Ingenious Inkling

Fall Cardigan

When I saw the Cardigan from Anthropologie that is this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger, I knew I wanted to find a way to incorporate some of the gorgeous texture of the sweater into my design.

As I was searching through my studio thinking about different possibilities, I remembered a wonderful little pile of 4" fabric squares I had purchased on Etsy.  At the time, I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I fell in love with the gorgeous fall colors and wonderful variation of textures.  I decided they were exactly what I needed.

I got out my pinking shears and cute one of the pieces into squares as my starting point.  Then I saw this week's Sweet Stop Sunday Sketch, which was the perfect way to incorporate the squares into my design.  It reminds me of the row of beautiful buttons on the sweater.

Next, I added a piece of striped fabric with wonderful ribbed texture on some of the stripes.

I added kraft, gold, and dark brown paper to bring in the rest of the colors from the cardigan.  I was trying to decide what to feature on my fabric squares, when I remembered this week's Cupcake Inspiration, a  lovely fall-themed cupcake from Key Art Studio.  

I punched some maple leaves from scraps of specialty paper and Cosmo Cricket Wanted paper, and then added a strip of the coordinating paper to help tie that gorgeous rusty red into the design.  The sentiment is an SRM Sticker, that I was able to attach directly to the fabric ... ♥ that.  

And fall is certainly here in Iowa.  Here's a recent picture I took of the new sidewalk and concrete work we had completed at our house ... with the last of the blazing orange maple trees (that are bare now after a hard freeze this week).

 

Sushi Dinner Invites

I did something this afternoon I seldom do ... mass produce.  I had a request for a set of dinner party invitations based on this Roll With It card I made in November 2009, so they needed to be identical, which for some reason is a struggle for me.  I think it's because most of my cards are made by "eyeing" the design rather than measuring.  Thankfully this week's CardPatterns Sketch was exactly what I needed to get it done.

The stamps are A Muse Sushi Set which were stamped with Impress Navy ink and clear embossed before coloring with colored pencils and a bit of spica glitter pen.  I attached the sentiment & flowers to the clear block all together before stamping (making sure it would fit inside my 1 1/8" circle punch), which helped speed up the process.  Paper is Basic Grey Cupcake Collection.

How We Have Lived

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to Guest Design at Unscripted Sketches this week.  I loved that the sketch has the added challenge of a vertical sentiment.

  I started with this great sentiment from The Journey & paired it with the White Rabbit from Artistic Outpost's Wonderland Collage and My Mind's Eye Meadowlark papers.

The clock face & corner stamp are also from The Journey.  I made my clock hands by bending out the prongs on a silver brad & attaching it with glue dots.  I used a small cotton pom pom from my chalk set to add a fuzzy tail to the White Rabbit.  I finished with highlights of pink colored pencil on the rabbit's ears and some grey for his jacket.

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ BeiLeXian

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge comes from the wonderful whimsical shop of BeiLeXian, which features her wonderful paintings & prints.  She says that painting lets her take a little break from the real life and go into your own world ... and every time when a new idea comes into her my mind, it's a touch of happiness ... what a great thought.

I chose this fun little print called Afternoon Nap to inspire my design.

This week's Challenge Sponsor is Sweet & Sassy stamps.  They provided the Design Team with several of their adorable digital images.  I used Sleeping Kitty for my card.

 

I started by printing the image on my white cardstock base & then printed the image multiple times on purple, red, black & brown DP.  The next step was cutting and piecing the image back together.  My sister is a knitter who loves purple and has a black cat Oslo who loves to lounge about on whatever is comfortable, so I made this card for her. I used pink glitter pen on the kitty's nose & ears and a sentiment from Flourishes Seasonal Wreaths.

There will be two winners for this week's challenge.  One will win a $18 print of their choice from BeiLeXian; another will receive a $15 gift voucher to Sweet & Sassy Stamps.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team Member blogs to check out their inspired creations & use keyword EIC112 if you upload to a gallery:

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Rebecca (October Guest Designer)

Buttercup Thank You

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the fabulous jewelry of Destiny's Creations.  She describes her work as sleek, modern, fun and whimsical combining precious metals with rich vibrant colors. I chose this adorable Buttercup Necklace to inspire my design.

I loved the contrast of the oxidized background texture and the pop of yellow gem in the cute little flower.

I started by embossing silver metallic cardstock with a Plum Blossom Embossing Folder.  Next I lightly brushed Silver Metallic Pigment Ink across the raised surface of the embossing and head-embossed the ink with silver embossing powder to provide contrast.

I cut a 2 1/4" circle from the cardstock make make a cute little thank you card.  I punched two flowers from my first attempt at embossing, which got a bit heavy on the ink and turned out more of a solid silver & added a yellow gemstone brad in the center.

The sentiment is from SRM Stickers.

I hope You find inspiration.

