Ingenious Inkling

Spotlighted Hellos

Today's Featured Stamper is {Teneale} a Stampin' Up Demo from Australia.  I chose her Spotlighted Thoughts for my inspiration.

I changed the color palette to Bashful Blue, Black and Kraft.  I also shrunk the card size to 4 3/4" x 3 3/4".  The sentiment is from SU Lots of Thoughts & the tiny flowers on the tag are from a Studio G set.

Rather than stamping the background, I printed the new Demi Design Metro paper in black on Kraft cardstock.  They are fun retro designs that she named after the Brady Bunch characters ... this design is Carol.

Thanks ladies for the wonderful inspiration.

Peace Patience Kindness

This card combines this week's sketch from Our Creative Corner & the Share Your Spark Friday challenge to use designer paper.

The entire card is stamped on Basic Grey Sultry DP.  The Paper Bag Studio's The Chair was stamped in Rouge ColorBox Ink and sponged around the edges and attached with dimensional tape.

The second layer is Cornish Heritage Farms Open Circles Backgrounder was stamped in Rouge Ink on Green DP and clear embossed.  I sponged some Warm Green Chalk ink around the edges and added a touch of bling.

The bottom layer was sponged Pink Pastel ink.  I really love how the open circles in the backgrounder frame the chair.

Girly Elegance Anniversary Card

Finally, some creating for me this week. 

The whole post-flood experience still has my world a bit out of kilter.  I spent this morning volunteering with our United Way 211 Information line. 

When I came home, I laid down for a short nap ... which ended up lasting four hours.  Obviously I needed it, but it seriously cut into my creative time today :^)

This card uses Laura's Sketch #3 at 2 Sketches 4 You.  I always love a scalloped edge ... especially now that I have my Fiskars Threading Water punch, which makes it so easy.

I also wanted to do Sharon's Make it Girly! challenge.  I thought these elegant handmade shimmery papers were perfect for an anniversary card I need to get in the mail (click on the picture for a close-up of the gorgeous embossing).

Since this couple are two of my favorite love birds, I thought the rub-on from Luxe and the clear sentiment sticker worked perfectly.  I added some sheer gold ribbon to finish (I love knotting the ribbon because it allows me to put tiny glue dots under the knots to adhere without the adhesive showing).

Thanks ladies for the inspiration.

10-Minute Christmas in June Sketch

Sharon's Simply Stamped Challenge is to make a 10-minute card.  One of the easiest ways for me to produce quick cards is to start with a sketch and a theme. 

I decided to use Sketch #50 from Sketches! {by Tamara} and a theme of Christmas in June from the ladies at Daring Cardmakers (it's never too soon to get one more Holiday card done for 2008).

I chose my large DeNami Hope stamp for my focal point.  Rather than cut actual panels in my paper, I used my Snowflake Flurry from Stampendous to create the feel of three segments in my design (much quicker than measuring and cutting to keep within the 10-minute time limit). 

One of the quickest ways to complete a card is to stamp directly on DP.  I thought this Amy Butler paper from the Lotus mat stack looked a little like snowflakes. 

All three images were stamped in ColorBox Dark Iris and embossed with Transcendence clear embossing powder (when stamping on DP, embossing gives the image a bit more definition against the pattern and adds a bit of elegance to a quick design).

I added a Martha Stewart snowflake punched from silver glitter paper to finish the design. 

Twinkling Corn

I know I should be cleaning up from my weekend trip, but I had to make one card with my new goodies first.  Being surrounded by corn in Iowa has led me to develop a bit of a corn stamp collection.  I found this great corn image by Leigh Hannan from Impression Obsession at Stamp Thyme (I resisted the urge to buy the tomatoes too).

Today's SCS Featured Stamper is Michele Kovack (Chelemom).  I love browsing through other stamper's galleries to see how their style and techniques have changed over time.  I chose one of Michele's early cards, Twinkling H2Os, as my inspiration.  I loved the fun triangle sentiment and the idea of painting directly on my stamp.  I started with Yellow Rose on the corn and then added Key Lime and Moss Green to the rest of the plant.  I used my water brush to go back and fill in any lines that weren't completely solid (it's more difficult to cover thinner lines with the paint because it tends to just slide off and puddle in th grooves of the stamp).  I love the abstract effect.

The thank you sentiment is from Green Grass Stamps.  I used Bazzill Bling papers to go with the shimmer of the paints.  This card will be a thank you for my brother- & sister-in-law who graciously let us use their water during our recent water restrictions during the flood.  Thanks Michele for the inspiration.

Happy Summer Pocket

This card combines Kristina Werner's Color Challenge #13 (Rosewater Bedding from Tracy Porter) with the most recent sketch at Page Plans.

I made my pocket with Wild Wasabi stamped with a Fancy Pants flourish From the Garden in Lime Pastel.  I combined lots of fun summer stamps to finish the design.  (Stampendous Bikini, Hero Arts Summer Time Drink, Sideshow Stamps Lime, A Muse Happy Summer).

I usually prefer my soft drinks straight from the can or bottle ... no glasses or ice for me. 

However, there is one exception ... drinks from Sonic.  I love their ice (I always order extra ice so I have some to chew on after my drink is gone), add-in flavors, and foam cups.

This design reminds me of one of my favorite summertime treats ... a Sonic strawberry limeade.  This will be perfect to hold a Sonic gift card.

Thanks ladies for the wonderful inspiration.

Out of this World

This card combines three challenge ~ Allison's Up in the Air! with SCS sketch and color challenges (wild wasabi, taken with teal and white).  I wanted to try out my new Out of this World set from Inque Boutique.

I traced over the entire robot and sentiment with a turquoise Copic Spica Glitter pen for a little sparkle (looking at the picture, I probably should have done the same with the rocket).  I did color the window with clear sparkle pen, but it's difficult to distinguish in the photo.  I curled the rocket around my finger for a bit of rounded dimension and attached it with foam tape.

The background squares are stamped with a Galaxy stamp from Paper Parachute for a starry background.  The finished card is 5" square.

CPS ~ Thank You

Since I loved the color combination in my Scatter Joy card, I decided to use the scraps to do this week's sketch from CPS ... and I must admit, I'm procrastinating at bit because I need to put away the ink and start focusing on work that I brought home that needs to get done.  I hate when work cuts into my creative play time :^)

The stamped border is another image from Hero Arts Clear Flower Borders.  I love how easy it is to use clear border stamps.  The center is three layered marvy punches and a clear $1 stamp single sentiment (source unknown).  I added a tiny black jewel in the middle of the flower.

I love the crisp, clean look of this card ... another great sketch from the ladies at CPS.

Scatter Joy

Today's SCS featured stamper is Diane (Lost in the 60's).  I chose her beautiful Love is in the Air card for my inspiration, since I hadn't yet inked up those great birds from Inkadinkado's Birds Galore. 

I tried several times to do the vellum overlay she has on her design, but vellum and I aren't getting along today :^)  I don't have black pigment ink, so I stamped the birds in Ranger Archival black and embossed with Transcendence clear embossing powder (works with dye inks).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts. 

Of course, when I had the card almost completely done, I realized I have no black flowers in my collection.  After much searching, I found these sweets dimensional two-sided blooms from Making Memories that worked (I really wanted to repeat the polka dot theme from the birds).

Thanks Diane for the inspiration.

Creating Order in Chaos

It's amazing how 'out of sorts' a person feels when their routine is totally thrown out of whack.  Every day post-flood gets better, but we're still a long way from having that sense of 'normalcy', that we often take for granted, back in our lives. 

I spent a good part of today catching up on blog reading since I didn't have much computer time at home this week.  I wrote down all of the challenges that I like to do during the week, and decided to combine several of them into this card. 

Since I gave up on Kristina's inspiration challenge last week, I decided to start with this week's color combination.  I also loved the elegant circular design in the place-mat, so I worked that into my card.  I also used Beate's weekend sketch, Daring Cardmaker's Challenge to do a quick card in under 30 minutes, and the first challenge at new challenge blog This Thursday it's all about ... to do a fresh creation (these colors reminded me of my garden right now with all of the yellow lilies blooming).

I repeatedly stamped Hero Arts Dot Border vertically in White craft ink on Sahara Sand cardstock and then embossed it with white embossing powder (note to self ... get a 'whiter' white embossing powder ... anyone have a brand they love?). 

I stamped Hero Arts Wavy Graphic Borders vertically on So Saffron cardstock.  To match the Wasabi cardstock, I combined CTMH Clover Meadows ink (stamped off once) and then inked with ColorBox Chalk Lime Pastel.  The thank you sentiment is from Green Grass Stamps thank you set (a great collection of thank you sentiments).

Since Kristina mentioned she thought the colors were sophisticated, I added some tiny adhesive pearls for a final touch. 

In all of the chaos, it's always a blessing to have the constant of art.