Ingenious Inkling

Exciting News

I am thrilled to announce that I have been chosen as one of the newest members of the Jacksonbelle Embellishments design team.  I'm so excited to have the opportunity to create with this talented group of ladies.

I am slowly recovering from my tonsillectomy, and hope I turn the corner soon.  I created this card using a fun set of Basic Grey stamps called Critters & Treats together with Nutmeg papers from Cosmo Cricket.  I love how the colors of the cloud paper remind me of the gorgeous sunsets we saw while visiting my Gran in Arizona.

The caterpillar & lollypop tree were stamped on DP in Dark Brown and clear embossed.  I also trimmed a few leaves from the landscape paper, so they could be falling to the ground (so easy to attach with mini glue dots, a must-have in my creative process).  I finished with a few adhesive pearls from my stash to add some color to my tree.

I thought this Hero Arts sentiment was perfect for my design ... the scene reminded me of how sometimes we're so busy waiting for things to happen (i.e. for the caterpillar to turn into a butterfly) that we forget to appreciate the joy and wonder that is right now ... cherish every single moment.

Make sure you check out the other creations from the other Jacksonbelle Rockstars:

Lynda Benden: Stamp Act
Lindsey Botkin: Embellished
Tobi Crawford ~ Tobi’s Place
Jill Dunn: Ink Genious
Heather Lee-Reppen: The Best in Life
Jimmi Mayo ~ Stamping & Shopping
Michelle Philippi ~ Inside My Own Private Idaho
Carly Robertson ~ Paper in Bloom
Windy Robinson ~ Card and Page
Stephanie Severin ~ Ingenious Inkling
Shemaine Smith ~ Scraptastic
Amy Tsuruta ~ Tsuruta Designs

Christmas Past

The challenge at the Hero Arts blog this week is to make a card that incorporates or holds a gift.  When I saw Julee's Mojo Monday sketch, I realized it was the perfect layout for a gift card holder.

I started with a 4 1/4" x 12" strip of two-sided designer paper from Graphic 45 Christmas Past (two-sided works best because then you also have a coordinating design on the inside).  Score the paper at 3 1/2" at the top and 3" at the bottom, so that the top flap overlaps.  Use strong, thin, two-sided tape on each side of the bottom flap to form the pocket to hold the cash or gift card.

I attached a piece of striped paper along the top flap of the card and a tag from the Graphic 45 collection.  Waxed cotton cord (found in the jewelry section at Michael's) wraps around the card to hold the flaps closed.  The sentiment from Hero Arts Holiday Sayings was stamped in the margin of a vintage book page and accented with crystal gemstones to complete the design. 

Elusive Butterfly Spotlight

Today's SCS Featured Stamper is Benzi.  I chose her StampinB Vintage Thanks card for my inspiration.

I stamped the Elusive Butterfly Poppy Collageonce on Ivory cardstock and again on a scrap of K&Company Que Sera Sera DP for the spotlights.  I replaced the flowers in her design with a double spot-light and omitted the embossing from the background.  Thanks for the inspiration.
 

Find Joy Everyday

I will start this post with a disclaimer that I am creating under the influence of pain medications.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to be doing a lot to relieve the pain from my tonsillectomy, but they do make me a bit off-balanced.  My throat pain is still raging, but it felt good to get out of my cocoon on the couch for a little while.

Allison posted this sketch from a new (to me) Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  I decided to use it to add a masculine card to my stash.

Papers are K & Company Hopscotch boy collection; main image is sandylion Rouge de Garance Kiddie's Corner Clear stamps; and sentiment is Hero Arts Anytime Messages.

I made the pinwheel accent using a square of 2-sided DP and a glue dot in the center to hold it all together.

Now, it's back to my recovery cocoon.  I hope you find joy today ... and every day.
 

Prussian Blue Snowflakes

This week's challenge at the Get Sketchy blog is to make a card featuring your favorite color.  The ink pad I have to replace most often is my Prussian Blue, and I particularly love that color for winter designs as featured in these Penny Black Let It Snow stickers.

I added touches of Star Dust Stickles to the snowflakes and stars.  Such a quick and easy card using this week's Everything But the Kitchen Sink sketch.
 

Elusive Butterfly Thanks

After seeing card after gorgeous card that Godelieve made with these fabulous Elusive Butterfly Poppy Collage stamps, I knew I had to have them.  

 
Thank You cards are the next need on my list, so I used Unscripted Sketch #36 and a Thanks from Victorine Originals to complete the design.

Autumn Wings

A friend gave me some cool Pebbles Snapshots photo stickers for my birthday, so that is where I started my design for Sketch 45 from CardPatterns.  I punched circles from two of the stickers for the main images, and designed the card around that color and theme.  It took a while to find papers (Basic Grey Mellow) and design elements from my stash that worked with the fall colors, however I love how it came together.

I cut a Stampin' Up Skeleton leaf in two for the corner elements.  As I was thinking about what to place in the center, I remembered Lucy's Strings & Wings challenge, so I incorporated that into my design.  The Butterfly was punched from a paint chip, sponged around the edges, and accented with some Martha Stewart pearls.  I finished with an EK Success Border punch on the edges, a few wraps of twine, and a thanks tile sticker.
 

Got Yellow Snow?

The challenge at Embellish On-line was to combine these colors with a snowflake-themed card.

While it seemed a bit odd to create a card with yellow snow, I decided to embrace the colors and move past it.

I covered a piece of Spring Rain paper with the Spellbinders Snowflake Impressabilities and sponged on Chocolate ink to create the background.  Then I sprayed on a couple of spritzes of Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist ... what a fabulous shimmer.l

I added some yellow punched snowflakes and apparently the only winter themed sentiment (from A Muse) in my collection that doesn't scream Christmas (note to self, get more snow / winter sentiments).  Do any of you have some favorites I should check out?

I finished with some yellow velvet rick-rack ... for some reason when I make a snow card I always want some soft texture in the design ... probably be snow in the real world always requires that I wear my soft hat, scarf and mittens (which, after 10 inches this week, I've been wearing every day).
  

All know the Way

I'm in love ... seriously in love ... with this week's CPS Sketch.  As soon as I saw it, I had to stop what I was doing and go create.  All of the fabulous layers just scream for a combination of designer paper scraps.

My finished card is 4"x7".  Papers are Basic Grey Marrakech and stamps are Artistic Outpost Thai Buddha collection (both the main panel and stamping on the small blue strip).  I added a few Stampendous Class A Peel stickers for a final accent.
 

Babar Hello

This week's SCS Inspiration Challengecomes from the fabulous Etsy store of SushiPot.  I fell in love with her SushiPot blocks made with fabulous vintage images, particularly this collection of the four snow themed images.

I love the way she frames portions of images in her blocks.  I went through my collection of vintage book pages and found several pages from a Babar the Elephant children's book (thanks to Lauren who shared some of her vintage goodies with me), one of my favorites from childhood. 

I decided on a 2" block for my design.  When want to use a fixed size shape on a card, I will cut or punch a matching opening out of cardstock and then place of the opening over the image, moving it around until it frames the portion I want.  Then I use an erasable pencil to mark the corners where I want to cut.

For this design, I kept it simple letting the images speak for themselves.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's All Year Cheer.  I used Cor'dinations cardstock for the base, so I could sand the edges to resemble the block design.

I hope you find inspiration.