Ingenious Inkling

Sending Pom Pom Happy Thoughts

Well, blizzard warnings are wreaking havoc on our travel plans for the day ... so it looks like another day of playing in my studio.

I wanted to try Laura's Sketch #15 at 2 Sketches 4 You.  I looked around my studio to find something to use for the dotted element on the right side of the sketch and found some left over pom pom fringe I had bought for making Poppits, so that is where I started my design.

 

Papers are from Core'dinations and Rhonna Farrer.  I embossed the Cuttlebug With Love Border floral image on Core'dinations black magic cardstock and sanded to bring out the design of the image.  The flower centers are punched circles and adhesive pearls.  I finished with a couple of black adhesive gemstones and a sentiment from Stampabilities.

It's always a pick-me-up to do bright designs on a cold snowy day.

máXimo

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the designs of Alexander Girard as seen on the website máXimo, the official agent for his estate.  Alexander Girard was one of the biggest names in mid-century textile design. Girard managed to inject an uninhibited use of color and a clever playfulness into the industry. Girard's risky, sometimes iconoclastic fabrics were inspired not by a vision of the future but by a love of traditional folk art. Avid collectors, he and his wife, Susan, surrounded themselves with pieces from over 100 countries. These colorful, whimsical objects inspired him and provided a framework for his designs.

I made a gift card set inspired by the colors, shape and design of these children's blocks.

    

The sun from Vap! Scrap (one of the first Michael's $1 stamps I ever bought) was stamped in colors to coordinate with the Core'dinations Nostalgia Cardstock and clear embossed.  I used short sentiments from Stampin' Up (Quick Thinking and Short & Sweet) and Hero Arts (Anytime Messages) to complete the set.  Finished cards are 4 1/4" square.

 

Who wouldn't appreciate a little sunshine in the mail.

Beyond Quick Thank You Cards

Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge this week is to make cards that are so simple that someone copying the design could make six cards in 30 minutes.  As I looked around my rather messy studio table, I saw all sorts of scraps of Basic Grey cardstock left over from the card I've made this week, and that is where my design idea began.

I used kraft cardstock for the card base and the same Savvy Thanks for all of the cards to unify the design. 

I punched four 1 1/4" squares from four different scraps of Basic Grey Offbeat papers (I love the paper that combines pears, radishes and dragonflies). 

The sentiment is stamped in Dark Brown and clear embossed.  I finished with a Martha Stewart butterfly punched from the red paper with three adhesive gems on its body.

For the next card, four squares were punched from the same piece of Basic Grey Periphery paper (perfect for that strip you cut from a 6x6"piece of paper when you're covering a standard card front).

I rotated the stripes in the design and then stamped over all of the paper squares with the Rhonna Farrer swirls v.1 in Blue Iris ColorBox Chalk Ink.  Both the swirl and sentiment are clear embossed.

This design combines four papers from the Basic Grey Wassail collection.  I really love how these colors look with the kraft.

The sentiment is stamped in Maroon, and the snowflake is punched from the white designer paper with an adhesive gem center.

The final card I made uses four squares punched from the same piece of Basic Grey Archaic paper with the swirl stamped over the squares in dark brown.

I finished all four cards in 20 minutes, and now they're ready to be mailed out after the holidays (or I may wrap them up for a last minute gift set).

Not only are these cards beyond quick, they use up scraps of cardstock that often get discarded.  Thanks to Sharon for the inspiration.

Offbeat Laughter

I need to just step away from the Hero Arts Sketches ... seriously, I just can't stop (but at the same time I love that feeling when I have so many ideas running around in my head, that I just want to forget about everything else and keep creating).  My husband and I both have a long weekend off work ... can't remember the last time we were together for three days in a row.  We're snowed in and loving the chance to just relax and hang out this morning.

This card uses Tuesday's Sketch #2 from Becky Fleck and Basic Grey Offbeat papers.  I also had to add some white and pink cardstock to the design because for some reason that mat stack is lacking solid colors for stamping on. 

 

To coordinate with the warm red of the paper, I inked the Hero Arts Inspiring Messages stamp with ColorBox Chestnut Roan, stamped off once, and then re-inked with Warm Red before stamping & clear embossing.  I backed the Martha Stewart border punch with a tiny strip of white cardstock to add some contrast.  The Martha Stewart Butterfly is punched from the same red paper at the bottom and three tiny Hero Arts adhesive gems are added to the body.

Since my stash is seriously lacking birthday cards, I also did a take-two with Sketch #4 and Basic Grey Two Scoops papers for a bit less busy design.

 

This one combines Hero Arts Framed Messages & Tiny Celebrations, both stamped in ColorBox Chalk Aquamarine and clear embossed.

Two Scoops Celebrate

This card is for the final sketch at the Hero Arts Blog features Basic Grey Two Scoops papers.  They have extended the deadline to upload cards to December 28th, so check it out.  Also, remember you still have until midnight on December 20th to upload your 'no designer paper' creation for the Caardvarks challenge for a chance to win $55 worth of Core'dinations Cardstock.  You can check out the Flickr Gallery here.

 

I'm not a real planner when it comes to card making.  Most of the time I really don't have a vision of how the finished card is going to turn out when I begin ... hence the rather busy feel of this design.  I like how all of the patterns work together, but if I did it again, I might add a bit more white space.  However, it will be perfect for the intended recipient.  The Hero Arts Sweet and Simple Pattern sentimentwas stamped in Colorbox Rouge and clear embossed.  The Enjoy Your Birthday was stamped in Chestnut Roan and clear embossed.  I finished with two sizes of Hero Arts clear adhesive gemstones.

Short & Sweet Thank You

Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #35 is another fun color combination inspired by a co-worker's sweater from Anthropologie.  Since I've been having so much fun with Becky Fleck Sketches this week, I decided to use another from her September 2008 CardMaps.

I combined the great colors with Stampin' Up rub-ons and a sentiment from their Short & Sweetstamp set, stamped in ColorBox Chalk Dark Brown and clear embossed.

The finishing touches were some tiny A Muse sparkle gems and a border punch from Martha Stewart.

Thanks to Kristina for another great Color Inspiration Challenge.

Jolly Boxer

Today's Hero Arts Blog sketch is another great one from Becky Fleck.  I decided to use Basic Grey Boxer papers for a non-traditional, masculine holiday card for my teenage nephew.

 

I combined four different papers for this design.  I used another stamp from the Hero Arts Large Circle stamp set in Burnt Sienna ColorBox Chalk and Ranger Polysparkle embossing powder.  The right strip is punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.  I added Me & My Big Ideas sparkle snowflake rub-ons to the left side to add a bit more interest without taking away from the masculine design.

Wassail Merry & Bright

Today's Hero Arts Sketch is from the Sketch Master herself, Becky Fleck (she's my go to blog when I'm needing sketch inspiration.  I decided to break out my new Basic Grey Wassail papers for this design (thanks Allison).

 

The Hero Arts Merry and Bright Circle is stamped in Maroon ColorBox Chalk on white DP and clear embossed.  I added two Martha Stewart punched holly leaves and tiny adhesive gem berries for my accent together with several more punched circles (remember to sponge around the edges to hide any of the white bits that show when you punch designer paper).  I put a tiny strip of the white DP behind the holes in the Fiskars Threading Water Punch border for a bit more contrast.  The final element is a tiny sentiment from CatsLife Press in double punched ovals.

Holiday Photo & Holiday Cheer

They always have a photographer at my work holiday party, but through the years we have seldom managed to take a photograph worth saving.  However, this year's photo wasn't half bad ... that's about as good as we get of the two of us :^).

 

I've also been enjoying some holiday cheer in my mailbox.  This lovely card is from Melanie at Cheers and Happy Stamping. 

I love how she combined the Basic Grey Holiday papers and the taffeta ribbon corners really bring out the colors in cute snowmen.

This lovely card arrived from Shirley at Card Art Etc. 

I love this funky Tree Frame stamp from Artful Stamper.  She embossed it with glittery gold embossing powder and added more glitter, adhesive bling, and shimmery paint.  Gorgeous.

Archaic Valentine

There are two of my favorite things going on at the Hero Arts Blog this week ~ Basic Grey and Sketches.  For Sketch #1, I decided to make a masculine valentine by combining Basic Grey Archaic papers with Hero Arts Love Letters and From the Heart Greetings.

 

The love letters were stamped in ColorBox Chalk Dark Brown on blue Archaic paper and clear embossed.  I used an orange Sakura sparkle pen to color one of the blooms on the 'V'. 

The From the Heart Greeting was stamped, embossed, and cut out with the EK Success Folk Heart punch.  I attached it to brown Archaic paper and free-hand cut around it for a border.  The finishing touch is a tiny Prima Sweet & Sassy Bloom with an aged gold brad.