Ingenious Inkling

Frosty the Snowman

At Jingle Belles we're making cards inspired by this wonderful picture of Cookies for Santa from the Bearfoot Baker.

I wanted to create snowman card using these awesome colors, so I started by stamping my Vintage Frosty from Artistic Outpost's Frosty & Friends in Lawn Fawn Peacock Ink (love this color).

I rounded the corners to turn Frosty into a tag and added an SRM Sticker sentiment, some white ribbon and red sequin accents.

I finished with a strip of Teal glitter paper and a few more sequins using the sketch from The Paper Players.

It's also Anything Goes week at the Christmas Card Challenge Blog.

We hope you'll be inspired by these cookies and come create with us.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• Eggplant Gyros sound delicious ... if eggplant is on the menu, I always order it, but I seldom make it at home for some reason
• 10 Best Small Towns in Iowa ... we've been to most, but need to visit the rest
• Sugar Cookies that look like they would melt in your mouth
• Painting with Coffee (shown)
• Love these Tennis Racket Mirrors
• Apple Pie Bites ... yes please
• Tutorial for fun Bubble Backgrounds
• How to make a Summer Halter Top from scarves
• Love Sandy Allnock's Comic Strip Card
• Fun ideas for Upcycling Bicycle Rims

Have a Tremendous Thursday!

For You

The unique sketch at the As You See It Challenge was the perfect opportunity to use one of my new Beetle Black Paper Doilies from Doodlebug Design.

I paired it with a design from Bo Bunny's new Candy Cane Lane Collection (because Christmas paper doesn't just need to be for Christmas Cards).

I finished with a Papaya Arts Sticker, a few sequins, and one of my favorite Birthday sentiment stamps from My Favorite Things Chalkboard Greetings (it's just such a great size & font).

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

Sun-Porch Inspired Birthday

I love the colors and patterns in this week's Inspiration Photo at Just Us Girls Challenge ... I've love to sit there for an afternoon with an ice-cold glass if tea and a few of my best friends.

When I went to my studio table to think about what I wanted to create, I saw a few leftovers from Fancy Pants Swagger collection, so I decided to see what I create to use them up.

I found this sketch at Jo's Scrap Shack, which was perfect for some left-over border stickers that I paired with orange cardstock inspired by the photo

Since I wanted a masculine design, I swapped the flower for a paper clip embellishment from the same collection together with a bright blue SRM Sticker Birthday Sticker by the Dozen to pull out more of the blue from the picture.

Spooky Stooges

The Challenge theme at the Impression Obsession Blog is Holiday Cards ... any holiday.  Since I picked-up the new Three Stooges Pumpkin stamp with my winnings from last month, I decided to go for Halloween.  

I stamped my Three Stooges in Dark brown and colored with my Spectrum Noir Blendable  Colored Pencils.

Halloween was also the perfect opportunity to ink-up my new Solar System Stamps by Seth Apter ... I love how they look on the new Graphic 45 Rare Oddities papers.

Using the Mojo Monday Sketch I added a wrap of orange twine and an SRM Sticker sentiment to finish the design.

Monster Giggles

It's been too long since I had a little Monster fun, so I decided to break one out for the Paper Smooches Designer Drafts Sketch.

I paper-pieced the fat little Monster from Falling for You and paired him with a sentiment from Uplifters.

I added a bit of ink sponging for dimension and finished with a wrap of chocolate twine and some sequins.

The Journey is the Destination

My card-making list is long today, so I'm having fun combining some challenges for inspiration.  Thankfully the rain is pouring down outside, so it's a perfect day to hang-out in my studio.

I  thought the colors at the current {Cupake Inspirations} Challenge would be perfect for a masculine birthday card design ... I love when I am inspired to use colors I never would have thought to use on my own ... it seems like I never reach for a metallic unless it's a challenge.

I combined the colors with Artistic Outpost's Route 66 stamps.  I stamped the map twice to create the border ... I love the touch of gold on the border.

The sentiment is a Tim Holtz Small Talk Sticker (love these) and the layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

Being Strong is the Only Choice We Have

One thing I love about being able to make my own cards is that I can make a card for a specific situation or person ... like this one, when I really don't know what to say but want to send encouragement.

I combined the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge (flipped to work with my with my Vertical Greetings Sentiment) and the MFT Color Challenge.  

I added a Sizzix Collage Embossing Folder for a bit of texture and a Tim Holtz Thinlits Heart Die Cut.

Corn Muse

I went searching for some flower stamps to use for the current Muse Challenge ... 

... but instead I decided to use the summer *flower* of Iowa ... Ears of Corn.

I think this may be one of the oldest stamps in my stash by a company called Hot Potatoes ... this was the first brand of stamp I ever saw on the Carol Duvall Show ... watching Mary O'Neil use them on velvet ... it was the beginning of a love affair with stamping.

My sentiment is an awesome block letter stamp from My Favorite Things Chalkboard Greetings.

I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Seize the Birthday.

Wood & Cork Sympathy

When I saw the Wood & Cork theme at the Challenge Up Your Life blog, I knew those were the perfect textures for a masculine sympathy card I needed to make.

I combined two cork designs from DCWV's Cord Stack using this week's Retro Sketch.

At A Blog Named Hero the challenge is Make the Sentiment the Star, which I did with my new Hero Arts Deepest Sympathy sentiment.

I finished with a wrap of dark brown twine and two Studio Calico wooden feathers.