Ingenious Inkling

Mustache Birthday

For this week's SCS Inspiration Challenge we're headed to Bibelot, stores I love to visit when I'm in the twin cities.  I chose this fun talking mustache keyring to inspire my design.

Growing-up in our household, being punny was a highly valued skill ... so I loved the punny sentiments in The Mustache Set from Cat's Pajamas.  I also got the coordinating Mustache Cut-ups.

I found these papers on my recent trip ... they're called Documented from Simple Stories. I love that they have half-sheet label papers in the package (I used one on the center of this 6x5" card design).

This card is also for the *Make it for a Man* Challenge at The Stamp Man.

I hope you find inspiration.

Flashback Friday 24.0 ~ Masculine

The current Flashback Friday Challenge is to re-post your first masculine card design.  Mine is from August 2007 using a SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge.

It was created before I learned to ink the edges of where little white bits show when you punch cheap white core cardstock ... and before I learned how to blend colored pencils using an art eraser ... but I still love the colorc combination & that comfy chair.

Man-Tastic Drink Coffee

When I saw this week's Man-Tastic Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger, I hoped I could find a stamp in my collection with that same shape ... but no such luck.

So instead I went with the same loopy rounded shape found in the Hero Arts Artistic Circles (it reminds me of spirograph creations from my youth) and the great color combination of grey, brown, red & turquoise/teal.  I inked the background stamp with three colors of ink and stamped on light grey cardstock.

I created a tag using chevron paper from Lily Bee Design's Head over Heels collection (love the combination of patterns & colors in this collection..  I used this week's Retro Sketch, but since I was going for a masculine vibe, I replaced the ribbon with layers of washi tape, some punched circles & a laquered brad. I finished with a stickerz sentiment from EAD Designs & attached my tag with foam tape.

This will be a great Father's Day card for one of the many coffee-loving men in my family.

Marine Corps Birthday

I used this week's Unscripted Sketch to create a birthday card for my nephew Josh.  He enjoys participating in ROTC and plans to join the military after he graduates from high school, so I made him a Marine-themed design. 

Since there's a Piggyback Challenge at Unscripted Sketches this week to add ink to your design (could be stamping, pen, anything inky)  I inked up Hero Arts Distress Frame with Blue Iris ink and grunged-up the corners a bit. Paper is from Bo Bunny's Liberty Collection, dimensional stickers are from K&Company and sentiment is an EAD Designs Rub-on.

Alphabet Jumble Birthday

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from RedEnvelope,  The name RedEnvelope comes from a firmly held belief in Asian cultures that the color red is an auspicious symbol of happiness. Gifts are often presented in a simple red envelope - a timeless tradition that carries with it well wishes of prosperity, good fortune, appreciation and love.

My card is inspired by this Alphabet Jumble Wall Art.

I adhered a mix of all of my alphabet stickers to a grey background (apparently I only buy alphabets in neutral tones & white).

I added a birthday sentiment.  This *card* is so large, I just made it into a single page, so I can write my message on the back.

I hope you find inspiration.

Tool Time

My father and my brothers love to play with tools ... so I used some measuring tape designer tape & this week's CPS Sketch for a Father's Day card design.

I stamped a few tools on the background to finish the design.

Dude

I loved Aga's card at this week's CASE Study Challenge ... the combination of black-on-grey with the pop of bold letters is fabulous. 

I started with a dark grey shimmery cardstock & added EAD Designs Mustache Rub-ons.

Some Studio Calico foam sticker letters & a neon green party hat complete the design.

Bicycle Race

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge Name that Tune is to create a card inspired by a song.

As I was making this get well card for a Ragbrai participant who is recovering from a recent heart attack, I kept singing the lyrics to Bicycle Race by Queen ... I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike ...

The layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketch combining kraft cardstock with papers from DCWV Tattered Time matstack and a scrap of ledger paper.  I inked my stamps with charcoal ink and then with blue ink to get the same tone as the background.

The card is also for the Cards For Men Challenge to feature the outdoors.  Everywhere I've looked outside this week I've seen people relishing the warm temperatures on their bicycles.

Bo Bunny Timepiece Card Kit

Bo Bunny had card kits on sale at Scrapbook Steals this week ... and since the choices included several of my favorite collections, and my stash of miscellaneous cards is a bit depleted, I decided to give it a try.  

This post includes four of the cards I made with the Timepiece Collection.  The Card Kit includes everything you need to make 8 cards for a variety of occasions.  

This tie reminds me of the clip-on ties my dad wore when I was young ... and it made me smile.  I did need to add some foam tape under the edges of the sentiment pieces to keep everything level over the chipboard heart.

The *old-school* rub-ons reminded me who I almost exclusively use EAD Designs Vinyl Rub-ons.  I had several mis-cues when trying to get the rub-ons to adhere, but I did like the sentiment size & fonts.  

For this card, I used an EAD clear sticker for the sentiment since I wanted another multiple birthday cards & there was only one birthday sentiment.

I loved that there was a combination of chipboard & cardstock stickers.  It really ads visual interest to the designs.  I did do some sanding and trimming to remove the little nibs left after punching out the cardstock from the sheets.  

For this card, I did add a ribbon scrap around the chipboard key rather than using the included ribbon sticker.

One of my general pet peeves about printed die cuts is that the images don't align with the cuts (as you can see in the pocket watch on the right where there is more border on the right side than the left), but it was minor and mostly works with the *grungier* theme of this collection.  

I liked that the card bases were different sizes and had details like die cut edges & faux stitching, although the card base papers were thinner than the cardstock I usually use (however they all stood-up on their own for photographing, even with heavier chipboard stickers attached).  

All-in-all the card kit was very well done with clear instructions (embellishments were numbered) and it really stayed true to the design elements I love about this collection. 

When You Laugh a LIttle

This Large Fabric Background was a reject from my card last night (the Pumice Ink was too green for what I wanted).  I decided it would make a great masculine background, so I created a birthday card for one of my co-workers.  I used a thin piece of double sided tape at the top & bottom of my paper to create some dimension.

We have the last typewriter in the company in our area at the office because my co-worker likes the neatness of typed labels for our folders.  It is a constant source of joking and banter (particularly since we're moving to a paperless environment), which we all enjoy, so I thought this image and sentiment were perfect.  I appreciate how he makes me laugh at least once every day.

The sketch is this week's Unscripted Sketch (rotated 90 degrees) - hopefully my Pumice background is *green* enough for the piggyback challenge - & stamps are from Hero Arts My Type.