Ingenious Inkling

Marine Corps Birthday

I used this week's Unscripted Sketch to create a birthday card for my nephew Josh.  He enjoys participating in ROTC and plans to join the military after he graduates from high school, so I made him a Marine-themed design. 

Since there's a Piggyback Challenge at Unscripted Sketches this week to add ink to your design (could be stamping, pen, anything inky)  I inked up Hero Arts Distress Frame with Blue Iris ink and grunged-up the corners a bit. Paper is from Bo Bunny's Liberty Collection, dimensional stickers are from K&Company and sentiment is an EAD Designs Rub-on.

Bo Bunny Timepiece Card Kit

Bo Bunny had card kits on sale at Scrapbook Steals this week ... and since the choices included several of my favorite collections, and my stash of miscellaneous cards is a bit depleted, I decided to give it a try.  

This post includes four of the cards I made with the Timepiece Collection.  The Card Kit includes everything you need to make 8 cards for a variety of occasions.  

This tie reminds me of the clip-on ties my dad wore when I was young ... and it made me smile.  I did need to add some foam tape under the edges of the sentiment pieces to keep everything level over the chipboard heart.

The *old-school* rub-ons reminded me who I almost exclusively use EAD Designs Vinyl Rub-ons.  I had several mis-cues when trying to get the rub-ons to adhere, but I did like the sentiment size & fonts.  

For this card, I used an EAD clear sticker for the sentiment since I wanted another multiple birthday cards & there was only one birthday sentiment.

I loved that there was a combination of chipboard & cardstock stickers.  It really ads visual interest to the designs.  I did do some sanding and trimming to remove the little nibs left after punching out the cardstock from the sheets.  

For this card, I did add a ribbon scrap around the chipboard key rather than using the included ribbon sticker.

One of my general pet peeves about printed die cuts is that the images don't align with the cuts (as you can see in the pocket watch on the right where there is more border on the right side than the left), but it was minor and mostly works with the *grungier* theme of this collection.  

I liked that the card bases were different sizes and had details like die cut edges & faux stitching, although the card base papers were thinner than the cardstock I usually use (however they all stood-up on their own for photographing, even with heavier chipboard stickers attached).  

All-in-all the card kit was very well done with clear instructions (embellishments were numbered) and it really stayed true to the design elements I love about this collection. 

Writing the Story of Your Life

At the Bo Bunny Blog this week, the Card Challenge Tuesday sketch theme is love.  This was perfect, since I needed to create an Anniversary Card.

I used a combination of papers from Bo Bunny's Gabrielle Collection together with stamps from Creschendoh & Hero Arts, a rub-on sentiment from Random Words by EAD Designs, and a Memory Box Kaleidoscope Butterfly die cut ... and of course the center piece of my creation ... a lovely crocheted paper circle I received from One Crafty Mama.

I die cut the butterfly three times & layered two colors togehter for the wings and added a third color for the body.

Here's another card I made using the sketch (confession ... this was actually the first card I made before I realized that even though I read the *love* theme in the challenge post, I completely forgot about it in the 5 seconds it took me to walk from my computer to my studio table ... although I suppose I could stretch and say that sending anyone a card for their birthday is an act of *love*).

For this card I used Bo Bunny's Blast Off! Collection.  I punched some additional stars from the green paper and added them with foam tape for a bit of dimension in my sky.  I finished with an EAD Design white rub-on sentiment and a spaceship & a star sticker.

Congratulations On a Job Well Done

I picked-up this Technique Tuesday Eye Chart stamp to make some masculine Congratulations cards.  Since my stamp is vertical, I flipped this week's Mojo Monday Sketch for my layout.  

Papers are a favorite masculine collection ... Bo Bunny's Timepiece ... on a kraft card base.  The Sketch is perfect for using those hoarded scraps.  I extended my vertical flag piece beyond the card base to help balance the larger size of my sentiment stamp.

I broke out my new Hero Hues Earth Dots as my embellishment ... perfect for masculine designs.  I added a bit of foam for some dimension to my layers.  The clocks were cut from the designer paper.

PS ~ and thanks to Beth for telling me about The Kraft Journal Anything Goes Challenge.

Butterfly Kaleidoscope

Did you know a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope ... love that ... so I decided to create my own little kaleidoscope tonight.

I discovered a new sketch challenge from The Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps Blog at TesaB's, and it looked perfect for the task.  So I retreated to my craft room and created my card while watching two of my favorite comedies ... the amazing Zooey Deschanel as Jess in The New Girl (we find ourselves repeating lines from the show all week) ... and the always hilarious ensemble from Raising Hope.

I started my design with Brenda Walton paper from K&Company and added a bit of Bo Bunny Et Cetera paper to help pull out the orangey colors in the butterflies.  Next, a few pieces of Tim Holtz Tissue Tape and a CatsLife Press Sentiment ... then came the butterflies ... and a few flowers too.

They are all 3-D sticker embellishments from K&Company ... the kind I usually hoard ... but today I decided, the more the merrier ... and I love the effect.

Bo Bunny Blitzen

It's Card Challenge Tuesday at the Bo Bunny Blog, so I pulled out my Bo Bunny Blitzen papers for a classic holiday card design.

I love that the sketch allowed me to trim a 6" piece of paper for both my background and my beautiful "two turtle dove" focal image.

A few chocolate pearls and an EAD Designs rub-on sentiment, and another holiday card is ready for the season.

Seize the Day

My Mind's Eye has posted a new sketch with a challenge to include brown.  I used paper from the Lost & Found Sunshine collection for my card.

I added an EAD Designs Stickerz Sentiment ... they have two new sheets of tiny sentiments that will fit inside a one-inch circle or square.

The butterflies were stickers, so I added a bit of powder to the back to remove the stickiness, so I could attach them with dimension.

Timepiece Sympathy

This sympathy card features this week's Bo Bunny Card Sketch Tuesday together with Bo Bunny Timepiece papers.

Sentiment from Hero Arts With Sympathy set was stamped in dark brown and clear embossed, so it would stand out more against the background paper.  I finished with Hero Arts flowers, adhesive lace, and brown pearls.

Thanks to everyone who voted for my Market Street Stamps card ... I didn't win, but was thrilled to be a finalized & truly appreciated your support.  You still have a chance to get in on my craft room clean-out rubber stamp giveaway.