Merry Monday #50

Hello there,

well its been a busy day and several since I actually made this card for Merry Monday's challenge this week. An interesting one to create an elegant Christmas card!

Elegance to me has overtones of detail and richness, but some should be subtle. I had two elements pop into my mind straight away (stamp set and DSP) and this is how they came together.

The colours were a big part of creating the sense of richness for me. Continuing with that theme I embossed all the ornaments, and for the first time experimented with colouring the glimmer paper with reinker. I ended up with VERY brown fingers but it worked (excited wriggle here ;) and I got just the right level of toned down bling. A little of playing around with placing ornaments and all done. End result - an elegant Christmas card - well to my tastes anyway :)

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Mixed Medley
Cardstock: Cherry Cobler, Early Expresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Versamark, early Expresso reinker, Cherry Cobler marker
Accessories: Candlelight Christmas DSP, Holiday Ornaments Framelits, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border, 1 1/4" scallop circle punch, Silver glimmer paper, Cherry Cobler embossing powder, Festive paper piercing pack, Early Expresso twine, Double sided tape (X Press), Dimensionals

JAI 154 Just add a pop up card

Hello there,
well coughing at home (Mr 5 and I) has regressed to drippy nose - thankfully not for me - yet! So it just as well that we have a fun challenge over at Just Add Ink this week. It is to Just Add a Pop up Card. Sounds like fun!! My starting point was to go over to the Splitcoaster's tutorial section and have a browse. I came across a tutorial for a pedestal pop up card. I was intrigued and put it to work for a birthday card. Here's the front - no hint of what is going to happen when you open it up. He he :0

This is what you find :)

Here's another angle so you can see how the monkey is up in the pop up tree - fun eh!! I hope it brought a smile to the birthday boys face!

I loved the combo of old and new in this, and how easy it is to make some cute trees and how those trees just come to life if you add a cheeky monkey!! When it comes down to it, pop up cards are just plain fun - so if you have a chance join in this week :) Do check the rest of the DT's super popping samples!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU!unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Woodgrain, Tremendous Treats Birthday (PaperTrey Ink)
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss (R), Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Scallop circle punches 1 3/4" and 1 1/4", Word window, Bitty Banner framelit, Cloudy Day embossing folder, Loop de loop die (PTI), Good Morning Sunshine DSP (R), Copic markers, Regals eyelet (R), Doubled sided tape (X Press), Dimensionals

Merry Monday #49 Merry and bright

Hello there,
well this is going to be short and sweet tonight as its been a busy week and I need to get to bed and I want to get my card posted in this week's Merry Monday challenge which will wrap up in a few hours. This week it was a sketch.

And here is what I came up with.

I added a lot of texture into this one but I think in the end it worked (I wasn't sure for a while!). I coloured the image on the front with copics (I wanted that strong and vibrant) and the inside one with inks and blender pen (for a softer watermark effect) and both were sparkled up with dazzling diamonds. I must admit I find it hard to make a christmas card and not add sparkle ;) OK that's enough detail my bed is calling my name!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, Vintage Labels, Tiny Treats Christmas, 
Cardstock: Pool Party, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Vellum, Early Expresso coredination
Ink: Pool Party, Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi, Early Expresso, Blush Blossom, versamark, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Copic markers, Labels One and Four Nestabilities (Spellbinder), Let it Snowflake die (My Favorite Things), Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Attic Boutique DSP, Jewelery Tag punch, Two way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, White embossing powder, Early Expresso twine, Pink felt, Sycamore Street button, sponge, blender pen, Double sided tape (X Press), Dimensionals

JAI 153 Just add a colour combo

Hello there,

well we survived the birthday festivities last weekend - the kids had a ball, and I enjoyed it too, even though my feet ached for hours after!! I was still totally knackered the day after so just as well I was able to get my card for this week's Just Add Ink challenge done ahead of time. This week we have an interesting (and good) colour challenge for you. Here are the colours.

I've had roses on the brain for a bit, as a dear friend of mine, Patrice Easton, also on the JAI DT has been producing some gorgeous rose cards. So blue roses it was going to be.

