Relax

Hi and welcome to another challenge at Just Add Ink!  This week, we have a gorgeous inspiration photo - one that'll make our Southern Hemisphere players feel cool and make our Northern Hemisphere players feel warm 😁




I wanted to capture that feeling of relaxation by the water so created a one-layer card using sponging and masking, as well as a really, really old SU stamp.

To make this card, I stamped the lady and then masked her while I did some sponging.  I also used torn paper to make a mask for the sand and a cut piece of paper to mask off the horizon.  I sponged Antique Linen ink for the sand, Broken China for the sea and Tumbled Glass for the sky, which I sponged over a cloud die-cut.  Once the sponging was finished I stamped a splatter pattern from Distressed Patterns onto the sand and then removed all the masks and colored in the image using Copics.  It's hard to see in the photo but I used a white gel pen to draw in some waves and surf and also traced around the sentiment with white gel pen.

And that's my card.  I hope it makes you feel like you're at the beach with nothing to do but relax.  And can I say, I don't like the beach but I'd really like to be there about now and not having to work!

You really want to check out the fabulous creations made by the rest of the design team - they have been inspired by this photo in wonderful ways.

I'm linking this card to Addicted to Stamps & More and Simon Says Stamp, where there are Anything Goes Challenges happening.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sketches (SU), Big Scripty Sayings (SSS), Distressed Patterns (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Black Soot Archival, Antique Linen, Broken China, Tumbled Glass
Cardstock:  White
Accessories:  White Gel Pen

Cheers
Karren

Winter Snowflakes

Hi!  Today is the start of a three-day weekend for us here in New Zealand, so after doing a bit of housework and a bit of shopping, I got into my craft room to produce a few cards.  This card was made for the current challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch, as well as the Baby, it's Cold Outside theme at Simply Create Too.

Lately my cards haven't been turning out as I envisage in my head and it's frustrating!  With this card, I originally white embossed the snowflakes onto the card base and sponged some SSS ink up the panel, tapering off on a diagonal.  However, I quickly learned that SSS inks do not wipe off white embossing!  So I had to create another panel and use distress ink, which does wipe off.  Lesson learned!

The die-cut was cut from Audrey Blue cardstock and double-embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a raised and shiny finish.  I then adhered two strips of washi tape to mimic the sketch.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:  In the Meadow (PTI)

Ink:  Peacock Feathers, Versamark

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Clear EP, White EP, Wintertime Wishes die (Penny Black), Washi Tape

Cheers

Karren

My Advice, Doll...

Today I decided to make a card just for the fun of it - no challenge, no intended recipient. Just me and my tools playing around for a few hours :)  

When I saw that my friend, Lesley Croghan, is now on the Art Impressions design team, it reminded me of the fun Art Impressions stamps I bought about 10 years ago, so I decided to dig them out and have some fun.  I'm doing the Copic Online Card Class and wanted some more practice coloring people.

These stamps are "Front and Backs", which means there is a front view and a back view.  How fun is that!  I colored Fanny and the wooden stand with Copics on Xpress-it cardstock before cutting them out.  

The tree was stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with Distress Inks before being masked off.  I then sponged the sky and grass before drawing in some tufts of grass with a Copic Multi-liner pen.

Then came the fun part - replicating the front onto the back of the watercolor sheet:

Here's a better shot of Fanny's rear end :)

Again, Fanny and the wooden stand are colored with Copics and then cut out.  

And here's the sentiment.  "My advice doll, pick an age you like and stick to it!"  I quite like 29.... :)

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Art Impressions
Ink:  Distress Inks, Memento Tuxedo Black, Black Stazon
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Watercolor
Accessories:  Copics, paintbrush, ink blending tools

Cheers
Karren

Just Beachy

It's been a while since I participated in the challenges over at SUO Challenges, so I thought I'd put that top of my list today.

The challenge is Colors of January.  For me, that means summer, beaches, sand, surf - I'm sure you get the idea...:)

So, here's the card I created depicting my colors of January.  This card is quite similar to one I made back in July 2012.  I just added a bit more to this one:

I'm not 100% happy with this card.  I think it would have looked better if the sponged strip was wider and the tag was only sponged to match the strip, if you can understand that?  Anyway, I wasn't going to do it again, so this is it.

