JAI 666: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday - it's been a long week, as Hudson has been home sick with a cold again. It feels like only a few weeks since the last cold! Oh well, winter has to be over soon, doesn't it?

Speaking of winter, Just Add Ink are using this fun, snowy Inspiration Photo to challenge your card making this week. Jan found the image for us, and it's inspired a whole lot of creativity amongst the Design Team. Hopefully it will spark something in you, too.

I went with the sky and the snow as the key focus for my card. I pulled out my old sponge rollers to ink up some Whisper White cardstock with Balmy Blue and Blueberry Bushel inks. From that point on, I think what could go wrong, went wrong on my card! The first was that I accidentally debossed the inked panel rather than emboss. Whoops!

I then decided to make the card sparkly by misting some shimmer paint/isocol over the card. Unfortunately the first mister I used came out in a stream, not a mist! I ended up with splatters through the inked panel. I kinda like the look though, even if it wasn't what I was initially going for.

The final oops was my sentiments. It's from a big Concord & 9th stamp set, called Mix & Match Holiday Sentiments. No matter what I try, I just can't get it inked up evenly. It will just have to do!

We'd love for you to play along with us this week. Maybe you're in the heat of summer and dreaming of a cooler winter. Maybe you're dreaming of summer while shivering through a cold winter! Or perhaps, like me, you're keen to get started on our Christmas card making. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll see the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You can also link up your card to enter the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 658: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday, and the end of a wet, miserable week! Well, the weather was miserable, but I was happy, as my mum was here for a visit. She's gone home now, but it was lovely having her here.

This week at Just Add Ink, we have a Choose Two challenge for you. Di suggested this challenge, to add two of either scraps, strips or sequins to a card. I nearly added stripes, but I released in time that the element was strips, not stripes. Oops!

When I saw that sequins was one of the options, I decided to make a shaker card. They are a great way to add sequins to a card! I had no idea how to incorporate either strips or scraps, but I put that aside as a problem for after I made the shaker part of the card. As it turned out, I put too many sequins in the shaker, so you can't see the sentiment I stamped at the back of it - a strip over the top solved that problem!

The stamp I used for my card is a Concord & 9th Turnabout stamp, called Bitty Burst. I liked that it added another circular element to the card, although it was the first thing that I did.

I couldn't think what else to do on the inside of my card, so I just left it blank, apart from the stamped sentiment, which is also from the Bitty Burst set. It leaves me a lot of room to write a message in the card.

Jump on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of the Design Team cards this week. You can also link up your card there when you've made it. Which two will you choose? Sequins, Strips or Scraps?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 633: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Hooray for Friday and the new Just Add Ink challenge! This week, Kim has suggested a fabulous colour combination to guide our creativity!

I have finished making all of my Christmas cards for this year, but an extra never hurts, right? I thought that this combo would make for a fun, modern Christmas card, and I had just the right stamp set in mind.

I've had Concord & 9th's Mix & Match Holiday Sentiments stamp wet for a while, but it has not been inked until now! It's a big stamp with a lot of different Christmassy words that, like the name suggests, you mix and match to create phrases. It's a lot of fun!

The hardest part is arranging them into the tree shape. Sweet Sorbet and Bermuda Bay look fantastic arranged like this. I snuck the Basic Grey in by using it as the tree trunk and with the twine bow.

I had LOTS of extra words, so I was easily able to create another sentiment for the inside of my card with the leftovers. In fact, I reckon I could make another 2-3 cards with the rest of the words I have stamped. What a bonus for time-poor stampers at this time of year. Now I just need to track down the matching die to make things even easier!

Thanks for stopping by. We'd love for you to play along with our Colour Combo challenge. Just pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You'll also be able to link up your card for the challenge when you're ready. We'd love to see what you create.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 619: Just Add Masculine

 Hi!

Hooray for the ned of the week and the new Just Add Ink challenge. It's been a long week for me, I've been home with Hudson, who has been unwell (again). He loves his cuddles with Mum when he's feeling poorly, which doesn't leave me much time to do anything. Oh well, it's all waiting for me once he's better!

Just in time for Father's Day on Sunday, Tristan has challenged us to make masculine cards. I had a quick moment while Hudson was distracted with a new Wiggles DVD to whip up a quick and easy card for the kids to give Rob for Father's Day.

Hehe, I love this stamp set and die bundle so much - it's really fun! It's from Concord & 9th, and is called Love You More Than. There's a whole lot of options to choose from for the more than bit, but this time I chose French Fries. We all know that most kids love French Fries!

The die has three layers - two fries layers and the box they are in. I added a heart, just for Father's Day. I layered the die cut fries over a masked, inked circle. I inked it with Balmy Blue ink, and faded it out as I got to the top of the circle.

Hehe, I love the inside sentiment, too. I added three die cut hearts, one for each of the kids!

That's it for me for this week's challenge, but your job is just beginning. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You'll also find our linky, where you can add your masculine card to our challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 617: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a Choose Two challenge, suggested by Di.

So what are your choices? Gingham, Dots or Diecuts. Choose any two to go on your card. For me it was an easy choice, as I'd just purchased a new stamp set that featured dots.

I used the Concord & 9th Bitty Burst Turnabout stamp on my card, using four different shades of blue and green. I used Pacific Point, Night Of Navy, Granny Apple Green and Shaded Spruce. I can see myself using this stamp set a lot, and I can't wait to try out different colour combos.

To fulfil the second part of the Choose Two, I added a die cut from the Uniquely Creative Stitched Sun die. It filled the circle in the middle of the Bitty Burst beautifully.

I got a bit ambitious with the Bitty Burst stamp on the inside. I tried to do it with a rig, but it was very awkward on my Stamparatus. Next time I'll just wing it, I think!

That's all from me for tonight, but we'd love for you to play along with our challenge. Just head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find lots more gorgeous inspiration from our Design Team. You'll also find the linky to add your photo to our challenge gallery. I can't wait to see which two you choose.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 613: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Hello again! Friday means that it's Just Add Ink challenge time! This week we have a colour combo for you, suggested by Nikki.

I love the mix of the two softer colours with the richer Starry Sky. I went for something a little different, and used Starry Sky as my background, hoping that the lighter Mint Macaron and Fresh Freesia would pop against the deep blue.

I think it works! I used my new Concord & 9th dies, Love You More Than, to crop the flowers. The dies layer over the top of each other to give a more dimensional flower. You can see this a little more clearly in the closer photo below.

The sentiment is from the Let's Party Treat Packaging Kit. I love the fonts in the kit stamp set.

Here's one final tulip for the inside of the card. The colours look so different against a white background rather than Starry Sky.

That's all for me for this week, but your job is just starting! Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You'll also be able to link up your card for our challenge. What will you do with our colours?

Bye for now,

Tina