Flourishing Easel for JAI #323

Welcome and a very happy Friday to you! Today, Sally the Lab is having some tests done on spots on her nose...there was just one for ages but suddenly it's changed colour and multiplied so fingers crossed it's not too bad, poor girl :-(  In the meantime, the sun is shining and I'm having a lovely day crafting with a good friend - we have a few projects that I will share with you soon :-)

To encourage your crafting this week, we have a new challenge for you at Just Add Ink. This week, Tina has suggested we Just add....F. So what do we mean by "F"? Anything that you would like to use that starts with the letter F. It may be a stamp set, a technique, a colour...our lovely design team have created beautiful projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and take a look.

For my F elements I used a Fancy Fold (Easel card), Flourishing Phrases stamp and matching Framelits, some Flirty Flamingo ink to stamp a Flower and gold Foil card - so just a few things  :-)
After last week's challenge to use one of the new In- Colours, I decided to jump right in and try some more - so we have the lovely Dapper Denim ( looks a little like the old Not Quite Navy or is just me?), and Flirty Flamingo.
This upright Easel is very easy to do, on a top folding card, just score and then fold horizontally halfway down the front panel. The key is to only attach your image panel to the bottom half and then decorate the inside in a way to hold up the panel - here that is done by the flower framelit and the gold panel.

And it folds flat ready for posting too :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Dapper Denim, Flirty Flamingo, Gold Foil

Ink: Versamark, Flirty Flamingo, Dapper Denim

Stamps: Flourishing Phrases, Rose Wonder, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Flourish Thinlits, White EP, Burlap Ribbon, In Colour Enamel Shapes 

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 fabulous cards our lovely team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create using the letter "F" this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

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

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

Watercolor Wings for JAI #297

It's Friday and that means it's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week, Nikki  has suggested a beautiful colour combo for us all to use. The design team have all created gorgeous cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and have a look :-)

Here are the colours:

And here is my card:

The butterfly uses the lovely Watercolor Wings set and co-ordinating dies. I quickly stamped off the base butterfly image using Pool Party ink - and then discovered I hadn't quite stamped it all off. However, I like it - it almost looks hand painted don't you think? A happy accident :-)

I added a vellum butterfly - so it has an added layer and height whilst not taking away from the coloured one - and it's topped with some blushing bride enamel dots from the Love Blossoms embellishment kit. Love these - will probably need some more quite soon! The white happy is cut and layered x3  with the top layer receiving the now standard touch of Wink of Stella :-) And it might be easier to see in the next photo that there is some of the Botanical Gardens designer Vellum - one of the free Saleabration products - over the background too. It's so soft and pretty! This is another one in the post already....off to the  favourite SIL....yes, she is pretty special in her own right as well as being married to the 'favourite" brother ...one and only LOL! We have a lot of favourites in our family :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick), Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Vellum

DSP: Subtles Stack, Botanical Gardens Designer vellum stack (Saleabration)

Inks: Versamark, Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Pear Pizazz

Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You thinlits, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Elegant Dots EF, White EP, Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit, Metallic Gold Thread, Fine tip Glue pen, dimensionals and Snail

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see all the lovely cards the design team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create with these soft and beautiful colours!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Give Thanks PCCC#171

It's Wednesday already and that means its time for a new challenge from The Paper Craft Crew. This is the third of our monthly "non sketch" challenges and this week we have a lovely THEME for you of Giving Thanks. Whilst there is a special holiday for this in the USA, thanks is something we all love to give and receive and the Team have made a great variety of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and take a look :-)

Here is my card:

My starting point for this card was the stamp set and I decided to try a new colour combo. I haven't used this year's In Colours hardly at all (except for Watermelon Wonder) so it was time to use some Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe together and some Pink Pirrouette to keep it feminine :-) Hopefully you can just see the lightly stamped "so much" too.

Card stock: Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Go Wild Stack

Inks: Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Pink Pirouette,

Stamps: Floral Wings, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Lots of Labels Framelits, Large Polka Dots EF, Expressions Wood Elements, Basic Pearls, Metallic Sequins, Gold cording Trim

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop over to The Paper Craft Crew and see what the rest of the Team have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this lovely theme too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just For You #JAI 287 Inspiration

It's Friday all so quickly and our household is starting to return to normal routine after a busy week and a half :-)
And it's time for a new fun challenge at Just Add Ink where Jodene has found these wonderful photos for us all to use. The Team have been busy and made fabulous creations to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and have a look.

Here are this week's photos:

And here is my Mini Treat Bag:

I don't really have any leaf stamps at the moment but this colourful DSP has several of the leaf colours in the photos and then I took inspiration from the lovely yellow flower for the tag and the inside. 

I very nearly used the poinsettia for the tag but it is a nice surprise as you open the bag too :-)

The Tag greeting and bow are from the Mini Treat Bag Framelits and I used the Hello You Thinlits for the inside card. Again keeping it simple so the poinsettia and DSP can be the stars.

Card stock: Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist, Old Olive,

Designer Series Paper: Into The Woods

Inks: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Tangelo Twist, Old Olive

Stamps: Flower Patch, Reason For The Season, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Mini Treat Bag Framelit, Flower Fair Framelits, Hello You Thinlits, Poinsettia Punch, Triple Banner Punch, Iced Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones, Gold Cording Trim

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop on over to Just Add Ink and be inspired by all the wonderful creations the Team have made for you this week and I look forward to seeing what you create with these photos too!

Pool Garden Birthday

It is a beautiful Tuesday here in Melbourne and we have some lovely warm days ahead to look forward to. Today's card is also a celebration - for a beautiful friend's birthday!

For the background I used the same inspiration as for my Just Add Ink card this week - that of Angie Leach. I kept the colour combination that Angie used - as it's totally gorgeous -  and stepped it up a little by adding a second sized flower within the background and all the other details :-)

To create the background I stamped the two flower images in Versamark ink on Pool Party card and embossed them in white. For the large flowers I then sponged on some Pool Party ink to the petals and Island Indigo to the centres. The colours were added to the smaller flowers using a Blender Pen and any excess ink was wiped off with a paper towel so the white embossing still shines.

The 'happy" is die cut 5 times - the last from Glimmer Paper so it has real dimension as well as sparkle and compliments the butterfly too. And the "Birthday"is also white embossed to continue the theme.

A tiny little bit of silver thread for antenna and one of the fabulous Iced Rhinestones and the butterfly is finished :-)

Can you see the dimension of the "happy"? The original plan was to put the background cut "happy" back in place on the top but it didn't have the impact  I'd hoped for  - so sparkly glimmer cut one to the rescue!!

Card stock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Inks: Versamark, Pool Party, Island Indigo

Stamps: Garden In Bloom, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, Bold Butterfly Framelits, White EP, Triple Banner Punch, Silver Metallic thread, Iced Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful week and are enjoying the Seasons changing wherever you are :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

You've Got A Birthday

It has been a lovely and warm 30 degrees today - it feels more like Summer than Spring and I am not complaining :-) The footy game is over - the local Melbourne team won and I admit if I had to pick a team it would've been purely based on that :-)

Today's card is for a lovely friend who had a birthday recently and she loves all things pink so I hope she likes this one.

The beautiful bloom is water coloured onto some Shimmery White card stock using an Aqua Painter. This card type gives a soft and subtle shimmer  that is really heard to see in the photos but us beautiful in real life - and being slightly thicker than water colour paper it also holds it's shape really well with the added water. I used Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss and some Meadow Moss for the leaves and kept the water to a minimum as I wanted the colours to stay nice and bright. And when dry  I added onto another layer of the Shimmery card to keep the sparkle going :-)

Card stock: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Shimmery White

Designer Series Paper: Go Wild Stack

Inks: Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss, Meadow Moss, Versamark, Black Stazon

Stamps: You've Got This, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, White EP, Aqua Painter, Bright's Sequins Assortment

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are enjoying your weekend too!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

More Butterfly Colours

A very happy Monday to you! Today is a lovely warm 21 degrees - its so nice to see the sun and  the trees in blossom!
Today's card was made using the same design as my Just Add Ink card and is for a friend's birthday :-)

The base is Watermelon Wonder - my favourite of the new In Colours. And it is paired with some Pool Party and Basic Grey for a little contrast. I must admit I do like the "stripes" of colour to the side :-)

Card stock: Watermelon Wonder, Basic Grey, Whisper White (Thick), Basic Black
Designer Series paper: Neutrals and Subtle's Stacks
Inks: Watermelon Wonder, Pool Party, Versamark
Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Crazy About You
Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Triple Banner Punch, White EP, Blossom Accents, Metallic Silver Thread, Basic Rhinestones

Happy stamping until next time :-)

Jan

Just Add A Colour Combo JAI # 281

Happy Friday to you - the first three weeks of Spring have gone so fast!!  It is wonderful to watch the garden bursting into happy blooms and the summer veggies  planted last weekend are all growing well too :-)

And it's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week Di  has asked us to Just Add Your Favourite Three Colours. So what are your favourite three colours? We would love to see!

I love the idea of this challenge - and so fun - use your favourites!! And then I realised I had too many favourite colours lol! I love pinks and corals and blues but thought might be a little bright all together! So I chose a favourite butterfly combo: Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise and Silver. Silver is one of my all time faves and the Turquoise is a new but growing one :-)

This DSP is from the Neutral Stack and has a real but subtle shine to the silver stripes that is beautiful! The background is created with the long" dotty" stamp in the set stamped repeatedly in Soft Sky with a little masking for shaping.

Card stock: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White (Thick), Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer, Basic Black

Designer Series Paper: Neutral's Stack (Silver), Subtle's Stack (Soft Sky) 

Inks: Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise, Versamark

Stamps: Watercolor Wngs, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, White EP, Triple Banner Punch, Iced Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones, Silver Metallic Thread

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create with your Favourite Three Colours this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Celebrate Balloons JAI #276

At long last the days are definitely getting a little warmer as well as longer and it has been lovely to be able to enjoy some sunshine this week. Sally the Lab and her doggie Park friends are all getting a little bit "frisky" as the Spring air arrives - pollens and all!

This week at Just Add Ink we have a new fun challenge for you  - to "Just add a card for Males" suggested by me :-) Our wonderful Team have created truly fabulous cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look :-)

Here is my card:

Some people I know find cards for males quite a challenge - funnily enough for me, they are my favourite cards to make. Although this particular one took a little longer than usual to come together ( I'll blame the cold and flu tabs lol). Everyone has their own formula - I quite like to keep male cards reasonably clean although I'm not adverse to a metallic sequin or three  - here to go with the Silver Foil greeting and embossing :-) What do you like to create for males that is different - or similar - to your female cards?

 -

Card stock: Pacific Point, Whisper White (Thick and ordinary), Tangerine Tango, Silver Foil, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Brights Stack
Inks: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Versamark
Stamps: Celebrate Today, Crazy About You
Accessories: Big Shot, Greeting Thinlits, Balloon Framelits, Silver EP, Triple Banner Punch, Brights Sequins assortment, Basic Grey Thick Twine

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful male cards the Team have made to inspire you this week and we look forward to seeing what you will create for the males in your life this week too!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy Butterfly Day

Happy Tuesday to you! Today's card was made for a very lovely lady who had a birthday recently. I know she loves butterflies so that was a great starting point for her card :-)

The butterfly is stamped in only two colours ( although it is a 3 step stamp). The base layer is Blushing Bride, then Watermelon Wonder for the Edges and Watermelon again, stamped off once for the centre. Of course it wouldn't be finished without some bling -  the gold foil butterfly, gold metallic thread and topped with one of the lovely Metal Rimmed Pearls :-)

Card stock: Watermelon Wonder, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Subtles Stack (Pool Party)

Inks: Blushing Bride, Water Melon Wonder, Versamark

Stamps : Watercolor Wings, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Hello You Thinlits, Large Polka Dots EF, Gold EP, Triple Banner Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Metal Rimmed Pearls, Metallic Gold Thread, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Colour - JAI # 266

One of the lovely things about sunny days in Winter is that  best mates Sally the Black Lab and Monty the blonde Golden Retriever can enjoy a bit of rough play. We haven't seen Monty at the Park this week -  we're staying out of the cold as Sal is a bit stiff and due for her anti- inflam injection and a check up with the Surgeon - she had a tumour removed from behind her Right knee last Dec that was benign. So with the sun shining bright we popped in to see him and were greeted very warmly - she got her customary paw to the head as she skipped through the gate on her way to check if he'd left her any of his breakfast…..which he had!! But soon he had her attention and the play was on!

And very deserving of YOUR full attention is the wonderful colour challenge over at Just Add Ink. This week the lovely Nikki has suggested a gorgeous Colour challenge for you. The Team have been busy creating some amazing cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and have a look :-) 

Aren't these such gorgeous colours? And so many options!

Here is what I made:

My first thought when I saw these colours was how elegant the combination seemed and so I wanted to  explore that angle. I had seen a lovely idea for a greeting panel by Teneale Williams using the now retired Label Framelits and decided that would work well here. The flower and leaves are part of the Crazy About You stamp set - I hadn't looked much further than the words before either - lots of fussy cutting :-)

Card stock: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Inks: Pink Pirouette, Versamark

Stamps: Crazy About You, Four You (retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Label Framelits, Gold EP, Subtles Candy Dots

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you have a moment to pop by Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you this week - showing some new products too!! And I look forward to seeing what your interpretation of these beautiful colours are :-)

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos from earlier today. Monty is 5yrs Sally's junior although you'd be hard pressed to know it - she is still the boss :-) They "met" four years ago at the local Park and quickly became the best of friends playing together every evening. Since then they both get quite miserable if they don't see each other for a few days - poor Monty went off his food when she had her surgery and we were asked to pop over so they could say hello through the gate! The day they could see each other again without the gate in-between was pretty special both for dogs and owners :-) These days she can't play as long but he doesn't seem to mind as long as she gives him her attention and some kisses - they play rough but there is no doubt they adore each other :-)

.

Monty, so happy to see her he is running around like a crazy puppy!

She's smaller but still taller - not bad for an 11year old :-)

Life is good - two happy mates will both sleep well tonight :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan