Ingenious Inkling

Thursday Link Love

Another fun week of blog discovery:

• Free Father's Day Printables (the cupcake toppers would be good for cards).
• Adding fun temporary hair color using chalk pastels.
• A Round-Up of Ideas for using expired credit cards and used gift cards.
• Texas Sheet Cake ... in Cupcake form ... yum.
• Grilled Eggplant with Tomatoes & Feta ... bring on the summer.
• Photo-Instructions for making your own Origami Embellishments (butterfly shown).
• Cute little free digital owls from Jaded Blossom.
• Gorgeous Raspberry Coconut Macaroons.
• Pencil Photographs of Paul Cadden ... amazing.
• DIY Calligraphy using a Light Table ... now even I can have beautiful handwriting.
• I want a Garden Bench Arbour for my patio ... I really like the one with the storage bench.

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Sympathy Butterfly Trio

Tonight I needed some sympathy cards ... and my stash was depleted.  When I saw the sketch at Try Stampin' On Tuesday, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

These beautiful vellum butterfly stickers make a card come together so quickly, that I did one in another color palette.

A stamped sympathy sentiment and border punches, and they were ready to go.

Flashback Friday 24.0 ~ Masculine

The current Flashback Friday Challenge is to re-post your first masculine card design.  Mine is from August 2007 using a SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge.

It was created before I learned to ink the edges of where little white bits show when you punch cheap white core cardstock ... and before I learned how to blend colored pencils using an art eraser ... but I still love the colorc combination & that comfy chair.

Man-Tastic Drink Coffee

When I saw this week's Man-Tastic Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger, I hoped I could find a stamp in my collection with that same shape ... but no such luck.

So instead I went with the same loopy rounded shape found in the Hero Arts Artistic Circles (it reminds me of spirograph creations from my youth) and the great color combination of grey, brown, red & turquoise/teal.  I inked the background stamp with three colors of ink and stamped on light grey cardstock.

I created a tag using chevron paper from Lily Bee Design's Head over Heels collection (love the combination of patterns & colors in this collection..  I used this week's Retro Sketch, but since I was going for a masculine vibe, I replaced the ribbon with layers of washi tape, some punched circles & a laquered brad. I finished with a stickerz sentiment from EAD Designs & attached my tag with foam tape.

This will be a great Father's Day card for one of the many coffee-loving men in my family.

Saturday PhotoHunt ... Creative

This week's Saturday PhotoHunt Theme is Creative ... so many possibilities.  

I went with my first thought which was this piece of art I made in 2008 in Kal Barteski's class when I attended Donna Downey's first Inspired Event ... my first creative excursion that I took all on my own.  It changed the way I thought about myself as an artist ... and about being creative.

Sisters' Weekend 2012

My sister & I are off enjoying a weekend of shopping, eating and most of all laughing ... my time with her recharges my batteries in the best possible way.

One year (pre-GPS) we manged to get lost several times and somehow always ended-up on El Monte Street.  Since then it has become one of our battle cries to cheer each other up when we're having a bad day.  Yesterday, when we were in search of an Estate Sale, we turned the corner and saw El Monte ahead, and both burst out laughing ... so of course it required a picture ... with mustache masks.

El Monte!

Birthday Celebration

My card for this week's Unscripted Sketch features papers and stickers from Authentique's Celebrate Collection.

I adore this color combination & the fact that it can work for both masculine and feminine designs.

Beanie Hat Gift Card Holder

We're celebrating gift card holders at jingle belles ... the gift that keeps on giving.  I loved this tutorial at SCS for a Beanie Gift Card Holder.  It assembled quickly, but looks like you spent a lot of time putting it together.  I love the patterns of Basic Grey papers.

I didn't have the same punch she used for the pom pom, so i swapped out a flower punch folded in half and attached with a tiny brad.  I also omitted the bow, so it could be a masculine option & would be more mailable.  I went with a larger decorative brad instead.

So quick, easy and oh-so-cute ... perfect for a coffee gift card to warm-up the recipient.

Thursday Link Love

Another fun week of skipping through the blogosphere:

• What a fabulous suitcase wall ... so many design possibilities with those great shelves.
• A USA Map made from fabric scraps ... very fun.
• Summer Soups ... I really want to try the Spring Minestrone.
• Hot Buttered Fluffy Pretzels ... be still my heart.
• Love this fabulous Bird Cage Shaped card.
• I found Biscoff Spread on our vacation ... I may have to try making these Biscoff Pretzel Bites.
• Gorgeous Botanical Sketch Bag ... with a link to the New York Public Library Digital Gallery (I could get lost for days).
• I want to make some Green Moss Graffiti.
• Love the perspective of thise *looking down* photos ... so perfect for a shoe-lovin' gal ... speaking of shoes, I fell in love with a new brand while we were shopping in St. Louis ... Tsubo will be my summer kicks.
• Tutorial for an LP Album Side Table ... perfect for a music lover.
• I will be trying some skillet tortilla pizzas this week.
• Single serving Coffee Cake in a Mug ... what a fun little healthier treat.
• Clever ink storage made from foam core board ... another version here.
• Love these fantastic texty collages (shown).
• Wonderful little bendable fabric flags.

Happy Thursday!

Embrace Life

While I like embellishing a card as much as the next crafty soul, I really love when papers are beautiful enough to stand on their own.  When I saw the May sketch challenge at the My Mind's Eye Blog, I knew I wanted this lovely paper from their Lost & Found Blush Collection to be front-and-center on my design.

I added two more papers from the same collection for my broders with a bit of inky sponging.  I stamped a couple of banners from the MME Be Amazing Follow Your Heart set in maroon and finished with an encouraging chipboard sentiment ... embrace life.

It also works for this color challenge at the 365 Cards blog, as well as the Clean & Simple Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.