Ingenious Inkling

Best Day Ever

This card started with the Basic Grey Mix 'n Match challenge ... I used papers from Life of the Party (background & sentiment circle); PB&J (red) and Picadilly (blue).  The layout is from Seize the Birthday and was inspired by this gorgeous CASE Study Card by Maille Bellis.

I also incorporated this week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge for the 100th Challenge Celebration ... I went with the diagonal combination of Punches, Bling & Birthday.

Here's my card ... the bling is red pearls ... and I used two circle punches & two star punches ... sentiment is from Catslife Press ... you can fill in the recipient's birthday to personalize the card.

PB&J Floral Fusion

Tonight I decided to play along with this week's Fusion Card Challenge.  The floral pattern inspired me to go thorugh my designer papers and find an all-over floral pattern ... which I found in Basic Grey's PB&J Collection.

And since chemistry was one of my favorite classes, I couldn't resist the Fusion Option to combine the pattern with the sketch.

I added pieces of other papers fron the collection together wtih a layered bloom ... I finished with one of my hoarded EAD Designs Vinyl Rub-ons ... I know I've said it before, but I really wish someone would make those again ... I just love how they pop on patterned paper.

Tiny Packages

It's the 4 Year Blog-iversary at Unscripted Sketches ...

and we're celebrating wtih another great sketch ... and lots of great chances to win some goodies ... there are lots of different ways to be eligible for some prizes, so make sure you join the celebration fun.

This week I need congratulations cards for some new Grandparents.  I started by die cutting the Hero Arts New Baby Elephant from White Felt and stamping the image in India Ink.

I stamped the elephant again on the scrap of the Basic Grey What's Up background paper to cut out the tiny heart for his ear.  I finished with the perfect little Memory Box sentiment and a wrap of coordinating ribbon.  It's perfect for the Clean & Simple Challenge at the Basic Grey Challenge Blog. 

Since I needed several cards, I kept creating using different papers.

This time I went with greys and yellows with a wrap of grey twine.

Since these cards are for Grandmas, I'm also joining the Just for Her Challenge at Hero Arts.

When There Are No Words

Unfortunately I've needed several of these cards lately ... so I needed to make some to replenish my stash.  Love this sentiment from Outlines because it works for so many of those difficult times in life when there really are no words.

I used a layout from Tuesday Morning Sketches (the card base is scored, but I had a heck-of-a-time getting it to show-up in the photograph) together with colors from this week's Dynamic Duos.

I used Basic Grey What's Up paper for the Clean and Simple Challenge at the Basic Grey Challenge Blog.

Bling-Tastic Holidays

We're still Bringing on the Bling at the Jingle Belles Blog this week.

I started with a gorgeous glittery Papaya Arts Holiday Glitter Sticker.  I added an SRM Sticker sentiment.  Next I used some Basic Grey Lucille papers which coordinated perfectly ... and then added lots of black flourish bling.  Where the two flourishes overlapped at the bottom left looked a bit odd, so I added a flower as a final embellishment.

With my cute little holiday birdie, I'm joining the Things with Wings Challenge at CCEE Stampers.

Peace on Earth

We're still celebrating neutral colors at Jingle Belles this week ... last week I created with black and silver ... this week my card is composed of various shades of browns and tans.

The Memory Box Flowering Christmas Tree is cut from Wood Grain paper from Basic Grey's Life of the Party Collection ... which is perfect for the Woodgrain Challenge at the City Crafter Challenge.  Next I layered papers from DCWV's new White Fern Stack.  I finished with an A Muse sentiment and tan pearls to decorate my tree.

Layout is this week's Cardabilities Sketch.

Runway Black Dress

I love the photo for this week's Runway Inspired Challenge ... Moschino Cheap & Chic.  I incorporated some glittery sparkle ... fuchsia & black ... and Basic Grey's Little Black Dress papers.

I die cut a Stampin' Up doily from fuchsia glitter paper ... and layered on Basic Grey papers.

I added a wrap of black paper source ribbon, button & SRM Sticker Sentiment using this week's Basic Grey Sketch.

Happy Flower Medley

My goodies arrived from my Hero Arts win, so I had to ink one up ... the focal point for my Unscripted Sketch card is an image called Flower Medley, which is perfect for the Hello Spring Card Challenge at Hero Arts.  I inked it with Ranger Cobalt Archival ink and clear embossed.  I used Spectrum Noir DR1 to color in one of the blooms for a bit of pop.

I used designer paper with a mesh-like design from Basic Grey's PB&J Collection.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Birthday 4 and the bottom is Hero Arts Lattice background.  I added a thin strip of red cardstock & a punched red butterfly for a little more pop of color.

I'm also joining the Spring is in the Air Challenge at the Basic Grey Challenge Blog & the Free Style Challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

Lots of Love

There are several challenges this week that are encouraging the same *negative* behavior ... Crazy 4 Challenges is Being Negative ... Just Us Girls has a challenge to use the negative of a die cut ... and the Moxie Fab World Blog has an Accentuating the Negative Challenge.

Since I was going *negative* I decided to make a card with a *positive* theme ... Love.

I used the negative of a heart die cut and a multi-heart punch for this love-themed design ... the layout is I {heart} Card Sketches No. 9.  The background is Hero Arts / Basic Grey Arrow Background from the Tue Love Collection ... stamped in Black, Clear Embossed, and spritzed with Strawberry Daquiri Memories Mists.

I attached my die cuts to silver glitter cardstock and finished with a border punch & SRM Sticker Sentiments.

Bamboo Bloom

There are some adorable new Baby Bamboo stamps from the Party Paws Collection at Crafter's Companion releasing on March 6th ... here's a little sneak peak from one of the sets.

When I was young, I collected teddy bears ... and my favorite was my pink bear wtih orange button eyes that was my faithful companion for years.  While Baby Bamboo is an adorable Panda, I chose to turn him into my pink childhood teddy bear using paper piecing and ink sponging with some Basic Grey papers.

I stamped the flower twice adhering the center with a super-thick glue dot for dimension.  The sketch is from this week's i {heart} card sketches.

I embossed my paper strips using the 6" x 6" Embossalicious Floral Frenzy embossing folder (love having the bigger folder ... and it still fits through my Cuttlebug.

My design was also inspired by this week's For Your Inspiration photo ... love all of that fabulous pink.

I'm also joining the Use Embossing theme at the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge.

Here's a close-up shot of my cute little bear.

You can see more previews from the other design team members or on the Crafter's Companion Facebook Page.

PS ... I started a Facebook Page for my blog, if you want to click-on-over and *like*