Ingenious Inkling

I Wish We Lived Closer

Just sitting here tonight with the end-of-vacation-blues and missing my sister.  We had so much fun together this week ... I keep thinking of moments and smiling or even laughing out loud.  This card is for her.

Stamps & embellishments are from the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for May, which I pretty much bought for this sentiment stamp since it describes so many relationships in my life.

I stamped the sentiment in Catherine Pooler Midnight, clear embossed, and then painted with Color Burst Water Colors.  The inspiration & sketch are from this week's Fusion Card Challenge ... because since we don't live closer, we have to make do with the telephone.

Pay It Forward

Since today is Pay It Forward Day (and to do something that makes me feel good since I'm sad my Sister headed home today), I'm sharing a medium flat rate box filled with stamps and all sorts of goodies with one blog reader.

 

I will draw a name next Saturday morning at 8am CST from all commenters on this blog post ... just share one of your favorite memories you had with someone you love. 

Watching my sister's face as we rode the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier this week ranks right up there for me.

 

My Sweet Petunia (MISTI) and Visible Image

One of the stamp companies I fell in love with at Creativation was Visible Image, so I am beyond thrilled that the My Sweet Petunia (MISTI) Team is hopping with them today. 

These were some of the stamps on display.

 

I knew these beautiful grungy images would be perfect to try with some of my Gel Press Prints (a post featuring that Monoprinting process is here).

With Versafine Clair Ink, multiple stampings using my MISTI, and clear embossing, I was able to get solid contrast stamping on the acrylic paint backgrounds.

Stamps are from Visible Image Rock Out.

The stamps from Visible Image Visometry reminded me of my favorite childhood toy ... my Spirograph.

 

Again, I paired Versafine Clair with a Gel Press printed background and my MISTI.  I was able to stamp all three sizes at once using my MISTI to speed up the process.

Love the fun way to create an easy background.

The sentiment is from a wonderful set of stamps called Just Be Happy.

My formidable music years involved a collection of Cassette Tapes.  I was so thrilled when I got my first car that my dad was able to install a Cassette Tape player under the dash.  I commuted to college classes several nights a week and that Cassette player and perfect Mix Tapes timed for my drive kept me sane.

So of course, I had to create a card using Just Hit Play.  I used my MISTI to stamp the unwound tape stamp multiple times to create my card background.

 

Oh the memories of trying to create the perfect Mix Tape.

There will be two prizes for this hop ... we will choose two lucky commenters from the hop to win one of two prizes: a $50 shopping spree at www.mysweetpetunia.com and a $50 shopping spree at visibleimage.co.uk.  You must leave your comments no later than Monday, April 30th, at 11:59 PM CST and winners will be announced on Tuesday May 1st, on the Visible Image and My Sweet Petunia blogs. 

Have fun hopping ... your next stop is the talented Tenia Nelson (or the entire list is below).

• Veerle Moreels

• Ilina Crouse

• Lisa Taggart

• Jeanne Streiff

• Sharon Traynor

• Kia Gibson-Clapper

• Becca Cruger

• Ceal Pritchett

• Pauline Butcher

• Giovana Smith

• Josefine Fouarge

• Chris Dayton

• Jane Tyrrell

• Stephanie Severin <--- YOU ARE HERE

• Tenia Nelson

• Janine Tinklenberg

• Elisa Ablett

• Dina Kowal

• Heather Mitchell

• Kyra Sanders

• Lynn Good

• Susan Wymer

• Lanette Erickson

• Joan Bardee

• Aga Baraniak

• Judy Rozema

• Eileen Godwin

• My Sweet Petunia

Recycled Yeti Christmas

I won't lie ... when I picked-up my holiday Glad Plastic Containers, I let out a little yelp of glee when I saw the adorable yeti's on the packaging.  I carefully opened them and put the Yetis away just so I would have them for the annual Jingle Belles Earth Day Challenge to create a card using recycled elements.

Then of course, when it was time to use them, I couldn't remember where on earth I'd stashed them away. After more time looking than I care to admit, I found them and made this fun little card.

It took some creative trimming to remove all of the packaging words, but my Yeti ended-up looking like a holiday ornament ... isn't the mistletoe too cute. 

All I had to add was a holiday sticker sentiment, and this recycled beauty was ready to go.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of fun finds in blogland:

• 8 Homemade Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes
• A rockin' craft room ... I always love seeing how people use pegboard 
• Mini Caramel Apple Pies (like tiny Apple Dumplings)
• Love this glasses pouch (shown)
• An adorable Make A Monster Kit
• DIY Essential Oil Diffuser Bracelets
• Stitching Snowflakes on Paper
• Cute little Raspberry S'More Bars
• DIY Hand-Painted Bowls
• Love this Narrow Console Table
• Beautiful Marbled Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Variations on a Stone Wall

Hop on over to the Technique Junkies Blog where I'm creating more cards with one of my favorite stamps ... the Stone Wall.

