So I have only just managed to make good on my promise to be back “later today” (at least according to my West Australian clock), but here I am with my entry for this week’s Just Add Ink challenge.

This week it’s another colour challenge for you and it was a large challenge for me as it involves Elegant Eggplant, which I can just never seem to make anything decent with!

Here are the colours…

And here is my contribution, that I’m not at all sure about, so please be kind…

As it turns out, the greatest challenge for me was finding a sheet of co-ordinating DSP to go in the background of the photo, but as you can see, that was a challenge that I didn’t manage to meet.

I got out my Circle Scissors Plus for this one, which I must do more often, as I am rather partial to a circular element on a card, but quite often forget to include one.

I also dusted off Garden Whimsy for the first time in ages, which is another thing I try to do with challenges – incorporate a recently neglected stamp set at the same time.

So there you have it, a very bright and very challenging combination of colours.

The challenge for the week closes at midnight this coming Wednesday, so if you’d like to have a go at these colours for yourself, pop on over to Just Add Ink and play along!

Some extra stampin’ tips for you to try….

• Add some visual interest by popping your feature images up on Stampin’ Dimensionals and extending them outside their “frame” as I’ve done with the butterflies

• Tone on tone stamping – as I’ve done with the curly stamp with Elegant Eggplant ink on the Elegant Eggplant background – fills a bare space, but without being too busy and ‘in your face’

“Just Add Ink Challenge #19″
Stamps: Garden Whimsy
Paper: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Taken with Teal, Melon Mambo
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Taken with Teal, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Circle Scissors Plus, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Melon Mambo Polka-Dot grosgrain, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

As promised, here are the whole cards that I gave you a brief sampling of yesterday.  I know that one of the cards has been received due to the very sweet and enthusiastic comment left earlier (*waving* SJ!) and I’m going to take a chance that the other two will have been found before the recipients check in here….

So here we go….

This card was sent to my lovely Aunty Mary, sister of my mum, frequent blog commenter, enthusiastic cheerleader and a wonderful influence in my life.  I wanted her to know just how much I love and appreciate her.

For the card itself, I stamped the birdie using Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I used markers in the colours of the cardstock I had chosen and coloured in the little “carved out” bits through to the cardstock below.

“A card for Aunty Mair”
Stamps: Always, Best Yet, Sanded
Paper: Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Versamark, Old Olive
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Old Olive wide grosgrain, Old Olive & Cameo Coral Markers, Stampin’ Sponges

Here’s the next one…

This one landed in the mailbox of my dear friend and fellow demonstrator, Sarah Jane Kalé, one of many friends I have made due to my association with Stampin’ Up! and one of the reasons I am thankful that I became a demonstrator at all.

During the recent school holidays, SJ and I were meant to catch up with our little ones but on the morning in question I woke up with a raging migraine and had to cancel to spend the day on the couch with an ice-pack on my head.  Sarah offered to have the girls for me so that I could ice my thumping head in peace – just one example of the sweetness that is Sarah, not to mention that she is one of the most talented stampers I know!  Love ya SJ!

The sentiment on this card is perfect and I wanted to use a bunch of vibrant colours, so I chose a combination of markers that I liked based on the colours in my small girl’s current favourite dress and coloured the words all differently.  The Baroque background stamp is embossed with clear embossing powder.

“A card for Sarah Jane”
Stamps: Occasional Greetings, Baroque
Paper: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Pink Passion, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Certainly Celery wide grosgrain, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink & Apricot Appeal Markers, Eyelet Border Punch, Button Bouquet Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Now for the last one…

This one went to Makeesha, another demonstrator and gorgeous friend who endlessly shares her boundless stamping talents.  I was looking forward to catching up with her at the Perth Regionals last weekend, but this time the migraine monster came visiting her and she wasn’t able to attend.

I wasn’t the only disappointed one, as I know many Perth stampers were busting for the opportunity to breathe the same air and maybe even exchange a word or two with Keesh, stamp-star that she is, and I’m sure she was also saddened to have to miss out on such a fun day of stamping.

For this card I inked up Garden Whimsy, which I haven’t done for quite some time, and was happy with how it turned out.  You might notice that the layout is pretty much the same as Aunty Mary’s birdie card, just different stamps and colours

“A card for Keesh”
Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Best Yet, Sanded
Paper: Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon, Pumpkin Pie Marker, Eyelet Border Punch, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I hope you enjoyed checking out my cards as much as I enjoyed making them   If you’d like further information about any of the techniques or products involved in the creation of these cards, please don’t hesitate to contact me.