Ingenious Inkling

Washi Bright Bite

For some reason my tummy is craving sweets today, but instead of eating cookies ... I decided to make a card inspired by cookies ... Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Bright Bite cookies to be exact.

I loved the stacking of the cookies and those bright fun colors, so I decided to create my card by stacking some fun new My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Washi Tape I picked-up this week.

Sentiment is Hero Arts Anytime Messages and butterfly embellishment was punched from the pink washi tape adhered to cardstock with two tiny adhesive pearls.  Hopefully this card will brighten someone's day.

They're also celebrating Masking Tape Day at Jellypark Challenges (using Washi Tape).

Crafty Steals Guest Designer

I was thrilled to be chosen as the April Guest Designer for Crafty Steals.  I love a good bargain on my craft supplies, so this is one site I check out every day.  

I had a blast designing with the fabulous Crate Paper Random Collection Kit.  You can get all of these goodies for $14.99 (50% off).  I also used some beautiful Jenni Bowlin vellum butterflies (six packages of 5 each for a mere $11.99).

 

The first card uses both products together with the April Sketch For You to Try.  I combined three fun papers, a border sticker, and punched embellishments (the scalloped doily frames).  I removed the green center from the folded paper rosette embellishment sticker and replaced it with a grey  sticker to coordinate with my design.  The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts Live & Laugh.

The next card Is all Crate goodness ... I love the border stickers and very cool dimensional butterfly sticker.  The layout is this month's Hero Arts Sketch together with a new sentiment from the Hero Arts Studio Calico Collection (tell me that song won't be stuck in your head all day).  Since this will be a Mother's Day card, I think all of that flowery goodness is perfect for the Get Your Girly On Challenge at the Southern Girls Challenge.

I also received some very cool Pebbles Chalk Pencils to play with.  I love the soft feel of chalk and ease of use of the pencils.  I stamped the Chevron & sentiment in Versamark and then colored over them with four colors of chalk pencils (all at the same diagonal angle) ... inspired by these lovely Tulips at the Inspired by Challenge.

I added another pretty Jenni Bowlin Vellum butterfly to embellish another ot this month's Hero Arts Sketch layouts.

I also love the fun fabric & ribbon trims that were included with the Crate Collection Kit.  This card features a large die cut flower together with yellow ribbon ruffle trip & another great sticker border.

And who doesn't love a bicycle.  I added a border sticker *road* and a heart die cut in the middle of the wheel.  I thought the sentiment from Paper Smooches Perpetual Bliss worked perfectly with the design.

I had such fun designing with these awesome products from Crafty Steals ... add them on Facebook and sign-up for e-mails so you don't miss any of the fabulous bargains.

Woodgrain & Feathers

I'm sneaking in a card for the Fascination with Feathers Challenge at the Moxie Fab World Blog, so I could feature this gorgeous hand-carved feather stamp that the talented Gina (TyggerEye on Etsy) made for me.  I stamped it twice on thin kraft chipboard in Ocean Chalk ink, clear embossed, and detail cut around the edges.

The background is Fois Bois Wrapping Paper from Paper Source that I recycled from a recent gift (way too awesome not to use again) & the rub-on is EAD Designs.

 

Beautiful Flowers

I love shopping at Ellen Hutson's store ... and I love seeing what beautifully colored thank you image will be included when my order arrives.  I save all of the little envelopes (there's always some ribbon too) in a basket & today I decided to re-purpose several of the beautiful flower images into cards.

I pulled the colors for my card from the hues of this lovely Lavender in a Teacup.  The sentiment is Hero Arts.  The Sketch is from Simply Stampin' Challenge, but I realized after creating they require you to use at lease one Stampin' Up image, so I won't link-up there.

The next one features a window box full of blooms (Lockhart's In the Window, Roses) & this week's Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge.

Papers are some of the last scraps in my stash of Graphic45's Once Upon a Springtime Collection.

Vibrant Hydrangea

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the wonderful cakes of Superfine Bakery.  I chose this gorgeous Hydrangea Cake to inspire my design.

 

I loved the contrast of the pinks with the vibrant yellow.  I used pink & green inkpads on my Hero Arts Hydrangea & then added some colroed pencil highlights ... it's also perfect for the Fabulous Flower Challenge at the Hero Arts Blog.

I added hot pink borders and a vibrant yellow DP background to finish the design.  The tiny sentiment is vintage Hero Arts.

I hope you find inspiration among the cakes of Superfine Bakery.

Thank You for the Journey

I love sketches like CPS 26 that incorporate all sorts of shapes and designs ... they're perfect for combining lots of different elements from a single collection.

My card uses three different papers and three heavy-weight cardstock elements from Authentique's Journey Collection.

The tiny thank you rub-on sentiment from EAD Designs was perfect to complete the design.

The Kindest Hearts

It's always a challenge for me to start creating again after being away from my studio for an extended time ... and it didn't help that I managed to bring back a nasty head cold from my trip.

So, I did what I usually do when creating isn't easy ... I started very simple.  I had a gorgeous thank you card on my studio table that I saved for inspiration ... I decided to cut it apart and give it a second life using CPS Sketch 45 for thier anniversary celebration.

And here's the card I made the first time with this sketch in January 2008.

I still love those Penny Black stickers and circle sentiments.

Milliner Out of Print Thanks

This little (4" square) Thank You card is for the Wee Memories Mini Challenge.  I combined stamps from Rogue Redhead's Milliner Misses & Candy Kisses with Basic Grey's Out of Print Paper.  The layout is this week's Sweet Stop Sketch.

I added an adhesive gem to her hat & used a pink glimmer pen on her lips, earring and hat.  The sentiment is an EAD Designs Rub-on.

Designer Tape Thanks

I love this week's Sketch at Skipping Stones Designs ... and the great design team samples really showcase a lot of fabulous design possibilities.

I decided to play with tape ... for my design I used one fabric tape and two washi tapes.

I finished with an EAD Designs Rub-on sentiment.

And speaking of tapes ... I love the new way I have to store them.  When I saw this 12" four-bin revolving storage unit from Harbor Freight on Pinterest, I knew it would be a great addition to my studio.  I'm a very visual crafter & like to have my supplies in my line of sight.  

Thankfully we have a Horbor Freight in town ... and I was able to get one of my own for only $19.99 (you can order on-line).  I actually have a fair amount of storage in my studio that was intended for tools ... I love that the designs are b

oth sturdy and practical.

I will warn you ... there are a lot of screws to put this baby together.  The top two trays were supposed to have six dividers, but I went with three at all levels, which works better for me.

Mix and Mend Thanks

When I saw this week's CR84FRN Color Challenge, I knew I had the perfect papers ... Sassafras Mix and Mend Wee Bundle.

I used this week's CPS Sketch together with another new Hero Arts Unitled Love stamp from their new Art of the Card Collection.  I inked it using Spiced Marmalade Distress ink to give it sort of a stippled effect.  

I added a few tiny blue pearls to finish the design.