Ingenious Inkling

Heavenly Hostess Inspired

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from a fun website called Heavenly Hostess.  Aprons hold such great memories for me.  I remember my grandma always wearing one when she was in the kitchen.  When I got old enough, she would let me wear one too while I stood beside her helping prepare the meals. 

An apron was the very first thing I sewed for myself in junior high home ec class (blue and white checked with white lace pocket trim), and I have this cool apron hanging in my kitchen. 

My card was inspired by this fabulous Praise Blush Cocktail Apron.  The all-over pattern reminded me of the Wavy Leaf Pattern background from Hero Arts, which I stamped in black on pink cardstock.

   

And for me, every apron needs a pocket.  I used my Giga Scallop punch for the corners (flip over the punch, line up the corner with two scallops and punch).  I finished with the Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, a flower embellishment, and a sentiment trimmed from the Together stamp.

 

This week's challenge at the Hero Arts blog is tags for Tag You're It, and I love how the stamps from the Together set make such quick and easy tags.  I used the Giga Scallop punch on the top of the tag and a slot punch for my velvet ribbon.

I hope you find inspiration.

Butterfly Garden

I thought Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge would be perfect to try out my gorgeous new Magenta Butterfly Garden stamp. 

I thought the design of the stamp also coordinated with the overall design of the inspiration soap from Anthropologie.  The image was stamped in red and then highlighted with moss, red, and berry colored pencils. 

 

All it took to finish the card were a few punches, a little bling, and a tiny sentiment from Hero Arts.

Coneflower Pastiche

The Moxie Fab World Bag Lady challenge was the perfect opportunity to tryout some of the new stamps I found on our Rubber Stamp Road Trip. 

I chose this Poppy Pastiche Bag from Anthropologie as my inspiration.  I loved the contrast of the bright colors, flowers, and the blocked design, so those are the elements I incorporated into my card.

For my main panel, I stamped the Coneflowers by Serendipity Stamps in PTI Fresh Snow ink on white cardstock and clear embossed.  Next, I used colored pencils to color in the petals, leaves and butterfly.  To finish I sponged the entire panel with Charcoal and Blackbird chalk ink and then wiped away the embossed areas.

 

The Sunflower from Paper Source was stamped in Warm Red ColorBox Chalk on Red cardstock and clear embossed.  I colored it with colored pencils and added Stickles to the center.  The other two blocks are the Olive Branch from Paper Source and Fuchsia Vine by Magenta.

I finished with a sentiment from Hero Arts Anytime Messages and four different sizes of pink bling.  

Greenhouse Sketches

In addition to checking out all of the newest stamps and products on our trip, we also spent a fair amount of time digging through bins of used stamps and clearance items.  I was thrilled to find these fun Greenhouse adhesive chipboard icons on clearance, since I already had the coordinating paper at home in my stash.  I seldom spend money on pre-made embellishments, so it was fun to use them to pull together some quick and easy cards.

The first card uses Laura's Sketch 31 from 2 Sketches 4 You.  I added a chipboard letter and number to finish the sentiment.  The border punch along the side is from Martha Stewart & I used my Creative Memories cutter for the oval.

 

This one is for Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch #97.  No stamping on this one either ... just a couple of cardstock circles.

 

So quick, easy, and fun.  Don't forget the shower-themed challenge at Caardvarks ... there's a very fun card kit from Creative Cuts & More up for grabs.

Rubber Stamping Road Trip

It feels so good to be home ... this weekend my best stamping girlfriend and I drove 696 miles on our yearly road trip in search of rubber stamps.  We had a fabulous time, ate some delicious food, and found lots of fun new products.  We've done our annual road trip for several years, but this time we extended it an extra day to fit in even more shopping.

Our first stop was Scrapaganza and JoAnn's (both in the same shopping center) in Davenport, Iowa.   The ladies at Scrapaganza are wonderful (always willing to show you how to use some of the newest goodies in the store) ... it's one you don't want to miss if you're in the area.

After that, we settled in for the night in Ottawa, Illinois with supper at our favorite restaurant, Tracy's Row House.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening to dine outside on the patio under the beach umbrellas.  The Elks Club was having an outdoor celebration just down the street, so we had fun people watching and listening to some live music.

We started with the fabulous Fiesta Fondue appetizer ... chips with a trio of dips that include black bean and corn queso, homemade guacamole, and delicious fresh salsa.  That appetizer is a full meal even when shared by two, so we finished with light summer salads.

Last time we were in Ottawa, they had stove pipe hat decorations all over the downtown to celebrate the Lincoln-Douglas debates that occurred in Ottawa. 

Now they have the decorations grouped all together in a cute little park, so we had to check them out.  We loved all of the funky art and wonderful flowers.

 

We got up early Saturday, so we would have time to stop at the Milano Bakery in Joliet, Illinois to pick up some breakfast and a few cookies for the road.  We love the fun employees (who remembered us from our trip last year) and were able to pick up t-shirts that declare that Milanos is home of the Best Buns In Town.

We arrived at Stamp Thyme in Lockport at 10am on the dot.  We had fun checking out the new Halloween stamps from Northwoods, as well as lots of other fun products.

We had several people take pictures of Laura and I together this weekend, but when I got home, every single one was out of focus.  Oh well, at least there are of a few of us individually to commemorate the trip.

Our next stop was Paper Source in Oak Park.  We were thrilled to see there was also a Penzeys Spices store on the same block, so we had to stop there too.  We wished we had more time to explore this area, but we were on a tight schedule to make all of our stops before closing time.

