Happiness Abounds Birthday for JAI #663

 

Hello, happy Friday to you and welcome! It is almost the end of July and now the days are noticeably longer. Yes, it has been cold but hopefully the warmer days are coming soon. It is perfect weather to spend a little time in the craft room so hopefully you enjoy this challenge we have, it's JAI 665.

This week at Just Add Ink we have a fun Choose Two Challenge for you suggested by Tina. You can choose between Flowers, Gingham or splatter. As always our lovely design team have all created a beautiful array of cards over on the JAI blog for inspiration.    We'd love you to join us!

So you can see that I chose Flowers and Gingham for my Two items. 

The flowers were fussy cut from DSP and the gingham I stencilled using ink and the Artistic Mix masks. 

I had intended to colour the lovely images from the Happiness Abounds set myself but these flowers are coloured so beautifully that they cried out to be used. I love how the shading is added and so it really is a case of deciding how to arrange and display these.

Granny Apple Green is sponged through the mask to create the gingham effect. It is not a colour that I'm used to using but it is in the leaves in the DSP and it is good to use challenges to try new things whether that be colours or techniques - whatever that may be.

Thank you for stoping by.  I hope that you might be inspired to join us for this challenge and I look forward to seeing what you choose for your Two items and what you will create for this challenge!

Card stock: Granny Apple Green, Basic White, Basic Black, Gold Foil

Ink: Granny Apple Green, Versamark

Stamps: Well Said

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Well Written Dies, Artistic Masks, White EP,  Gold Faceted Gems, Metallic Sequins Assortment.

'Til next time,

Jan

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            you.

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 

Pet Sympathy for JAI #657

 

Hello and happy Friday! It's the end of another week and we are nearing the Shortest Day here in Australia. That is when our mornings and evenings will slowly become lighter and we can begin to look towards Spring. I hope that you all have had a good week and are ready to do some crafting this weekend.

This week at Just Add Ink we have this clean and graphic Sketch Challenge for you from Nikki.

It is such a fabulously versatile sketch as you can see on the challenge blog from all the design team members cards. I hope that you'll be able to pop on over and see and I'd love it if you were able to join us!

This week I used the sketch to create a pet sympathy card using this very touching set called Fill My Heart by Whimsy Stamps. 

Sadly, a lovely friend's dog that I have known for most of his life, is terminally ill. When I initially saw the sketch, rows of paw prints came to mind. So that was the starting point of this card and then slowly the other details took shape. 

A ruler was used to slowly and surely stamp the individual paw print image from the Happy Tails set and emboss these in gold. 

Then the dog image was stamped and coloured with Copics and the touching sentiment was also embossed with gold being the accent colour for the card.

So that is my card for this week. What will you make with this clean and versatile sketch we have for you at Just Add Ink this week? I can't wait to see!

Card stock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Shaded Spruce, Gold Foil

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Stitched Rectangle Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Metallic Sequins Assortment, Gold EP

'Til next time,

Jan

Rock On For JAI #655

 

Hello and welcome! It's the first Friday of June and Winter in Australia, 2023.  To be fair, it has felt very Winter-like the last month with the cold, wet days easily out numbering the few dry, sunny ones. It does mean that inside at the craft desk is a good place to be at when the weather outside is not so pleasant. I hope that you are enjoying time crafting during these colder months too.

At Just Add Ink this week, Tristan has suggested we "Just Add....Music" to our projects this week. Our design team have all added varying ideas on this theme to inspire you so I hope that you can pop on over to the challenge blog and join us!

My card....well yes, it's bright! 😂

I am part of a musical family and have a teenage nephew who takes after me in that he plays guitar. In fact even before he was a teen, one of the few school bands he's in played as opening act for his music teacher's band. It was an exciting night for him and a proud one for his parents - and rightfully so.

So now perhaps you can see where I was going with this card? Yes, it is supposed to be the look of a music gig - ie. stage lighting -  and obviously a guitarist. The silhouette is a retired SU single stamp called Extreme Guitar. 

The background is sponged onto watercolor paper to enable the colors to blend more easily, it was sprinkled with water to create the dotted effect and then, once dry the single image is embossed x3.

To create the sentiment, a further background image was created and this was die cut several times to provide height and then covered in Fine tipped glue to give a shiny and clear coat to the letters.

Some silver star sequins complete this masculine music themed card. 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope this shows you that you can use whatever inspires you to create a musical themed card for this week's Just Add Ink Challenge. I look forward to seeing what you create!

Card stock: Basic White (Thick)

Ink: Versamark

Stamps: Extreme Guitar (Retired)

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Playful Alphabet Dies (retired), Metallic Sequins, Fine Tip Glue

Non SU: Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks for background.

'Til next time,

Jan

Pastel Happiness for JAI #653

 

Happy Friday everyone and welcome back! It is mid May and a very chilly Autumn indeed. Already we are seeing Mid- Winter temperatures and lots of rain. We've missed the last two weeks of horse riding with Riding For the Disabled because of it. Hopefully we will be able to resume our favourite new exercise soon. But in the meantime, we have a lovely new challenge to share with you first.

This week at Just Add Ink we have a pretty and potentially very cute Challenge for you from the lovely Niki!
Choose Two from Pastels, Banner and Baby and we hope that you have a lot of fun too!

Our design team have created a wonderful collection of cards to inspire you so we really hope that you might join us and look forward to seeing which Two of the challenge items that you choose to create with.

I chose Pastels and Banner and created a card suitable for an Engagement or perhaps a Wedding.

The Blooms and the leaves are all in soft pastel colours and the sentiment is turned into a large banner.

Usually, I will colour with a lot more depth added when using Blends or Copics. But this time we are focusing on pastel colours, so I let the softness of the colours be the stars and only added minimal shading.

The sentiment on the banner is from the Charming Sentiments Bundle and embossed in Gold.

A touch of ribbon and twine under the banner and gold sequins on top add finishing touches.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you can pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog and we'd love you to join us. With the weather getting cooler it is the perfect excuse to spend some time indoors in a craft space and I look forward to seeing what you will create for this week's challenge.

Card stock: Basic White (Thick and standard)

Ink: Versamark, Momento Tuxedo Black. Blends /Copics

Stamps: Charming Sentiments, Happiness Abounds (Retiring)

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine, Stitched Rectangle Framelits, Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Blossiming Happiness Dies, Gold EP,  Metallic Sequin Assortment, Ribbon and Twine.

'Til next time,

Jan

JAI #651 Friend Inspiration

 

It is the first week of May and here in Melbourne it feels like it might just be the middle of Winter. Time to get out all the Winter woolies and start looking at those bubbling slow cooking recipes to keep us warm. 
It's also the perfect time to spend sitting in my sunny craft room! What will you be doing this weekend?

This week at Just Add Ink we have a very pretty and feminine Inspiration Photo Challenge for you suggested by Kerry. Lots of things in this pretty collage to help spark your crafting! The design team have all created beautiful cards to inspire you so I hope that you can take a moment to pop on over to the blog and take a look and join us.

I focused on the top right photo with the beautiful vase of flowers for inspiration and there are a couple of different polka dot images in amongst the pictures. 

The stamp set is of course the beautiful Artistically Inked and I've used both Fresh Freesia and the returning Berry Burst for the floral colours.

Shaded Spruce contrasts for the leaves and some gold touches and white complete this card for a friend. 

Many, I know will use these lovely feminine images to create for Mother's Day. But for those of us whose Mum's are no longer with us it is a lovely opportunity to give a friend or other family member something special too.

Card stock: Basic White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Dainty Flowers

Inks: Fresh Freesia, Berry Burst, Shaded Spruce

Stamps: Artistically Inked

Accessories: Die cutting machine, Artistic Dies, Well Written Dies, Metallic Sequin Assortment, White Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you are inspired by our challenge over at Just Add Ink and I look forward to seeing what you create!

'Til next time,

Jan