Ingenious Inkling

Vintage Blocked Christmas

I love blocked sketches ... I'm sure it's the linear left-side of my brain (where I spend most of my work day) spilling over into my right-brained creative endeavors ... but it's also a fun way to use scraps of paper, stickers, and other little bits & bobs.

The first sketch is Beate's Weekend Sketch #105. I will be storing this Sketch under my go-to designs... so perfect for so many occasions.  I used a vintage Crafty Secrets sticker that I won in Vicki's blog candy for the focal element together with Basic Grey Wassail papers.  I lightly stamped the Hero Arts Outline Bold Flourish (not sure why this stamp isn't in their catalog ... I recently purchased it at Michael's) on each corner and added some Ranger Tea Dye ink to distress.

For the second card I combined the vintage stickers with Crafty Secrets Christmas Time Vintage Cuts to create the entire Get Sketchy #13 blocked sketch.  Since most of my elements were horizontal, rather than vertical, I flipped the sketch to make it work.  The sentiment is from a very old K & Company sticker book.

Hope the weather in your corner of the world is half as nice as ours was today ... sunny, warm ... fantastic for November.
 
 

Unexpected Holiday Colors

The challenge at the Hero Arts blog this week is to make a holiday card using one of their unexpected color combinations.  Wow, did I find this one challenging.  I discarded multiple cards before finally deciding to keeping this one.  The grass green was the color that kept throwing me.  I probably got a bit too ambitious by trying to combine the colors with Laura's Sketch #38 from 2 Sketches 4 You Sketch, but hey ... I love a challenge.

The silver paper was embossed with the QuicKutz Snowflake embossing folder.  Stamps include Her Arts Holly Flourish Border, Holly Flourish Background, and Clear Design: Holiday Sayings.  The snowflake punch is a new Martha Stewart punch with a gemstone center.
 

I'm Dreaming of a Plum Christmas

The Plum Crazy! challenge at the Moxie Fab World Blog was to create a project that 'captures the essence of plum in its design.'  With hazel eyes and fair skin, plum has always been a favorite color of mine for make-up and clothing, so I'm thrilled to see its one of the "in" colors for the year.  I love creating plum paper crafts as well.  I decided to embrace some plum snowflakes for my design.

The Hero Arts Stunning Snowflakes backgrounder was stamped in Versamark Dazzle ink on white cardstock and clear embossed.  Next, I used a sponge to add Wisteria and Warm Violet ColorBox Chalk ink to the background.  The final step was sprays of Graphite and Pearl Glimmer Mist for an all over sparkle. 

The Clear Design Holiday Sayings sentiment was created using the same technique.  I think the thin white mat helps bring out the contrast of the white embossing.  I finished with some plum sheer ribbon from Close To My Heart.

This card also works for the Simple Holiday Card challenge at the Hero Arts blog, since it would be easy to stamp four backgrounds on one sheet of cardstock, and sponge and spray it all at once for quick assembly.

Nook & Pantry Birthday

I realized this morning that my birthday card stash is completely depleted, and I needed a birthday card for a sweet young lady.  I decided to see if I could combine the new Nook & Pantry Basic Grey papers I picked up on our trip with this weeks sketch from Card Patterns.  It turned out a bit busier than I had hoped for, but I think it will work just fine.

After I paper pieced the cupcake wrapper and candle on the Hero Arts You Deserve Card stamp, I managed to smudge some red ink I had on my finger onto the background.  I decided to "fix" it by added lots of little polka dot confetti-like smudges to the background with the pointed end of a make-up applicator cotton swab. 

I finished with some sparkle pen on the candle flame and cupcake decorations; Martha Stewart punched party hats; gradient fibers; and some sparkly half-ball decorations for the corner.
 

Vintage Jolly

I always feel a bit rusty after being away from my studio for a week, but at the same time it always feels so good to get my fingers inky again.  I decided to start with the challenge at the Hero Arts blog to make a simple holiday card.  Those holidays will be here before we know it, so it's time to kick up the holiday card production in my corner of the world.

When I visited the used book store a few weeks ago, I find all sorts of treasures on the clearance shelf, including this vintage children's Christmas book whose binding had fallen apart.  I stamped the Hero Arts Holiday Flourish background in Painted Shutter ink on one of the holiday story pages.  

