Ingenious Inkling

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• The Science of Laughter ... when I can make one of my quieter employees laugh out loud, it makes my day ... I also can never be sad when I hear a little baby giggle uncontrollably
• Apple Cider Donut Cake
• would love to experience this Sensory Art Exhibit
• Apple Fritter Bread
• what beautiful pictures of Everyday Life ... I love potato chips on my tuna fish sandwich, looking into windows at night, and seeing beauty in the ordinary
• Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes & recipes for leftover pumpkin
• I will be collecting these quarters
• Chocolate Orange Cake
• A Happier Life
• Crumbl Funfetti Milkshake Cookies
• love these fun Ladder Trees (one shown ... more in the post)
• Brie & Cheddar Apple Beer Soup
• Small Space Storage Tips
• Ham & Split Pea Soup

Have a tremendous Thursday.

Flutterby

One of my favorite things about creating in person with another artist is getting their feedback on designs and channeling their style as you watch them create.

This card started with a little piece of cut-off gel press print that the Damsel of Distressed had made with the Shower of Flutters stencil from STAMPlorations.  I added it to one of my gel press prints and die cut it with a hexagon die.

 

 

I combined it with two more of my Gel Press prints and a ruler that had been trimmed from a piece of designer paper that Becca had used on another card.   I brought in some Distress Crayons that Becca uses frequently in her designs, but I seldom grab, for a grungy finish to the design.  Final steps were creating a little poem with sticker sentiments that described my intention when creating the card & a few gems.  It was a really fun process.

I'm also linking-up at Little Red Wagon where the challenge theme is Flutterby (to use butterflies on your design).

 

 

I'm also joining the Stencil Challenge & Anything Goes Challenge at STAMPlorations.

Batty

Have you tried the Ranger Mica Sprays ... man, they are lovely.  This card started with a piece of cardstock sprayed with the Hocus Pocus Purple.

 

 

Next I stamped & embossed the sentiment from Dena Zinski Art from PaperArtsy in the center with Ranger Archival Black Ink, which I clear embossed to make it pop against the purple background.

 

 

At that point in my design process, I remembered the Let's Squash It! Challenge was Double Embossing, so I went hunting for an embossing folder.  I didn't have any bats, but I did have their Halloween cousin the spider web (or Cobwebs as the folder is named), so I used that.  To give it more contrast, I inked the raised edges with Plum Punch Ink.

I finished with some glittery bat stickers.

I'm also linking-up at Shopping Our Stash where the theme is Pumpkin Spice celebrating all things autumn.  And the Simon Says Challenge is all about Spooky/Halloween.

Booya

I had so much fun with the AAA Cards Challenge yesterday, I decided to pull out some stamps and make a few more.  Limiting your design space to one corner makes you be more succinct with your designs.

 

 

I also decided to join the Less is More One Layer Autumnal Challenge.

 

I used CZ Design HollaWeen stamps from Simon Says Stamp that released in 2017, so I'm also linking-up at Retro Rubber Stamp Challenge.

 

 

Here's my first one ... I couldn't resist adding a witch's hat to my ghostie.

 

 

I'm also joining the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge (who is paired with the Double Trouble Challenges Halloween Cuteness) for some Halloween Fun.

 

 

For the second one I swapped out for more sentiments from the same set.

 

 

 

Now time to get these Halloween cards in the mail.

Boo!

This week's theme at AAA Cards Clean & Simple Challenges is one corner with an optional theme of Boo!

 

 

I had these spooky cute mummy stickers on my table with some Tim Holtz Stickers, so I put this one together quickly on some pitch black cardstock.

 

 

And then when I saw these sticker sentiments on the sheet, I couldn't resist pulling out some Halloween eye ball stickers for the remainder of my cardstock.

 

 

How perfect are those pink eyelids ... Boo!

I'm also joining CAS on Friday where the theme is Halloween and Addicted to CAS where the code word is Spooky.

 

Santa Baby

We're still creating with PINK this week at Jingle Belles (and both Lauren and I will donate $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each card linked-up).

The Santa Baby Paper Collection by Prima has some of the prettiest pink holiday papers. 

I used lots of them together with they layout from The Sketchy Challenge (with one vertical strip from Dress My Craft Christmas Bells, another lovely paper collection with pinks).

 

 

The finishing touches were some gold strips and epoxy dots.

 

Thursday Link Love

Another week of skipping through blogland:

• vintage invoice ephemera
• Crispiest Baked Chicken Thighs
• 50 Greatest Cereal Box Prizes
• how lovely is this Fall Cobb Salad (shown)
• love this Rag Quilt Pattern
• Seafood Arancini
• Stewed Apples or Baked Apples?
• I want to float on a Colorful Lily Pad
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Snack Cake
• Do you like Historical Fiction?
• I have never heard of a Ramlet, but I would totally eat one

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Placid Gel Press

Another Gel Print card made during my Art Camp with the Damsel of Distressed.

