JAI 771: Choose Two Or More

 Hi!

Thanks for joining us here at Just Add Ink! We're so excited to share with you the first challenge of our new format and hope you'll embrace the changes and have a ton of fun creating.

For challenge # 771 we have expanded our regular Choose Two to now be Choose Two or More! You can use as many of the listed options as you like to feature on your projects, as long as it's at least two, and don't forget to tell us in your post which ones you chose. You'll also have more time to create as we've moved from a weekly to bi-weekly (every two weeks) challenge!

This week, Jan has suggested this list of fun things to choose from - pets, plaid, plants, pretties, pens or patterned paper. I have a little secret: I hate plaid! Funnily enough, it features prominently on my card. LOL! I guess because it's more at the gingham end of the scale it's a little more appealing to me.

Plaid paper nicely covers two of the categories to choose from, but I also decided to throw in some pretties with the use of some Glimmer Paper. I cropped it using the Build A Stage dies from Kindred Stamps.

I coloured my dancer, from Hair Hopper by Scrappy Boy Stamps, with my Stampin' Blends, but decided to add some plaid to her outfit. I stamped her lower half onto some of the Plaid DSP, fussy cut the skirt, and glued it over the skirt on the full image.

I decided to include the beau of the beauty on the front on the inside of my card. Isn't he a cutie? I toyed with the idea of making his tie plaid in the same way as I did her skirt, but discarded that idea pretty quickly as being way too fiddly!

Which two (or more!) will you choose? We'd love to know, and to see your card. You can add it to our Linky over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll also find the rest of the Design Team's cards. Don't forget that you now have two weeks in which to pay along.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 707: Just Add A Sketch

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week we have a sketch for you, designed by Kim.

I quite like that the only design element is the half circle on the side, although I did flip my half circle to the other side of the card. Once I'd worked out which stamp set that I wanted to use, it made more sense.

I used Unsinkable, from Kindred Stamps. I coloured the glamorous lady using mix of Stampin' Blends and Copics. Her dress is coloured with Fresh Freesia and Misty Moonlight, and her hair is using the E 13 - 18 Copic markers. I layered her over some retires Waves Of The Ocean DSP, and swished a little Wink Of Stella over her dress - a fancy dress needs a bit of sparkle!

I couldn't resist using a wood print from Wood Textures DSP as the half circle element, cropped with the largest circular Everyday Details Die. I thought that using the wood print tied in nicely with the sentiment.

The other half of the couple is on the inside of the card. He was much easier to colour! I think that I will put this card away for my next wedding anniversary, however that's not until April, so hopefully I don't forget about it in the meantime!

We'd love to see what you do with the sketch this week. You can see what the Design Team did over on the Just Add Ink blog. You can also add your card to the Linky when you are ready. We can't wait to see what you make!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 668: Just Choose Two

 Hi!

It's time for the new Just Add Ink challenge! This week Lou has challenged us to Choose Two from either Twine, Tearing or Timber.

Hmm, which to choose? It's a tough decision! I originally went with Timber and Tearing, but ended up with Twine on my card too.

I decided that I wanted a bit of a country theme to my card, and what's more country than a mix of timber and gingham? I used retired DSP from the Wood Textures and Country Gingham packs for the basis of my card.

The sunflowers were the next addition. I love the outlines of the Early Espresso card on the Daffodil Delight and Shaded Spruce cardstock. It gives the flowers a real pop. I played around with the twine and the sentiment, but I could not make it work. The top corner was a little empty, so the twine/banner combo solved both problems!

I used some of the left over DSP on the inside of my card. Waste not, want not!

We'd love for you to play along with us this week. Which two elements will you choose? The Design Team had made some fabulous cards using the challenge elements. You can see them over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your card before our challenge ends.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 615: Just Add Inspiration

 Hi!

Welcome back for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week we have an Inspiration Photo for you, suggested by Nikki.

Wow, I wish I had a little retreat like this in my yard!! I'd never want to leave it. What grabbed me were the pops of green plants among the wood textures and black features, so that's what I went with on my card.

I've combined papers from two retired packs for my card. The wood paper is from Wood Textures DSP, and the plants have been fussy cut from Bloom Where You're Planted DSP. Some are adhered flat to the card, others are popped up.

The pot at the very back of the cluster was stamped in Pale Papaya, as there was a pot of a similar colour in the Inspiration Photo. The sentiment came from the same stamp set as the pot: Plentiful Plants. I used the coordinating Perfect Plants dies to crop some of the images.

The inside of a card is a great spot to use up the partial images from the side of the DSP. They look like they are meant to be cropped that way!

We'd love for you to join in with our challenge this week - what do you see in the Inspiration Photo? I quite liked the look of the circle things on the back wall. They'd be fun to play with for a card. Jump on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you can see the rest of the Design Team's gorgeous cards. You can also link up your card for the challenge.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI 561: Just Add A Shaker

Hi!

It's once again time for the new Just Add Ink Challenge. This week Nikki has challenged us to add a Shaker element to our cards. What fun!

I recently received a new stamp set from Kindred Stamps, called Showstopper. If there was ever a set designed to go with glitter, it has to be one called Showstopper, right?

I started my card by creating the stage scene using a stencil from Kindred Stamps called Stage Builder. The bulk of the curtains was sponged first using Real Red ink. I then laid the detail part of the stencil over and sponged using Cherry Cobbler Ink. Don't they look amazing? The stencil was also used to create the spotlight on the floor, which was just an offcut of some retired Wood Textures DSP.

It's really hard to see, because the glitter is *everywhere* in the shaker, but I sponged some Wild Honey Distress Oxide through the stencil onto some Basic Black card to form the spotlight on the performer. I love how the ink shows up so well on the black card, when it's not covered in glitter!! The aerialist was coloured using a mix of Copics and Stampin' Blends. 

I stamped and coloured another performer from the Showstopper stamp set on the inside. I haven't yet found a sentiment I like to stamp on the inside, but that just leaves more room for a personal message!

That's all from me for tonight, but please do pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog, where you'll find plenty of shaking going on, LOL! The Design team have had fun with this challenge, and I hope you will too. Don't forget to link up your card before the deadline!

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #455: Just Add Sympathy

Hi!

Welcome to this week's Just Add Ink challenge. This time Kim has challenged us to make a sympathy card. I was a bit pleased when I first saw this challenge, as the sympathy section of my card box is empty, and I saw this as a chance to restock it a bit. Nobody likes making sympathy cards when they actually need them.

However, fate sometimes laughs at our plans, and as it happens, I needed to make a sympathy card this week. We very sadly learned that one of Hudson's little school mates passed unexpectedly last week and her memorial service is tomorrow.

The little girl's family are religious, and so I wanted to make a card to reflect this. I chose a piece of the Graceful Glass vellum that reminded me of a church stained glass window, and paired it with a piece of Wood Textures DSP that had the look of a church pew. Can you see it?

I coloured the vellum with some of my Blends and then wrapped it around a piece of Whisper White cardstock cut slightly smaller than the panel. This was to avoid having visible adhesive on the front.

On the inside I stamped a butterfly from my Painted Glass stamps set to bring a piece of the front to the inside. I think a sympathy card for a child is especially hard to make, but I hope this card will bring some comfort to her family.

The Design Team have made some beautiful cards this week. Quite a few of us were in the same boat of needing to make the cards to give straight away. You can find the cards at the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also link up your sympathy card.

Bye for now,

Tina

Glad Wrapped Olive

Hi!

Welcome to the new Colour Creations Blog Share. But first - how did back to school day go? Or have your kids got another day off? My oldest two went back today, high school for the first time for Ada. They had a great day. Unfortunately we are still waiting on paperwork to allow Hudson to return to school, but I'm hopeful it will be later this week.

On to today's card. I used an old, but new to me, technique on this card. I host a monthly ATC swap and wanted to try out the technique before I used it, just in case it turned out to be trickier than I thought. Thankfully, it was very easy!

The technique is called the Glad Wrap Technique, or if you're in the US it might be the Saran Wrap Technique. You basically take a scrunched up piece of soft plastic, ink it up and pounce it all over your cardstock to create a textured look. You can use just one colour, as I have, or several different colours. It's very retro - it reminds me of the finish people used to apply to painted walls. I can't recall what it was called! For my card I used Old Olive ink on a piece of Soft Sea Foam cardstock.

Here's a closer look - doesn't it look soooo textured? I still feel surprised when I run my fingers over it and it's smooth!

The stamped image is a new Hostess set from the Occasions Catalogue called Just Because. It's grout some great floral images that are fabulous for colouring. I used my Old Olive and Crumb Cake Blends to colour this image.

I made a small test piece of my Glad Wrap technique and so rather than waste it, I used it on the inside of the card. I also used a small strip of the same Wood Textures DSP that I used on the front. No inside sentiment yet - I'll stamp something when I know what I'm going to use this card for.

As ever, this week's cards can be found over on Catherine's blog. There's always such a wonderful variety of cards made using the focus colour. I love checking out the cards each week.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #207

Hi!

I'm playing along again with the CASEing the Catty Challenges, which this week was to CASE anything but a card from either of the current catalogues. After a quick flick through each, I decided to CASE the middle tag at the top of page 20.

I kept the basic parts the same - I used the same Botanical Tags die over the same piece of Wood Textures DSP, and used the same layout for the sentiment section, but otherwise I changed a lot around. If you have a look at your catalogue you can see that while I used all the same colours, I flipped a lot of them around - my tag is Fresh Fig, not Crumb Cake as in the catalogue.

I don't actually own the Botanical Bliss stamp set, so I had to improvise with what I had instead. I used the leaf die from the Botanical Tags set to create the textured base of my card. I simply cut a heap of the leaves in Crumb Cake and glued them to the base using my Fine Tip Glue. The Wood Textures DSP was brayered with Mint Macaron ink, as was the bird die from the Birds and Blooms Frameilts set. The button is from the True Gentleman pack, and sentiment label is from the Stitched Labels Framelits set. The stamp is from the Soft Sayings Kit. Finally, the Mint Macaron Twine is from the Nature's Twine set. it was took thick as it comes, so I simply pulled one of the strands out to use on the front.

I used the left over twine to finish off the inside, alongside the extra bird I cut from the scrap I'd brayered for the front. Sometimes it pays to think ahead to the inside when you're making the little bits and pieces for the front! The inside sentiment is from another card kit, this time it's the Notes Of Kindness kit.

Bye for now,

Tina

JAI #437:Just Add I

Hi!

Welcome to the end of the week, the start of the weekend (yay!) and a new challenge!

This week at Just Add Ink it's one of my alphabet challenges. The letter up for duty this week is the letter I, which *really* got the Design Team thinking!

After a bit of thought, I decided I'd go with the Inlaid Die Cuts technique. Once you get your head around it, it's not tricky, just a bit time consuming. Here's my card, and then I'll explain!

It's called inlaid, because even with all of those die cuts (I think there were 8!), the card front is completely flat - nothing sticking out at all.

After cutting the card base in Wood Textures DSP, I then die cut it using the largest Layering Circle. I then cut the same. circle from Best Route DSP and inlaid the circle into the base, holding it in place with washi tape on the back. Next was the two straws (you work from the back of the design to the front), then the brown bottle, red label, green bottle, orange label, and finally the white 'celebrate'. Each time you replace the piece you cut from the design with a fresh piece that is held in place at the back with washi. The hardest part was the sentiment, as there are a whole lot of little bits that have to be stuck back down - all the little bits in the loops of each letter. I was a little frightened to do the celebrate in case I stuffed up all the work before it, but thankfully it worked!

I used the same technique on the inside to make the bottle. This time I just cut a bottle from DSP. On the front I cut them from Whisper White and brayered on the colour. The label on the inside bottle is the one I cut from the green bottle on the front. As it was one of the last layers it was one of the only useable pieces left!

You can see what the rest of the super imaginative Design Team have created over at the Just Add Ink blog. Pleas join in the fun - link up your "I" cards over there too.

Bye for now,

Tina

Shimmery Beautiful Baubles

Hi!

Welcome to the latest Art With Heart Blog Share for the Heart Of Christmas. This week I have a card for you using the new Detailed Baubles Thinlits from the Holiday Catalogue.

Doesn't the bauble look great against the Wood Textures DSP? A bit of a country style Christmas. I wanted the bauble to look 3D, so I punched a 2 1/4" circle and sponged it with Shaded Spruce ink, making it darker around the edges and leaving it white in the middle.

I wanted a bit more sparkle (it is Christmas after all!), so I painted the die cut with some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint. After it was dry and the two layers were glued together, I then misted the whole thing with some of the same paint mixed with Isocol. The final touch was adding some Black Rhinestones to the die cut. And talking about sparkle - how's that new Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon? Don't make the mistake of overlooking it because it's in the Halloween section like I did!

I used a second, smaller, die cut from the Detailed Baubles Thinlits set to complete the inside.

You can find the rest of this week's cards over at Claire's blog.

Bye for now,

Tina

A Delightful Blushing Bride

Hi!

It's Tuesday evening, which means it's time for the new Colour Creations Blog Share. Are you enjoying our trip through the Stampin' Up! colour collection? I am!

This week the focus colour is Blushing Bride. It's such a lovely, dusky soft pink. A soft colour needs a soft paper, so I decided to use some of my Delightfully Detailed SDSP. The oval piece was perfect for my plans. I wanted the main panel of my card to be Blushing Bride, so I decided to brayer some ink over the paper. To stretch the paper even further, I cut a piece of Whisper White the same size as the oval panel and layered the two pieces before I brayered. The result was two pieces with an oval feature in Blushing Bride. You can see what I do with the second piece on Friday.

For today's card I used the DSP piece. I love Blushing Bride paired with Early Espresso, don't you? And even better with a piece of the dark Wood Textures DSP!

I pulled out my Animal Outing Stamp set and stamped the Kangaroo on some Watercolour paper. I coloured her with my Aqua Painter using the following inks: Crumb Cake (Kangaroo), Early Espresso (Kangaroo shading), Grey Granite (Koala), Blushing Bride (Kangaroo chest, ears and nose, and koala nose), Pear Pizzazz (grass) and Balmy Blue (sky).

How adorable is that banner? I used my Pick A Pennant stamp set to make it. I don't have the matching dies, but it was easy enough to trim around the banner. I snipped up between each section of the banner so that I could curve it a little more across my card. Don't you love the rustic texture the wood paper adds to the background? It's such a sweet contrast against the lacy paper.

I added and coloured another Kangaroo on the inside using my Aquapainter and inkpads. It's just on Whisper White this time, so it's never as good a result as when I used Watercolour paper, but it's good enough. And look - I managed to stamp the 'Little One' stamp correctly first time! LOL

You can see what the rest of the ladies have created over at Catherine's blog. Just a little tip - when you get to the list of links you can right click on the link instead of left clicking. A little box should pop up and you can choose to open the link in a new window or new tab. This little trick saves you from jumping back and forth between each blog and Catherine's. You can just click on each window/tab in turn and close it when you're done looking and hopefully commenting!

Bye for now,

Tina