Ingenious Inkling

Washi Sympathy

As I finished my Fusion card, I thought a similar design would be perfect for a sympathy card ... so I used the colors from this week's Dynamic Duos Challenge (with my additional color being black).

I pulled out all of my Grey Washi Tape and a few black ones, including the same birds.

I ended-up filling the entire panel, so I put the sympathy sticker sentiment on top of the striped Washi Tape.  I also added a row of SRM Stickers on the solid grey.

I'm also joining the Washi It Up Challenge at the Little Tangles blog (I don't have any of their stamps yet, but have a few on my wish list).

Fusion Birds

For this week's Fusion Challenge, I made a card inspired by the photo.

I loved the colors, stacked design and the birds, so that is what I incorporated into my card.

I stacked some Washi tape in similar color tones from the photo, including one row of washi tape birds.  I finished with a simple Unity sentiment stamped in India Ink ... I love how it pops against the black card base.

Me and my row of birdies are also joining the Take Flight challenge at Addicted to CAS.

Do Something Awesome

I broke out some Basic Grey Hipster goodies for this week's Unscripted Sketch .... they work well with a kraft card base.

I attached one panel with foam tape to add a bit of dimension and finished with a wrap of coral ribbon.

I think it will be fun to add the date for a special birthday or occasion.

Sea Island Birthday

My favorite thing about the SplitCoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge each week is when it inspires me to try something I never would have otherwise.  

When I saw the gorgeous white-on-navy of this Sea Island Tunic from Lily Pulitzer, I thought of all of the different die cuts from white paper that I could use on a navy background.  Then I started wondering if I could get a similar contrast using Memories Whipped Cream Mist and a stencil ... so I did what any adventurous crafter would do ... I tried ... and I loved the results.

I used Heidi Swapp's Lattice Stencil that I picked-up at Michael's last week.  I taped down the top & bottom with paper tape before spraying.  I used one of the over-sprayed edges trimmed from the navy paper for the border on my card adding a strip of white border-punched cardstock.  I tried navy ribbon, but ended-up with with red because I loved the pop of color.

The layout is from Sketchbook Saturday and the sentiment stamp and box are from Hero Arts/Studio Calico.  I finished with a Freckled Fawn Starburst Dew Drop Sticker for a bit of glittery sparkle.

I hope you find inspiration.

Hybrid Holiday

This week at Jingle Belles we're still going Digital (with lots of freebie links if you don't have any digital products in your stash).  I created another hybrid holiday card design. 

I perused through my digital files on my computer and found these wonderful focal elements from Webster's Pages.  I printed out the Christmas Tree circle, die cut it slightly smaller to fit my card base, and *decorated* the tree using a sparkled pen.

Then, of course, when I had that all done, I realized I no longer had any of the Webster's Pages papers from the coordinating collection.  So instead, I pulled out a couple of papers from other Webster's Pages collections and pulled my card together using a layout from Sunday Stamps.

I'm also joining Festive Friday where they're celebrating Holiday Trees.

Thursday Link Love

More fun finds from the land of blogs:

• Love all of these great ideas for using your scrap papers on cards
• Tutorial for beautiful Paper Mums (shown)
• S'mores Ice Cream ... made with coconut milk
• Free printable Apothocary Labels
• So inspired by the art of Jean Shin ... love artists who see the world through their own original eye
• Tutorial for a double-duty Screwdriver Coat Rack
• Love this fabulous layout with lots of paper banners
• If I still had to wear dresses for work ... I'd find someone to make me lots of these Mod Shift Dresses ... so fun and comfy.
• Tutorial for turning simple glass stones into fabulous glitter magnets
• A book to document your Summer Manifesto ... and your Manifesto could include some Random Acts of Kindness
• Tutorial for making your own texture paste
• I love Thai Iced Tea ... and I bet it is fabulous in popsicle form

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Hello Sunshine

When I saw this week's Tuesday Trigger Scene in Tangerine photo, I resisted the urge to go with a literal interpretation ... and instead made a card that captured how the picture made me feel.  Maybe it's the abundance of rain we've been having lately ... but this picture reminded me of sunshine.

I started by finding three pieces of designer paper from my Studio Calico stash that captured the colors in the photo.  Next, I used stamps from Hero Arts Homey Patterns from the PB&J Collection from Basic Grey.

I love the polka dot flower, fun little clouds, and wrap of twine.  I used an orange Spectrum Noir marker to create the border on my wavy edge using this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Wishing you a little sunshine in your life.

Poemstones

The current challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to create something featuring your oldest embellishment.  

After a treasure hunt through my studio, I found these Poemstones by Sharon Soneff that I believe I've had for at least 10 years.  They are so old that the epoxy has curled and the adhesive is mostly gone ... but they are so pretty, I haven't been able to part with them.

I used my heat gun from the front & then the back to flatten the epoxy and reactivate the adhesive.  decided to feature the "soul mates" stone on a wedding card using this week's Fetch A Sketch.

I kept it clean and simple with a strip of metallic gold cardstock and three metal studs to finish my design.

Brambly Hedge

Brambly Hedge is a series of illustrated children's books by Jill Barklem, based around a community of self-sufficient mice who live together in the tranquil surroundings of the English countryside.  This week, Crafter's Companion is releasing several stamp sets and papercrafting CDs that feature images from this beloved series ... and I've got a sneak peek for you.

My card was made using Rocker Card Images from the papercrafting CD ... the color choices and detail are amazing (see how the images have a shadow on the bottom right for the appearance of dimension).

The instructions for the card were to fold the base in half (like a rocking horse) and then attach the circular image where it extended over the fold ... however (never being one to follow instructions) when I cut out the images, I liked how it looked un-folded, so I attached the center circle using a small brad & used a glue-dot to adhere the paper bow on top of the brad.

So ... when you swivel the top circle on the brad you can see the hidden birthday message underneath.

Fusion Photo Fun

I adore the inspiration photo in this week's Fusion Challenge ... seriously, what's not to like ... a combination of my favorite colors together with some of my favorite things ... gnome, owl & camera ... the tough part was narrowing down what to use in my design.

This week's theme at Crazy for CAS was to use Washi Tape, which I thought would be perfect for the sketch, so that's where I started.  I pulled in almost all of the colors from the photo ... Pink, Green & two shades of Turquoise.

I pulled in the yellow & orange from the photo in with my chipboard sticker elements ... as well as the camera.  I finished with an artsy *cheesy* sentiment ... this card makes me happy.

Off to watch the season finale of Mad Men ... hate when one of my favorite shows ends for the year.