Ingenious Inkling

Sleigh All Day

The Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero Challenge for August is Hip to Be Square.  I like to make 5" square cards, so they still fit into standard postage mailable envelopes.

 

 

I took my card colors from The Paper Players Challenge.

 

 

I chose Hot Pink as my Pop of Color using one of my Gel Press Prints (this was one I made with a bottle of hand sanitizer).

 

 

I paired it with fun sentiments from Hero Arts Irreverent Elf Messages and the layout from the Inspire.Create.Challenges.

 

 

I finished with a tiny piece of hot pink bling on the tiny elf hat.

Back to the Books

The current theme at Shopping Our Stash is Back to the Books - make a card that has anything to do with school or books ... or use a book page on your design.

 

 

I decided to combine the book theme with a book page using Gina K. Designs Open Book Stamp set.  I stamped the book on a dictionary page that almost fit exactly inside the pages.  I attached it to cardstock for some stability, and then used scissors to cut out the book.

 

 

I highlighted one of the dictionary definitions and then found some Authentique Classique Beauty book page & patterned paper for my card base.  I attached the right side of the book and let the left side fold up slightly.

 

 

I finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Grow Positive Thoughts to pair with the definition.

We can wait to see what you find when you Shop Your Stash.

Musical Merry Christmas

The August Penny Black Saturday Challenge is Anything Goes with an Optional Twist of Music.

I started with one of the Penny Black Icy Winds Masterpieces Made Simple.

 

I framed it with Penny Black Music Lines Stickers on a kraft cardstock.

I finished with the Penny Black Merry Christmas Die Cut from brown cardstock.

 

 

My little backyard birdhouse is also linking-up at In the Backyard Challenge at Heart2Heart Challenges.

It's also Christmas in August at the Make Monday Challenge.

Public Library Papercrafted Birthdays

The theme at Seize the Birthday is to create a Birthday card with no stamping.

 

 

One of my favorite ways to papercraft without stamping is to use paper and ephemera from a single paper collection.  Today's cards feature October Afternoon's Public Library Collection.  Since I reminisced on ice cream yesterday, today I'll reminisce on the public library.

Growing-up, our local Carnegie Public Library was one of my absolute favorite places to be.  The children's library was in the basement, with the stairway right inside the first set of doors (up a small flight of stairs, were the doors to the adult floor, which seemed like an off-limits sanctuary.  

I loved the children's librarian.  She would ask how I liked the books I was returning and would recommend others she thought I might like.  I had two book rules - nothing about animals or Indians.  I have no idea how I developed those rules, but I held pretty stead fast to them.

For my cards, I cut up a piece of Card Catalog paper for my card base.  I remember graduating to using the card catalog in 7th grade when I wrote my first term paper on Paris and its role in high fashion.  I loved the magic of those wonderful little drawers.

 

 

I added ephemera from the collection on top of the little drawers.  I added a yellow Happy Birthday sticker to this one and pulled in some yellow stars to tie it together.

I remember the joy of graduating to the adult library for my reading.  Our 8th grade Language Arts teacher Leota Phipps had her own paperback library in her room.  You could read any of the books on her list and take a quiz for extra credit.  It was an amazing collection, and I still remember many of them ... The Bell Jar, The Robe, Animal Farm, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

 

Same theme on card number two combining ephemera with the Happy Birthday sticker.

I would check out the allowed amount of books (6 or 7 I believe) and curl up in my blue bean bag beside my open window and read my summers away.

 

And one more card with the same combination.  These theme will help you pull lots of cards together quickly with this fun, quick collage style.

You Scream, I Scream ...

Ice Cream plays a key roll in a lot of my happy childhood memories. 

My Papa would take us to play in the neighborhood park, and then the next stop was for ice cream.  The Ice Cream shop had a single cone with two cups side-by-side, so I could get chocolate on one side and vanilla on the other.  I've never seen cones like that since.

My Grandma would make us ice cream in the smoothest wooden bowls ... vanilla topped with lots of Hershey Chocolate Syrup, that we would stir together until it was beautiful chocolate brown.

My Grandad would help us make homemade ice cream ... what seemed like hours turning that crank, adding salt to the ice, and finally opening the top of the metal container to see the delicious soft ice cream inside.

My  Mom would take us to Dairy Queen, where you had to agonize over your choice ... was it going to be a Dilly Bar (and if so, what flavor), or a sundae, or a Buster Bar ... or on a very good day, a Banana Split.  Then when I could drive, I went to Sonic for half-price late night chocolate banana milkshake.  

You can probably guess that ice cream remains one of my most comforting guilty pleasures, so of course I had to feature it for the Keep Your Cool Challenge at the Daring Cardmakers.

 

 

When I was looking for gel prints for this card, I found this gorgeous pink, white & gold Gel Press print that was just screaming to be on a card ... I love it with the pop of lime green.

My Gel Press Print was made by layering acrylic paints with Stencils, perfect for the Just Us Girls Trend Week Stencil Challenge.  I loved how the stenciled white paint is a similar pattern to the ice cream cone.

 

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch and combined it with my new Simon Says Stamp Soft Serve Cone Dies.  The sentiment is from Impress Everyday Word Clear Words.

 

 

And Lastly, the Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog is Summer + a Sentiment ... nothing says summer like eating your ice cream quickly before it melts (which I will confess I did just last night).  It's hard to see, but I added a few scatterings of clear glittery enamel dots.

Now where's my ice cream for today???

Slimline Christmas

We've got Lela Menke joining us as a Guest Designer at Jingle Belles this week with her theme Skinny Santa Slimline - to create a slimline (or mini slimline) holiday card.

I chose the mini-slimline for my card featuring the Pinkfresh Studio Mini Slimline Frames.  I paired the frames with Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Vines Washi Tape for my holiday wreath.

 

 

I decorated my wreath with dark red Pinkfresh Studio Crystals.  

 

 

The Sentiment was cut from a piece of Pinkfresh Studio Christmas Magic Warm Wishes Designer Paper.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Summertime Blues Challenge (to use the color Blue or Music).

 

 

And one lucky slimline card maker participant will win a fun holiday prize package.

Come share your slimline holiday cards with us at Jingle Belles.

Good Time to Wine

The colors in this week's Color Throwdown are a really unique combination to me ... and I love them.  That scene looks like something I would combine in my home.

 

 

I searched through my print drawer and found an Alcohol Ink Background that combined purple and red with touches of silver foil.  I added a second print that pulls in that amazing green.

 

 

My inky background is also perfect for the TIME OUT Challenge to Make Your Own Background.

 

 

It reminded me of spilled wine, so that's what I went with inspired by the Fusion Card Challenge. 

 

 

I found a wine bottle shaker sticker in my stash together with a glass.  I added a sentiment from My Favorite Things Good Time to Wine.  I finished with some clear iridescent Pinkfresh Studio drops.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of skipping through blogland:

• Snickers Cookie Cups
• 15 places to apply Minimalism
• Vanilla Vanilla Snack Cake
• I love Regina Spektor's lovely voice
• S'Mores Brownie Pie
• Do you want to learn to Do the Splits
• I miss a local restaurant that had the best Salsa Verde
• Paper Bag Leaf Garland
• Peach Cobbler Pound Cake ... I feel like I might skip the frosting on this one and use a glaze instead or maybe with some No Churn Peach Ice Cream
• How to Wash a Baseball Hat
• Apple Oatmeal Pancakes
• A site that recommends an Album by Mood
• Caramel Apple Dump Cake
• Have you tried doing your own Seafood Boil?

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Sandy Tropical Beaches

As you saw in yesterday's post, we spent a good part of the weekend sanding metal stair rails.  When we bought the package of sandpaper, I realized it could have a dual user for some sandy beach card elements.

I combined the Sandpaper with my new Little Star Fish Stamp & Die Cut Set from AlteNew using colors from the AlteNew August 2022 Inspiration Challenge Photo.

 

 

I die cut stamped & die cut the two sizes of starfish from two of the colors and then stamped the sentiment from the same set in the dark brown ink from the Inspiration Photo.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the CASology Sand Challenge.

 

 

And those colors and images are perfect for the Addicted to CAS Tropical Challenge.

 

When Dad Comes to Visit

Dad was here for the weekend, and as always, we worked on a few projects.

First order of business was to reassemble the lamp my brother made me (you can see more photos on his Instagram). 

 

 

All of the light bulbs in our house are very bright white, so the warm glow from these bulbs felt very relaxing.  My underwater scuba lamp was made from a pump housing he recycled.  He built his shoulders from wood and then added the lights.  I love having one of his pieces of art in my  home.

 

 

 

Saturday morning we ventured to the downtown Farmers' Market.  There weren't as many vegetable vendors as I had hoped, but I did enjoy admiring the different build your own bouquet booths.

 

 

Next-up we hung some new art.  I got this fun little Koi Fish at the Des Moines Art Festival, and his colors work perfectly with some of the train art I have going up the stairway.

 

 

 

We also hung the Houston Llew Round the Bend Spiritile.

Next-up was repairing some floor board molding that had come loose from one of the wall corners (after our first trip to the hardware store ... I'm guessing there will be at least one more).

 

 

And then our biggest project - sanding and painting the metal stair rails - so much dust (and obviously layers of paint) ... I'm pretty sure on Monday I won't be able to lift my arm.  And of course when we went back to apply the 2nd coat of primer, I saw I had managed to drip on the wall in two places, so we'll have to touch that up too.  I'm not a neat crafter ... I'm not so neat with home repairs either.

 

 

And here are the railings after two coats of primer & two coats of the original Sherwin Williams Black Fox Paint.