Just Add Ink #519 Peace at Christmas

 Happy Friday everyone and welcome!! The signs of Spring are in the air with the Wattle (Aussie native flower) out in bloom and yellow pollen edging every puddle. It also means it's almost 4 months to Christmas as scary as that can sometimes sound for us card makers 😉

Just in time is this week's super pretty Just Add Ink Colour Challenge from Jo. These In Colour colours are suited to so many themes and subjects and we hope that you have as much as fun with them as we did. As always, if you don't have these exact ones you can substitute with the nearest colour you have but please no extra colours other than black, white or metallics.

I thought this pretty mix of cooler shades would suit a Winter Christmas card and then had a look through my stash of stamps and DSP. I am waiting on the lovely Coming Home set to arrive so in the meantime I turned to some retired DSP. It's "Just Add Colour" name sounds as though it was made for a Just Add Ink challenge! And so I coloured this with Copics using the closest colours to the challenge ones.

The trees are really pretty in real life. They are stamped with the image from Peaceful Pines (very similar to the new In the Pines) in Versamark and embossed with Shimmery White EP. It is perfect for a sparkly snow effect! The die cut Peace is also shimmery as is Diamond Glimmer paper. So now this first Christmas card for 2020 is complete.

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Misty Moonlight, Purple Posy,Diamond Glimmer

Designer Series Paper: Just Add Colour (SAB)
Inks: Versamark (plus Copics)
Stamps: Peaceful Pines (retired), 

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Christmas Greetings dies, Peaceful Pines, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Shimmery White EP, Metallic Sequins

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 wonderful inspiration from our lovely team and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this pretty colour combo too!

Til next time,

Jan

Window Gift Boxes for JAI #439

It's the last Friday before Christmas and all through the town not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.....I couldn't resist this fun Christmas storyline 😊The busiest time of year for us card makers and I still have a few on my list yet to make.... It's been a year full of ups and downs - sad goodbyes, a full on but cute as young foster dog and no one could've predicted the arrival of Sally (Junior ) from Guide Dogs who has indeed changed my life for the better too. 

And we also have the last Just Add Ink challenge for 2018 too! Suggested by the lovely Patrice. This challenge is well timed to help you complete those special projects for Christmas and beyond that require a little something more than a card - a Gift Box! The challenge runs for TWO WEEKS, and will close on January 2 2019. The design team did have a lot of fun with this one and we hope that you will too! Although the team won't be voting on entries, we hope that you will share your projects to encourage others too.

I've had the Window Box Thinlits in my craft collection for a rather long time and now they've come in handy for a Just Add Ink challenge! They make a good sized box - quite big and deep - and the die set comes with a few different dies to use for decoration too.

These particular boxes will come in handy to gift a few Body Butter gifts that I have been making lately - the 100ml containers fill them perfectly 😊

As you can see, I've used the same layout to decorate each box to keep it simple - a combination of new and older framlets and some of the lovely Christmas release papers.

Card Stock: Tranquil Tide, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White,Copper Foil

Designer Series Paper: Joyous Noel

Stamps: Merry Christmas To All

Accessories: Big Shot, Merry Christmas Thinlit Dies, Window Box Thinlits, Pretty Pines Thinlits, Burlap Ribbon, Copper and White EP's

Thanks for stopping by today  - and throughout the year too! I'd like to thank you all for the lovely encouraging comments that mean so much and help keep me creating and sharing with you. And may you all have a safe, peaceful and very happy Christmas and I look forward to seeing what crafting adventures await us all in 2019!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Merry Christmas to you!!

A very Merry Christmas to you!! I hope you've had a wonderful day of spending time with family and friends and maybe some relaxing along the way too. For us Christmas started with Midnight Mass and then some early morning Skype calls to NZ to chat with family and share in the lovely nephew and nieces opening their presents...such fun!! Then it was lunch with friends and a surprise flying visit from an Aunty from out of State and a long overdue catch up with more family and cousins etc. So a busy day but a lovely one :-)

Today I have two cards and a few other related projects to share with you to finish the Christmas theme for this year. This first one is clean and simple and sparkly. I teamed the Winter Wonder EF with the Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits and a little blue and copper.

The sparkly snowflake is inked with Distress Inks to add some colour and interest.

