JAI Challenge 5 - Just Add Dimension - A Frame for the yet to arrive Harry.

Phew.......I really didn't think I was going to make the deadline for this week's Just Add Ink Challenge but YAY I have even if it was at the very last minute.

So this week's challenge was to Just-Add-Dimension. I have to admit that for most of the week I thought that I wouldn't enter this challenge. Partly because I didn't quite know how to interpret the challenge - was it to create a 3D project??? Or was it to add dimension to anything, be it a card, layout or 3D??? I ummmmed and ahhhhhed and wasn't going to submit anything because I just couldn't find anything in the cockles of my brain that made me excited about Just_Adding-Dimension. And THEN IT CAME TO ME!!!!

My very good friends Kate and Greg (and little Chloe) are expecting the arrival of their newest family member any minute now. Even though the little one is still nesting happily in his mummy's tummy (his due date is today) he has been named for quite a while - HARRY. What makes Harry's arrival even more special to me is that not only are his mummy and daddy really lovely friends of mine but I am "on call" for his birth. No not in my midwife capacity (thank goodness as it has been a long while since I delivered a baby) but I am going to look after soon-to-be-big-sister Chloe while the big event takes place. So each night for a good couple of weeks now I have been going to bed wondering if tonight will be the night that I get the call and head over to the Vallance's while Harry is born. It feels a bit like I'm waiting for labour to happen without worrying about the pain part ;o)

Anyway.......enough babbling preamble. I decided to make a frame to celebrate Harry's arrival (I have made Kate promise that she won't look at my blog). The letters forming Harry are of course a 'Dimensional' aspect but I have added much more dimension too. Now I have made a few of these frames over the last year or so but always with just a single letter ie. "H". This is my first attempt at creating a whole name and I have to admit it is probably my most challenging project to date. It literally had me pulling my hair out- with finding a frame to match, resizing the inner frame bit and recovering with DSP, finding the right colour and material for the background, cutting the letters............ok you get the point it was challenging!!!!!

So here it is- Harry's Frame. I'm pretty happy with it however I would have loved to of found a bigger frame so that I could have spread the letters out more. If anyone knows where you can get a variety of these "deep" frames could you please let me know?





A closer view - the little stars at the bottom are waiting for Harry's birthdate- one for the day of the month; another for the month; I could have put the year in already but it would have looked silly.



And a super-dooper close up. I used the stamps from the Nursery Necessities set (love those super cute little chicks), buttons, pearls and lots of ribbon. Just hoping that I didn't over do it!!!!



Harry's Frame

Ingredients:

Stamp Set: Nursery Necessities
Card/Paper; Certainly Celery DSP (retired); Rock-A-Bye Boy Simply Scrappin' Kit; Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue; Certainly Celery; Chocolate Chip
Other: Canvas backing (non-SU); Designer Buttons (Sherbet); Valet Ribbon Originals; 1/4" Grosgrain in Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery & Chocolate Chip; Half-pearls (non-SU); Crystal Effects


Now all that is needed is for one little Harry Vallance to come into the world so I can give his Mum and Dad his present. Can't wait to meet the little man.

That's all for me for tonight I'm exhausted and all framed out :o)

Louise x x

Woo Hoo - I got picked!!!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

My card got picked in the Top 5 for this week's Just-Add-Ink Challenge!!!!

I'm so happy and honoured - thanks girls! Well done to the other four girls in the Top 5 too!

Here is the card again:



And the badge I get to proudly display for being in the Top 5:

Just Add Ink JAI4 - Colour Challenge

Before I started my blog I thought to myself "Oh I will be blogging every day - it will be so much fun!!!". Now here I am- 4 weeks after finally getting my blog up and running- writing only my 5th post. Not to worry - will just have to try harder :o). There has been a reason of course (as there always is)- Elliot has been unwell and grumpy on and off for days now and I didn't feel well all weekend. And I've also been stamping like a crazy woman at every opportunity to get some orders finished and delivered. They were boxed up and sent on their merry way over the weekend and I have to admit I was SUPER happy with them. I will definitely have to post some more of my Sweet Treat creations ("Oh no not more" I hear you say) that I made up for my good friends Kate and Greg (***Hi****)!!!

So on to today's post - my entry for this week's Just Add Ink Challenge. I am becoming a bit addicted to their challenges and to looking at all the fantastic entries from other very talented stampers!!! I also love the comment-love I get after posting (Thank you to those who leave such lovely comments) and have made a promise to myself this morning to send a lot more comment-love out too.

This week's JAI challenge was a colour challenge:



And here is my entry:


Ingredients:

Stamp Set: Petal Pizzazz
Card/Paper: Kraft; Sage Shadow; Whisper White; Parisian Breeze DSP (retired)
Ink: Rose Red; Sage Shadow; More Mustard
Other: 1" Rose Red Double-Stitched Grosgrain ribbon; Eyelet border punch; Corner rounder punch; Linen Thread;
Designer Series Buttons (playground)


I am a huge, huge fan of Rose Red (it is my most favouritest SU colour) and Kraft. Have to admit though that even though I own the More Mustard ink pad (a long ago purchase to ink up some giraffes) I have never stamped with it, nor Sage Shadow. So I was actually really surprised by how well all four colours go together and even happier that I got to use the More Mustard buttons that have been sitting dormant in my Playground Buttons container. It was one of those cards that once you put it together you think "Oh wow it actually looks ok!!!"

Oh and I have to say a huge thank you to Amanda for posting the tutorial on how to take great photos of your cards. I took all of your advice (including sitting on the paving outside with my "photo box" perched on an old outdoor table) and was really happy with the result. Thank you!

I'll sign off now with a promise of more frequent blogging

Louise x

My Little Ray of Sunshine - Just Add Ink Challenge Entry 3

I've been a little bit naughty today. I have a whole lot of cards that have been ordered by friends and friends of friends (which is so exciting and definitely keeping me on my stamping toes) - sixteen of which are to be finished, packaged up and delivered tomorrow. So what have I done this morning??? Have I completed the six remaining cards for tomorrow's order??? No of course I haven't - instead I have been creating my entry for this week's Just-Add-Ink Challenge. Naughty Me!!!!

The thing is I have had the idea for my entry ever since I saw the sketch challenge on Friday but today it all finally came together in my mind and I just had to create it. Here is the sketch:



Now I have not attempted a scrapbook layout for a very long time but low and behold my entry this week is a 12" x 12" scrapbook page!!!! When I first saw the challenge sketch all I could see was a sun and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it out of my head. Then with the image of the sun in my head all I could think of was "You are my sunshine". And of course when I thought of those lines all I could think of was the little ray of sunshine in my life - my Elliot. After finding the perfect photo it all just fell together into a scrapbook layout and so I found myself away from the world of cards for a while - and you know what it was fun!!!!

So here is my creation:




I've done some zoom ins so that you can all see the little details - however I think I need to get my camera booklet out because no matter how hard I try my photos just don't seem to look like others I see on blogs.




Anyhow.......you can see on this photo that the sunbeams have the little words "You are my sunshine" (from the Something Sweet stamp set) stamped on them. I used the cupcake icing from the Big Bold Birthday stamp set to make my Baja Breeze clouds:



These little flowers from the "For Everything" stamp set have always looked like little suns to me so I had to add them to my page too. I decided to use them to jazz up the ribbon that was splitting my page:



I decided to use chipboard and rub-ons (both non-SU!) for the title of my page "Sunshine of my life". I inked the chipboard with my Craft Whisper White ink pad and really liked how it turned out:


Ingredients:

Stamp Sets: Something Sweet; For Everything; Big Bold Birthday
Card/Paper: Whisper white (textured); So Saffron; Sweet Slumber DSP
Ink: Baja Breeze; Chocolate Chip; So Saffron; Whisper White
Other: Chocolate Chip 1" Double-stitched Grosgrain ribbon; Linen
Thread; Circle Scissors; Designer buttons; chipboard &
rub-ons (non-SU!)

So there you have it - my first scrapbook layout in a very, very long time and my entry into this week's Just-Add-Ink Challenge. I hope you like it as much as I do. I know one person who will love it for sure - Elliot's nanny (hi Mum x x x )

Now I must get back to those cards!!!!

Louise x

Just Add - Hearts

I am really, really enjoying participating in the challenges on the Just-Add-Ink website at the moment. This week the second challenge set by the girls was to Just Add - Hearts. The idea popped into my head straight away as I have been dying to use this little sheep from my new Pun Fun stamp set. Everything else fell into place after that and I am really happy with how the card turned out. So here it is:




"Love You" Card
Stamp Sets: Pun Fun; Simply Said (Big heart); Something Sweet (little hearts); Basic Phrases
Card/Paper: Very Vanilla; Close to Cocoa; Pink Pirouette; Candy Lane DSP
Ink: Riding Hood Red; Close to Cocoa; Pink Pirouette
Other: Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon; Button Bouquet button; Aqua Painter; Paper piercing tool; Scallop edge punch


I am busy, busy, busy at the moment with quite a few card orders but am absolutely loving it. I have my passion and motivation back and am really enjoying creating.

Will be back later when I get a chance to chat about Team Day and show you some of the examples of cards we made on the day.

Have a lovely day,

Louise x