Ingenious Inkling

12 Tags of Christmas - Silver Bells

This year for Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas she is using Christmas Songs are her inspiration.  Day 1 is Silver Bells.

I chose Ardyth's lovely tag as my inspiration.

 

 

I pulled out my favorite silver recycled material ... the inside of a Puffs Plus Vicks Tissue Box (seriously best silver cardstock) and die cut it with the same Essentials by Ellen Tag Trio Die.  rather than embossing, I used the Essentials by Ellen Twirling Flurries Die to impress texture into my tag.

 

 

 

Tonight I learned that you can stamp & emboss on glitter paper (I used Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and Clear Embossing Powder) with the sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Retro Holiday Greetings. 

I finished by die cutting a few Silver Bells with the Alexandra Renke Bells Dies.  I finished with metallic silver ribbon tied with a piece of Lawn Fawn Silver Sparkle Hemp Cord.

I always love joining in the 12 Tag Fun.

 

Until Santa Checks the Naughty List

While the Alcohol Ink Paper was still on my studio table, I had to make a card with the other half from yesterday's design.

I started with the plan to join the E is for Elves Challenge at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.

 

 

I pulled out my Elf Grumplings from Taylored Expressions and then pulled more inspiration from the Fusion Card Challenge Merry, Cheer Joy replacing the gnome with an Elf and using the Sketch.

 

I pulled in the red from the photo for the border of my card using Playful Patterns Valentine paper from Taylored Expressions.

 

 

I colored my little elf and mounted him on a silver glitter foam circle with a sentiment from the same set.

I'm also linking-up at the TGIF Magical Christmas Challenge (because what's more magical than Santa's Elf).

 

And with the Silver Circle, I'm linking up at the Silver or Gold Challenge at Cute Card Tuesday.

Merry & Brrright

Having some sticker fun this afternoon with {a vintage girl} & her daughter and a layout from The Spot Challenge.  Stickers are currently 40% off, so my discount code SMILYNSTEF won't work, but leave my name in the comments of your order so they know I sent you.

 

 

I combined stickers from Christmas Fun and Christmas Quotes.  With my Circle Dies I'm also linking-up at Cut it Up: Christmas Challenge.

 

 

I finished the card with a scattering of Eyelet Outlet Bling.  With my flying reindeer, I'm linking-up at the My Time to Craft Challenge where the theme is Christmas Animals.

 

 

Glittery Alcohol Ink Christmas

A new package of Memory Box Delicate Pastel Glitter Paper arrived this week from my Anniversary Sale Shopping at Paper Anthology, so I had to make some more Alcohol Ink Glitter Paper (following Jennifer Maguire's tutorial).  I just love the process and the end effect.

Here are the three color combinations I played with.  There are 7-8 inks on each page.

 

 

I used the top blue/green one for my holiday card for the Uniko Stamps Challenge which is 'Tis the Season with the optional theme of Sparkle ... I think I've got the sparkle covered.

 

I cut my inky glitter paper into a 3" strip and then stamped images from Uniko's Christmas Background Builders.

 

 

I added color to a single tree using a green Kirarina 2win marker and added shimmer with clear Wink of Stella on top ... and then I added a tiny gold gem at the top of the tree.  The finishing touch were a couple of Green Love from Lizi Peel Off strips to frame the stamping.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Allsorts Challenge where the theme is Christmas Flowers, Wreaths and Trees and the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

 

 

And I've got Tic-Tac-Toe with The Paper Players across the bottom with Green, my tree colored with a Kirarina Marker and Wink of Stella, and my tiny bling embellishment at the top of the tree.

Vintage Floral Trim Thanks

A friend gifted me with a large collection of vintage trims and laces from her Mom's sewing room.  I wanted to use one of my favorites to make a Thank You card for her, and this week's CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge had the perfect layout.

 

I chose a royal blue card base and then die cut the large vintage Memory Box Script Thanks sentiment from coordinating light teal cardstock.  I love how the colors just pop.

 

 

It was so fun finding a way to feature this beautiful trim.

Tiki Happy Soul

We have several things that we collect and display in our home ... and one of them are Tikis.  We're always on the hunt for a fun new one to add to our collection, so when I saw the Luau Stamps from Honey Bee Stamps, I had to have them.

The current Honey Bee Buzzworthy Challenge is to use Patterned Paper, so I decided to combine the two.  Of course after I made that decision, I discovered that all but one of the Honey Bee Sentiment Stamp sets were Christmas, so I had to get a bit creative with the sentiments from Honey Bee Stamps Kindness given the layout I wanted to use.

The Designer Papers are both from Honey Bee Stamps Back to Basics Paper Collection.

 

I also used a new-to-me Color Challenge called Color My Heart Color Dare #421 where the challenge was to use at least three of the colors - I managed to use 4 - Paprika, Sundance, Sage & Mint.

 

I also used the sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches.

 

 

Here are a few of my favorite Tikis.  We display them on the edges of the metal ceiling beams in our loft ... love looking-up to see them smiling back at me.

 

Happy Header Holiday

We're still creating cards inspired by our Jingle Belles Blog Header at Jingle Belles this week.

 

 

This week's card design is a bit less literal and more organic.  I started with red glitter Jingle Bells cut with a new Bells Die from Alexandra Renke and built the rest of my card using Renke products from my stash that were influenced.

I started with some green eucalyptus paper as a background for my Bells and Grey Polka dot paper for my background.

 

 

I used a white doily to bring in the edges of Doily along the bottom of the header and die cut Alexandra Renke Thyme & Rosemary twice - once from grey cardstock and another with the blue green hue of the Eucalyptus leaves.

I finished with the single red glitter snowflake from the banner.  

I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for joining us ... it's been another fantastic year at Jingle Belles and I'm thrilled to have over 80 cards in my stash ... time to start addressing those envelopes.

Birthday Blast

I loved the sketch so much, I wanted to make sure I made a card before The Paper Players Challenge ended.

 

 

I used papers and 3-D stickers from Simple Stories Birthday Blast Collection to re-stock some masculine birthday cards.

I made the first card on a light kraft card base.

 

 

For the second card I used the same papers with a gold card base ... amazing how different the two cards look and feel.  The gold just seems to make the colors pop.

 

 

Playing with paper was the perfect activity after filling my belly with our Thanksgiving Feast.  I am so grateful for a local restaurant Lightworks Cafe that cooked our meal for us.  It was fantastic, especially the Soy Lime Roasted Brussels Sprouts.  There are still Cranberry Tarts waiting for later.

 

Thursday Link Love

A week of blogland discoveries:

• Morning Mindfulness Practices
• Smoked Salmon & Broccoli Quiche
• I use mine all the time (and give it as a gift)
• I so miss a local restaurant that used to serve the best Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage
• Compressed Air in your Kitchen ... who knew?
• Sticky Toffee Pudding (shown)
• Did your Grandma make Ambrosia Salad (mine did)
• Top Inventions of 2020
• I've never heard of Arkansas Possum Pie, but it looks amazing
• love how Fred Tomaselli uses text in his designs
• I'm a huge fan of Snack Cake
• and Crispy, Puffy Roasted Potatoes make me happy
• Jane Austen Coloring Pages
• Cinnamon Apple French Toast Casserole

Happy Thanksgiving & have a tremendous Thursday!

Feliz Navidad

I had an extra Yeti from Kelly Purkey's Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Yeti on my studio table from Monday's cardmaking, so when I saw the theme at Shopping Our Stash was Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Let it Snow, I decided to make another Snowy Yeti card design. 

I started with a snowflake embossed card base.

 

 

Next I die cut a stitched glittery circle and added some glittery washi tape for this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch.

 

 

I'm also linking-up to the Glitter & Sparkle Challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

 

 

It's also an Occasions Challenge at Water Cooler Wednesday for some Christmas Celebrations.