Flowering Meadow Sympathy JAI #789

Happy Friday everyone and welcome back! Here in Melbourne this week we've had a number of cold, wet and grey days that make photographing cards very difficult. So I apologise in advance for my card looking different as you go through my photos. It has been a dark, wet and miserable few days outside and a very busy week for us.

This week at Just Add Ink we have a beautiful Sketch for you from Tristan. You can keep this sketch in portrait of flip it to landscape, use strips of DSP, card stock or create your own stripes...as long as the sketch is recognisable. Our design team used this sketch with a number of different themes and colours and we look forward to seeing what you create! You have until Wednesday July 15 to enter your card in at the JAI blog.

I am sorry this first photo is so dark...Melbourne's dark grey skies and heavy rain was not helping me today...
You can see that I flipped the Sketch to Landscape. I thought it fitted with the upright stems of these pretty flowers from Flowering Meadow. I also tried a new technique for me that I've seen a little of online of raising the strips alternately. I didn't look into the workings of how others did this. But did make an attempt using dimensionals and I don't recommend as my version looked very uneven.

The beautiful Flowering Meadow DSP is first die cut using the now retired Stitched Rectangles and then I also die cut a layer of a different green paper from the pack and a piece of Peaceful Pine card stock to use underneath both papers.

This means that when looking at the different paper heights, you may see a little bit of green but not the open space that a dimensional might give and the paper layer is strong and stable to easily carry this little posy and sentiment.

These flowers are fussy cut from the DSP. I forgot I could've die cut them but you won't now!!

 I did die cut a stem for them and some leaves and then also fussy cut the two little leaf sprays to layer with them. This is a very pretty and elegant bundle and the DSP is stunning!!

This DSP is so soft to the touch  - Velvet Meadow is the perfect name as all the white in it is flocked, like soft velvet. And there is lots of it in this particular piece which is all white and green. It is super elegant and sadly I needed a sympathy card for a friend so it seemed perfect. 

 I find being able to create a card for a friend is an honour and especially in times like these, when we want to be supportive, the card carries more than the card and paper used to create it.

Thanks for popping by today and I hope that you might like to join us for this challenge at Just Add Ink.
You have until Wednesday 15 July so I look forward to seeing what you will create!

Card stock: Peaceful Pine, Basic White

DSP: Velvet Meadow
Inks: Versamark
Stamps: Flowering Meadow, Rose Wonder (retired).
Accessories: Die cutting machine, Stitched Rectangles, Flowering Meadow dies, Metallic Pearls, Gold EP, Gold twine.

'Til next time

Jan

 

Just Add Ink Blog Hop

Happy 2018 and welcome back! After a few weeks off from challenge duties it is so exciting to be getting back into routine. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy start to the year and are ready to enjoy some crafting time!

To help inspire you for the first challenge of the year, our talented design team have a very special Blog Hop for you!! You may have just arrived from my lovely friend Patrice Easton and her gorgeous project. But if not, you can click the Next button below and hop around and see all the fabulous creations the team has for you. Clicking on the Blog Hop or JAI banner will take you back to the main challenge blog too. So its a good time to grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy hopping!!

Can you guess what my "something new" is? No, it's not the stamp set actually, it's BRUSHO  - and yes, the stamp and die set here happen to be new too :-) 

I started by stamping in Archival Black and then clear embossing the flower image onto Shimmery White card stock - this is also new to me - and then sprinkled a mixture of Gamboge, Red and Yellow Brusho before adding a little starch spray and moving the colour around with cling wrap. When it was dry, the "celebrate" was die cut from the panel and whilst I had intended to add it back in for the Eclipse Technique on top of the layers of white,  the white version looked pretty good :-)

Also featuring Brusho is this Sympathy card using the Rose Wonder stamp set.

To create the leaves I sprinkled a mixture of Prussian Blue and Yellow Brusho and mixed them with an Aqua Painter. A copper foil overlay gives this the slightly masculine feel it needed for the intended recipient :-)

Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to seeing what "something new" you will choose to use for the first Just Add Ink challenge of the year.  Next you are off to see the lovely Tina Gillespie and her fabulous project that I am sure you will enjoy!

