Just Add Ink #309 - Just Add Inspiration

Happy last Friday before I head off on my holiday :o)

Only a few more days.....I'm finally starting to feel excited.  I've been thinking about what to pack, and how on earth I'm going to reduce to a decent amount of shoes.  Who goes away and can take any less than five pairs?  I'm serious....I need runners, flats, sandals, heels and a pair of boots. Send me all your tips please!

Over at Just Add Ink today we kick off a new challenge using an inspiration pic from Jodene.  I chose to use the colours in the pic....my chosen colours are Tempting Turquoise, Watermelon Wonder and Blushing Bride.  I softened the rather bold Turquoise with a layer of pretty vellum (one of the recent SAB freebies).

I added some silver Glimmer Paper foliage, and silver sequins too.  I do love me a bit of bling! Please join us this week and share your interpretation of the inspiration pic below.  The design team have created some really wonderful cards so pop over to JAI for some inspiration.

As you know I'm going to be away for most of May.  Although I'll still be sharing JAI cards here each Friday and doing a little blogging, I'm really not sure what sort of internet access I'll have - or more accurately how much time I'm going to spend accessing *wink*.  Hopefully I'll feel so inclined and add a few holiday piccies....but I probably won't be visiting your blogs and leaving comments.  I'll look forward to a huge catch up when I come home again.

Did I mention that I'm going to do some serious crafty goodness shopping while in the US? Hehehe I can't wait. They have SO much more than we do in Australia.  Let's hope I'm not paying excess baggage fees on the way home.

Just Add Ink #308 - Just Add M

Good morning ~

Well I just have to tell you that On Stage last weekend was fabulous.  I had so much fun, and thoroughly enjoyed the extremely long day that it was.  We saw soooo many gorgeous new products, got to play with fun new toys, received loads of freebies....it was an awesome time!  I can't wait to do it all again for On Stage Live in Brisbane come November.  The highlight was catching up with my JAI girlfriends, and other blog friends from across Australia.

Tina has given us an M word challenge over at Just Add Ink this week.  That means you can create anything that begins with an M - could be your chosen colours, a theme, or even a technique such as masking....you're only limited by your imagination.  I no longer have a need to make Mother's Day cards, unfortunately.  However, I do have friends that need them for their mums....so that's what I chose as my M card for this week.

I created an easel card using the Love Blossoms designer papers.  So sweet.

Goodness knows what was going on with my editing as both pics are quite different colours.  Lol. Sorry 'bout that.  If you'd like to know my measurements and how I created this card leave a comment, or shoot me an email (address over on r/h sidebar) and I'll be happy to share.

If you need an excuse to get your craft on this weekend then head over to JAI and check out the challenge details. We love to see all your entries.

So the countdown is on....less than two weeks until my much anticipated holiday.  We're staying in a fabulous apartment whilst in NYC.  It's going to be perfect for relaxing after our crazy sightseeing days and nights.  And that's exactly why we didn't go with a hotel!  We want the real experience.  A couple of things on our itinerary, pre booked are - a walk up to the crown of Liberty, being part of the live audience at the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show, and a Burlesque broadway show. I have a lot of foodie places to visit also, Levain Bakery for the best 'cookie' in New York, Shake Shack for the best burger (and because I always see it in movies hehe)....my list goes on.  I swear I'm going to weigh 10 kilo heavier when I get home.  More next week :o)

Just Add Ink #307 - Just Add a Colour Combo

Happy Friday ~

It's an exciting day, yay, yay, yay....I'm off to Sydney this afternoon to catch up with a few of my crafty friends for On Stage tomorrow.  Totally looking forward to the reveal of the new annual catalogue and playing with a few new toys as well.

Over at Just Add Ink today we're kicking off a colour challenge that Nikki has given us this week -
Delightful Dijon, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Whisper White.  I didn't find these colours difficult to work with at all - although I admit to this being the first time I've used Dijon which is a bit slack considering it's due to retire.  My card came together in next to no time - thanks to Jan.  I loved the birthday card she sent me recently so much that I CASEd (copy and share everything) it for this challenge. You can check out Jan's original to see what I mean.  Is it not stunning?

I've given it the royal 'Wink' treatment, however, it was quite late in the day when I snapped this pic so the sun was going down and you can't see any of the gorgeous sparkly stuff here.

I'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge.  Pop over to JAI and have a look at all the lovely design team creations.  They're sure to inspire you and have you pulling out these colours, or similar, to whip up your own paper craft project.

So last week I mentioned we're off to New York soon....Hawaii is first up with a quick couple of days just to break up flights.  We'll be staying right in the heart of Honolulu at Waikiki.  My plan is to check out the beach, perhaps a little evening shopping....I might even rent a moped to get around.  On our return from NY in late May we'll be staying on the island of Kailua-Kona (about 45 minutes by air from Honolulu).  We chose this for the opportunity to unwind and completely relax after a hectic NY experience.  My Mister will go diving and I'm going to give night snorkelling a try (eeeek I'm not a fan of large bodies of water).  My main aim is to laze around with a book.  I'll share a bit more about my NY plan next week.

Have an awesome weekend, and thanks for stopping by today.

Just Add Ink #305 - Just Add Sympathy

Hello hello ~

Another Friday is here...which means a week from today I'll be in Sydney for On Stage with lots of my crafty friends. So looking forward to seeing a few of my gorgeous Just Add Ink girlfriends too. That's always the highlight.

Speaking of which, we have a new challenge for you all today from Jan.  As much as we don't like to create these cards they are a necessity in our stash.  I have found it's always best to have them on hand rather than try to make one when you really need to.  So this week we're adding Sympathy.

You all know I'm a CAS (clean and simple) gal at the best of times, but when it comes to Sympathy cards lots of white space is my 'go to'.  ALWAYS!  I used the timeless classic Stippled Blossoms, on Shimmery White c/s and stamped in Strawberry Slush (stamped off for the base) - I even fussy cut a layer and popped it up on dimensionals. The leaves are Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi.  My sentiment is from the Clearly Besotted set Many Messages. Hope you like.

Your project doesn't have to be a card.  It could be a gift bag, tag or box, or memory keeping in any form....so please do pop over to JAI and get some inspiration.  We love having you join our weekly challenges, and it's always so fun to visit your blogs and share the love.

Well not a huge amount happening in my world this weekend.  That would be because in just a few weeks we're off to Hawaii and New York for the month of May.  Still an awful lot to do and organise before then of course so I'm not really feeling the excitement just yet.  In fact I'm feeling slightly panicked just now.  BUT New York fascinates me and I can't wait to get there.  I'll fill you in some more next week.  Bye for now.

Just Add Ink #305 - Just Add a Sketch

Hello lovely friends, and happy Friday ~

How nice has it been to have a short week?  I have to admit to being a day out all week though....hope you all enjoyed the extra long Easter weekend and didn't over indulge too much *wink*.

There's a new challenge over at Just Add Ink today, and it's a sketch from Tina.  I really liked the clean lines of this one and decided to finally cut into this gorgeous print from the Timeless Elegance designer series paper.  A super simple Basic Black and Very Vanilla card.  I like!

When editing my photo I added the Sepia filter - it only worked because of the neutral colours in my card this week.

If you'd like to give the challenge a whirl pop over to JAI and check out the design team inspiration, then link up your creation.  Easy peasy.  Here is the sketch for you.

I'm a bit short on time so no news this week - we do have friends visiting from Sydney so looking forward to that. Not much else happening.  Hope you've got some fun plans lined up. Enjoy your weekend.  See you back here next week.