Carpe Diem

I was really drawn to the graphic for the Colorful Options challenge this month.

So dramatic! I really wanted to create but didn't want to fall back on Halloween or autumn as a theme. As I love the suited image in the collage, I decided to try something along those lines. Here's how it turned out:

I made my background with distress spray stain and oxide spray on watercolour card, then stamped over it with archival ink. The gentleman is three layers and for fun I added the orange tie as a sort of reverse of the image in the collage. As the background stamping is about living life to the fullest, I thought the Carpe Diem sentiment die was a perfect fit.

Materials used:

• stamps - Do What You Love (Pinkfresh Studios)
• dies - Gentlemen, Tailored (both Tim Holtz), stitched rectangle, Carpe Diem (stash)
• other - crackling campfire distress spray stain and oxide spray, water spritzer, Big Shot, MISTI, hickory smoke archival ink

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #677 - Just Add a Sketch

Welcome to another Just Add Ink challenge and this week we've a sketch for you:

Keep in mind the shapes you use don't have to be squares, nor do they have to be the same shape as each other - as long as you have two images, one larger than the other and set behind, you're golden! You can also rotate or flip the sketch if you wish. 

With Halloween over, I'm now firmly in Christmas crafting mode, lol, so my offering is a Christmas card  and I kept the sketch as is. 

I began with ink smooshing pieces of card in blue and greens. Once I'd decided which bird die to use I could choose a size for the arched piece behind, then had to make sure the sentiment stamp I wanted would fit with those parameters. Luckily it did, so I set about die cutting bird, arch and greenery, followed by stamping the greeting and colouring the bird. The finishing touch was splatters of white gesso which has become one of my favourite mixed media techniques and really brought this card to life.

Materials used:

• stamps - Christmas Classics (Stampin' Up)
• card - basic white (SU), kraft, watercolour
• dies - Layered Warbler (Simon Says Stamp), Holiday Greens mini (Tim Holtz), Essential Arches (Spellbinders), stitched rectangle (Poppystamps)
• distress oxide inks/sprays - speckled egg, vintage photo, gathered twigs, antique linen, barn door, candied apple, rustic wilderness, evergreen bough
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, MISTI, water spritzer, heat tool, fan brush, white gesso, Dimensionals, craft foam

I hope you'll check out more samples from my team mates over on the Just Add Ink blog and with any luck, be inspired to create and share.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Distress Dragonfly

I just love the options on the Color Throwdown board this week.

Here's my entry

I sprayed some watercolour card with distress antique linen, using both the spray stain and oxide spray as they do give different effects. Once dry I stamped script and splodges randomly using crumb cake ink (my kraft) and distressed the edges. The dragonfly was die-cut and coloured using oxide inks. Love, love, love the pop of colour the rust gives, so gorgeous. I also sprayed another piece of watercolour with forest moss oxide spray and used that for my die-cut embellishment - a close look will show all the speckly goodness. There are two layers of that of course - you know me, I love the extra depth. The piece of mossy meadow behind was dry embossed for added texture and also distressed. My crumb cake/kraft card base was sponged heavily around the edges and the final step was adding white gesso splatters. I've left a sentiment to be added when the occasion arises.

Materials used:

• stamps - Entomology (Tim Holtz), Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up)
• card - crumb cake, mossy meadow (SU), watercolour
• distress spray stains/oxide sprays/oxide inks - antique linen, rusty hinge, forest moss, black soot
• other - Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, heat tool, distressing tool, craft foam, foam strips, white gesso, fan brush, SU crumb cake ink, Subtle embossing folder (SU)

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a crafty day!

Cheers

Kerry

 

JAI #668 - Just Choose Two

I really wanted to play along with this week's Just Add Ink challenge because the choose two options are right up my alley:

My choose two options are - duh - timber and tearing (hopefully the little tears in my distressed edges count) and if sisal can count as twine then I've got that covered too!

My starting point was the leaf die. I rummaged through some prepared pieces I had on hand, finding this gorgeous rusty hinge and cracked pistachio combo, and cut out the die. I knew I wanted some texture, so embossed some watercolour card with the timber part of the challenge and used the debossed side for a change. I fiddled and played around with it a bit before ending up with this combination of elements - ie some more of the rust/pistachio for a layer behind the timber, then more embossing for my background piece. The finishing touches were sisal, dots and a sentiment strip. 

