JUST ADD INK #25 - SECOND ENTRY

I couldn't help myself with this week's colour challenge at Just Add Ink; just HAD to make another card using this colour combination:







I really love Soft Suede, so wanted that to form the basis of my card.  I made this card tonight, and am too impatient to wait until it's daylight to photograph it!







Here's a close-up of the sentiment, so you can see I have actually used Elegant Eggplant (and to show that there's a bit of Crystal Effects on the one flower centre):





Stamps: Organic Outlines, Wow Flowers

Card: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede and Rose Red stampin' pads, Elegant Eggplant stampin' pad and marker

Other: Word Window Punch, Crystal Effects



No ribbon, and no brads, on this card, but I rather like its simplicity.  I'm pretty sure this will be my final entry for Just Add Ink this week :).
  

BABY WIPES .... not just for babies!

Even though I'm way past the days of needing baby wipes for, well, the obvious, I always have some on hand in my craft room.  I must admit that I've been guilty of cleaning my stamps with them (not recommended .. the rubber turns white after a while), but now that I have my fab-o Stampin' Scrub, those days are over.  I still use them to wipe up stray glitter, and to attempt to clean my inky fingers, among other things!

I'd heard of the 'Baby Wipe technique' in stamping, but really didn't know what it was, until I came across Beate Johns' great video.  Check it out - it's great fun.  Now that I actually own some re-inkers, I was able to give this technique a try.

Here are my first two humble attempts at using this technique, that I'll be sure to play around with some more.

First up is a card that uses one of many panels I'd embossed with Stampin' Up!'s Manhattan Flowers embossing folder.  I went a little crazy when I first got it, and now have dozens of embossed panels that need to be made into cards - I'm sure plenty of you can relate to this affliction!  It's an inherent danger of having a new die-cutting and/or embossing machine -  anything that doesn't move, gets put through it!

The colours of my cards were determined by the re-inker colours used.  Firstly, I used Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, and So Saffron.





Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly, Organic Outlines (sentiment)

Card: So Saffron, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark inkpad, So Saffron stampin' pad, Ruby Red marker, Re-inkers: Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron

Other: Manhattan Flowers embossing folder, Butterfly Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ruby Red brads, Wide Oval Punch, Haiku Designer Series Paper, dimensionals



For my second card, I used re-inkers in Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose and Pink Pirouette.  Not so keen on the finished card (I think it's a bit 'heavy' looking) .... plus, hubby likes it, so that in itself concerns me!  I'll show you anyway, since I spent a bit of time putting it together!




Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Best Yet

Card: Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Ink: Rich Razzleberry stampin' pad, Versamark inkpad, Re-inkers: Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette

Other: XL Two-step Bird Punch (leaves), Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, dimensionals

TOP NOTE SYMPATHY CARD IN GREEN

Today I'd like to share with you a card I made using a few of my favourite things - the Top Note die, the colour green, and the new Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!

My newsletter subscribers have already seen this card, but I thought it was worthwhile posting it on my blog, because I've taken a decent photo of it (in my newsletter it looked very grey and dull, but in real life it's not).  There's a lot to be said for photographing cards in the daytime, isn't there?!  Most of my blogging (and composing of newsletters, for that matter) occurs at night, and I'm always a bit impulsive, so I resort to taking photos under artificial light in my craft room.  Anyways, enough babbling, and on to my card:





Stamps: Organic Outlines, Thoughts & Prayers

Card: Always Artichoke, Whisper White

Ink: Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke stampin' pads, Versamark inkpad

Other: Top Note die (cut in the Big Shot), green rhinestones from Circle Ice brads, White Embossing Powder, sponge daubers, Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, Autumn Traditions DSP, dimensionals, mini glue dots, corner rounder punch

A BRIGHT AND CHEERY DOUBLE-WHAMMY!

Today I'd like to show you a card I made, with two challenges in mind.  Our Art with Heart team forum colour challenge for this month is a great, bright, one, and once again I'm playing along with the Just Add Ink challenge - this week it's a sketch challenge.

This is what I came up with, which I hope will cheer up the recipient:



Stamps: Organic Outlines, One of A Kind, Sincere Salutations

Card: Rose Red, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise

Ink: Versamark (clear) inkpad, Basic Black, Rose Red, Tempting Turquoise, Kiwi Kiss stampin' pads

Other: Pink rhinestones (popped out of Fire Circles rhinestone brads), Pigtails Ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, mini glue dots, sponge dauber, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Circle Nestabilities



I've enjoyed making this flowery card this afternoon; my house has been over-run by males, uproariously reacting to the Super Bowl on tv.  Husband and two friends are here, youngest son got the afternoon off school (his father's idea) to watch it, and eldest son arrived home with two of his mates.  It's at times like this, that I TRULY appreciate the sanctuary that is my craft room!!