I have to admit by the time I was finished I had very VERY blue fingers, and it took a day or two to get it all off. But it was worth it. I loved the effect I got by only using Midnight Muse. I just had to remember how many times to stamp off for each layer. Twice for the base, once for the mid level and not at all for the shadow accents. I used the same procedure for the leaves with So Saffron. Then arranged them all in a wreath like effect around the sentiment with just a few rhinestones to accent it. It was time intensive to stamp all the roses but I'd do it again :) So that's my take on the colours, but do check out the rest of the JAI DT for some awesome ideas how to put this colour combo to good use!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Blooming with Kindness, Everything Eleanor, This Sweet Life (PaperTrey Ink)
Cardstock: Midnight Muse, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Midnight Muse, So Saffron
Accessories: Fancy Fan embossing folder, This Sweet Life dies (PTI), Jewels - rhinestones, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)  

JAI 152 Just add hearts

Hello there,

this week at Just Add Ink we have a thematic challenge for you that ties in with Valentine day which is rapidly approaching. The challenge is to Just Add Hearts. Now a few weeks back I made a mobile for my little boyo and of course I had to make one for my Miss 8 (birthday festivities scheduled this weekend!!). Combine that with the acquisition of new heart dies (I can't imagine why it took me so long to buy some!!) and some great inspiration from Betsy Veldman (see her post here) and this is what I came up with.

A close up of the dangling "tails" and rosette heart.

Another view of the group together.

I based my mobile design on Betsy's ones, using the large hearts and adding the button/bead detail as she did but I took it a step further and added tails. The feature for my central mobile is a heart shaped rosette an idea I picked up via pinterest from here.  For the ones on either side I made longer tails of smaller hearts. The good thing about the bead/buttons detail (aside from looking good ;) is that they add the weight to keep holding everything down.

It was a fun project to put together and gets the thumbs up from my daughter, she even joined in to do some of the button and the bead stringing which was a fun thing to do together.

Thanks for visiting and do check out all the fabulous heart ideas from the rest of the DT.

Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Mixed Medley (R)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Regal Rose

Ink: Taken with Teal (R)

Accessories: Heart Collection Framelits, Loves Me DSP (R), Silver glimmer paper, 1 1/4" and 1 3/4" scallop circle punches, 3/4 " and 1 3/8" circle punches, Itty Bitty shapes pack, Adorning Accents embossing folder, Calypso Coral baker's twine, Jewels - rhinestone, assorted buttons (Hawaiian Shores and Hibiscus Burst PaperTrey Ink), assorted beads (craft shop), Hot glue gun, Crystal effects, Tombow multi, Dimensionals

Merry Monday #48 A light bulb momment

Hello there,
well I squeezed in the time to do the Merry Monday challenge again this week - a colour challenge. A rather nice but unusual combo!

Funnily enough I ended up CAS but started out with a completely different idea - had the stamps, dies and everything out ready to go, then totally changed my mind.

Since my Mr nearly 5 has kindly shared his cough with me I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I need to recoup as much energy as possible to deal with the joint birthday festivities we are holding for my delightful offspring this weekend!!

The stamped panel is mounted up on dimensionals lifting it up just that wee bit above the embossed sentiment. And yes that is the glint of crystal effects you see shining on the bulbs above, I just had too ;)

Thanks for visiting,

Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Holiday Lights (PaperTrey Ink)

Cardstock: Basic Grey, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Basic Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Marina Mist, Versamark

Accessories: Fillable Frames #4 die (PTI), White embossing powder, Jewels- rhinestone, Crystal effects, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 151 Just add a shaped card

Hello there,
this week we have a fun challenge for you at Just Add Ink and its to Just Add a shaped card. Any shapes goes as long as its not your standard square or rectangle card. The DT has some very fun and inspiring examples so do check them out!! Here's what I came up with.

I hadn't used my Labels framelits to make a card base yet - so it was definitely time to pull them out. I decided to leave the top flat but have the kite element pop up up above it a little to break the line. I was aiming for CAS - well CAS my way ;) with pops of bright colour. I did a fair bit of paper piecing to bring that colour in using the SU! Summer Smooches DSP. For my little Pure Innocence figure, I coloured and paper pieced her then cut her out and mounted her above the bard base. A bit of doily, button and piercing detail and she was all finished.

Hope you can join in the fun this week. Thanks for visiting :)
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Aim High, All Smiles (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Whisper white, Island Indigo, White (X Press)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Taken with Teal (R), Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Copic markers, Scalloped dotted border punch, Twine, Mat pack and piercing tool, Martha Stewart doily, Brights button, Pure Poppy vintage button (PaperTrey Ink), Crystal effects, SNAIL adhesive, Dimensionals