JAI 246 Just add giving

Hello there,
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day spending it with family and friends enjoying some yummy food and company! We were lucky enough to do that :) We have now moved on to the recovery period which involves more eating and spending time with the kids helping them work out, construct, read etc their Christmas presents. It's a time of year I enjoy very much!

We have one final challenge for you all this year at Just Add Ink and it's to Just Add Giving a lovely idea proposed by Mae, a former DT member. We'd really like to see what you made as special gifts for people in your life to thank them for their love, support, friendship and company. 

As the Just Add Ink team will be taking a little summer break till January 23rd this won't be a judged challenge - but we encourage you to share you wonderful projects with other crafters and link up your projects.

I have a fairly simple little project for you today - but then that's what you need in the lead up to Christmas!

A close up

I made quite a few of these delightful little boxes, but kept it fun and fresh for me by making them in a whole range of different colour ways. I was quite astonished with how much chocolate you could actually fit into these! The tag is almost bigger than the boxes but I was still having so much fun playing with my Festival of Trees set and punch that I just had to dress up the boxes.

For a little time on my part and a whole lot of inky fun I also had the added bonus of making people smile when they received one of these!

Go check out what the rest of the DT made as special gifts this year and please do join us in sharing what you made this year!

Happy New Year to you all and I'll see you in 2015 with the Just Add Ink's annual blog hop challenge on January 23rd. 

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Festival of Trees
Cardstock: Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Curvy Keepsake box thinlets, Scalloped Tag Topper punch, Tree punch, Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, Champagne glimmer paper, Season of Style DSP stack (R), Gold baker's twine, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 245 Just add inspiration

Hello there,

I'm wrapping up work this week which is really important because I am still utterly completely disorganised for Christmas, on the crafting make stuff side (like Christmas cards - eek!). However, I am a super organised Mum on the got the kids sorted side so at least that's something!

Every year I pull out my favourite angel stamp and make a special Christmas card, this year this weeks Just Add Ink challenge was just the perfect inspiration for her. This week we want you to Just Add Inspiration. Here's the lovely picture Nikki put together for us.

And here is my angel

The main inspiration I pulled from the photo was the neutral palette. I was going to use snowflakes but decided to go stars instead as I liked the thought of using the stencil to create a backdrop of gold embossed ones.

What inspiration will you find? Hope you can join us.

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless noted
Stamps: Love Lives Here: Holiday (PaperTrey Ink), Bells and Boughs (PTI)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Early Expresso, Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Expresso, Versamark
Accessories: Mega Mat stack 3 (PTI), Love Lives Here: Holiday dies (PTI), Bells and Boughs dies (PTI), Owl builder punch, Hearts and Stars stencil, Gold, Early Espresso and White embossing powder, Gold glimmer paper, Linen thread, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 244 Just add a sketch

Hello there,
is anyone feeling like Christmas is arriving just that little bit too fast??! And the shops are ridiculously busy already at 9 am on Saturday mornings!! Thankfully I'm well prepared on the present front but not doing so good on the handcrafted side - eeek! Luckily I have another Christmas card for the stash courtesy of this week's Just Add Ink challenge - this week we want you to Just Add a Sketch - a real fun one from Tina.

I was turning over the idea of threes, what three could I use rather than a tree? When this idea popped into my head.

It was a bit fiddly to put this together but sometimes it's nice to just putter and fiddle - and to have the time to do so! To give the penguins some depth I stamped the two little guys on the base and then diecut and coloured the big guy. He and the frame are mounted up on dimensionals. A bit of sparkle is essential for Christmas so I added a big glimmer snowflake frame and lots of tiny dots of dazzling diamonds. Even though it's likely to be just a bit warm (we are talking mid summer here ;) at Christmas the appeal of snowy images is still strong.

Hope you can join in the fun at Just Add Ink this week. Do check out the rest of the DT for some fun inspiration for the sketch.

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise notedper
Stamps: Tiny Treats Christmas (PaperTrey Ink), Tremendous Treats Christmas (PTI), Winter Snow Globe (PTI), Endless Wishes
Cardstock: Coastal Cabana, Real Red, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer (R)
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Versamark, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Banner framelits, Damask Snowflake dies (PTI), Tremendous Treats Christmas die (PTI), Circle punches, Copic markers, Dazzling Diamonds, Two way glue, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press) 

JAI 243 Just add a colour combo

Hello there,
I am plunging, swimming, sweating (it's hot again!) heading full steam towards Christmas. The Christmas decorations aren't up yet but it's only a matter of time now! Somewhat scarily only a handful of Christmas cards are complete - but I was able to add another one using this week's Just Add Ink challenge to Just Add a Colour Combo. It's bright and cheerful perfect for the festive season.

I originally started with a white embossed panel behind my Christmas tree shaker but I was having white space issues again and re did the panel brayering the upper half in turquoise graduating the colour. I was much happier with that! Then I embossed it graduating the embossing so it faded out towards the bottom too.  Lots of fun star confetti fill up the shaker, ribbon and a banner finish it all off.

I had fun making this (except for the bit where my fingers got stuck to the adhesive and in the process of un-sticking myself ended up with my confetti all stuck to it - grrr!! But in the end fingers and confetti were both unstuck and the shaker was sealed up.) Hope you can join us! Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT for some great colour inspiration!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless noted
Stamps: Many Merry Stars
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Silver foil, Silver glimmer
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi, Strawberry Slush, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Shaker Shapes Tree die, Star die and Circle die (PaperTrey Ink), Bountiful Banner die (PTI), Lucky Stars embossing folder, Adhesive foam sheet (PTI), Real Red stitched grosgrain ribbon (R), Brayer, Jewels - rhinestone, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 242 Just add inspiration

Hello there,
I'm pretty sure I said life was busy last week and I have to admit it hasn't gotten any quieter in the past week. I did spend the absolutely stinking hot day we had (38 oC) over the last weekend inside - but not crafting :( Instead I had to spend the day doing the annual paperwork organise - ick! I did manage (somehow!) to sneak in the odd moment to craft and so we come to this week's Just Add Ink challenge. This week we want you to Just Add Inspiration from this vibrant picture combo that Trish put together for us. Use the pictures to inspire your project - it may be the flowers or the colours, patterns, just one of those - or all! Here it is.

And here is what I made of it.

I loved the bright colours, in fact I think it would be hard to find more happy cheerful colours. I wanted to retain the bright intense warmth and well the flowers too! So I went through my flower stamp collection and found to my shock and horror - a decided lack of daisies - really how could I have let that happen - lol! So I went with some dahlia's instead. Starting with a watercoloured background for the base (still loving this technique at the moment) and then pulled out my alcohol markers to add some shading to the flowers on the tag. I did try initially (but not for long) to keep it down to one flower on the tag but when it comes down to it I love layers - so more flowers it was :)

Hope you can join us this week. Do check out the rest of the DT for beautiful inspirational projects.

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Delightful Dahlia (PaperTrey Ink), Fillable Frames #4 (PTI)
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, Versamark, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Basic Bookmark 2 die (PTI), Delightful Dahlia die collection (PTI), Copic markers, watercolour paper (non SU!), Daffodil Delight satin ribbon (R), Crushed Curry baker's twine, 2013-2015 In Color sequin assortment, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X press)

JAI 241 Just add a sketch

Hello there,

the past month has been really busy for me - and we are only just entering the crazy lead up to Christmas season - yikes!! But I did manage to squeeze in making a birthday card for my nephew. Luckily this week's challenge at Just Add Ink was perfect to create my first lego card! Here's the sketch from Tina.

 And here is what I made of it. Lots of lego!

I have to admit it took me a few hours to put this together. (It was fiddly - and I like fiddly but I'd had enough of little round circles by the time I was done with it!). I did try to do the design first in only yellow blocks but I just couldn't get the "6" to be clear enough. So in the end I retrofitted in the red blocks. There is a bit of creative colour license but technically its true to the sketch. My Mr 6 thought his cousins card was fabulous and has instructed me to make one for his next birthday. (Slightly pained groan from Mum (me) here, although it was nice that he liked it and totally got the whole lego thing!)

Hope you can join us and have some fun with Tina's sketch! Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT for some great sketch inspiration.

Oh and we are running a design team call for the Just Add Ink team (AUS/NZ applicants only) till November 30. We are a friendly bunch and are looking forward to welcoming some new crafters to the team. If you are interested you can check out the details here. 

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Geometrical, For My Family (R)
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Stazon Black, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Cardstock Vellum,3/8" circle punch (R), Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 240 Just add texture

Hello there,
we have a challenge that has so many fun possibilities for you this week on Just Add Ink. This week we want you to Just add texture. Since I am in Christmas mode here, I played with a few ways of adding texture into a Christmas card. Here it is.

