Hi there,
now I just have to ask has anyone else had a morning start like this? It goes:
DH to me: Its Mum's birthday tomorrow (his Mum) you've made a card for her, haven't you?
Now I will say he was partly (mind you only partly) joking, and after about 18 years I should be aware of the fact that he is crap at preparing for birthdays and so should have his Mum's birthday written on the calender (I do now!). But it gave me a valid excuse to "slave" away stamping Sunday afternoon - ah its a hard life sometimes ;)
Of course ever looking of ways to multi task I used the Inkspiration sketch challenge this week for the card. You can see Keesh's sketch below.
This card is a real mix of old and new. Old DSP and a new stamp - I got Printed Petals at the 2010 convention and this is its first inking up. So here is the result.
I started with a completely different idea but saw this pink flower pattern and it reminded me of the large flower in Printed Petals so that's how this evolved. So I settled on a Regal Rose/ Early Expresso combo. So a square Regal Rose base, then an Expresso scalloped square mat (I was delighted when I realised that this was just the right size!!) then the DSP. I went for clean lines on the long vertical panel and also used the flower to break up the lines more. The flower was inked up in Regal Rose and Versamark then embossed with glittery clear embossing powder. For contrast I used Early Expresso for the stem and leaves. For the three horizontal bands I used satin Expresso ribbon for two and the sentiment for the last. The inside was finished off with another flower.
This one, despite having brown on it, got the big thumbs up by Miss 6 - but she decided it was OK for it to be posted if it was going to her Nana :)
Thanks for visiting,
Kim
Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Printed Petals, Party This Way, Petals Pizzazz
Ink: Regal Rose, Early Expresso, Versamark
Accessories: Sweet Always DSP (R), Scalloped Square BigZ die, Word Window punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Early Expresso satin ribbon, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press), Neutral button, Rhinestone (Kaiser), Brad - Flower
Hello there,
well I'm glad I left it to write up my post till today (Thursday night) because I have been feeling headachy and tired for the last couple of days and not at all cheery - but the headache cleared up late this afternoon hurray!! So feeling much more chirpy at the momment - just in time to welcome you to a new Just Add Ink challenge and this week we have a colour combo for you. Here it is.
I have got to be honest this one was seriously challenging! in fact I binned my first go at it. Overall the colours struck me as leaning more to the masculine side so that's what I went with.
Since I making a boys birthday card I kept it pretty clean and simple - a Cherry Cobler base, then a white mat stamped with the train engine in the three colours. I tried to generate a bit of interest by staggering the stamping in each row. To finish off a strip of River Rock stamped with the sentiment and one more train engine trimmed out and mounted and framed. Lastly a couple of brads in the wheels to finish up.
Thanks for visiting and if you have a chance have a go at the challenge too!
Kim
Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Choo Choo, Occaisional Quotes
Cardstock: Cherry Cobler, Whisper White, River Rock
Ink: Cherry Cobler, Daffodil Delight, River Rock
Accessories: 1 3/4" circle punch, Distressing tool, retired brads, Dimensionals, Double sided tape (X Press)
Hello there,
well the new Make it Monday challenge got me all fired up today and I just had to have a go especially after I thought I had a rather nifty idea for it ;) So what is the challenge - well to use a glitter strip (must be in a straight line). Want to know what my nifty idea is? - how about I show you :)
As you can see my glitter strip makes up the stem of my flower - it dawned (no that is not meant to be a pun BTW) on me that a straight glitter strip would be perfect for a flower stem and since I had a stash of coloured glitter - a green one!! I absolutely love the effect. It really does add some fun and sparkle to the card - and makes it feel bright and happy which is just what I wanted and hoped for! The card is pretty straight forward really so I won't go into the details check out my recipe below or leave a comment if you have a question.
Thanks for visiting,
Kim
Recipe:
Stamps: Blooming Button Bits, Studio Style, Backgound Basics Text Style (PaperTrey Inc)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi, Rose Red (SU!), Fresh Snow (PTI)
Accessories: Dotty Biscotti Patterned Paper (PTI), large scalloped border die (PTI), Woodgrain impression plate (PTI), Plum Pudding buttons (PTI), Old Olive button (SU!), Corner rounder punch (SU!), 1/2" circle punch (SU!), Superfine glitter (SU!), Sticky Strip (SU!), Linen Tread (SU!), Glue, Dimensionals (SU!), SNAIL adhesive (SU!), Sponge (SU!), Double sided tape (X Press)
Hello there :)
well its time again for a new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a great sketch for you. Here it is.
This is actually the second card I made for my Dad, after he had an operation recently. I was aiming for something cheery but still blokey - hopefully this will hit the spot.
I started with a Choc Chip base, then layered on some retired Good Morning Sunshine DSP. Down the bottom I just used Whisper White and stamped the sentiment. Next I added a scalloped lattice embossed border across the card, with some satin Daffodil Delight ribbon layered over the top. Then it was time for the main panel. For this I started by stamping some Kiwi Kiss flower stems, and then matching flowers in Daffodil Delight, the bottom one is popped up on dimensionals. Each flower was embellished with a different button. I decided to add a bit of whimsical touch and so added a bee to fly across the top of the flowers - another button, some cardstock and vellum. Lastly I mounted that all on a Kiwi base and added a small lattice embossed scalloped strip down the side. The inside was finished off with some more flowers.
So this one will be on its way to my dear Dad soon and hopefully it will bring some sunshine with it!
Thanks for visiting (again) its been busy round here lately ;)
Kim
Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Blooming Buttons Bits, Baby Button Bits (PaperTrey Inc)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Vellum
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Kiwi Kiss (R), Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Lattice embossing folder, Scalloped border punch, Daffodil Delight, Early Expresso button, Kiwi Kiss corduroy brad (R), Daffodil Delight satin ribbon. small heart punch, 1/2" circle punch, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Double sided tape, Tombow adhesive
Hi there,
today was one of those rare days when I HAD to make a card, sadly it is one to send to my cousin whose mother just recently passed away. My auntie was a really special lady and will definitely be missed by the family!
I haven't made many sympathy cards (thankfully) but I knew I wanted to keep it simple and not too somber. The design was heavily influenced by Nichole Heady not any specific card but just the general style and design. I also incorporated the new Make Monday challenge see below for details.
So I started with a Chocolate base, layered that with a panel of Confetti White (SU!), which I then impressed with the Linen and Canvas plate, I also rounded all the corners. At the mid point I added some double sided tape and then added a strip of patterned paper that I had crumpled up and then "ruffled" into folds. Using brown thread I used my sewing machine to secure and accent the paper ruffle. For the focal point I used a Chocolate Mat stack 4 (impressed with Bookprint impression plate), layered that with a Mat Stack 1 (from Confetti white) stamped a frame, then added a stamped off leafy branch. Over the top of that I added a strip of vellum, and stamped the sentiment (yes I have finally got to the Make it Monday 2 challenge - added a vellum sentiment strip). I secured the vellum with a small strip of scor tape and then added buttons, threaded with linen thread to accent the central panel. the inside was finished off very simply to match.
Thanks for visiting,
Kim
Recipe:
Stamps: Mat Stack 1 collection, Turning a New Leaf, Through the Trees (PaperTrey Inc)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Confetti White, Vellum (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Early Expresso
Accessories: Mat Stack 1 and Mat Stack 4 dies (PTI), Linen and Canvas impression plate, Bookprint impression plate (PTI), Turning a New Leaf patterned paper (PTI), Ripe Avocado buttons (PTI), Corner rounder punch (SU!), Linen thread, Double sided tape (X press), SNAIL adhesive (SU!), Scor Tape, Tombow Multi, Dimensionals (SU!), sewing machine
Hi all,
the Inkspiration challenge was a nice sketch this week - so when we finally wrapped up a weekend of family fun and outings (seriously in one weekend we saw a lot of snakes - one was even out in the bush! (big red bellied black snake), lots of gorgeously coloured birds (walk in aviary) lizards galour and a platypus - I kid you not a platypus out in the wild! (I think I was more excited than the kids) well the Tidbinbella Nature Reserve to be exact - oh and we saw turtles, emus and lots of kangaroos there as well. Ok so after all that I managed to seize the energy when we got to home to make a start on a card. Here's the sketch.
I'm still working on my birthday card stash so I worked from there - oh and I had a new stamp to play with.
You can't go past the Celecbration DSP for birthdays! So I pulled it out and picked out the patterns I wanted to use, that set the colour scheme - Pacific Point and Real Red. I layered the Pacific Point base with the red number pattern, then used another pattern for the large vertical strip. I stamped my robot in Versamark on watercolour paper, then embossed with black embossing powder. Then coloured him in using aquapainter and ink pad lids. A touch of Choc Chip for the cake and Daffodil Delight for the candle flames. I used oval nestabilities to cut the robot out and for the layer. For the two horizontal panels I stapled on some frayed Pacific Point grosgrain ribbon. I added a sentiment using a tag and white embossing the happy birthday, a little star and a couple of brads and all done! The inside was finished off very simply to match.
Hopefully it's not too fussy for a boy...I like it anyway :)
Thanks for visiting,
Kim
Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise mentioned
Stamps: Party This Way, Cakey Watt (Stampingbella)
Cardstock: Pacific Point
Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, Versamark, Going Gray
Accessories: Celebration DSP, Oval nestabilities (Spellbinder), Lots of Tags sizzlet, Pacific Point striped grosgrain ribbon (R), watercolour paper (craft shop), Black and White embossing powder, Real Red and Tempting Turquoise brads, Small star punch (R), Dimenionals, Double sides tape, SNAIL adhesive, staples
Hi there,
well welcome back for a new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we would like you to Just Add Love. Now this could mean a valentines card or a wedding card - you get the idea :) I decided to go with a broad valentines interpretation, I have kind of gathered from US blogs that giving cards to friends for valentines is (quite?) common so I have made a present for a dear friend - Sam. It is for a rather special occaision as she just added a new baby to her family. (You can see Sam's post here). Now a new baby is definitely an occaision (of love) to celebrate but I figure, especially since this is the third in the family, that Mum deserves something special too. I wanted a mix of something edible but also something to last - and then something to package it all in. So this is what I made.
For the something to package it all in - a woven basket. You can find the tutorial here on Splitcoasters. I pulled out a sheet of Bella Rose DSP as it just the right colours. Following the instructions I cut my sheet up into different width stripes and started weaving - it was a little fiddly but really not too bad. In the end I think I finished my basket a couple of rows shorter than the tutorial recommended. I secured in the ribbon handles with brads and covered the rim over with a striped of textured Riding Hood Red, with a Scallop Trim border for the outside. I also tied on a little strawberry tag so I can write a little message.
The something edible was some yummy chocolates that I know Sam likes :)
Now the something to keep are some felt strawberries filled with lavender which you can pop into a draw or hang off a clothes hanger. Now had some lovely wool felt at home in red and green, so I had a look on the web for strawberry templates and found this link to a Martha Stewart tutorial on making a felt/material strawberry pin cushion. So I pinned my template to the felt and cut it out. I made two different green tops, one was using the provided template, for the other I punched a 5 petal flower out of paper and used that as a guide (cut with a generous border) for a different shaped top (I actually liked it better). OK next I had to google knot stitch - then I used white embroidery thread to add little knots over the red strawberries. I used my sewing machine to stitch up the side of the strawberries gathered the tops together then firmly filled with dried lavender and stitch almost closed. Then I stitched on the green felt tops using slip stitch (google again). The last thing was to add a loop of ribbon so the strawberries can be hung off a clothes hanger. They did take some time to make but I have got to say I enjoyed doing it :)
Thanks for visiting and perhaps you can Just Add some Love this week too!
Kim
Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Tart and Tangy
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red (plain and textured), Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Bella Rose DSP (R), Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon (R), Certainly Celery and Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Pure Poppy and Simply Chartreuse felt (PaperTrey Inc), 5 Petal flower punch, 1 3/4" , 1 3/8" circle punch, Scallop circle punch, Silver cord (R), Tombow, Sticky Strip, dried Lavender
