Just Add Ink #304 - Just Add Inspiration

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Happy Good Friday lovely friends ~

Happy Easter weekend to you!  I'm so looking forward to the long weekend....a few garden chores, some extra crafting time, relaxed meals, maybe head out to a movie....and of course some delicious hot cross buns and Easter chocolate.

Jodene has come up with a very bright and fun inspiration pic for our new challenge at Just Add Ink this week.  I'll post at bottom for you.  This one had me completely stumped until the very last minute - it's not called a challenge for nothing.

I decided to go with the bright colours of the umbrellas.  Unfortunately my colours in the pic above aren't true to real life.  I've used Real Red, Pacific Point, Melon Mambo and the long retired Lucky Limeade (love it).  By using a bunch of circle punches and some dimensionals I was hoping to give the illusion of movement.  My number 4 has been completely covered with Crystal Effects, I just love the gloss and dimension it gives.

If you'd like to tackle the challenge this week pop over to JAI and get yourself some inspiration. Here is the pic for you.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all come up with, given the struggle I had deciding on which direction to take.

Have yourselves an enjoyable, indulgent Easter weekend.  See you back again next week.

Just Add Ink #303 - Just Add anything with E

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Hello and happy Friday ~

It's been a good week!  The twins had their immunisations on Wednesday afternoon and all went well, surprisingly. I'm still getting out there running every other day.  The weather has been lovely.  I have the best friends ever....!  I'll elaborate on that another time.

The new challenge over at Just Add Ink kicking off today is from Tina.  She wants us to add anything with an E to our projects.  I've gone with the obvious EASTER given the time of year.  However, you could choose embellishment, embossing, eggs, elephants.....you get the idea.

I really wanted to make an Easter card for my 'Adorable Godson'.  And every year I remember I'm super short on any stamps related to Easter despite the extensive supplies in my craft room.  Lucky I picked up the SAB Honeycomb Hello set that has this cute guy in it.  He's got a little sparkle because I stamped him onto Shimmery White c/s.  I also relied on my Oval Dies to create an egg shape to my focal area.

I made a Gate Fold card - in keeping with my effort to create a wider variety of fancy folds this year - mentioned in this post.

I wish I could remember the name of the designer paper I've used.  I wanted something soft because Adorable Godson is still only a baby.  Hopefully the pics show you how the white 'egg' locks into the larger lemon 'egg' to keep the card closed.

It was pretty difficult to photograph without shadows, so apologies for that.  Here it is open with lots of space to write my message before locking it closed again.  Righto I can get this in the post along with the cuddly bunny and some little choccie eggs now - I've been super organised and had it all ready for weeks!

If you'd like to join this fun challenge pop over to JAI and see what it's all about.  We love to visit your blogs and share some comment love.

See you back here again next week!

Just Add Ink #302 - Just Add a Colour Combo

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Happy Friday lovely friends ~

After a week of hot sunny weather we've woken to rain in Canberra today.  No complaints, the gardens need it, but typically it's swimming carnival day for Gorgeous Kid.  Ohhh well..... it's not at all cold but he's going to be a bit lot wetter than he expected lol.

We have a brand new challenge over at Just Add Ink for you today.  Jan has given us a gorgeous colour combo to work with this week - Blackberry Bliss, Tip Top Taupe and Rich Razzleberry.  Are these not lovely colours?  I thoroughly enjoyed putting my card together using them.

Hehehe I'm having a love affair with Birthday Blooms - lucky I don't post all that I make because I think the last 15 odd cards I've put together have been using this pretty stamp set.

I heat embossed the bloom in white and water coloured with the three challenge colours - as much as I love colouring I'm the first to admit I'm not nearly as good at it as I'd like to be.  I do love the leaves coloured in TTT though, don't you?  I added Very Vanilla as my neutral, and a few gold embellies.

