Ingenious Inkling

Sleigh-ing Christmas

We're still Shaping-up for the Holidays at Jingle Belles by making shaped holiday cards.

I pulled out this Holiday Gift Card Sleigh Dies from Anny Griffin and let them do all of the work this week.  I die cut the base from metallic gold cardstock and the sleigh overlay from red cardstock.  Before attaching, I paper pieced two colors of green patterned designer papers for the gifts (which really gave my gold paper a green tint in the photos).

 

 

I used the same outline die to cut out my card base and finished with a chipboard sentiment & chipboard snowflake.

Remember, you have until 6pm EST on Wednesday to join our Jingle Belles fun.

Caffeinated Christmas with Hearts

I'm thrilled to be Guest Designing for the February Caffeinated Christmas Challenge, which is all about Hearts.

 

 

I used the fun little Honey Bee Stamps Heart Hugs Honey Cuts Dies.  I added some googly eyes and in addition to the heart, a cup of coffee from Honey Bee Penny the Platypus.  I decorated the Cup with the tiny heart stamp from Honey Bee Stamps Let it Snow.

 

 

I finished with a bit of stamp surgery combining the Merry from Let it Snow and Christmas from Honey Bee Stamps Gnome Place Like Home.

And you know I needed a Coffee Sentiment, and I found one in Honey Bee Stamps Blah, Blah, Blah.

I "HEART" You

I'm thrilled to be Guest Designing for the Just Us Girls Challenge for the month of February, and I'd love if you'd come on over and join the fun.

The first challenge is a Die Cut Challenge - featuring, you guessed it, a HEART.

 

I chose dies from Kristina Werner by Concord & 9th.  I just love the Love You So Much Die in the center (cut from Red Glitter Cardstock).

 

 

I used the scalloped rectangle from the Kristina's Essentials on the outer edge and the straight rectangle die for the card base.  I used the Hearts dies included in Kristina's Essentials Dies and gold glitter cardstock to add more heart accents to the frame and in the center of the red heart that is part of the center die.

Can't wait to see which heart die cuts you use on your card.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland fun:

• How to Organize your Fridge
• I love a big, bubbly focaccia 
• Soft Ginger Cream Pie Cookies (shown)
• We played so many card games when I was young
• Mississippi Pot Roast
• favorite restaurants of past presidents
• Peach Crisp (with canned peaches)
• oh the hours I spent playing Sims
• Brooklyn Blackout Cake
• Big MacTater Tot Casserole
• 99 Ways to Say I Love You
• Shrimp & Cheese Grits ... yes please
• I do love a good German Chocolate Cake

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Happy Birthday UNIKO

Uniko is celebrating its 13th Birthday.  Since I love Bev's stamps, I had to join the party and make a birthday card.

 

 

I decided to try stamping with my new Lisa Horton Inks.  I used the Metallic Copper Pot Ink with the Uniko Graffiti Texture Stamp in the Center.  Next I stamped the Uniko Background Blocks Linear with the Lisa Horton Royal Truffle Ink.

 

 

I finished with the atomic image from Uniko Mid Century Modern Birthday Set and a scattering of gems.  The sentiment is from Uniko Floral Vines stamped on Metallic Copper Pot and clear embossed.

 

Februllage and Mini Collage Collective

I had so much fun doing collage in January, I decided to take it on into February with the Februllage Challenge.  At the @mini.collage.collective, they're also joining the fun, so all of my collages are just under 4 inches to play along there too.

 

For the first prompt of Trees, I went with an abstract interpretation using the woodgrain and other papers I had printed on my GelliArts Press.  The quote reflected memories of counting the rings when we would cut down a Christmas Tree or Trees for firewood.

 

 

For Day 2 of Shell combined GelliArts prints with a Hermit Crab Shell from a children's encyclopedia.

 

 

For Day 3 School, I combined vintage dictionary pages, a Tim Holtz Flash Card, and Tim Holtz paper dolls together with an arrow ephemera.

 

 

Day for I rolled the Dice (using stamps from Simple Stories) for a Yahtzee, one of my favorite childhood Dice Games.

 

 

And for Day 5's Chaos theme, I just let my subconscious mind create something that represented Chaos to me.

 

Friendship Hugs

I love sending Valentines to my friends ... just like we did in grade school.  I remember how much time I spent choosing who got which valentine, and then spent over what I would write on it.  My oh my, so much effort for something that likely went right into the trash. 

Hopefully today my handmade valentine's bring joy for a bit longer.

The February Memory Box Challenge is You've Got a Friend in Me.  I chose to pair hearts with hugs for my clean & simple Friendship Valentine.

 

 

 

I paired the Memory Box Little Sketch Heart Die Cut with some fun glittery layered heart stickers.  I chose the pink & red of the hearts to die cut my Memory Box Hugs Daily Script Die Cut.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Color Hues Challenge.

 

 

And they're pairing-up with the Inkspirational Challenge for a double whammy.

You Make My Heart Happy

The February #TEMakerChallenge at Taylored Expressions is a Color Challenge.

 

 

 

I chose Tropical Punch for my third color and used all three colors to ink-up the Taylored Expressions Good Hearted Background Stamp.  Since I've never inked-up that heart stamp, I'm also linking-up at the NBUS Challenge.

 

 

Next, I die cut the cute little Taylored Expressions Quick Critter Cow from Fig Cardstock with a Tropical Punch heart on circles cut from Taylored Expressions Stitched Circle Stacklets. 

I finished with a sentiment from the same Quick Critter set and some googly eye stickers ... because in my artsy world, everything is better with googly eyes.

I'm also linking-up at the A is for Anything Goes Challenge at Little Red Wagon.

You Are So Loved

The February #monthlymixchallenge at Gina K. Designs is - All You Need is Love - to include the word LOVE on your card.

I inked-up the new Gina K. Designs You Are So Loved stamp & die bundle set.  I colored the hearts and sleeves, and decided to leave the hands white, so that the hearts would really pop.

 

 

I combined paints to create a GelliArts printed cardstock that matched the marker I used for the hearts.  I printed several layers to give it a nice texture, and then I embossed it using the Gina K. Designs Lattice embossing Folder.  I found a piece of Authentique designer paper that sort of reminded me of the textured walls of my childhood.

I finished with a sentiment from the You Are Loved stamp set.

 

 

I'm also joining the Time Out Challenges with Heart & Love.  And lastly, the Simon Says Challenge is Have a Heart.

 

Shape Up for the Holidays

Since January is often the time for healthy resolutions, we figured it was a good time to start Shaping-Up for the Holidays, which means we're making shaped cards … anything other than a square or rectangle will do.

I chose the Scrapbook.com Jumbo Tag Dies for my shape this week.  I used two of the papers I made for my recent collage class (water splatter and rolling gum ball) and then cut the card base into the same tag shape.

 

 

Next I die cut the Concord & 9th Ornament Inlay Die from a darker pink cardstock and backed it in a lighter pink.  I added a metallic gold topper and some translucent gems to finish the Ornament.  I finished with a Concord & 9th Big on Christmas holiday sentiment stamped on the lighter pink cardstock.

 

 

I'm also Bringing on the Baubles at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge.