Ingenious Inkling

Unity Tags

On the Unity Stamps Facebook Page, there's a Tag Challenge to make one tag a day.

Here's the one I made last night using the So Happy For You set and some fun Triangle Pennant Washi Tape (I trimmed one row off for the top piece).

I stamped the ultra sound twice and attached the second image with foam tape for dimension ... I used glitter pen to color the hearts.  This will be perfect to attach to a baby gift.

Tonight I played around with a little Batik Technique where the images were stamped in Versamark and Clear Embossed.  Next I sponged on lots of Distress Ink and then ironed off the embossing powder.  I should have remembered to wipe the Distress Ink off the embossed surfaces before ironing ... since I didn't, some of it remained on the images.

Love the fun images from Simple, Peace, Love, Happy.

Tranquility Koi

I have always loved Oriental Gardens ... when I enter one I get an immediate sense of peace and well-being.  One of my favorites is the Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, Illinois ... if you're ever in the area, it's most certainly worth a visit.  Here are some pictures from one of our visits.

One of my favorite parts of the Gardens are the water features ... I love watching the fish, ducks and other creatures ... especially when there are schools of koi.  I love how they look like they've had ink splotched on them and no two look the same.

Here's a sneak peak of some Koi from Sheena's new Koi & Waterlilies set ... part of her release later this week from her line called A Little Bit Oriental.

I stamped the koi in black on grey Tim Holtz Designer paper and then used my OR2 and OR3 Spectrum Noir markers to add random pops of color to my fish.  I finished by sponging on some Broken China Distress ink to give it more of a watery feel.

Muse Grasses

When I saw this week's Muse Challenge card by Karen M, I knew I wanted to try a similar emboss resist inky technique ... it's been a long time since I broke out the white embossing powder.

I started by stamping an image from Sheena's Silhouette Grasses in Chipped Sapphire Distress ink on white cardstock.  I dired it with my heat gun to try to speed up the process and then stamped another image from that set in white ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  

You can see that I didn't wait quite long enough for my first stamping to dry, and ended-up with some white powder on my background image ... but I actually think the effect softens the image, so I kept going.

I started by sponging Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and then added some Peacock Feathers & more Chipped Sapphire ink to for some shadows.  I finished with some butterflies punched with black cardstock and my white pen to add dots to the black cardstock border.

When I was done, it just seemed like a sympathy card to me, so I added an SRM Wishing You Well Sticker sentiment.

Yeti, Set, Go

When I saw the new Yeti, Set Go Set from Lawn Fawn, I knew I *had* to have it.  My sister & I are long-time Yeti fans, so I know he'll be making lots of appearances.

The current Challenge at Lawn Fawn is to make a Monochromatic card ... for my Yeti I decided on shades of blue.

I paper pieced my Yeti and used the sketch from the Fusion Card Challenge.

Autumn

To celebrate today's Autumnal Equinox, I thought I'd make another fall card using my felt leaves.

On my shopping adventures yesterday, I also picked-up new DCWV Burlap Stack and some Martha Stewart Adhesive borders, so I used both in my card design together with an SRM Sticker Sentiment ... the MFT Primitive Cream cardstock I used for my card base reminded me of the table top.

I took my inspiration from the photo at this week's Inspired By Challenge.

And my layout is this week's CAS(E) this Sketch ... bring on Autumn.

Count Your Blessings

I ended-up spending most of my day shopping ... one stop, led to the next, and the next ... and before I knew it, the day had slipped away.  

One of my stops was at JoAnn's where they had lots new Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas product on display.  I couldn't resist picking-up some felt leaf stickers that are perfect for Autumn cards.

There's a photo inspiration at the BasicGrey Challenges Blog with a theme of Autumn Colors ... our maple trees have already started turning and our yard is covered with leaves.

I went searching through my Basic Grey collections and found some Autumn colors in the Konnichiwa papers.  The banner paper is from Carte Postale.  I added a few of my new felt leaves & an SRM Fall Sticker Sentiment.

The layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketches.  

I'm also joining the Fall Colors & a Leaf Challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.

Valencia Grasses

After a few week break, I decided to check out this week's SCS Inspiration Challenge.  Audrie chose a gorgoeus bedding site called Eastern Accents ... I chose this Valencia Border Collage Pillow to inspire my card design.  I loved the silhouette design, the multiple frames, and the rich brown against the blue background.

I stamped several of the stamps from Sheena's Silhouette Grasses in Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on ivory cardstock and clear embossed.

Next I sponged on Broken China and Peacock Feathers Distress inks to create my blue background.  It seemed like it still needed *something* so I sprayed on a coat of Silver Spray & Sparkle Glitter Varnish before attaching to my teal card base... I love the sparkle.

I finished with an SRM Sticker sentiment.

Very Vintage Christmas

This week's card for the Vintage Christmas Challenge at the Jingle Belles blog combines both vintage paper (a 1931 dictionary page on my tag) and a vintage card design.

I sponged on tea dye distress ink for a bit more aging.  The layout is the September Reverse Confetti Sketch For You To Try.

I'm joining the ABC Christmas Challenge where S is for Sketch.

Diorama Card Tutorial

One of the fun designs on the new Makey Bakey Mice Everyday CD-ROM is a Diorama Card.  I had never made one before, so I thought I'd show you how I assembled this design.

All of the pieces of the card print out on a single page of cardstock. I cut out each piece and then started assembly.  First step was to score the back of the card along the lines using my Ulimate Tool from Crafter's Companion.

Next do the same with the front, scoreing in the opposite direction (the front piece has the doirama window).

Next I attached a solid panel to the back of the card using Extra Strong Permanent Adhesive from Crafter's Companion (this stuff is seriously permanent, so it's really good for a card like this that has movement).

Next, I placed the front on top of the back and flattened out the design, so I could determine where to place the focal image.  I used the same adhesive and attached that panel to the back.

Next I attached the front to the back using the two pieces on each end, leaving the center open.  I attached the sentiment to the front & layered on pieces to my central image for dimension.

Here's another view of those layers ... they add so much.

Next I cut out the button embellishments and placed them at the corners.  I liked the contrast of the darker buttons, so I added two small strips of dark brown cardstock to help frame my design a bit more.

Here's the finished design.

And another view that shows the diorama design and layers a bit more.

It's such a fun design since it folds flat for mailing, but pops open when removed from the envelope.

Thursday Link Love

Another fun week of blogland finds:

• I never get enough of looking at drool-worthy crafting spaces ... check out Ardyth's Studio
• And Anabelle's Studio has lots of storage ideas
• 5-Ingredient Easy White Chicken Chili is going on the winter soup list
• Tutorial for making gorgeous Autumn Leaves with Alcohol Inks
• Made Eggplant with Garlic Sauce this week & it quick and oh-so-delicious
• This post makes me want to paint things
• Tutorial for using your paper punches to make cool jewelry (shown)
• One of the most amazing Yarn Bombs I've ever seen
• Love this gorgeous layout ... especially the perspective in the focal photograph
• Fabulous Stairway Storage
• Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting ... bring on fall

Wishing you a tremendous Thursday!