If you're a fan of these colours why not pop over to JAI, check out the design team inspiration and play along with the challenge?  We really love visiting your blogs and seeing all the different creativity we crazy crafters share.

There has been some excitement in our house this week.  The Mister and I each bought new cars and got to pick them up Monday and Thursday respectively - the kids have been more thrilled than us!  Other news from me, and I wasn't sure if I was going to share here or not....I've been learning to run.  I've always enjoyed walking, but most days I find it really difficult to find the time sooooo I decided on a compromise....running.  It takes a lot less time and most importantly I'm loving it.  I drag my butt out of bed really early (no mean feat for me) three mornings a week and off I go with music pushing me along.  Fortunately I live close to a lovely big pond so I run around it which gives me about 4kms from home and back (did I mention I live on a hill - it's a killer on my way home).  I'll work my way up to a few more km's in time....

We have a three day weekend to look forward to here in Canberra, woohoo.  I'm hoping we get some gardening chores done but there are a few social activities planned as well.  I'm off to watch my first roller derby game tomorrow afternoon.  Looking forward to that!

Just Add Ink #300 - Just Add a Sketch & Prizes

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TGIF!

I'm so happy for the weekend to be here!  It's been a long and busy week.  It seems the twins birthday has gone on for days - starting last Sunday with their first official non family party to celebrate with their little day care friends, loads of homemade cupcakes to share with their preschool friends on Tuesday and a family dinner out that evening. We are all so full of cake....

Over at Just Add Ink this week we are celebrating a milestone.  Today is our 300th challenge! To make it a little extra special we'll have some brand new SU! SAB items as prizes for the winner and two honourable mention participants this week.  Be sure to check the rules over on the JAI post to ensure you are eligible to be in the running.

Kim has given us a sketch today.  I've been super short on time so pulled this card together in five minutes flat. Fortunately the bloom was already coloured (with Blendies - thanks for the inspiration to pull them out again Judy).  I used a base of Blushing Bride c/s with a mat of Tip Top Taupe, a touch of Glimmer Paper and the gorgeous Birthday Bloom popped up on dimensionals.  The stamens have some gold Wink on them and the whole card has a little sheen of glitter from working with the Glimmer Paper.

Pop over to JAI and check out the design team inspiration so you can join in the fun with us.  Here is the sketch for you, you'll see I flipped mine on its side.

I haven't downloaded any party pics yet so will share this one taken a few months ago.  It's usually very hard to get both smiling at the same time!

Gorgeous Kid received a couple of Awards at school yesterday.  One was the Principal's Award for receiving all A's and B's on each of his reports for 2015.  Way to go kiddo!

Well I'm off to lunch with a couple of girlfriends today.  I'm looking forward to a relaxing hour or two catching up and having a little down time.  Then tonight is date night.  We have a booking at a fancy restaurant and I'm looking forward to putting on a dress and heels.  Can't wait!

Whatever you have planned for the weekend I do hope you enjoy!  Thanks for stopping in today.

Just Add Ink #298 - Just Add anything with V

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Hello friends ~

Well I missed blogging last week *insert sad face*.  I was extremely time poor...with the twins starting preschool and switching our swimming lesson day, Gorgeous Kid returning to school and of course all the notes home that I needed to read through, and action.  And that was only week one! My routine has been so messed up and I don't cope well with that.  Week two is coming to an end and I've had a better handle on things this week thankfully.  Still some fine tuning to do though - I'm hoping at least some of you can relate and it's not just me struggling with the back to school rush?!

Welcome to the new challenge at Just Add Ink!  This week Tina has suggested we add anything with a V - perfectly timed for Valentine's Day.  And that's just what I did.  I love the little Chubby Chums images from Paper Smooches and couldn't resist adding them to the awesome SU Crumb Cake note cards and envelopes.  The perfect size for school lunch boxes, however, I'm thwarted this year with Valentine's Day falling on a Sunday.  Perhaps I'll serve them up with a special brekky....

I added some Real Red Glimmer Paper hearts to this little guy.

And some Blushing Bride Glimmer paper hearts to this little miss.

I'm sure there are loads of other 'V' ideas and the design team would love to see them, so please share your gorgeous creations with us.  Pop over to JAI and get yourself some inspiration.

I've got a social weekend ahead - catching up with a long time friend Friday night, dinner with a few special girlfriends Saturday night and next week my in-laws are arriving from interstate to stay for just over a week (the twins are turning 4) so we're hanging new blinds in the room they'll be using. It's one of those jobs we just keep putting off...good reason to get it done.

Hope you've got some fun plans for the weekend!

Just Add Ink #296 - Just Add Nature

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Happy Friday friends ~

It sure is happy for me because this post is scheduled and I'm away at Jervis Bay enjoying an extra long weekend with my beautiful family before school goes back next week.  Gorgeous Kid is starting year 10 (gasp) and the twins are off to preschool.  Time sure passes by quickly these days. Does that mean I'm getting old?  I. Think. So!

Di set the new challenge over at Just Add Ink this week, and she's asking us to add Nature.  Perfect time to unveil my new Botanicals Framelits.  How fun are they?!  I adore the pop up petals.

I absolutely love the Treat Bag Thinlits!  It is one of my most used items.  Here I've decorated using some PTI cardstock - Raspberry Fizz and Lemon Tart for my flowers - I did daub some ink & Wink (of Stella) to them but you can't really see it here, and the lovely subtle Pear Pizzazz for my leaves.

The young adult daughter of a friend of mine had three surgeries this week and I've sent her this little 'feel better' card to wish her well for a speedy recovery.

We'd love you to join our challenge this week.  Pop over to JAI for some inspiration from the design team.  I look forward to seeing your wonderful creations, so be sure to link up.

Just Add Ink #295 - Just Add a Sketch

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Happy Friday beautiful blog friends ~

Wow, we had some A-Mazing entries to our Blog Hop challenge over at Just Add Ink last week.  Be sure to check out the chosen winners stunning creations.  Thanks to all who joined the fun!

This week, Tina has provided us a sketch challenge ( I'll post it at bottom) and I was a bit stumped. Thought hot air balloons, butterflies, hearts....and then remembered my Painted Flowers stamp set. Perfect!  Here it is in all its simplicity, a one layer card with a pop of pink.  The base is the gorgeous SU Shimmer White c/s.

I've covered my sentiment completely in Crystal Effects.  It gives such a luscious dimensional sheen.

We'd love you to join the challenge and link up your entries so please pop over to JAI and check out the design team inspiration.  Here is the sketch:

We have a long weekend in Australia, well sort of.  Next Tuesday is Australia Day, and generally most who can will take the Monday off work to enjoy a four day weekend.  We're meeting up with a bunch of friends on the lawns of Parliament House for the annual concert on Monday evening.  Good food, good friends, good music, good atmosphere.  What more could one want?!

Whatever your weekend involves, I hope it's a great one!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Just Add Ink #294 - Just Add Something New - A Blog Hop & Prizes!

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Hellooooooo ~

Oh my goodness, I truly did mean to get back here before Christmas, and then before New Year....and then all of a sudden I knew it wasn't going to happen until the very first Just Add Ink challenge for 2016!  So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

At Just Add Ink we always like to start the year off with a blog hop to showcase the first challenge of the year. Rochelle has suggested we all add something new.  Now if you're a fan of Stampin' Up! products you'll have no problem because the new Occasions catalogue and Sale-a-bration promotion are in full swing.  If you don't have anything new from SU! please join us using whatever new product you have and be sure to let us know what it is.

To make the blog hop extra special the design team have donated brand new SU! SAB items as prizes to the winner, and two honourable mention participants.  Please note - to be eligible you must meet the following guidelines:

1. create a new project using something new to you;
2. leave a comment on all of the design team blogs;
3. be or become a follower of the Just Add Ink challenge blog; and
4. blog your project exclusively linked to Just Add Ink.  Any entrants that link to additional challenges will be disqualified.

Prizes are open to both international and Aus/NZ participants.

You can begin the blog hop here on my blog or at any of the other design team members blogs. There are 15 stops, and it's set up in a loop so it doesn't matter where you start.  All you need to do to follow along is click on the previous or next buttons at the bottom of each post and you'll be taken to the next stop.  If you get stuck just head over to the JAI blog to find all the links.

I am completely in love with the new Birthday Blooms stamp set and coordinating Birthday Bouquet designer paper - so much so that I'm about to crack open my second packet!  I'll let you in on a little secret - until now I hadn't touched my Mossy Meadow c/s.  All that has changed in recent weeks.

I coloured my flower/s with Copics, using R20, R24, R32 and R35 to get a likeness to Watermelon Wonder.  I've also used Wink of Stella on the stamens for a little shimmer.  The next pic shows the dimension of my fussy cut layered bloom.

I'm not sure what this card fold is called, but I've decided this year that I'm going to branch out a little and not just stick to my usual tent fold.  I'm looking forward to a little bit of 'fancy folding' in my life. Lol.

We at Just Add Ink look forward to kicking the year off with a celebration of new crafty goodness and inspiration and hope you will join the challenge fun with us.  Go forth using the buttons below and enjoy the hop - the next button will take you to Dely's stunning and very playful projects!

         

Thanks for stopping by today, and thanks so much for your lovely comments and encouragement. Enjoy your weekend!

Edited to add - if you are having difficulties leaving a comment (using Internet Explorer), perhaps try via another browser - Chrome, Firefox..... or feel free to email me - link in right hand side-bar.  I'll endeavour to have this problem solved as soon as possible.

Just Add Ink #293 - Just add a Gift Card - photo heavy

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Wow ~ one week until Christmas!  This year really has whizzed by.  I'm looking forward to a little downtime over the Christmas/New Year break.  It will be nice for us all to be home together, relaxing, playing and enjoying some quality time.  I'm also looking forward to finally reading the latest Michael Connelly novel, The Crossing.

We have a timely challenge for you over at Just Add Ink kicking off today, and going for two weeks. Kim has us creating Gift Cards.  So if you've got a few last minute gifts to prepare why don't you pop over and join the challenge?  The design team has a bunch of inspiration to get you started.

I needed four gift card holders and matching cards which seemed a lot of work when time is in very short supply at the moment,  What to do?  Combine them of course.  I used a fabulous tutorial by Diane Barnes of Colour Me Happy for a 'no cut patterned paper folder'.  Sooooo simple, sturdy and fabulous!

Be warned - I'm a huge fan of non traditional Christmas colours.  I should also add that these all look waaaaay better in real life - blame the lousy photographer :o)

Coastal Cabana & the little elf from Christmas Cuties, coloured with copics

A masculine gift gift card holder using long retired designer paper & silver accents

Island Indigo and Peaceful Pines for a teenage boy

Strawberry Slush with a beautiful big glimmer poinsettia - it caught the light and it's hard to see the two different glimmer papers, and the plain silver foil leaves

This is what the inside looks like - a place for your gift card on the left (I've popped a piece of c/s there for photographic purposes) and on the right there is plenty of space to write your message

This is what the back looks like - I've adhered the ribbon closure with a little blingy brad

If you pop over to Di's blog to check out her no cut patterned paper folders you'll see just how much inspiration I drew from her.  Thank you, Di, for always sharing your talents and tutes with us.

Righto, it's too early to wish you all a Merry Christmas yet, so I will be back next week with another little Christmas treat share.

The Just Add Ink design team ladies will return with a brand new, fun challenge for you on Friday, 15 January 2016! Thanks so much for stopping by today.