JUST ADD - COLOURING!

This week at Just Add Ink the challenge is to add colouring.  Any sort of colouring - pencils, crayons, markers, whatever takes your fancy!!

I am on a watercolour kick at the moment, as you would have seen in my last post.  So I decided to keep it going and watercolour this cutie stamp, Two by Two.

I find watercolouring quite therapeutic!!  I have used Stampin' Up!'s watercolour paper, which is a fabulous product!!  Did you know you get 5 sheets measuring 15.2cm x 22.7cm for just $11.25.  Great value and a good weight at 300gsm.  You can use both Aqua Painters and Blender Pens on this paper.  Check it out at my Online Store!

I hope you will join in this terrific challenge and find your inner artist!  Go to Just Add Ink and see what the rest of the Design Team have come up with this week.  You won't be disappointed!

WATERCOLOUR INSPIRATION

It never ceases to amaze me where we find inspiration as artists.  I was visiting a Quilter friend today and she showed me a book by a Quilt artist.  One photo just jumped out at me and I had to try and capture the colours she had used.

I don't pretend to be a watercolour artist and I did find it hard to "stop" before the colours became muddy.  But overall, I am pretty happy with the end result. 

I used Stampin' Up!'s watercolour paper and an Aqua Painter to apply a watercolour wash in Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, Perfect Plum and Early Espresso Inks.  I have masked with Post-it-notes and sponged Early Espresso ink for the Islands and foreground.  I then stamped the tree image from Serene Silhouettes.  A simple sentiment in Early Espresso completed the card.

LOOK WHOS 3!!

I was recently commissioned to make a birthday card for a friend's 3 year old granddaughter.  Very colour specific too - Pink and Purple.  I don't do Pink and Purple!  Or Girlie, for that matter.  It really was a bit of a head scratcher for me, lol.   Sometimes there are stamp sets you just can't part with, even after they retire from the catalogue.  Greeting Card Kids is on of those for me.

This little girl holding a heart is so pretty.  What little girl wouldn't like it?  I choose to make Purple the dominant colour, but love the little splashes of Strawberry Slush thrown in too.  I just might get to like this colour combination after all!

Since posting this card, I have been honored to have my card selected as Pick of the Week on NZSU, a site for New Zealand and Australian Stampin' Up! Demonstrators.  If you want some fabulous Stampin' Up! Ideas be sure to visit NZSU.

TOP 3 WITH CONNIE & MARY

What a lovely surprise to find out my card was chosen on the top 3 with Create with Connie & Mary!  You can see my entry HERE.

The challenge was just what I needed to get motivated to create.  Maybe I should go look for another challenge to do now.............

JUST ADD SNOWFLAKES!

Time for another Just Add Ink challenge.  This week, just add Snowflakes.  Kind of funny really, as we haven't had much of a winter!

I really didn't have much in the way of snowflakes either, so had to rely on Retired snowflakes I had lying around.  They still look gorgeous though!  I also decided to make the front of the card cut away so the sentiment on the inside would show.  Still not sure if I like it, but hey, that is how we learn, right?!

Of course, the rest of the Design Team have some frozen goodness to share with you too, so head on over to Just Add Ink, then get your thinking caps on!

A FISHY CHALLENGE! - CCMC263

Just a quick post today.  I have been seeing an awesome sketch challenge being taken up by some of my SU friends and decided to enter myself.  The challenge can be found on Create with Connie and Mary, and they have some lovely designs by both the Design team and the entrants alike.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my design:

 I like that I now have yet another great male birthday card to add to my stash.  Thanks Connie and Mary!!

TALL POPPIES

I was putting away a few things off my craft table last night, I discovered, much to my delight, some acetate masks I thought I had lost.  One was clouds and a couple of others were hills.  Straight away I wanted to use them, I was THAT pleased to have found them again!

I haven't made one of my sponged cards for some time, but once I found the masks, this card popped into my head.  I love that when it happens, which isn't often!

Stamps:  Pleasant Poppies, Everything Eleanor
Inks:  Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzaz
Cardstock:  Basic Black, Pear Pizzaz, Whisper White
Accessories:  Sponges, Basic Black Marker, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

JUST ADD BLOKES! #176

I find male cards particularly hard to do.  So the challenge this week at Just Add Ink put more than a little fear into me!!  Still, it's good to stretch ourselves, right?  Join me in this challenge - Just Add Blokes.

I have found myself playing with the Mosaic Madness stamp set a lot lately, and decided to do the same again on a male card.  I really enjoyed the process of making this card.  Here is what I did:

Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I chose two different stamps from the set and stamped the background in Coastal Cabana and Smokey Slate ink.  I also made the button on the card using the new Simply Pressed Clay and button molds.  I put a few drops of Basic Black re-inker in the clay and smooched it together really well to get a nice uniform grey, then left it over night to dry.  The Simply Pressed clay is an awesome product!!  And CHEAP at just $14.50 for a pack that would last for ages!  Why not check it out at my Online Shop HERE.

Hop on over to Just Add Ink and check out the awesome samples the rest of the Design team have come up with.  Get your thinking caps on and join in too!