Ingenious Inkling

Thursday Link Love

Another week of fabulous blog-world finds:

• A fabulous Holiday Clutch made from shelf wrap from the dollar store.
• This Goofy Snow Family makes me laugh ... especially their fabulous grins.
• A tutorial for DIY Cake Stands ... wouldn't these be a fun gift with some fresh baked goodies on top.
• I love art created from unexpected materials ... like these amazing wire sculptures.
• Tutorial for fantastic Faux Quartz Necklaces created with broken glass & nail polish.
• Completely awed by Cath Riley's realistic Pencil Drawings.
• Lots of Unique Wreath Tutorials from Home Depot (shown).
• I think I actually have some of these tiny canvases in my stash ... love this tutorial for turning them into fun magnets.
• Free Printable Paper Doll for Christmas.
• This Apple Crisp looks divine ... I'm guessing it tastes even better.

Happy Thursday.

Give Me Something Good to Eat

No idea why I'm making a Halloween card at the end of November, but when I sat down to make a card for the November Stack-a-holic Sketch Challenge at DCWV, this is where my creative muse took me ... and I've learned to just go with it ... I'll think of it as a head-start for next year.

Papers are DCWV's Ghosts & Goblins Mat Stacks.  I used a scalloped border punch and several Martha Stewart Bat Punches.

Vintage Post Card Designs

My mother-in-law is downsizing to a smaller living space, so she gifted me with a vintage scrapbook from her youth.  It is filled with all sorts of papers cut from advertisements and packaging.  I wanted to use one of the post cards I found in the stash (the back said it was a sample mailed out to try to get people to buy an entire set) to make her a card.

I love the beautiful aged coloring on the card, so I only added a bit of peach cardstock to frame & pull those colors out in the design.  A strip of Graphic45 Song Bird paper across the bottom with a Tim Holtz cardstock sticker finished the design.

This is another vintage card from her stash that appeared as though it was cut from some sort of magazine or packaging ... perfect for a masculine birthday card design.

I added a frame (toned down the peach on the frame a bit with some old paper distress ink) and an SRM Sticker sentiment ... stickers are perfect for vintage one-of-a-kind elements, since I don't have to risk making a stamping boo-boo ... also I never have success getting white stamping to show-up with this sort of definition.

Get Here If You Can

I kept singing ... I don't care how you get here, just - get here if you can ... while I made this card (Oleta Adams - Get Here If You Can) ... looking forward to seeing family for the holidays ... and missing those I won't get to see.  

This card is for the Studio Calico Card Skech Challenge inspired by this card by this Thank You Card by Maggie Holmes.

I combined three Studio Calico papers with several Vaneer Elements ... sentiment is Studio Calico / Hero Arts Heyday Stamps.

Core'dinations Second Chances

The current challenge at A Blog Named Hero is Second Chances ... to do a re-make of one of your earlier designs.  I decided to go all the way back to December 2008 for my inspiration.

When I designed for Caardvarks, we had the opportunity to create lots of projects using Core'dinations Cardstock ... I revisited this tag design and changed it into a card.  I still love the original design & think it has stood the test of time.

I used four colors of blue from Tim Holtz Distress Core'dinations paper for my re-take card & a thank you sentiment stamp from Hero Arts Unitled Love for the Thank You Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  I actually tried re-stamping the sentiment on the non-textured side of the cardstock, but decided I liked the textured look of this one instead.

I finished the design by adding three different shades of blue bling to the center of my blooms for the current Hero Arts Bring on the Bling Challenge.

Rock Star Birthday

I couldn't resist making another card inspired by Gabby ... this one is a tribute to all of the fabulous Rock Star themed cards she has in her gallery.  I broke out my Rock Star papers and stickers from Reminisce together with this week's iSpy Sketch (I moved the horizontal panel up, so it wouldn't cover-up my cool guitar).

I added a grungy birthday sentiment from Stampin' Up, since I always need a rock star birthday card in my stash for the many rock stars in my life.

She Decided to Leap

This week's Queen for the Day at Splitcoast Stampers is the talented Gabby.  I have loved watching Gabby's style evolve over the years, particularly in the SCS Inspiration Challenge, so I knew I wanted to honor her with a card inspired by her designs.

Here is Gabby's awesome card featuring Stampotique designs.

I loved the red & black color palette ... all of the inky fun ... and of course that fabulous lady, so those are the elements I incorporated into my design.

I have been wanting to ink-up these Christy Tomlinson stamps from Unity for some time, and today was the perfect oportunity.  She Leaped was stamped in India ink ... the Reversed Punchinella was stamped around the borders of the design in Fired Brick Distress ink.  I got a little smudgy with the ink and thought about starting over ... but then I channeled my inner Gabby and called it *distressing* and moved on.

I finished with some punched hearts, colored pencil coloring and of course some bling for her wings.The sentiment is from Empowered Words by Donna Downey (another great Unity set) and reminded me of getting to spend a weekend with Donna at her Inspired Event years ago.

A huge Congrats! to Gabby on her special day.

Bird Song

This week's Unscripted Sketch has a piggy-back challenge ... to use dry embossing in your design.  I love the larger Cuttlebug Embossing folders that allow me to cover the entire front of a large card base ... this one is called Cane Back Chair done on kraft cardstock and inked with several colors of Distress Ink.

I added a piece of Graphic45's Bird Song paper for the focal element, topped with a lace transparency and a sentiment cut from the same paper collection.  I attached it with foam tape for dimension against the textural background.

New York Skyline

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the wonderful glassware (and other fun items) of Fishs Eddy.  I chose this 212 Zippered Canvas Pouch to inspire my card design ... I loved the text in the New York Skyline sky.

I stamped Hero Arts Newspaper Skyline in India ink and clear embossed.  I added lots of blingy stars in the sky, a punched red heart, and the perfect SRM Sticker sentiment in the sky.

I'm also joining the fun at 52 Card Pick-up.  I hope you find inspiration.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This week at Jingle Belles celebrating a Christmas Feast ... cards featuring the foods (and candies) of the holidays ... so I'm celebrating with a glittery candy cane.

My Grandmother always put Candy Cane's in our stockings, so this card reminds me of how much I enjoyed celebrating the holidays with her.  I covered my candy can card base (fold along the left) with white glittery wrapping paper.  Next I attached the peppermint red stripes (also glitter wrapping paper from Paper Source).  

I finished with a Stampin' Up Stamped Tag (with a tiny red gem) backed with more red glitter paper.

This card is also for the Crazy 4 Challenges this week to make a card inspired a favorite Christmas Carol ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 
Ev'rywhere you go; 
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again 
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.