Ingenious Inkling

Tenia Muse

Tenia from Jazzy Paper Designs is the Muse at the Muse Challenge this week with this gorgeous design.

Because of her unique style, I always know a card is Tenia's before I even see the watermark ... she seamlessly combines elegance (the gold embossed flower) with a graphic design (paint splatters, square sentiments) for such fun & funky cards.   Those are the elements I tried to capture.

I started with *throw-away* from some stencil play.  I had oversprayed my paper with Hero Arts Shimmer Silver and then sprayed on some Hero Arts Shimmer Gold using the Hero Arts/BasicGrey Two Way Arrows stencil ... it sort of looked like a bit of a muddled mess ... which made it perfect for a little artsy play.  

I inked Hero Arts Fabulous Flourish in Delicata Glitz Gold and stamped on top of the stenciled pattern and them embossed with detail gold embossing powder giving it lots of shimmer and sparkle.

I added two different tapes down the side (using piano key tape as an ode to Tenia's jazz musical talent) and used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (why don't I use that more often?) to attach some SRM Sticker Birthday sentiments that I had adhered to the scraps of silver-sprayed paper.  

I had the entire card assembled before I thought about splattering paint, so instead of risking a total fail, I added some black dots with a Sharpie Marker.

I finished with a variety of gold sequins ... thanks Tenia for always inspiring and for pushing me out of my comfort zone tonight ... I love the result.

Remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store … and the a2z Store has the 2015 Hero Arts release in stock.

Treat Yo Self

The second monthly challenge is up at Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom ... the Pin-Sights Challenge.

The Challenge is to create a card using Essentials by Ellen and inspired by this picture.

I loved the stripes, gold and bold text, so that's what I incorporated.  My card features two Essentials by Ellen Die Cuts - Treat Yo Self & You Rock.  In my best Donna voice, I kept thinking how I would *Treat Myself* if I won the $50 prize.

I started with Hero Arts Lauderdale Trees stamped in Black (turned on its side) for my striped background.  Next I used black and white cardstock, gold glitter paper and a doily with this week's Retro Sketch.

I finished with a few gold sequins for a bit more sparkle ... love it.

Baby Shower

Today's Inspiration Challenge at SplitCoast Stampers is featuring Umbrellas ... which reminded me of this vintage Magenta Umbrellas stamp in my collection (which I used when I won this sketch challenge at Card Positioning Systems back in 2009).

I chose this Red Umbrella to inspire my design ... and also incorporated the white, green & yellow from the photo into my color palette.

I stamped the Magenta Umbrellas in Staz-On St. Valentine Ink and clear embossed.

When I was searching for a doily to use for this week's Just Add Ink Sketch, I found an envelope of die cut baby onesies instead (from Top  Dog Dies) ... I thought this yellow one was perfect for the layout.

I finished with some vintage Everything Baby Stampin' Up stamps in my collection that had never even been mounted ... they were perfect for a baby shower design stamped in Emerald City Staz-On ink.

Fa La La La La

This week at Jingle Belles we're enjoying some Christmas Carols ... which means we're making cards (or gift card holders, or whatever else you'll be needing for the holidays) that incorporate music, that are inspired by a holiday song, or that include a holiday song title.

I started with a glittery reindeer tag that I purchased at the after-Christmas sales that I knew I would finish with a Red Nose.

Next I added some perfectly aged sheet music from my vast collection ... since this was was actually printed in a sort of a sienna brown ink, I used some coordinating metallic cardstock behind my deer using this week's Deconstructed Sketch.

I finished with some shimmery gold paper and an SRM Happy Holiday Sticker (that I cut into two pieces to work with the layout).  I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at the Christmas Card Challenge.

Rudolph's sort of clashes with the color palette, but since he's a *mature* reindeer, I know that doesn't bother him.

As always, we hope you'll come join us ... it's never too late to start taking back December one Christmas Card at a time.

Cupcake

We're featuring a delicious cupcake at Fusion Card Challenge ... this one looks like lemon to me.

I decided to paper-piece a lemon cupcake and decorate it with pearl sprinkles.  The stamp is Stamplorations Sketched Cupcake.

I used the sketch with four different yellow papers and a sentiment from Stamplorations Sentiment Builders - Happy.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• Who knew you could Paint with Coffee
• Banh Mi Street Tacos ... yummo
• How to unshrink clothes
• Fruit & Veggie Salsa Recipes ... the Watermelon Mango Pico De Gallo looks delicious 
• How to Tie Anything & Everything (including a Toga)
• Tutorial for making your own Woven Burlap Coasters
• I would love to try making a DIY Quote Canvas (shown) (I have a thing for art that recycles magazines)
• Love this sweet little studio space
• 49 Best Health & Fitness Apps ... I downloaded a few to try
• Tutorial for weaving a tiny paper Easter Basket

Have a terrific Thursday.

Are You Kitten Me?

Tonight I'm having a little CAS fun inspired by this week's showCASe your style.

Instead of a woodland creature, I chose to feature a the Cat and Mouse from Cat Icons Dies from Paper Smooches using this week's Paper Smooches Designer Draft Sketch.

I combined her with a sentiment and dream bubble from Feline Friends ... because who doesn't prefer a little sushi over a mouse?

You Are Capable

I wanted to make another Graduation Card using this week's My Favorite Things Sketch ... this time featuring colors of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

I combined stamps from MFT Chalkboard Greetings Too and Happy Graduation with some Hawkeye Gold enamel dots.

I'm also joining the Order of the Opus Gluei where the theme is Black and One other Color.

Fairy Princess Birthday

I needed a sweet little birhtday card for a girl turning three, so I thought this princess from the Angelica & Friends Collection CD-ROM from Crafter's Companion would be perfect.  

As she's sitting among the grass and flowers, it's also perfect for the Nature Challenge at One Stitch at a Time.

I used three cardstock scraps to bring out the colors in the image using this week's Paper Pals Arts Sketch.

I finished with an SRM Birthday Sticker Sentiment and a few Epoxy Dots (I skipped the sequins since I was worried about a 3 year old pulling them off).

 

Be the Change

For graduation cards, I usually do one simple design and change the colors based on the school colors.  This was perfect for the Black & White + One Color Challenge at Just Us Girls.

I started with some red using the sketch from Retro Sketches and Grad stamps from Technique Tuesday.

I varied the border widths ... sometimes on purpose ... and sometimes because I couldn't calculate ratios correctly (adds variety I suppose).

These cards are also perfect for the Silhouette Challenge at My Time to Craft.

Quick and easy (and easy to do touch-ups with a Black Marker ... these cards make me wish I had a Misti).