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard),  Shimmery White, Basic black,Copper Foil, 

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark, Black Archival

Stamps: Rose Wonder, Amazing You (Saleabration item)

Accessories: Big Shot, Rose Garden thinlits, Celebrate Thinlits (Saleabration item), Brusho - Prussian Blue &Yellow, Red, Gamboge, Aqua Painter, Metallic Sequins Assortment, Silver Faceted Gems

Non SU: Watercolor paper (TH), Frosted Sequins (SSS)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Fun Fold Special Birthdays

Hello and welcome back :-) Every so often a friend will have one of those special "Round" birthdays and for these I think a special card is in order. I've recently had 2 friends turn 50 and the first really likes a Fancy Fold card so that was my starting point.

Pinterest is not working so well this morning....so I can't find the exact picture that inspired me but here is a similar style card by Julie Davison.

I decorated mine slightly differently but I liked the idea of the 50 being in the circle frame but then it gets hidden when opened - just in case they are not wanting to be reminded of their new age too often yet lol!

This does look rather plain when closed - and that is part of the appeal for me, as it is the inside that pops and is where the fun begins. The outside is only for mailing, it is designed to stand up open like this :-)

For the inside I turned the DSP over and coloured the lovely Birthday Blooms image using an Aqua Painter and ink pads.

One of the best things about this fold is it still fits into a regular C6 Envelope - well, I changed the measurements to make it fit. I started by cutting an A4 piece of card in half at 10.5cm on the short side as if making a top folding card. Then scored the landscape side at 3" and 7.5" and you have your base card.

Next, the largest Stitched Shapes circle was used to cut out the circle from the middle of the 3" score line and a fresh circle without the score line forms the base of the tab for the 50 and I used more layering circles for the DSP and vellum layers and it is attached to the back of the base.

This layout worked so well, I used it for the second card but changed the DSP to one of the soft florals from the Daisy pack....unfortunately, I was so keen to get it into the post that I forgot to take a photo!! A shame really as I coloured the bloom quite differently,  picking up from the colours used in the pretty paper as the recipient is quite the colouring queen.....but maybe later I can add a better tutorial with some more pictures if anyone is interested?

Card stock: Berry Burst, Whisper White, Vellum, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Fresh Florals Stack

Inks: Versamark, Berry Burst, Garden Green, Pear Pizaz

Stamps: Birthday Blooms, Rose Garden

Accessories: Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Layering Circles Framelits, Large Number Framelits, Aqua Painter, Gold EP, Blackberry Bliss twine (retired)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are inspired to add a little extra pizzaz for those special birthdays too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Special Reason for JAI #357

Happy last Friday in April everyone :-) It is incredible to think the year is passing so quickly. We have been very lucky to enjoy a mild Autumn so far. But it would seem that is over as we had hail yesterday amongst the 40 or so mm of rain and there was snow in the mountains. Time to wrap up and bring out the winter woolies :-)

This week at Just Add Ink we have a colour challenge for you that was suggested by me :-) These warmer tones seem a lovely way to warm up your crafting or could just as easily be used for a Spring inspired creation too. As always, our lovely design team have created a fabulous array of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look and join us.

This lovely floral set is retiring and I will miss it!  I came across a new water colouring technique thanks to a Facebook video by Alisa Tilsner. Here she stamps the image in a lighter ink and then uses a darker coloured Watercolor pencil and an Aqua Painter to add shading.
I used this technique with the flowers - stamping in Sweet Sugarplum (stamped off twice), and then colouring with the Rich Razzleberry pencil and blending it with the Aqua Painter. As we don't have an Indigo pencil I used the Aqua Painter with an ink pad instead - this was a little trickier as you have to manage the water carefully on Whisper White, but it worked :-) So if you don't as yet have the pencils you can still try this technique with ink pads.

