Ingenious Inkling

JustRite Sympathy Cards

I've always been intrigued by the JustRite stamping system, but had never added any to my collection ... until now.  The generous folks at JustRite asked the Caardvarks Crew if wewould like to try out some of their new designs ... and of course I jumped at the chance.  These cards are made with the Thinking Of You Borders & Centers (2 1/4" x 3 1/16").

I was always afraid JustRitestamps would be too tiny and futzy to work with easily.  I can honestly say, my fears were completely unwarranted.  Some of the things I love about these stamps:

• The solid wood stamping base has a very nice ridge that fits my fingers perfectly.
• Some of the stamps combine both an image and a sentiment for quick, easy card designs.
• The easy and secure way the stamps affix to the base with an interlocking ridged design.  They are easy to remove and clean as well.

• That I can interchange 6 different borders with 6 different images to create a fantastic variety of stamped designs.

My first card uses Get Sketchy Sketch #5 and some very neglected Wild Saffron papers by K&Company (just typing that made me salivate a bit as I remembered the fantastic Chocolate Orange Saffron Gelato I had last week at Paciugo on our sisters' weekend trip ... so very good)

 

My overlay is vellum embossed with the Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers.  I then highlighted the embossed surfaces with a gold oil pastel crayon for a bit more contrast.  The leaves on the JustRite frame were colored with a green sparkle pen.  I loved how the stamp fit perfectly inside my Creative Memories oval cutters.  Here's a close-up of the stamp.

 

Since I was loving the oval shape of the image, I decided to continue that theme for my next card.

 

The image was stamped in Chestnut Roan ink on yellow DP and colored with a white paint pen and sparkle pens to highlight the flower. 

And make sure you mark your calendars for several upcoming Blog Hops that you won't want to miss. 

On September 15, 16 & 17, the Caardvarks Crew will be designing with amazing paper and products from GCD Designs.

On September 17 & 18,  JustRite will be hosting a two day Mega Font Blog Hop to celebrate their great font stamps sets.

My friend Lauren has been creating amazing things with the JustRite 2 3/8" 25 PT Font Stamper ... make sure you check it out.

Calla Lily Sympathy

Here is my final sketch card for the DRS Designs sponsored sketch challenge at Caardarks.  Heidi's sketches were so fabulous, I had to try all three of them.

This card features the gorgeous Calla Lily Sympathy stamp from DRS Designs.  I love stamps that combine an image with a sentiment.

 

It was stamped in Chestnut Roan Chalk ink on green Crate DP.  I used both a white paint pen and my Ranger Inksentialls pen to color in the lilies.  I finished with a Basic Grey word sticker and some fiber on a word window punch.

Another Green Stack Sympathy Card

The SCS website got over its hiccups, so I had to go back and make another card inspired by Dawn.  I chose her IC134 Blessing Quilt Card as my inspiration.

I used the Green Stack scraps that were still on my studio table and punched out nine 1 1/4" squares from the tree paper.  The sentiment is from the Unity Bevy of Butterflies that was free with my June kit. ... so perfect for the oval punch design.

 

I finished with a Martha Stewart butterfly punched from the background paper and decorated with two Hero Arts light green pearls.

Green Stack Sympathy

My sympathy card stash is completely depleted, so I decided to make a few this morning with some of my favorite sympathy card sentiments from River City Rubber Works and DCWV Green Stack designer papers.  I usually try to use a celestial theme for these sentiments, but I think the tree design works as well.

Dawn Lusk is the featured stamper at SCS and my first card is inspired by her.  However, after I finished I realized it was a sketch card (which is a no-no for the challenge), and when I went back to do a second card, the SCS website was down.  Dawn did, however, inspire me to pop-up the tree in the top right corner and add the ribbon below my sentiment. 

 

The second card uses this week's sketch from Card Patterns with another great River City Rubber sentiment.

Don't forget you have until July 3rd to upload a new window card design at Caardvarks for a chance to win a $50 shopping spree from Purple Onion Designs.