Ingenious Inkling

Lonely this Christmas

The theme this week at Jingle Belles is Lonely this Christmas ... we're combating holiday loneliness with the fine ladies at the Order of the Opus Glueii.

Instead of just making a card this week, we're asking you to make a holiday card for Jingle Belles and a project inspired by the card ... it can be a tag, gift card holder or gift bag ... whatever you'll be glad you have done when the holidays roll around ... for the Order of the Opus Glueii challenge (get it ... so the card isn't lonely??) 

Here's my card using this week's Sketchbook Saturday layout and some great vintage Tim Holtz holiday papers I discovered in my stash this week (sort of like my own little Christmas in June).

The sentiment from CatsLife Press is stamped on the packaging backing chipboard from some stickers.  The ivory border is cut from a paper sample book that the marketing team at work saves for me (rather than recycling them when they're out of date).  I added several ivory buttons with red twine as embellishments.

My gift bag is made from the same Tom Holtz Collection using the 2-5-7-10 Bag Tutorial from SplitCoast Stampers.  I added a chipboard image from Crafty Secrets.

I used papers from the same collection to make a tag.  The snowman is Inkadinkado & sentiment is Paper Source.  I added snowflakes in brown from Verve's Winter Wonders.

Here's my entire set together ... certainly not Lonely this Christmas.

We will draw a random prize from the pool of participants in both prompts.

The prize includes Holly Jolly Acrylic Stamps from My Mind's Eye, Susan Winget Glad Tidings Grand Adhesions Dimensional Stickers from K&Company, and a Vintage Postcard Kit from Crafty Secrets.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of links I love:

• A tutorial for a great summer skirt ... with big pockets too.
• Fun 4th of July Freebie Printables.
• A great idea for using playing cards to keep track of your drink at summer partes.
• Love this tutorial for tiny little roses made from fabric scraps.
• Before I discovered paper crafting, I tried a quilting class. I loved choosing the fabric and piecing the designs together ... but the actual quilting ... not-so-much.  Love this photo-tutorial for this Running in Circles Quilt (pictured) ... ideas that would easily translate to paper.
• A photo tutorial for turning cheap flip-flops into fun strappy sandals.
• These cute little Ric Rac Flowers would make fun card embellishments.
• A tutorial for making your own Lace Tape.
• Twenty-one Settings & Techniques all camera owners should know.
• Free Seamless Denim Jean Textures.
• Fun idea for turning a jar into a beachy photo collage frame.
• A tutorial for a very cute no-sew braided headbands ... these would be adorable for my nieces. 

Happy Thursday!

Play Date Cafe Guest Designer

I'm thrilled to be the Guest Designer at the Play Date Cafe this week.  The sponsor of this week's Challenge is Stampendous, who provided the Design Team with stamps to use for our cards.  I received this gorgeous Swirly Bird Nest Cling Stamp.

Make sure you click on over to the Play Date Cafe and check out the prize & contest details.

Here is this week's Color Story ... I like the shabby distressed texture of the oars and the pepsi crates, so that's what I went with for my design.  I used this week's CardPatterns Sketch.

I started by stamping my image in grey ink on light grey cardstock and clear embossing.  Next I sponged on lots of Barn Door & Fired Brick Distress Ink with a bit of Stormy Sky around the edges.  Next I sprinked with quite a bit of water to add some more interest to the background.

I used a distressed navy designer paper from Bo Bunny's Liberty Collection for my card base & awning with more of the grey cardstock for my punchy background and sentiments trip.  My circle border was trimmed from the Marth Stewart Bangle Chain Trim punch and my pearls were colored with more Distress Ink.  I finished with a sentiment from Rogue Redhead Design's Floriculture Set.

Color of Money

To continue with the Shopping Theme at Gingersnap Creations, We're celebrating the Color of Money for this month's color challenge ... make a card using the color of money from the country you live in or the country you were born in.  

I used Collage Backgrounds Green for my design, that were provided by Altered Pages, this month's Gingersnap Creations Sponsor ... how handy to be able to size and print your own backgrounds (and print them again if you mess-up).

My card design features various hues of green and images from Artistic Outpost's new Loverly London & London Underground Collections.  

The layout is an elongated version of Lucy's Lovely Lines Sketch at Lily Pad.

I used a long-neglected fern leaf punch (for this week's Shopping our Stash Challenge to use some of our neglected tools) and a scrap of the marbled background paper to create some fancy "feathers" for her hair ... it sort of reminded me of some of the crazy hats from the Royal Wedding.

Once Upon a Springtime Fairies

Saturday, I ventured to Iowa City for my first Farmers' Market of the season ... I love wandering through the booths and exploring.  I came home with all sorts of goodies including fresh guacamole, dill cheese curds, bacon wrapped dates, tomatoes, and a beautiful potted begonia.  

