Ingenious Inkling

I'm Sweet On You!

Kristina has posted another great color inspiration challenge. 

The little hand-made pin cushion reminds me of pin cushions that I used to make with my grandma ... somehow I don't think they were ever quite this cute.

 

I combined the colors with this adorable little Valentine image from the Splendid line by Fancy Panty Designs that I picked up at my local scrapbooking store.  I just love the look on his face.  I highlighted his crown with a sakura sparkle pen for a bit of glitz.

The rose red paper has a wonderful shimmer.  The pretty in pink paper was embossed with the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder.  I tied a double knot in the ribbon to get my tails to go in the right direction.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year.

My 10 Favorites of 2008

Jen at Torn Paper did a fabulous post of her Top 10 Cards from 2008 ... I liked the idea so much, I decided to do the same.  I had so much fun looking through all of my creations from 2008.

1 - This was my first hybrid card combining digital elements with stamping. 

 

2 - I had a lot of fun with shaped cards ... this fun boot card was inspired by a rain boot from Dylan's Candy Bar for the Saturday Inspiration Challenge at SCS that I so much fun hosting this year.

 

3 - This card using the file folder batik technique was made using design elements (rub-ons and fabric transfer) that I did at Donna Downey's Inspired Event ... the must fun artistic experience of 2008.

 

4 - Another Inspiration Challenge card inspired by a Schumacher Furniture Advertisement... I love the colors, textures and clean lines.

 

5 - This card used one of Laura's Sketches from 2 Sketches 4 You that was used for the July 20th Caardvarks Challenge.  I have absolutely loved being a member of the Caardvarks Design Team in 2008.  I love the bright colors and the cool crayon resist technique with the Cuttlebug embossing.

  

6 - This fun card was made using an illustration and text from a vintage children's book to send to hospitalized children.  It still makes me smile.

  

7 - I love this card using a PageMaps sketch for several reasons ... the game pieces came in a fabulous gift from my friend Lauren ... and it was inspired by all of the fun family game-playing memories I have.

 

8 - This card was for the Caardvarks Flight of Fancy challenge.  I really love the message of this card and being able to incorporate my grandfather's vintage sheet music into my card designs.

 

9 - This card using a sketch from Page Plans will always remind me of the flood of 2008, because I had taken the card to work to show my co-workers, and left it there on the afternoon in June when we evacuated the building.  I had no idea at that time that it would be over three months before I would see this card again ... I also love the fun masculine design.

 

10 - This was my favorite holiday card for 2008 created for one of Kristina Werner's Inspiration Challenges.

 

Thanks for taking a walk down the 2008 memory lane with me.  I'm looking forward to lots more creative fun in 2009.

PS - Make sure you check out the Caardvarks Blog tomorrow for a super-cool New Year's Day challenge.

Floral Overlay Cocktail Dress

I had to try another Moxie Fab New Year's Dress inspired card. 

The Floral Overlay Cocktail Dress that inspired my card comes from White House / Black Market.  I loved how the black cut-out overlay combined with the light pink dress underneath.  I also loved the proportion of the dress and the black ribbon bow at the waist.

To get the overall pattern effect, I stamped the Hero Arts Design Block Flourish in Black on Provo Craft designer paper and clear embossed.  Then I sprayed the entire piece with Dew Drop Glimmer Mist.  It has a wonderful light silver shimmer, which I did my best to capture in the photo.

I finished with a double wrap of black satin ribbon with a big bow and long tails.  The Studio G sentiment was stamped on a scrap of the shimmery designer paper and clear embossed ... it seems like the perfect mantra for a New Year's party dress.

Moxie Fab Sequin Dress Inspired

The Moxie Fab Blog is holding an inspiration challenge this week to make cards inspired by trend New Year's Eve attire. 

This glitzy Sleeveless Sequin Dress from Ann Taylor was the inspiration for this card.  I wanted to capture the silver sparkle in my design, so I used Bazzill Bling and Metallic cardstock with All Dressed Up chipboard embellishments from DCWV.  These shoes look like they would be the perfect accessory for this classy dress.

I also used this week's CPS Sketch #97 for my layout.

 

The sentiment is from Close to My Heart's Be Happy stamp set.  In order to carry off an outfit like this one, you certainly have to believe in yourself.  The other thing these shoes reminded me of were the glittery ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz ... and how all you have to do is believe in yourself to make your New Year's wishes come true.