How Much You Are Loved By Others

I love the Tin Man image from the new Oz Collage set from Artistic Outpost ... and I especially love the sentiment.

I stamped both on 7 Gypsies Venice paper and added colored pencil highlights.  I finished with some glittery chocolate ribbon.

Here are a few pictures from my visit to Oz Park in Lincoln Park, Illinois last week.  First , their version of the Tin Man.

Me hanging out with the Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road.

And Toto & Dorothy with her Ruby Slippers.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

I think the vintage illustrations from Artistic Outpost's Oz Collage set work so well with the vintage designs of 7 Gypsies papers.

The Scarecrow & Lion are stamped on a scrap of ivory DP and colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The sketch is from Everything But the Kitchen Sink (although a bit too late to enter).

Thursday Link Love

More Fantastic Fun Finds from the World Wide Web:

• Love this Felt Flower Bouquet Tutorial ... you don't have to water it & it never dies.
• When we were in Chicago, one of the strongest fashion trends I saw were boots ... boots, boots, everywhere ... If you have some older boots you want to update, how about Mod Podge & some Mod Fabric ... this tutorial is just too fun.
• Lots of fun free printables at the top left of It Is What It Is ... love those cute lunchbags. 
• Halloween Candy Hierarchy ... reminded me of when I was a kid and we would dump all of our candy on the floor and sort it according to Hierarchy and then work to negotiate trades.
• Samoas are my favorite Girls Scout Cookie ... these homemade Samoa-like bars look fantastic & much easier than many of the copy-cat recipes I've seen.
• I also love the idea of Cupcakes in a Jar ... what a yummy gift.
• In case you're thinking about joining in the December Daily Scrapbook idea ... here are some free downloadable labels that can be punched with a 1" circle punch ... and even if you're not joining in, those numbers would be great for birthday cards too.
• Here's another fun & free Christmas tag download.
• What a fun transformation from a sweater to a cable-knit pillow ... also, look at these flowers made from a thrift store shirt ... makes you want to head to the thrift store with a whole new eye doesn't it?
• Another great cheap Dollar Store Craft ... a wreath from a disposable table cloth ... so clever (photo shown).
• And how about this fabulous tote re-purposed from shirt sleeves ... oh how I wish I enjoyed sewing as much as I enjoy playing with paper.
• Love these Bling-Bling Pumpkins ... very classy decorations.
• A fun free cursive font for download.
• And fabulous reader Elaine found the Steampunk Hinge tape I mentioned in a previous post ... and it's even on sale.
• I grew-up in a home filled with albums, so I am always strangely drawn to the piles of records at the thrift store, even though I don't own a record player ... however, now I'll be looking for ones I can make into fabulous masks ... Boo to You ... Happy Thursday!

Gingersnap Color Challenge

Today's Color Challenge at the Gingersnap Creations Blog is Pumpkin, Avocado & Eggplant.  Skip on over and see all of the fabulous designs.  I think Dan's piercing Avocado eye is my favorite.

Can't wait to see what you create.

We're Off to See the Wizard

Artistic Outpost's newest release is a collection of stamps inspired by Dorothy and Toto in that wonderful land of Oz, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to Guest Design again.  

When I was little, the flying monkeys terrified me, so I don't remember watching it all the way through without covering my eyes.  However, in high school, I played the oboe in the pit band for our school musical production of the play ... and I'm guessing I could still sing all of the songs.

Oz Collage features everything that we love about that whimsical tale: the Tin Man, the ruby slippers, the Scarecrow, and of course Dorothy and Toto.  Available in both unmounted sheets and pre-trimmed and mounted on EZMount cling foam, I believe this one will soon be one of your favorities.  All images are sized to work well together, and the Tin Man and Scarecrow collages are perfect 2.5" x 3.5" for ATCs and die cutting.

My first card features the fabulous ruby slippers.  I inked the stamp with Versamark & then with Lipstick Red ColorBox Chalk ink & embossed them with Ranger Polysparkle embossing powder for a wonderful all-over glittery sparkle.

My yellow brick road was made by embossing yellow metallic cardstock with the Tim Holtz Alterations Bricked Embossing folder and then I used my finger to add Metallic Rub-ons to bring out the texture of the bricks.  I finished with one of the great sentiments from the set & two red mosaic tiles.

I used a little piece of the brick road to make another Twinchie card with a different sentiment from the set accented with some adhesive red gems.  I seriously love those glittery shoes.

Artistic Outpost has some other really great news ... In celebration of their anniversary, all rubber stamps are 20% off from now until November 5th.  That includes all unmounteds and mounteds.  Simply use the code Anniversary at check out to receive your discount.

Make sure you check out the other design team blogs for more fabulous projects featuring these great images.

Lisa Somerville 

Gerrie Johnnic 

Barbara Washington

Connie Paxman

Suzanne Czosek

You can also check out the entire Oz Collage Design Gallery here.