Ingenious Inkling

Unity Hop

 

Today we're hopping with the Growing in Unity Gals for a chance to win a fun prize pack.

 

I used the fun New to the Crew Set to paper piece this fun little Onesie Card for a fun little Baby Card.

Make sure you stop at each stop & leave a comment for a chance to win.

1. enia : https://jazzypaper.blogspot.com/
2. Miwa: https://miwannascrap.blogspot.com/
3. Kathryn: https://kathrynscards.blogspot.com/
4. Kim: https://mykraftkloset.weebly.com/blog
5. Jessica: https://polkadotorchard.com/polka-dot-orchard-blog/
6. Stephanie: https://ingeniousinkling.typepad.com/ <<<<----------- YOU ARE HERE

Alcohol Ink Rainbows

A few weeks ago during a crafty video call, I had fun making sheets of alcohol ink covered Yupo Paper (with one silver paper thrown in for good measure) and before I knew it, I had created a rainbow. 

With suggestions from my crafty friends on the call, I added Therm-o-Web Silver and Gold DecoFoil to quite a few of the Pieces (you just place the foil on top of the Alcohol ink and it sticks where the bits of ink are still wet around the edges of pools) and some Alcohol Ink metallic mixatives to others.

 

This week, I decided I wanted to find a way to turn my rainbow of beautiful papers into cards.  I settled on the My Favorite Things Snow Drifts Cover Up Die because it had 8 pieces, which worked perfect for my 8 colors.  I used the Jennifer McGruire trick if using a piece of tape to hold each die together as a removed it, so I could easily remove the pieces I wanted as I assembled each card.

I die cut a 9th time using black card stock, so I could use the black frame to position the pieces on my heavy cardstock white card bases.  I did some facing both directions.

 

I wanted to keep the overall card design fairly simple and mailable, so I started with a single Greenery Die from The Stamp Market cut from heavy white cardstock.

 

I paired with with a simple sentiment flag from Essentials by Ellen Pure Magic.  These will be going out to crafty friends who have been the color in my world during the past few months.

 

I just love how they turned out.  Here are a few more up close.  The finishing touch was adding some clear adhesive dot embellishments.

 

It doesn't matter what order the rainbow is in ... it still makes me smile

 

When was the last time you played with your Alcohol Inks?

Hero Sketchy Birthdays

Thrilled to see a sketch from the oh-so-talented Julee Tilman at the Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge today.

 

 

I needed masculine birthday cards, so that's what I decided to focus on. 

I pulled out my Hero Arts Infinity Rounded Rectangle Dies and picked three that would work with the sketch and grabbed my bin of patterned paper scraps and decided to use those for my cards together with my sticker stash and the Happy Birthday Sentiment from Hero Arts Hay Party Animals.

 

 

I used quite a few BBQ themed stickers on the first one with some red enamel dots.  Stuck on You! (using Stickers) is the theme at Shopping Our Stash this week.

The theme at Just Us Girls is a Wild Card Challenge to use Two or More different Patterned Papers (there are at least three on most of the cards - the large and small rectangle and the vertical strip).

 

The next one features a a scrap of paper I found in my scrap bin that I had stamped when I made this card in 2017 with Hero Arts Starry Night Brushtroke Bold Print paired with some patriotic designer paper scraps and summer stickers.

The last two featured some fun monster stickers from my stash ... you know I love my monsters.

 

Love those fun little roller skates.

 

I can never get enough of that cute monkey paper ... it seems so perfect with the mustached monster.

I'm also joining the Cut It Up Challenge where the theme is Boys will Be Boys using Die Cuts (all my cards use three dies from the Hero Arts Infinity Dies).

Thanks Julee for the awesome sketch ... and for #staycraftywithHero for helping me restock my Birthday Card Stash.

Snarky Stampers I is for Ink

I was crowned the Queen of the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers a few weeks ago, so I have the lovely pleasure of guest designing with their I is for Ink Challenge today.

 

I had fun taking the Online Card Class Spring Card Camp with Jennifer and Kristina and learning how to create my own inky striped background using ink blending and tape ... it was so relaxing and fun. 

