Ingenious Inkling

Be Hoppy Birthday

The current Seize the Birthday Challenge is all about Hobbies and Pastimes.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know that seeking out locally brewed craft beers (and the good food the corresponding brewery restaurants offer) is one of our pastimes.  

 

 

I started with this fun yellow alcohol ink panel that was made with lots of bubbles from blending solution ... it reminded me of the carbonation you see in a glass of beer.  I cut it into 1 1/2" panels for this week's Try Stampin' (or Not) on Tuesday Sketch.

 

 

 

I used an unmarked wood-mounted stamp from my vintage stash for the sentiment together with the fun DoodleBug Doodle Pop Be Hoppy Stickers.

 

 

With my little smiling Pretzels, I'm also linking-up at the Food Challenge at The Male Room.

 

 

Gel Press Nativity Scene

I'm embarrassed to even think about how many products I have in my crafty stash that have not been used, particularly in my Taylored Expressions products.  I like so much of what she makes, but my making doesn't keep-up with my buying.  

When I was looking through my stash for stamps that would work for Jennifer Maguire's latest resist technique (I've yet to find them), I instead found this Taylored Expressions Build a Scene - Nativity (which has apparently been discontinued, but here are other options) that I knew would be perfect for one of the holiday cards I wanted to make.

I decided to die cut it in dark purple (with the star cut from a scrap of gold glitter paper) to work with one of my Gel Press Prints.

 

 

I framed it with teal & purple cardstock on a kraft card base and used a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Christmas ... I love how it turned out.

This is as Merry as We Get

The fine ladies at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers are celebrating Y is for Yuletide.

 

 

I decided to pair it with the Sketch Challenge at the Retro Rubber Stamp Challenge.

 

 

I started by cutting one of my Alcohol Ink Backgrounds into 1" strips.  Next I paired it with the Ticket to Christmas Stamps from Unity Stamp Company that were released in 2011.  I cut apart two of the tickets for the star elements in the sketch.  

 

 

I attached it all to a kraft card base where I stamped a sentiment form Unity Stamp Company Naughty is the New Nice (from 2013).  I finished with some krafty gems.

Non-Traditional Holiday Color with Unity Stamp Company

The November Unity Stamp Company Challenge is to create holiday cards in non-traditional holiday colors. 

As I went through my stash, I clearly tend to lean toward sentiments in my Unity Stamps, so I decided to create simple cards by pairing them with Gel Press Prints and Alcohol Ink Backgrounds from my stash.  I loved getting them made into cards.

I started with this fun solid Gel Press print that paired perfectly with Catherine Pooler All That Jazz Ink and a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Naughty is the New Nice.

 

 

I stamped the Santa Sentiment on a Kraft trimmed tag from my stash and paired it with a kraft card base.  I embossed the background with Snowflakes and applied some direct-to-paper inking to the raised edges.  I love the patina effect it achieved.

 

 

I finished with a strip of gold glitter cardstock & a little Santa Hat sticker.

When I stamped the sentiment the first time, I didn't have quite the right color, so I found a scrap of an Alcohol Ink Background that worked with it.

 

 

Next I used a Purple Alcohol Ink background to create a round card with a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Let's Be Jolly that fit perfectly inside the smaller circle die.

 

 

I used another stamp from Let's Be Jolly with the same circle die, this time pairing it with a Gel Press Print.

 

 

And my final card combined teal and purple with a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company ... a joyous season.

 

 

I loved being able to pull together this set of masculine holiday cards together so quickly with these great sentiment stamps.

Snowflake Christmas

I had fun spending time in my studio using some Gel Press Prints & Alcohol Ink backgrounds from my stash.

I started with two snowflake Embossing Folder Gel Press Prints that I made during one of the ABC's of Gel Printing Event.

 

I die cut them with Essentials by Ellen Essentials Rectangle Die Cuts.  For the first one I layered a frame cut with the Essentials by Ellen 4-Bar Rectangles Die cut from white cardstock.

 

 

Next I layered on the Simon Says Stamp Big Bliss Snowflake and several Martha Stewart Punched snowflakes from silver glitter cardstock.  I topped them with my favorite glittery YNS Gumdrops enamel dots from Your Next Stamp (love those).  The finishing touch was a Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Christmas sentiment.

For the reverse I used another white frame and some leftover stickers from making my sister's wedding invitations.

 

 

I used two more silver snowflakes this time topped with Gems including the Eyelet Outlet Flower Bling on top of the largest snowflake.  Another sentiment from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Christmas made this card come together quickly.

