Ingenious Inkling

Magnificent MISTI

When I saw that Iliana Myska, the inventor of the MISTI (Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented), was going to be teaching at Taylored Expressions, I knew I needed to make the trip.  After an early rise yesterday morning, I hopped in the car for the 115 mile trek across the Iowa countryside.

While we had a lot of people at the class there was plenty of room to craft (and to shop ... yes, I did quite a bit of that too).  I couldn't resist picking-up these new bloomers die cuts together with the pitcher & vase.  I think these may be my mother's day cards.  There are lots of awesome samples all around the store (which I love).

One of the first things we learned was non-MISTI related ... how to achieve shading with a single marker color by layering.  I love these fun birthday images.  We also created the splatter background with a paintbrush and dye inks ... so much fun.  We did stamp all of the little images using the MISTI which allows you to stamp multiple times to get a nice solid black line before coloring.

The MISTI trick for this card was how to use the negative of your die cut to position your stamped sentiment on the die cut tag (brilliant).

I loved the color combinations for the cards ... Cookie Monster is one of my favorite blues.

For this card, we learned how to use the MISTI magnetic corners to stamp off the edges of the cardstock with the banners.  Each banner was on a separate MISTI, so we just passed them around the table until our entire card was done (such great inky coverage especially with lighter colors like the Mint).  Super-easy way to create this fun design.  I also love the new coordinating enamels from Taylored Expressions (and I can never resist a grumpling).

This was actually the most involved card of the class.  All of those sentiments are on a single stamp, so we learned how to use masking paper & the MISTI to stamp each line in a different colors - super cool effect.  If you look closely, you can see where I forgot to attach my masking paper before I stamped Make a Wish so there's a little bleed on Eat Cake.  I called it a happy accident because I actually like the darker ink along the bottom of the lighter pink sentiment.

This was my favorite technique of the class ... how to use a positioning sheet to stamp red rubber layering stamp.  It was brilliant and as you can see, the effect is perfection.  Make sure you check out the My Sweet Petunia YouTube Channel for all sorts of tips.  I didn't buy this set yesterday, but now I'm wishing I had.  Onto the wish list it goes.

I was thrilled to meet Iliana and learn new tips for using her awesome stamping tool.

Two Turtlenecks ... and a Beer in a Tree

When I explained our current Jingle Belles prompt My True Love Gave to Me (with lovely Guest Star Lela Menke) to my husband:

Create a holiday card for your *TRUE LOVE* or for any extra-special person in your life
OR...
Create a holiday card with HEARTS on it
OR...
Create a holiday card that references any aspect of "The 12 Days of Christmas" that appeals to you

he suggested that if I were making a card for him, it would most likely be inspired by Bob & Doug McKenzie's version of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Since I realized he was correct, that's where my inspiration veered off.

So here they are ... on the Second Day of Christmas my True Love Gave to Me ... Two Turtlenecks (and a Beer in a Tree).  

Stamps are from Essentials by Ellen 'Tis the Season with My Favorite Things Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window die cut.  

He loved it.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• Fun felt flower tutorial
• I want to try lots of things with Fish Sauce
• tutorial for a cool Mosaic Wall Planter (I love mosaics of broken dishes - shown)
• Creative ideas for re-using Tin Cans (and another)
• Maple Mustard Chicken & Potatoes looks like a good weekend meal
• Wonderful Design Award Winners (I especially love the Pasta Packaging)
• I think I might join May Photo a Day
• Love this amazing Stained Glass Cabin
• Sheet Pan Fajitas look so good

Have a terrific Thursday!

Cheerio!

Just having some fun with some of Artistic Outpost stamps to make a special birthday card for one of my favorite Anglophiles.

I combined images from two sets - Loverly London & London Underground.  I had some fun wandering through the Artistic Outpost galleries and revisiting some of my cards from when I was on their design team ... still love their stamps.

New Eyelet Outlet Washi Tapes

Have you checked-out all of the new Washi Tape in the Eyelet Outlet Store?  The new ones have an asterisk at the beginning of their name, so they are all at the top of the list.

I made cards today featuring two of the new tapes.

We have a *thing* for whales at our house, so the Wide Whale Washi Tape (say that three times fast)  was the first one I added to my collection.

 

It paired perfectly with this Go With the Flow Whale Stamp from Hero Arts stamped in Purple Ink on light blue cardstock and a few Whale Brads for accents using this week's Sketch Saturday Layout.

 

 

I rotated the sketch to work with my big whale.

 

 

Next, I had to have this Wide Pineapple Washi Tape.

 

 

I tried stamping my Hero Arts Color Layering Pineapple in the colors of several of the pineapples on the tape (I love how many different pineapples there are before the pattern repeats).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Hello Gorgeous.

 

 

I just love how those three shades of green ink turned out ... and they are perfectly accented by a row of Green Jewel Strip in the larger 5mm size.

 

 

 

Diploma Cap & Gown

There is a Spring Color Challenge at Unity Stamp Company.

Another Spring event is graduation, so I used these colors with Unity Stamp Company's Diploma Cap & Gown {Wit & Wisdom} in Kelly Green Ink.

I used black to highlight one of the words using this week's Sketch from The Paper Players.

Baby Baby

The framed of the Diagonal Stripe Background die cut from Taylored Expressions is the result of some failed inky experimentation this afternoon.  It was too pretty to toss, so I decided to see if I could salvage a card design.

Since it's stripes, I started with the Stripe theme at Less is More and left the stripe space empty for a clean design.

Next I moved on to CAS(E) this sketch! adding some purple cardstock down the middle.

I decided to finish with some adorable Little B embellishments I found at Tuesday Morning yesterday at a super-markdown price ... they are just so cute.  Sentiment is from Taylored Expressions In & Out Wedding (love that nice big font).

I'm also linking-up at the Brown Sugar Challenge where they are featuring die cuts.

Marshmallow Happiness

The current Challenge theme at Impression Obsession is You Take the Cake! (Cake or Dessert).  

Anyone who has eaten dessert with me knows that my favorite sweet treats often involve Marshmallows (and I've been known to just call Dessert a spoonful of Marshmallow Creme or a handful of Marshmallows out of the bag) ... and this IOStamps Money Sentiment make me smile every time.

I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch and made my marshmallows out of watercolor paper with rounded corners and sponging with three different colors of ink to try to get the right look.

Wishing You Peace

We're still celebrating Earth Day by Re-cycleing & Re-using at Jingle Belles.

I started with embossed snowflake removed from one of the Christmas Cards received at the office last year (all of the Admins save them for me to recycle).

I rummaged through my recycle drawer and found a paint chip and some vintage grocery store gift stamps (I used to give S&H Green Stamps when I worked at a grocery store in my teens, so stamps like these have a special place in my heart). A few sequins and a Hero Arts sentiment completed the design.

 

My layout is a somewhat loose interpretation of this week's Fusion Card Sketch.

At Addicted to Stamps and More they're celebrating Holidays.

Rainbow Hydrangea

The colors in the current Pin-Sights Challenge at Essentials by Ellen inspired me to have some direct-to-paper inky fun with a sneak-peak of some soon-to-be-released products from ClearSnap.

I got all inky with pinks, oranges, purples & greens and then stamped my EBE Mondo Hydrangea, petals & leaves (using my MISTI for perfect stamping) ... I just love the random streaks of colors.

 

I also loved the contrast of the colors with a kraft paper base.  The sentiment is also from the Mondo Hydrangea stamp set.  I attached the 3-D petals with glue dots and accented with tiny pearls.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Showers or Flowers Challenge.

And a gorgeous bloom is perfect for the GROW Challenge at CASology.