JUST ADD INK #87 COLOUR CHALLENGE

It is with a heavy heart that I relinquish my spot as a Guest Designer for Just Add Ink, I must say!  I've had a ball being part of the team for the past 5 weeks .... thank you, my JAI friends, for the honour.

My last submission for this month is based on this GORGEOUS colour scheme that Nikki has come up with:

Love, love, love these colours!!  Crumb Cake is my "go to" neutral, and I love all of the new In Colors that Stampin' Up! has introduced to our range.  Playing with these colours gave me the opportunity to use some of the adorable Designer Printed Brads that are new to us .... SO cute!!

Here's my card, that used a few new products:

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Happiest Birthday Wishes

Card: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Whisper White, Watercolour Paper

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Crumb Cake, Pool Party and Calypso Coral stampin' pads

Other: Aquapainter, White embossing powder, Beautiful Wings embosslits, Basic Pearls, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Designer Printed Brads (Pool Party), Paper-Piercing tool, sponge dauber

INKSPIRATIONS COLOUR CHALLENGE #88 : TINY SCALLOP SQUARE CARD

This week's bright colour combo at Inkspirations had me a little stumped at first, but I soldiered on! 

One of the several new stamp sets I HAD to have as soon as the new Stampin' Up! catalogue was released, is the super-cute "Best of Everything".  Because I'd not yet shown it love, I decided this was the perfect occasion.

I used my Scallop Squares Duo die to cut a little card out of Pacific Point cardstock.  I inked up the Buttons & Blossoms jumbo wheel in Pacific Point ink, and rolled that across the card front.  The little birds were inked with markers, and the button stamp was inked in Pumpkin Pie ink, and stamped off once before being used to decorate the top of the main panel.  It's a simple little card, but pretty cute, I think!  Take a look:

Bearing in mind that I cut this with the larger of the two Scallop Squares on the die, check out how small it is when next to a regular-sized card.  So sweet!

Stamps: Best of Everything, Buttons & Blossoms jumbo Stampin' Around wheel

Card: Pacific Point, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Pacific Point stampin' pad and marker, Pumpkin Pie stampin' pad and marker

Other: Scallop Squares Duo Bigz die, Word Window punch, Melon Mambo Pompom Trim (retired), stampin' dimensionals, Sticky Strip

CTD #160 : STAMPIN' UP!'S PRECIOUS BUTTERFLIES

It has been a while since I've played along with the challenges at The Color Throwdown, so I was determined to remedy that this week!

Here is the gorgeous colour combination put forward for us to use on a papercraft project:

I have made a card for a lovely friend who I'll be meeting for lunch tomorrow.  Of course I left it until late in the day to photograph (forward planning is sadly lacking in my little world sometimes!!), so please forgive the dark photo.  I had a lovely time incorporating polka dots and butterflies on this card.

Stamps: Precious Butterflies

Card: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Regal Rose textured

DSP: Regal Rose Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Regal Rose stampin' pad and marker, Early Espresso stampin' pad and marker, Versamark inkpad

Other: Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Chantilly Crochet trim, Basic Pearls, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, XL Oval punch, Decorative Label punch, brad (not SU!), paper snips, sponge daubers

BLOG HOP - NEW STAMPIN' UP! PRODUCTS

I'm taking part today in a blog hop with friends, to share some papercraft projects we've created with products from the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue.  There are 9 of us in total; please visit all of our blogs, and leave a bit of comment love.  Hopefully you'll be inspired by all the different ideas we're sharing with you.  You may have come from Ros Davidson's blog, to start, but if not you can visit her after doing the rounds!  Just click on the link at the end of each blog post, to go on to the next person.

There are SO many new products that I've fallen in love with, in this catalogue.  I decided to focus my projects on two stamp sets, to show you how differently they can be used.  "Delicate Doilies" was a must-have set for me, as was "Tagtastic" - one of the new hostess sets.  This is a set that can be earnt by spending $300 or more, or holding a home workshop with sales of $300 or more.  (Believe me, it's not hard to spend over $300 with this catalogue!!)

My first card is in neutral tones, which I love to work with.   I've enjoyed playing with several new products, to make this card!  I made the shabby bow by wetting some Crumb Cake seam binding with Champagne Shimmer Mist (shimmer paint mixed with Isocol, in a spray bottle).  I scrunched the ribbon, and dried it with my heat gun, before creating the bow. 

Stamps: Delicate Doilies, Tagtastic

Card: Confetti White, Crumb Cake

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Soft Suede stampin' pads, Whisper White craft stampin' pad

Other: Crumb Cake seam binding, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch, Champagne shimmer mist, Antique Brads, Glimmer Brads basics, sponge dauber, mini glue dots

The colour inspiration for my next card came from the Flirtatious Specialty Designer Series Papers in our new catalogue.  I've chosen to work with Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo ..... and my long-neglected Stampin' Pastels (chalks) have been shown some love.

I stamped the large doily randomly, on Whisper White card, using Whisper White craft ink.  This is a slow-drying, juicy, ink that is perfect for applying colour with Stampin' Pastels and sponge daubers.

