GUEST ARTIST - Diane Taylor

What a week it has been.  So many sad things happening this past week.  I have found it really hard to make time to keep up my blogging, so my apologies for the lack of inspiration this week.

One good thing that happened last week, was the time I got to spend with my very good friend Diane Taylor for a bit of crafting R & R.  Di was a bit like me, and inspiration wouldn't come, but after a play around for a while, look what she made!

It is gorgeous and I love the Pendant Park Stamp set!  I have hardly inked it up, but am inspired to have a play now that I have seen Diane's creation!  In fact, I am keen to CASE this wee beauty.  Thanks Diane for a fun play "date"!!

JAI #57 - Play along!

Hi Everyone,

For one reason or another, I have just not been able to submit a design for the Just Add Ink submission this week.  But that has not stopped the rest of the wonderful Design Team coming up with some fabulous projects!!

The challenge this week is another colour challenge - and what a doozy!!  Are you game to have a go?!!

We would love to see what you can come up with using this challenging combination.  Why not submit your entry and let everyone else enjoy it too.  Go on, I know you want to!  Let those creative juices flow.....................

EMERGING COLOUR

I have gone for a real 70's feel on this card!!  Boy, does that take me back :-)  How about you?!!
I have been wanting to try a technique called Emerging Colour, and FINALLY got around to just doing it last weekend!  This is a surprisingly simple technique, but really effective.  If you are booked in to my Brayer class this coming weekend, then this is what YOU will be doing too!

Using a Brayer allows you to put an even colour all over your cardstock, and makes the images beneath really "POP".  This class and card, is great for a beginner just starting out using the brayer.

I will be putting this tutorial on my "Tutorials for Sale" page after the class this weekend.  If you would like to recreate this card yourself, then be sure to check it out.

KEEP IT SIMPLE - Stupid!

Everyone likes to receive a KISS.  This is my version!!  I have a tendancy to design cards that aren't suitable for beginners.  We all have to start somewhere and I need to remind myself of this.

This wee card is so pretty, but very easy to create.  I am relying on the mats to give it the WOW factor.  To recreate this card you will need cardstock in Early Espresso, Sahara Sand and Whisper White,  Early Espresso Ink, Marker, White Gel Pen and Snail adhesive.  You can change the stamps used to anything you like, but I have used the SAB set Sweet Summer and Teeny Tiny Sentiments.  Thats it!!  Sweet Summer is a line art stamp set, so I have used my marker to colour in the image to make it solid.

I have also used the image again for the inside of the card.  Who needs Hallmark when you can create your own cards at a fracton of the price?!! Not to mention the fun you will have making them.

Perhaps you are new to this craft and would like some help to get started?  Then why not give ME a call?  I can show you how to get started, what products you will need initially and even run a class with step by step instructions for you and your friends, if you live in the greater Wellington area.  Consider me you mobile Paper Crafting Shop!!

JUST ADD - A SKETCH

Another sketch challenge for you this week from JUST ADD INK:

I combined two projects in one here, trying to work smarter.  If you Design and enter a lot of challenges, as I do, then you really need to be kind to yourself by working this way!!  I need to remind myself of that, sometimes, lol

A lovely friend of mine, Sam Post, recently welcomed a new addition to her family and I wanted to send her a card to let her know I was thrilled about the new addition to their family.  The sketch fitted exactly what I had in mind.

I love this retired Stampin' Up! set and don't use it often enough.  No point having sets gathering dust!!  I love the sweet little sentiment too.  I have stamped the rabbit on watercolour paper with Staz On and used my Aqua painters to colour the image.  I have taken it one step further and fussy cut around the bunny and popped him on the card with Dimensionals.  It really gives the card front a 3D look!

Sketches are always a great starting point when you need some inspiration in a hurry!  I really liked this one and didn't want to alter the sketch at all.

Pop on over to the Design Gallery to see what the rest of the Design Team have come up with this week!

TWILIGHT LOVE

I have been playing with my Brayer again!  I love Silhouette cards and haven't made one for awhile.  Actually I haven't made a card "just because" I can for quite sometime, so made a concerted effort to make a couple yesterday.  This is the first:

I have used only two colours for this card, Not Quite Navy and Pink Pirouette.  I have masked off the "Moon" before applying my colour, and then stamp in Not Quite Navy for a bold foreground image.  I have also opted for just a hint of bling in the stars, using Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous Rhinestones.

I then carried the same colours and partial image through to the card inner, only this time I sponged the colour along the bottom instead of using the brayer.  This card took me less than 30 minutes to do - yes it was that quick!!  If you would like to learn how to make this particular card, then book a class!  I will come and teach you how in the comfort of your own home, if you live in the Wellington area, of course!!

HOW MANY CANDLES?!!

I recently made this card for a friend in Australia celebrating a Birthday.  I really wanted to keep it clean, fresh and simple.  How cute are these candles?  They are from a stamp set called "Party This Way", just brilliant for what I had in mind.

I have stamped the candles in Staz On Black on watercolour paper.  Using an Aqua painter and my ink pads as a pallet, I have picked up the ink and coloured in the images.  I have also put a strip of Dazzling Diamonds along the width of the card for just a hint of bling!

I chose to put the sentiment for this card on the inside and let the candles speak for themselves on the front.  I think I managed to achieve what I set out to do.  I know my friend was pleased to get it!!

ROSE BROOCH - USTAMP PROJECT

The next round of Ustamp with Dawn and Friends has begun!  I am delighted to be second cab off the rank with a project I am really proud off.  If you like jewelry as much as I do, then you will love it too.

Why not have a go and make this brooch yourself?  It is not too late to join in the fun.  The round has only just begun!

I love the little Pearls nestled amongst the Roses!

Teamed with a coordinating Easel card, this would be a perfect gift for a speacial someone on Valentines day!

If you would like to know exactly how I have done this, then come join Ustamp with Dawn and Friends right now!  Along with this tutorial, you will get another 39 from designers around the world.  Don't miss out on some spectacular projects!!

JUST ADD LOVE!

Need some ideas for that special Valentine, Wedding or Annivesary Card?  Then look no further!!  At JUST ADD INK this week we have just the challenge to get you started - Just Add LOVE.

I don't own much in the way of Valentines, Wedding or Annivesary stamps, but you can certainly adapt Stampin' Up! sets to your needs, they are just so versatile.  I chose Pendant Park to fulfill mine.

I have also used a colour combination to highlight the reason for the card.  Nothing says LOVE like White, Grey/Silver and red.  I stamped my Sentiment stamp in Basic Grey and using a blender pen, took off the ink on the word "love".  I then coloured it red using my Stampin' Write Real Red marker.  The little hearts were punch with the Owl Punch, and covered in Crystal Effects to give a gorgeous shine.  Of course, an Organza bow had to be on there too.  So soft and pretty.

For more inspiration, pop over to Just Add Ink and have a look at the rest of the Design Team's projects.  I am sure you will find plenty of inspiration there!  Don't forget to enter your project too.  We would love to see your interpretation of this "Lovely" challenge!!

A MORNING WITHOUT COFFEE.....

All of you who know me, know I looooove my Coffee!  Latte, one sugar, please!  While on Stamp Camp, Jacque Pedersen taught us a super little Lollie wallet for Valentines day, which you can see HERE.  I don't do lollies so much, but I thought it would look great with a coffee sachet inside too.

So here is my version.  Cute, eh?  Simply undo the brad and take out the sachet.  A great way to enjoy a cuppa with a friend who might be elsewhere in the world!!  I can also see these being a hit at my monthly Craft Market, instead of the usual card.

STAMP CAMP PROJECT

I have just returned from an AMAZING weekend in Rotorua with the Creative Inkers Team!  We all gathered for the weekend for a Stamp Camp - the first I have ever attended.  I can honestly say it won't be the last!!  I wanted to share with you the project that I taught - A Gable Box and Card Set, using the Sentimental Journey stamp set.

I loved this stamp set the minute I saw it in the mini catalogue!  So perfect for so many things, but especially Manly things, lol!!  I originally created this set as a Travel Gift set.  I taught it in a class and included amentity bottles (Shampoo, Conditioner, Hand Lotion, and Bubble Bath) for each of the attendess to pack in their boxes.  This proved to be a popular class!!  If you would like the pdf for this project, visit my "Tutorials for Sale" page for more details.

PERK UP!

 Another quick post today.  I am on my way home from Rotorua this time!!

 I have a dear friend who, like me, is a coffee freak, but she is also feeling a little down in the dumps, so I wanted to cheer her up.  I hope she likes this tongue-in-cheek attempt at levity!  I wanted bright and cheery colours, so have used Cherry Cobbler and So Saffron as my main colour palette.   The "Take a Sip" stamp set was just perfect for the card I had in mind too!  Another simple card, but I am pleased with how it turned out.  What do you think?

JUST ADD INK #54 - A Colour Challenge!

Oh, this weeks challenge on Just Add Ink is a colour challenge, and just my kind of colours too!!

 I love the combination of Browns and Pinks together.  I had a pretty good idea of the card I wanted to do here.  Simple, yet feminine.  I don't normally do simple, so that in itself was a challenge!

I also wanted to break out one of my favourite stamp sets, which I haven't inked up for a while - Every Moment.  I love the daisy stamp, it's a great one to colour in, which I have done using a Blender Pen and ink pad.

Short post today - sorry.  Right now I am on my way to Rotorua for Stamp Camp!!  I am so looking forward to teaching a great bunch of Ladies and catch up with fellow demonstrators for a weekend of Stamping!

Be sure to "ohhhh and ahhhh" over the Just Add Ink Designers fab projects too.  You know you will come away with tonnes of inspiration for your own projects!

HELLO PETAL!

I love making 3D items, boxes in particular.  Lauren Meader designs the most amazing 3D items and I regularly buy her templates to try myself.  This box is called "Pick of the Petals".  Just look at that lid!!  Fantastic and relatively easy to make.  It just requires a little patience to get right, something I am sometimes short of!!  But not this time :-)

I can't wait to make some more of these cuties.  I must say, I was surpirsed with the size of the box.  I honestly thought it would be smaller than it actually is.  I can store quite a few goodies in here for someone special!!

I have put a Faux Suede flower on the top, along with a coordinating rhinestone brad, for bling!

Don't you just love this extra wide ribbon?!  It is so soft and makes for tying lovely bows.  If you would like some of this ribbon, email me your order!  There are 11 colours to choose from of the 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and at $24.50 per roll (9.14m), is great value!  Order 5 rolls and get a FREE stampset during this Sale-a-bration period too!!

If you are as taken with this box as I was, you can purchase this tutorial too, HERE.  There are so many wonderful templates available on "My Time Made Easy", I bet you don't come away with just one!!