HeartfeltSympathy for JAI #661

 

Hello and happy first week back after School Holidays for those families here in Victoria! It is noticeable how much quieter the shopping centres are despite there still being the odd Sale on. I hope you and your family had a happy break whether you stayed home or managed to get away for a bit.

This week at Just Add Ink  we have an Inspiration Photo for you from Nikki. Inspiration Photo challenges are great as you can take whatever appeals to you from them and sparks your creativity. It may be the Christmas theme, the wreath, the colours or even a combination of all of these. I hope that you can pop on over to the Challenge blog and we'd love to have you join us.

I hope you can see what parts of the Inspiration that I used? The circle shape and yes, whilst there are no roses in the wreath, it does have an "arrangement" of natural elements.
The image I was very grateful to receive from one of my JAI DT friends, Tristan.

Sadly, beloved Gemma, a wonderful RDA horse that I have been privileged to ride during my Equine therapy classes this year passed away after a short and sudden illness during the holidays. Gem was loved by so many - including me. I was surprised by how closely we bonded in such a short time. She seemed to know I was unwell and took such good care of me. I was so grateful and brought her favourite treats - carrots and a little Licorice too. Her illness was so unexpected as she had been perfectly well. So it was heartbreaking to need to make this card for the staff and volunteers.

I coloured Gem first -I've never coloured a horse before so I was very grateful for an older Copic colouring video from Sandy Allnock. Many would know Sandy from Online Card Classes. One of her helpful tips for brown and bay horses - add a touch of an orange glow. So my base colour is YR23 - which is a light orange! And then I added the browns as shading and in layers - quite a few- to be as realistic as I could.

Then I coloured the rose and fussy cut both images before layering them back on top of each other in the same way the image created them. A layer of Wink of Stella helps make the colours shine.

Card stock: Pretty Peacock, Coastal Cabana, Pink Pirouette, Gold Foil

Inks: Versamark, Copics, Blends

Stamps:  Horse Thanks Tristan 😍, Well Worded,

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Layering Circle Dies (Retired),Leaves EF, Metallic Sequin Assortment, Wink of Stella

Of course, I have few photos to help me with her likeness. This one is after some carrots earlier in the year. It didn't take long for Gem to know my voice and she'd often turn fully around in her stall to suggest I might like to bring her some more. I will miss her so much and am so grateful for all she taught me. Now I am very thankful to be able to continue on a new horse and with the help of the fabulous staff and volunteers will begin again to build trust and a strong bond again.

"Til next time,

Jan

Retirement for JAI #659

 

Happy Friday everyone! It's the end of the first week of the School Holidays here in Melbourne and it is bitterly cold and damp. No wonder so many people have gone away for a break in warmer climates. For those of us still at home though, it is a perfect opportunity to stay warm and dry in the craft room - even if we have to go out for a dog walk first.

This week at Just Add Ink we have a fresh Colour Challenge for you suggested by the lovely Lou. The design team have created a wide variety of projects to inspire you so I hope that you can take a moment and pop on over to the JAI blog andI'd love to see you join us.

One of the lovely things about making cards is that you can personalise them for the recipient. And that is what I have done here. I've used this week's Colour Challenge to create a retirement card for a priest. 

As I've said previously, this card is personal to the recipient. So let's talk through the elements.
The Merry Melodies EF is to reference his career before his call to the priesthood - that of an opera producer. He orchestrated the Passion performance at the Australian WYD in 2008 which used those skills and he also supported me in putting together the parish choir. 

The book images are from the Birds Eye View set in the latest catelogue, coloured with Blends and Copics and the daffodils are from a long retired set called Blessed By God and symbolise new beginnings ( or Spring). The Cross is from the same set. And the final stamp set used here is the much loved Well Worded bundle for the sentiment.

So I hope that this card shows you how you can combine a number of different stamp sets, new and old to make a card that has personal significance for a recipient. Challenges can help make that happen as they can give you a guiding hand in how to choose the images and perhaps layout and in this case, it is the colours used. I hope you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge.

Card stock: Pretty Peacock, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Silver Foil

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Blends: Pretty Peacock combo

Stamps: Birds Eye View, Blessed By God (retired), Well Worded (retired).

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Stitched Rectangle Framelits, Well Written Framelits, Silver EP, Merry Melodies EF, 

'Til next time,

Jan 

JAI #637 Birthday Sketch

 

Happy Friday everyone and hope you are just about ready for school term time to begin for the year! 
It's a long weekend here in Australia and many families are coming back from a trip away or even a short, weekend break before the school year starts again next week. 

I hope you all enjoyed our Just Add Ink Blog Hop last week?! I loved seeing the entries pile in and hope we will have more of the same with this rather fun sketch this week from Tina! 

Our lovely design team created a wonderful array of cards with different themes and colours. So beautiful.

I needed to create a pink 21st card and had been saving the beautiful Expressions of Ink DSP for just such an occasion. I added the DSP pieces to card stock and then cut these too to give added dimension.

The gold foil 21 and the white die cuts aim to add to the elegance factor. The "st" created from cutting individual letters from the "thanks" word in the Well Worded set.

Card stock: Basic White thick and standard, Gold Foil, Vellum

DSP: Expressions of Ink

Accessories: Die cutting machine, Stitched Shapes Dies, Large Numbers dies, Well Worded dies

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you have been inspired and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this fun sketch at Just Add Ink this week.

Country Birthday for JAI #557

Happy Friday everyone and welcome! There is a feeling of deja vu for those of us in Melbourne, where we are in the midst of another Lockdown to limit the spread of Covid 19. We have gotten through it before so we can do it again. At least at home, we are lucky to have a craft space we can spend more time in and hope that for others in Melbourne, you too can take solace in getting creative.

This week's Inspiration Photo challenge at Just Add Ink  from Rachael is a beautiful Winter's fireplace scene full of layers of texture to choose from. With Inspiration photo's you get to choose from what pops out at you from the photo to inspire your projects. The design team have a lot of variation in their cards this week so I hope you can pop on over to the blog and we'd love you to join us!

I was inspired by the beautiful white bricks in the fireplace and the jars sitting in front. 

To recreate the bricks, I used some Shimmery Embossing Paste with a stencil. This is a quick and easy way to add texture and sparkle and dimension to a background.

The jar from the lovely Country Home set was stamped in Momento and coloured using Copics. The arrangement to top the jar was coloured using a mix of Blends and Copics. Although there are neutrals in the Photo, I needed some colour for the blooms in the stamped image so Balmy Blue to the rescue. It's such a soft and pretty blue and doesn't over power the neutral tones. I've found it's easier to fussy cut the images before you colour them - cause it's not so bad if you make a mistake cutting if you haven't spent time colouring it! Some ribbon and sequins add to the layers of texture and this Birthday card is ready to post.

Card Stock: Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black

Stamps: Country Home, Well Worded

Ink: Versamark, Momento Tuxedo Black, Blends ( and Copics)

Accessories: Shimmery White Embossing Paste, White Embossing Powder, Metallic Sequins assortment, Silver Sequin Trim, Burlap Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today! I look forward to seeing what you will create for this week's pretty Inspiration photo challenge at Just Add Ink.

Til next time,

Jan

 

Just Add Ink #549 Choose Blooms

 

Hello and welcome!! Last weekend was the end of Daylight Savings here in Victoria and a sure sign that Summer is over. Except that the last few days we've still managed to have some 30 degree days!! That's pretty amazing for the second month of Autumn!! The sunshine has also been great for the garden.😊

Also great is this week's challenge at Just Add Ink! Kelly has given us Feathers, Leaves and Petals to Choose Two from to use as the focus of our projects. Our design team have created a lovely array of cards to inspire you so I hope that you can take a moment to pop on over and take a peek. We'd love you to join us!

So it is rather obvious that I chose Petals and Leaves!! The Bloom and Grow bundle is retiring and it is one of my favourites for colouring. Get it quickly before it is gone. 

Here, I've coloured with Watercolour Pencils on Whisper White card and then a touch with the tip of an aquapainter (Water brush) brightens the colour. Then I went back in to add more colour with the pencils whilst the card was still damp. I find this method allows me to add more depth and shading. For the petals, I used Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry and for the leaves, a mixture of Old Olive and Bermuda Bay. You could easily use water colour paper for this but I was happy to use only a little water so WW card worked well.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can pop on over to Just Add Ink and  I look forward to seeing which of the fabulous Two elements you choose to create with this week.

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Gold Foil, Berry Burst (retired), Just Jade

Inks: Versamark, Watercolour Pencils: Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay

Stamps: Bloom and Grow, Well Worded - both sets retiring 😢

Accessories: Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Well Written Dies (retiring), Ornate Frames dies, Budding Blooms Dies, White EP

'Til next time,

Jan

Just Add Ink #516 Friend Silhouette

Hello and welcome back to my first blog post in a little while. I've taken a little break as we moved into our new home and settled in to a new suburb. We are blessed with lovely neighbours and much more space than we've had in months and a lovely view of evening sunsets which will be amazing in Spring and Summer I'm sure. Melbourne is currently in week 3 of what will probably be more than a 6 week lockdown now for Covid 19 and it's a scary time for many of us. So being able to spend some time at the craft desk is very welcome and maybe its something that is helping you too with the restrictions and changes you may be facing too?! I'd love to hear how you are doing in your part of the world!

It's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink and this week we have a gorgeous Photo Inspiration challenge for you from the lovely Jackie. You can take whatever appeals to you from the photo - the Christmas theme or the colours and patterns - this great pic has heaps of both! The design team had a great time creating cards to inspire you so I hope you'll pop on over and take a peek and we'd love you to join us!

These colours are some of my favourites and so I've used most of them and created a card for friend. That is what is great about Inspiration Photo challenges as you can pick and choose what you want to use as inspiration.

The base layer is Melon Mambo and the second almost hidden layer uses the Buffalo Check background stamp in Coastal Cabana. The top layer is of course water coloured and then some ink was flicked using the lid of the Aqua Painter to add a little detail. The pointing girl from Silhouette Scenes is embossed in the now retired Black Shimmery embossing powder and what looks to be white spots in the photo is in fact beautiful sparkles! To add to the sparkle the tree and "friend" are covered with liberal brush strokes of Wink of Stella.

After water colouring and then embossing, the white card top was somewhat warped.  To help flatten it I find adding a same sized piece of Thick whisper white card to the back of it helps to hold it flat again.

Card Stock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White- thick and standard

Inks: Coastal Cabana, Melon Mambo, Versamark

Stamps: Silhouette Scenes, Buffalo Check

Accessories: Sweet Silhouettes Dies, Well Written Dies, Shimmery Black EP (retired), Iridescent Sequins Assortment (retired), Wink of Stella

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you will take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and I look forward to seeing all your projects in the gallery this week.

Til next time,

Jan

Just Add Ink #508 Just Add "F"

Happy Friday everyone and welcome!! Here in Victoria it is the start of the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend. With Social restrictions easing slightly it's a great time to get out and enjoy the Winter sunshine or to spend at the crafting table! 

This week at Just Add Ink we have one of Tina's popular Alphabet challenges and this week it's to Add the letter "F" to our projects. Our design team have created such fabulous cards to inspire you so I hope that you can pop on over have a peek and we'd love you to join us!

For my card this week, I decided on Flowers and Frames and was inspired by a lovely card by Jennifer McGuire.  I started by white embossing the Ornate Garden image twice on water color paper and used Zig Markers and a Water Brush to colour the images. The stitched squares are cut so as to make the image appear wider so as to give the appearance of a background stamp. 

To create a shadow frame around the "birthday" die I used a trick from my fellow JAI teamie and an Artisan Design Team member, Rochelle Blok who suggests tracing around the metal die and fussy cutting to create a shadow effect. It seems now I look at the photo that my hand might have moved whilst tracing -oops! It shows I guess that whilst we all try to do our best, mistakes happen.

The Happy is embossed with the sadly retiring Black Sparkle EP and is super sparkly in real life.

Card Stock: Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark

Stamps: Ornate Garden, Well Said

Accessories: Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Well Worded Dies, White EP, Black Shimmery EP.

Non SU: Zig Watercolor Markers, Water color Paper (TH, Ranger), Rhinestones (Craft store)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the design team inspiration and I look forward to see what "F" elements you choose to add to your projects this week.

Til next time,

Jan

 

JAI #506 Inspiration Retro Birthday

Happy Friday everyone and welcome!! This week, with restrictions starting to ease here in Australia people are starting to go out and about more. There is more traffic on the roads and on the odd occasion that I have been out, the social distancing doesn't always seem to be done as well as it could be. I am cautiously optimistic but as someone who does have health issues I would encourage everyone to continue to be careful and maintain the space between others for everyone's safety.

At Just Add Ink this week we have a gorgeous Photo Inspiration for you suggested by Nikki. 

There is so much to love about this photo - the rich colours, circular shapes and all the different textures and foodie goodies! Our lovely design team has created lots of amazing things to inspire you so I hope that you can pop on over to take a peek and we'd love you to join us!

For my guy card I was inspired by the bowl shapes and the colours to create another retro style project inspired by Laura Bassen. You can seen another similar project I made last week, here.

These are quite easy to make when you can decide on the colours and the Challenge Photo makes this easy! The process is simpler than it looks - create two different coloured layered circles, cut them in half and use one half from each to create your card.

The swirls do line up better when spaced a little way apart so that is where here I've used Black Glimmer paper and added the sentiment on top. It wasn't easy to not add some sort of sequin or gem but this is a Guy card and I decided CAS would be best.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you are inspired to join us at Just Add Ink this week and I look for to seeing what you create with this gorgeous Photo challenge this week.

Til next time,

Jan