Special Fish Birthday

Hello and happy Monday to you :-) Today's card is for another family member's birthday - we have so many this month and it's a challenge to keep up but we are getting there!
As the recipient for this one loves to go fishing, I knew I'd be using the now retired By the Tide stamp set. So what I needed was inspiration for a design and that's where Jen B's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches  came in and the ideas began to flow....love that :-)  It's been a while since I've had a moment to play and enter a challenge but FMS has long been a favourite so it is exciting to be able to be join in today and hopefully it won't be long til I'm back again.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

Yes, this is a masculine birthday card that has pink on it!! That is because I've coloured the fish to be Rainbow Trout - a favourite of the recipient to catch and eat :-) The design idea was a version of the  "spotlight" technique for the raised panel with the fish seeming to come from behind it. Hence the stamping of the seaweed...but now questioning whether a black layer behind it would've been better.

The silver 70 is run through an embossing folder before being added onto 3 layers of white card stock to give it height and strength to go through the mail.

The fish are coloured with Pencils and an Aqua Painter on ordinary White card stock - so just a tiny amount of water is used and then some Wink of Stella has been flicked over the background and 70's panel to add some water - like bubbles and sparkle.

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Foil

Ink: Black Archival, Bermuda Bay, Versamark. Water color Pencils: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay

Stamps: By the Tide (Retired), Sunshine Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Large Number Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Argyle EF (Retired),White EP, Metallic Enamel Shapes, Aqua Painter, Wink of Stella

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches and join in the fun too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

By The Tide....JAI #300

 

Hello and happy Friday to you! This week has seen Melbourne almost live up to it's name of Four Seasons in one day....we started the week with cool and crisp mornings and then we had a 39 degree day on Tuesday which saw some drama - especially in our house as our air con was playing up...but all good now and we have returned to a much more reasonable 26 degrees or so in time for the end of Summer.

And it is time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink and this week is a very special one as it is our 300th challenge - that is 6 years of challenges - so amazing!! I remember when I first started stamping that JAI was a place where I went for inspiration but it was a few years before I was brave enough to enter any challenges...and now I have had the privilege of being welcomed to the team just over a year ago. I still have to pinch myself sometimes :-)
So to celebrate, we are offering prizes to the winner and honourable mentions for this week's challenge so make sure you pop on over to check out the details and the wonderful cards the fabulous design team have made to inspire you too!

 So here it is - the lovely Kim has designed this fabulous and clean sketch for us all to use this week:

Here is my card:

 I'm going to call this a "faux shaker card" :-) It has the circle frame and some sequins inside but there is no closed window. To be honest I did make a true shaker first - added some Dazzling Diamonds for "sand" as well as sequins but it did make the little fishies a lot harder to see and as they need to be  the stars of this card for my Dad who loves to fish in his spare time...the sand had to go.
The stretch of Midnight Muse ribbon is supported by strips of white card placed underneath it to bring it up to the height of the circle window and is attached using some glue dots. Otherwise, the ribbon tends to sag as of the circle is on dimensionals :-) I say "circle" but the bottom of it has been trimmed to reflect the sketch.
For the underwater scene, I used the lovely Perfectly Artistic DSP and embossed the seaweed image with some white embossing powder both on the background piece and within the circle itself. The fish are coloured with my newly expanded Copics collection before being coated with a little Wink of Stella for shine and sparkle.

Card stock: Midnight Muse, Whisper White (Thick)
Designer Series Paper: Perfectly Artistic
Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Night of Navy
Stamps: By The Tide, Silhouettes and Script
Accessories: Big Shot, Banner Framelits, Triple Banner Punch, White EP, Midnight Muse Ribbon, Metallic Sequins Assortment
Non SU!: Stitched Circle Dies- SSS

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 cards our design team have made to inspire you and the info about prizes for the winners this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this fantastic sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Ink #216

Welcome everyone to a wonderful Friday! Today's is a very special post as I have been invited to share as a Guest Designer this week at Just Add Ink and I am super excited as they are such a talented team and I love to play along with their challenges :-)
And the challenge this week is to "Just Add Water Colour" - so fabulous as water colouring is so "in"  at the moment! I hope you have time to pop over and check out all the wonderful inspiration they have for you :-)

In the meantime here is my card :

The main water colouring is in the background  - although I did use an Aqua Painter to colour the Lobster too!

For the background I used some Water colour paper and gave it a soft wash of colour with Pool Party and Coastal Cabana inks - adding water and ink with a paint brush to get the right amount of colour and blending. Then, whilst the paper was still wet I sprinkled on a small amount of salt - Rock Salt in this case as it has larger granules than the Table variety - and allowed to dry naturally. Less is more when it comes to the salt as otherwise you may find you have more "bubbles" than water as in this my first attempt :-) 

When the (second version) paper was dry I stamped it with the plant image from By the Tide and then cut it out with the Square Framelits.

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Water Colour Paper

Inks: Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Real Red, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate

Stamps: By the Tide, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Framelits, Decorative Dots EF, Silver Basic Buttons, Burlap Ribbon, Hemp Twine, Aqua Painter, Basic Rhinestones, Paint brush, Rock Salt

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the amazing cards the Design Team at Just Add Ink have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

A"Pearler" for the Paper Craft Crew

Today has been a bit of a busy day for me, running around to various appointments but at least the sun has been shining and the rain has been banished for one day anyhow! I must make it sound like it is always raining in Melbourne but actually, we have just had one of the driest Summers on record! But maybe that's why when it does rain everyone notices it and after a day or so of it we have had enough thanks :-)
And so my card for this week's sketch at the Paper Craft Crew has an Underwater theme LOL!

The Design Team have come up with some great samples to inspire you so do take some time and pop over and have a look if you can :-) Here's my take on the sketch:

My inspiration also came from The Stamp Review Crew blog hop this week where they featured the By the Tide stamp set with some amazing creations! So I decided to feature the Sea horse - one little fellow I haven't used that often, and the shell.

For the card base I used some Bermuda Bay and used the same colour for the square Frame. The frame was easily created with the Square Framelits and I cut the stamped card behind with the larger of the two squares.

Next I passed half the Whisper White piece through the Big Shot with the Decorative Dots EF - I love this folder, it looks like bubbles and am so glad it is going to become available again soon! Then I stamped a piece of Crumb Cake with some Gorgeous Grunge in Baked Brown Sugar and added the Burlap ribbon over the top. The Burlap is so wide I decided to add some White Bakers Twine over the top too!

The shell itself is quite shiny - I embossed the image with White Embossing Powder onto white card stock and then coloured over it with a Crumb Cake marker. I love how it turned out - Like a shell in the sand :-)

Inside the frame I first stamped the "splatter" image from Gorgeous Grunge in Pool Party ink. I wanted this really subtle so I stamped off twice beforehand. Then I used a sponge to add more Pool Party ink to cover the entire panel. Next I stamped the plant image in Baked Brown Sugar, and finally the greeting in Real Red over the top.

The cute little Sea horse is stamped in Real Red and then coloured using a Crisp Cantaloupe marker and  then it was time for all the  pearls! The sketch called for the three large ones on the ribbon and I used more pearls inside the frame for the same reason. Then it was hard to stop really :-) Of course the Sea horses needed some eyes and then the shell couldn't be left out now could it :-) Such a fun card to make!

Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Inks: Pool Party, Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe, Versamark

Stamps: By the Tide, A Dozen thoughts, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Square Framelits, White EP, Burlap Ribbon, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Basic Pearls

Thank you so much for popping by today and I do hope you have time to check out the rest of the Design Team cards for the Paper Craft Crew this week and I can't wait to see what you will be inspired to create!

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan

Fish Big for CYCI

A very Happy Easter to you wherever you are in the world today and whatever you are doing! It is such a special time of year and one of my favourite times :-)

Today's card is inspired by the the great team at Can you Case it.

I've had the idea for this card for a few days and finally got some time to sit down and put it together. I think I had fish and Good Friday on my mind too!!

For the Chevrons I've used the Positively Chevron stamp in two ways - ideally I had wanted to run the bottom half of the white page thru the Big Shot with the Embossing Folder too but the folder is too large to go through on its side so stamping has to suffice to give the wave effects of the sea :-)

The base card is Island Indigo and then I used 2 pieces of Whisper white - the bottom piece I stamped the chevrons directly in Island Indigo ink and then for the top piece I sponged Pool Party ink onto the stamp and stamped to give a much lighter and softer look and added with dimensionals.

I wanted to give the idea of movement so added the On Film piece on an angle on dimensionals and stamped the Fish from By the Tide in Calypso Coral ink and then coloured with some Crisp Cantaloupe using a Blender Pen.

The little greeting is from A Dozen thoughts and as usual I used my Hexagon Punch to flag the banner ends - love how easy that makes it! The little button is made from Simply Pressed Clay and is quite sparkly in real life as I sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds into the mould before adding the clay. It is coloured using some Island Indigo ink and another Blender Pen :-) And finally just a few silver sequins for bubbles.

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White

Inks: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe

Stamps: Positively Chevron, By the Tide, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Hexagon punch, Simply Pressed Clay, Blender Pens, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Silver Sequins (Non- SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you and for family have a very happy Easter and maybe you might have time to see what the fabulous Team at Can You Case It have made to inspire you and see if you can CASE it too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Lobster birthday

Welcome everyone to another beautiful Autumn day - or Spring if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. Down here in Melbourne today we have another gorgeous warm sunny 28 degrees C - my favourite kind of weather - and comfortably cool enough overnight for sleeping too, hooray!!

This morning was spent at a funeral for a relative of good friends so this afternoon it was time to make a   cheerful card and play along with the lovely team at Freshly Made Sketches.

Narelle who set the great sketch this week suggested it might be a "good one to show off some DSP or create a scene." Well, I'm not great at using the brayer yet so had a go at creating a water scene with the Painters Tape technique……and settled on the DSP idea :-)

The DSP here is pretty plain but I was hoping the colour was sea -ish to compliment the Lobster which was first stamped and then coloured a little more with an Aqua painter and there are circles which could be bubbles :-)

The card base is embossed with the pretty Decorative Dots EF still available for free as part of Saleabration till the 28th of this month. And the banners ends are cut using the Hexagon punch :-)

Card stock: Island Indigo. Whisper White

Designer SeriesPaper: Retro Fresh 

Ink: Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana

Stamps: By the Tide, (Retired Saleabration set)

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Hexagon Punch, Basic Rhinestones

I hope you are having a fabulous day whatever the weather where you are and maybe you might like to  check out the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and join in the fun took :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Catching Fish

It's HOT in Melbourne yet again today - 41 degrees Celsius as I type. So its been the perfect day to spend inside card making sitting under the (new) Air Con :-)

Today's card is for a fishing lover….and combines the Sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

And the colours from Fab Friday

Its such a great colour combo and lends itself to a fresh look I think :-) And how much fun is it to make a card where the difficult decisions of colours and layout have been made for you LOL!!

So yes, this came together pretty quickly and was great fun to do so a big  "thank you" to both FMS and FF :-)

The crumb cake Frame is cut using the Square Framelits  and then embossed with the Lattice EF. The white square is sponged with some Coastal Cabana ink. I used some Linen thread for the fishing "line" and a Cocktail pick with the sharp end cut off for a fishing rod.

Card stock: Crumb cake, Real Red, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Retro Fresh

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Real Red

Stamps: By the Tide, Sassy Salutations

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Framelits, Lattice EF, Decorative Dots EF*, Linen Thread, Cocktail pick, Glue dots, Dimensionals, Snail

* Available as part of the Saleabration free products

I hope wherever you are today that "extreme weather" is not part of your forecast! Its hot here in Australia and freezing cold in the USA…..would be great to fly somewhere in between the two :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Paper Craft Crew Challenge #77

What a beautiful and sunny day it is here today in Melbourne, Australia!  No longer is it 40 degrees Celsius and it's like everyone and everything is recovering.

I have some big news today! I have been asked to join the wonderful team of Designers at the Paper Craft Crew! I am so honoured as I am still quite new to the world of challenges and have admired the work of the Team members for some time. I do love to challenge myself  and sometimes that means moving out of my comfort zone and that is certainly where I am now but I am sure it will be a good thing :-)  So I hope that you too will come and see what the other talented Designers have made and be inspired to have a go too!

And here is my take on the Sketch:

This card all started with the By the Tide set which was on my table thanks to a friend's visit and a conversation about the Circle framelits!! The fish bowl was created by using the lovely Silver Foil card stock with the Circle Framelit dies to make a circle frame. The top of the bowl was made by punching it with the Wide Oval punch. Then the water is sponged in using Pool Party and a touch of Coastal Cabana and Midnight Muse ink.

The happy little fish is stamped in Calypso Coral  and the eye coloured with a Coastal Cabana marker. And I used some Basic rhinestones as little bubbles. The striped banner is stamped from the Gorgeous Grunge set and cut out by hand and layered over the bottom of the bowl. And added to that is a Vintage Faceted designer button topped with some Twine.

Card Stock: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Silver Foil
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Ink: Midnight Muse, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate
Stamps: By the Tide, Sassy Salutations, Gorgeous Grunge
Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Wide oval punch, Vintage Faceted Designer buttons, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Basic rhinestones

Thanks for looking and I can't wait to see what you create with this sketch at the Paper Craft Crew this week!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

A Thank You

Good morning! It such a beautiful Spring morning and it is so lovely to see the Sun today! So here is  a happy little card made with the beautiful By the Tide set that I am borrowing from my good friend Katerina :-) I gave this card to her yesterday as a little surprise!

I wanted to use the lovely pumpkin  Polka Dots Parade DSP and make a cheery card! So the images are stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink on Whisper White card stock and then punched out with 1/14" Square punch and then layered. The background script is another stamp in the same set inked with Crumb Cake and layered again onto Pumpkin Pie card stock and the border added with the Scallop Border Punch. The greeting is stamped directly onto the DSP ( lined up easily using the clear blocks!) and is from the Sassy Salutations set.

Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Polka Dots Parade
Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake
Stamps: By the Tide, Sassy Salutations
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/4" Square Punches, Scallop Border punch

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan