JAI 789: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

welcome to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This time we have a sketch for you, designed for us by Tristan.

I love all of the stripes in the sketch! When I sat down to create, I misremembered the sketch and thought that they were stripes, not separate strips. The chunky stripes on the DSP I used work perfectly though, I think.

The DSP is from the You're A Peach pack. The mix of Balmy Blue and Calypso Coral stripes are an unexpectedly lovely combination. Running the stripes in different directions adds interest and movement to the card.

The Layered Poppy stamps are from Altenew. I actually found the stamp set in an op shop, would you believe? It was a freebie with a magazine that clearly someone had not wanted. Their loss is my gain! It's a lovely mix of poppies, leaves and sentiments.

I used the same stamp and DSP on the inside. It's a lovely way to finish off a card.

We'd love to see what you'll do with Tristan's sketch. You can jump on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of the Design Team's gorgeous cards. You can also add your card to our challenge gallery when you're ready.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 744: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week it's a Choose Two challenge, suggested to us by Di.

Hmmm, what to do? I'd recently purchased the Gnomes For Summer Thin Cuts, and thought that I could put him at the end of a rainbow with a pot of gold, but that's a leprechaun, not a gnome! I was determined to use him, though, so I gave him a background of rainbow paper.

Isn't he cute? I had lots of fun choosing different colours of card stock and Glimmer paper to use on him. I cheated a little by colouring his feet, hand and nose with my Ivory Stampin' Blend. How fun is the sentiment? I thought that it suited the theme of the challenge perfectly. It's from and Altenew set, called Crafty Life.

The sun is cropped using a Uniquely Creative die, called Stitched Sun. I thought that it went perfectly with the sun in the rainbow paper. It's a retired pack, called Sunshine & Rainbows.

I used an offcut on the inside, along with another sentiment from the Crafty Life set - again, it worked very nicely with the challenge theme!

We'd love to see which two that you choose for our Choose Two challenge. You can see what the rest of the Design Team chose over on the Just Add Ink blog. You'll also find our Linky so that you can add your card to our challenge gallery.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 725: Just Add Stencilling

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week, Lou has suggested that we Just Add Stencilling to our cards. Fun!

It's been a while since I used any of my stencils, so I dusted off the box that I store them in and started digging. At first I thought that I might use a moon stencil, but then I rediscovered my Warp Speed stencil, from Altenew. Bingo!

I love how it creates a focal point at the centre of the card. I inked it up using Salty Ocean Distress Oxide and a blending brush. I had to make sure to ink from all angles so that the shapes came out cleanly. I then added a couple of Stitched Stars die cuts, cropped from Silver and Gold foil, to further highlight the focal point.

My wonderful superhero is from a Kindred Stamps set, called Wonderful. Isn't she fabulous? I coloured her with my Stampin' Blends and a couple of metallic markers. The sentiment from the stamp set was a great way to finish off the card.

I left the inside fairly plain, with just a gold foil star. This way the card could be used for several different occasions.

We'd love for you to-lay along this week. Stencils are a fun and inexpensive way to add interest to a card, I think. I can't wait to see what you make. You can see what the rest of the Design Team have created this week over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also add your stencilled card to our Linky.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 656: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday on a Long Weekend! Do you have any crafty plans? I have a few cards that I need to make, but I also have plans to get a lot of sewing done. Wish me luck - best laid plans, LOL!

This week at Just Add Ink we have an Inspiration Photo as our challenge, suggested to us by Kim. I struggled a lot with ideas and had just decided to watercolour a background using the colours in the photo. As I was taping the paper down I remembered the alcohol ink backgrounds, and decided that I'd rather do that!

I used my Dark Calypso Coral Blend on a piece of vellum first, scribbling some splotches and then dripped some isopropyl alcohol over the top, blowing to get some movement in the ink. Once it was. dry, I repeated the process with my Dark Night Of Navy Blend.

The Inspiration photo has a strong horizontal line through the middle. I flipped it to vertical with the addition of some black twine. The Black Glimmer butterfly die cut serves as the silhouettes in the image. I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

I had an offcut of vellum left over from the front - I always make the fronts too big so that I have an offcut to work with on the inside. It was just he right size for the inner of my card, with some more twine and a smaller Glimmer butterfly. The stamp set that I used is from Altenew, called Family Matters.

That's all from me for now, but we'd love for you to play along with our Inspiration challenge. The Design team have done a marvellous job with using different elements of the photo to create their cards. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see their cards. You'll also find out linky there when you're ready to add your card to our challenge. I can't wait too ee what you make.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 652: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge.  This week it's a Sketch Challenge - designed by me!

It took me a while to decide what I was going to use to create a card using the sketch this week, but once I had an idea I was off and racing.

I purchased this little world map stamp about 6 months ago. It's an Altenew set, called Mini Atlas. I wanted a world map stamp, and this was the best I could find. Would you believe, a couple of months later Stampin' Up! released Watercolour World. I love that I now have map stamps that are very different sizes. They work so well together.

The die cut compass is from Uniquely Creative, and is called NESW Die. I made sure that I applied Adhesive Sheet to the back of the Pretty Peacock cardstock before I cropped it using the die.

I used Mini Atlas again on the inside, this time in Pool Party ink. It's a great size for card inners.

That's all from me for tonight, but your job is just starting! Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll see lots more to inspire you from the rest of the Design Team. Then just get inky, and link up your card to the challenge when you're done. Easy!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 629: Just Add Wings

 Hi!

Yay, time for the new Just Add Ink challenge! What a wonderful way to start the weekend.

 

This week, Jo has challenged us to add wings to our cards. I like to cast my mind through my pop culture stamps when these kinds of challenges pop up, and this new stamp set from Kindred Stamps, Galactic Travel, came to mind.

Lots of wings on this card! I stamped the spaceship and coloured it with my Stampin' Blends. I used Light Pool Party, Dark Poppy Parade and Light and Dark Gray Granite. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, cropped with a Stylish Shapes Die.

I really love the background - it's a super wide washi tape from Altenew, called Galaxy Washi Tape. It covers the whole card front, so it's a really quick and easy way to create a lot of impact on a card.

I stamped the same spaceship on the inside, this time with an Ink Road Stamps sentiment from Droid Please.

I hope you can play along with us this week at Just Add Ink. What can you think of that has wings that you could add to your card? I can't wait to see how imaginatively this theme is interpreted. You can see the rest of this week's Design Team cards over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can link up your card for the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

Bron's Birthday Blog Hop - July

 Hi!

I'm once again blog hoping with a bunch of crafty friends to celebrate Bron Eastley's 60th Birthday. This month, Bron has asked us to CASE a project from the 60's pages of the Annual Catalogue. I only got to page 61 before I found this fun card to CASE.

I loved the big, bold sentiment with the rays streaming out from behind it. It's tricky to see the rays, as they are white embossed on vellum, but they are there!

I started my card with a background paper from the Abstract Beauty pack. I thought that the little shapes looked like confetti, so worked well on a birthday card. The vellum layer over the top has been inked with some Lucky Clover Distress Oxide ink using my Altenew Warp Speed Stencil.

The sentiment is from the Sale-A-Bration stamp set, Amazing Phrasing. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of this one! I stamped it in Night Of Navy ink, fussy cut it and then popped it up over the vellum with Dimensionals. I used liquid glue behind the Dimensionals to adhere the vellum to the DSP behind it.

There was a tiny scrap of DSP left from the front of the card, so I used it on the inside. I also thought that a little more of the WarpSpeed stencil was called for. The sentiment is from the Light The Candles kit.

Another thanks for joining me, but please do continue your way around the Blog Hop tonight. There's lots more inspiration to be found. Just keep hopping around until you get back to the blog where you started. The next hopper tonight is my lovely friend Nikki Spencer.

Bye for now,

Tina

Bron's Birthday Blog Hop - May

 Hi!

I'm once again celebrating Bron Eastley's 60th Birthday with another blog hop. This month we are going back to the 60's for a retro themed hop. I did not make my appearance into this world until the mid-70's, so I had to think hard about what I could make. In the end I turned to the movies, and discovered that a childhood favourite was made in the 60's - 1964, to be exact.

The image I used is called British Nanny, from Scrappy Boy Stamps. I got it as a freebie in last year's Kit and Clowder Advent Calendar. I coloured her with my Copics, and then popped her up over my background. I'm not sure about the sentiment yet - I may end up changing it.

It was tricky to get a decent photo of the background, but it was the Coastal Cabana Foil from the Blues Foil pack from Stampin' Up!. I embossed it using Altenew's Cloudy Day 3D Embossing Folder. Hopefully it looks like she's floating around in the sky!

The retired SU set, Under My Umbrella was a great choice for the inside of my card. No sentiment yet - I'll add something when I make up my mind about the sentiment on the front of the card!

The next stop on your way around Bron's Birthday Blog Hop in May is Monica Formosa. I can't wait to see what she, and the rest of the group, make!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 601: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

It's time once again for a new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a sketch for you, designed by Kim!

It's a fab sketch that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I was in the mood to make a pop culture card, so I switched out the circle for this Orbital die cut from Uniquely Creative. It's super-sparkly, as I cut it from some white glimmer paper.

How cool is the background? I wish I had the talent to have created it! It's actually an extra-wide roll of Washi tape from Altenew, called (funnily enough) Galaxy. I just applied it to the front of my card and trimmed the excess. Instant wow! The scientist on the front is from a Kindred Stamps set, called Science Geeks, and the sentiment is from an Ink Road Stamps set, called Bazinga.

Unusually for me, I haven't started the inside of my card yet. I can't decide if I should put the scientist's best mate or best girl. What do you think? I'm sure I'll add one, or both, of them over the weekend.

You can join in our sketch challenge this week by adding your card to our linky. You can find it on the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll also find the rest of this week's Design team cards. I can't wait to see what you make!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 572: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Nikki has found a glorious photo to inspire our creativity.

Doesn't it make you so happy that Spring has finally arrived? I certainly love the warmer weather! This photo gave me a great excuse to play with two new purchases that I had yet to use. They worked so well with my favourite Pierced Blooms Dies.

The first new product is an embossing folder from Altenew, called Cloudy Day. The layers of clouds are wonderful! I used my chalk marker to highlight the top edges of the clouds to give a little more definition.

The second new product is the Uniquely Creative Stitched Sun die. It's so happy and cheerful!! I heat embossed the sentiment from Sweet Strawberry and cropped it with a circle punch before popping it on top of the sun. 

I added an extra flower to the inside of my card. I had thought about using the stem die for the flowers, but it would have been way too fiddly, so I used the leaf die instead. I like the effect, even if I'm not sure that the extra leaves are correct. But who cares, really? It's a fun, happy card and the friend I gave it to was delighted to receive it - and that's all that matters.

That's it from me for now, but please pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design team cards. We have some new members on the Team, so please go and give them a warm welcome. Sadly, we are also farewelling one of our wonderful long-term members of the DT. While on the blog, you can also link up your card for our challenge. I can't wait to see what you make.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 565: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. It's a colour challenge this week, suggested by Lou.

Aren't the two new In Colours wonderful together? I love the drama that the black adds to the mix. Having said that, I used black very minimally on my card!

I started with my Pale Papaya background, created with my Blending Brushes and a template created using my retired Rainbow Builder Dies. The word 'thanks' is a retired SU, from the Greetings Thinlits set. My peachy princess is from a Kindred Stamps set, called Plumber Brothers, and she's coloured with a mix of Copics and Stampin' Blends. Her hair is Dark Pale Papaya and her dress is Polished Pink.

My favourite part of the card is very hard to photograph! I wanted to add some sun rays, but I couldn't add another colour to the mix. My solution was to lay my Heffy Doodle Zapp Attack Stencil over the card and 'colour' through the openings with my Wink Of Stella pen. It's so sparkly in real life, but I had no chance of capturing it in a photo, sadly. You might be able to see a little bit of sparkle to the left of the princess.

The friend that I am making this for was kind enough to use her embroidery machine to make a label for the quilt that I made for my oldest son, so it was a great excuse to break out my Altenew Crafty Life stamp set for the inside sentiment. I'll be excited to get the label so that I can finish the quilt!

That's all from me for this week! You can see the cards that the rest of the Design team have made over on the Just Add Ink Blog. We've all had a lot of fun with these colours, and I'm sure that you will too. You can link up your card on our blog - I can't wait to see what you do with them!

Bye for now,

Tina