Ingenious Inkling

From Florida to Ice Storm

I was blessed to spend a few days this week at the wonderful world of Disney in Orlando.  In addition to being amazing purveyors of entertainment, they also host very well-run business conferences.  In the midst of meetings, we did get to enjoy a little Disney magic.  Since I left snow behind in Iowa, I was especially grateful for the warmth and sunshine.

I got to go on a Disney Institute Hidden Treasures Tour of Epcot.  It was a three hour tour of every Epcot pavilion with insight into the creation of the park and some views of the behind the scenes landscape. 

These pictures were at the Oaxaca wood carvers exhibit in the Mexico pavilion.  I was inspired by the shapes and bright colors.

I really loved the colors and patterns of this big bright frog.

All of Disney was decorated for the holidays with special holiday programs, decorations, exhibits and even smells (the Yacht Club lobby smelled of cinnamon and pine ... the lobby of the Beach Club was scented with gingerbread).  In Germany's pavilion there were beautiful Christmas wreaths and poinsettias.

I loved this view across the lake.  Our tour guide was wonderful.  She was a retired Naval attorney who was enjoying her second career as a leadership speaker and tour guide through the Disney Institute.

We got to end the evening with the beautiful light and fireworks display at Epcot.  Watching from a platform near the United Kingdom pavilion, the view was breathtaking.

   

Lastly, the not so magical view from my hotel room :^).  It made me wonder why they even install a balcony to overlook the flat roof that holds the vends and cooling units.

Since the weather-people are predicting the landing of a horrible ice storm in Iowa tomorrow, I am even more appreciative of my time in the sun.

I-Squared Inspiration Winner and Inspired!

The winner of the I-squared Inspiration is Beth M who said:

My favorite ornament is a clear glass ball with a gold foil 3 dimensional tree inside of it. The ornament was my grandmother's so I cherish it for that reason and because I've not seen another like it.

Thanks for the chance to win such a great prize!

Thanks so much to everyone who shared your memories.  I loved reading each and every one.  Isn't it amazing how such small items can bring back such big memories.

Also, I am extremely excited ... I am so ready to be Inspired.  I want to "walk away with a new perspective on my creative potential."

I am registered.  Are any of you going to join me?

I'm headed off on a business trip and won't be back on the computer until Friday evening.   

Enjoy the week ... and be inspired.

Sympathy in Shades of Brown

I've been following Lisa at Polka Dot Creations as she shared her evolution of a color scheme.  I love how she picked a mosaic of different pictures and items that inspired her and then formed the palette from the shades and tones found in those pictures. She has links to some cool color palette tools as well.  She's asking for some help naming her new color palette, so check it out and a cool prize might be yours.

Lisa also posts a monthly color challenge.  In November, the challenge is to create artwork in any medium with the predominant color of brown.  Since I had another sympathy card to complete for my uncle, I decided to make it in tones of brown.

I pulled out my brown scrap folder and started to work.  I chose this sentiment from River City Rubber Works, and since it is 5 1/2" tall, I decided to make a 4" x 9" card that fits in a business-size envelope.

I found this scrap of ivory embossed paper and sponged over it with ColorBox Chalk dark brown to bring out the pattern.  I added some buttons, ribbons and hand-cut squares of bazzill bling brown to finish the design.

I challenge you to find ways to think differently about color in your work this week. 

Sketch This Birthday

I had a request for a birthday card that incorporated purple and flowers.  This card uses the Sketch This: Cards: 33 sketch.

I started with this soft sparkly paper from the DCWV Once Upon a Time mat stack.  I had a piece of striped ribbon with the same colors, but it seemed like two much of a contrast, so I adhered a strip of silver ribbon over the stripes.  I added some pink velvet ric-rak for the other striped design element.

This flower by Li'l See D's was inked with Versamark and Colorbox Chalk Wisteria and embossed with Ranger Antiquities Frosted Crystal before cutting out the flower (that embossing powder softens the ink color and adds a very soft sheen).  The flower was then chalked with Pebbles Pearlescent Chalks in pink and purple and adhered to a silver metallic scalloped circle.  The flower center are Peony Dew Drops adhered with a glue dot.

The wavy happy birthday by Savvy is inked and chalked in the same way to finish the design.

Tribute to my Papa

I have been so blessed in my life with amazing grandparents.  They loved me unconditionally and shared so many of life's learning experiences with me.  Last night my Papa died.  He was not in pain and passed peacefully with his children and wife at his side.  This morning I have been thinking about all of the wonderful times with my Papa, and how I am a better person because of him. 

This was one of my last pictures of him ... still smiling despite intense pain.  He called me on my birthday and sang Happy Birthday to me despite his morphine haze.  It was special ... he was special. 

He never tired of us when we were younger.  He would play with us for hours.  He took us to the park down the street from their house and played with us on all of the playground equipment.  I remember going to Dairy Mart where he always let us get the double ice cream cone. 

Papa & Gran owned a dime store, and some of the most special times were moments with him there.  It was so magical to get to go into the back storage room and up the stairs to his office that overlooked the store.  He would let us get some candy from the glass candy counter and warm nuts from the spinning tray.  On Sundays, he would take us to the store when it was closed and let us "shop" for special goodies like a pink birthstone ring, new knee socks, candy and toys.  I got to operate the bow-making machine and wrap gifts during the holiday season.  I worked there when I was in high school, and it was so special to share that experience with him.

He was a marvelous and patient teacher.  He taught me how to play pool, ping-pong, checkers, Chinese checkers, dominoes, card games, foosball, and golf.  He taught us how to look ahead when we played and to understand the ultimate consequences of our moves and shots.  I was always amazed how he knew every single domino still in play that would result in a score.  He was with me when I played my first round of golf.  I am so grateful for all of the time I got to share with him.

This morning I thought about my grandparents while I made this sympathy card for my Gran (inspired by TexasGrammy's Sympathy in Blush). He will be missed.

Ingredients: Stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms Victorian Sunflowers Backgrounder, Impression Obsession, Sympathy Sentiments; Paper: Handsome Hunter, Light Blue and Ivory Cardstock; Ink: ColorBox Chalk Warm Green & French Blue; Accessories: Paper Source Deep Pool ribbon.   

Moralia's Scraplift

I took a break from making gift sets to complete a blog challenge.  Moralia is giving away some awesome blog candy and the catch is that you have to scraplift one of her creations.  I had fun reading my way through her blog, but the card that really caught my eye was this cool gift card holder that she made with a Hambly overlay.

I knew I had an overlay tucked away that I had been hoarding, so I decided it was time to cut into it.  Since my overlay was in rows, I decided to make a straight cut rather than an an angle.  I stitched the Memories Funky Vintage Ruby Collection DP to the dark brown sparkle cardstock base using a medium straight stitch.  Then I stitched the overlay on three sides with a zig-zag stitch to form the pocket.  I added a couple of blooms and a sentiment from Gina K Punchy Words stamped in Dark Brown ColorBox Chalk to finish the pocket.  What a fun way to give a gift card.

Another Holiday Gift Set

A friend loaned me some of her Gina K stamps to use while she is out shopping 'til she drops this weekend.

This is probably one of the first basic card designs I ever made - stripe on the bottom, coordinating print on the top, ribbon or paper strip in the middle and a circular medallion.  It is a classic design that never goes out of style (I just saw the same design in an expressionery.com ad in Oprah Magazine). 

With these circular sentiments from the Gina K Punchy Words set, it makes the design even easier (I used a 1 3/8" circle punch and the scalloped circle by Stampin' Up).  These fun papers are from the Memory Box Studio Collection.  I know I could dress it up, but this set will be a for a man, and I know he prefers them simple.

This card also works for Sharon's DP Rules Challenge as well.

Monogram Gift Card Set

Seven years ago I started giving card sets for Christmas.  I've already spoken with two people this month who said "I hope I get my cards this year."  I love giving a gift that the recipients look forward to receiving.

I am not a mass producer.  However, this time of year, I have to switch into that mode in order to complete the task.  I have done a great job of having my holiday cards completed this year, but I have fallen behind on the gift sets.  Some people will get mis-matched one-of-a-kind sets, but often I try to create a template and just change-up the colors and patterns.

I started with a card set base in Bordering Blue.  Then I went to the Color Combo generator to choose a color palette.  I decided on Pale Plum and Mellow Moss.  I then went searching through my DP to see if I could find a piece that incorporated these three colors (sometimes I start with the DP and work backwards, which can be a bit less daunting).  I found this stripe in Basic Grey's Periphery 6x6" pad that incorporated all three shades.  I can complete 6 cards of this design from one 6x6" sheet of paper.

I stamped the Hero Arts Monogram in Wisteria (stamped off once) and then inked in French Blue ColorBox Chalk ink.  I then mass-assembled the monogram and the striped component and assembled the cards.  I stamped the flourish from Fancy Pants From the Garden in Wisteria on the envelope to finish the set.  One done ... lots more to go.

Acetate Star AKA Name That Tune

I've been wanting to try Jen's Transparency Stamping Tutorial, but I didn't really have any open images in my stamp collection that I thought would work well.  Yesterday, I did a little borrowing from my girlfriend's stamp stash and wanted to give it a try using this star from C R Rubber Stamps.

Since I didn't have any permanent colored markers, I colored the star using my Marvy Markers (see fingers below for the side effects of doing that).  I tamped on gold stickles for my bling and attached the acetate star to a silver flecked white cardstock using glue dots behind the colored imaged.

I used Jen's weekend Sketch For You To Try. I added some swirly vellum and several metallic silver papers to finish the design. 

I purposefully left off the sentiment for the Daring Cardmakers Song Without Words challenge to create a card inspired by a song, but with no lyrics on the card front.  Can you guess my song (hint, we recently watched a director's retrospective of David Lynch).  The answer is seen here.

More than likely I'll add a holiday sentiment or maybe even "You Light Up My Life" before I send the card. 

By the way, this is what happens when you try to color your acetate with Marvy Markers (or at least when I try it).  I tried permanent ink remover, but it still won't budge.  Oh well, my fingers are decorated for the holidays.

Necklace Inspired

Today's card inspiration is this funky Fish Necklace from Fire Mountain Gems.  The fish theme didn't really do much for me, but that color combination is one of my favorites, so that's what I used for my inspiration.

I love ribbon in every color and texture, and I had plenty of this color combination in my ribbon drawer.  I covered a piece of cardstock with adhesive and started laying out strips of ribbon.  After the cardstock was covered, I did a zig-zag stitch between each piece.  Then I trimmed to fit.  If I did this again, I would try to pre-measure, so I didn't need to trim the ribbon along the top and bottom (notice the slight fraying), but I still like the effect.

I finished it with this Snoopy Woodstock Hug by Stampabilities stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black and embossed with black detail EP.  I colored Woodstock with a Sakura Gelly Glaze pen and layered on coordinating cardstock.  I kept trying to add something else to this card, but nothing seemed to work with the busy ribbon background, so I'm keepin' it simple.

Don't forget to add your name to the drawing for the I-squared Inspiration Giveaway.