I used a strip of velvet ribbon I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.  I didn't attach the tail to add a bit of dimension to the simple design.  The Large Christmas Circle sentiment was stamped in a margin of one of the pages (love wide margins).  Quick, easy, and elegant ... gotta love it.

Also, make sure you check out the Caardvarks Halloween Creations ... and link up to some of your own.

Christmas Scraps

I was inspired by Lucy's cards she's been making with her scraps, so I thought I would see what I could pull together with the scraps left over from my card this morning.  I was really happy with the results, and I have one more holiday card ready to go ... woo hoo.

I stamped the Hero Arts Holly Flourish background in Peeled Paint Distress Ink (love this color and the textured look in how it covers) on the scrap piece of a vintage book page.  I used a red sharpie marker to add some color to the berries.  The sentiment is from one of my favorite sets ... From the Heart Greetings.  I clear embossed the sentiment to help it stand out a bit more on the Kraft background.

I'm heading off on a fall getaway to Charleston & Savannah in the morning and won't be back to my studio until next Saturday.  I'll try to post some travel updates, but the plan is to just to relax and enjoy some southern hospitality ... and down home southern cooking.
 

Lots of Everything Wonderful

This morning I wanted to make a very special birthday card for one of my oldest and dearest friends ... I hate using the word 'oldest', because of course we are far from old ... but she has been my friend for 24 years, so that's a very long time. 

For a good part of those 24 years we've lived on separate continents, but when we do have those rare opportunities to see each other face-to-face, it's like no time at all has passed.  I love friends like that.

I decided to start with Dawn's Raspberry Suite color challenge and see what I could put together.  I used lots of different Hero Arts stamps (list below) and an aged book page for my ivory paper.

I finished with several Martha Stewart punches, some hand-drawn frames, and Tarnished Brass Distress stickles for my butterfly.

Stamps (all Hero Arts):

• Antique Brocade
• Friend Definition
• Designer Woodgrain
• Wavy Leaf Pattern
• Lots of Everything
• Flourish Trio
• Outline Bold Flourish

 

Paint-By-Number Blooms

My card for this week's SCS Inspiration Challenge was inspired by this cool Paint-By-Number Dessert Platefrom Anthropologie.  I loved the contrast between the outlined background and the bright pops of circle color. 

I have been thinking all week about something creative to make for the Paper Tearing Challenge at the Hero Arts blog, so I decided to create blooms from torn strips of paper for the pops of color in my design.

I started by stamping the Hero Arts Outline Flowers background in black and clear embossing.

To make the torn paper flowers I tore strips of paper about 1/2 inch wide; folded them back and forth; attached the ends together; and then attached the folded circle to the card using a thick glue dot.

The final touches were punched circles for the centers and an oval punched sentiment from the Hero Arts Friends set.

Also a I let out a big woot woot when I saw I made the top five at Get Sketchy! with my Artistic Outpost design.

I hope you find Inspiration.
 

Spring Tree

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge features the amazing hand decorated tiles of Xenia Taylor.  I would love to have a kitchen or bathroom filed with unique tiles.

I love the amazing simplicity of this Tree ~ Spring tile.  I seldom combine white with ivory, but I love how it looks in this color combination.

I started with a bare tree stamp from Denami Designs on ivory cardstock (inked with both Pumpkin Pie and Chestnut Roan to get the shade I wanted) and then added different sized circles punched from textured papers

I finished with a vertical sentiment from the Hero Arts Friends clear sentiment set. 

Hope you find inspiration.
 

TzaddiShop Inspired

This week's SCS Inspiration Challengecomes from the amazing Etsy store of TzaddiShop.  Vicki's amazing glass decoupage designs took my breath away.  I'm still trying to decide which gorgeous piece of art I want to add to my collection.

My cards were inspired by these fantastic Geoforms - Handmade Decoupage Glass Beveled Coaster Set called Tree of Life.  I loved the contrast of the black silhouette image with the beautifully colored backgrounds. 

For my first card, I stamped this wonderful tree by Magenta on a piece of marbled wrapping paper that I bought at a specialty paper store.  I also scored the edges to mimic the beveled design.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Anytime Messages.

The second card uses a different color of the same marbled wrapping paper with the Stampendous Agapanthus Cluster and Hero Arts Friends sentiment.

I hope you find inspiration.