 

The employees at the Paper Source store were vary helpful and lots of fun.  We picked up quite a few fun stamps, some of their awesome ribbon, and a few gifts too.

After that, we headed to Stampology, the home of the very best card samples.  I would venture to say that they have made at least one card sample for every stamp they carry in the store, and they're always willing to explain techniques and share ideas.  They also had some early CHA releases in stock.  Unfortunately, I discovered that the close-up focus on my travel camera failed to work on this trip, so my card sample shots are all out of focus.  At least this one gives you some idea.  The other cool thing about this store is that they give you a 20% discount off your order when you visit from out of state.

 

Next, we ventured north to Arlington Heights to check out a new (to us) store - Craft Fancy.  I was excited to find individual sheets Claudine Helmuth's sticky back canvas, as well as some other fun stamps.

We ended our Saturday shopping at the Cottage Stamper in St. Charles.  They pack a ton of stamps into their quaint little shop.  When I first started stamping, Magenta was one of the first lines I fell in love with, but lately, they've been hard to find.  Cottage Stamper carries a broad collection of Magenta, as well as lots of fun stamps by Outlines, Studio 490, Northwoods, and A Muse.

I loved all of these cool mirrors they had hanging around the store.  They also have great sample displays of projects completed by their different Card Club Groups.

 

We ended our evening with an amazing supper at Brio in Rockford, Illinois (TripAdvisor never lets me down).  It was one of the most unique and delicious meals I've had in a long time ... I love how small plate dining gives you the chance to try several dishes.  They were all fabulous and the service was impeccable too.

Today, we extended our trip by heading north to Madison, Wisconsin where we checked out Trader Joe's, JoAnn's, Archivers, Scrapbook Superstore, and by far our favorite, Scrapbook & Stamping Memories.  We love the layout of the store ... lots of room to move around, shopping carts, and all of the newest products featured on displays right in the front of the store.  The ladies there are fabulous & always willing to help you find exactly what you're looking for.  It is one not to be missed.

Remember, if you're considering a road trip like this, always check out the websites and print out all of the monthly coupons before hitting the road.

Now I need to purge some of my old products to make room for the new.  I can't wait to ink up my new stamps and play with my new toys.

Gift Card Sets

These little custom gift card sets from Creative Cuts & More are so easy to put together.  I got both the green and yellow, and combined the pieces of each to make each set.  The set even includes a cute little envelope for the card, that I stamped with CHF Polka Dot backgrounder before assembling.

I embossed the front panel of the card with a QuicKutz embossing folder.  The shower sentiment is from A Muse the little duck is PSX.

 

For the second one I stamped the sentiment on the tag, but trimmed it to fit the card.  This cute little frog was part of a dimensional sticker by Debbie Mumm that I disassembled.

 

So quick, easy, and fun.  Make sure you check out the entire gallery of CC&M projects assembled by the Caardvarks crew.

Velvet Bells

These wedding bells from Creative Cuts & More were die cut from black velvet paper.  I used a sponge to add some black ink to the velvet, to get an overall even color. 

The pillow box was made from lilac metallic paper using this template I found on-line.  I used my Scor-it and bone folder to score the lines, and it went together in a snap.

 

I finished with a wrap of sheer lilac ribbon and sentiment from Stampendous.  What a quick and easy package for a gift card or other small bridal gift.

Remember, as part of the Shower-themed Challenge at Caardvarks, you can get 15% off your order at Creative Cuts & More through July 27th by entering coupon code CV070915 at checkout.

Fabulous French Fry Favor

I love this little French Fry Box from Creative Cuts & More.  It was so easy to assemble and has lots of possibilities.  As part of the Design Team Gallery for the Caardvarks Shower-themed challenge, I made mine into a Shower favor filled with my favorite body product samples from Bella Luccè (one of my favorite on-line finds ... I love to tuck these samples in with gifts too).

 

To decorate my box, I wrapped it in yellow sheer ribbon and two pieces of plum satin ribbon.  The flower is made by layering three small die cut flowers (two dark purple, one light purple) together with a two more smaller punched blooms and a pearl brad.

Peony Paradise

I wanted to try another monochromatic card for the Hero Arts blog challenge, so I combined it with Kazan's Sketch 31 at 2 Sketches 4 You.  I thought this Season's Greeting Collage stamp worked very well with the four panel layout. 

I stamped it in ColorBox Chalk Dark Peony on a piece of DP from the Black Market Paper Society Letters from Paradise collection.  Clear embossing helps the image stand out more against the color variation in the DP.  I cut it into four panels and attached it with foam mounting tape to another piece of the DP from the same collection.

 

The snowflake was punched from the same metallic paper used for the card base.  I colored a clear adhesive gem with a metallic marker to coordinate the colors.  I finished with Lilac Shimmerz glitter paint over the center scene and holly leaves. 

Monochromatic Wedding

This card features another fun die cut A2 color block card from Creative Cuts & More.  I used a monochromatic theme, which also fits with the challenge at the Hero Arts blog this week. 

 

The bride & groom is from A Muse ... the rest of the stamps are all Hero Arts (Wedding Celebration, Warmest Wedding Wishes, and Always and Forever).  I added Pixie Dust Shimmerz Glitter Paint to some of the images.  You can see it better in this view.

 

These grid cards were some of the very die cuts I ever purchased when I first started stamping ... such a great way to feature lots of different stamps ... and the monochromatic design ties it all together.

You can check out an entire gallery of CC&M fun here.