Ingenious Inkling

52Q ~ Laugh Out Loud

This week's 52Q Mini Art Journal question is ~ what was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?  The answer was very easy for me ... my husband. 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures.  It is not particularly flattering of me, but it never ceases to make me smile.  This was taken 5+ years ago at my company's annual awards banquet.  There are photographers who wander around the event taking photos.  I thought we were posing for a nice formal picture of the two of us ... since my husband was slightly behind me, I had no idea he was making that face until the photos came back. 

It cracks me up, because that was the face I was probably making on the inside.  It had been a very long evening & we were very tired and ready to go home. 

I am blessed to have a husband who makes me laugh out loud every single day.

Beach Bag Monogram

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the fabulous designs found at Room Service Home.  of their favorite quotes is, “The quality of the now is the single most powerful determinant to the quality of the dream.” What a great thought.

My card was inspired by these cool Monogrammed Ribbon Bags.  The straw texture reminded me of a large sheet of straw-like paper I had picked up years ago at a Dick Blick outlet store.  I also loved the contrast of the wide ribbon with the large monogram medallion.

Since I didn't have any wide striped ribbon, I used two pieces of narrow striped ribbon and reversed the direction of the pattern to get a mirrored design.  These cool Monogram Stamps are from Serendipity Stamps.  I picked them up on a stamping road trip to Chicago several years ago, and they haven't gotten nearly enough use.

I hope you enjoy the weekend ... and find inspiration.

Ingenious Inkling Giveaway Winner

My dear husband, the random number generator, chose #45, Sheila of Dragonfly Dreams who said:

45

Sheila said...

We did a trip to the Grand Canyon from Colorado for our honeymoon...14 years ago. I loved the North rim, so if you can get a reservation at the lodge there, that would a place I would definitely stop...I hear they have the glass walkway now too. Also, I love the Mirage in Vegas, but it was because of the white tigers.

Thanks for all of the great travel ideas & for stopping by my blog to celebrate.

Hero Arts Winner & another Win A Day Design

I was so excited to see that my Shimmery Flower Wood card won third place in last week's Hero Arts Friendship Challenge.  So to celebrate, I decided to make another card for this week's Win A Day challenge. 

This card is inspired by Kiara Lee's adorable Thanks So Much card.  I've been wanting to ink up those cute little dolls from the Four Dolls set.  I also loved how she placed the doll on top of a clear circle tag.  And since Kiara's card used one of Kristina Werner's color challenges, I decided to use Color Challenge #43 for my design.

 

I incorporated the chocolate chip color by using brown ink.  The tone-on-tone stamping used new Versamark Dazzle Frost ink.  I painted her cute little dress with Ruby Red Shimmerz Glitter paint.  I love my new Fresh Snow ink from PaperTreyInk.  The wavy border is from Scallop Border set & the sentiment and tiny flowers are from Sparkle Clear Arigato set.

Special to Me

This is another card created for the Win-A-Day challenge at the Hero Arts blog.  The inspiration was Kristen Ng's Butterfly Birthday.  I loved how she used designer paper and cut out pieces to highlight them.   I also loved the pearls on the background and the butterfly body.  I cut the acrylic sentiment from Anytime Messages in half before stamping to frame the butterfly.

 

I alco used some clearance-priced designer paper in my design.  I cut out additional words from the Kelly Panacci design and added them to the background.  The Heart Winged Butterfly was colored with colored pencils and Sakura glitter pen.  I finished with a Martha Stewart punch and scattered light blue adhesive gems.

Celebrate Today

This week's challenge at the Hero Arts blog is a fun one.  The winners of the Win-A-Day blog challenge are being featured & the challenge is to create cards inspired by their designs.

This card is inspired by Monday's Win-A-Day featured stamper Kelly Booth.  My card was inspired by her Butterflies card.  I loved how she combined the butterflies with the bright colors and a pop of black.  All papers are from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie 12" collection.  I love stamping on designer papers.

 

The Rain Drop background was stamped for the base.  I wish this stamp were a bit larger to cover the entire base of a standard size card.  The border is Martha Stewart punch, but instead of trimming off the bottom, I left it attached to form a frame to the lattice design. 

The Together sentiment was stamped in ColorBox Charcoal Chalk ink on three different patterned papers and clear embossed.  I trimmed the butterfly twice to attach and provide dimension.  I colored the wings with a combination of glaze, glitter and sparkle pens.  I finished with Hero arts adhesive gems in teal, pink and clear.

Just Saying Hello

I discovered a new sketch blog ~ Card Patterns.  This week's sketch is sponsored by I {heart} Papers, so I decided to make a card that features the beautiful designs of Basic Grey Urban Prairie.  The only stamping is a blank inked sentiment from Hero Arts All Occasion Messages, so this also works for Sharon's Stamp Simply Blank Ink Only challenge.

 

I combined prints from both the 12x12" and 6x6" paper designs.  I also added a touch of micro bling to finish the design.

Owl on a Flowering Branch

I thought I missed the window for Kristina's color challenge, but I saw that she extended the deadline, so I decided to give it a try.

These colors remind me of the 70's ... the 70's colors remind me of my Gran's kitchen ... and my Gran's kitchen reminds me of her fun owl decorations ... which are coming back in style.

I combined the colors with three different Hero Arts stamps to make one more card for the Hero Arts Friendship challenge.

 

The Flower and Leaf Branch was stamped in Burnt Sienna ColorBox Chalk and clear embossed.  I used a blender pen and Lime Pastel and Yellow Citrus to color in the leaves and blooms.  I added a tiny touch of Sakura sparkle to the flower centers.  The tiny owl from Bird Greetings was stamped, clear embossed, cut out, painted with a bit of Citrus on his beak, and mounted on the branch with foam adhesive.  I finished with the sentiment from Sparkle Clear: Designer Fruit.

100,000+ hits = Ingenious Inkling Inspiration Giveaway

I was so excited to see my hit counter cross 100,000 this morning ... when I started blogging, I never had any idea how much fun it would be and how many new friends I would make.  I've had 804 posts and 4,245 comments ... and tons and tons of creative fun.

So to celebrate ... I've got lots of goodies to give away.

 

Included in this prize bundle are:

• American Crafts Cream Soda Purple Foam Thickers

• American Crafts LAX Blue Glitter Chipboard Stickers

• 25 6" square envelopes

• Fiskars Extra Large Circle Squeeze Punch (2" circle)

• Hero Arts ClearDesign: Treasure the Moments stamp set

• Pink Cat Studio Limitless Limbs Stamps

• Hero Arts Sparkle Clear: Hello Birdie

• Imaginisce Snag 'em Baby Powder Flower Stamp

• Pink Paislee Doodle Flower

• Sassafrass Sunshine Lollipops Wee Paper Bundle 6" pad

So what do you have to do for a chance to win?  In a few months, my DH and I will be taking a road trip from Phoenix, AZ to the Grand Canyon and then to Las Vegas.  If you have a favorite place in that area that we must check out, leave me a comment between now and 9pm CST on Friday, February 27th.   If you don't have an idea for that area of the country, leave me a comment about your favorite vacation location.  The drawing is open to all readers. 

Thanks again for visiting my little corner of blogland.

You Make My Heart Happy

I was excited to see that today's SCS Featured Stamper is my friend Jami, aka sgtStamper, of Stamp Happy with Sgt Stamper.  I was inspired by her Essence of cc187 design.

  

The Hero Arts Silhouette Corner was inked in Wisteria and Warm Violet ColorBox Chalk ink, stamped on Memory Box Sprout DP, and clear embossed.  The Martha Stewart butterflies were punched from a different piece of Sprout DP and decorated with Hero Arts Citron Gemstones.  The sentiment from Hero Arts Anytime Messages was stamped in Wisteria and clear embossed in the upper corner.  I finished with hand-drawn stitching with a Ranger Inkssentials white pen.

Thanks for the inspiration Jami ... enjoy your day!