JAI 742L Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

It's once again time for the new Just Add Ink challenge. Yay! This week we have an Inspiration 

Photo challenge, suggested to us by Nikki.

Oh, how I wish that I had a lovely space like this at my home! I am a complete black thumb, and my garden is not faring well in the near-drought conditions we are currently experiencing in South Australia.

I was inspired by the lush green leaves, and the pops of colour in the cushions. The cushions actually have birds on them, but I decided to add colour with a digi stamp from Stamp Anniething, called Springtime Girl. She was coloured in pinks, purples, browns and blues to match some of the colours in the photo.

It's difficult to see, but the Leaf Collection background, stamped in Garden Green, was cropped with one of the new Textured Notes Dies. They are going to be fun dies to play with! The 'celebrate' sentiment is from Simply Said, I just masked off the 'let's' part of it. I popped a scrap of Vellum behind the girl to help her pop out from the leafy background.

More leaves and another Simply Said sentiment complete the inside of the card.

We'd love to see what grabs you attention from the Inspiration Photo. You can see what the rest of the Design Team have made over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also add your card to our Linky.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 676: Just Add Inspiration

Hi! 

This week at Just Add Ink, we have a somewhat Halloween-themed Inspiration Challenge for you.

Or maybe you don't do Halloween, and you use other elements of the photo on your card. The colours and textures are great inspirations, too.

I did a little of both - Halloween for my main panel, and the gorgeous black & white plaid from the retired Pattern Party DSP in the background.

The main panel is a free colouring sheet from Kate Hadfield. I simply printed it to the size that I wanted, and coloured it with my Stampin' Blends.

The sentiments I've used are from a retired Stampin' Up! set, called Mr Funny Bones. A great set for Halloween!

We'd love for you to play along, even if you don't do Halloween. There's a lot more to take from the photo! You can see what the rest of the Design Team have used for Inspiration over on the Just Add Ink blog. You'll also find the linky so that you can add your card to our challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 674: Just Add Colour

 Hi!

Welcome to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have a colour challenge for you, suggested to us by Rochelle.

The first thing that came to mind was flowers, and the addition of Gold made me think of Christmas. In the end, I went a completely different direction!

How cute is this combi image? It's a digi stamp from Indulgy that I must have received as a freebie. I printed it on some Blending card and then coloured it with a mix of Stampin' Blends and Copics in the challenge colours. I had a gold marker that I used for the headlights, number plate and the logo on the front of the van.

The rest of the card was a bit of a mish-mash of bits and pieces in the challenge colours. I loved the striped ombre paper from the Bright & Beautiful DSP pack, and then I layered some cropped and embossed ovals over the top.

I had the foresight to print a smaller version of the van for the inside of my card. Usually, I forget and then can't be bothered to fire up my laptop and printer again. I coloured it in the same colours as the front. The sentiments that I used are from a retired SU set, called Driving By. I thought it worked well with the image!

That's all from me for now, but 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 the Linky for the challenge for when you're ready to add your card. What do you think you'll do with the colours?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 612: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. I hope that you find time to play along with us, as it's a fun one!

This week, Kim has challenged us to Choose Two of Fur, Clouds or Stitching to add to our cards. Hmm, what a choice! I went for Fur and Clouds.

I also decided to make a fancy fold, so that the castle sat back from the front of the card. This fold is called a Reverse Centre Step card. I love the dimension that it gives my scene. The castle is a digi stamp from Kindred Stamps, called Little Town Life Bonus. As you can imagine, it coordinates with the fur element of my card - the beast on the front. He's from a physical stamp set, called Little Town Life.

The clouds were created using a template cut from the Rainbow Builder Dies and a Blending Brush with my Balmy Blue ink. The grass is a Hello Sweetums Die, called Grass Is Greener.

The images on my card were all coloured using my Copic markers. It's such a relaxing way to unwind from a busy day.

Now it's your turn! Stop on by the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's Design Team cards. You'll also find our linky for when you've made your card. Which two will you choose?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 610: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have an Inspiration Photo challenge for you, suggested by Kerry. I really love the pops of colour that the balloons provide in the B&W photos.

Today's card features a digi stamp from Simply Cards Magazine. I've had it in my collection for many years, but when I went to try to find it again to link to it, I could not find it. Still, it was so cute that I couldn't resist using it.

The sentiment and bunny are two separate stamps. I printed them on Whisper White cardstock and coloured them using my Copic markers. I also used a Gold Sharpie for the stars, to coordinate with the Gold Foil card base.

The totally adorable bunny was fussy cut after I coloured him, and the popped up over the card base. I'm not sure who will get this card, but I think I'll add another digi stamp of a number balloon for him to hold in his other hand. You can't ever have too many balloons!

I forgot to print a second bunny for the inside, so I got lazy and just stamped some balloons from Penguin Palace on the inside. I did use some of my new Masking Paper, so I wasn't too lazy!

We'd love to see what you make using our Inspiration Photo as a guide. The Design Team have had plenty of fun ideas, so there's lost of creativity to spark your muse over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also link up your card when you've made it.

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 #526: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Welcome back to the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week Jo has found a really funky Inspiration Photo for us to be inspired by.

How cool is the blue in those toadstools? Or are they mushrooms? Either way, the colour is amazing! I wasn't only inspired by the colour this week - when I see strangely coloured toadstools like that I think of potions and magic. Perfect timing for Halloween cards! I don't usually make Halloweeen cards, so I decided to make a magical birthday card instead.

The stamps I used on the front are digital stamps from Bugaboo. I've had them for many years but not used them much. I really wanted a cauldron for my potions, and this was the only image I had. I printed it off, along with the wizard and the shelf. I coloured them with my Copic markers.

