Ingenious Inkling

Stick-y & Sweet

We're thrilled to have SRM Stickers joining us for our Stick-y & Sweet prompt at Jingle Belles ... we're making projects featuring stickers.

I used a sketch from Lucy & SRM Christmas Border Stickers to create my sticker-full card.

I started from the bottom and worked my way up alternating text and colors.  I finished with white & red layered snowflakes and some bright Christmas green bling.

One lucky participant will win a fantastic prize package from SRM that includes tons of stickers, as well as their cool new glassine bags ... so pull out those stickers (they don't have to be SRM products to join the fun) and start creating.

Bamboo Bloom

There are some adorable new Baby Bamboo stamps from the Party Paws Collection at Crafter's Companion releasing on March 6th ... here's a little sneak peak from one of the sets.

When I was young, I collected teddy bears ... and my favorite was my pink bear wtih orange button eyes that was my faithful companion for years.  While Baby Bamboo is an adorable Panda, I chose to turn him into my pink childhood teddy bear using paper piecing and ink sponging with some Basic Grey papers.

I stamped the flower twice adhering the center with a super-thick glue dot for dimension.  The sketch is from this week's i {heart} card sketches.

I embossed my paper strips using the 6" x 6" Embossalicious Floral Frenzy embossing folder (love having the bigger folder ... and it still fits through my Cuttlebug.

My design was also inspired by this week's For Your Inspiration photo ... love all of that fabulous pink.

I'm also joining the Use Embossing theme at the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge.

Here's a close-up shot of my cute little bear.

You can see more previews from the other design team members or on the Crafter's Companion Facebook Page.

PS ... I started a Facebook Page for my blog, if you want to click-on-over and *like*

Thursday Link Love

Another week of finds from blogland:

• Soda Pop + Sweetened Condensed Milk = Soda Pop Ice Cream
• Tutorial for homemade clay ... looks very cool with some metallic paints.
• Beautiful Newspaper Art by Pat Shannon
• Love this Pretty Paper Tulip Bouquet (shown)
• The Collage Art of Patrick Bremer blows my mind ... I really wish I could watch him make these.
• Tutorial for making beautiful Flowers with Ribbon
• Yaki Soba is a favorite dish at our local sushi restaurant ... I want to try making it at home.
• Handy Grain to Water ratios for perfect cooking
• I would love to combine several colors of towels to make this Eco-Friendly Bath Rug for my bathroom.
• Glossy Accent Resist ... very cool effect
• S'mores Pancakes look oooey gooey good.
• Tutorial for a 3-Cord Bracelet ... so many possibilities ... or maybe braided cord is more your speed.
• Our local Greek restaurant closed, I've been missing Moussaka ... may have to try making this Moussaka Macaroni & Cheese at home.
• Street Art of Brad Downey ... because who doesn't need a little more hop scotch in their life??

Have a tantalizing Thursday.

Pattern Play

This week's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger is this lovely fabric called Persian Garden from Osborne & Little's Spring Collection.

My initial plan was to use ink colors from the photo & Hero Arts Daisy Reverse pattern on Ivory Cardstock.  The effect was cool, but a bit too muted for what I was hoping for, so I added a second layer of stamping using Hero Arts Outline Flowers in Purple over the top.

Next I pulled in the colors from the photo again using textured cardstock.  As I thought about what sentiment to use, it seemed to cry *Spring* to me, so I added several Easter sentiment stickers from SRM Stickers using a sketch from the Utah Divas.

Boot Scootin' Boogie

Tonight I made a 50th Anniversary Card for a couple who still likes to put on their boots and dance.

The boots & numbers are stickers, combined with some Vintage Cosmo Circket Halfway Cafe (which I hang on to specifically for cowboy-themed cards just like this).   I added a wrap of baling twine from our recycling station in the garage for a little rustic touch ... and I'm joining the string, twine or fibers challenge at the Love to Create Challenge Blog.

I decorated the inside with some musical hearts and a little piece of Heart-filled Washi Tape to hold the twine in place.  I'm also joining the Crafty Calendar Challenge where for February they're celebrating Love & Marriage.

Destination Anywhere

I love the stamps from the Stamp-It Australia line at Crafter's Companion ... especially the gorgeous collages where you only need a single stamp to make a beautiful card.  

This one features a stamp called Destination together with this week's Twine-Wrapped Play Date Cafe Color Combination.  The door reminded me of traveling ... never knowing what adventure you might find behind the next door.

The layout is from Lucy's Cards.  I used a wrap of grey twine & a border punch along the bottom (to keep your punch centered, start at the center and work out to each side).  

Papers are all from Authentique (Winter & Curiousity).

Her Thoughts Were Quite Bizarre

It's been a while since I joined the Stampotique Design Blog, so tonight I decided to break out some neglected stamps and create.  The February challenge is to create a project featuring text, so I pulled out some vintage book pages to use as my palette.

Beauties by Janet Klein was stamped in Warm Red ink on the vintage book page.  Next, I cut it into four one-inch panels.  As I was editing this card, I realized that the three women on the right would all be mad at the one on the left because they were all made wider by the positioning of the space between the panels ... while she stayed her pretty skinny self.

The sentiment was in my Stampotique stamp drawer, but I realized as I 'm typing-up the description of my card, it's actually called Bizarre Thoughts by Studio 490 ... I think it works well with the design.

The sketch is from Lucy Abrams blog together wtih several kinds of washi tape, a chipboard speech bubble & some Teresa collins World Traveler paper.

In Love With Life

I got my new Lawn Fawn Say Cheese die cuts in the mail yesterday from Paper Issues (as always fabulous selection in that shop and even better service), and I had to give it a try.  Having grown-up with a father who was always snapping Polaroid pictures, that image holds a special place in my heart.

I used a sketch from Lucy Abram's Blog and combined it with a Verve Color Challenge (Aqua, Brown & Yellow) at the SplitcoastStampers LoveFest.

I finished with a wrap of Aqua Seam binding and several Hero Arts / Studio Calico Stamps (Oh Snap & Plano).  The inside of the Polaroid is KI Flashback Blackboard paper from Studio Calico.

Rose of Love

There's still time to join the February Love is in the Air Challenge at the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog ... one lucky winner gets a $30 voucher to the Crafter's Companion store.

Here's my card featuring the Rose Clock Stamp from Stamp-It Australia.

I was fascinated by Chrissie's Ombre Technique where she painted with reinker, so I tried something similar. I stamped my image on thick Watercolor Paper in India Ink and clear embossed.  Next I started painting from the left using my Spectrum Noir BP6 reinker and a wet paint brush (I put several drops of the ink on a piece of plastic like Chrissie did in her video).  

I painted about halfway across the image and then started painting from the right side using Tuscan Sun Glimmer Mist.  After I dried it went back with more concentrated Spectrum Noir ink and painted the rose for contrast (click through to see close-up).  I added a tiny piece of black bling to the center of the clock.

This card is also perfect for the Water You Doing? Mixability Challenge at SCS where Dina wanted us to use water with water soluable mediums to make the color move.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I'm seriously in love with this kraft wood grain paper from Studio Calico ... I combined it with some other Studio Calico elements for this week's Unscripted Sketch.

• Here & There Adhesive Badges (house)
• Sundrifter Frame & Feather Stamp set (Hero Arts)
• Jute - Natural (American Crafts) (love that fuzzy texture)
• Studio Calico Designer Paper from Front Row Card Kit

The Peach Floral is a Basic Grey Vellum Border sticker that I also used when I punched my tiny heart (using a multi-heart punch by Martha Stewart).

I'm also joining the My Time to Craft Challenge where the theme is to make a card inspired by a song ... this one is inspired by the song Home by Phillip Phillips.