Ingenious Inkling

Lucy Meets Kazan

Tonight I combined Lucy's first color challenge with Kazan's Sketch #40 from 2 Sketches 4 You. 

I used my favorite kraft paper that comes in the bulk packages at Hobby Lobby ... I love the grocery-sack like texture of the paper and the slight variations in color.

I dug out my long-neglected Stampin' Up So many Scallops set for a birthday design.  I used A Muse micro dot twinkle stickers for the candle flames.  The polka dot embossing folderis from QuicKutz (love the look with textured card stock) & the String of Beads corner punch is EK Success.

And of course, it wouldn't be a Lucy inspired design if I didn't include a touch of white twine.

Happy Turkey Day ... hope yours is filled with love & laughter. 

Scrap Buster Autumn Tree

Today's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger is this fabulous Scrap Buster tree from Cluck Cluck Sew.  I loved the idea of making leaves from a combination of patterns.  The sketch is CPS 143.

I used papers from the Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg Mini Deckand PaperTreyInk Vintage Cream cardstock.  The fall tree from Morningstar Stamps was stamped in Chestnut Roan, and it was adorned with fall leaves punched from the designer paper.   I finished with very tiny mushrooms from Niko Art.  Sentiment is from Rosie's Roadshow.

Monday Link Love

Here are a few of my recent favorite blog finds:

• Free Vector Art ... so many fun possibilities
• Crocheting with raffia ... love this coaster
• A cool tutorial on how to create your own designer masking tape
• I love pound cake and this recipe for Almond Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake looks scrumptious
• This amazing pink tree made of punched leaves ... makes me want to get out all of my punches and see what kinds of trees I can create
• These amazing cards inspired me to order these gorgeous stamps from Art Journey ... can't wait until they arrive

Happy blurfing.

Wishing You

I love the fabulous colors in this week's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge ... and did you see those cool Pioneer Woman t-shirts??

I decided to combine the colors with Get Sketchy #15 and a cool Large Tropical Sheer  Raspberry Blossom and Moss leaves from Creative Impressions

The Light Aqua background was stamped in Versamark with Hero Arts Design Block Flourish and clear embossed because it reminded me of the flourished design in the t-shirt.  I tore a piece of Core'dinations Moss cardstock for the dual-colored edge.

 
The sentiment is from Wordsworth and the crystal flourish is Prima.  I finished with a punched lavendar flower and a light aqua gem.

Madison, Wisconsin Foodie Trip

Yesterday a friend and I took a road trip to Madison, Wisconsin to do some grocery shopping.  We loaded our car with coolers and grocery bags and went in search of new and different food discoveries.  I took my camera with me, but did a terrible job of actually taking any photographs.  I think I was probably just too overwhelmed with all of the fun food finds.

Our first stop was The Calico Bean Market in Dubuque, Iowa.  I love their spices, soups, and seasoning mixes.  I was sad that our favorite espresso steak seasoning rub has been discontinued.  I also love the grapefruit jelly slices (as evidenced by the empty space in the basket where I removed two bags to take with me).  They will also ship all of their delicious foods around the country.

In Madison, we explored Whole Foods (so many fun food samples) where I found everything from freshly made pineapple salsa to fabulous holiday truffles.  After that, we were off to Penzeys, the land of spices.  I picked up refills for our vanilla sugar and also tried the new Penzeys cinnamon blend.  Next we stopped for lunch at Himal Chuli, which serves Nepali Cuisine.  There were so many delicious sounding dishes, but I settled on the Aloo Gobi Tarkari with Roti and Dal.

The Tarkari was a stew of carrots, peas, cauliflower and potatoes simmered in turmeric, coriander, cumin, fresh garlic, and ginger.  The roti was a dense whole wheat bread.

The Dal was a wonderful soup with lentils, mixed beans, and fresh herbs on top.  I also had a refreshing Mango Lassi.

Our final stop was Trader Joe's where I got all sort of yummy holiday treats (can you say dark chocolate sea salt caramels).  

What a great food day ... I'm sure we'll try it again in the spring.
 
 

Peace Tree

Today's card is pure kismet.  Yesterday, I drooled (yes, I'm not ashamed to admit that this woman's creations often leave me staring at my computer screen with mouth wide open in amazement) over Birgit's (Biggan) Christmas Tree card that she created for the SCS Inspiration Challenge.  I knew it was an idea that I would have to "borrow" in the future.  Then last night, I saw that Lauren had created a Christmas Tree with a similar concept using torn scraps of designer paper (another borrow-worthy technique).

So today, Biggan is the SCS Featured Stamper, so it was just the push/kismet I needed to combine both techniques into my Peace Tree design.

This entire card is made from scraps (my scrap bin is currently overflowing).  I used a new Martha Stewart boarder punch on various scraps of blue papers (there's some Fiskars, K&Company, Cosmo Cricket, and who knows what else in the mix). 

I overlapped the strips on a large rectangle of scrap cardstock.  I found a Christmas tree clip art on the internet, sized it in Word, printed it on white paper, and cut it out for my template.  I used temporary adhesive to attach it on top of the layers, and then cut around it to form my tree.  At the bottom, I cut the background paper slightly smaller than the attached strips, so the bottom strip would hang-over for the base of the tree.

I finished with some sparkly wired ribbon, one of my favorite holiday sentiments from Catslife Press, a tiny punched star for the top of the tree, and Crystal Stickles garland for overall sparkle.  The finished card is a big one (6" square), so it will likely be tucked in with a gift rather than mailed on its own.
 

Roll With It

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the fabulous fabric buttons found in the Etsy store of aimoobaroo.  I love buttons, but I am particularly drawn to fabric buttons.  When I saw this great sushi set (which sold today), it reminded me of the A Muse Sushi set that I bought on our Summer Chicago Road Trip that I had never inked up.

The background paper is from Basic Grey's Granola line and reminded me of layered Ginkgo leaves.  I also wanted to incorporate the dark green from the buttons background.  The sketch is Cheryl's Bonus Sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You.

The images are stamped in Warm Green, clear embossed, and colored with Spica Glitter Pens.  I also used A Muse Circle Frames Mini Set and several pieces of dark green ribbon to finish the design.

Tomorrow I'm headed off with a friend for a Foodie Road Trip to Madison, Wisconsin ... Trader Joe's and Whole Foods here we come.
 

Making Years Count

Tonight I needed a very plain and simple masculine card with a hunting theme for a co-worker.  I used the CPS 142 sketch.

 
I've had this K&Company Hunting Embossed Paper in my stash for years.  I cut out one of the ducks for my embellishment and have it floating on knotted green ribbon.  I sponged the sentiment with brown and green inks for a camouflaged look.

Happy Friday.

Glee TV

It's been a long time since I've actually wanted to watch TV instead of creating in my studio ... but Glee ... Modern Family ... Flash Forward ... and V ... have all caught my attention. 

So I don't have any cards to show tonight ... but I do have a picture of me back in my own Glee days.

Yes, that's me on the left ... rockin' Delta Dawn.

PS - There are some really cool Christmas digi-stamps for free download until midnight Thursday at the Cutting Cafe.
 

Trimming Eskimo Kisses

This week's challenge at the Hero Arts blog is to use trimmings.  Today's cards featured scraps and trimmings that would otherwise be thrown away.  This week's Got Sketch? card sketch is a perfect design for using up some paper scraps (especially those pieces I trim from a 6" square to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card). 

I save all of my scraps from my 6" paper pads by tucking them back into the pad between the pages, so all of my collections stay together.  These trimmings are from the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses collection.

Hero Arts Holly Flourish Background and Holly Flourish Borderwere stamped in Versamark on cardstock scraps and embossed with Polysparkle embossing powder.  The Large Christmas Circle sentiment was stamped in Currant on a scrap of white and embossed with the same glittery powder.

My snowflake embellishment was made by layering a Martha Stewart Snowflake with a second different punched snowflake ("trimming' off the longer pieces) and a snowflake that was "trimmed" from a Jolee's corner element.