Stamps: Delicate Doilies, Tagtastic

Card: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie stampin' pads

Other: Stampin' Pastels, sponge daubers, Whisper White Organza ribbon, Fleurettes II, Ice Cream Parlor button, Circles #2 die, 1 3/4" circle punch, white thread, mini glue dots

For my third project, I decided I wanted to use the new Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper.  I chose the lined sheet (just like note paper), and used Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Pool Party inks to stamp doilies all over the paper.  I've ended up using only a couple of small 7.5cm squares of the stamped paper, to decorate a Fancy Favor box.  Here is the finished product, stuffed with tissue paper, just waiting for the addition of some jewellery, chocolate, or some such delicious gift:

Here is a closer view of the front of the box.  I adhered a stamped panel (without the sentiment, ribbon and rhinestones) to the back of the box, too.

Stamps: Delicate Doilies, Tagtastic, Delightful Decorations

Card: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White

DSP: Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Pool Party and Basic Gray stampin' pads

Other: Curly Label punch, sponge daubers, Basic Rhinestones, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Fancy Favor die, Big Shot, mini glue dots

I could go on and on, because the possibilities with these stamp sets really are endless, but I will stop now!  I hope I've inspired you to play with these stamp sets.  I had a lot of fun making these projects.

The next stop on the blog hop is Alisha Watson's blog.  Alisha's creativity is sure to inspire you - it always inspires me!  Thanks for your visit today.

 

Here's a full list of all the participants in today's blog hop. 

Ros Davidson
http://www.rosdavidson.typepad.com

Christine Blain  (that's me!)
www.christineblain.blogspot.com

Alisha Watson
http://www.ratherbstampin.typepad.com

Di Dunk
www.stampartbydi.typepad.com

Nikki Sadler
www.inkyart.com.au

Judy May
http://www.judymay.typepad.com

Kathryn Ruddick
http://www.katlodesigns.com

Kathryn Mangelsdorf
http://klm55.blogspot.com/

Tina Gillespie
http://scissorspapercard.blogspot.com/

JUST ADD INK #86

This week's Just Add Ink challenge is to use this sketch as a basis for your papercraft project:

I've just bought Stampin' Up!'s Fun Flowers die, and decided it fit the bill nicely, for the largish corner embellishment.  Here's my card for this week's challenge:

Stamps: Tagtastic, Creative Elements

Card: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Wisteria Wonder, Very Vanilla

DSP: First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper, Wisteria Wonder Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake and Wisteria Wonder stampin' pads

Other: Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Fun Flowers Bigz die, Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon, Basic Pearls, Neutrals button, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals, Antique Brad, mini glue dots, Finial Press embossing folder, XL Oval punch

SC008/11 : LANGUAGE OF FRIENDSHIP

This week's challenge at Sunny Challenges and Creations, is to use the following sketch, and specific colours (Marina Mist, Cajun Craze and Crumb Cake), on a card or scrapbook page.

One of my many new stamp sets that hadn't seen ink is "Language of Friendship".  It is a beautiful set, that co-ordinates with the Bird Builder punch, and Boho Blossoms punch.  Gotta love stamps that have complementary punches!

I had some time in my craft room last night, after preparing for this weekend's Christmas card class, and came up with a simple card (that I think is really quite sweet).  I stamped the flowers on the base card in Crumb cake ink, and sponged the edges.  I then stamped the flowers in Marina Mist ink on Whisper White card, punched them out using the Boho Blossoms punch, and adhered them to a panel of Crumb Cake card.  I put this card inside my Square Lattice embossing folder, and through the Big Shot, to creat the inlaid embossed panel.  The band across the middle of the card is two punched borders, one stacked above the other.

Stamps: Language of Friendship, Happiest Birthday Wishes

Card: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cajun Craze

Ink: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist and Cajun Craze stampin' pads

Other: Marina Mist 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Bird Builder punch, Boho Blossoms punch, white gel pen, sponge dauber

HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY WISHES FOR MY BOY

Ethan, my baby (even though he HATES me calling him that!) is 11 today.  He's almost as tall as his mother, but not too grown up for me to steal lots of cuddles ... even if his arms aren't involved.

The birthday boy requested a card that was "Crumb Cake, White and Blue".  "Blue" is pretty general, when it comes to Stampin' Up! colours, and I'm not sure if these are the blues Ethan had in mind, but here's the card I made for him.  The new hostess stamp set called Happiest Birthday Wishes features prominently - LOVE this set.

Here's a close-up of the sentiment.  Four Frames is one of my FAVOURITE new stamp sets; it can be customised in so many ways.  I stamped off some stars in Crumb Cake, overstamped the sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes, then used my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the frame over the top.  I punched it out with the Decorative Label punch, sponged the edges, and mounted it with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Cool, yes?

Stamps: Extreme Elements, Happiest Birthday Wishes, Four Frames, Pennant Parade

Card: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise textured

DSP: Crumb Cake Patterns Designer Series Paper, Good Morning Sunshine (retired)

Ink: Crumb Cake and Tempting Turquoise stampin' pads, Pacific Point stampin' pad and marker

Other: Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool, Decorative Label punch, Cupcake Builder punch, Petite Pennants Builder punch, Stripes embossing folder, sponge dauber

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my little man!!  Thanks to Renee Van Stralen for the idea for this card :)