This print was made using the Placid Stencil from ARTplorations together with another die from Becca's collection that I thought coordinated well.

 

 

I had a lot of fun creating little poems with the Tim Holtz sentiment stickers.

I'm linking-up at the Never Ending Challenge at STAMPlorations.

Gel Printing Travel Adventures

One of the items on my Grand Forks travel agenda was to give the Damsel of Distressed (go give Becca a Like) her first Gel Printing experience.  We had so much fun creating, we never wanted to stop ... and needless to say, she was a super-quick learner (and bought us matching shirts from Unglued for our creative day).

 

We started with 5"x7" plates and basic acrylic paint and stencil techniques ... as you can see, Becca rocked it.

 

 

Here's Becca putting the stars onto that magical Unicorn print.

 

 

I had some fun playing with new Elizabeth St. Hilaire Stencils & Masks from Joggles inspired by Gustave Klimt.   The bottom two prints use the one called Rectangle Motif.  The top right is ARTplorations All Swirls. 

 

 

I also had fun creating with one called Cubes on the top right and bottom left.

 

 

 

And more Rectangle Motif on the top left.  The bottom left is All Swirls from ARTplorations.

 

 

Then on day two of our creative adventures, we spent a little time learning alcohol ink printing with the Gel Press.

 

 

And next up was playing with die cuts and stickers to turn prints into cards.  This one features the ARTplorations All Swirls Stencil together with words from the CUTplorations You Word Die Set and the CUTplorations Awesome Word Die.   I think that die cuts can completely transform some Gel Press Prints that felt more like "rejects" when you pulled them.

 

 

I'm linking-up at the October Anything Goes Stencil Challenge at STAMPlorations.

 

 

Here's another card made from these prints.  Becca had stamped and painted a group of houses and had this cutie left over after finishing her cards, so I added it to my design.  I had fun using Ranger Sentiment Stickers to create a little poem.

 

 

I'm linking this one up at the Anything Goes Stencil Challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

 

 

And one more stamping directly onto the Gel Press Print with an image from Sassy & Saucy from Inky Antics by Andrea Ockey Parr.  

 

 

More North Dakota Adventures

On Friday, I had the opportunity to wander around Grand Forks downtown and take in more of the sites … and you know I also did some shopping to help enrich the local economy.

There were a nice mixture of shops where I found things for me and even a few gifts … and you know I bought some new shoes.  The service at See Dick Run was phenomenal … she recommended a shoe I had never tried (the Brooks Adrenaline) and it fit perfectly.

 

 

There was even art inside Run Dick Run in the form of these awesome painted benches.

 

 

I also found a fun tea towel gift, some yummy smelling bath soak, a local cookie which I enjoyed on my travels home, a little wooden tree and two kinds of new lip balm (love the Bitchstix … haven’t tried the other yet).

I also found a silver spoon ring that reminded me of the one my Mom wore when I was young.  I used to sit next to her in church and play with taking her rings on and off her fingers to entertain myself.  When I look at this picture, I realize my hands look a lot like hers did.

 

 

 

I loved the mix of public art around the City … these blue head planters were a favorite.

 

 

 

 

I also loved this amazing pixilated mural.

 

 

 

And this statue sat in front of a lovely collection of brownstone condominiums.

 

 

 

A few days later, we visited Archives Coffee House (and Art) on the University of North Dakota Campus where I enjoyed a Peppermint Hot Chocolate, bought some local art, and admired this cool modular table.

 

 

There was also amazing food consumed.  I tried my first Somali meal from Safari Restaurant East African Cuisine, which was delicious.  I really enjoyed the Somali Tea which was a spicy chai-like flavor.'

 

 

Our main meal was Chicken Suqaar (which had surprising delicious golden raisins).  We also had fabulous Samosas, but I consumed them so quickly I forgot to photograph.

 

 

This gives you sense of the size of those portions (and make-up free me in my art making clothes).

 

 

We also enjoyed a nightcap and dessert (mulled apple cider for the win).

 

 

My final Grand Forks meal was an amazing breakfast at Darcy's Café ... seriously so delicious.  I had the Kasper (all of the breakfast meats including house made Corned Beef Hash over cheese and hash browns with Basted Eggs), Biscuit and Maple Sausage Gravy, and the seasonal special Great Pumpkin Pancakes with Chocolate Chips and Pecans. 

 

 

I still have some more Grand Forks Gel Press printing fun to share in another post.