To create the base of my card I used a piece of In Good Taste DSP with the big bricks. Does it look like a castle wall? I hope so! The wooden floor was hand drawn and coloured, also using my Copic Markers. I had fun doing that! The digi images were just fussy cut and popped up over the top. To pop the tiny bubbles up I added a Mini Dimensional to the back of each on the cardstock and then punched each one out with my Crop-o-Dile. It cut through all layers very easily.

There was a second shelf image in the stamp set, so I printed it and coloured it for the inside. You may notice that I've used a really bright blue and green frequently in the books and bottles - that's a little nod back to the colours of the Inspiration Photo. The sentiment stamps are a retired Kindred Stamps set called Wizard Friends.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find the rest of this week's cards. Once you've made your card, you can link it up there too. I can't wait to see what you'll do with this Inspiration photo - it sure is a fun one!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #500: Just Add A Die Cut Word

Hi!

Wow!! Just Add Ink is celebrating it's 500th Challenge with a massive Blog Hop! Thanks for joining us for the Hop, and hopefully the challenge. Are you starting here, or have you come from the lovely Kelly's blog? Her card is so beautiful! This week Jan has set the challenge, and it's an easy one!

Yes, Just Add A Die Cut Word to your card. The hard part will be choosing which word to add!

I decided to use this free digi stamp by Three Room Studio, called All In This Together, on my card. I printed the image and then coloured it with my Copics. I didn't do any blending with the markers, it was all just straight colouring. I chose some darker colours at the top and the bottom of the card, for the sky and the road/grass/front of the houses. I chose a lot of lighter colours for the rest of the card, hopefully this kept all the speech bubbles as the focus of the card.

I used a scrap of Whisper White to create the speech bubble for the die cut words. It's really just a rectangle with a triangle at the bottom and rounded corners. I adhered the die cuts from the Well Written Dies  and popped the whole lot up on Dimensinals. The Die set doesn't actually have a letter I, so I just used the top of the exclamation mark for my I.

When I printed the digi stamp, the first attempt was a bit of a failure, as I forgot to alter one of the settings on my printer, and it was much too large. Oops! I was about to chuck out the mistake, but I noticed the three word bubbles and thought that they would work nicely for an inside sentiment. As a bonus, they match the front perfectly!

Our challenge is the same as it is every week, just make your die cut word card and add your link to the Just Add Ink blog. Before you go start making your card, don't forget to finish the rest of the Blog Hop! Next up is the fabulous Nikki, with her adorable card.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #465: Just Add The Season

Hi!

Hooray for a new Just Add Ink challenge! This week Nikki has decided we should add 'The Season' to our cards. What do we mean by 'The Season'? Well, it can either be your favourite season (summer/autumn/winter/spring) or the current season where you live. For me in Australia, it's the depths of winter, and we are currently having a little cold snap. Not cold enough to snow, but certainly cold enough to just want to stay home snuggled in front of the TV during the school holidays!

I decided I'd make a winter themed card, and then realised I had very little in my stash that was winter themed. Oops! I'm not one to back down from a self imposed challenge, so off I went to look for a winter themed digital stamp. I found this cutie by Graphics Dollar, called Linus Goes Camping. Even better, he was a freebie! I quickly printed him and then got colouring.

I used my Stampin' Blends to colour Linus, the fire and his marshmallow stick. I also coloured the ground with my Light Crumb Cake Blend, and then added some pebbles using my Dark Crumb Cake Blend. This was a technique I saw Paula Dobson use in her brilliant Blends Colouring video.

The trees were stamped using the trees from Waterfront. Stamping them over and over and at different heights hides the trunks of some of the images and makes the trees look a lot taller than the stamps are! I used my sponge brayer to colour the sky (after masking off the moon) so that I could flick water over to create a starry sky.

I had a bit of fun experimenting with my Blends and the Colour Lifter on this card. I used the Lifter to add some cross hatching to the jeans to add a bit of texture. I also added some strokes to the wood on the fire to give more of a rough look. I wasn't thrilled with how the hair turned out, but it was fun trying! I used a Soft Suede Blend to add streaks and then coloured over it with Daffodil Delight and Mango Melody.

I didn't have many options for the inside, as I couldn't print Linus small enough for my liking. I made do with a row of trees, which I quite like!

That's it for me for this week's challenge. Now you can head on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of this week's Design team cards, and also enter your own. Which season will you choose?

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #335: Just Add A Sketch

Hi!


Here we go with another Just Add Ink challenge! This one will go for two weeks, as a lot of us will be at the Stampin' Up! On Stage event in Brisbane.

This week it's one of mine - I have designed a sketch for your inspiration. I made it very simple, so that it can be interpreted as you will!

What do you think?  I had lots of fun with it, and ended up rotating it, as it suited my purposes better.

I bought these Bugaboo digi stamps a while ago, as we are HUGE Harry Potter fans in my house. I've been looking for an excuse to print and colour them, and this was the time. I used my Copics to colour the images, and had a very relaxing couple of hours doing so!

I wasn't sure what to do for the background. I ended up using one of the new Seasonal Decorative Masks with Emerald Envy ink sponged through it onto the cardstock. I was trying to create the look of potion bubbles, but it was a bit too bold, so I ended up placing a layer of Vellum over the top to soften it.

This is why I wanted the potion bubble look - to tie in with the inside of the card! I haven't stamped a sentiment anywhere on the card as I'm not sure what I will use it for yet. No doubt one of my kids will end up claiming it!


I hope you have fun with this sketch this week. Pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created. Don't forget that you have two weeks to enter!


Bye for now,


Tina