Ingenious Inkling

Owlways in my Heart

The current challenge at the Embellish Magazine Blog is to incorporate this wonderful color combination with owls. 

As I was putting away my October Kit of the Month from Unity Stamps, I noticed it contained an adorable owl and equally cute sentiment, so that was the start for my design.  I was also inspired by the layers of colors in the owls eyes and nose/beak in the photograph collage.

The background is embossed with the Pebbles Impressabilities plate.  I spritzed the coral cardstock with water before running it through my Cuttlebug.  I love the subtle textured design.

I stamped the owl on the ivory cardstock for the legs, and then three more times to paper piece him together.  The heart on the sentiment is also paper pieced. The corner punch is from EK Success, and the green & ivory layers were cut with Nestabilities.  I attached the ivory cardstock to brown cardstock and hand-cut the middle layer.
 

New Mexico Love Mail

There is a fun 1-hour sketch contest at SNR Card Universe sponsored by Sketch World, so I combined it with Traveler's Inspiration Challenge #2 to be inspired by this photo from Taos, New Mexico.

I chose the colors from the photo as my inspiration (sand/kraft, blue, and a touch of red from one of the doors).  I visited my best stamping girlfriend's studio and borrowed some of her stamps to play.  I had to try out this cute George Love Mail stamp fro All Night Media.  I combined it with a sentiment from Hero Arts All Occasion Messages.

 

I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and a glaze pen for the hearts.  I finished with a few punched hearts.

Traveler's Inspiration & a Giveaway

TravelingMama is hosting her first ever Traveler's Inspiration Challenge.  She will be posting various travel pictures to inspire creativity in any form, and her first is of these amazing sequined shoes.  I loved the colors and the wonderful glittery detail. 

I am not usually what I would call a 'glitter gal' when it comes to creating ... a bit too messy and detailed for me, however I did have these fun designs from Paper Potpourri by Doodlebug Design tucked away in my stash, and they were even in the perfect colors (tangerine and limeade).

I combined them with this week's sketch from CPS and an awesome new stamp that one of my best stampin' girlfriends picked up for me at Red Lead when she was in St. Louis on vacation. 

 

The sentiment is stamped in Raspberry Fizz and embossed with Polysparkle embossing powder and a Flame Dew Drop.  I punched it with my Stampin' Up label punch, mounted it on the same pink metallic paper as the base, and then trimmed around it for the frame. I finished with a tiny big of teal cord to bring in that color from the photograph.

This is one of those cards where I think ... who on earth am I going to send this too??  If you leave me a comment on this post, I'll draw a random reader on Sunday night and send you this card together with a couple of stamp sets and some other stamping goodies to celebrate the holiday weekend.

Enjoy Unity

I love the colors from Kristina's Color Inspiration #55, which were inspired by her boss's skirt ... and aren't those some great shoes too.  I combined it with Card Sketch #20 from Card Patterns.

I also finally gave in and joined the Unity kit club.  Every month the sets keep getting better ... and every month I wish I had them.  This month they included some additional Bevy of Butterfly stamps, so I finally took the plunge.  They are awesome stamps and come mounted on cling foam and pre-cut, so they're ready to use right out of the package ... gotta love that. 

 

I stamped the Unity floral image in Burnt Sienna ColorBox Chalk and painted the flowers with an aqua painter and Yellow Cadmium ink.  I added some gray highlights with a Sakura sparkle pen.  I made the decorative frame was inspired by the ruffle at the bottom of the skirt.  I made it using a Martha Stewart border punch.  I also used the Cuttlebug Paisley embossing folder to mimic the skirt's paisley design.

Dare Devil #1 Dad

Arno and his skateboard from Starving Artistamps remind me of my brother.  When we were young, our grandparents got us skateboards.  When I think back to some of the things we tried to do, it's a wonder we're still alive and intact today.  

I thought it would be a fun image to use for his Father's Day card because he is still a kid at heart and absolutely loves being a dad.  I have no doubt his son will grow up to be a dare devil too.

I used Kristina's color challenge which resulted in a funky Sky Blue & Pumpkin Arno.  I don't have any Copic markers, but I decided to pick up a set of colored Sharpie markers when I was at Sam's club last weekend.  It's not quite the same, but I love the vibrant colors.

 

The textured cardstock is from Core'Dinations.  I finished with the Swiss Cheese punch and small sentiment (Stamp Events) both from EK Success.  The sketch is from 2 Sketches 4 You.

Peace on Earth ... and Beyond

My Dad is here for a weekend visit.  He's working his way through the "things I wish my Dad would fix for me" list ... woo hoo ... I love it. 

