At Just Add Ink this week we a running an “Inspiration” challenge. It was suggested by Rachael. The colours in the pic are lovely and I think it’s also kinda a Wintery pic too. Here is the card I made for this Challenge:
I used a stencil and some Embossing paste in the background. Then I repeat stamped the sentiment in different colours – I think its quite effective.
You can join us for this Challenge too, just follow this link to the Just Add Ink Blog.
It’s time for another Just Add Ink Challenge. Challenge # 469 is a Colour Challenge….
The colours a rich and bold and kinda earthy. They were suggested by Di Barnes.
I used the new Celebrate with Cake stamp set for this Challenge. The Stamp set is a lovely selection of solid stamps that can be used for various occasions.
I used both the Grapefruit Grove and Terracotta Tile colours on the flowers. I first inked the stamp up in the lighter Grapefruit Grove and then used a dauber to add a little Terracotta Tile to the tip of each flower, before I stamped it onto the card stock.
I added some Wink of Stella to the flowers, which is hard to see in the pic of the full card. You can see the Wink of Stella glitter in the pic above though. This was because I was tilting it in the sun.
I also made another card with the colours and stamp set. You can see it has similar elements – and features the Cake image, from the Celebrate with Cake Stamp set.
In this case, the cake is two toned and again there is Wink of Stella highlighting some of the sections of the card.
Here is the Just Add Ink link, so you can check out the other Design Team members projects and then share with us your projects that feature this Colour Combo.
When I was in the UK, at the Stampin Up OnStage event (in April), I saw examples of projects made with the new Daisy Lane and Medium Daisy Punch.
I also saw some wonderful punch art flowers, similar to those in the current Stampin Up Annual Catalogue (see page 23) and they were the inspiration for my latest card class.
We decorated a Gift Bag.
Here’s a close up of the Decorated panel. I just love the vibrant colours against the black background. It was fun to put together and I think I will be making a few more of these flowers.
I also put together a little matching card – although the colours are different.
In April, I contacted, met and then crafted with Lotte Noordzij-Walther of A-Lotte-Stamping-Fun. The card I made for this weeks Just Add Ink Challenge was one that I made when I was Stamping with Lotte.
The Just Add Ink Challenge this week is a Sketch Challenge.
Here is my card……I used the Butterfly Gala stamp set (which is one I had not used before). It has lots of lovely Butterflies that can be coloured so many different ways. I also used some vellum to make some delicate leaves.
How do you like the grass in the background?? It’s actually our back lawn which is so lush and long and green at the moment. Being Winter here in WA everything is green rather than the usual sunburnt brown.
Lucky for me, Lotte also had the matching Butterfly punch for these images which saved me from fussy cutting.
Join this Just Add Ink Challenge here and also check out other cards and projects made by the Design Team for this Challenge.
Let me show you the lovely Birthday card that Lotte gave me. The pic does not show it well, because you can’t see the glitter on the #50. As you can see this card not only celebrated my Birthday but also my time in Rotterdam and the Netherlands. I frequently went Windmill hunting and adored Tulip Hunting too. It also reminds me of the wonder time I spent crafting with Lotte and makes me wish we lived closer to each other so we could craft together again.
While I was away I celebrated a Big Birthday. We had arranged it so that Neil and Sarah arrived a couple of days earlier so we were all in Rotterdam together.
In the morning we visited the Cube houses that are in the heart of Rotterdam. They were built in 1982-1984, there are 38 in all and most of them are lived in. They are also known as pole-houses or tree-houses.
We then walked across the road to (my fav place) the Markethal – where we had some Dragons Breath. It’s kinda like sweet cereal balls that are bathed in liquid nitrogen – so when you eat them they make it look like you are breathing fire……a bit of fun.
After lunch we got on the Water bus and went to Kinderdijk. I really loved it here – it was my 2nd visit.
We were very lucky with the Waterbus – being a week day, it was not very busy. The Waterbus man (Conductor) took Neil up to the front of the boat and showed him around while Sarah and I enjoyed the view and wind in our hair. The Waterbus man then went round and offered to take photos of all the tourist (us) on the boat. It was fun……even more of a bonus was that he only charged us for a one-way trip.
In the Evening we went to Vessel 11 for Dinner. It’s a big old tug boat that was situated on the canal between Work and my Apartment (so about a 2 minute walk). 
I received lots of lovely Birthday cards (thank you to everyone for them) and I will share them over the next wee while. But today I want to show you one that Kelly posted to my apartment in Rotterdam. I was wrapped to receive it.
I thought this was a great fancy fold – so decided to have a go at it myself. I put together a little thank you card and gift for the young lady who did a marvelous job at looking after our house and pets.
When I arrived in Rotterdam in March, it was the end of Winter and there were no leaves on the trees. During the following months, the trees and flowers bloomed. It was so lovely to see all the bright leaves.
One of my adventures was going to see the Tulip fields. I hired a bike and spent the day discovering the Haarlem area. It was a fabulous day – despite my sore bottom after about 5-6 hours on the bike.
Now I am back in Australia, and most of the leaves have gone from the trees. But I noticed there are a few leaves that are clinging to their trees and they are many different colour’s. So my card this week is based on Autumn leaves.
Also – can you see the leaves in the background of my photo? I actually took this pic at the Train Station (where I park my car on week days). There are piles and piles of leaves around – so I decided they would make a good background for this card.
For this card I used stamps from two Stamp sets: Floral Essence and Rooted in Nature. The DSP is Mosaic Mood Specialty DSP
It would be great if you could join us for this Season Challenge. Here is the link to Just Add Ink where you can join the Challenge and also see many other Just Add the Season projects from the Design Team.
My holiday is now over and I made it back to Australia ok. We had a fabulous time exploring Europe. So many wonderful days full of exciting adventures. Lots of great memories made.
We loved Venice the most – it was magical. At Disneyland (Paris) we had “The Best Day Ever!” And the food in Munich and the UK was fabulous.
We realised how lucky we are in Australia and New Zealand in terms of space and cleanliness as we found many of the cities we went to very crowded and dirty (particularly Rome)!
I have been back now for 6 days but find I am still feeling the effects of the Jet lag. We all came home with the flu which probably has not helped with adjusting to the time zone.
Back to work!
I chucked a sickie on Monday to recover from the Jetlag and cold/flu that I came home with. Then returned to the office on Tuesday.
With my Rotterdam water bottle on my desk, I am getting back into the swing of things. The office is pretty quiet at the moment, which is good but I do find myself yawning through the afternoons.
I have spent a little bit of time in my craft room and created a card for the Just Add Ink Challenge this week.
This week we have a very pretty Colour Combo to play with that was suggested by Jackie. Here is the card I made:
I masked a circle and the stamped some dots around it in the Soft Sea Foam. That created a lovely frame for my sentiment. I used a selection of Stamp sets on this card. Rooted in Nature for the Sentiment, Perennial Birthday for the Flowers and Leaves and Daisy Delight for the Dotty frame.
Join us for this Challenge and to look at the other cards made by the Just Add Ink Design Team follow this link.
