Ingenious Inkling

Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday

The current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge is Old & New - make a card combining a supply you've had in your stash for awhile with something new.

 

I knew I wanted to use my the row of gifts from my new Lawn Fawn Simply Celebrate Winter to make a card inspired by this one by my friend Sam (also, so I could join her Use Your Stuff - Birthday Challenge) - #umschallengebirthday

 

I stamped and Die Cut my gifts with no real plan in mind ... then I decided to spray with several colors of Distress Oxide Spray.  I realized I really needed to stamp the gifts again, but I had removed my stamp from my MISTI.  I put the negative of my die cut back into my MISTI, positioned my stamp in the opening, picked-up the stamp with my lid and then inserted my die cut back into the negative space, so I could stamp again ... TA DA!.  

After I sprayed, I remembered I had some backgrounds in my stash I had created using the same spray combination.  The old on my card are these Stitched Rectangle Lawn Cuts I've had forever ... I used three sizes for my layers (and managed to attach the bottom one upside down ... oh well, no one will notice other than a card maker).  I used a combination of the Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables and Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables (I store them together).

I added three sizes of bling to the top of my packages and layered on some grid washi tape, a scrap of sprayed paper and a scrap of white paper to fill out some of the white space.

 

And I'm seizing the toppings at Seize the Birthday where the theme is Layer It!

Heartfelt Hugs

The current Memory Box Challenge is all about Friendship.

 

I started by die cutting my Memory Box Hugs Loving Heart Die 3 times (twice from raspberry cardstock and once from light pink).  I layered it a variety of ways before deciding on the final off-set outcome.  I attached it to a piece of vintage BasicGrey designer paper.  I used my blending brushes to add a bit of Victorian Velvet Distress Ink around the edges.

 

I finished with my MISTI and stamped sentiments from Memory Box Big and Little Words.

I prefer sending Galentines for the holiday ... because who in your life couldn't use a little hug.

Gifted Birthday

I love that Taylor changed up the #TEMaker Challenge for 2020.  The challenge is to use one of the elements to make a card ... but as a perennial over-achiever, I had to find a way to use all three.

When I was at Stamp Joy, I bought the products to replicate my favorite card ... so that was the plan for the morning ... only one problem ... it really didn't seem to fit with any of the challenge elements.  I wasn't going to let that stop me ... I pushed through to figure out a solution.

I started by die cutting an oval and masking the center of the Taylored Expressions Gifted Background Stamp (I originally tried Taylored Expressions Oval Mask, but the plastic was too thick to get a good stamped image around.  I switched to cardstock (but should have switched to typing paper to get the mask even thinner ... learning for next time).

I left the oval in place and positioned the Taylored expressions Gifted Stencil over the stamped image.  I finally used my Taylored Expression Blender Brushes with a masculine trio of hues - Lime Zest, Pineapple and Gumball.

 

I used the same die cut and the slightly larger size to cut a frame for my masked oval (which helped cover some of the issues from using the cardstock vs. typing paper) and then stamped a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Big Bold Birthday using the Grey Ink for the Challenge theme.  I trimmed down my stenciled piece and placed it on a grey card base.

I have been in search for micro gems, so I asked my friends at Stamp Junkies the other night, and they directed me to a few new stores.  These lovely blue gems are Craft Buddy D.I.Y. Self Adhesive Crystals ... I love that each sheet of gems has four different small sizes.

I'm also linking-up at the Seize the Birthday Layer It Challenge since I've got three layers to my design.

 

And it's Anything Goes at The Male Room.

Bobalicious

When I saw Amy T's adorable Boba Card this morning, I knew I had to break-out my new Paper Smooches stamps and have some Boba fun too. 

 

The January Paper Smooches Challenge is Anything Cold ... and I always like my Boba Tea frozen.

My sister's favorite flavor of Boba Tea is Taro, which is usually sort of a purple color, so that was my inspiration (my flavor was Mango).

 

I stamped my Boba Tea on Watercolor paper and then stamped it a second time on a scrap of paper that I had previously sprayed with Purple Shimmering Bliss Spray.  I added the fun glasses that are also from the Paper Smooches Caffeinated Stamp Set.  Next I punched out some Boba bubbles and added some white paint pen highlights.  I finished by coloring my paper straw and adding a little blush to his cheeks and a tiny bit of bling.

 

I used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! with a scrap of watercolor designer paper and sentiments from Paper Smooches Fun & Flirty and Caffeinated Two.

 

This card just makes me happy ... it also makes me wish I had a big glass of bubble tea.

 

I'm also joining the New Stash Challenge at My Time to Craft ... so happy for time to ink-up these stamps today.  It's also Something New at the Tuesday Throwdown.

Christmas Quartet

At Jingle Belles this week we're still creating with leftover wrapping paper and tags.

Since I started cardmaking, a key element in choose wrapping paper is answering the question ... could I make a card with that (because at our house we pride ourselves in collecting things that have more than one purpose).  When I saw these cute little framed critters, I knew this holiday wrapping paper made the cut.  I mean seriously ... how cute is that fox with the figgy pudding and the reindeer in a sweater.

 

 

The frames were a little wonky, so I hand-cut them to keep that feel.  I finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Seasonal Greetings and a double-wrap of twine.

 

 

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland finds:

• amazing journey through Needle Art
• lots of Healthy Snack Ideas for the new year
• re-purpose empty Cookie Tins
• Peace Upside Down Buttercake
• cool Perler Bead Snowflakes (shown)
• this Burger Sauce sounds like it would be good on a lot of dishes
• love these DIY Dip Dyed Storage Baskets
• Free Floral Wooden Digital Paper
• Corned Beef Hash is a favorite breakfast
• a beautiful Brooklyn Loft
• Bon Appetit Kitchen Gear of the Year
• I want Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal with Banana
• love the Yellow Cabinets in this kitchen
• free printable Baby Yoda Valentines
• DIY Hanging Wall Organizer

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Sounds of Silence

I have been a lover of gnomes long before they were popular ... now you see gnomes everywhere.   Here's a fun little gnome card I made in 2008.  When I saw the Gnome Sweet Gnome Challenge at Shopping Our Stash, I knew I had to join the fun.

I used my new L'il Gnome die from Simon Says Stamp, which arrived in the mail today ... perfect for the Simon Says Stamp Something New Challenge.  I thought the sentiment sticker made the perfect introvert card.

 

I used the colors from the current Color Throwdown with Green Plaid Paper from Lawn Fawn Knit Picky Fall Papers.

 

The layout is this week's Paper Craft Crew Challenges.

 

Fresh Start Heart

The January Challenge at Jaded Blossom is Have a Heart - use a heart shape somewhere on your project.  Hmmm ... no heart or love themed stamp sets in my collection, so I had to get creative.

I started by playing around with some Distress Oxide Sprays and cardstock.  Then I die cut the large Jaded Blossom Rounded Tag Die from the Distress Oxide Sprayed paper and the top of the tag from coordinating cardstock.

 

Next I stamped the New Year sentiment from Jaded Blossom Holiday Treat Tags and added Eyelet Outlet Heart Jewel Bling to the top of the tag.  Finally I found some vintage BasicGrey paper that incorporated all of the colors to use for my card base.

 

Makeover Monday

I love the idea of the January Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs ... Let's Reflect.  The Challenge is to take a card you've made the last year and create a do-over.  I think this is an idea I may adopt for my blog this year.  I posted my first card online in November 2006, so I've got a ton of cards that would be eligible for Makeover treatment.

I started with this card from May 2019 using Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters, Mini Wishes Stamp set and the Wishes Die.

 

I wanted to keep the monochromatic palette, the all-over leaf stamping and the die cut from foam in my new design (I also kept the enamel dots and die cut leaves by the time I had finished).

I pulled out my Memory MISTI which makes it easier to stamp off all the edges of the 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of cardstock.  I stamped with Gina K. Designs Lucky Clover Ink (I treated myself to her entire Ink Collection during the holiday sales ... now to get all the cardstock).  I used all three leaf stamps from the set again, stamping them in groups of three to fill the cardstock.

I folded the card and stamped two more of the leaves to die cut for accents.  I also die cut the Wishes from Foam ... but this time I used Green Glitter Foam.

 

For this card I used coordinated enamel dots instead of the contrasting white I used in the first design.  I attached the second bunch of leaves with foam tape for dimension.

 

What a fun design exercise (not to mention the fun of having another version of a card I loved).

New Little Bundle

My goal at the annual Art Camp Lauren & I had in the fall, my plan was to go home with lots of Gel Press Prints I could use on cards.  In past years I had made lots of fun prints, but the using the large Gel Press the scale was off for smaller card making.  I am glad to say I succeeded and have had a lot of fun incorporating this last round of prints into my designs.

The current challenge at the Unity Stamp Company is New Beginnings ... since I needed a baby card for my stash, I inked-up the never-before-used Bundle Congrats Itty Bitty.

 

I stamped them on a light blue cardstock panel that coordinated with my Gel Press Print background and then paper pieced the clouds and used a red marker on the hearts.  That font is so itty bitty it's almost hard to read (at least for these old eyes).  I was afraid to stamp it more than once or it wouldn't be legible.

I finished with a few enamel dots for texture and attached the panel with foam tape.