Part two of my challenging week – this time set by Narelle, a member of my ‘A Klass Act’ stampin’ team, on our online forum.

Narelle issued a challenge to use three different shades of the same colour – a monochromatic type scheme – for which I chose to focus on blues, specifically Brocade Blue, Brilliant Blue and Night of Navy…

It looks for all the world as though the focus is out on my camera in this photo, and truth be told, it may just be, but the blur is kind of magnified by the shadow stamping effect that I used with two different colours of blue ink…

This card gave me an opportunity to use some of the soon to be retired colours of cardstock in my stash – a stash that has been relocated to my stamping desk, right in front of my face so as to remind me that I really must use them as much as I can in these next few weeks.

Some of the retiring colours are already sold out, and many more are heading out the door in large numbers, so if you have yet to load up your stores with cardstock, ink and refills that are on the fond farewell list, be sure to get in touch to order some soon

“Upsy Daisy Blues”
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Sanded
Paper: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Brilliant Blue, Very Vanilla
Ink: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Large Oval Punch, Brocade Blue 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

It’s week two of school holidays over this way, and I would have to say that it’s been one of the most enjoyable school holidays I can remember.

Despite the fact that we have had a couple of overly crisp weeks in terms of weather, which was promptly followed by rain in large bucket loads, and a bit of a head cold on my part, we have have been enjoying several sleep ins, a bunch of pyjama days, loads of visiting, a number of play dates, a movie and large amounts of pottering at home.

The girls have been absolutely delightful, reveling in each others’ company and being quite honestly, completely delicious!

So I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this relaxed time, which hasn’t left a whole lot of room for blogging, so apologies for that

I have been stamping though, and have spent some time this week playing along with a number of challenges, hence the title of this post.

You may have noticed that the Design Team over at Just Add Ink has been expanded by about double, meaning that we only have to design fortnightly for the challenges.  We are free to play along in our off week though, and this week I decided to do exactly that – leaving it to the very last minute as is my standard OP, but anyway, here it is…

I especially wanted to play along with this one, as it involves Elegant Eggplant – a colour that I need as much practise with as I can get.

Despite needing practise though, I do tend to use Elegant Eggplant very much as a highlight rather than a feature colour, but at least it’s there!

I combined the colour challenge with a sketch from the Clean and Simple blog – a place that I head to on many an occasion when I’m in need of a fabulous yet simple layout

So there you have challenge number one!  Next up I’ll show you a card that I made up for a challenge on my team stamping blog, and later this week the next JAI challenge!

All this is after we head to the park tomorrow followed by dinner with my bestie and her gorgeous family.

It’s a tough life, but somebody has to do it

“Just Add Ink #25″
Stamps: Seeing Spots, Polka Dot,
Paper: Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red
Accessories: 1-3/8″, 1-1/4″ and 3/4″ Circle Punches, Rich Regals brads, Vintage brads, Elegant Eggplant 1/4″ Grosgrian Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I think I may have mentioned on a previous occasion or two that I have a folder on my computer named ‘to blog’.  This folder contains images of projects completed over a good long while that are stored there so that I know I need to put them up here for you all to see.

At this point they would more aptly fit in a folder entitled ‘what the heck are you waiting for?!’

If not for the fact that the computer doesn’t like anything other than letters and numbers in its folder names, I may well have had a go at changing it.

So anyway, I’ve decided that it’s time to clear the backlog, what with colour collections being renovated and only just over a month until stamps and all sorts start retiring and all.

So herewith, my first offering from the aforementioned folder.  Blow the dust off if you will

This is a card that I made for my sweet niece Izzy, who turned 11 in December last year.

See what I mean about backlog?

Moving on…

I just had to have a go at the Sweet Treat Cups when they first appeared back in the previous mini and LOVE how they jazz up  a card.

The fact that you can fill them with mini M&Ms or other small chocolatey treats is a definite bonus, particularly where an 11 year old girl is involved.

You may have noticed in the flower to the right that there is also a small protrusion…

See?!

When I first laid eyes on the Sweet Treat Cups, they reminded me instantly of a class that I saw offered by a co-worker at a local craft shop where I worked momentarily a few years ago between children.  It involved using objects found around the home in your crafting and card making.

Can anybody tell me what I’ve used here for the smaller flower?

Petal Pizzazz would have to be one of my absolute favourite and most-used stamp sets from this current catalogue and I always get nervous around this time – a month or so out from retiring lists appearing – that one like this will retire.

I REALLY hope it sticks around and heads will not have to roll.

I’m just sayin’…..

As it turns out my nephew, Izzy’s little brother Harry has his birthday exactly a week before his big sis, so he got a Sweet Treat Cup on his card too.

No girly flowers here though….

…just a rocket!

This idea came from my super-clever and delightful sis-in-law Janny who is part of my stampin’ team.

She came up with the oh-so-awesome idea to fill the STC with blue and green mini M&Ms, thereby creating Earth for the rocket to blast off from.

Is this not the coolest idea for a boy card you’ve ever seen?!

Whether or not Harry paused to appreciate the artistry and inventiveness of this idea prior to tearing it apart to get to the M&Ms, I can’t honestly recall, but one can remain hopeful.

In fact, for both of the cards, I installed a handy little flap behind the STC using a scrap of cardstock and the slit punch so that getting at the contents doesn’t require complete annihilation of the card itself…

Again, whether or not Harry noticed this thoughtful inclusion is another thing entirely.  Let’s just say its a good thing he’s my favourite nephew

The Sweet Treat Cups are perfectly designed to work with the 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, both of which are available in the current Autumn/Winter mini catalogue.

If you’d like to grab some of these to have a play with for yourself, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

“Izzy’s Sweet Treat Flowers”
Stamps: Petal Pizzazz, Short & Sweet
Paper: Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Eyelet Border, Word Window, 1/2″ & 1-3/4″ Circle Punches; Regal Rose 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

“Harry’s Sweet Treat Rocket”
Stamps: Pun Fun, Big Bold Birthday, Season of Joy (stars)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Night of Navy, Watercolour Paper
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy
Accessories: Scallop Border, Word Window $ 1-3/4″ Circle Punches; Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Aquapainter, White Gel Pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This week, Just Add Ink brings you another colour challenge, and what a cracker it is!  The lovely Bronwyn Eastley – fellow DT gal – came up with this one…

I can honestly say that left to my own devices, I would likely never have combined these colours in a single project, but that’s why they call it a challenge, right?!

Here’s my contribution…

Saved by my DSP collection

All I did was punch out 1-1/4″ circles from whatever Designer Series Papers that I could find with the relevant colours.

A bit of embellishing here and there (quite literally) and I was all done.

Hop on over to Just Add Ink to check out some fabulous creations with this combo and while you’re there, have a go for yourself

Just Add Ink Challenge #22
Stamps: Seeing Spots
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Sunny Day Simply Scrappin’ Kit, 1-1/4″  and 1-3/8″ Circle Punches, Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads, Boho Blossom Punch, Button Bouquet, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot grosgrain ribbon

Inspired by the current Deal of the Week and also by my quest to use some of my recently lesser-used stamp sets, I pulled out Bella’s Bloom a couple of days ago and realised that I should have done so a lot more frequently these past months.

It’s so pretty!

I’m really loving this colour combination too – Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink – and although I am excited about the upcoming colour renovation, I have to admit that I will miss The Moss.

If you have a favourite colour or 17 that will disappear in the renovation, I encourage you to lay claim to some cardstock, inkpads, re-inkers and ribbon while there is still currently stock available.

Retiring colour stock is now available only on a ‘while stocks last’ basis, so it’s a good idea to grab some while you can!

Contact me today to place your order for any retiring colours, and also any of the current Deal of the Week stamp sets that strike your fancy…

Some extra stampin’ tips for you to try…

• Use the 1/16″ hand held Circle Punch or a paper piercer to poke some holes through the scallops of the border punch for prettier detail

• The Wide Oval Punch is the perfect size and shape to layer between the outer die shape and the inner perforated oval of the tag from the Lots of Tags set of Big Shot dies that I have used here as the focal point

“Bella’s Bloom card”
Stamps: Bella’s Bloom
Paper: Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP
Ink: Versamark, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, BigShot, Lots of Tags die, 1-1/6th” Circle Punch, Wide Oval Punch; Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink Markers; Always Artichoke 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

It’s not super often that I stamp just for fun and without a specific reason or recipient in mind, but this afternoon I did just that and had SO much fun!

I had received the gorgeous Asian Artistry Level 2 hostess set from the Autumn/Winter mini a good few weeks ago, and hadn’t even got around to mounting it, so I rectified that today, pulled out some of the very small amount of Haiku DSP that I have remaining in my stash and made this…

The next thing I plan on rectifying is the amount of Haiku DSP that I have in my stash, which coincides nicely with the fact that it’s part of the current Deal of the Week, but only until tomorrow night, so if you’d also like to build your stash of DSP to the tune of more Haiku, Raspberry Tart, Pink Flamingo, Tea Party or Sweet Slumber, then you’d best be contacting me asap to make sure you get it at its current awesome price!

