Ingenious Inkling

Very Merry Christmas

The 9th Tag of Christmas with a Feminine Twist is another holiday color challenge.

I'm not sure if I have ever used Iced Spruce Distress Ink; I used direct-to-paper and water sprays to ink a piece of Watercolor paper and die cut my holly leaves from Essentials by Ellen Modern Christmas.  Then I stamped the cross-hatch leave on top with the same Iced Spruce Ink.

I die cut my three berries from a piece of yuzo colored with red alcohol ink.  I finished with a bright red sentiment from Essentials by Ellen No Peeking and some Wintergreen Twill.

It's the Most Wonderful Time for a Beer

I ended my day by playing with my new Hero Arts Irreverent Elf Messages (from Ellen Hutson) and the 8th Tag of Christmas with a Feminine Twist, which is a sketch.

For my background, I decided to use Emerald Isle Infusions Dye Stain on Ivory cardstock.

I attached to a kraft tag and wrapped the top and bottom with kraft twine.  I used a journaling card for my focal circle and finished with an Irreverent Elf Message.  I love the green monochromatic design.

Calories Don't Count

I got some fun new Hero Arts Stamps in the mail today from Ellen Hutson (she seriously has the fastest shipping of any online store), so I had to in-on-up for the 7th Tag of Christmas with a Feminine Twist - another awesome color combination.

I decided to use designer papers for my colors to go with my snarky sentiment from Hero Arts Offbeat Holiday Messages stamped & embossed in detail gold on ivory cardstock.

I finished with a sticker to go with my Offbeat sentiment, a row of gold gems from Eyelet Outlet, and a golden ribbon.

I used a sketch from Crazy 4 Challenges (C4C390) for my Tag layout.

Good Tidings

For the 6th Tag of Christmas Ellen Hutson gave to me ... an awesome color combination.

She also provided a color swatch for those colors, but I realized when I wandered away from my computer to make my card, I used slightly brighter versions of the color families.

I started by inking my Impression Obsession Background with three colors of Catherine Pooler Purple ink and Grey ink to combine those two colors.  My MISTI is perfect for ink blending backgrounds ... just use your finger to smudge a bit between stamping the colors to get a nice blend.

When I went looking for a green, I found some awesome limey designer paper that I used to die cut my Impression Obsession Patchwork Tree.  The theme at Impression Obsession this week is Last Minute Christmas Cards & Gifts, so this fits perfectly.  

Finally I decorated my tree with a silver sparkly star (a version of grey in my opinion) and did some surgery on a lone grey pearl bling swirl from Eyelet Outlet to decorate my tree.  I used lime twine instead of ribbon for my tag, to coordinate with my tree.

Serenity Birthday

My card today was inspired by this lovely print ... Nakasa Serenity 2 Piece Framed Acrylic Painting Print Set.  

I'm also joining the Canasta Meld Challenge at the Virtual Stamping Night at SplitcoastStampers.  Like Canasta, the challenge was to create a meld by stamping the same image repeatedly across the card.  I stamped mine six times, so I almost got a Canasta.

I used my MISTI and Creative Corners to line-up my Impression Obsession Full Bloom Hollyhocks.  I started by stamping them on Watercolor Paper in Antique Linen Distress Ink, and then again in Catherine Pooler Daydream & Eucalyptus, misting with water before each impression (with several 2nd impression stampings without re-inking for lighter color).

I trimmed my piece into two panels like the inspiration photo and mounted them on kraft cardstock.  The sentiment is from Impression Obsessions Birthday Wishes (which has apparently been discontinued).

Jingle All the Way

We have come to the end of our 2017 prompts for Jingle Belles, and once again we have taken back December one holiday card at a time.

I already have 52 cards signed, addressed & ready to be delivered, with the rest to be completed this weekend (hopefully).  Feels so nice to be able to deliver so many one-of-a-kind holiday wishes.

We hope you'll join us January 1st, when we'll start our 8th year of Holiday madness all year long.

Let it Snow

The Challenge Theme for the 5th Tag of Christmas with a Feminine Twist is ... SNOW.

I knew I wanted to use my favorite Penny Black Snowman Joy Die Cut ... and I took a lot of my inspiration (the double tags, stitching down the side and twine) from Carissa's tag.

When I picked my sentiment color(Catherine Pooler Tutti Frutti) for my stamp from Essentials by Ellen 'Tis the Season (which has apparently been discontinued), I took my inspiration from my snowman's orange nose ... and used the same color to create my second tag (using my first one as a pattern). 

I watered down white pigment ink and flicked a paint brush to splatter it for my snowy sky.  I finished by die cutting Essentials by Ellen Stitching Lines down the sides of my tags.

And since my sentiment is a song lyric (you know you're humming it now ... toys in every store ...) I'm joining the Christmas Carol Challenge at Dies R Us.

Jingle All the Way

The optional color at the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge for December is ... GOLD.

I couldn't resist die cutting from gold glitter paper.  I love phrases that come out of the die in a single piece ... no fishing around for the dots for the tops of the "I" makes it so much easier.

I started with a gold & silver dotted card base and then added my fun sentiment.  I framed it with some Eyelet Outlet Gold Glitter Washi Tape to make it stand out a bit more against the background.

Here are the rules for the monthly challenge:

• Players can link up to 3 CAS cards.
• Players can enter a CAS card with or without the optional color twist.
• Non-STAMPlorations products are OK
• Prizes: $10 Gift Certificate for the winner; $5 Gift Certificate to the top pick
• If there are 50 or more entries: 1 random winner of product of choice (3x5 stamp set OR 2 standard size stencils OR 1 CUTplorations word/phrase die)

I hope you'll come join us this month.

Thursday Link Love

Fun finds from wandering through blogland:

• Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
• Finger Paintings of Iris Scott
• Glazed Egg Nog Bread
• Fun Acetate Inking Technique
• Photography of Daniel Everett
• Free Printable Vintage French Post Cards from the Graphics Fairy
• Frida Inspired Ornament/Paper Doll
• Tutorial for beautiful Ice Lanterns (shown)
• I want to make an Essential Oil Diffuser Bracelet
• Photos of Bus Stops

Have a tremendous Thursday!

I've Been Good-ish All Year ...

The fourth tag challenge in the Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist is Watercolor.

A card from a friend last week reminded me that I had to yet to break out the Christmas Grumplings this year, so it was time to ink them up.

I started by die cutting a Stitched Banner tag from watercolor paper.  Then I die cut a partial tag a second time and used my Build-A-Scene Rolling Hill Die to create a little snowy hill. 

I sprayed my base tag with water and then sprinkled on A Bit Jaded Infusion Dye Stain.  The walnut crystals combined with the dye pigment produces such a cool effect.  I blotted a bit to get the softer blended watercolory look for my sky.

I attached my snowy hill and then water-colored my Holiday Penguin Grumpling using markers and inks.  He turned out a bit *grayer* than I intended, but that seemed just about right for a Grumpling. 

I finished with my stamped sentiment, iridescent snowflake sequins in the sky (which photograph in strange pinks and blues), and a golden ribbon to finish my design.

I'm also joining the Tuesday Throwdown which is to create a Christmas Scene.