Ingenious Inkling

Vroom Vroom

The current Mini-Challenge at Unity Stamp Company is Backgrounds and Borders.  One of the examples was a masked background, so I thought it would be fun to try that technique.  I just cut a square of typing paper the size of my stamp and attached it with removable adhesive before stamping. 

With my MISTI I'm able to really apply pressure around the paper to make sure I get a nice clean line around the mask.  I used brown ink on a kraft card base.  Background is Unity Stamp Company Vroom.  Cake & Sentiment are from 3 Tiered Birthday.  I added a tiny bit of color to the candle & cake layers.

I love a quick and easy masculine birthday card.

My Sweet Petunia (MISTI) and Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

Today the My Sweet Petunia Design Team is creating with the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Design Team for lots of creative fun.

 

By and large, my sympathy cards usually end-up veering toward the feminine (often with flowers), so my goal was to create some masculine sympathy cards by combining Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Texture Tiles 4 with Sympathy Innies (which I turned into Outies).   

I started with a box of shimmery card bases in various shades of green and teal and picked out three shades (dark, medium & light) for each of my cards.  

 

 

I picked a coordinating ink and stamped the Texture Tile and sentiment both on the lightest shade using my MISTI (which makes the tricky stamping on shimmery paper a piece of cake).

 

Then I used this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch (perfect for those tiles) and finished with some enamel dots, which are also perfect for masculine designs.

 

My second card used shades of green with another sentiment from the set.

 

 

Enjoy hopping along to see all of the fun creations ... both Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps & My Sweet Petunia will each be giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky commenter.

 

• Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog
  Colleen Gaddie
  Diane Zechman
  Gayle Bond
  Jane Bosi
  Jennifer Powell
  Julee Tilman
  Julie Cassell
  Lyn Tomlin
  Sheri Gilson
  Kia Gibson-Clapper
  Stephanie Severin <<<<<<<< YOU ARE HERE
  Ilina Crouse
  Giovana Smith
  Jeanne Streiff
  Ceal Pritchett
  My Sweet Petunia Blog
  Lydia Fiedler

Make Merry

This week at Jingle Belles we're creating free-standing holiday tags ... or using tags on cards.  I don't wrap any gifts, so I don't need any free-standing tags ... however I do hit all of the after-Christmas sales to buy up as many of the glittery fun tags I can find to use on next year's holiday cards.

My card features a big glittery wreath tag using the sketch from Try Stampin' (or Not) on Tuesday.

 

I added a few sequins and since the theme is Anything Goes at the Retro Rubber Challenge, I inked-up this little Savvy Stamps sentiment that is at least 12 years old, because here's a card I made using it from 2007.

 

 

It's also All About Occasions at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

 

 

And the winner of last week's Big Box of Goodness Giveaway is (drum roll please) ...

Allisa said:

2500 mile road trip with my son to deliver a rescue dog to his forever home! Thanks so much for the chance to win.

 

Send an e-mail with your mailing address to SmilynStef at aol dot com and I'll get the goodies sent your way.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland exploring:

• Adorable Cross Stitched Bookmarks (shown)
• I've never made a Strata before ... might be time
• How fun are these Painted Sea Shells
• Summer Succotash Salad
• love these Paper Kaleidoscopes 
• Chicken Fideo Soup
• Embroidery & Portraits
• printable Birthday Cards (when you're in a pinch)
• Mandala Place Mats
• DIY Modern Shelving
• Orange Monkey Bread
• I'd like to embroider words on my clothes
• Cianfotta
• fresh Flavored Waters

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Stenciled Circles

I'm starting with some Stenciled Circles for my card at the Technique Junkies Blog today.

 

 

Chicago Adventure

I had the opportunity to get away to Chicago for a few days.  We had absolutely amazing weather to explore the City.  

We started by walking the Wabash Arts Corridor.  The first thing we saw were fun paper mâché creatures hanging from the light poles ... they were challenging to photograph but fun to see on both sides of the street.

 

 

There were so many cool murals ... I think my favorite was this one titled Stop Telling Women to Smile.

 

I loved the combination of colors and styles.

 

The Bubblegum Moose was another favorite.

 

So many fun pieces.

 

We also spent quite a bit of time in the Artist & Craftsman store where I completed my set of Polychromos.

 

Next stop was a small Design Museum of Chicago which focused on the Theater Scene in Chicago ... these costumes were lovely.

We ended our day with a delicious supper at Vivere ... home to one of the 50 Best Dishes in Chicago (the Rigatoni, which of course we had to have) ... Grilled Calamari with Eggplant Camponata; hand-crafted Rigatoni con Anatra E Funghi (Paprika Rigatoni with Duck, Fig, Morel Mushroom Roasted Hazelnuts and Leeks): and Brown Butter Cheesecake with Cherries.

 

 

The next morning we were up bright and early to head to Oak Park, Illinois.  We had a fabulous breakfast at Delia's Kitchen - Baklava Pancakes and Breakfast Burrito.

 

Next we toured the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Church ... one of the first public commissions designs by Frank Lloyd Wright ... all of the natural light through the gorgeous windows was amazing.

 

Then we headed to a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright home & studio ... this was a mural of Arabian Nights in the Children's Room (it was their favorite story).

 

We also enjoyed walking around the neighborhood seeing the other homes he designed.

 

We ended our evening with a White Sox Baseball Game ... and a victory with perfect weather ... truly an awesome trip.

 

 

Up to SNOW Good & GIVEAWAY

We're still creating with shades of BLUE at Jingle Belles. The DCWV Arctic Wishes Matstack is filled with beautiful blue papers including this one feature a trio of adorable snow people. 

I used this week's Fab Friday Sketch with a cute little Doodle Pops Snow Buddies Sticker and a sentiment and snowflakes from Essentials by Ellen Snow Buds.  

 

 

And it's All About Holidays at Addicted to Stamps & More.

 

I've got a Medium Flat Rate USPS Box Jam-Packed full of stamps & supplies ready to go to one lucky blog reader (my studio needed some serious purging to make room for new supplies) ... the box contains products from: Unity Stamp Company, Ink Blot Shop, Technique Junkies, Eyelet Outlet, Create and Craft, Sizzix, Artistic Outpost, Sweet Stamp Shop, Create a Smile, Waffle Flower, Lawn Fawn, Ranger Letter It, Your Next Stamp, Love from Lizi, Simon Says Stamp, Neat & Tangled, Mama Elephant, Birch Press Designs, Echo Park, Carta Bella, Darice, Taylored Expressions & Memory Box, Stampendous and Imaginisce.

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite Summer Memory so far for 2019, and I'll draw a winner & post in next Friday's Jingle Belles post.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of skipping through blogland:

• I love this adorable Yeti Christmas Ornament (shown)
• Peaches & Cream Pretzel Pie
• Love the Enchantment of Twilight
• Okra Kurkure (Bhindi) is my favorite Indian dish
• Yulia Brodskaya Painting with Paper
• Fig Caprese Salad ... yes please
• I love Botanical Illustrations
• lovely Science Illustrations
• those touches of Blue are so serene
• Corn Fritters ... I pretty much love any Fritter
• Do you have a When I Die File?
• I stop in my tracks for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Santa, I Can Explain ...

I discovered a new-to-me Challenge .. the CAS Stencil Challenge ... and the August theme is Sprays.

 

It's been a while since I broke out my Technique Junkies Shimmering Bliss Sprays, so I attached my Square Fade Stencil by A Colorful Life to some watercolor paper using Pixie Spray (makes stencils work so much better, especially with sprays) and used two different shades of blue.

 

When I reached into my stamp basket, these were the two stamps I grabbed (Christmas Kitty & Dear Santa) ... so I thought why can't a Christmas cat be teal.  Remember 10% off your entire Technique Junkies order using discount code TJ10Stephanie (and the August release is another 15% on top of that through the 8th).

Trifecta of Fun!

The teams at Therm*O*Web, My Picket Fence, and My Sweet Petunia are all joining together today for a Trifecta of Fun.  

 

 

I started with a card that combines products from both companies ... the cool new Therm*O*Web Flock Transfer Sheets in Sunshine Yellow and A Sunny Day from Picket Fence Studios with the coordinating Die.

 

 

To make the background, I used Therm*O*Web Decofoil Transfer Gel with A Colorful Life Designs Rough Edge Circlezz Stencil.  I attached the stencil to my watercolor paper using the fabulous Pixie Spray (this stuff is magic) and then applied a thin layer of the transfer gel.

 

 

After about an hour, when the transfer gel is clear and dry, I placed the Sunshine Yellow Flock Sheet (cut slightly larger than the stenciled area) soft side down on top of the gel and then ran it through my laminator two times ... and voila.

 

 

The cool surprise was that I loved the remaining piece of the Flock Sheet almost more than the flocked water color paper, so I used them both for my card ... BONUS!

 

I used my MISTI to stamp Picket Fence Studios A Sunny Day in Gina K. Designs Black Amalgam Ink, so I could channel my inner Kathy Racoosin and color her with Spectrum Noir Markers and my new Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.  I finished with a sticker sentiment.

For my next cards, I used Picket Fence Stamps and some backgrounds I made playing with some Alcohol Pearl Inks ... love those color combinations.

 

 

My first card features Picket Fence Beautiful Girls - Isabella.  I used my MISTI to stamp her in vivid blue and then added a tiny paper flower to her hat.

 

 

For the bright hues, I used a fun set from Picket Fence called Sympathetic Unicorn (don't we all need more sympathetic unicorns in our lives).

 

I added a little pink sparkle to her horn & heart.

For Therm*O*Web I got to use some fun Designer Toner Sheets from Brutus Monroe called CrossHatch ... I paired it with Gina K. Designs gorgeous Glittering Green Fancy Foil ... will you look at how cool that looks in the light.  

 

I paired it with Cathy Zelske's Happy Hour stamps, because the gorgeous green reminded me of Margaritas.  And I used my My Sweet Petunia Cut-Align for that perfectly trimmed sentiment.

 

I just love all of that green goodness.

 

I'm also thinking about relaxing with my girlfriends and enjoying that Margarita, so I'm linking up at the Relaxation Challenge at TIME OUT Challenges (love how there's even a margarita on the challenge badge).

 

The pattern of the DecoFoil Sheet sort of minded me of a road, so my second card uses a fun running shoe sentiment ... so true for running and for so many other things in life.

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing all of the fun products from our Trifecta of Companies - Therm*O*Web, My Picket Fence, and My Sweet Petunia.  All three companies are giving away a $25.00 shopping spree, so make sure you leave comments on the design team blogs to join the fun.

Thermoweb Design Team

Jeanne Streiff

Giovana Smith

Stephanie Severin

Ilina Crouse

Kia Gibson-Clapper

Ceal Pritchett

Susan Wymer

My Sweet Petunia Design Team