AddINKtive Designs - November - Pocket Card

Good Day Crafty Friends,

Hope you are having a fabulous day. I have a slightly different version of my Pocket Card to share with you all today. The base has been constructed using the Envelope Punch Board, just with the top chopped off slightly, creating a squarish version.

The front of the Pocket Card has been decorated to resemble a picket fence covered with flowers. The little fence was created using strips of whisper white card.

The Whisper White insert has had the top portion die cut using the Detailed Floral Thinlits. This panel was then adhered to another piece of Whisper White card exactly the same size and then the outer edge thinlit was used to cut both pieces.

The insert was then stamped with the sentiment from Stitched All Around stamp set in Highland Heather ink to coordinate with the flower adhered to the top left.

The Granny Apple Green die cut foliage has been created with the Petals and More Thinlits. The large die was cut twice and then snipped in several places to spread the pieces over the fence. All the flowers have been adhered with mini dimensionals.

This little pocket card has been created for someone who adores gardening and yes she has a white picket fence covered in Flowers. She also adores anything Watermelon related so I decided to include a handmade soap I created. 

I am totally addicted to Soap Making and am loving the challenge of coordinating my soapy creations with my paper, stamp and ink projects. I have been working with both natural and synthetic colourants to match the Stampin' Up! colour families and came super close to Granny Apple Green and a shade in between Flirty Flamingo and Melon Mambo for the Watermelon Soap Loaf.

How is your Festive Season preparations going? I ask because my next task after publishing this post is drag the Christmas decorations and Trees out. Is your tree up yet? Can you come and do mine lol. At least I can say my Christmas Card stash is almost ready for posting - yipeeeee! I will post photos of my loud, bright and Flamingo inspired Christmas decorations soon x

Thanks for stopping by today, until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty

Just Add Ink #436 - Sketch - So Santa

Good Day Crafty Friends,

I hope you are having a great week. Mine has been a busy, jammed packed week. I feel like I haven't created anything papercrafty for months!! My craft space is slowly returning to normal, having lost 80% of my surfaces to curing soaps. The soaps have their own rack now and all my crafting surfaces are ready for my first box of Artisan goodies :)

Speaking of Stampin' Up! Artisans, I am so happy and excited to be sharing my year with two other members of the Just Add Ink team - Narelle Farrugia and Rochelle Blok - Congratulations, Ladies!!! It seems JAI is a creative hub and home for Stampin' Up! Artisans lol. Hope to see many more talented JAI Design Teams members be selected for this amazing opportunity.

This weeks Just Add Ink Challenge we have a fun sketch to inspire your creative juices. I love the simple layout and how the JAI DT members have all interpreted it differently.

My card uses a Christmas stamp set called So Santa. I just love the surfing santa and wanted to create a birthday card for a surfing friend, whose birthday is a few days after Christmas.

I started with a Whisper White card base, to which I added a layer of Granny Apple Green card before adhering the stamped Music Sheet card front. 

A few extended die cut pieces in Black and Granny Apple Green were tilted before adhering with Tombow.

The Santa image has been coloured with Stampin' Blends and fussy cut before adhering to the whisper white circle with mini dimensionals.

A few detailed die cuts made using the Petal Palette Thinlits have been added under the circle and under Santa's feet.

I also decorated one of the Bakers Boxes in the same colour combination - adding Silver Edged ribbon, silver bells and a sprig of faux pine.

The Bakers Boxes are just the sweetest and perfect for gifting small items, edibles and of course bars of soap!! I have snapped up a few packets for future use. My daughter recently made giant cookies for her University lecturers that were gifted using these boxes.

This facial soap bar has been handmade with love (by me) using the cold process method and has been curing for 4 weeks. It contains Shea Butter, White Australian Clay, Activated Charcoal and has a Coconut Cream scent. 

I am so in love with the marble effect in the facial soap bar, it would look wonderful with the Marble Background stamp - which I don't own (dang it!!!)

Be sure to stop by all the Just Add Ink Design Team members blogs for more inspiration with this weeks Just Add Texture challenge . We would love for you and your crafty friends to play along, if you have a blog you can add your card to the Just Add Ink gallery here. Don't have your own blog? No problem! Just send us an email to just-add-ink@hotmail.com with a photo attachment. We'll upload it to our challenge entry blog.

Thanks for stopping by today. Until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty xx

Colour INKspiration #46 - First Frost

Hello Crafty Friends,

Welcome to this fortnight’s Colour INKspiration Challenge #46. You are currently visiting Jackie Aitken in Western Australia. If you are following the Colour INKspiration Blog Hop, you may have arrived here having visited the super talented Nikki Spencer, with her stunning Christmas Card.

Stampin' Up! ® has just had a major colour revamp so to start off the new catalogue year at Colour INKspiration we've decided to feature a Colour Collection for the first challenge each month (2nd Wednesday) until we have showcased them all! The second challenge in the month (4th Wednesday) will be a Pinterest inspired pic as per usual just to mix it up a bit. 

Nicole has chosen the most stunning Pinterest inspired photo which features this delightful colour combination - Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue, Lovely Lipstick, Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green.

Can you believe this is the first card I have created in many many weeks, which for me is a first - i normally create a card every other day. I feel as if I have been cheating on my love for all things papercraft as I learn the art of soap making. 

To crank the creative juices, I decided to start with my favourite stamp set - First Frost and my go to DSP, the striped Lovely Lipstick from the In Colour 6"x 6" Paper Pack.

I started by stamping the Whisper White card front with the Congratulations sentiment in Smoky Slate (I wish I had silver heat embossed the sentiments, having added the Silver Foil as last minute decisions, this is what happens when you design with no plan)

A strip of Silver Foil card has been added to the diagonally cut piece of DSP before adhering to the card front with Tombow. 

The floral images have been stamped using all five challenge colours and adhered to the circular die cuts with a mixture of Tombow and Mini Dimensionals.

The card front was then mounted to the Whisper White card base with a sheet of white fun foam as this one is being posted, and this prevents any squishing of layers by the not so careful Post system. To finish the card, a few rhinestones have been added to the floral cluster.

INKspired to join the challenge? It's so easy. Firstly, get some INKspiration by hopping around to see what all of the Colour INKspiration Crew have to show you. Then you have 12 days from today to make and upload your creation to the Facebook Colour INKspiration Group. You don't have to have a blog to participate but if you do you can link back to your post. Make sure you use all of the challenge colours. Not a member of the Facebook group yet? Just click here and ask to join Colour INKspiration, add the group to your favourites and share it with your crafty friends so they can join in the fun too. We can't wait to see what you create with these gorgeous colours.

Up next in the Colour INKspiration Blog Hop is the lovely Leonie Stuart with her gorgeous creation - Enjoy xx

Thanks so much for stopping by today, until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty

Special Announcement - Artisan Design Team 2019

Hello Crafty Friends,

I hope you are having a fantastic day. I have some SUPER EXCITING NEWS to share with you all today!!! It’s been super hard to contain my excitement but today is the day I can let it all out (runs around the craft studio like she won the lottery) in fact I’m so ecstatic I reakon I’d feel this way had I won the lottery lol

I made the Stampin’ Up! Artisan Design Team for 2018-2019!!! O M G!! Can you believe it?!? I am still pinching myself.  I am so super duper excited and extremely nervous about the coming year, but I know I am in fabulous company, surrounded by a team of fabulously talented creatives who all share the same passion - Stampin’ Up! and our love of paper craft.

I was unable to make Onstage this year for the announcements.......which, trust me, was totally devastating but I am getting on top of my travel sickness issues and fingers crossed I will attend the next one in New Zealand, April next year.

Anyways, what I was beginning to tell you was I received this gorgeous array of scrumptious goodies from Stampin’Up! a few days before Onstage.  I had a little party (and maybe a few tears - happy tears) all by myself as no one was home when I got the package. Lots of loud Prince music filled the house as I waltz the box around the lounge!!

How stunning is this beautiful white MDF lacquer box decorated!!! I didn’t want to touch it lol Wow, such a gorgeous cluster of creativity! I LOVE IT SO MUCH and will cherish it for ever.

Wanna see inside? Of course you do, I did lol I was a good girl and slipped the stunning belly band off and got to view the contents (then I packed in all back in and hugged it lol) I decided to wait until Onstage before I could technically wear my stunning bracelet!!!

Soooooooo pretty - I love the engraving on the Tiffany Heart pendant. 

 How special is my very own personalised stamp!!! 

I am so grateful and thankful for this amazing opportunity and cannot wait to share all the SU delights I receive and creative projects I make with them.  

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO ENCOURAGED ME TO APPLY!! You had more faith in my abilities than I did. I hope I don't disappoint!!! Also Thanks so very much to the Design Concept Crew and Team at Stampin' Up!

Finally, a big huge Congratulations to the amazingly talented Artisan Design Team members - I am so excited and honoured to be working with you all.

2019 ADT Team

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Ashley Van Camp

Aurelie Fabre 

Emma Goddard

Jackie Aitken 

Jennifer Picard 

Kaylee van Es 

Lauren Alarid 

Maike Beimler 

Manuela Geiswinkler 

Mikaela Titheridge

Narelle Farrugia

Rochelle Blok

Stesha Bloodhart

Sywia Schreck

Tanya Rees

Sincerely Santa Project Kit & Signs of Santa

Good Day Crafty Friends,

I have a quick post to share today. Its a Christmas Card with a little difference. The Wood Texture DSP completely changed the look I was initially going for but I liked so I ran with it.

The Red/White Candy Striped Gift Tag comes in the Sincerely Santa Project Kit, as does the Gold Foil banner, Gold Foil Stars, and Doily which has been coloured with a Stampin' Blend. 

The Wood Background has been adhered to a layer of Whisper White and then Real Red card stock before attaching to the Whisper White Card Base.

The sentiment from Blended Seasons has been white heat embossed onto Black card stock and fussy cut before adhering to the white circle die cut.

Mrs Claus is from the Signs of Santa stamp set (page 19 - Holiday Catalogue). She has been coloured using Stampin' Blends and fussy cut before adhering to the card front with mini dimensionals.

I absolutely adore the Mrs Claus and Santa images from this stamp set. I love that I could colour her dress in Pink as I definitely wanted a few Christmas Cards in my stash that had some pink. This makes me happy lol

As I write this post and look at the date it is scheduled for, I am instantly reminded what day it is tomorrow.......Its Onstage time!!!!!!! All over the world, thousands of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators are gathering to celebrate Stampin' Up! and their 30th year birthday anniversary. I am so envious, especially of those that are flying all the way for the big three day celebration in Orlando, Florida!!! OMG, imagine that, a 3 day convention jam packed with loads of loveliness and all those theme parks, not too mention, yummy food, all the other destinations that have been on my bucket list since I was a child. 

If you follow any of the Demonstrators attending one of the many conventions around the world, be sure to check out their posts over the next few days, they will be sharing loads and loads of pics of their awesome events, including all the new products!!!! I cannot wait to see what is coming and to get my hands on that new catalogue. The suspense is killing me LOL

Thanks for stopping by today. Until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty

Sincerely Santa Project Kit & Santa's Workshop M&M

Good Day Crafty Friends,

Hope its been a great one. How is your Christmas Card making going? I think I can comfortably say I am 3/4 of the way through my list, so not many to go now. Wahooooo!  I have also made loads of Christmas Gift Tags this year as Stampin' Up! have some pretty amazing products that made it easy to produce a whole heap all at once. The Tags & Tidings stamp set (Page 24 Holiday Catalogue) is one of those products that made for super fast and uber cute gift tags.

The other really cool products I have mixed and matched for both Christmas Gift Tags and Cards are the Santa's Workshop Memories and More Card Pack and the Sincerely Santa Project Kit (Pages 21 & 32 - Holiday Catalogue).

Today's card uses the Red/White candy striped Gift Tag from the Sincerely Santa Project Kits and embellishments from the Santa's Workshop Memories & More Card Pack - jingle sentiment, holly and Elf image are all stickers in the Card Pack. The Gold Foil banner and Gold Foil stars are part of the Sincerely Santa Project Kit.

I had some Real Red DSP from a retired Valentines themed DSP Pack that I wanted to use up so cut a diagonal panel and used it for the card background. I also used a retired Gold Foil doily as I thought it could do with some more shiny stuff.....you can never have enough bling or shiny stuff right? lol 

Its a bright, fun Festive card that is great for my family and friends who have children. Kiddies love Christmas card with the cutsey images - well my daughter did when she was young.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to check back here again real soon as I have some super exciting news to share plus more inspirational ideas for Christmas Cards and other Christmas themed goodies.

Until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty

Sincerely Santa Kit meets Santa's Workshop M&M Cards

Hello Hello Crafty Friends,

Hope you are having a fabulous day. Its been an absolutely stunning day here and I can feel that the start of summer is just around the corner. It is actually a great time to be out and about in the Perth region, the days have warmed, but not too hot for leisurely walks with the fur babies and the spring flowers are still in bloom, which is a bonus. There has been a little bit of rain recently too, so there is lots of water in the parks ponds which the local wildlife are loving.

Today's card is a mixture of Santa's Workshop Memories & More Card Pack, DSP and some items from the Sincerely Project Santa Kit. This is the cutest Gift Tag Kit that comes in the sweetest Green and White Candy striped tin. The Sincerely Santa Project Kit makes 30 Gift Tags and for $38 AUD its great value and easy to complete. It also has a coordinating stamp set (see page 32 of the Holiday Catalogue)

I started with a Whisper White card base to which I added a panel of Coastal Cabana DSP. This dotty DSP is part of the Brights 6x6 DSP Pack. A layer of Real Red card stock was added and next another layer of Whisper White with a faint Coastal Cabana Watercolour wash. A strip of the Coastal Cabana DSP has been adhered with Tombow before adding the Red/White Candy Striped Tag from the Sincerely Santa Project Kit.

Also from the Sincerely Santa Project Kit - the Gold detailed edge Circle die cut, gold foil banner and Doily (which I have coloured Pink with a Stampin' Blend). The Elf image has been fussy cut from a Santa's Workshop Memories & More card. The Santa Seal and Holly are both stickers from the same M&M Card Pack.

The White Bakers Twine comes in the Sincerely Santa Project Kit. I tell you, that Kit is full of goodies - I especially adore the little silver bells and wish there were enough for all the Gift Tags in the Project Kit. 

That's all for today folks. Thanks so much for stopping by today. I do appreciate each and every visitor and all the shout outs when you case a card. I love what I do and love sharing it with you all.

Until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty

Tags & Tidings Christmas Card

Good Day Crafty Friends,

I have a quick post to share with you today.....one I forgot to post while I was on holiday!! I am pretty sure I posted it on Instagram and hence why I thought I had shared it already.

The Tags and Tidings stamp set has sixteen images on the one stamp. It has been designed to coordinate with the Christmas Tags Thinlits to die cut all those images into gorgeous little Christmas gift tags. I have used it as a background, inspired by the picture above.

This card uses one of the Silver Foil Edged card bases which can be found on page 11 of the Holiday Catalogue. It has matching Silver Foil Edged envelopes and is also available in Gold. 

A piece of Real Red card stock has been Silver Heat Embossed with the Tags and Tiding stamp set. To this a die cut scalloped circle was added, this was embossed using the Hexagon embossing folder and adhered with Tombow. 

The Santa Claus image from Signs of Santa stamp set has been coloured using Stampin' Blends and then fussy cut (although there are coordinating dies available) Before adhering the Santa image with dimensionals I added a Silver Foil border die cut, made using a thinlit from the Petals & More Thinlits.

Below is a product list of all the items used to create this card. Click on the product images to be taken to my Online Store.

Product List

Tags & Tidings Photopolymer Stamp Set [147779] $30.00	Big Shot [143263] $159.00	Heat Tool [129056] $50.00	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131] $8.75
Silver Foil-Edged Cards & Envelopes [147900] $16.50	Real Red A4 Card Stock [106578] $14.75	Petals & More Thinlits Dies [145655] $59.00	Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705] $58.00
Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143231] $16.00	Stitched Labels Framelits Dies [146828] $57.00	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $7.00	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $6.00

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you can join me again soon as I have loads more inspiration for Christmas Cards using products from the Holiday Catalogue.

Until next time, stay awesome and stay crafty