Yes, it was a week of new techniques - this is for a special sister so a special card was in order :-)
 I found a great tutorial for the Twist and Pop card by Maymay here and will leave the measurements and instructions to her. The only thing I changed is instead of using a piece cut at 8 1/2 x 10 1/2" for my insert, I used  8 1/2 x 11" to cater for our slightly longer card bases here in Australia.

You can see the colouring better here without the die cut overlay and perhaps also the liberal dose of Wink of Stella applied to everything :-)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see the fabulous creations by the design team and I look forward to seeing what you will create with these warm colours this week too :-)

Card stock: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Sweet Sugarplum Glimmer (Saleabration)
Designer Series paper: Blooms and Bliss
Inks: Versamark, Sahara Sand, Sweet Sugarplum, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry (pencil)
Stamps: Special Reason, Rose Wonder, Suite Sayings
Accessories: Big Shot, Stylish Stems Framelits, Hexagon EF (retired), White EP, Aqua Painter, Brights Enamel Shapes

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Hooray for birthdays JAI #352

Hello and welcome back this sunny and happy Friday! After two whole days of rain (although much needed) it was so lovely to see the sun again this morning. It reminds me of growing up in Nelson,  the sunshine state of New Zealand where everyone seemed to get depressed if we had more than 3 days of rain :-)

Our new challenge at Just Add Ink this week is from Nikki who has chosen these delightful colours for us all  to use in our crafting this week. The design team have used these colours in many beautiful ways that will definitely inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look and join us :-)

These lovely bright colours are right up my alley and so I have made two cards with them this week. I've used the same design for both, just swapped the base colours and flowers for each.

The design is called a Twisted Easel and is not a new fancy fold, but is a goodie and very easy too :-)
You just make a regular side opening card and score the front panel from corner to corner diagonally and then only attach the front panel (that will stand up) to the bottom triangle as shown above. The panel stays upright because of the die cut flowers on the base panel. It also folds flat for posting too - bonus :-)

To create the water coloured look I simply applied colour to the stamp with a sponge dauber and then spritzed lightly with water before stamping onto Whisper White Card stock. I tried water colour paper too but found I got a crisper image with the WW. Once it was dry, I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen to go over the "hooray" and the die cut flowers (3 stacked together) to add some shine and texture which you may be able to see below. Then it just needed a few flicks of Wink of Stella and some bling to complete this CAS little number :-)

Card stock: Flirty Flamingo, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Tempting Turquoise, Smoky Slate, Momento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Reverse Words (Saleabration), Balloon Adventures

Accessories: Big Shot, Rose Garden Thinlits, Fine Tip Glue Pen, Basic Rhinestones, Brights and In Colours Enamel Shapes, Clear Wink of Stella

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see  all the beautiful inspiration from our lovely design team and I look forward to seeing what you will create for this fun challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Rose Celebrations for JAI #346

Happy Friday folks and welcome :-) This week has been another hot one and whilst it's been hard to sleep lately, I'm sure we would be complaining if it wasn't a warm summer too :-) The summer veggies have been doing rather well and whilst it seems we are sharing a lot of the tomatoes with a huge, native Brush Tail Possum we've found keeping the Christmas lights up stops him coming down to ground level and finding other things so it's always pretty at night around here lol!

We have a fabulous new challenge for you at Just Add Ink this week. Nikki has suggested these images for us to use on our cards - just choose whichever two of the three you would like to use. Our lovely design team have all created amazing cards to inspire you again this week so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and join us.

I started with the rose and created a rustic water coloured look using the new favourites, Watercolor Pencils.  The penciling was all done first with the two colours and then was brought together with an Aqua painter. Next was the background. The "celebrate" co-ordinates with the new Happy Celebrations stamp set and to cover it with colour, I used the "grunge" image in the set and quickly stamped off the Pool Party ink before stamping over the word. But it seems the stamping off part was a bit uneven as you can see the variations in colour...but I kind of like the random look that it gives :-)

The sentiment banner looked a little lonely all on it's own so a couple of layers of ribbon  underneath just gave it a lift and added some softness and sparkle along with the little butterfly. And the finishing touch was of course, a sprinkling of Wink of Stella and enamel dots as usual.
This is another one in the post already - so many family birthdays this time of year and it is a privilege to be able to send a card that includes the things we know the recipients like :-)

Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver Glimmer
Ink: Pool Party, Versamark. Watercolor Pencils: Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point
Stamps: Rose Wonder, Sunshine Sayings
Accessories: Big Shot, Celebrations Duo EF, Rose Garden Thinlits, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Aqua Painter, Wink of Stella, Burlap Ribbon, Metallic Ribbon Combo (Silver, SAB), Brights Enamel Dots, Basic Rhinestones.
Non SU: Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Card Stock (white)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the fabulous projects our talented design team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create for this fun challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

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

Pieced Rose for JAI #321

Hello and welcome! This past week we have been treated to some unseasonably warm weather - there even were a couple of days without rain! It has been really lovely and has confused the garden somewhat - the daffodils have even started to sprout :-) But Winter is set to return with a vengeance this weekend so will be a great excuse to spend a little time at the craft table.

And just in time for your weekend we have a new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week Patrice has suggested a fabulous technique for us all to use - to Just Add.............Paper Piecing.
The design team have showcased brilliantly different variations of this fun technique so I hope you can pop on over and take a look and be inspired to join us!

This was such a fun challenge as I'd been wanting to try paper piecing the smaller rose in the Rose Garden Thinlits. When I look at the roses I see when walking the streets with Sally the Lab, they are often darker in the centres and lighter toward the outer petals so that was my inspiration for the colours. The base card and rose frame is actually Night of Navy although sadly it almost looks black in the photo.
To give the petals something to rest on, I traced the outline onto some Whisper White card stock and cut it out and placed the frame over the top. Then I simply die cut the rose from the different card colours and kept the pieces - the trick is to pick the card up afterwards, holding the die and peel away the excess card. Then use your paper piercer to gently poke out the frame and your rose should come out intact making it easier to see which piece goes where :-)

For the background I started with a soft water colour wash and as it was drying, stamped some images from Timeless Textures. The slightly wet paper causes the ink to run a little - in some places more than others :-) 

Card stock: Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise

Ink: Versamark, Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy

Stamps: Sunshine Sayings, Timeless Textures

Accessories: Big Shot, Rose Garden Thinlits, Triple Banner Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Aqua Painter, Large Polka Dots EF
Non SU: Watercolour paper pad- 300gsm Eraldo di Paolo from Riot Art 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the fabulous cards our team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will make with this fun technique too.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan 

Layered Butterfly Birthday

Happy Tuesday to you! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend and maybe even got some extra time for crafting? I was blessed to have catch ups with two of my favourite friends popping in - and we even got to stamp as we chatted - after we had a good look over some of the new toys of course :-)

However, today's card features some favourites that have been around since the start of the year at least :-) It was made for a lovely friend's recent birthday and she likes her gold and layers of texture so I hope she likes this.
There are 3 layers of butterflies - with the white having a liberal dose of Wink of Stella for some pretty sparkle! The stamped swirls and grunge effects are gold embossed using the Timeless Textures stamp and there is Pool Party twine added behind the butterflies too for both it's colour and textural effect :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Gold Foil, Melon Mambo
Designer Series Paper: Neutrals and Subtles Stacks
Inks: Melon Mambo, Versamark
Stamps: Rose Wonder, Timeless Textures
Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Butterflies Thinlits, Triple Banner Punch, Gold EP, Iced Rhinestones (Retired, sadly), Pool Party Twine, Basic Rhinestones

I also made a larger version of this card to frame and use in my hallway. I previously had a stamped and coloured Swallowtail themed frame that was well due for an update :-)

Here the gold butterfly has gone to the back of the image - and a larger one used that was too big for the card version. This was inspired by a frame featured in a Stampin Up magazine early in the year  featuring butterflies in a frame and it was an idea that I really wanted to try. Then, to take that inspiration and turn it into a card as well was really fun to do and I hope that you too might be encouraged to try it too.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan