A JUST ADD INK COLOUR CHALLENGE

This week at Just Add Ink sees a colour challenge of Bermuda Bay, Baked Brown Sugar, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.

I decided to make a bold pattern the feature of my card this week.  I also had a recipient in mind, which does help when coming up with a design!

My darling daughter recently achieved a milestone and what better way to celebrate than with happy mail?!

Join us at Just Add Ink this week and share with us your work using this great colour combination.  Need a bit more inspiration?  Then check out what the rest of the Design team have come up with too while you are there.

MY FEATHERED FRIEND

I have been admiring a ton of cards recently that all feature feathers in one form or another.  They really seem to be very trendy at the moment.  So when I needed a note card to send off with a gift for a friend, I reached for my Fine Feathers stamps.

I kept the colour pallet neutral and the only embellishment I used was the Gold Glimmer paper (which is currently in the Weekly deals for a bargain!), one fussy cut feather and a touch of sponging.  I wanted it to look like a Quill pen, since it was also an indication of the contents in the parcel!

Stamps:  Fine Feathers, Off the Grid, Six Sided Sampler
Card: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla,
Inks: Early Espresso
Accessories: Gold Glimmer Paper, Blender Pen, Sponge, Dimensionals

HAPPY EASTER, MDS STYLE

While I don't claim to be an expert on MDS, I do like to have a wee play around on this awesome program.  I also thought it would be fun to make an Easter Card using MDS, as I don't actually have many Easter stamps in my stash!

I made this hybrid card (a mix of digital and physical product) pretty quickly.  While I like the idea of digital, I still like the handmade quality to cards, so I like adding dimension and embellishments just to make these projects look like you have slaved for hours!!

MDS makes whipping up a card so easy!  If you have never thought about adding a digital element to your card making, why not give it a go?  Stampin' Up! provide a 30 day FREE TRIAL so you can make up your own mind.  The full version is a steal at just $27.95 and comes with so many items ready to start creating.  Once you are done with the free trial, you can download the full version HERE.
  Want to see a few more ideas or perhaps watch a few instructional videos?  Then visit the official My Digital Studio website for more information, help and ideas!

BIRCH FOREST WISH

A very dear friend is celebrating her birthday today and I wanted to make something really special as she is a talented card maker in her own right.  No pressure!  I chose to use a Birch Tree stencil to create this card and team it with my sponging, of course!

While the image itself is not SU, everything else I used was, including the sentiment, which is from the Wetlands stamp set.

Happy birthday Miss T.  I hope you have a wonderful day surrounded by those you love.  See you soon xox

JUST ADD EASTER BAGS, BOX OR BASKETS

The team at Just Add Ink have a great challenge for you this week to just add an Easter Bag, Box or Basket.  I really enjoyed this challenge because it is a great way to dress up naked Easter eggs, lol.
  I recently participated in a stamp-a-long with Stampin' Up! home office staff on YouTube.  Pam showed us how to resize the box from the Tag a Bag Gift Box kits.  I wanted to have a go myself and thought it was perfect for this challenge.

Note to self:  Listen to all instructions before beginning.  I was going to make the smallest box, only I cut when I  shouldn't have!  Still, the size I did make holds two chocolate eggs, not one, so who's complaining, right?  I used my Fresh Prints Paper Stack to decorate the outside of the box and just finished it simply with a white ribbon.

Of course, a gift box, bag or basket is never complete without a gift tag.  I used my new Scallop Tag Topper Punch to whip up this wee baby.  I used Fresh Prints again and added a red ribbon this time.  I coloured the wee Easter Bunny in the same colours from the DSP, cut him out and popped him up on Dimensionals.  How cute is he??  I think this wee gift will be going to my MIL this Easter!

Just wait til you see what the Just Add Ink Design team have come up with.  There are some seriously clever projects just begging to be CASE'd.  Hopefully, you will feel inspired to add your own to this challenge and join in.  We would love to see your projects.

Stamps:  Baby We've Grown, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card and Inks:  Baked Brown Sugar, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Pool Party
Accessories: Tag A Bag Gift Box, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Blender Pen, Tombow Multi Adhesive, Dimensionals, Paper Snips

RETIREMENT WISHES #2

Here is the second card I came up with for the lucky Retiree.  I have used the new stamp set So Very grateful from the Occasions Catalogue, and gently coloured the flower images with a Blender Pen.

I used Black Staz On Ink to ink up my images so they wouldn't bleed while colouring in the images.  I have heat embossed the sentiment in white to help make it pop on the darker card, but avoided using a sentiment that said "retirement" this time.  Best wishes was the next best thing I had in my stash and I didn't want them to all say the same thing!

Stamps:  So very Grateful, Express Yourself (Hostess)
Card: Pink Pirouette, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Inks: Black Staz On, Versamark, Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: White Emboss Powder, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Blender Pen

RETIREMENT WISHES #1

I received an order for six Retirement cards urgently, all for the same person!  I have one stamp in all my stash that actually reads "Happy Retirement".  I had to get creative with my sentiments and use whatever would work for that situation.  Since time was short, I CASE'd four of the cards, but I did manage a couple originals and this was one of them.

I love this City Scape die which is not Stampin' Up! though.  Everything else I used on this card was though.  I sponged in the twilight sky and added a couple of Basic Rhinestones for stars.  Card recipe below:

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card: Naturals White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White
Inks: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Crisp Cantaloupe, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Sponges, Basic Rhinestones, Tombow Multi Adhesive