I hope that wherever you are in the world, you are surrounded by loved ones (although hopefully quieter ones than mine, hee hee).  Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires that changed the lives of Australians forever.  It has been a very emotional time, leading up to the anniversary (Australia's worst-ever natural disaster, that claimed 173 lives and wiped out entire communities).  Now that that hurdle has been overcome, I hope a 'new beginning' is in sight for all the survivors.  I am proud to say that my brother was our family's hero that day - he managed to get himself and his two children out of their house only minutes before their home was engulfed by a wall of fire.  We are truly blessed.


 

ORGANIC OUTLINES CHRISTMAS CARD

Yesterday I attended my first Stampin' Up! event, being Melbourne Regionals (a full-day training session, with stamping and socialising time mixed in) at Crown Promenade Hotel.  What a fun day, with hundreds of like-minded women (and two men)!  It was a very long day, as I was up at 5.45am - a bit like a child on Christmas Eve, over-excited about the day ahead!  The function itself ran from 8.00am (registration) until 3.30pm, and I enjoyed coffee afterwards with a couple of my special stamping friends.  It was so nice to spend a day with 'the girls', but all too soon it was over.  The absolute highlight of the day (oh, apart from the friendships, that is!) was having Bonnie Thurber, from Stampin' Up! in the US, take part.  She is such a warm, friendly, funny woman - a total delight.  What a shame we can't keep her!

At Regionals, a number of demonstrators swapped cards/ card fronts, to share ideas on how to use Stampin' Up! products.  I've come home with some amazing creations, that have inspired me to do some 'different' things.  Here is my card, that my swaps were based on:

Stamps: Organic Outlines, En Francais, Occasional Greetings

Card: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla

Ink: Real Red, Always Artichoke, Old Olive

DSP: Ski Slope

Other: Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, sponge dauber, Real Red & Always Artichoke brads, dimensionals

Once I arrived home from Regionals, I was looking forward to an easy dinner and relaxing at home.  However, my accident-prone husband (who is on Warfarin and has an unstable blood clot in his leg), had a fall and rolled his ankle - it was swollen and we suspected fractured, so off to hospital we went!  Thankfully it turned out to be a sprain; it is now bandaged and we are back home.  A more eventful end to the day than I needed!

Hope you like the card - I'm rather fond of it myself!

BROWN AND TEAL PLANTS

My post title today conjures up images of rather sickly flora, but that's not really the picture I wanted to convey!  Last night I was getting ready to go to bed, at what was a reasonable time, when I had a burst of inspiration to create with the colours Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Taken With Teal.  Since I have been a bit tired to make much in the way of cards this week, I decided to grab the opportunity to create (and in the process I stayed up way too late).

The key focus of my first card is the divine stamp set Organic Outlines.  The small flower on the oval panel is also from this set - I just stamped it off four times (!) on scrap paper before stamping it on Very Vanilla card, so it produced a subtle impression.  I love the look of a soft image over-stamped with a sentiment.  All of the stamps used on this card are from Organic Outlines set.



Stamps: Organic Outlines

Card: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Very Vanilla

Ink: Close to Cocoa stampin' pad, Taken with Teal stampin' pad and marker, Chocolate Chip stampin' pad and marker

Other: Sponge daubers, wide oval punch, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, scallop edge punch, ice circles rhinestone brads, dimensionals

Please excuse the totally un-thought-out photography; I didn't even notice the rather gawdy contrast with the green walls until I uploaded the photos, and I'm altogether too lazy to re-take and upload the shot (our computer is soooooo sloooooow)!

For my second card, I used another of my favourite stamp sets, Pocket Silhouettes, that has been rather neglected lately.  This is a great little set; I had a lot of fun making this card.  For the rhinestone centre in the felt flower, I didn't want the bulk of a brad, so I splayed the prongs of the brad wide open, and removed the rhinestone from its claw setting (sounds complicated, but it was very easy).  This was a tip I found on Mary Fish's Stampin' Pretty blog - Mary's a bit of a Stampin' Up! guru, and has lots of simple and fun tips to share.



Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Great Friend

Card: Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Kraft, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip stampin' pad and marker, Taken With Teal stampin' pad and marker, Sahara Sand stampin' pad

Other: Felt flower from Flower Fusion Too, ice circle rhinestone brad (removed from casing), scallop circle punch, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig, Valet Ribbon

I am looking forward to having some 'play time' over the weekend, as work is pretty stressful at the moment.  Have half a day of my eldest son's football tomorrow, but other than that very few commitments - just how I like it!  I must get my craft room tidied up a bit so I have some space in which to stamp.  I'll be back soon to share some more cards. Thanks for visiting!