Ingenious Inkling

Boardwalk Fun and Games

I've been accumulating Studio Calico stamps and papers little-by-little the last few months.  This month I decided to subscribe to their Card Kit ... and today I had a lot of fun putting together a card using the     Studio Calico Sunday Sketch ... I love the challenge of converting a layout sketch to a card.

Instead of photographs, I used letters cut from the October Afternoon Midway papers in the Penn Station Add-On Kit.  I added lots of brads, adhesive stars and stickers to finish the design (from Murray Hill & 34th Street ... I love those tiny little clouds) 

The fun Boardwalk-themed elements reminded me of the fun times I've had with my brother & sister over the years at Amusement Parks ... so this card is for them.  Here's a picture of my sister & I having a screaming-fun ride on the Patriot Rollar Coaster at Worlds of Fun.

Pink Winter Moon

I'm joining in the Hero Arts Release Party fun at Ellen Hutson ... this card is for her Ellen Hutson LLC Hero Arts Wood Take 'n Make Challenge.

I thought it would be fun to use the colors from this week's Just Us Girls Challenge for a wintry scene.  The Hero Arts Winter Moon Scene was stamped in Sour Apple Chalk ink and the Many Branches tree was stamped in Pink and trimmed with hot pink gem flourishes. The sentiment is from a little Hero Arts Wood Block set I picked-up at JoAnn's.

You can see from the picture that I trimmed down my Individual tree to work with the dimension I needed for the placement in the design.  The way it's made, it's very easy to shape the way you want it.

This card also uses this week's Freshly Made Sketch for the layout.  I added a few wraps of green washi tape behind the image & some glitter pen to the glowing moon.

 

Floral Wreath Sympathy

Since I don't have a local stamping store any more, I'm celebrating the new Hero Arts release virtually with Ellen Hutson.  I created this card for Ellen Hutson LLC Hero Arts Clear Take 'n Make using the clear set Special Note of Thanks.  Unfortunately, my sympathy card stash is depleted, so I needed to make some new ones.

The Sketch is from a Sketch Blog that I find particularly inspring ... although the text is in Russian, so I have to rely on Google translate.   I'm also joining in the What's Your Favourite? Challenge at Simon Says Stamp ... I stamped the image in my favorite ink (India Ink) and embossed with my favorite clear embossing powder (Faith's Transcendence) and colored with my favorite tool ... Prismacolor Colored Pencils.  I stamped additional flowers and attached them with glue dots for dimension.

Here's a picture of the card with the Clear Stamp Set.

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

Since I started making my tags on Day 2 of the 12 Days, I decided to go back and make a tag inspired by Sharon Harnist's elegant tag for Day 1.  I didn't have any Christmas Angels in my stash, so I decided to dress-up Christy Tomlinson's She Leaped Angel for the holidays.

I wanted a similar effect on the background, but instead of embossing with white powder, I started with White Washed Core'dinations Cardstock that I embossed and sanded.  The Angel was stamped on the same cardstock & embossed.  I stamped her a third time on DCWV Glitzy Glitter Cardstock for the wings ... first time trying this cardstock ... it is so smooth and sparkly with no glitter rub-off ... I even heat embossed on it.

I hand-cut her crown and added her *Christmas Tree Skirt" (inspired by Berniece from Designing Women in her Christmas Tree Skirt).  I finished with some gorgeous May Arts Satin Ribbon in blush salmon pink (to cover the seam in my cardstock) instead of the flower.

Here is Sharon's inspiring tag.

I'm also joining the Christmas Challenge at Pretty Little Ribbon Shop.

Blue Winter Snow

This week's Unscripted Sketch has a large circle element ... and a piggy-back challenge to do something to or with the circle. Alter it somehow, distress it, tear it, layer it, etc. Make the circle a unique focal point!

I started with beautiful snowflake embossed kraft cardstock from DCWV's Crafty Christmas Stack.  For my circle element, I layered a chipboard piece colored with Distress Stain, a Felt Snowflake from Stampin' Up and a Jolee's Glittery snowflake sticker.  I finished with three wraps of sheer blue ribbon.

I decided to omit a sentiment ... this may be a holiday thank you or any other winter card.

Cowboy Congrats

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenges comes from House 8810 which describes itself as:

that house on your block. You know the one. The one
you drive by slowly and it makes you sigh. The one you walk the dog
by in hopes that the lights are on so you can take a peek inside.
It's the one that wins yard of the month consecutively, and is always
immaculately decked out for each holiday. It's the house that
somehow still has the time to host the best parties in town. It's the
one that makes you look at your house, and think "how do I get you
to be more like House 8810?"

I chose these adorable Western Hankies to inspire my card design.  

I received the cute stamped bib from Julia (ArtyStamper) who graciously sent me a few bibs after I admired her adorable card.

Stamps for the bib are from WaltzingMouse & Too Much Fun Rubber Stamps with a sentiment from Hero Arts All Occasion Messages.  The layout is this week's Two Peas in a Bucket Saturday Card Sketch.

I hope you find inspiration.

Celebrating Christmas

Even though all of my holiday cards are in the mail, I couldn't resist making a few more ... this one is inspired by Wendy Robinson's card at the CASE Study Challenge.

I found this bit of Christmas vinyl in my stash, and had to put it to good use ... since it contained two of the colors from this week's Play Date Cafe, so I added a big green double bow for the third color.  I'm also linking-up at 52 Card Pick-up for week 50.

And I couldn't resist adding some bling like Wendy's great design.

Remember, click on over and let me know your favorite Christmas Treat for a chance to win a box of creative goodies.

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

I had fun making a tag inspired by Ellen Hutson's Whimsical Tag design ... I loved the candy-colored trees, so I went with some paint chips to create my tree trio.

They seemed a little naked, so I decided to *bling-up* the season a bit.  I liked her pennant flag element too, so I used some stickers from SRM Stickers for the pennant and the sentiment.  I finished with a fun epoxy flower on top of my tree instead of the usual star.

I'm also joining in the Christmas Tree Challenge at Papercraft Star ... and the Christmas Challenge at Do You Stack Up (DYSU).

Here's Ellen's super-fun tag.

Thursday Link Love

Another fun week of blogland discoveries:

• Love this How-To for a Rustic Twig Wreath (shown).
• A stunning hand-painted butterfly scarf by Shovava ... now I can finally have wings.
• Tutorial for lovely Clay Filigree Ornaments.
• Shape Sticks ... a fun gift idea for the little builders in your life.
• S'mores Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Buttercream ... sounds like heaven to me.
• Lots of fun ideas for creating & using Christmas Font Paper.
• Tutorial for making your own Chalk Board Effect in Photoshop.
• Love these fun little Paint Chip Gift Tags.
• Tutorial for a big bold tissue paper flower ... so fun for wrapping gifts.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Christmas Cheer

I did a little studio purging this weekend and filled a Medium Flat Rate USPS mailing box to the brim with goodies ... it contains lots of paper (12" and 6"), stamps (wooden & acrylic), rub-ons, stickers, embellishments, ribbon, washi tape ... seriously something for everyone.

And what you ask do I need to do for a chance at this box brimming with creative goodies ...

Just leave me a comment & tell me your favorite Christmas treat ... 

I will draw a winner from the comments on Sunday night at 8pm my time (CST) ...

Happy Holidays to all.