Tuesday 30 June 2015

Butterfly Floral Birthday


Happy Tuesday to you! I hope you are having a good week :-)
Today's card is for a young Cousin's recent birthday. Her favourite colour is "purple" and so I used some Blackberry Bliss and had my first play with the Floral Wings Hostess stamp set. Yay - it is a lovely elegant set and I can see it quickly becoming a favourite - especially as it goes with the Bold Butterfly framelits too :-)
Recently Alison Barclay made this gorgeous card for a sketch challenge which she won at  Just Add Ink with this set and I just loved her design so this is a CASE of Alison's card :-)


So what did I change apart from the colours? Not much at all as it was a fabulous design :-) I did change the base card to coloured and added a layer of gold glimmer paper under the raised white panel. Oh and I also raised the roses on top of the butterfly with dimensionals for some added drama. It's just a shame that the Blackberry doesn't look as good in the photos as in real life as this is a colour combo and layout I am sure to use again :-)



Card stock: Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Gold Glimmer
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Melon Mambo, Meadow Moss
Stamps: Floral Wings
Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are enjoying the first week of the school holidays. One thing we are noticing is the great amount of families having fun at the Park where we have our dog walks - so nice to see! And it often results in requests for photos of our Sally (Black Lab) with them which she is only too happy to oblige of course - she sure loves the kids, the smaller the better. Maybe because she had pups she is particularly fond of toddlers - or maybe its just that they often have biscuits in their hands…:-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan






Friday 26 June 2015

Just Add a Sketch JAI #268


Such a beautiful day today - blue sky and sun and we're expecting a warm 16 degrees (Celsius)  - quite amazing for the end of June in Melbourne! But we will definitely enjoy it whilst it lasts :-)

Also ready for enjoyment is this week's challenge at Just Add Ink :-) The lovely Narelle has suggested a fabulous sketch for us to use. As always, the Team have created some incredibly amazing creations to inspire you so I do hope you can take a moment to pop on over and see them.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:


Yes, I surprised myself with the colouring here too Lol!  For those who don't know,  colouring is something I am still trying to learn!!  And having returned my Blendies to get some new stamps, it was time to get out my Aqua Painter and water colour paper and go in search of a tutorial. I didn't have far to go - there are many wonderful colourists including several of our Just Add Ink Team :-) As I was looking for this image I came across a version by our Australian Artisan Teneale Williams and tried to emulate her shading. And having gone to the trouble of colouring the leaves I decided to cut them out and use them too :-)


Card stock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Basic Black, Water Colour Paper
Designer Series Paper: English Garden
Inks: Calypso Coral, Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry,Versamark 
Stamps: You've Got This, Flower Patch
Accessories: Big Shot, Boho Chick EF, Black EP, Gold Metallic thread, Metallic Sequins pack, Triple Banner Punch, PL Corner Rounder Punch

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to stop by Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful cards the Team have made with this sketch and I look forward to seeing what you will create this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Garden Wall PCCCSC #150


Such a mild and sunny morning today before the cloud started to build. We are due for some rain tonight I think and the garden will be glad.

We have a new sketch for you at The Paper Craft Crew this week - and it's a big one #150!! The Team have created a great variety of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to have a look. :-)

Here is the sketch:



And here is my card:


This is my first play with this stamp set and I can see it soon becoming a favourite :-) The flower almost looks a little shiny  - although it's not actually  - but the shading in the stamp gives a lovely effect. And to highlight the brick wall background I added some white "mortar" with a white gel pen - I like the look the realistic look the gel adds with its slightly uneven texture and shine. 



Card stock: Smoky Slate, Silver Foil, Whisper White, Melon Mambo
Ink: Melon Mambo, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Versamark
Stamps: Garden In Bloom
Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Project Life Framelits, Metallic Sequin pack, Silver Twine, White Gel Pen

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to The Paper Craft Crew and see all the inspiration the Team have made for our 150th sketch challenge and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch too! For those entering from the USA there is some Blog Candy on offer for those entering from the USA too so some extra inspiration :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan





Saturday 20 June 2015

Driving Licence Celebrations


Today I have a card and a little treat sized gift box to show you that I made for a friend who recently passed her Drivers Licence test. This was definitely an opportunity to get out my favourite retired Stamp set - Rev Up The Fun although also a challenge to make a female card with this set.  Inge Groot's Artisan post this week really inspired me - I loved her colour palate and all the elements she used. So this card is a CASE - apart from the white panel, all the layering is Inge's design as was too fabulous to change:-)


The DSP is from the fun Cherry On Top Stack and the 3D card elements are all made using the Mini Treat Bag Framelit. I really love that it can be used for cards as well as treats!!

