Ingenious Inkling

Peter Cottontail

A quick Easter card to continue to stock my stash, so I can get them in the mail before the holiday.

 

One of my final fuzzy butt bunny stickers with a sticker sentiment and fun Easter papers using a sketch from Global Design Project.

 

Mother's Day Bouquet

I've been hanging onto this lovely little crocheted circle, which was the last of a group that were made for me by Jessi Fogan (aka OneCraftyMama), but today I decided a Mother's Day card would be the perfect place to use my final one.

 

I used a Doodlebugs Bright Bunch Bouquet sticker and grounded it with some Grey Spectrum Noir Marker.  The background and floral inspiration came from the Yellow Makes Me Happy Inspired By Challenge.

 

I also played Tic Tac Toe with The Paper Players - diagonal of Pink, Spring & Patterned Paper.

 

The absolutely perfect Mother's day Sentiment is from the discontinued Simon Says Stamp set Mom and Dad Icons.

 

And the layout is the always reliable Mojo Monday Sketch (#535).

 

 

I'm also joining Dawn & Rite for a little Paper Shenanigans on Instagram.

Makeover Monday - Love My Tribe

I went back to March of 2019 for today's Makeover Monday ... when I was in a different kind of quarantine with our entire first floor (which included my studio) being repaired after being flooded by a broken pipe in our wall that adjoins the trash room in our Condominium Building.

I am very grateful that this quarantine leaves me alone in my craft room to play.  Here's my card from March 2019.

 

I swapped the grey solid for grey patterned paper from Reverse Confetti Pattern Play since I'm still going to join the Stock Your Stash Easter Challenge.

 

I swapped the pink and aqua, since that is what I had left in my stash.  I intended to stamp the sentiment in black directly on the patterned paper, but underestimated the height of those bunny tails and my MISTI wouldn't close, so I went with bright pink on a strip of white cardstock from the same Reverse Confetti My Tribe Stamp Set.

 

I just love those fuzzy little bunny tails.

 

Ho Ho Ho

Today I decided to wander over to the Featured Stamper Challenge at SplitCoastStampers where I discovered the gallery of gabbygal with with 2310 cards to peruse for inspiration.  When someone has that deep of a gallery, I like to go back to their earlier cards in search of one to by inspired by.  I chose this card from November 2014 for my inspiration.

 

I knew I had some snowflakes, but of course I couldn't find them ... and I also could find a set of letter stickers with 3 H's, so I had to take a little spin on the approach.  I die cut three H's from a vintage Cuttlebug Alphabet and then use three cloth-covered Brads from the Cosmo Cricket Cheer Collection (which are half-off here).

 

Since the buttons were ivory, the next scavenger hunt through the studio was a for a holiday paper that had red and cream (vs. white), which I finally found ... and a card is born.

 

Since I can't get a manicure, pedicure, massage or haircut (my usual stress-reduction activities), I am so grateful I can still make cards in my studio.

Creating with Friends

This afternoon I joined a group of friends from across the time zones for an online crafting meet-up ... I didn't realize how much I needed it.  The friendships I have made in this industry have been the very best.  It really lifted my spirits and talk about art supplies, projects, and tater tots ... and I got several cards finished too.

Last week Tami of The Paper Forest shared a Video that featured how she had been inspired by several cards I had made (which made my heart so happy), so today I decided to join in the virtual challenges she shared on The Paper Forest Facebook Page.

Challenge #1 was to make a card using Sketch #426 at Freshly Made Sketches.  I decided to make another Easter Card using The Ink Road Eggstra Stamp Set.  I masked and stamped two of the Easter Eggs and colored them in shades of chocolate brown.

 

I paired it with chocolate colored papers from Prima's Engraver Collection and a piece of recycled packaging from the Hero Arts Die I used in yesterday evening's card for Daring Cardmaker's Recycle Challenge.

Yesterday I opened my hoarded back of Riesen's Chocolates, and I will confess I did get a bit Chocolate Wasted.

 

I'm also linking-up at the Spectrum Noir Spring is in the Air Challenge.

 

My second card was for The Paper Forest Challenge #2 - to use this color combination.

 

I used the colors for layering the Birch Press Caprice Heart Die for my first Mother's Day Card (I like to send as many cards as I can get made to all the wonderful mothers in my circle).  I love the look of those colors layered together.

 

The layout is from Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch.  Sentiment is Memory Box Big and Little Valentine's Set.

 

I hope you found some time to create today.

Rock On

Yesterday I read this article about Generation X and Quarantine, and most of it rang pretty true ... seriously, I used to read encyclopedias to entertain myself.