This card is all about the layers - first the brayered blue night sky (just remember to mask off the moon first - grrr), then stamp the trees. Next using the SU Star stencil and texture paste add a scattering of dimensional stars to the sky. The snow bank, edged with silver glitter, was added in on dimensionals, and topped with one last layer -  the horse and sleigh. So as you can see my use of texture is subtle but adds I think a lot of depth and detail to the end result.

Do check out the rest of the DT who have lots of wonderful texture laden examples for you!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Be the Star (SU!), In the Meadow (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Pool Party, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Soft Skye, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Island Indigo, Night of Navy
Accessories: In the meadow silhouette dies (PTI), Silver glimmer paper, Silver Stampin glitter, Faber Castell Whipped Spackle , Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press), Sticky strip

JAI 239 Just add a colour combo

Hello there,
well my card this week scores for the something borrowed (thanks P :) ) and something blue categories but no the new Just Add Ink challenge is NOT what you might think. It is in fact to Just Add a Colour Combo, this week from Nikki. Here it is.

I've been working on Christmas projects and classes for the last few months so is it really any surprise that my mind turned to a Christmas card  - I thought the colours were perfectly suited to one with a bit more of a vintage feel.

It's so hard to capture the shimmer and shine straight on so I had to include a picture that does.

It's all pretty straightforward - but one point to note is that I got the two tones on the needles by inking up the stamp, stamping off then rock and rolling the ends only in the Lost Lagoon ink.

I know you'll find inspiring and very different projects from the DT using these lovely colours so do please check them out!

Thanks for visiting,

Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Ornamental Pine

Cardstock: Lost Lagoon, Early Expresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Early Expresso, Versamark, Whisper White

Accessories: Woodgrain embossing folder, Project Life Cards and Labels framelits, Gold embossing powder, 2013-15 In Color sequin assortment, Very Vanilla seam binding, Dazzling Diamonds, Gold eyelets (R), Two way glue pen, Tombow multi, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 238 Just add a sketch

Hello there,
my card today was all about creating a dusky/dawn standing on the beach feel. Which turns out to be very appropriate as the kids and I went swimming a couple of times last weekend. Not at dawn I might although my beloved little munchkins did wake me up at dawn - urgh! Anyway this week the challenge at Just Add Ink is to Just Add a Sketch - here it is.

Even though I designed the sketch I decided to turn it 90 degrees - go figure - lol!

I wanted the chevron embossing to be graduated so rather than running the whole panel through my BigShot I pulled out my rolling pin and started at the top of the folder with lots of pressure then decreased the pressure the further I went down. However, the watercolour panel was intended to be the star - super simple to do with re inkers and a little water - and lots of fun too. The final touch was to emboss that wonderful big sunburst. 

I'm hoping you'll find this sketch fun and very versatile too - hope you can join in the fun at JAI this week. Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT too for lots of wonderful inspiration!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless noted otherwise
Stamps: Kinda Eclectic, Afterthoughts
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Ink: Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Versamark
Accessories: Chevron embossing folder, Watercolour paper, Crushed Curry and White embossing powder, Doubled sided tape (X Press), Dimensionals

JAI 237 Just add clear block stamping

Hello there,
well I was busy busy busy this week! But even if you are having a week like me do try and find the time to join us at Just Add Ink this week because we have a fun challenge - this week it is to Just Add Clear Block stamping. This is the technique where you ink up your actual block and use it as a stamp. The JAI DT have lots of fabulous examples of how you can use this technique and here is what I came up with.

And here is how I did it.
1) I inked up (I literally just patted my ink pads on the block) my largest clear block with green, blue and brown ink in roughly the pattern I wanted (I used the cover image of my World Map stamp set as a guide).

2) Spritzed with just the finest mist of water. Then I stamped.
3) Once dry I stamped my map image over the top. You can see the ink colours are not a perfect match for land/sea but it still looks good!

This was my Dad's birthday card this year - in his young days he rode a motorcycle. So I thought this would appeal to him. Most unusually for me I went with a very rich dark colour scheme but it seemed to suit the card so I went with it.

Hope you can join us. Thanks for visiting,

Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless noted

Stamps: World Map, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Motorcycle

Cardstock: Cherry Cobler, Basic Black, Naturals White, Vellum

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Tuxedo Black (Memento), Versamark

Accessories: Top Note BigZ die, Starburst framelits, Spiral Border punch, Black and White embossing powder, Cherry Cobler baker's twine, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press), Vellum tape (Scotch)

JAI 236 Just add inspiration

Hello there,
we came home from a week away to a lovely almost summer like day perfect for slipping back into home life (and for doing washing) and then it was life back to normal this week as the kids went back to school. Luckily enough I was able to get my project for this weeks Just Add Ink challenge done before we left - just as well cause I sure haven't had time to do any crafting since we got home! 

This week the challenge is to Just Add Inspiration. Nikki found the great pictures to get us inspired this week.

I had a new feather set to play with, which was going to be perfect - and play I did getting very inky :)

I wanted to create a graduated background so I started by pulling out my brayer (I did say get inky) and worked my way through a whole spectrum of blues. All that wide open blue space made me a bit unsettled so I ended up overstamping text in versamark. I brought more colour in with my feathers - the green and gold from the inspiration photo. Then added more gold - and even pulled out my sewing machine! 

I had quite a bit of fun putting this one together :) Do check out the rest of the JAI DT for some inspirational inspiration! Hope you join us.

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Four Feathers, Dictionary, Happy Day (R)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi, Versamark
Accessories: Four Feathers framelits, 2 1/2" circle punch, Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum, Tea Lace Paper Dollies, White and Gold embossing powder, Gold Baker's twine, Gold thread, Sewing machine

JAI 235 Just add a colour combo

Hello there,
the flowers I used this week remind me of my garden at the moment. We have had a succession of trees blossom through a delightful array of pinks. Sadly the spring blossoms are gone but a lovely hue of bright green has settled over the garden and soon enough I will have roses too.  The challenge we have for you this week at Just Add Ink (with a little artistic license) is perfect for flowers - this week we want you to Just Add a Colour Combo.

I needed a birthday card for a pink loving friend so I pulled out my markers and got to work. Sweetbriar Rose has a real classic botanical art feel so I was aiming to capture that feel. 

I considered colouring the image direct on the pink cardstock but decided it would be too difficult to get the tones I needed for the colour challenge. So instead I stamped and then coloured the image on white cardstock then fussy cut it out. To finish the card off I added lots of little details to create a (blinged up) vintage botanical feel.

Do check out the rest of the DT for some gorgeous colour inspired creations. Hope you can join us.

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Sweetbriar Rose, Express Yourself
Cardstock: Strawberry Slush, Blackberry Bliss, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, White (X Press Blending)
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Labels collection framelits, Spiral border punch, First Edition DSP (R), Copic markers, Piercing tool and mat, Gold sequin trim, Venetian crochet trim, Gold Baker's twine, Tombow multi, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)

JAI 234 Just add Baby

Hello there,
I've had a lovely week this week. It's been warm and that has meant cups of tea in the garden and the school holidays has meant time to have cups of tea in the garden :) The deal I made with the kids was that I'll take them out for activities in the morning and the afternoon we'd be at home and they'd have to occupy themselves.  What are you going to be doing Mum? they asked. Stamp was my answer!! Cause I'm on holiday too - lol!

This week we have a very useful challenge at Just Add Ink  - it's Just add Baby. One of the girls on the JAI DT is expecting her first bub very soon (how exciting!!) and to celebrate we decided a baby challenge was the perfect thing :) So please join us and show us your baby projects.

Since we don't know if bub is going to be a boy or girl I made one of each.

Here's the girl version

And the boy version

As you can see they both follow the same plan but I just changed up the colours and decorative details on each. The concept started with knowing I wanted to do an emboss resist effect with the big scale sentiment. I've been pulling out a watercolour paper a bit recently and it's been fun to combine it with reinkers and seeing how it all turns out! I carried the themes through to the inside using the new SU! stencils to created the sponged spotty/starry patterns.

Do check out the rest of the JAI DT for lots of baby inspiration! Hope you can join us.

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless noted otherwise
Stamps: Big News
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Early Expresso, Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky, Early Expresso, Rose Red, Crisp Cantaloupe, Blushing Bride, Versamark
Accessories: Watercolor paper, Apothecary Accents framelits, Starburst framelits, Large Polka Dot and Lucky Stars embossing folders, Hearts and Stars and Dots and Stripes stencils, Early Expresso and Gold baker's twine, Gold sequin trim, 2013-15 In color sequin assortment, White and Gold embossing powder,Tombow multi,  Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)