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter Paper, Copper Foil, Vellum

Accessories: Big Shot, Winter Wonder EF, Swirly Snowflake thinlits, Christmas Greetings Thinlits (retired), Metallic Sequin Assortment

Non SU: Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Frosted sequins (SSS)

The last card is in honour of this being Sally the Lab's last Christmas as she has cancer and is going out to our vet family in Hallam without whom Sally would not be here several times over. Later versions of this for family and friends are without the gold tree.

Along with the card are a few little gifts with mainly the same photo - my first attempts at using Waterslide Decal Paper.  The process is simple but not always so in practice so I have a couple of hints for you.

I found that one coat of Clear Acrylic spray wasn't quite strong enough to prevent the images from cracking on transfer - especially on the mug. Other sites I found suggested up to 3 sprays and I'd recommend that too if your object isn't flat like the tile coasters. After they are dry, you can coat with more acrylic to make it all shiny and smooth and heat resistant in the case of the coasters. Be aware though in the case of mugs and glasses that it's not dishwasher safe.

And yes, the other side of the mug here features Sally playing with her good mate Monty - a happy snap from years gone by.

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Silver - and gold Glimmer, Garden Green, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Softly Falling EF, Christmas Greeting Thinlits (retired), Peaceful Pines Thinlits, Metallic Sequins Assortment

Non SU: Square Stitched Framelits (SSS) chocolates!!

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you can take some time to enjoy the rest of the holidays and I look forward to journeying with you in the New Year!

Happy stamping  until then,

Jan

Merry Inspiration - JAI #292

Welcome to Friday - and so that means it's only 2 weeks to Christmas!! Hasn't it come around so quickly this year?! I have finally got most of the shopping done ready for wrapping and posting but I have a lot of cards yet to make!! 

Does this sound familiar? Then you are going to really enjoy this week's challenge at Just Add Ink!! The lovely Nikki has given us these fabulous photos to use as inspiration and the Team have all created a wide variety of wonderful projects to inspire you so I hope you can pop on over and take a look.

Here are the photos:

And here's my card:

Yes, there is a little ornament as well!! With these fabulous inspiration challenges you can take whatever inspires you and see where that leads - for me, several of the silver of the ornaments in the photos caught my eye and reminded me of the Peaceful Pines stamp set and matching Framelits - so I made a little ornament to go with the card :-) 

And if you are thinking this card looks a little familiar you are right - the tree design is based on a card I made a few challenges ago that you can see here . It seemed a great way of incorporating the different colours in the photos :-)  Here, the tree is quite busy so the background has been kept very CAS - vellum, some scattered star sequins and you may just catch a glimpse of the wonderful Wink of Stella clear glitter that's added to the greeting (a sneak peek item from the upcoming Occasions catalogue!). Next time I make this card I will add a few more layers to the "merry" to give it some more dimension I think too.

Card stock: Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Vellum, Silver Foil

Ink: Pool Party

Stamps: Peaceful Pines

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pines Framelits, Star Framelits, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Metallic Sequins, Silver Cording Trim. Wink of Stella (clear)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop by Just Add Ink to see all the wonderful inspiration from our wonderful Team this week. And I look forward to seeing what you will create using these gorgeous photos too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Peace JAI #279

Welcome to a lovely Friday - I just love Spring - the Cherry Trees are in blossom, the garden is starting to flourish and the daffodils are nearly out :-) It will be 20 degrees today for the first time since May and so a trip to the Garden Nursery for summer veggies is not far away :-)

It's also time for a fun new challenge at Just Add Ink! This week Narelle has suggested a lovely sketch for us all to use. I hope you can take a moment and pop over and see what our wonderfully talented Team have made to inspire you :-)

Here is the sketch:

Such a fabulous sketch :-)

Here is my card:

I have taken a little artistic licence with the circle element of the sketch but hopefully you can still see it in my card. I was excited to try a 3D tree with these fabulous new framelits that have just arrived:-) There are 4 stamped trees to give it some dimension and the background is from the Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum stack - so sparkly in real life!

The simple "peace" greeting is cut from the new Thick Whisper White card stock -  it is so much stronger and indeed thicker -  perfect for die cutting from as the words hold their shape and have a little extra height too. Definitely a favourite already :-)

Card stock: Pool Party, Gold Foil, Whisper White (Thick)
Designer Series Paper: Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack
Ink: Pear Pizzaz
Stamps: Peaceful Pines
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pines Framelits, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Triple Banner Punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack (star).

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the fabulous creations our Team have made to inspire you! And I look forward to seeing what you will create with this lovely sketch this week too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan