JAI #195 : STAMPIN' UP! ZOO BABIES

Nikki found this gorgeous inspiration pic for us to work from, for this week's Just Add Ink challenge:

 

Here's the Stampin' Up! colour combination that we've used for our creations - and that we encourage you to use on your papercraft project.  We'd love to see a card, scrapbook page, 3-D item - anything you've handmade using paper.

I have inked up for the first time my Zoo Babies stamp set, using 'artistic licence' for the colours of the animals! 

Stamps: Zoo Babies, That's the Ticket, Lovely Little Labels

Card: So Saffron, Shimmery White

DSP: I Am Me Designer Series Paper, Soft Sky Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Soft Sky, Blushing Bride, So Saffron and Calypso Coral stampin' pads

Other: Ticket Duo punch, Scallop Edge border punch, Whisper White Organza ribbon, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper-Piercing tool, Basic Rhinestones, sponge daubers, glue dots

 

 

You must take a look at the rest of the Design Team samples over at Just Add Ink; stunning use of these colours, that will inspire you to have a go yourself!  We look forward to seeing what you create.

 

 

 

JAI #194 : JUST ADD SANTA

Kim has come up with the challenge, at Just Add Ink this week, to "Just Add Santa" to a papercraft project.  Thinking I didn't own any Santa stamps, I bought the Best of Christmas stamp set especially to make my Design Team sample.  It's a lovely, versatile stamp set, and we'll now just ignore the fact that I discovered a Santa stamp in my existing collection!  A girl can just never have too many stamps, really.


I have used the single Santa stamp, from Best of Christmas, to decorate the belly band wrapped around a Tag a Bag gift box.  These boxes are a fabulous gift-giving option ... they're only $11.95 for 8 food-safe boxes, with acetate sleeves.  I embossed the acetate sleeve with the Modern Mosaic embossing folder, to add a bit of festive detail.  The box is filled with the world's nicest white chocolates - Lindt stracciatella balls (heaven!).  Since receiving some from my friend Kerry for Christmas a few years back, I've sought them out wherever I go (admittedly, a rather dangerous habit).

Stamps: Best of Christmas

Card: Silver Foil paper, Bermuda Bay and Whisper White cardstock

DSP: Winter Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Coastal Cabana stampin' pad

Other: Modern Mosaic embossing folder, Tag a Bag Gift Box, Expressions Thinlits, Silver stampin' emboss powder, 1 3/4" Circle punch, Circles Framelits, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch sponge dauber, Whisper White organza ribbon, glue dots, multipurpose liquid glue

 

 

Be sure to check out the fantastic Santa projects from the rest of the Just Add Ink Design Team.  We hope that we inspire you to work on Christmas cards/gift packaging!

 

 

 

JAI #193 : STAMPIN' UP!'S CHRISTMAS STAR

Kim has come up with an inspiration pic for us at Just Add Ink this week. 

 

 

I was struck by the vibrant blue of the single star, so pulled out my Pacific Point inkpad, and new Christmas Star stamp, and went to work on a glittery, glimmery Christmas card.  The single Christmas Star stamp features quite heavily in the Design Team's samples this week ... but we've used it differently, and hopefully given you some ideas for using your own, if you have it.  If you don't have it, you NEED it - it's fabulous!

 

 

 

 

After stamping and cutting out the Christmas star, I scored along each of the lines, and folded it (in "mountain and valley" fashion) to give it some dimension.  It's propped up in the middle by two stacked stampin' dimensionals, and secured to the card with a glue dot at each point.

 

The smaller stars in the background were stamped with silver pigment ink, and embossed with Iridescent Ice stampin' emboss powder.  I then added some silver glass glitter to the centres, using multipurpose liquid glue.  Here's a closer view of the shimmery stars:

 

 

 

Stamps: Christmas Star, Simply Stars, That's the Ticket

Card: Pacific Point, Silver Glimmer Paper, Whisper White

Ink: Pacific Point stampin' pad, Silver pigment inkpad

Other: Iridescent Ice stampin' emboss powder, Silver glass glitter, Ticket Duo builder punch, 1/8" Silver ribbon, Large Basic Rhinestone, Stylish Stripes embossing folder, stampin' dimensionals, glue dots, multipurpose liquid glue

 

The rest of the Design Team's samples are really beautiful - make sure you check them out.  We'd love to have you play along with our challenge.

 

 

 

JAI #192: A COLOUR CHALLENGE, AND CONGRATULATIONS, ALL IN ONE!

Today at Just Add Ink, we have a great colour challenge for you, chosen by Trish.

 

 

 

I used these colours to make a card for Jack, my eldest, to congratulate him on passing his driver's licence test.  He has done a LOT of driving in the lead-up to sitting the test, and it's a great relief to us all that he now has some more independence!

 

I couldn't quite get the look I was going for, without adding in Crumb Cake.  Here's the end result:

 

 

 

Stamps: Tag It, Dictionary, Simply Stars

Card: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango

DSP: Tangerine Tango Designer Series Paper

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Island Indigo and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Regals, Brights and Neutrals Candy Dots, Chalk Talk framelits, Circle Card thinlits, sponge daubers, multipurpose liquid glue

 

 

Be sure to check out the rest of the Just Add Ink Design Team's samples.  We hope you will use these colours to make a card for our challenge - we'd love to see what you come up with.

 

 

 

MM #83: STAMPIN' UP! ORNAMENT KEEPSAKES

I've made a card for this week's Merry Monday challenge ... and I REALLY had to think on this one, with so many elements to be included!  I have managed to miss the cut-off for the challenge, but will share it with you anway.

My natural tendency, when I'm challenged to use a few different elements, is to completely "overdo" the card and end up with something so busy that it gets thrown away.  I've gone in quite the opposite direction today, managing to keep it simple!

Last night I had a wonderful time playing with my Envelope Punch Board, from Stampin' Up!, making cute paper bows.  Here's a link to the fabulous tutorial that introduced me to this fun, addictive pastime:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwMv0zo9vJ8

My card evolved once I decided to use the cute stripey bow:

Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Sassy Salutations

Card: Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

DSP: Season of Style Designer Series Paper

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Cherry Cobbler stampin' emboss powder, Holiday Ornaments framelits, Small Heart punch, Owl Builder punch, Basic Rhinestones, Stylish Stripes embossing folder, Envelope Punch Board, sponge dauber, multipurpose liquid glue

 

 



JAI #191 : STAMPIN' UP!'S "GENTLY FALLING"

Yesterday I shared with you my Design Team sample for this week's Just Add Ink sketch challenge.  I've taken delivery this past week of a few new stamp sets, and wanted to try a slightly more masculine version using this sketch:

 

I have used my new Gently Falling stamp set (LOVE leaf stamps!), to make this card:

 

 

 



Stamps: Gently Falling, Blue Ribbon, Gorgeous Grunge

Card: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Naturals Ivory

DSP: Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand stampin' pads

Other: Circles collection framelits, 7/8" Natural Ribbon, 7/16" Natural Trim, sponge daubers, Neutrals buttons, Subtles button, glue dots, Linen Thread

 

 

 



JAI #191: A SKETCH CHALLENGE

This week at Just Add Ink, Chantell has provided the following sketch for us to use as the basis for our card design:

I decided I wanted to incorporate the cute balloon paper from Stampin' Up!'s Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper pack on my card ... and it evolved from there. 

Here's a close-up of the embossed background, that I created by using the Stylish Stripes embossing folder, then running the embossed card back through my Big Shot, with the stripes running in the opposite direction:

Stamps: Sketched Birthday

Card: Crumb Cake, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla

DSP: Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake and Raspberry Ripple stampin' pads, Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay and Crisp Cantaloupe markers

Other: Stylish Stripes and Perfect Polka Dots embossing folders, Circles collection framelits, Perfect Pennants Bigz die, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch, 1 1/4" Circle punch, Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon, Crisp Cantaloupe stretch ruffle trim, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals, Brights candy dots, glue dots

 

 

 

Be sure to check out how the rest of the Design Team were inspired by this sketch.  We hope you will play along with us this week!

 

 



STAMPIN' UP!'S REV UP THE FUN : JACK IS 18!!

This time 18 years ago, I became a Mama for the first time.  Wow - where have those years gone??!!  (The lament of every mother, I'm sure.)

Because I am ridiculously detail-oriented (sounds much nicer than  "anal", don't you think?), I have scheduled this post for the exact time Jack was forced into the world!  He was almost 2 weeks overdue, and still had to be induced .... a cautiousness (reluctance?) that remains in his personality.

It's rather customary for me to make Jack a cricket-themed birthday card, but this time I'm getting some more use out of the fabulous Rev Up the Fun stamp set, as he'll be sitting his driver's licence test next week.  The car he'll be driving looks nothing like the one on the card, but he likes turquoise, so the appealing colour will just have to be enough for him!

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge, Off the Grid, Express Yourself, Memorable Moments

Card: Early Espresso, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Silver Foil paper

Ink: Early Espresso, Tempting Turquoise and Crumb Cake stampin' pads, Versamark inkpad

Other: Silver and Tempting Turquoise stampin' emboss powders, Metallic brads, 1/2" Circle punch, Tasteful Trim XL Bigz die, Neutrals candy dots, sponge dauber, 1 1/4" Circle punch, 1 3/8" Circle punch, 1 1/2" Circle punch (not SU!), Label Bracket punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, stampin' dimensionals, multipurpose liquid glue

 

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the birthday boy, at a family celebration a few days early ... his "baby", Cricket the dog, had to get in on the action (hopefully Ethan won't notice that he's been cropped out of this pic!):

 

 

 

 

 

 



STAMPIN' UP! SECRET GARDEN FOR JAI #190

This week's Just Add Ink challenge, courtesy of Tina, is to "Just Add Masking" to your card or other papercraft project.  A popular masking technique used in stamping, is to stamp an image on card, and stamp it again on a sticky note.  Cut the image out (right on the stamped outline) of the sticky note and place it on top of the one you stamped on your card.  This allows you to ink up your stamp, and stamp it again, partially over the original image ... you lift the sticky note, and it looks like the second image is set behind the original one.  I hope this makes sense!

As soon as I saw this photo, of a beautifully dressed Maggie Beer, in the current Australian Women's Weekly, I knew what colours I wanted to use on my card:

I inked up one of the lovely large flowers from Stampin' Up!'s Secret Garden stamp set, using Tangerine Tango ink.  I covered the first flower with a sticky note 'mask', and stamped it again slightly offset to the right.  I made another sticky note 'mask' so that two of my flowers could be masked off at the same time, allowing me to stamp a third 'behind' them.  While the flower masks were in place, I stamped some foliage in Basic Gray ink.  To add a bit of bold detail, I inked up a smaller, solid, flower and stamped it over the top of each line image flower.  A Basic Gray candy dot finished off each flower.

Stamps: Secret Garden, Four You

Card: Basic Gray textured, Tangerine Tango textured, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink: Tangerine Tango and Basic Gray stampin' pads, Versamark inkpad, Smoky Slate stampin' pad

Other: Tangerine Tango stampin' emboss powder (sentiment), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Neutrals Candy Dots, Beautiful Wings embosslits die, sponge dauber, Squares Collection framelits

 

 

This card ended up being 15cm square, and I was able to make a lovely co-ordinating envelope (using Tangerine Tango paper from the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper pack), with my new Envelope Punch Board.  LOVE that tool!

 

 

Make sure you check out the other examples of  "masking", from the very talented Just Add Ink Design Team.  We hope you'll join in the fun this week!

 

 

 



SC 91/13: REV UP THE FUN 18th BIRTHDAY CARD

I have not been able to create "just for fun" very much lately, and I miss it.  I checked out the current challenge at Sunny Challenges & Creations, and was inspired to make a birthday card for a special young man who is celebrating his birthday this week.

Here's the sketch to use as the basis for a card:

My Stampin' Up! Color Coach suggested I use Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler and Pool Party together.  Here's what I came up with:

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Memorable Moments, Gorgeous Grunge, Express Yourself

Card: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party Core'dinations

DSP: Midnight Muse Patterns Designer Series Paper (retired)

Ink: Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party and Crumb Cake stampin' pads, Jet Black Staz-On inkpad, Versamark inkpad

Other: Cherry Cobbler stampin' emboss powder, Deco Labels framelits, Regals candy dots, Itty Bitty shapes punch, 1 1/4" Circle punch, 1 3/8" Circle punch, 1 1/2" Circle punch (not SU!), Chevron embossing folder, sanding block, sponge dauber, Stamp-a-ma-jig

 

 



JAI #189 : A COLOUR CHALLENGE

This week's Just Add Ink challenge, set by Kim, is to use this fabulous colour combination on your papercraft project:

 

 

I have decorated a box, to contain a set of five cards, all designed to match the box.  Here's the top of the box:

 

 

 

Stamps: Polka Dot Pieces, Chalk Talk, Dictionary

Card: Whisper White, Perfect Plum

DSP: Naturals Composition Specialty Designer Series Paper, Raspberry Ripple Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum and Raspberry Ripple stampin' pads

Other: Deco Labels framelits, Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon, Itty Bitty Shapes punch, Basic Pearls, Bird Builder punch, 1 3/8" Circle punch, Label Bracket punch, sponge daubers, glue dots, multipurpose liquid glue

 

 

I then used common elements to decorate five basic "For You" cards, that I think would make a nice gift for someone.  I've used some Perfect Plum Designer Series Paper, Perfect Plum and Crumb Cake card, plus all the 'ingredients' used above.

 

 

 

 

Make sure you check out how the other Design Team members used these colours - there are some beautiful creations to inspire you.  We hope you'll join in the fun this week, and link up your card/project at Just Add Ink.

JAI #188 : JUST ADD GRUNGE

This week at Just Add Ink, our challenge (courtesy of Paula) is to "just add grunge" to your papercraft project.

This challenge was a great prompt for me to get an 18th birthday card made.  My eldest son and most of his friends turn 18 this year, and are going for their driver's licences.  This card is for one of Jack's friends. 

Stampin' Up!'s Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, and some distressing and sponging of the card edges, adds just the right amount of 'grunge' :

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, World Map, Gorgeous Grunge, Four You, Memorable Moments

Card: Basic Gray, Island Indio, Smoky Slate, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray and Island Indigo stampin' pads

Other: Silver stampin' emboss powder, Regals candy dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, 1 1/2" circle punch (not SU!), Smoky Slate and Island Indigo Chevron ribbons, Stampin' Distress tool, glue dots

 

 

Make sure you check out the rest of the Just Add Ink Design Team samples - LOVE their takes on "grunge".  We hope you'll play along with us this week!

 

 



JAI #187: A SKETCH CHALLENGE

It's challenge time at Just Add Ink, and this week Kim has come up with a sketch for us to use in our card-making or scrapbooking.

Here's my take on the sketch:

Stamps: Dictionary, Flower Shop, A Dozen Thoughts

Card: Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Very Vanilla

DSP: Naturals Composition Designer Series Paper

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar and Wisteria Wonder stampin' pads

Other: Pansy Punch, Subtles Candy Dots, Wisteria Wonder chevron ribbon, Baked Brown Sugar ruffle trim, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers

 

 

The variety of cards made, using this sketch, by the Design Team is amazing - so make sure you pop on over to Just Add Ink to take a look.  Even better, we'd love you to link up your own creation on the Just Add Ink page!

 

 



MY "HAPPY PLACE"

A few years ago I shared on my blog that I was the proud "owner" of a brand new craft room, as a result of an extension of the back of our house.  I moved from a tiny room into a spacious one, that was designed just how I wanted it.

I thought I'd share on here a few more recent photos, so you can see where I spend much of my life!  I love this room so much .... I leave only when I have to.

Here's a view of my room, from the door.  It's a lovely, light-filled room with an outlook over our nice, green back yard (but I can't show you a close-up because of the dirty windows, and the garden in need of a prune, LOL).

Next is my stamp storage shelves.  I took these photos to share on a group Facebook page, without tidying up first - so, you get to see my room as it usually is.  I am a "wannabe" super-organized person, but in reality am a very messy crafter.  I like to think that we creative types have rather chaotic minds .... wish I could "still" mine sometimes!!

Here's my fabulous ribbon storage unit, built to spec by my dear friend's super-handy husband.  What a wonderful gift - I love it.  (The straggly ribbons are evidence of my failure to tidy up before photographing!  But hey, this is how it always looks.)

Here's my inkpad storage unit, which is one of my favourite ever ebay purchases.  It came in raw MDF, and I spray-painted it to match my other white furniture.  Markers, and a "selfie", of the two of us taken at SU! Convention, by my friend Jodene, sit on top. :)

.... and, finally, my collection of punches, dies, trimmers and Big Shot:

I hope you've enoyed this peek into my craft room, as much as I love seeing where everyone else creates.