Blooms dies and a combination of shiny, silver ribbons, black twine and of course some bling - this time in the form of rhinestones.

The detail in the EF is absolutely incredible! And if you are a sunflower lover like me, then you will want to get your hands on this ASAP before it is sold out.

I did have another play....I was having so much fun!

For this version, I first swiped a Crushed Curry ink pad over the same colour card stock for a tone on tone look. Then....well it looked a bit flat still. So I added some Versamark ink over the top and some Clear EP and Boom! It looks a bit more Pumpkin Pie now than Curry but it is also super shiny....

I added the same details as with my first card as I already had these dies out on my craft desk. I originally was going to place what became a pile of ribbons and dies in a different place but I didn't want to obstruct the view of the three main sunflowers.

So which version do you prefer??
I think I prefer the subtle white version. The dramatic version does make me think of one of our hot, 40 degree summer days.  Maybe because we are still in early Spring here in Australia is why I am not quite so keen to look that far ahead yet!

But I am planning to get my first Sunflower seeds into the garden by October 1st this year. A mix of the big giant ones and some dwarves too. So I hope the Sunflower EF stays around too.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope that you are enjoying the challenge too!

You can find the Colour Inkspiration Challenges and details on how to enter them on Facebook, here.

Card stock: Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Basic White

Stamps: Friends For Life (sentiment).

Inks: White Craft, Versamark

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Sunflower 3D EF, Friends for Life Dies, Memorable Blooms Dies, Silver Ribbons - x 2, Black Twine (Bakers Twine Essentials Pack), Basic Rhinestones, White EP. Clear EP.

'Til next time,

Jan

Inspired Imperfections for JAI #769

Happy Friday and welcome back! It's the first weekend of School Holidays here in Victoria and Spring has sprung with lots of trees in bloom and the usual suspects of daffodils and jonquils are all enjoying the increased light and occasional increase in temperatures. 

This week at Just Add Ink we have a Choose Two Challenge for you from Di Barnes. She would like us to Choose Two out of Numbers, Words or Neutral Colours.  The design team as always have created an array of cards for you featuring all different ways to use two of these three options. We would love you to join us! Don't forget to let us know which two options you have chosen in your post!

For my card, I chose Words and Neutral colours. Which for me was Basic White and Basic Black, Crumb Cake and a touch of gold for a warmer lift. Neutrals are not my go to colours - I prefer bright colours, so this was a true challenge for me.

The beautiful Inspired Imperfections bundle seemed perfect for this challenge as has a number of images and die cut embellishments to help make a thank you car a bit special.

The vase itself is embossed using Black EP and the little flower with Gold EP - both give an extra textural touch. The greeting is from the retired Memorial Blooms bundle and is embossed with White EP.

This card is designed to be simple to create, but elegant and so I also created another card using slightly more colourful colours - Secret Sea and Cloud Cover but you will need to come back to see that later as it didn't quite fit the perimeters of this challenge!

Thanks for popping by today! I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the cards the design team have created to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create for this challenge!

'Til next time,

Jan

 

Friends For Life for... Just Add Ink #767

 

Happy Friday and welcome back! Winter is finally over and it's officially Spring - not that Melbourne's weather seems to have gotten the memo yet. It's remained cold and often wet - perfect weather to spend in the craft room.

It's a new challenge week at Just Add Ink  and we have this Inspiration Photo from Kim for you. The design team  -and guest designer, Deb - have all taken this photo in various ways and so I hope that you can pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog and hopefully join us.

I will say that I found this challenge really hard. I don't really have any car stamps in my collection. 

So after trying another idea for a few days, I looked through my DSP...and found piece from the (retired0 Full of Life pack. The grid on the paper is not too dissimilar to the cars parked in the photo...

I decided to follow through with the rest of the suite - using both the matching stamp set and dies and a scattering of copper sequins for a change.

Thanks for popping by today! I hope that you can take a moment to hop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the other cards from the designers and I look forward to seeing what you will create too!

Card stock: Basic White, Basic Black,

DSP: Full of Life (retired)

Stamps: Friends for Life

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Friends for Life Dies, White Twine, Metallic sequin assortment.

'Til next time,

Jan

Umbrella Days for JAI #765

Happy Friday everyone and welcome back! It's been a busy week in our household and we are definitely enjoying the early peeks of Spring sunshine that we are occasionally getting. I hope that Spring or Autumn is treating you well wherever you are living.

This week at Just Add Ink, we have something special for you. We have two Guest Designers joining us for this challenge. So please give Jolanda and Deb a warm welcome. You can find their projects on the JAI  page.

And this week we have for you a Colour Challenge suggested by me so I hope that you like it. The design team and guests have created a fabulous array of cards to inspire you.

For my card, I turned to the lovely Umbrella Days. An Online Exclusives set that is still available if you're after it. The stamp set has a number of beautiful images and sentiments and the coordinating dies have all sorts of fabulous details - including the puddles, and flowers used here plus even a dog coat!! Yes, will melt the heart of almost every dog owner!

The umbrella has been paper pieced with DSP thanks to one of the dies in the set and the human and dog were coloured with Copics and Blends. The sentiment was embossed with Black EP.                                                                                                  

One of the things I love about this Colour Combo is how Lost Lagoon pairs with Gorgeous Grape. So I used these as my base layers. The Lagoon looks fabulous with the Mini Corrugated EF effect too. It is amazing the difference that one little detail can make! 

        

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you can pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog and see all the cards that the design team and guest designers created to inspire you. We'd all love to see what you create with these colours too.

Card stock: Gorgeous Grape, Lost Lagoon, Basic White, Highland Heather

DSP : Retired from my stash.

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black,   Versamark

Stamps: Umbrella Days

Accessories: Die Cuttiing Machine, Umbrella Days Dies,Stitched Rectangles Dies, Mini Corrugated EF, Black EP, Rhinestones, Wink of Stella.

"Til next time,

Jan 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

 

Kintsugi Birthday Sketch #763

Happy Friday and welcome back! It's the first Friday in August which means that Winter is over two thirds done and dusted here in the Southern Hemisphere. The wattle is flowering and Spring is on it's way!

It's a new challenge week at Just Add Ink and Tristan has given us this fabulous Sketch for us to use in our projects. Our design team have all created an array of projects, all with different styles and focal points and so I hope that you can pop on over to the JAI blog  and we'd love you to join us!

For my card, I decided to flip the sketch to Portrait so as to accomodate some flowers in this vase cut from the Kintsugi Inspirations DSP. The flowers are stamped using Smoky Slate ink, stamped off and water coloured using my old favourite colour, Melon Mambo using just a tiny bit of water so as not to make the ink run.

 The background is also from the same DSP pack and the white pieces that are the sketch elements, are embossed using the Joined Together EF which is also part of the suite. 

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope that you might pop on over to Just Add Ink and join us in this challenge. I look forward to seeing what you create using this week's sketch.

Card stock: Marina Mist, Basic White

Inks: Smoky Slate, Versamark

Designer Series Paper: Kintsugi Inspirations

Stamps: Inspiring Imperfections, Charming Sentiments

Accessories: Die Cutting machine, Stitched Rectange dies, Imperfections Dies, Sentiment silhouettes Dies, Gold EP, Joining Imperfections EF, Gold twine, Metallic sequins

'Til next time,

Jan