SketchThis! Miss You

I love how the SketchThis! blog uses the same sketch for both cards and layout design.  It's always so interesting to see how the different creative minds work with the same basic design.

When I work with a sketch, I usually think about each of the individual elements of the design and different creative possibilities.  When I saw the stacked squares along the bottom of this sketch, I thought of the vintage postage stamps I got for Christmas.  I thought they might look fun lined up as a border. 

Thinking about stamps led to thoughts of letters traveling to far away places ... and then to my far away friends.  My card design developed from there.

I picked out several stamps that had bright springy colors to coordinate with the Penny Black Wherever They Grow! Floral sticker as my main design element (it has postage stamps on the background).  I cut the sticker in half and overlapped the blooms on a torn piece of handmade yellow paper.  The Our Time Together sentiment from Stampabilities is stamped in Warm Green ColorBox Chalk and clear embossed. 

Since all of those bright colors seemed a bit busy, I used a scattering of different sized clear adhesive gems to unify the design.  Thanks to Janelle for another great sketch.

Moxie Fab New Year's Party Dress

The current challenge at the Moxie Fab blog is to make a card inspired by some glitzy New Year's party dresses.

This Abstract Square Neck dress comes from White House / Black Market.  I loved the all over contrasted pattern; the wide strips of fabric around the sleeves, hem and necklines; as well as her glity jewels.  So, those are the elements I decided to incorporate into my inspired card design.

I had several sheets of marbled paper in my stash, but none that quite captured the two tone contrast seen in this dress.  Instead I stamped the Hero Arts DesignBlock Flourish in white pigment ink on a piece of patterned dark gray designer paper from  Provo Crafs Cadenza Slab XI and embossed with white detail embossing powder.  I really like the contrast of the subtle pattern with the embossed flourishes.

I left a wider mat around the flourish to mimic the wide fabric borders seen in the dress design.

The Hero Arts Collage Thinking of You was also stamped and embossed on the same designer paper and attached using dimensional foam adhesive.  I finished with lots of tiny rhinestones on the blooms to bring the jewelry inspiration into the design.

The final touches were grey taffeta ribbon and a butterfly punched from a discarded stamped image and embellished with more rhinestones.

New Mirra Chair

Look what came home to live with me today (only mine has the same mesh fabric on both the seat and back).

I have wanted a Herman Miller desk chair for my office for years ... and this year Santa (aka my dear husband) decided it was time for me to have an upgrade. 

The Design Ranch had a 20% off sale on their in-stock models ... and I was so excited to see that the only one they had left was the exact one I would have custom ordered.  This baby sits like a dream.

Not So Sure About Santa

I had to share the cutest holiday picture of my nephew.  I love the fabulous moment that the photographer captured ... the twinkling eyes and smile on Santa's face contrasted with Aaron's uncertainty about the entire Santa experience.  Priceless.

Sledding Snow Bear

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge idea came from Anne Ryan, who said that MacKenzie-Childs was her favorite store ... after spending quite a bit of time clicking through the pages, I can certainly see why. I love the fabulous bright colors and whimsical designs.

I used this very fun Snow Bear Enamel Platter for my inspiration.  I love the colors and those big polka dots.

The Stampin' Up Dotted Background was stamped in white pigment ink on black cardstock and heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.  I cut a 4" circle with my Creative Memories circle cutter for the card front.

The Savvy Sledding Snow Bear was stamped in ColorBox Chalk Charcoal and clear embossed.  I punched the circle & then used my new December Sky Blingz Shimmerz paint to paint all around the bear. 

The snowflake is punched from white shimmery cardstock with a black adhesive gem in the center.

A big thanks to Anne for such fun inspiration.

Retro Owl Smiles

Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge was to break out some of the new toys you got for the holidays, which made me realize ... I didn't get many new crafting toys.  I'm planning to do some shopping tomorrow to remedy that situation :^)

I did however get a package of cool postage stamps in my holiday gift from my sister.  The owl is a vintage playing card from another gifted package of fun paper ephemera (thanks Lauren).  I like how the color of the postage stamps bring out the blue in the owl's eyes.  I used a rub-on sentiment on top of the postage stamps that says 'you make me smile'.

 

The cardstock is from Core'dinations and the background is the Hero Arts DesignBlock Flourish stamped in ColorBox Chestnut Roan ... I love how the texture of the paper shows in the stamped image.