Here’s another Haiku creation that I don’t believe I have shared here yet…

This one also uses the awesome Two-Step Bird Punch, which is such good fun and has loads of possibilities for use.

The thing I think I love best about Haiku is the colour combination.  It’s not one that I would likely have come up with on my own, but it works so well and has become a bit of a fave.

It’s Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, So Saffron and More Mustard for those of you wishing to play along at home

If I haven’t managed to sway you in the direction of Haiku yet, check out some more projects I have posted previously –>HERE<– and –>HERE<–, then make sure to order yours before the Deal finishes tomorrow night!

Asian Artistry Haiku Card”
Stamps: Asian Artistry
Paper: Haiku DSP, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Watercolour Paper
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Aquapainter, Old Olive 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Horizontal Slot Punch, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

“Haiku Bird Card”
Stamps: Sanded, Trendy Trees (greeting)
Paper: Haiku DSP, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Two Step Bird Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, 3/4″ Circle Punch, Big Shot, Top Note die, Tangerine Tango Striped Grosgrain, Clear Buttons, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This week over at Just Add Ink, we have a sketch challenge for you.  It’s a beauty of a sketch, with so many possibilities, two of which I discovered for myself when I wasn’t sure about the first card I made, so made a second.

Here’s the sketch…

And here’s my first go at it…

The colour combination is a bit left of centre, and came about as a result of having tidied my computer desk and finding a selection of cardstock under the various debris.

This brought about a vague recollection of having seen a picture online somewhere and taking inspiration from the colours in it, then being distracted by some other random cyber stampin’ sighting and forgetting about it until the long overdue desk clean up.

I wasn’t super happy with the result (that will teach me for tidying up!) so I made a second one…

The colours in this one are much more my speed

I also had fun with the scallops around the edge, wanting to something a little bit different.

In fact, let’s make a game of it – you tell me how I did it

And then tell me which card you like better, ’cause I’m still undecided…

“Just Add Ink #21 – Take 1″
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Summer Sun, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart (just $11.02 until Tuesday!)
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Rose Red
Accessories: Rose Red 1″ Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Buttons, Soft Subtles brads, Scallop Border Punch, Crimper, Stampin’ Dimensionals

“Just Add Ink #21 – Take 2″
Stamps: Petal Pizzazz, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Paper: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP, Sweet Always DSP
Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: 1/2″ Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This is a FUN one!  Not that all the Just Add Ink challenges aren’t, but I did enjoy making this card, as much as it took a little longer than usual…

So the challenge this week is to Just Add Stitching – real, faux, whichever grabs your fancy.

Here’s what grabbed mine….

Ribbon flowers!  I also added a couple of rows of faux stitching along the top and bottom of the Mellow Moss strip just in case ribbon flowers didn’t technically meet the stitching criteria

Being less of an embroiderer than a stamper, I Googled ribbon flowers to figure out exactly what I needed to do, but didn’t really find what I was looking for.

Then I had a vague recollection that Kristina Werner had done a similar thing ages ago, which I dutifully searched for – and found – in this post that she did back in January 2008.

I actually managed to include a second challenge in this card, as I caught a glimpse of Karen Giron’s Sweet Sunday Sketch #71 and had to have a go.

Here’s the sketch that helped inspire the card…

If you have a window of stamping opportunity and a fairly patient mindset, I would encourage you to give ribbon flowers a go!

Entries for Just Add Stitching close at midnight on Wednesday, so get out your sewing machine or your Mat Pack and Paper Piercer and jump in to the challenge!

Stamps: Embrace Life, Tiny Tags, Sanded background
Paper: Always Artichoke, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Whisper White, Tea Party DSP
Ink: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Ovals Original Die, 1/2″ Circle Punch, Crafter’s Tool Kit, Always Artichoke Stampin’ Write Marker, Chit Chat rubons (retired),  Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

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

If you’ve been playing or following along at Just Add Ink for a while now, you would be aware that each week there is a new challenge posted.  Well this week there’s a fun twist on our regular challenge, and I’m sure you’re going to love it!

Before I get into the details of the challenge and my own entry, here’s a little how-to on the whole blog hop scenario in case you’re as new to this as I am….!

There are ten stops on the hop – all of the Design Team members and the Just Add Ink site itself – and it’s arranged in a loop, so it doesn’t matter where you start, just follow the links at the end of each post so that you get around the whole lot.

Chances are you’ve come here from Amanda’s blog or perhaps you’ve just popped in on the off chance that there’s something new to see.

Either way, it’s great to have you here

You’re going to want to make sure you see everything, as at each stop there is a technique tutorial!  The challenge from Just Add Ink this week is to incorporate a technique from one of the tutorials into your challenge entry!

I told you this was going to be fun!

Alrighty, let’s get started shall we…?!

My tutorial is all about a technique that I just love and never get tired of…

Watercolouring

The cast of characters

First stamp your image using Staz On ink onto water colour paper

I like to use the Classic ink with an Aquapainter for watercolouring, so to get my 'palette', I squish the lid of my ink pads a bit.....

...and some of the ink is transferred to the inside lid of my inkpad, from where it can be picked up with an Aquapainter

Because you only want a very light covering of ink for the first layer, pick up the ink from the edges of the colour "puddle" with your Aquapainter and make sure it is quite diluted

This is the first layer of colour - very light. It's important to ensure that each section is dry before moving onto the next section so that the colours don't bleed together

For each subsequent layer of colour, start with a more concentrated line of ink towards one edge of the image (see the centre of the large flower on the left), making sure to work in small areas at a time and only once the first layer is completely dry. For this image I am imagining that there is a light source coming from the right, hence my shadows will be towards the left of the image

Remove the excess colour from your Aquapainter by brushing it on your scrap paper

Return to where you painted the darker strip of colour and blend it outwards in a circular motion so that there are no hard lines. This is what your image will look like when each section has a second layer of colour

Continue with a third layer of the same colours, each time using more ink and upping the saturation of the colours

Now I have chosen slightly darker colours and gone over the same areas again in the same way as before - paint a strip of colour towards the left of the image, get rid of the excess colour from the Aquapainter and blend outwards with a circular motion. This is the fourth layer of colour (gotta love watercolour paper!)

This is the fifth layer of colour - darker again. The centre of the flowers now have three layers of More Mustard, one of Close to Cocoa and one of Chocolate Chip. The flower pot has three layers of More Mustard, one of Really Rust and one of Chocolate Chip

I also like to colour the background of my watercoloured images to add more depth and realism to the picture, so making sure that your previous colouring is completely dry, let’s move onto the background….

In the same way as we did with the stamped image colouring, the background also starts with a very light layer of colour

For the second and subsequent layers of background colour, start with a stronger line of colour at the edge of the image, remove the excess colour from the Aquapainter and blend out in a circular motion - same as before

When you've finished colouring your image, this is what you'll have....

...also this...

..but the most exciting thing you will have is this!

Layer upon layer of ink upon the very absorbant and forgiving watercolour paper takes you from this to this!

Here’s a quick frame by frame to compare each step in the process….

For the final card, I wanted to keep to a fairly simple layout, so as to keep the focus on the watercoloured image and not end up with anything too busy…

I used my brand new Tiny Tags set with the matching Jewelry Tag Punch for my little greeting, but as it is so tiny, I felt that attaching it with a standard brad would be a bit overpowering, so I made my own, slightly smaller one…

Using the smaller of the two Crop-a-dile hole punches, I punched out a tiny bit of Chocolate Chip cardstock and stuck it in place using Tombow Mono Adhesive.  Then I squeezed a drop of Crystal Effects onto it to make it shiny and brad-like.

It’s actually still quite cloudy and not quite dry here (in fact not dry at all!) as I was too impatient to wait to take the photo’s and get started on my tutorial.

Should you  have a go at making your own brads, you will notice that they do end up a nice shiny version of the colour of the cardstock underneath, as opposed to the murky, cloudy whitish/brown number that you can see above

So there you have it, my contribution to what is a bumper week of tutorials!

Don’t forget once you’ve finished the hop, your challenge is to choose one of the tutorials, make a project using it as your entry and link it up over at Just Add Ink.

I’ve seen a few of the projects already and my guess is you won’t be able to stop at just one…!

To continue on the tour, just click the image below and keep on truckin’!  Next up is Delys…

Enjoy!

“Just Add Ink Watercolouring Tutorial”
Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, Tiny Tags
Paper: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Patterns DSP – Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip, Watercolour Paper
Ink: Staz On Jet Black, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White (sponged around edge of Kraft)
Accessories: Aquapainter, Jewelry Tag Punch, Crop-a-dile, Crystal Effects, Stampin’ Dimensionals