I also stopped at Memories on Fifth for a little shopping and found a 12" sheet of framed fairies that was perfect for using up the rest of the papers from my Graphic45 Once Upon a Springtime Collection ... it's also perfect for the Stamp Something Challenge to use Pretty Papers.  

I punched out the fairy from her frame and attached her with foam tape for dimension.  The sentiment is from CatsLife Press.

The next one has another Catslife Press sentiment that I thought was perfect.  I added a bit of sponging to bring out the layers.

The final one uses the Sunshine & Joy sentiment from Impression Obsession & some wired peach ribbon, which works for the Ribbons & Bows Challenge at the Corrosive Challenge Blog.

I just love the color combinations in this collection.  And here's a little bit of spring from my garden ... my hydrangeas are just beginning to bloom.

Happy Monday.

Rock Star Rainbow Bright

Since I was already on a Rock Star kick from last night, I decided to stick with the theme using this week's CASE Study & Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger.  From Jill's card I adopted the background technique, the contrast of the vibrant hues, the popped-up image, and the pop of white.

From the Tuesday Trigger I brought in the rainbow hues and my row of images from Inkadinkados Music Inchies mimics the row of spools.

I used five different Distress inks (yellow, oranges & reds) moving from light in the center to darkest red on the edges.  Next I flicked on water with my trusty art studio toothbrush.

I added Inkadinkado Music inchies in the colors of the thread and wraped some gradiant yarn so it would resemble guitar strings.  The inches were attached with foam tape.  I finished with some musical notes to pull in the red color from the spools & a black sentiement of encouragement.

Let's Rock

The Challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week is Let's Rock ... to make a Wobble card with a curved base that rocks from side-to-side.  The Add-on Challenge was to give your card a "rocking" theme, which was perfect since I needed a Rock Star themed card for a friend who is fighting a valiant battle against cancer.

He loves playing his guitar, so I thought a muscial theme would be perfect for a group card.  I used this week's Cardabilities Sketch for my layout.

I used some Tim Holtz DP for my base with Black Soot Distress ink around the edges.  I added a strip of vintage sheet music and some Jolee's Rock Star Stickers (the two circles are holographic).  I stamped two images from Inkadinkado's Music Inchies (love this set).  I inked them with Black Soot, stamped off once, and then inked with Barn Door Distress Ink & stamped on a piece of the sheet music edge to get the grungy look/color I wanted.

Inspired Tramonto Blooms

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the amazing potter found at the Italian Pottery Outlet.  The Spalluto Family has been sharing their love of Italian pottery for more than twenty-five years and have a fabulous shop filled with gorgeous pieces.

I chose this lovely Tramonto Dinner Plate to inspire my design.  I love the pop of blue with the contrast of the deep rust & brown tones.

I started by inking Hero Arts Outline Flowers with Versamark and then with Aquamarine ColorBox Chalk Ink.  I stamped it on White cardstock and clear embossed.

Next I sponged my cardstock with Dried Maragold, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge & Vintage Photo Distress inks, moving from light to dark and going back and filling in with the medium hues.  When I was finished, I used a damp baby wipe to remove the ink from the embossed surface.

I attached my panel to an aquamarine card base and finished with a wrap of my favorite May Arts ribbon & an SRM Sticker Sentiment.

I hope you find inspiration.

Bundling-Up for the Holidays

Candy, our Lovely Guest Star at the Jingle Belles Blog this week, has encouraged us to Bundle-Up for the Holidays ... aka bring-on the layers.  We're making card with three (or more) layers.

This week's CPS Sketch was perfect for layering.  I created my entire card using Graphic45's Christmas Past Collection.  The only ink is a bit of green sponged around my main image.

The ribbon is some delicious opalescent green/gold wired packaging ribbon that I saved from a long-ago gift.  It finally found a perfect place to call home.

Remember ... Christmas is just a little over 6 months away ... it's never too early to start building your holiday card stash ... come join us!

Sassy Turtle

I didn't have a lot of gumption left tonight, so I decided to just sit down at my desk and play with paper a bit.  When I saw this week's CARDS Magazine challenge is to create an animal-shaped card, I dug through my scrap box and started playing.

When we were young, my brother Mike always loved turtles.  When we would see one trying to cross the road, he would make my Dad stop the car, so we could help it to safety.  Brother Mike has three beautiful daughters, who I have no doubt will love turtles as much as their Dad did ... so I decided to make a Sassy Turtle for one of my nieces.

I used an oval cutter and border punch to create the shell out of a piece of Basic Grey designer paper.  Next, I free-hand cut the turtle body from green cardstock.  I embossed both pieces and added some ink sponging and shading.

I finished with some pearl eyes, a smiling mouth,a nd of course some fun green flowers ... because what's a sassy turtle without a decorated shell?