Ingenious Inkling

Wine & Birthdays

This morning's Inspiration Challenge at SplitcoastStampers from one of my favorite stores - Uncommon Goods - was perfect for a birthday card I needed to make.  My inspiration came from these wine soaps, because the recipient is a wine connoisseur.

I did a little stamp surgery to combine two Unity Stamps to get the combination of sentiments that I wanted, which was super-easy with first-try perfect stamping with my MISTI.

I stamped Enjoy (all kinds of wine) in Hero Arts Raspberry Jam (which reminded me of the wine color) and Candles and Cake (wit & wisdom) in Gina K. Blue Denim ink.  I cut out the Denim "celebrate* and added it to my  Wine Stamp.

I used my new Lil' Inker Duel Stitched Rectangles and a We R Memory Keepers 3-D Embossing Folder to add a bit of masculine texture (and it reminded me of the bars of soap) before finishing with my Paper Artsy Happy Birthday sentiment on a lighter blue, which I thought reflected the wine glass color.

Layout is the sketch from TGIF Challenges!  Since every birthday is a "New Beginning" I'm also linking-up at The Male Room.

We Three Kings

The current prompt at Jingle Belles is We Three Kings - that means this week we're creating in multiples of THREE. 

We're asking you to create a card with THREE of one element … three circles, three reindeer, three packages under the tree … you get the picture.

I took my inspiration from this Jingle Belles card I made in January 2011 (it came-up in my Facebook memories and I took that as a sign to do an updated design).  

I die cut three stitched squares using Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Square Stackables Dies and then stamped three circle snowflakes (from Simon Says Stamp Circle Sayings Holiday) and used a 7/8" punch for my circles ... I finished with Eyelet Outlet enamel dots in the centers. 

 

My card this time is larger ... made from a base that is 5" x 12" two-sided vintage Basic Grey paper with scores at 2" and 4" from the edges for an off-set opening.   The fun thing about using a two-sided paper is that the inside is decorated too (see those adorable snowmen).

We hope you'll find your favorite trio of elements and come join us as we take back December one holiday card at a time.

I'm also linking up at The Holly and Ivy Challenge where it's Anything Goes Christmas.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of skipping through blogland:

• Paper & Textile Wildlife Sculptures by Kate Kato
• We had Vietnamese Cabbage & Chicken Salad for Christmas Eve, and now I want to try making it at home
• One year of Stitches and Buttons (shown)
• I also want to try these Cheeseburger Egg Rolls
• How-to for Meditation
• Fun Glittery Fortune Cookies
• Vegetable Egg Drop Soup looks like warm winter comfort in a bowl
• Love these Dream Catchers
• Embroidery on Photography is so fun
• 30 Ways to Organize with Peg Board (my brother had a wall of Peg Board in his room when we were growing-up and I've been in love with it ever since)
• I am always on the quest for Perfect Hash Brown Potatoes

Have a terrific Thursday!

Movie Night?

Today I'm using Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape & Brads for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

 

I used two colors (and widths) of Glitter Washi Tape to create the top portion of my card and then added some Film Strip Ribbon between the sections.

 

 

I used four different movie-themed brads matted on black & silver circles.  The "Movie Night?" sentiment was printed, and the purple stamped sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays Coffee Talk.

 

Do you have a favorite movie snack?  I love Milk Duds with my warm Popcorn.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the All That Glitters Challenge at the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge.

 

 

Eyelet Outlet Products Used:

• Glitter Skinny Washi - Silver, Purple Gold
• Skinny Glitter Washi Tape (Black)
• Movie Brads
• Popcorn & Ticket Brads

Hope This Makes You Smile

The January Mix-It-Up Challenge at Ellen Hutson is with Concord & 9th.

I combined a sentiment from Concord & 9th Hope Stamp Set with the Adorable Bear & Sun from All Inside by Essentials by Ellen.

Given the unseasonable cold we've had the past week, I decided to send a little sunshiny warmth through the mail.

The layout is from Hand Stamped Sentiments using only paper scraps from my studio (I love when those tiny pieces I save finally find a home).

Amazing

This card is for a co-worker who reached an awesome milestone.

I started by embossing a piece of kraft cardstock that was marbled with red, white & blue paints (from my outdoor paper marbling extravaganza with Lauren last year) with a star embossing folder.  Embossing Folders are this week's theme at Challenge Up Your Life. 

Next I used the direct-to-paper technique with blue ink to make the stars stand out a little more against the background.

I die cut the Sizzix Tarnished Trophy from Silver cardstock & then printed the milestone before punching with a circle punch and matting with a scalloped circle (punched twice to look more like a ribbon award.

Sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Amazing Messages .. with AWESOME being my Word for the Anything Goes Word Week Challenge at Just Us Girls.

It's also Anything Goes at the Die Cuts R Us Challenge Blog.

Look What Santa Brought Me Last Christmas

I realized as I was looking through my yet-to-be-used new stash for this week's Look What Santa Brought Me Prompt at Jingle Belles, that I had yet to ink one of my Christmas gifts that I got from Santa last Christmas (I know ... embarrassing), so that is the set I used for this card -- Neat & Tangled Scandinavian Prints Christmas Die Cuts for the adhesive glittery felt trees and for the sentiment too. 

I filled the sky with snowflakes from Essentials by Ellen Bear Ware 2.

I'm also linking-up at Addicted to Stamps and More where the theme is Holiday, at The Merry Christmas Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes, and Simon Says Monday Challenge where the theme is Something New.

PS - remember, there are prizes ... come join us.

Be Fearless

The optional color challenge for January at the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge is ... Silver.

I decided to play with silver glitter paper and CUTplorations for my card.  I only removed a few pieces from the die cut Flutter Zen Butterfly and left the rest of the pieces attached for wonderful texture.

I combined the CUTplorations Fearless Word Die with the CUTplorations You Word Die Set for my sentiment.  The finishing touch was a few purple pearls to embellish my butterfly.

I hope you'll come join me (STAMPlorations products not required, but always appreciated).

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• No-Bake Pineapple Cream Dessert looks like the tropics on a plate
• I love this year of obscure knots
• Green Curry Turkey Meatballs tummy filling
• this Jumbo Scarf looks super-cozy
• these tiny Cheesecake Parfaits are so pretty (shown)
• I am fascinated by these Papercut Dresses
• How to make a cool Rustic Industrial Table
• Squash Fritter sound yummy (I pretty much love any Fritter)
• I wanted to make a tiny Mandala with Toothpicks
• Rocky Road Brownies ... yum
• Five best Places to find Ephemera
• Have you ever done a Reading Challenge?

Have a tremendous Thursday!

HOPE

Some nights there is just enough energy left for an easy clean & simple design ... but that's okay, because I always feel better if I take even a little time to create something each day.

For the Simon Says Stamp Something New Challenge I used my Concord & 9th Hope Label Die for the first time.  I love how you can use all sorts of color combinations ... this one is for someone who loves the color green.

Layout is the current Freshly Made Sketch (flipped on its side).