For my final card I pulled out an Alcohol Inked and foiled background.  I used the biggest frame from the reverse snowflake panel to frame a pre-made white patterned card base and then used another card from the set to die cut Essentials by Ellen Snowflakes

 

 

I used the Essentials by Ellen Essentials Rectangle Die for my Alcohol Ink Panel but left the frame intact.  I pulled out some more YNS Gumdrops for the Snowflake Centers and finished with a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Season to Sparkle (apparently discontinued).

Gnome for the Holidays

The November Gina K. Designs Monthly Mix Challenge is to make a card featuring a Critter. 

 

 

The instructions specifically list a Snowman as an option for a Critter, so I figured if Snowmen were in ... then Gnomes meet the Critter criteria too. 

I used the Gina K. Designs / Therm~o~web Gnome for the Holidays Kit.  I die cut the Gnome pieces and holiday tree & then used the stencils to add decorations & stripes.

 

 

I used the Sketch from the CAS Colours & Sketch Challenge with a piece of texty holiday paper.  

 

I'm also joining the Global Design Project Christmas Challenge.

Banner Merry Christmas

We're still creating cards inspired by our 2021 Jingle Belles Banner.

 

 

I started with a dark green piece of designer paper from the Patina Collection of the essential Craft Papers by Craft Consortium that I thought captured the feel and color of the banner.

Next I stamped Impression Obsession Sketched Trees three times starting with the first stamping in Deck the Halls Green at the top and second generation stamping in the middle.  I finished with one more stamping in white craft ink along the bottom.

 

 

I die cut the sentiment from Impression Obsession Christmas Stitched Words from Silver Glitter paper and then backed it with a white/ivory glitter paper.  

I finished with two snowflakes from Impression Obsession Snowflakes Die Set cut from ivory shimmer paper.  I topped them with Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Bling.

I'm also joining the Cut It Out! Challenge at Little Red Wagon to use Christmas Die Cuts.  It's also Anything Goes at Simon Says Stamp.

We hope you come join us for our last holiday prompt of 2021.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland fun:

• How to use Dollar Store ornaments for holiday centerpieces
• if Shrimp & Grits are on the menu, I order it ... but I've never made it for myself
• love these adorable Wood Owls (shown)
• love how this Easy Apple Cake doesn't require peeling the apples
• or maybe Apple Fritter Donut Bread (it's my go-to donut when I treat myself)
• Glazed Apple Tart is looks super-lovely too
• I'm intrigued by Ear Seeding
• Filled Donuts made with Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Baked Cranberry Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
• interesting article on On-Line Friendships ... I love how so many of mine have transferred to real life despite the distances
• I must try these Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
• we loved our trip to Columbus ... that area of the country is going on the list for another adventure
• we learned how to make Cheese Balls in Jr. High Home Ec Class.  My mini-kitchen group managed to accidentally drop ours on the floor, so we just rolled it in more nuts & parsley and told our Moms to avoid it at the Parents Tea Party (oh the memories)
• I'd love to try making Hot and Sour Soup
• have you tried SuperCook ... I just found it, and I am going to go through my pantry

Have a tremendous Thursday (and Thanksgiving in the US).

Brightest Spot in My Day

The November Challenge theme at PinkFresh Studio is Wreaths.

 

I die cut the Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Vines Washi Tape with the coordinating Indigo Vines Die Cuts.  I layered the die cut branches over the die cut wreath with foam tape for dimension.

 

 

 

I added a sentiment from the Pinkfresh Studio / Simon Says Stamp Stamptember set You Are Next Level Amazing.  I finished with trios of pearls for the Shopping Our Stash Triple Threat Challenge.

Masculine Cupcake Birthdays

I have changed-up my die storage a bit since this post in 2014 (I now file most of them with the stamp lines), but there are still quite a few dies in my Stamp n Storage Die Cut Box that where I don't necessarily have coordinating stamps. 

I went through the box recently and did some purging and organizing.  Because they aren't with my stamps, I tend to forget about them, so I pulled out a few cupcake dies from the box for some masculine birthday cards.

The first one uses a Cupcake Wish die set from Echo Park together with some gold embossed letterpress tags I also had tucked away.

 

 

I used the Sketch ~N~ Scrap Sketch and paired it with some Eyelet Outlet Matte Enamel Dots (that I love for masculine cards) and a Happy Birthday sticker.  I finished with a foam star to top my cupcake.

 

 

Next I pulled out paper scraps and the Big Cupcake die by Stephanie Barnard for Sizzix ... I love that fun Cherry on top.

 

 

I paired it with a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Birthday.