But the one thing that brought back the biggest flood of memories was the making of the perfect Mix Tape.  How I would hold my cassette tape player next to my bedside clock radio and try to hit record at the exact perfect moment when the DJ announced one of my favorite songs was going to play (and hope that my brother didn't come running through the room making noise) ... or setting the needle down on the record player and rushing to hit record before the song began. 

And how after high school, the perfect mix tape was one that lasted me through my drive to night classes at college and back (48 minutes each way) after a full day at the office ... and it was a bonus if it was something I could sing along with on that drive back home and keep myself awake.

So it was those memories that inspired today's card.  The Cardz 4 Guys Challenge is to use a Stencil (my foiled strip used a Stencil and Therm-o-Web Transfer Gel before applying Gina K. Designs Jelly Bean Green Foil) and the All Sorts Challenge is all about Men and Boys.

 

 

The stamp set is Mama Elephant's Rewind (it looks like it is discontinued, but they released a portion of the images under a new Mix Tape Set).

Addicted to CAS is code word Texture ... you can see the wonderful texture of the foiled Transfer Gel where the light is reflecting on the left.

 

 

And lastly, Simon Says Stamp is Anything Goes.

Are you mailing your cards?  This one is going in the mail along with others. Make sure you're taking this opportunity to send some positive vibes across the miles.

Get It Girl!

My studio is my respite ... at night and on the weekends I look forward to spending time there and recharging my batteries.  But now, my studio is also my home office, which makes that clear delineation between work and home much much fuzzier.  I won't lie ... after my first full week of working from home I'm still struggling to adjust a bit.  I miss the people and the interaction ... and I miss having my studio be just my studio.

But I am adjusting ... and I will continue to adjust.  So tonight my card for the Second Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge is an ode to that adjustment.  The challenge is to use a Stamp or a Die that has never been used ... so being the over-achiever that I am, I combined both.

 

I die cut the Alphabet Window Fancy Die out of a one of the Distress Oxide Spray backgrounds I made last week.  I love how there are bits of pink peeking through the purple (especially at the edges), which made it perfect for the Color Throwdown Challenge.  The alphabet represents all the things I am expected to be for everyone ... and for myself.

 

The never before inked sentiment is from Hero Arts Dare to Dream ... on weeks like this you've just got to buck-up and get it girl.

 

And I'm joining the Lots a Purple Challenge with the optional twist of friendship at the Time Out Challenges ... this card is going in the mail to a friend who likely needs this reminder too.  

 

Vintage Christmas

This week at Jingle Belles we're going Vintage - that may mean using actual vintage products on your card ... or creating in a vintage style with current products ... or like I did, a little of both.

I started by gathering a selection of vintage products from my stash ... a Doily (underneath), seam binding, a hymnal page, a dictionary page, a receipt book page, a card from a card game, an Ecktachrome Slide (of a cat on a floral couch I believe) and some trading stamps.  Later I found my collection of vintage stamps and used them too.

 

I like the three blue items, so that is what I centered my design around.  I didn't end-up using all the items, but having them together helps me think through my design.  I started by trimming and gluing the doily and then I just kept layering until I got a look I was happy with.

 

 

I kept with the elk / deer theme with my vintage stamps and then added some modern but vintage style sticker sentiments to complete the design.  It's a bit busy, but it makes me smile.

Since there are a lot of torn edges on those papers, I'm also linking-up at the Torn Paper Challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland finds:

• Staying Mindful
• Two Player Board Games
• Banana Foster Upside Down Cake
• complete series of SchoolHouse Rock (Conjunction Junction ...)
• Deep Dish Cookie Bowls
• gorgeous tie dye fabric collection
• Comfort Food Recipes with less than 10 Ingredients
• adorable crocheted baby booties (one shown)
• Gorgeous Plant Cakes
• things to remember When You Feel Anxious
• Lemon Coconut Cake with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
• tips for removing fake nails (since it looks like I'll have to do it myself).

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Fusion Flowers

It's been a while since I broke out my Alexandra Renke drawer of goodies, so I decided to use them for the current Fusion Card Challenge.

 

I cut one inch strips of one of the Alexandra Renke Designer papers and framed them in Olive Cardstock using the Fusion Sketch.

 

I added three Alexandra Renke Flowers die cut from the same Olive Cardstock and finished with a sticker sentiment and some golden gems to pull in the gold from the inspiration cake.

It's also Repeat Impressions Anything Goes at the House that Stamps Built.