I paired my stripes with the lovely big bloom from Gina K. Designs STAMPtember set from Simon Says Stamp Amazing Flowers ... I love how the open blooms look with my stripes.

 

I added a Sticker from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Talk Snarky Stickers, which is how I feel a lot of days unfortunately ... but I am so grateful for those who do.  I finished with a sprinkling of black bling and multiple mats.

I'm also joining Cute Card Thursday where the theme is Stripes.

 

And at the Inkspirational Challenge it's all about Funny Sentiments ... yep, I'm linking-up there too.

BLING-a-Ding-Ding

We're still creating with Bling at Jingle Belles this week.

This week I combined a double-dose of Glitter with some Chunky Bling for a big dose of sparkle. 

 

I love this off-set die cut technique for an extra-dose of elegance. 

 

Dies and Stamps are from Taylored Expressions.

We're All Pretty Bizarre

This week's CAS(E) This Sketch! is all about the sentiment, so I had to find a good one ... and that usually means I turn to Ink Road Stamps ... and a Pretty Bizarre Generation X Quote from the Breakfast Club, which seams to pretty much sum up a lot about the way I feel lately.

 

I used the colors from this week's Color Throwdown to stamp the four icons from the four characters ... I kept it clean and simple with just a single pearl in the center of the crown.

 

 

Thursday Link Love

Another week of finding lots of blogland fun:

• this Brown Butter Sponge Cake is too pretty to eat
• Hot Planet Embroidery Kit
• Almond Poppy Seed Rolls
• Picnic Advice from a Park Ranger
• Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
• Illustrated Alphabet Scenes (one letter shown ... there are many more)
• Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Cobbler
• Do you need some DadVice?
• Grandma's Double Orange Cookies look right up my alley
• So do Ovenly's Salted Peanut Butter Cookies
• Amazing Pie Art

Have a Tremendous Thursday!

Vintage Coffee Love

I bought this set of Moodtape Coffee Stamps on Etsy because it has a Chemex Pour Over, which is what we use at our house.

 

Since they all felt very vintage to me, I stamped them on a page from a vintage receipt book I have in my stash.  After stamping, I added some ink splatter and called it done.

 

Have you joined the Coffee Lovers' Hop Yet?

Iowa Sweet Corn

At Impression Obsession they are asking us to Play with Our Food.

 

This time of year in Iowa, it's all about Sweet Corn ... I had my first ear this weekend, and it was wonderful.  Once it starts showing-up at the market, I tend to eat it as a meal several times a week.

 

I used three colors of ink on this Impression Obsession Corn Stamp and paired it with the Happy Birthday Sentiment from Impression Obsession The Skinny.  The background is one of my hand-painted papers.  I love having a stash of these to use for my cards.

Paper Weaving

It's the final day of Spring Card Camp, and when I realized that I had the same feeling I used to have on the last day of Summer Camp ... a sadness that it was over and that I wouldn't be hanging out with my friends having fun every day. 

It's been so fun learning so many new techniques and trying new things with all of my existing supplies.  I want to take more time and go back and re-visit many of them and see what else I can make.  Huge thank you to Jennifer and Kristina for the inspiration and the jump start that my creative spirit needed.

Today's technique was paper weaving.  I had the scrap of sprayed paper paper leftover from these two cards (Fusion & Hexagons) that I was just able to get enough strips cut to weave.  I love how the weaving was all done from the back, so I had no idea what the front was going to look like until I turned it over.

 

The randomness of the purples and blues was just what I was hoping for.  I tried a variety of word dies like they used in the samples, but I felt like they covered up too much of my gorgeous paper, so in the end, I went with some 3-D paper stickers from my stash that I thought coordinated perfectly and brought out the subtle pinks and blues from the sprayed paper.  The colors in the paper really reminded me of the pinks, purples and blues of my Grandma's hydrangeas.

 

A bonus holiday in my studio today ... While I have missed eating out and really enjoying the hustle and bustle of our neighborhood during quarantine, I have relished all of the extra studio and creative time.  My card stash is box is bulging, so it's time to get some more cards in the mail.