JUST ADD INK #24

Today is the last day to enter this week's Just Add Ink challenge.  I've been meaning all week to come up with something, but the school holidays seem to have just swallowed my time!  I'm loving having time with my boys, and being at home.

This week the team at Just Add Ink have a sketch challenge, encouraging us to make something using this sketch as a starting point:







Now, I LOVE the sketch, but I don't love Clean and Simple - at least, when I try to pull it off!  I'm not good at leaving a lot of white space, despite the fact that I admire it greatly in others' creations.  I always want to add brads, buttons or ribbon, or a few layers!

The idea that I had in my head really didn't look right when I put it into practice.  So, I found myself adding an extra flower to balance out my card!  Here's what I ended up with:





This past week I've been playing around with the 'chalkboard technique', which is a lot of fun, and is a great way to use those Stampin' Pastels (chalks) that have been sorely neglected for far too long!  I stamped the gorgeous flower, from my Eastern Blooms stamp set, using Whisper White craft ink on Elegant Eggplant card.  Then, using a cotton bud (I like that I can control it better than a cotton wool ball), I picked up colour from my pastels, and applied it in a circular motion to my stamped flowers.  I love the rich colours that resulted.  Here's a close-up of the flowers:





The Stampin' Pastel colours I used are Taken With Teal, Whisper White and Lovely Lilac.



Here are the other ingredients used to make my card:



Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Occasional Greetings

Card: Kraft, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White

Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Elegant Eggplant and Sahara Sand stampin' pads

Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, White 5/16" brads, sponge dauber, paper snips, dimensionals




 

NO POINTS FOR GUESSING ONE OF MY FAVOURITE EMBELLISHMENTS ......

I did some late-night crafting last night, having been inspired by my friend Claire's use of the Upsy Daisy stamp set this past week, and my new blogging friend Renee's use of Stampin' Pastels on kraft card.  I have a couple of cards to share, to show you how one stamp set can yield vastly different results.

You MAY be able to tell, by looking at this first card, that I am rather partial to using brads on my cards.  For any uninitiated readers, 'brads' are split pins - they're just much prettier!  My monthly stamp group friends just roll their eyes, I'm sure, when I suggest the addition of Build-A-Brads to just about every card that looks like it might need a little extra 'something'.  I have actually been giving my Build-A-Brads a rest in recent weeks, and on the following two cards I have given black brads (from Stampin' Up!'s Vintage brad selection) a bit of a workout!

My first card uses the colours Regal Rose, Rose Red and Old Olive.  I had a scalloped oval piece of kraft card in my little stash of 'pieces of card cut out just waiting to be stamped on' (I seem to have accumulated a lot of these, thanks to the marvellous invention called Nestabilities).  On this, I stamped in Whisper White craft ink (slow-dryimg pigment ink) the main image from the Upsy Daisy stamp set - LOVE this little set.  I applied Old Olive stampin' pastels (chalks in Stampin' Up! colours - brilliant!) to the stems, then, using sponge daubers, 'pounced' Regal Rose and Rose Red stampin' pastels onto the flower heads.  The white ink base gives the colour real vibrancy - a really pretty result, don't you think?  The main Old Olive panel has been stamped with Stampin' Up!'s 'Weathered' background stamp, in Versamark ink so it is subtle.  Don't you love how the Felt Fusion flowers in Rose Red and Old Olive match the card and ribbon?  I do!!  Can't help but gush about all the co-ordinating elements in Stampin' Up!'s range; it's one of the things I love the most about SU!  I know I'm not alone in this, but I still get very excited by all the matchy-matchy things I can buy (and order for you, if you live in Australia!).



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Best Yet, Weathered

Card: Kraft, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Rose Red

Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Staz-On Jet Black, Versamark

Other: Stampin' Pastels (Old Olive, Regal Rose, Rose Red), sponge daubers, scalloped oval nestabilities, Flower Fusion, black brads, eyelet border punch, Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, edge distresser, stampin' dimensionals



I have seen a few cards lately using the colour scheme of Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black and Whisper White, and just love the crispness of that combination.  I started off my card by stamping the Upsy Daisy flowers in Versamark (a clear, sticky ink - this is great stuff, as it's very versatile) on Whisper White card.  I then applied, and melted, black embossing powder, to give a raised, shiny finish.  Next I inked up the flower stamp with Kiwi Kiss ink, and stamped the flowers a couple of times over the top of the embossed image.  How cool does this look??  Please excuse my excitement if this is 'old hat' to you, but it's the first time I have even thought to do it, and I'm rapt with the result.  I sponged heavily around the edges of the white panel, using Kiwi Kiss ink and a sponge dauber, then mounted the panel on a piece of Basic Black card.  The "hi' greeting comes from a stamp set called Say it With Scallops - I stamped it in Versamark on Kiwi Kiss card, then white-embossed it, and cut it out with the magnificent co-ordinating scallop square punch.  LOVE how Stampin' Up! has a great range of punches to co-ordinate with stamp sets; it makes it very easy to give your cards a 'finished' look.  The patterned paper is from the Kiwi Kiss Patterns Designer Series paper pack; isn't it beautiful?  A bit of ribbon and a few brads (had to cut back because I used too many on the first card, ha ha) finish off the card.



