Ingenious Inkling

Link Love

Here are a few of my favorite links from blog reading this week:

• I used to love embroidering with my grandma ... now I've been thinking more about stitching on paper.  The Hand Embroidery Network is a great resource for learning new stitches.
• Yummy taco soup that sounds perfect for the cooler weather.
• Adorable Sesame Street Lollipop covers
• Great ideas for organizing magazines
• A great pattern for making those magazines and junk mail into fun gift bags.
• This singing reindeer card cracks me up
• Amazing flower embellishments made from recycled leather purses

And make sure you take some time to check ou the Caardvarks Blog on Saturday. 

Every hour on the hour we'll be featuring designs by some of our favorite creative souls.  I assure you, there will be inspiration overload.

And don't forget the next Caardvarks challenge will post on October 5th.

Wicked

I decided to stick with the Halloween theme again and ink up this fun new Witches Boots stamp from Northwoods.  I used Basic Grey Eerie papers and this week's CPS sketch 135 for my design.

I colored the boots with prismacolor pencils using the lighter colors to blend.  The background was sponged with punchinella, and I cut the sentiment from a Michael's $1 stamp.

Love those wicked boots.

BWA-HA-HA-HA

I realized I don't have very many Halloween cards made, and I have several stamps in my stash that haven't seen ink.  I picked up this fun Martha Stewart fence on clearance a few years ago, and the sentiment was from a set from last year. I used today's Super Sunday Sketch from 365 Cards.

I found this scrap of handmade marbled paper in my stash and thought it made a perfect Halloween sky.  I finished with a double layered ribbon, a ghost from the $1 bin at Michael's, and a few punched bats.

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA ...

Brighter Days

This week's SCS Featured Stamper is NancyRuth.  I chose her All Sales Final, CC196 card for my inspiration.  I loved the layout and the Heidi Swapp Chandelier.  I changed up the Colors, DP, and Sentiment, and omitted the marker-drawn frames.

To create the background, I sponged through Punchinella ... love the effect.  The Chandelier is stamped on Memory Box Inspire DP and finished with a Simply Stamped sentimentand ribbon corner.  Thanks for the inspiration NancyRuth.

Final SketchFest Sketch

It's hard to believe the Caardvarks SketchFest has come to an end.  Thanks so much to all of you who have joined the fun ... it's been a blast.  I've discovered lots of new blogs and seen tons of inspiration.

Today's sketch has lots of fun layers.  I was able to incorporate lots of fun elements from the Studio Calico kit into my design, including that great shaped paper.  This card makes me want to go on vacation.

Can't wait to see what you create.

Lost in Space

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge website ~ The Pajama Squid ~ was suggested by Kelly (aka schirmcat) of the Gingham Girl.  She loved the whimsical designs and great name ... and I did too.

My card was inspired by this fabulous Space Bibby Mom N Mia Quilts.  I loved those fabulous space themed designs, as well as the contrast of the yellow and orange, so those are the elements I incorporated into my design.

I stamped Blip, Bloop, and Rocket from the Starving Artistamps Urban collectionin Versamark ink on yellow cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I added a tiny Hero Arts sentiment in the window of the Rockets.  Then, I used my ranger blending tool with Tangerine and Pumpkin Spice inks to cover the entire piece of cardstock.

I trimmed the panel to fit a 4"x8" card and used my ticket punch on the corners.  I finished with sheer orange ribbon and a punched sentiment using the same emboss resist technique.  II used a scallop punch twice to get a more masculine medallion.  I tied several smaller pieces of ribbon around the knot to get the effect behind the sentiment.

I hope you find inspiration.

Friday SkechFest Fun

I can't believe it's Friday already ... having a sketch a day this week has really made the time fly by. 

Heidi has another great sketch for us today ... I love repeating squares.

I cut letters from designer paper for the squares and then added a foam thickers '2' to finish the sentiment.  I used a tag and calendar dates to make a one-of-a-kind birthday card for my fabulous sister-in-law Mia.  I love the cool travel themed background paper that was included in our Studio Calico kit.

Thursday Sketch Fun

The SketchFest at Caardvarks has been a blast so far ... and today's sketch by the amazing Heidi Van Laar is another fabulous one.   I really love the combination of round and square elements.

To incorporate the cool shape of the designer paper, I extended my sketch to a 4" x 8" design.  I used more of those tiny word stickers at the top and fun foam thickers for the bottom element.  I combined them with a punched heart to finish the design.

Can't wait to see what you create. 

Wednesday Caardvarks Sketch

I have had a lot of fun looking at all of the Sketch cards for this weeks Caardvarks / Studio Calico Sketchfest.  I particularly enjoyed all of the fun takes on the Tuesday sketch ... so many creative designs.

Heidi has another great sketch for us today.  Those layered panels have so many great possibilities.

For the base of my card, I used the piece of chipboard that was included with the word stickers.  I thought the printing on it was too cool to just recycle.

For one of the I incorporated the same number stamping as yesterday's card using the Studio Calico Digits Stamp.

I finished the design by incorporating the Tim Holtz Compass Mini Mask that I sponged with Pumpkin Pie and Chestnut Roan ink.

Can't wait to see what you create.

Heaven and Nature Sing

When I saw that JustRite Stampers was sponsoring this week's CPS Sketch, I knew I had to break out my new JustRite Christmas Treasures Borders and Centers (3 1/4").  A big thank you to JustRite for letting the Caardvarks Crew try out some of their stamp sets.

Even though my card design isn't particularly original, I do love these nice large images and the great sentiments that are included with the set.  The stamping was super-clean every time (it took me quite a few times to get the image centered correctly in my circle cutter, so I got to try it multiple times).  My favorite part is that I have one more holiday card completed. 

I had a difficult time figuring out what to use for the corner elements ... I finally settled on punched holly leaves.  I colored the Hero Arts Smooth Clear Gemstoneswith a metallic marker to create my holly leaves.  The image was colored with a combination of Sakura pens and colored pencils & the papers are Basic Grey Figgy Pudding.