INKYART

FREE to a good home!

YES ... that's right .... he's FREE to a good home!  Look what he has done ...

How could he?  Shoes I can just about live with ... my boots ... well okay it's spring time and I won't need them for a while but .... a STAMP .... that's a crime ... and I needed it for Thursday night!

Here's the card we will be making .... although now the sentiment will be .... well .... different!

This is the my second entry for the JAI challenge this week to 'Just Add Blue' - the Just Add Ink team are raising awareness for the charity Beyond Blue who work  depression and anxiety .... the second part of the challenge was to send the creation as a Random Act of Kindness (RAK).  Now I really love RAK's ... because whenever I receive them I really appreciate the sentiment behind them .... to receive a note from someone out the blue makes you feel loved, cherished and remembered.

So whilst Spencer may have tried to eat a whole stamp ... and isn't yet forgiven .... this card is winging its way to someone who is very much loved, very much cherished and very much remembered ... very often :)

And if there is anyone out there that wants a free six month old schnoodle be sure to leave a comment and I'll post him to you ...... LOL

Happy Birthday Miss Emma

Yes my beautiful Niece Emma is turning 13 today .... can she really be that old?  I miss my nieces and nephews as they all live in England ... and they are all growing up so fast.

I love this style of card - I've made this one several times .... its a CASE from a lovely friend of mine Christine Blain.  

So Happy Birthday Miss Emma, the Sadlers hope you have a super super birthday.

Love from Auntie Nikki, Uncle Paul, Olivia, Kieran, Max and Spencer (woof woof).

xoxoxoxoxoxo 

JAI Challenge #29

The girls at JAI have a colour challenge this week - I did like these colours when I saw them but I actually struggled to include Kraft - yes I know ... shock horror!

Now I am really not sure about this card ... I like the ribbon detail - that's been in my head for a little while now but I am not sure about the placement of the flower.  I've used the So Swirly wheel and a Rose Red ink pad for the background .... the floral stamp is from the Tiny Tags set  and the sentiment from Pocket Silhouettes ... you can see I fiddled with this for a while can't you.

The ribbon is the 1/4" grosgrain, I've knotted little bits along a main peace - Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla.  Oh and I've sponged a bit here and there too.

 

Happy Birthday Nicky

Oh yes another May birthday ... this time a friend from England.  We had some great times together when we lived in the same street in Scotland, but I left to live here and Nicky moved to England.  So now we exchange emails from time to time cards for special occasions.

As you can see I have been having fun with the Big Shot again - and this time I have used my favourite technique of brayering and sponging to create a cute card.  The little polka dots are from the impressions folder and the top note die cut has been trimmed to fit the card.

Then I've used some sponging to create a scene upon which I have set a cute little bird - he (or is it she) is the Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch - this punches the bird in three parts ... very handy and I can see this punch being very useful for creating other things too.

So Nicky I hope you enjoy your card and have a fantastic day - the Sadler family do miss the fun times we all had in Scotland.

Love from Paul, Nikki, Olivia, Kieran and Max 

xxxx

Inspired to Scrapbook for Stampamemory

Where do you get your inspiration from for your scrapbooking layouts?  

I have found over the years that I have been scrapbooking, that titles come to me whilst I am actually taking photos .... not difficult really considering I am always behind the lens but I often visualise my page before I have even taken the photos! 

Pop on over to Stampamemory for my latest creation .... and don't forget to enter the challenge ... there is a lovely stamp set from the Autumn Winter mini up for grabs as a prize!

 

Happy Mother's Day to Our Mums!

Okay for my Australian and American friends you can breath ... it's okay ... it's Mother's Day in the UK this weekend!

And to celebrate here is another Sweet Treat creation.

Now I have CASE'd this 'sort of' and I was hoping that by the time you read this I would have found the original owner .... but as usual I didn't write down the lady's name - if you know who you are can you me know.

I thought the idea of a butterfly underneath a magnifying glass was so brilliant I had to make one myself ... hence that call to Sue Madex to ask her to stamp the handles from the Sweet Something stamp set.

The butterfly is from the Butterfly Prints set and I've used the matching punch - I can't believe that I will only be demoing this for another couple of weeks - I have a sneaky suspicion that it will be back in the new Ideas Book and Catalogue in September.

I've used Upsy Daisy and Pocket Silhouettes to create the flowers and Whimsical Words for the sentiment.

The ribbon technique at the bottom is so simple .... if you check this post over at the Stamp-a-Memory site you'll find my easy instructions - have a go ... it looks really effective.

Well that's it for the Sweet Treat creations for a little while - I hope you have enjoyed them.

Happy Mother's day to my Mum and and to my mother-in-law Pauline - we all hope you are having a lovely day.

 

Lovely As A Tree

Every time I see this stamp set I love it ... so when I was choosing my sets when I became a demonstrator in May, it was top of my list!  It is so versatile and I've seen it used in so many ways - I'm working on some Christmas cards - sparkly trees (yum) - so watch this space.

I've got two cards to show you today; this one is using the brayer, good old Old Olive and So Saffron with Chocolate Chip - my favourite colours teamed with Real Red ink - have you noticed?

This one is the same colours but I've taught myself to tie a mean looking bow ... it took me so long to tie the bow but I got there in the end ... could I do it again or show you how to do it?   Hummm ... I'd better do some more practicing - lol.  The little greeting is from the Pocket Silhouettes set.

I've spaced the brads using a neat little tool called the Mat Pack - used for paper piercing; I used it all the time to make sure that things are spaced evenly - a really great gadget.

That's it for today - I am sure that I will be showing you this stamp set again .... I love it!

Happy stampin

Nikki

x

First day in blogland!

It's a big day today .. my first post and my first Stampin Up! workshop!  I've spent the last month organising myself for the workshop with two make and takes and I am as ready as I will ever be.  

I've been thinking about this blog for so long now that I can't really believe that I am actually composing the first post.  I have so many ideas spinning around in my head that it feels great to finally be making a start.  Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to take the plunge ... you'd had better keep popping by to read or else there will be trouble!

So welcome to the InkyArt blog, I hope that over the coming months this will grow into a great resource for inspiration and ideas that will motivate you to create something for yourself and your family.  

As this blog is primarily a resource for card making and scrapbooking ideas, I thought I'd start with the two make and takes from today's workshop - the first is using the brayer (Olivia asked me 'what is a brayer' ... 'it is a roller that you use to achieve uniform inking of larger stamps or special background effects' said I - she looked very impressed!) and the stamp set Pocket Silhouettes.

I really love how this card works - looks difficult but is a really easy effect to achieve. 

Brayer first the So Saffron ink to completely cover a glossy white card stock square.  Then punch a 1 1/4" circle from scrap paper and temporarily stick in position.  Then using the brayer again, this time with the Real Red ink, completely cover the card stock ... making sure that you have a clean cirle (almost a halo) around the circle piece of scrap paper.  Remove the scrap of paper and hey presto ... a setting sun!   

The pocket Silhouette flowers and grasses are perfect to add to the bottom of the brayered card .... and this ribbon bow using the double rectangle punch is a new favourite for me ... just so easy and effective.

The recipe for this card is as follows:

Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes

Card Stock: Old Olive, Glossy White, Chocolate Chip and So Saffron

Ink: So Saffron, Real Red and Chocolate Chip

Ribbon: 5/8" (1.6cm) Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

Other: Brayer, 1 3/8" Circle punch, Eyelet Border punch, Double Rectangle punch

My second card is using a technique called Reverse Masking.

I loved the look of this card when I saw it on the Stampin Up! Demonstrators website.  Again using another favourite stamp set Baroque Motifs (I bought it for the wonderful swirl which I'll showcase sometime for you, I've used this set heaps of times).  

So the recipe for this one is as follows:

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs

Card Stock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Kraft

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Ribbon: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon

Other: 1 3/8" Circle punch (you could use the 1 1/4" if you wish), Scallop Edge punch

Well there you have it, I'll be back very soon with more to inspire and motivate you to create .... I'm joining in the Making Merry Monday's with Anita Meade with a great ambition to post a new Christmas card every Monday between now and Christmas .... so catch you Monday.

If you'd like more in depth instructions on either of these cards just email or leave a comment - if you'd like to book a workshop so that you can make these cards too, just let me know.

Nikki

x