While he was outside caulking the seal where the chimney connects to the house, I stole a little studio time to create a card using Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge and Laura's Sketch #26 at 2 Sketches for You.

I was inspired by his cute little toy to use my Blue Alien from Stampabilities.  He is colored with colored pencils.

 

The yellow star paper is DCWV All About Boys stack; border is EK Success Dotted Wave; and the red jewels are some cell phone bling.  The red cardstock is stamped with Cornish Heritage Farms Paint Spots backgrounder.  The sentiment is one of my favorites from Catslife Press, punched with the word window punch.  I think this will be a holiday card for one of my wackier friends.

Lotus Birthday

Lauren Meader has started an Inspiration Challenge on her blog, so I decided to take some time tonight to play along.  She chose this cute little dress from The Children's Place in colors of wisteria, kraft and white.

This card is actually my fourth attempt at creating something tonight.  I was really having a difficult time getting all of my elements to come together the way I wanted them to.  Some times it's easy ... some times not so much.

This designer paper from Momenta's A Family Affair reminded me of the pattern at the top of the dress.

 

The stamp is from Amy Butler's K&Company set Lotus Greeting.  I highlighted it with a little bling.  I kept trying to put something in the empty space, but in the end I decided to stick with a very clean & simple design.

I'll be away from my studio the next two weeks.  I'm heading on a trip to see my Gran and explore the Southwest.  I'm already starting to go into a bit of studio withdrawal, but I'm looking forward to some time away. 

Sweet Urban Prairie

Tonight I needed a quick thank you card, so I combined the colors from Kristina's Color Inspiration challenge (which Allison pointed out work quite perfectly with Basic Gray's Urban Prairie DP).   I don't think I ever noticed the little lady bug and caterpillars in the designs before.

I also used the Weekend Sketch Challenge found at Laurie's blog.

 

The background is my favorite Hero Arts DesignBlock: Flourish.  The Stampin' Up So Many Scallops bloom was stamped once on white and again on red for the center.  The layered scallops are on foam dimension over the white circle.

On Edge Flourished Hearts

Well, the weather forecast has changed from a blizzard warning to a winter storm warning, but that still means it looks like sleet and six inches of snow tomorrow.  Thankfully, I got out today in the gorgeous 52 degree weather and got all of my errands done, so I'll be ready to just spend a snowy day tomorrow baking in my kitchen (I baked this blackberry cobbler last night, and it was delicious) and creating in my studio.

I love when Kristina's color challenge posts on the weekend.  I thought these colors were just fabulous side-by-side like the stripes on the hat, so I used today's sketch from Card Sketch A Day to layer the colors around my Hero Arts Together sentiment (stamped in Hero Arts Soft Pool ink and clear embossed).  The hearts were then painted with Pixie Dust Shimmerz Glitter paint for a touch of sparkle.

 

The background is Hero Arts DesignBlock Flourish (in the same Soft Pool ink).  The center element is a Hambly screenprint transparency called On Edge.

PS - I stopped by Michael's today and they are carrying a new line of product by K&Company Called Actopus to Zelephant that is designed by one of my favorite artists ~ Jenn Ski (I have one of her prints hanging in my house, and I love it).  I picked up several things & can't wait to create with them.

Happiness Always

Tomorrow is my 10th wedding anniversary, so I wanted to make a masculine anniversary card.  We planned a little weekend getaway, but it looks the impending snow and ice storm may put a kink in our trip.  Oh well, either way we'll enjoy the day.

I thought Kristina's Color Inspiration #47 colors were perfect for a masculine design.  I combined them with a fabulous Valerie Salmon sketch from Got Sketch?  I love all of the great layers and elements in her design.  You've got to click on over and see the samples ... especially Nathalia's amazing use of flowers.

 

I love the combination of graphic lines and rounded edges in this card.  The cool grid-like paper is actually from a Martha Stewart Halloween pad of paper I got on deep discount in November.  Remember, just because paper was created for a holiday, doesn't mean it can't have other design possibilities.

The saffron panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Forest Branches.  The stampabilities Vintage Flourish03 and hearts from PTI's Heart Prints (love this set) are stamped in PTI Dark Chocolate ink and clear embossed.  The happiness is a Stampin' Up rub-on and the Always is part of a Hero Arts stamp from a set called Friendship Messages (I only inked that word with PTI Fresh Snow and white embossed). 

The punched border is a new EKSuccess border punch called Scalloped Scallop (now carried at our Michael's).  I tied a few knots in some sheer orange ribbon to finish the design.  Thanks ladies for the fun inspiration.