The Silver Congrats is made by using Silver Embossing Powder on the new Wooden essential words - and I repeated the embossing process just to make sure there was a good covering of silver too. My fellow Just Add Ink Design Team member Rochelle gives a great demonstration on how you can do this here.



Card stock: Pool Party, Tip Top Taupe, Bermuda Bay, Vellum
DSP: Cherry On Top
Ink: Watermelon Wonder, Tip Top Taupe, Versamark
Stamps: Rev Up The Fun
Access: BS, Mini Treat Bag Framelit, Wooden Essentials, White Bakers Twine, Silver Metallic Thread, Blossom Accents, Silver EP, 


To go with the card is this cute little box from the All Boxed Up Kit - truth be known, one of the main reasons I got this kit was the gorgeous Pool Party Pom Pom Trim after falling in love with the Calypso Coral version in the Summer Mini catalogue :-) So is really good we have found it so useful already ;-)


The Kit comes with all you need for decoration and I stamped the greeting from Work of Art on the main circle. The box fits 5x Treat Size Caramel Koalas quite easily!! So I can see them coming in very handy for treats and surprises over the next while - a good thing there are 11 left boxes that is, not sure about how many Caramel Koalas are left though :-)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are enjoying the rest of your weekend!

Happy stamping until next time, 

Jan







Friday 19 June 2015

Just Add Typography JAI #267


This week has really flown and we are just two days away now from the Shortest Day, Yay!! I am so looking forward to the days slowly getting longer again as it is one sign that Spring IS coming :-)

And this week at Just Add Ink we have another fabulous challenge for you - this time from the lovely Di who has suggested we just add "Typography".  I had to go and look this up too :-)

Typography =  ( as per Google ) " using font or type to create print."
And the Team have created a fabulous variety of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and have a look.

So while I was thinking that the words or script should be the focal point,  I decided that I wanted to make a Crossword related card….eek!! And how that could be a fun Fathers Day card :-)  I had that fun childhood joke of "what's black and white and read all over?" (=Newspaper) in my head and could picture Dad relaxing with one :-) It took a little bit of figuring out but as soon as I remembered the Alphabet Rotary stamp it all came together.


Firstly, I die cut the happy from the Hello You thinlits x3 and covered them with some Crystal Effects for some shine. Then used the 1cm squares on the Grid Paper to help line up and keep the hand ruled lines straight. Next, the stamping one letter at a time using the Alphabet Rotary stamp inside the squares - which was easier than it sounds :-) And finally, fussy cutting them out.  The little Epoxy heart has some red card stock punched beneath it and adds to the shiny details.


Card stock: Island Indigo, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Black Stampin Write Marker
Stamps: Alphabet Rotary Stamp
Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, Epoxy Stickers, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, PL Corner Rounder Punch, Crystal Effects

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can take a moment and stop by Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful designs the talented Team made with this theme and I can't wait to see what you will create too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan







Wednesday 17 June 2015

You've got this - SIP #1


And for my second post for today (yes, quite unusual I know!) is a card I made recently for a new friend's birthday and uses another new stamps set - You've Got This :-) Now I'm not the best colourist by any stretch but I decided to have a go on this set with an Aqua Painter onto some water colour paper and the colour ended up quite a lot brighter than I expected :-)

And I've found a new Challenge Blog! Stamps Ink Paper is hosting it's very first challenge and is the creation of Justin Krieger. Justin, is a fellow that I am indeed grateful to - as it was he that suggested some time ago  (maybe 2 years ago??) that I should enter some challenges. Of course I didn't think I would be good enough but ran the idea past a couple of my local stamping friends and they were very encouraging too and so I created this Blog - challenges are fabulous for pushing you to create a little outside of your usual "box' and help you grow and that certainly has been the case for me. As they say, the rest is history lol - and now honoured to be on two Design Teams, here I am at over 250 blog posts!! So I am excited for Justin and his Team of talented Designers in their new venture and wish them all the best of success!  And I encourage you to pop on over and check them out :-) 
They are beginning with this week's challenge : 
I have many favourite stamp sets that I can't choose between yet - so I chose the newest one with one of my favourite colours lately - Calypso Coral and lots of white space. My favourite style is I think Clean and Layered with Bling :-)

And so I couldn't go past the new Metallic Sequins pack and try out some white sequins! And lately i am also loving the trend of using stamped words like they are Dymo labels as you can "scatter" them a little too!


Card stock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Basic Black, Water Colour Paper,
Designer Series Paper: Go Wild Stack
Ink: Calypso Coral, Garden Green, Black Stazon, Versamark
Stamps: You've Got This, Floral Wings (Hostess)
Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, White EP, Aqua Painter, Metallic Sequin Assortment

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop on over to Stamp Ink Paper and maybe you too will be inspire to enter :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan






Watercolor Wings for PCCCSC #149


It is Wednesday already and apparently the big news here is a big Rugby League game in town tonight - State of Origin. It is between Queensland and New South Wales and the teams are decided by where the players originally hail from. It is a big North vs South kind of competition and I think its the best of three… NSW wear blue and the Queenslanders Maroon…..I don't mind the colours although I won't be watching the game tonight lol :-)

And we have a new sketch for you today at The Paper Craft Crew! The Team have created a great variety of cards to inspire you this week so I hope you can take a moment to check them out. Here is the sketch:


Here is my card - using a new stamp set :-)


Actually, this card uses three stamp sets :-) Watercolor Wings  (and yes, the stamp has an American "Origin"  so is spelt accordingly lol!) It is a 3 step stamp set and has a delicate water coloured look to it. The roses and leaves and greeting are both from different butterfly related sets too! I am loving this colour combo and will definitely use it again :-) For the butterfly colours I used Pool Party and Tip Top Taupe - to get two tones of the Pool Party, I stamped off onto scrap paper before stamping the solid image. And if you look closely you may see the little coils of the new Silver Metallic Thread peeking out from under the Blossom :-)



Card stock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Silver Glimmer
Designer Series Paper: Cherry On Top
Inks: Pool Party, Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder
Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Butterfly Basics, Floral Wings (Hostess),
Accessories: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Banner Framelits, Corner Rounder Punch, Silver Twine, Silver Metallic Thread, Blossom Accents

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and head over to The Paper Craft Crew and see all the creations the Team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch this week.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan



Saturday 13 June 2015

Birthday Feathers


Once again we had another chilly morning that turned into a beautiful sunny day - absolutely perfect Winter weather and I sure hope it continues. It's not long to wait now until the Shortest Day - June 21 and although the days and nights are usually colder after that I don't mind - with the days lengthening again it is much easier to believe that Spring is coming :-)

Today's card is one I made before all the new goodies arrived. I am so sad that Four Feathers is being retired and so I will hold onto it for now at least! This card is a lot more shimmery in real life of course too.


I wanted to keep it relatively clean - but it didn't quite end up that way with the Grunge Splotches. The feathers are all different, One gold embossed on Strawberry Slush, one stamped in SS on White and one embossed in White on Vellum.



Card stock: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Back to Black
Inks: Pink Pirouette, Encore Gold, Momento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: Four Feathers (retired), Sassy Salutations
Accessories: Big Shot, Feathers Framelits, White and Gold EP, Strawberry Slush twine, Gold sequin trim

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope are having a great weekend with some crafting time featuring :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan




Friday 12 June 2015

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











Wednesday 10 June 2015

Butterfly Basics for PCCCSC #148

Today the car went in for it's annual Service - and we were very grateful of the Polo loan car…and just as we were about to head out the door to pick up the favourite Golf…when the power went off and then we heard an ambulance siren…There had been road works going on outside during the day and I suspect something cut through a power cable - hopefully everyone is ok. In the meantime it is traffic chaos with cars banked up for as far as the eye can see and the traffic Lights out too….so took a little longer than usual for the pick up but relieved to find the power back on by the time we got home or else it would've been take away for dinner ;-)

So today it's Wednesay and time for a new sketch from The Paper Craft Crew. The Team have created a great variety of cards to inspire you this week so I hope you can take a moment to head over and have a look.

Here is the sketch:


And here is my card:


This lovely clean sketch inspired me to create this almost  monotochomatic card in the new Mint Macaron - and I was so delighted when the Aus Post van arrived just in time for me to add the little silver Metallic Thread behind the butterfly too!



Card stock: Mint Macaron, Whisper white
Designer Series Paper: in Colour Envelope Paper
Inks: Mint Macaron, Versamark
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Four You
Accessories: Big Shot, Butterfly Framelits, Large Polka Dots EF, Silver EP, Mint Macaron Lace Trim, White Thick Twine, Hexagon punch, Banner punch, In Colour Blossom Accents, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to stop by The Paper Craft Crew and see all the cards the Design Team have created to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you make with this sketch :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Monday 8 June 2015

More Balloon Birthdays

This weekend we have an extra day's holiday - for the Queen's birthday. And whilst there are aren't really any big birthday celebrations because of it, 700 Australians were recognised and honoured for what they do. One name I did know among the many was Dick Smith - and whilst he's a very successful businessman, he also has done a lot of work over the years helping and mentoring other Australian businesses so it was nice to see him being honoured for that.

And for me, the day was a relaxing one with some crafting time! The card I have to share with you today is one I made earlier in the week for a new friend in Western Australia and is an "opposite" - or reflection - of the card I made for this week's Just Add Ink challenge. You can see more info on that post here.
The last card was a masculine one and so I decided to make female version - still  Black and white with a pop or two of colour - I hope she likes it :-)


So I kept the layout the same and changed the background from black to white,  the yellow balloon to pink and changed the silver foil details to gold. Also the greeting is white embossed on black - which also was the reverse on the original card.


Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Designer Series Paper: Back to Black
Inks: Strawberry Slush, Bermuda Bay, Versamark
Stamps: Celebrate Today, Crazy About You
Accessories: Big Shot, Balloon Framelits, Itty Bitty Banner Framelits, Stripes EF, Hello You Thinlits, Gold EP

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are and that you too might have a moment to be creative!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan



Friday 5 June 2015

Just Add an Inspiration JAI #265

This morning started cool and crisp with some beautiful bright sunshine but by lunch time the clouds had swarmed in and released their icy rain. I think we might've just made our expected temperature of 10 degrees but probably not for long! I know it's only the first week of Winter officially but I am already so looking forward to Spring!!


So it is perfect that the challenge at Just Add Ink this week are some very cheery photos suggested by the lovely Rochelle! You can take whatever angle on these gorgeous photos that you like and the Team have made some awesome cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look.

Here are the photos:



What a wonderful party scene - fun and colourful balloons or elegant and black and white  and a fabulously dressed table!


For my card, I chose a mixture of the two photos for a masculine card. 
The balloons of course are the colour versions - and from the B&W…the silver balloon tails in the photos could be chevrons so I added silver text and bows and you might hopefully be able to see that the black background has some chevrons too? I don't  have any striped or dotty paper yet ( but its on it's way now lol!) - so used this Hexagon DSP and aligned it with the side of the card to replicate the effect of that gorgeous long table…



Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper white, Silver Foil
Designer Series Paper: Back to Black (retiring)
Inks: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Versamark
Stamps: Celebrate Today, Crazy About You
Accessories: Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits, Balloon Framelits, Chevron EF, Hexagon Punch, Black Embossing Powder

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 wonderful creations the Team have made to inspire you this week - and I can't wait to see what you will create with these fun and cheery photos!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Sprinkles of Life PCCCSC #!47

Well it is now officially Winter and it sure feels like it too! The weather forecasters tell us that we are in an El Nino pattern - so Winter should be warmer and drier than usual. Yet, yesterday was the coldest start to Winter in 20 years….so maybe they are guessing too :-)

So it is perfect weather to do a little crafting and this week's sketch from The Paper Craft Crew is very versatile and has many possibilities. The Design Team is growing and this week we welcome the lovely Eva Bussom so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and say hello and check out the wonderful and varied creations we have to inspire you. And this week there is some blog candy for two lucky USA participants just in case you need an extra excuse to enter lol!

Here is this week's sketch:


And here is my card - flipped around:


Yes - as if it wasn't cold enough outside I decided to play with a cold image as well :-) 
Quite funny I thought :-) This cute stamp set has been sitting on my stamp table since it arrived - at least a week now - and so it was time to have a first play.  And I hoped the ice cream layers would work for the three elements on the side of the sketch hence they are placed slightly over the edge of the panel.
Its such a fun stamp set (with a co ordinating punch) and I can see it getting quite a lot of use come Spring and Summer especially and also it is fundraising for a good cause -Ronald Mcdonald House Chairities - with $3 from each purchase being given to the charity :-) Here I've paired it with the new Envelope Paper instead of using standard DSP - it's the same weight as copy paper yet as vibrant as usual DSP.


Card stock: Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Curry, Pretty In Pink (retired),Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: In Colour Envelope Paper
Ink: Watermelon Wonder, Delightful Dijon
Stamps: Sprinkles of Life
Accessories: Tree Builder Punch, Basic Rhinestones

So thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop by The Paper Craft Crew and see all the varied projects the Team have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch too.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan