Ingenious Inkling

Jingle Belles Inspired

This week we're still making cards inspired by Lauren's gorgeous blog header at Jingle Belles.  

For this card I wanted to capture the beautiful white-on-kraft portion of the design, so I stamped Hero Arts Holly Flourish with Gina K's White Pigment ink on a scrap of krafty designer paper.  

I tried heat setting the ink, but wasn't patient enough for it try dry, so I kept getting white ink all over my hands as I was working to assemble my design.  I finally took a cloth and just rubbed across the few places of the stamped ink that were still damp, and I love the soft muted effect.

I used a layout from Wanna Sketch? and added purple cardstock banners.  I used two different sentiments from Crafter's Companion Mistletoe Kisses.  I finished with larger silver pearls and tiny bits of clear bling scattered across the design.

I'm also joining Christmas in July at The Corrosive Challenge Blog.

Layered Birthday Cake

I love Shari Carroll's card for this week's CASE Study Challenge.

I tried to capture the same feeling using my Happy Birthday Collage Stamp from Impression Obsession.  I stamped it once and blue and then again in red.  I used my Creative Memories Oval cutter to cut around the sentiment, and then used my star punch on two other areas of the collage.

I attached the red panel with foam tape for dimension and finished with a few touches of gold glitter pen for a little sparkle.

I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Party Time Tuesdays ... because nothing says Party quite like birthday cake (or pretty much any cake for that matter).

Thursday Link Love

Another week of fun blogland discoveries:

• Love these awesome Origami Bows (shown)
• Cute little Free Camping Printables
• I want to try this DIY Air Freshener for our Closets
• These Boozy Cocoa Krispies Shakes look like an indulgent treat (although I've always been more of a Cocoa Pebbles fan)
• Tutorial for a Faux Enamelled Pendant
• This Pool Noodle Popsicle Banner is so fresh & fun
• Free Typewriter Key Prints
• S'Mores Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups ... yum

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Finance Thank You

Tonight I made some quick masculine thank you cards using pages from a vintage residual lease rate manual.

I added a stamped thank you sentiment from Stampotique (love the vintage typewriter font), a few strips of black chevron washi tape, and some triangle metal studs.

Automotive Thanks

On one of my recent thrift store adventures, I found a vintage auto-repair book with lots of pictures ... perfect for making cards for the car-lovers in my life.  

I combined a picture & text from one of the pages for this thank you card.

The Card Layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketches ... I finished with an SRM Sticker sentiment adhered to the border of one of the vintage book pages before using my circle punch.

Always Follow Your Heart

I wanted to join along with the 200th CASE Study Challenge with inspiration from the oh-so-talented Shari Carroll.

Here's my take on her clean & simple (yet eclectic) design.

I started with a *heart-themed* sticker focal point and then punched quite a few more hearts (in place of the circles in the inspiration card) to accent the design.  I also liked the dimenstional layer on the right, so I incorporated that into my design as well.

I'm calling kraft a *neutral* and also joining the Monochromatic Clean & Simple Challenge at The Paper Players.

Chicago

Yes I'm on the road again ... this time to Chicago for business and a little fun too.

I love walking around the City ... especially early in the morning or as the sun is setting at night.

I also love trying new restaurants like State and Lake Chicago Tavern.

We shared:

ORGANIC BUTTERMILK GRITS - asparagus, cedar grove curds

WOOD GRILLED MARKET FLATBREAD - chorizo verde, yogurt, pistachio, baby beets

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES - remoulade sauce, wood grilled sweet corn (so very good)

POT OF MAINE MUSSELS - bell's oberon, house smaoked bacon, burnt orange with fries

And of course I've had a few Iced Coconut Chai's from Argo Tea ... I overdose on these every time I'm in Chicago, since we don't have an Argo Tea near us.

Taking a Jingle Belle Header

In honor of World Cup Soccer, we're Taking a Header at Jingle Belles this week ... but instead of hitting soccer balls with our head, we're making cards inspired by our Jingle Belles Blog Header.

My favorite Christmas Collection that features purple is Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather, so that's what I used in my design.  I also incorporated the Jingle Bells and a bit of shimmery gold.

I didn't realize my very old sentiment was mounted crooked on the wooden block, so it ended-up a bit wonky.  For me, that was an *embellishment opportunity* to add a shimmery gold snowflake to help balance out the design.

My layout is this week's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge.

Fusion Challenge ~ French Cupcakes

I love the colors and textures of this week's Fusion Card Challenge.

 

I started with soft pinks and mint greens for my background.  I intended to layer a yellow and pink flower for the sketch, but couldn't find any in my stash that would work.  While I was hunting, I found this Glitz sentiment sticker with flowers, so I used it as my focal point.

I finished with a slightly darker pink bloom and some pretty pearls.

If you'd like some further inspiration, click through and see what the Fusion Card Challenge Design Team has created:

• Betty J
• Dannielle Robeson
• Deepti
• Jeanne Jachna
• Julia Aston
• Katie Brooks
• Kelly Griglione
• Kimberly Wiener
• Lyndal Higgins
• Lynn Mangan
• Michelle Folland
• Michelle Lupton
• Sindu
• Stephanie Severin <---------- Me

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• Love this fun Washi Tape Bracelet
• Boston Cream Pie is a favorite dessert ... would love to try Boston Cream Pie Trifle
• Gorgeous Mica Powder Stenciling
• Going to have to try this Raw Summer Salad
• Now that I have a steel beam in my kitchen, I'll be searching for containers to make these (shown)
• Love this Train Music Art

Have a terrific Thursday.