I masked off a strip on a Whisper White card base then cut a Whisper White tag and temporarily adhered it over the mask and into the area to be sponged.  I sponged River Rock and Crumb Cake for the sand, Pool Party for the ocean and Baja Breeze for the horizon.  I dotted white gel pen to imitate waves.  The shells were stamped onto some Shimmery White paper and colored with markers and inkpads.  

I used several colors on these shells which come from a very old set called Stipple Shells.  I started with a base of River Rock, then added Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party and Crisp Cantaloupe.

The tag is layered onto another Whisper White piece then popped up on dimensionals.  The sentiment comes from Express Yourself, although I did do some surgery and cut off the "always" at the beginning.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Stipple Shells, Up & Away, Express Yourself
Ink:  River Rock, Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baja Breeze, Basic Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Shimmery White
Accessories:  sponges, white gel pen, linen thread

Edited to Add:  This card was a Top Pick at SUO Challenges.

Cheers
Karren

Ombre Chevrons

I struggled with this week's Freshly Made Sketch challenge.  I finally ended up with a card but the ombre sponging creates an annoying effect of making the layers look crooked.  Check it out.

See what I mean?  Those chevrons are on straight, trust me, but they look all crooked.  Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it now.  To get the ombre effect, I sponged Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango and Cajun Craze ink onto Whisper White cardstock.  I then punched out chevrons and used the negative punch-out for this card.   The Whisper White layer is popped up on dimensionals onto the Tangerine Tango card base.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  A Dozen Thoughts

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Basic Black

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Tangerine Tango

Accessories:  Chevron Punch, sponge

Cheers

Karren

Midnight Snowflakes

Welcome back to another Merry Monday card.  This week the challenge has a traditional Christmas feel:

Snowflakes and the colors blue, gray/silver and white on your card.  For my card, I decided to create a masked and sponged frame using Island Indigo and Midnight Muse inks.

I concentrated the Midnight Muse in the upper left corner to give more of an ombre look.  Before I removed the masks, I spritzed some water onto my fingers and flicked it onto the card to create the look of falling snow.  Bear in mind, I come from a country that has snow about once a year and then it's only about an inch thick, so this is not based on personal knowledge :)

Once I removed the masks and made sure the sponging and water were dry, I silver-embossed snowflakes from Snowflake Soiree onto my card.  That layer was adhered to some Silver Glimmer Paper and onto the dry-embossed card base.  

The greeting is from the hostess set in the current mini and a mini library clip finishes off the silver theme.

Thanks for looking.  Check out the rest of the design team's cards over at Always Playing with Paper.

Products used:

Stamps:  Snowflake Soiree; Warmth and Wonder
Cardstock:  Midnight Muse; Whisper White; Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink:  Midnight Muse; Island Indigo; Versamark
Accessories:  Northern Flurry EF; Mini Library Clip; Silver EP; sponge; masking paper

Cheers
Karren

Autumnal Squares

Today's card for the Freshly Made Sketch Challenge is a bit deceptive, and because of that, I'm also entering it into this week's CASology challenge.  

The deceptive bit about this card is that all the squares are masked and sponged so while it looks multi-layered, it's actually pretty CAS!

I cut masks using square nesties and acetate and sponged Cajun Craze and Old Olive ink in the smaller squares and Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze in the large square.  Keeping the masks in place, I then stamped the water droplets image in Smokey Slate.  I then went around all the squares with the fine end of my Basic Black marker and a ruler.

The leaf was stamped in Old Olive and sponged before being cut out.  After it was cut, I ran around the edges of the leaf with Basic Black marker.  The sentiment was stamped onto Whisper White and cut out using one of the Labels Nesties.   It was all layered onto a Cajun Craze card base.

If you look carefully, you can see that my squares aren't exactly perfect.  I started out measuring and calculating, but I spend my working week calculating and working with numbers and didn't want to do it on my weekend so I just decided to eyeball it.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Gently Falling; Afterthoughts; Water Droplets (Designs by Ryn)
Cardstock:  Cajun Craze; Whisper White
Ink:  Cajun Craze; Old Olive; Crushed Curry; Smokey Slate; Basic Black
Accessories:  Labels 2 Nesties; acetate; square nesties; sponge; Basic Black marker; ruler

Cheers
Karren

CCMC244 Color Challenge

Hi all.  Today is color challenge time at Create with Connie & Mary.  The colors we have for your viewing pleasure today are:

And my card using these colors:

You just have to take my word for it that there is some Marina Mist on this card!  I sponged Marina Mist down the bottom and Not Quite Navy on the top of the panel, after masking the moon with a circle punch-out.  When I finished with the blues, I carefully sponged in some Daffodil Delight for the moon.  Then I stamped the image from Serene Silhouettes using Black Stazon.  The sentiment comes from the Bring on the Cake set.

Head on over to see what the rest of the Challenge Team have done with these colors.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Serene Silhouettes; Bring on the Cake
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Ink:  Marina Mist; Not Quite Navy; Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Sponges

Cheers
Karren

CCMC243 Sketch Challenge

Hi and welcome to another sketch challenge at Create with Connie & Mary.  This week we have a cool square sketch.  I love square cards!  I think it comes from being a bean-counter - I love the symmetry!

Here's the sketch:

And here's what I did with it:

Funny story about this card.  I'm not the most patient of people and after I covered my leaf with Crystal Effects, I made myself walk away for a couple of hours.  When I came back I stuck my finger in the leaf to see if it was dry yet.  Well, you guessed it - a lovely fingerprint worthy of CSI analysis!  Hence the button, which I hope doesn't look too out of place.

There's lots of distressing and sponging going on with this card.  I used a favorite set French Foliage and  the soon-to-be-retired SAB set Feeling Sentimental for the sentiment.

Thanks for dropping by.  The rest of the challenge team have come up with some fantastic creations using this sketch, so why don't you give it a go as well?

Products used:

Stamps:  French Foliage; Feeling Sentimental
Cardstock:  Soft Suede; Very Vanilla; Crumb Cake; First Edition DSP
Ink:  Soft Suede; Cherry Cobbler; Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Sponges; Distressing Tool; Crystal Effects; Naturals Button; Linen Thread

Cheers
Karren

CCMC235 Sketch Challenge

This week at Create with Connie & Mary we have a sketch challenge.

I decided to go masculine with this card, using the new By the Tide set in the upcoming mini.  

My card base is Crumb Cake, stamped with the Netting background and sponged in Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink.  The main image is clear embossed with Soft Suede ink then masked and overstamped with the text stamp from the By the Tide set.  I then sponged around the edges using Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink.

A neutrals button tied with a sliver of cardstock finishes off the card.

Thanks for looking.  Head on over to Create with Connie & Mary to check out the rest of the challenge team's submissions.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  By the Tide; Netting

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Soft Suede; Neutrals DSP

Ink:  Versamark; Soft Suede; Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Sponges; Clear EP; Linen Thread; Neutrals Button

Cheers

Karren

Just Believe in Blue

I'm nearly at the end of my Christmas holiday and head back to work on Thursday for financial month end.  Before then, though, I hope to do a bit more stamping.  Here's a card I made for the current challenge at SUO Challenges, which is to use blues.

This is a CAS one-layer card involving lots of sponging.  I masked off a strip of the card and sponged four different blue inks from light to dark down the strip.  Once that was done, I removed the masks and stamped the silhouette image from Just Believe in Stazon, along with the 'thank you' sentiment from Made for You.  A couple of tiny pearls and some Midnight Muse ribbon finishes off the card.

Before I go, I want to post a message here to Pat from North Carolina who sent me a lovely email yesterday.  Pat - I tried to reply but your email provider rejected my email for some reason.  I don't want you to think I ignored your email.  Thanks so much for the lovely words.  It really is a small world!

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Just Believe; Made for You

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink:  Baja Breeze; Marina Mist; Not Quite Navy; Midnight Muse; Black Stazon

Accessories:  Midnight Muse ribbon; Basic Pearls; sponges

Cheers

Karren

CAS Fall Foliage

Here is my second card today.  This card covers the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts and the free-for-all sketch challenge at iSpy Sketches.

I used sketch 26 from iSpy and chose to go with a masked sponged panel and a couple of cut out leaves for embellishments.

I masked the card base and then sponged More Mustard in varying degrees of intensity.  From about 2/3 down the panel I sponged Cajun Craze from light to dark.  With the masks in place, I then stamped the text stamp from French Foliage in Crumb Cake randomly over the panel, followed by leaves and splatters using Early Espresso ink.

The cut out leaves were colored using markers and then sponged over the top.  I used the side of my Cajun Craze marker to outline both leaves.  To make them stand out a bit more from the sponged panel I popped a 1 3/4" circle underneath.  

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  French Foliage; Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink:  More Mustard; Cajun Craze; Early Espresso; Crumb Cake

Accessories:  More Mustard, Cajun Craze markers; Linen Thread; 1 3/4" circle punch

Cheers

Karren

Blue Christmas

One card, three challenges!  The sketch challenge at iSpy Sketches is another great one this week, with those gorgeous fishtail banners.  Plus Just Add Ink have a "Blue & Bling" challenge and as soon as I saw the inspiration photo at Stampin' Royalty, I thought "blue & bling" - bonus!

Here's my submission for all three challenges:

A few notes about the card.  Apart from the card base, all the rest of the layers are Whisper White.  The blue layers were sponged with Island Indigo before stamping.  The fishtail banner was stamped and embossed in white and the Labels Framelit layer was stamped and embossed with Iridescent Ice EP.  IRL it's a lovely shimmery layer.  

Thanks for looking.

Products Used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Snow Swirled; Many Merry Messages

Cardstock:  Island Indigo; Whisper White

Ink:  Island Indigo; Whisper White

Accessories:  Iridescent Ice EP; White EP; Snowflakes EF; Fishtail Flags (MFT); Labels Framelits; Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon

Cheers

Karren

At the Beach

When I saw the sketch at iSpy Sketches, I knew I wanted to use the long panel for a scene.  In a stroke of luck, the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments is Beach/Pacific Coast Highway.  Now while I've heard of the Pacific Coast Highway, it is quite literally foreign to me (being from the other side of the world), so I stuck with the beach part of the theme.

The image panel was created using sponges and masking off different areas.  I then used a white gel pen to try and create waves.  The shell was stamped and colored using markers.  I gave it a quick spritz with Champagne Shimmer mist before adhering it to the card with dimensionals.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Seaside; Teeny Tiny Wishes; Up Up & Away

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink:  Black Stazon; Crumb Cake; River Rock; Baja Breeze; Pool Party

Accessories:  Crumb Cake; River Rock; Baja Breeze; Soft Suede markers; blender pen; white gel pen

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen by Hand Stamped Sentiments as one of their top 3 picks this week.  iSpy Sketches also chose this card as one of their Top 2.   Thanks, guys!

Cheers

Karren

Monochromatic Sympathy

I was fascinated with a recent technique posted over on SCS called Masking Fluid Resist and wanted to give it a go.  So I incorporated that into this week's Dynamic Duos color challenge and Freshly Made Sketch.  I'm not 100% sure the sponging on this card qualifies as the "clean" that is part of the FMS challenge, so I made another card using the same sketch which I'll show you in a separate post.

I had some masking fluid because I'd seen Heather Telford use it on her blog before and wanted to try it for myself.  If you haven't seen Heather's work, check it out.  She is the master of sponging!  Anyway, onto the card.  I followed the instructions for the technique, except I only used two colors - River Rock and Always Artichoke.  This is a fun technique - the hardest part is waiting for the masking fluid to dry, but heat tools were invented for a reason LOL.

Here are the challenges:

I didn't put any embellishments in the top right corner because I wanted to keep the card more muted and somber.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

Stamps:  Dreamy (Penny Black); Warmest Regards

Cardstock:  River Rock; Always Artichoke; Whisper White; Neutrals DSP Stack

Ink:  River Rock; Always Artichoke

Accessories:  Windsor & Newton Masking Fluid; paintbrush; sponges; oval Nestabilities; Tasteful Trim die

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen as the top pick at Dynamic Duos.  Thanks, guys!