 

I'm also linking-up a card for the current Technique Junkies Challenge - Clipped Corners Technique.

Remember if you use my code at check-out you get 10% off (did you know the store has Nuvo Glitter Markers & Color Burst Powders).

 

Cedar Rapids & Iowa City with my Sister

It is so fun having my sister come visit me at my home.  We usually meet somewhere for our sister's week, but since she hadn't seen our new condo life yet, she came to join us.

We started by walking around the neighborhood.  We stopped into Iowa Running Company where we met Buddy ... and found my sister a new pair of running shoes and an Iowa Running Company t-shirt.

Next stop was neighborhood restaurant Black Sheep Social Club, where we had an amazing supper.  I got the Captain Crunch Breaded Fish Nuggets (Cedar Rapids is home to the Quaker Oats factory that makes the cereal, so the air often smells of Captain Crunch) and my husband got the Beer Cheese Pasta.  We shared an order of Duck Fat Fries with their house-cured bacon.

Sister Darcy had an amazing Lamb Burger (yes, we are a family that shares our food) with the house Dill Pickle Soup (don't knock it until you've tried it).  She and Rod had some local brews from Clock House Brewery (in the same building as Black Sheep) and Rod filled a growler to take home with us.

Saturday we got up early and broke out the bicycles for their first ride of the year.  We did about 4.25 miles around the Cedar Lake on a gorgeous morning.

Next we took a walk to local Coffee Shop LightWorks for Breakfast ... Earl Grey for me ... Cafe Au Lait with Almond Milk for Darcy.  We shared Pork Hash, Breakfast Tacos and one of the best biscuits in town (says the girl who knows her biscuits).

Then we hopped in the car and headed to the SPRING ART EXPOSÉ in Iowa City.   We ended-up picking-up quite a few gifts and had fun looking at all of the artful creations.

Next stop was Exotic India for lunch.

We shared an appetizer sampler platter, Vindaloo Goat and Mango Curry Chicken with wonderful Chai and Roti.  We finished with warm Golab Jamon.

We headed downtown to explore and really loved seeing all of the awesome art for Benchmarks 6.0.  Here are just a few of the painted benches.

We also had fun trying on lots of sunglasses.

Final stop was Trader Joe's for some grocery shopping before we headed back home to Cedar Rapids.  We headed to Siamville Thai Cuisine for a feast to end the day.

When mango is in season, always get the Mango with Sticky Rice.

The next morning my sister tried out her new running shoes for the same 4.25 mile trek (I rode along on my bicycle, and I won't lie ... she kicked my butt).

Next we headed to the Williamsburg Tanger Outlet Mall where we shopped until we dropped.

Now we're off for a few days in Chicago ... there will be tons of walk, even more laughter ... and lots of good eats & drinks.

Thanks So Matcha

I love Matcha tea and puns ... so the sentiment (from Essentials by Ellen So Matcha) on this card makes me smile.

Whenever you order from Ellen Hutson, she always includes a little hand stamped (and colored) card as a gift.  And sometimes she signs her name far enough from the image (hint hint Ellen) that you can trim it off and re-use it for an adorable little card.

I thought this image was perfect to combine with my Japanese Marbled Papers I made earlier this week and this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch.

 

I'm having a blast with my sister visiting this week (more pictures to follow).  Yesterday we went shopping and I got some new Hush Puppies Booties.  My Great Aunt Mary died recently, and I have such fond memories of her (which often involved her wearing a pair of boots like these), so I added a pair to my shoe collection in her honor.  Thinking of her when I wear them will be a very good thing.

Sisters Week

It's our annual Sisters Week ... so I will not be in my studio, but will instead be out and about exploring the world with my sister (and taking lots of goofy snap chats that I can save to make me laugh for the rest of the year) ... love love love.  Likely lots of food and beverage pictures to follow.

Peace on EARTH (Day)

This Sunday is Earth Day, one of our favorite holidays at Jingle Belles.  And to celebrate, we're creating cards with recycled elements.  I have a drawer where I save possible things to re-use on cards.  Here are a few of the pieces I pulled out.

I decided to use the Studio Calico grid-liked Journal Card packaging at the top left for my card base and take my inspiration from the current Fusion Card Challenge.  While the inspiration photo is a baby's room, that doesn't mean you have to make a baby card.

I loved the grey and white palette with the pop of red on the pillow in the crib and the pop of bright blue on the ceiling lampshade, so I incorporated those colors into my design (and was able to do it by using scraps of paper that were on my studio table ... another recycled element).  

I did my favorite swirl bling surgery to cut apart gem swirls and decorate my tree.  I finished with some more Eyelet Outlet bling on the top of my tree and a sticker sentiment (love how that grid design in my recycled packaging made it so easy to line up all of the horizontal elements).