Materials used:

• card - cajun craze (SU), watercolour
• embossing folders - Pinewood Planks, Timeworn Type (SU)
• distress inks/oxides - rusty hinge, cracked pistachio
• other - sisal fibres, distressing tool, Big Shot, sponge dauber, copper clay dots, Buckeye Leaf die (The Greetery), Dimensionals, craft foam, Wordies Sentiment Sheets - Friendship (Creative Expressions)

Check out which options my team mates chose over on the Just Add Ink blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #194

Are you ready for another Card Concept inspiration challenge? This week's Spring Banquet pic is sure to get you thinking all things sweet, fresh and pretty, even if you're not experiencing spring right now.

I was inspired by the candle, flowers and colour palette for my mixed media card.

My flowers were sprayed with two oxide pinks and I also used two shades of green for my leaves. The background was one colour but in both distress and oxide. The lantern and candle were shaded with distress inks after being die-cut, then layered together and the quote chip gives a nice solid base for them to sit on. The finishing touches were paint splatters and sponging the edges of the card.

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic grey, very vanilla
• distress spray stains - speckled egg, twisted citron, mowed lawn
• distress oxide sprays - speckled egg, spun sugar, kitsch flamingo, crushed olive
• distress ink/oxide ink - weathered wood, lost shadow, hickory smoke, antique linen, mustard seed, spiced marmalade
• other Tim Holtz products - Candlelight colorize dies, Bouquet paper flowers, Funky floral 3 dies, quote chip, picket fence distress paint
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, heat tool, Dimensionals, mini glue dots, paintbrush, sponge dauber

Do pay a visit to the Card Concept blog to see what my fellow team mates made to inspire you and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Christmas Greetings

Welcome to another challenge with The Card Concept. This week our inspiration pic is all about Christmas.

Aren't those luscious wreaths gorgeous? I took them as inspiration for my mixed media card.

I began with making my two background pieces, spraying heavy watercolour card with tumbled glass spray stain and winter frost mica stain, adding water and drying until I was happy with the result. Then I inked the edges lightly with walnut stain distress oxide ink. The mica stain gives the most glorious sheen! The smaller piece had vintage gold icing paste applied to it through the falling stars stencil and both pieces were stitched around the edges and matted on brushed gold. I cut two wreaths and layered them together for extra dimension, attaching the stamped vellum piece behind and mounting with foam. White Nuvo drops made the berries and were layered over both pine and holly leaves made from more watercolour sprayed with the green inks listed. The metallic adornment star was coloured with more of the vintage gold paste.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bold Tidings Mini (Tim Holtz)
• card - basic white, brushed gold, watercolour, vellum
• distress spray stains - forest moss, mowed lawn, rustic wilderness, peeled paint, vintage photo, walnut stain, frayed burlap, tumbled glass
• distress oxide sprays - rustic wilderness, mowed lawn, bundled sage, peeled paint, vintage photo, frayed burlap
• dies (all Tim Holtz) - funky wreaths, mini holiday greens
• other Tim Holtz products - winter frost mica stain, falling stars stencil, Idea-ology adornments stars, walnut stain and rustic wilderness distress oxide inks
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, sewing machine, Dimensionals, craft foam, vintage gold icing paste and wax (Art Extravagance), Nuvo drops simply white

There's more samples to inspire you over on the Card Concept blog and of course we'd love to see your creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

A Lot Like Christmas

Over at Inspired By... challenges, they've got a gorgeous inspiration pic that caught my eye.

 

You can take anything from this for inspiration but they offer a sketch too, with the choice of incorporating it or not.

I love the colour combination in the picture so took those as my inspiration and decided to use the sketch as well for my mixed media whimsical Christmas card. 

  

I began with stencilling onto a piece of watercolour card using crackle texture paste and left it to dry overnight before spraying with the latest distress colour, lumberjack plaid, with both dye and oxide sprays. The blue plaid piece behind was stamped with salty ocean oxide ink then I used a marker and ruler to add the crimson stripes to the pattern. That adorable Santa image and the sentiment are from the Darling Christmas set. I stamped another plaid pattern on to the slide frame and once it was dry, covered it with embossing ink and sprinkled it with frosted crystal embossing powder. Santa was watercoloured then the inks protected with micro glaze - it's way too easy to smudge accidentally! I added a pop of green, mimicking the sprig of parsley in the picture with a small spray of holly leaves punched from scrap. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Darling Christmas, Perfect Plaids (both Tim Holtz)
• card - basic white, watercolour
• distress inks/sprays/oxides - lumberjack plaid, salty ocean, mowed lawn, vintage photo, black soot
• other - SU markers, Specimen die set (TH), stitched rectangle dies, Big Shot, waterbrush, clear embossing powder (SU), frosted crystal embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, MISTI, crackle texture paste (TH), holly punch, craft foam, Holiday Script stencil (TH)

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Age is Just a Number

Welcome! The card I have for you today is for the Color Throwdown challenge, a lovely combo I just couldn't resist!

They're described as cranberry, grey, yellow gold and rust. Here's my card:

I began with embossing a piece of heavy watercolour card with the numbered 3D embossing folder then added distress inks wild honey (for the yellow gold), rusty hinge and hickory smoke. There are a few splatters of cherry cobbler too (closest I have to cranberry), which is the main colour used for the butterfly along with touches of wild honey. The chipboard frame was given a coat of gesso then painted with hickory smoke paint with a touch of black soot added as I wanted it a smidge darker. Once everything was dry I gave both the background and butterfly a coat of distress micro glaze - this not only protects the inks but also brightens and holds the vibrancy of the colours. Magic stuff.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Brilliance (SU)
• card - smoky slate, basic grey, basic white, watercolour
• distress sprays - wild honey, rusty hinge, hickory smoke
• SU inks - cherry cobbler, basic grey
• other - Numbered 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz), Big Shot, chipboard oval frame (Little Birdie), pearls, Dimensionals, craft foam, water spritzer, heat tool, sponge dauber, distressing tool, distress micro glaze

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #624 - Just Add a Diorama Card

This week at Just Add Ink we're challenging you to make a diorama card. Diorama cards can be as simple as a shadow box card or more complex with many layers, but whichever style you choose it should contain a scene which is viewed through an opening.

I chose a Halloween theme for my project and kept it structurally simple (just three layers) as I wanted the hard work to go into the details and not the design. And oh boy, I had so much fun making all these quirky/spooky bits and pieces!

On the middle layer I put the tree - made up of three branch die cuts - on the left side.

And on the right side of the middle layer is the front pumpkin. The back pumpkin, together with the cat, gravestone and crow, are attached to the base layer.

The 'sky' background and sentiment lettering are coloured with mica sprays so they have a wonderful sheen to them when they catch the light. I mixed some crypt grit paste with green reinker to make lichen to cover bits of the 'tree'.

And there's more crypt paste on the gravestone to give it that lovely aged and weathered look.

Bring on Halloween, I say! I'll be interested to see if I get any trick or treaters in my new neighbourhood - though, regardless, it's a great excuse to have lollies on hand! 😂😉

Materials used:

• stamps - Unraveled (Tim Holtz)
• card - black mixed media heavyweight, watercolour
• Tim Holtz dies - Mr Bones, Mischevious, Pumpkin Duo, Regions Beyond
• distress mica sprays - flickering candle, jack-o-lantern, peppermint stick, hocus pocus
• distress oxide inks/sprays - antique linen, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, black soot, stormy sky, weathered wood, speckled egg
• other TH products - crypt texture paste, rustic wilderness re-inker, moon mask, iced spruce and shabby shutters distress crayons, candied apple distress paint, Idea-ology adornments - Halloween, picket fence distress ink
• other - water spritzer, heat tool, blending brushes, Dimensionals, stitched square die, white gel pen, branch die, white embossing powder, Stamparatus, Big Shot, Sidekick, paintbrush, sponge dauber, mini glue dots

Check out more diorama cards over at the JAI blog and, as always, we'd love to see your creation in our gallery this week.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept - Colours of Autumn

Welcome to a new inspiration challenge with The Card Concept. This week's picture is full of the rich, earthy tones of autumn/fall but it may inspire something completely different for you!

I absolutely love the foliage colours and made a mixed media card inspired by these. The timber boat and dock are represented by the woodgrain panel.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla and blackberry bliss (SU), woodgrain (TH), watercolour, Woodland Fall papers (PhotoGraphicScrap)
• TH dies - leaf fragments, fall foliage
• distress sprays - crackling campfire, crushed olive, villainous potion, rusty hinge, antique linen
• distress inks - antique linen, vintage photo
• other - blackberry bliss ink (SU), Versamark, vintage pearl embossing powder (Ranger), MISTI, Dimensionals, craft foam, Big Shot, water spritzer, heat tool, sponge daubers, amber gems (SU), paintbrush, blending brush, stitched rectangle die, distress micro glaze

Do check out the lovely cards my fellow team mates have created to inspire you over at The Card Concept blog and as always, we'd love you to join the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Live in the Moment

Hello and welcome! The card I have for you today is for two challenges:

I chose the middle horizontal row of the grid - splatters, any sentiment, circle - and as luck would have it, items from my favourite-of-the-moment Curators Meadow collection use exactly the right colours of turquoise, yellow, brown and green. Here's my card:

I added touches of the challenge colours on my background too but muted them with gesso to allow the circles to stand out. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness - Elements (Stamperia)
• card - watercolour, Curators Meadow (49andMarket), crumb cake (SU)
• distress sprays - antique linen, uncharted mariner, vintage photo
• distress archival inks - vintage photo, ground espresso
• circle punches - 38mm, 32mm, 1", 3/4", 1/2"
• other - water spritzer, white gesso, paintbrushes, white calligraphy ink, Dimensionals, Curators Meadow rub-ons (49aM), craft foam, sponge dauber, Small Talk stickers (Tim Holtz)

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Edited to add: My card was picked as the Designer's Choice for the Tic Tac Toe challenge. Thanks so much to the design team for this honour! 

Great Adventure

I really liked the colours for this week's Color Throwdown challenge, so I sat at my craft desk yesterday to see what I could come up with. I was in the mood for mixed media and had a very happy time with inks, stencils, texture paste, stamps and dies.

I picked salvaged patina as my aqua blue, frayed burlap for my kraft and of course antique linen for the cream. Here's the result:

I used just a thin layer of texture paste and love how it gives such a subtle result while still making me want to touch it, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Create Happiness - Elements (Stamperia), Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, watercolour
• distress sprays/oxides/archival inks - salvaged patina, frayed burlap, antique linen
• stencil - Create Happiness - Compass (Stamperia)
• dies - Silhouette Birds (Tim Holtz), branch
• other - blending brush, sponge daubers, picket fence distress paint, paintbrush, heat tool, water spritzer, matte texture paste, Dimensionals, craft foam, small pearl, distress micro glaze

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Moonlight Mischief

Today's card is for the following challenge:

Having gotten some ideas from watching the Tim Holtz Halloween YouTube over the weekend, plus having a new die set just burning a hole in my craft desk waiting to be used 😉, I was only too happy to play with distress goodies to create a spooky, sparkly background.

It's a dull, wet day here so it's very difficult to catch the sparkle on camera, lol. 

I masked the area for the moon then sprayed the background with distress spray stains. Once they'd been dried off I spritzed with water to get the ink to 'wick' into the moon area. Love the spooky effect this gives. The final touch for the moon was moonscaping using the second part of the mask. Next I added some sparkle to the sky with two mica sprays, then set about making my roof and that adorably sassy cat from new die set Mischevious (and it couldn't be more appropriately named!). 

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic black (SU), Metallic Jewels kraft stock (Tim Holtz)
• Tim Holtz dies - Mischevious, Village Collection
• Distress spray stains - wilted violet, uncharted mariner, villainous potion, iced spruce, hickory smoke, black soot
• Distress mica stains - flickering candle, hocus pocus
• other - black soot distress archival ink, sponge dauber, blending brush, Sidekick, water spritzer, heat tool, moon mask (Tim Holtz), picket fence distress crayon, computer and printer

So much fun! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

With Brave Wings

When I saw the Color Throwdown swatch for this week I really wanted to play along and after not much consideration at all, realised I really, really wanted to get down and grungy with some mixed media. 