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Say it With Scallops

Card: Whisper White, Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss

DSP: Kiwi Kiss

Ink: Kiwi Kiss stampin' pad, Versamark

Other: Black embossing powder, white embossing powder, Kiwi Kiss striped grosgrain ribbon, black brads, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals, scallop square punch

I hope you enjoy looking at my cards as much as I enjoy making them!  I hope to make a few more with the Upsy Daisy images that I have stamped out; I was interrupted all evening last night by Ethan, who had a lot of trouble getting to sleep, so my creative flow was very stop/start.  Hopefully my tired boy will sleep soundly tonight, and Mum can play!

Thanks for coming to visit my special place.  Christine :)

Stampin' Pastels & Upsy Daisy (galore)...

Hi all!  About time I posted some more photos of cards, methinks.

I have been busy playing with my Upsy Daisy stamp set, and Stampin' Pastels.  This is fun!  The next four cards started off as panels of Upsy Daisy stamped in Versamark (clear, sticky ink), and coloured using Stampin' Pastels and sponge daubers.    Love the effect this gives - it's like magic as you see the colour emerge.  I added Dimensional Magic (only because I haven't yet got SU's Crystal Effects!) to the flowers for a glossy finish.



In this first card, I used Kraft (my favourite) card, and some of the specialty Sweet Slumber paper.  The pastels I used were Pretty in Pink and Bravo Burgundy.  The sentiment is raised on dimensionals, and I used some shiny buttons from my (somewhat excessive) stash.



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Cute & Curly (from the Curly Label punch bundle)

Card: Kraft, Bravo Burgundy

DSP: Sweet Slumber

Ink: Versamark, Bravo Burgundy marker, Ranger Tattered Rose distress ink

Other: Curly label punch, Stampin' Pastels, Kraft taffeta ribbon, Bravo Burgundy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers, dimensionals, buttons (non-SU), Dimensional Magic



My next card shows what a different effect you can get by just switching the card colour.  Again I stamped the Upsy Daisy flowers in Versamark, and coloured them with Pretty in Pink and Bravo Burgundy Stampin' Pastels, but this time I used white card - really pretty, don't you think?  LOVE kraft and pink together, and the white contributes to the soft feel of the card.  Those cute little white flat-backed pearls are from my Stampin' Up Pretties Kit, which contains a great selection of pearls, beads, flowers and yummy embellishments. 



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Boho Backgrounds

Card: Pretty in Pink, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Other: Stampin' Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Wide Oval Punch, Kraft taffeta ribbon, flat-backed pearls (Pretties Kit), mini glue dots, edge distresser, Dimensional Magic



My next card uses Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, with a bit of white.  Whoever coined the adage "blue and green must never be seen" clearly didn't anticipate how beautiful Stampin' Up's "in colours" would be!  Everything on this card is pretty self-explanatory.  For a finishing touch, I secured a custom-made brad to the Kiwi Kiss ribbon.  I am a HUGE brad (split pin) fan, and have a vast collection to choose from, but I am super-excited about the Build-A-Brad kit from Stampin' Up; I can create my OWN brads, using just a 1/2" circle punch, pretty paper or a stamped image, and a little SNAIL adhesive.  Too easy, and so much fun!  Here it is:



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Best Yet (hostess set)

Card: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy

DSP: Urban Garden, Bella Rose, Good Morning Sunshine (brad)

Ink: Versamark, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss

Other: Circle punches (1 1/4", 1 3/8", scallop circle), Stampin' Pastels, Build-A-Brad, Kiwi Kiss 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers, Dimensional Magic



To finish off today's post, I have a card that, with its retro feel, takes me back to the 1970s!  This colour scheme - for all the people who grew up in New Zealand and Australia especially, can't you just see the bathrooms and plastic stools (that's a special shout-out to my sister!)???!!

On this card, I have used my Scallop Square Punch (love that little thing), and the co-ordinating Say it With Scallops stamp set. I stamped the scalloped image twice, and punched out part of one of the images to create my brads - cute, don't you think?!

  **Ooh, the unforgiving nature of un-edited photos; I just noticed some visibe double-sided tape near my bow.  Oh well - proves it's handmade!! (I'll go fix that right now - just don't want to upload another photo, so pretend it isn't there, okay?!)**



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Say it With Scallops

Card: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Versamark, Pumpkin Pie

Other: Stampin' Pastels, Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Build-A-Brad, Scallop square punch, corner rounder punch, Dimensional Magic



I have had a lovely, "stampy", weekend.  My husband and sons went away for a couple of nights, and although I did actually (gasp) miss them, I loved the opportunity to spend time 'playing' with a very dear friend, and my sister (who is also my very dear friend!).

I was disappointed to miss out on attending Stampin' Up's convention in Canberra this weekend, but already am looking forward to May 2010 - I'll be at convention for sure!  I am extremely proud of my Stampin' Up "upline", Claire Daly - number 3 Demonstrator for all of Australia & New Zealand.  Well done, Claire - you rock!!!

Tomorrow I have more stamping lined up, and this coming week is my monthly stamp group with a lovely group of friends - could life get much better???!!  I hope you all have had a happy, relaxing weekend too.  Thanks for visiting!