Just Add Ink 309

This week at Just Add Ink, it's inspiration week: make a card using the photo as inspiration.

Turns out that I found quite a lot of inspiration here: colour, shape and even the texture of the blanket appears in the background.

And inside...

I layered up the letters in HAPPY to give them some extra punch. I like the contrast of the soft texture of the backgrounding and the sharp lines of the zigzags.

Update: Very happy that this card received an Honourable Mention at Just Add Ink.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Basic Grey

Stamps: SU Timeless Textures, W&W Big, Bold and Party

Ink: Smoky Slate

Other: Couture Classic Chevrons die, MFT Happy Birthday die, dimensionals

FMS 234 and Inkspire Me 247

Today is the last Friday of the school holidays so to me it seems like the last day of the holidays and I've pretty much been in my craft room all day. I recently bought the Going Global set of stamps and it seemed to me that they should get used before they retire at the end of May!

I've taken my inspiration from two challenges, the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and the theme challenge at Inkspire Me.

At Stamp Camp earlier in the year, the wonderful Jackie Noble showed us a card that used retiform as a technique and I have been fascinated with it ever since. I've had another play with the technique for this card.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow scrap, DSP from Going Global paper stack

Stamps: Going Global

Inks: Tuxedo Black, Mossy Meadow, Sahara Sand, Versamark

Other: Gold embossing powder, Gold metallic thread, sponges

Stamp, Ink, Paper Welcome Baby

This week's theme challenge at Stamp, Ink, Paper caught my eye because of the imminent retirement of my go-to baby theme set, Zoo Babies. Between that and the fact I've promised my May class people a baby card, I've been doing a lot of playing about in the baby card park this week.

While looking around online, I saw a number of baby dungaree cards which whetted my appetite to try one myself. After much faffing and faddling, here it is.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Marina Mist

Stamps: Zoo Babies, Brushstrokes

Ink: Marina Mist, Tuxedo Black

Other: Marina Mist and Night of Navy Stamp'n'write markers for the faux stitching,  Francheville Star brads, sponges to distress the edges.

Paper Players 292

Being on holiday, especially an overseas holiday, is always great and I enjoyed my week in Sydney. But I was ready to get back into my craft room now that the bags are unpacked! This week at The Paper Players, there is an interesting sketch challenge.

Since I like clean and simple, I sometimes struggle with lots of layers so I gave this one a go. I'm thinking it will be a wedding or engagement card.

I like the subtle effect of colouring the cut edges with a darker marker - it just helps give things a cleaner, more defined line.

Update: So very delighted to be A Cut Above at The Paper Players this week.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, vellum, DSP from Timeless Elegance

Stamps: Zoo Babies (sentiment)

Ink: Versamark

Other: silver embossing powder, Something Borrowed embellishments, Botanical Builder dies, Basic Grey stamp'n'write, Elegant Dots embossing folder, 2 1/2 inch circle punch, dimensionals, glue dots, fine tip glue pen. 

As You See It 133 - DT card

This week at As You See It, Amanda has set a soft, dreamy, romantic colour challenge.

Lovely, isn't it? I did a bit of a play around with water-colouring for this card and then made even more of a leap with a good, solid dose of fussy-cutting - not something I usually do. Almost as much time went into cutting up bits of dimensionals to give the bouquet enough support as went into painting it but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

So, why don't you join us this week at As You See It and show us what you make of this lovely colour combination?

Ingredients

Card: Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, watercolour paper, Soft Sky DSP

Stamps: Birthday Blooms

Inks: Soft Sky, Soft Suede, Versamark

Other: Clear Wink of Stella (flower centre), dimensionals, small oval punch, small oval scallop punch, gold embossing powder, paintbrushes, candy dot.

GDP31 and SIP43

When the current catalogue's in-colours arrived, the combination I gravitated towards was Mint Macaron, Watermelon Wonder and Tip Top Taupe. The other two colours, I largely left alone. Recently, I've come to a new appreciation of them and in particular, I like them with Basic Gray. This combination came to mind when I saw The Global Design Project nature challenge this week.

I've paired that up with the sketch at Stamp, Ink, Paper.

I used diluted Delightful Dijon ink to colour the butterfly, deeper at the centre, and giving it a touch of Watermelon Wonder on the edges. Then I gave it a good coat of Crystal Effects to add some depth and shine. He's lifted up on a dimensional and has a Delightful Dijon shadow underneath.

The sentiment is clear embossed onto Basic Gray and the matching "Happiest of Birthdays" is on the inside.

Update: Delighted to be a winner at Stamp, Ink, Paper.

Ingredients

Card: Delightful Dijon, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Cucumber Crush

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Papillon Potpourri, Hardwood, Birthday Blooms

Inks: Cucumber Crush, Delightful Dijon, Black Stazon, Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Other: Watermelon Wonder Stamp'n'write marker, Clear embossing powder, Crystal Effects, Pearls, dimensional, Elegant Butterfly punch, paintbrush.

As You See It 132 - DT Card

This week's challenge at As You See It is a sketch with a lot of scope for interpretation.

I like the combination of Bermuda Bay and Black with a bit of silver. I think it's a look that could work for both a man or a woman.

One of the things that I think works the best is the black layers under the silver numbers. After I stacked them up, I offset the top layer to make a shadow. It really makes the numbers pop off the page.

So, why not join us this week at As You See It and show us what you make of Amanda's sketch?

Ingredients
Card: Basic Black, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Silver glimmer paper

Stamps: SU Brushstroke, W&W Big, Bold and Party

Inks: Bermuda Bay, Tuxedo Black

Other: W&W Big, Bold and Party dies, SU Large Numbers dies, SSS Curved stitch edge, Black Baker's twine, Star punch, sponges

Cas(e) this sketch 167

Here's this week's challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch.

As soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do with it. I don't think I've taken too many liberties with it. I've inlaid Smoky Slate lenses into the red glasses but the bling glasses are stacked onto a couple of black layers to give them some lift and a shadow outline.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate, Silver glimmer paper

Stamps: MFT Geek is Chic

Inks: Tuxedo Black

Other: MFT Geek is Chic Glasses die, Confetti Stars Border punch.

Three-in-one

So, I'm home from work today with a sore throat - can't even talk - and a hacking cough. Welcome winter! A nap and  some hot lemon toddies later, I ended up in my craft room before heading back for yet another nap. I've ended up doing something I rarely do, which is to make a card that fits more than one, or at most two, challenges, even if it was accidentally!

Earlier in the week, I'd fallen in love with the colour combination at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I thought that combination might go well with Just Add Ink's challenge: Just Add Sympathy. Then, when I laid out the card before assembling it, I realised I'd managed to use the sketch at Sunday Stamps without even meaning to. It must have stayed with me after I browsed the morning'g blog posts and my brain more fuddled than I'd realised!

And now, time for another snooze!

Update: Delighted to be among the Top Picks at Hand Stamped Sentiments and at 

Sunday Stamps.

Ingredients

Card: Blackberry Bliss, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Pool Party DSP

Stamps: Wetlands, A Dozen Thoughts

Inks: Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Blackberry Bliss, Tuxedo Black

Other: Circle framelits, sponges, scallop punch to make cloud mask

All products, Stampin' Up.

CAS Colours and Sketches 168

The challenge colours this week at CAS Colours and Sketches are springlike and floral ... which is a little depressing when it's a cold and bleak autumn day outside my window! So getting into a sub-tropical colour scheme was actually a lot of fun this morning.

As I don't have any Tangerine Tango, I used its near cousin, Tangelo Twist instead. I started by sponging a small panel of white with Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and a touch of Melon Mambo. I stamped over it with two different stamps from Petite Petals, one using Melon Mambo and one using Tangelo Twist. This whole panel is sitting underneath a plain white panel with a diagonally cut bottom, edged with Melon Mambo. 

The 'celebrate' is stacked with the underlayers being cut from Tangelo Twist and they are just peeping out a millimetre or so under the Melon Mambo to give  a hint of colour.

It's almost like being in Hawaii or Rarotonga! Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.....

Update: Delighted to have this card in the Top Picks at CAS Colours and Sketches.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Scraps of  Tangelo Twist for the under layers of the word.

Stamps: Petite Petals

Inks: Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist, Melon Mambo

Other: W&W Big, Bold and Party die, sponges

All products, except the word die, Stampin' Up.

As You See It 131 - DT

This week at As You See It, we have something a bit different. It's an assortment challenge: create a card that uses all the items in the assortment in some way.

So, here it is:

Splatter: in the background of the star, looking like fireworks

Tape: washi tape strip

Diagonal: diagonal pattern on the tape, set on a diagonal line

Light Blue: Soft Sky as the 'white' space panel

Star: Inlaid glimmer star plus embossed stars in the bottom section of the panel.

The thing I'm most pleased about was working out how to emboss only a diagonal section of the panel, using the Lucky Stars embossing folder.

So, why not join us this week and see what you can make of this assortment?

Ingredients

Card: Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Silver glimmer paper

Stamps: A Dozen Thoughts, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures

Ink: Night of Navy, Silver, Tuxedo Black

Other: Star framelits, Silver Winter Wonderland washi tape, Lucky Stars embossing folder, dimensionals

Just Add Ink 305

My craft room's been very quiet this week: I just haven't been in it as much as I'd have liked. The looming prospect of my nephew's birthday meant that mojo-blockage or not, I had to get to it. I sought inspiration from this week's sketch at the ever-interesting Just Add Ink....

.... and ended up with this.

Pretty pleased with it, really - and hope the nephew will like it too!

Ingredients

Card: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Soft Sky, Real Red

Stamps: Balloon Celebrations, Four You.

Ink: Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Versamark

Other: White embossing powder, Balloon punch, Corner rounder punch, Couture Zig Zag Chevrons embossing folder, Island Indigo baker's twine, Dimensionals