Ingenious Inkling

Orange You Glad ...

I wanted to join Orange You Glad It's Friday? Be Inspired Challenge at The Alley Way Stamps to make a card inspired by this photograph.

I needed a get well card, so I stamped the bandaid from Gotta Bug? with a little face.  I used my orange glitter pen to highlight the bandaid and the thermometer.

Next I stamped one of the speech bubbles from Talk to Me, and then stamped the Gotta Bug? sentiment inside.  

I die cut my background from some orange patterned cardstock using PaperTrey Ink QuatreFoil Die Cut and then attached it to a light blue base, incorporated the shades from this week's Dynamic Duos Challenge.

I attached my stamped elements with foam tape for dimension & then added a few *bugs* to the background (accented with orange glitter pen).

{Au} Natural Sympathy

I had a very enjoyable and productive day ... cleaning out the flower beds (and decimating a colony of box elder bugs ... hate those creepy creatures) ... bringing in Spring clothes and shoes & packing away Winter wear ... attempting to play a little Disc Golf with my husband, which involved lots of laughter and a great workout (I'll be feeling it in my shoulder tomorrow I think) ... and boxing-up two large Rubbermade Totes full of crafting supplies to get ready for the upcoming local Rubber Stamp Rummage Sale.

I'm ending my day with a little studio time as we get ready to watch The Mad Men season premier.  I decided to give the April Stack-a-holic Template Challenge from DCWV a try and combined it with the colors from this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge (love those elegant neutral tones) using stamps from Hero Arts.

I used gorgeous papers from two DCWV Mat Stacks ... White Fern & Tattered Time

... and three Hero Arts sets ... Leafy Vines on the three panels, Find Joy for the Sentiment & a Tiny Butterfly from Antique Engravings.  I added a punched tag & layered bloom to complete the design.

This design also works for the 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.

You Go Girl

I love sending Mother's Day cards to all of the mothers in my life .... all of the amazing women who have raised amazing children and make this world a better place.  This morning I used a recipe from the Paper Players (straight down the middle) ...

And this week's Studio Calico Sunday Sketch ...

to create this fun Mother's Day card.

I'm also joining Anything Goes at Simon Says Stamp.

Banner Mom

I wanted to give the March color challenge at Hero Arts a try.

I started with a soft sky background & stamped the Leaf & Flower Background in Charcoal ink.

I also wanted to try the Letter Tile Techniqe Challenge, so I die cut this Savvy Stamps Frame Die from the coordinating charcoal designer paper, trimming off the sides and top to create the banner (I cut the dies from the center of the paper that is on my card base since the holes are all covered by the blue layer).  

Next I layered on light blue paper and then finished with Die Cut Letters for a mother's day card.  I attached charcoal cord to the center of my card with tape (that is covered by the *O* Banner) and then wrapped it around each side of the blue paper before taping on the back.  I attached the entire panel to my card front with foam tape so the twine bumps don't show.

I attached the banner letters using foam tape and finished with twine bows at each end and coordinating flowers to frame the letters.

Washi Tape Muse

When I saw this week's Muse Challenge Inspiration card by Marion Vagg,

I immediately thought ... monochromatic washi tape ... so I grabbed all of my blue washi tapes and started playing.

To get a similar contrast to her design, I added some white rub-ons from my hoarded EAD Designs stash.  

I'm also joining the Monochrome Challenge at Make My Monday ... and the Washi Tape Challenge at the Moxie Fab World Blog.

Hexagon Hello

I'm once again channeling my inner Julie Ebersole by making a card inspired by her beautiful design at the CASE Study Challenge.

I loved the negative image, clean lines, scripty font and the placement of the elements, so that's what I incorporated in my design.

I used the colors from this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge and began by attaching Coral Washi tape to a scrap of white cardstock.  Next I overlaid my Hexagon Border die cut (love how the subtle pattern shows through) and finished with and elegant Memory Box Kaleidoscope Butterfly, all attached to the card base with foam tape for dimension.  

I wanted to do little dots of color, but some how that ended-up looking messy rather than artsy, so I went with a cluster of buttons from my stash instead ... and a scripty die cut sentiment from Savvy Stamps to complete the design.

Destination Anywhere

I love the stamps from the Stamp-It Australia line at Crafter's Companion ... especially the gorgeous collages where you only need a single stamp to make a beautiful card.  

This one features a stamp called Destination together with this week's Twine-Wrapped Play Date Cafe Color Combination.  The door reminded me of traveling ... never knowing what adventure you might find behind the next door.

The layout is from Lucy's Cards.  I used a wrap of grey twine & a border punch along the bottom (to keep your punch centered, start at the center and work out to each side).  

Papers are all from Authentique (Winter & Curiousity).

In Love With Life

I got my new Lawn Fawn Say Cheese die cuts in the mail yesterday from Paper Issues (as always fabulous selection in that shop and even better service), and I had to give it a try.  Having grown-up with a father who was always snapping Polaroid pictures, that image holds a special place in my heart.

I used a sketch from Lucy Abram's Blog and combined it with a Verve Color Challenge (Aqua, Brown & Yellow) at the SplitcoastStampers LoveFest.

I finished with a wrap of Aqua Seam binding and several Hero Arts / Studio Calico Stamps (Oh Snap & Plano).  The inside of the Polaroid is KI Flashback Blackboard paper from Studio Calico.

Spring Surprises

So what's my solution for succeeding at the 10 MInute Craft Dash ... die cuts, stickers and a great sketch.

I used this color palette (which now looks a bit more turquoise than green ... but my tired old eyes saw green initially), a die cut base using this week's Freshly Made Sketch, and a cute little bunny sticker I found in the Easter section at Michael's.

A quick finish with some SRM Easter Sticker sentiments and a few adhesive pearls, and this cute little card was finished in just over 5 minutes ... score!