Naturally, I dug out my stuff and got to playing! Spritzing, speckling, crackling, sponging - oh my, what fun I had and although (as happens so often, lol) my card ended up different to what I had originally visualized, I am very happy with it. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• card - kraft, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - walnut stain, gathered twigs, crackling campfire
• distress spray stains - crackling campfire, gathered twigs, antique linen, frayed burlap
• distress oxide sprays - ground espresso, walnut stain, wild honey, fossilized amber, dried marigold, ripe persimmon
• distress paints - antique linen, walnut stain
• other TH products - Brushstroke Butterfly dies, distress crackle paste, splat box, water spritzer, Sidekick, gathered twigs distress crayon, ground espresso archival ink
• other - leaf die cuts (SU), blending brush, sponge daubers, MISTI, Dimensionals, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, fan paintbrush, heat tool, early espresso marker (SU), ruler, baby wipe

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #600 - Inspiration Challenge

Welcome to this week's inspiration challenge with Just Add Ink; we have a very evocative image to get your creative juices flowing.

With the cooler Autumn temperatures finally arriving in my little neck of Aus, this pic makes me long to curl up with a chai latte, warm blanket and a good book. When I'm not in the craft room, that is! Here's the card this inspired:

I needed the DSP I was using to not be so vibrant so I painted it with some watered-down gesso, which not only achieved that but also gives it an almost flannel/fabric kind of effect, don't you think?

The leaves and wooden barrel were cut from watercolour card after I'd had a fun old time with oxide inks and sprays. The barrel was then run through Tim Holtz's mini lumber 3D embossing folder - just love these minis and how fabulous does it look? Quite realistic, in my humble opinion. 

Materials used:

• sentiment stamp & dies - Mini Buzzwords Seasons (Honey Bee Stamps)
• card - basic white, watercolour, lost lagoon, early espresso, SU retired DSP
• Tim Holtz products - Potted Bigz die, Funky Foliage dies, (many) distress oxide inks and sprays, ground espresso archival ink, Idea-ology hardware heads, walnut stain distress paint, mini lumber 3D embossing folder
• other - Big Shot, sponge dauber, Dimensionals, water spritzer, heat tool, paint brushes, white gesso, white embossing powder, blending brush, antique gold gilding wax, early espresso marker, stitched rectangle die

We would love you to join in the fun and create your own project inspired by the pic. My fellow design team members have plenty of goodies to share, so pop over to the Just Add Ink blog and have a look. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #592 - Just Choose Two

Hi there! I hope you're excited to see what the new challenge is all about over at Just Add Ink this week.

If you're a regular visitor here you'll know that texture and layers are right up my alley! But I didn't stop there for my offering - no, I went and included the third option as well. What can I say? Sometimes I'm an overachiever, lol. 

I've used texture paste through a stencil and some woodgrain patterned paper for my 'texture' and 'patterned paper' elements, with 'layers' of ink on the background and of card for the frame (chipboard and patterned paper). Using patterned paper such as the woodgrain I've used here is a great way of adding 'faux' texture to your work if you don't have texture pastes or embossing folders. 

Snarky cats are so irreverent and cheeky - I love how they make us laugh at ourselves, which is often just what we need to lighten our day.

Materials used:

• stamps - Snarky Cats (Tim Holtz)
• card - watercolour, chipboard, woodgrain patterned paper (Paper Rose), crumb cake (SU)
• distress oxide inks/sprays - vintage photo, fossilized amber, spiced marmalade, salvaged patina, cracked pistachio
• TH products - Decor frames Bigz die, splat box, distress texture paste (matte), bricked mini stencil, vintage photo archival ink
• other - sponge daubers, Big Shot Switch, mounting tape, blending brush, Dimensionals, craft foam, spatula

We'd love you to choose two elements from our challenge and share your creation in our gallery. There's more samples to inspire you over at the JAI blog, so hightail it over there to see for yourself!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Snowy Treeline

This week I challenged my ladies to make a Christmas card using non-traditional colours, which pretty much means avoiding red and green! So today I sat down to have a play with inks - cos who doesn't love that? - and came up with this wintery scene.

I stamped and embossed the trees first then sprayed the background with distress spray stains. After drying and a bit of smooshing with oxide ink, I stencilled some icicle texture paste over the sky, hoping it would look like icy snow falling. It didn't turn out quite as I was hoping but never mind, it's all practise and experience! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text Christmas, Treeline (Tim Holtz)
• card - basic white, basic black, watercolour
• distress spray stains - salvaged patina, prize ribbon
• distress oxide ink - salvaged patina
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, water spritzer, Icicle texture paste (TH), Speckles stencil (TH), Dimensionals

I've always wanted to experience a white Christmas, it's on my bucket list!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry