Ingenious Inkling

Butterfly Swell

When I saw Jeanne Jachna's card for the Fusion Card Challenge, I had to break out my Memory Box Butterfly Swell Die Cut.

 

 

While I loved her stripes, I decided to break out a Gel Press Print from my stash (which reminds me I really need to use more bubble wrap and Color Burst Powders in my prints) for the butterflies backed by Ivory Cardstock and framed with Navy Cardstock using the Fusion Card Sketch as well.

 

 

I added some Memory Box Clear Fairy Drops to the center of the butterflies and finished with a sentiment from Memory Box Wild Rose Stamp Set (that I only had to stamp about 23 times to get both sentiments relatively straight) ... persistence my friends, persistence (I'm still not sure they're exactly straight, but that's how you know it's handmade right).

 

 

Seize the Birthday is also all about Butterflies or Hummingbirds.

Sepia Winter Fun

We're still creating cards featuring all of the ways you can have Fun in the Winter at Jingle Belles.  

This time I went searching through my vintage Ideals magazine collection and found this Sepia illustration of all sorts of Winter Fun from skating to drinking hot cocoa (I do love my cocoa with lots of marshmallows).

 

 

I added lots of Tim Holtz Sticker Sentiments, which to me made it feel sort of like a page out of a Richard Scarry book.  Those were my absolutely favorite as a kid ... learning new things, appreciating all of the art, and reading all of the text.

Do you remember dressing-up in layers until you looked like the Michelin Man to play outside for hours?  So much fun.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• DIY Water Bottle Bird Feeder
• Mango with Sticky Rice is one of my favorite desserts (I almost always order it when it's on the menu)
• I want to try some Quick Pickled Red Onions
• lovely ideas for Container Gardens
• Sausage Gravy Biscuit Casserole
• French Onion Gnocchi Skillet
• Crochet a Magnolia
• Orange & Poppy Seed Sheet Cake
• Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies (I like all of my cookies soft and thick)
• how cute are these Strawberry Pin Cushions (shown)
• Mini French Breakfast Puffs
• Bourbon Brown Butter Mini Derby Pies
• I'm intrigued by Air Fryer Pizza Pockets ... it makes me think about what else I could put inside those Pockets.
• Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Have a tremendous Thursday!

What's Up?

I found this trio of Ephemera Frames in my stash, and I thought they would be perfect for the current Sketch at The Paper Players.

 

 

I added a cute little coordinating Giraffe, a few scatterings of gems, and a Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Strip.

 

What the Buck Birthday

For tonight's card I used Tenia's Sketch at the Unity Stamp Company April 2022 Challenge.

 

 

I stamped Unity Stamp Company What the Buck (from 2013) in brown ink on kraft cardstock and die cut with a circle.  I die cut a page from a vintage book with another circle.  I didn't like the colors together, so I added a vellum circle on top to soften in.

 

The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Company Jar of Mixed Sentiments (from 2015).  I finished with a wrap of twine and some enamel dots.

 

 

My Retro Rubber Challenge Tic Tac Toe! is across the bottom with my circle die cuts, vellum and twine.

Stellar Human

This week's Challenge theme at Shopping Our Stash is What a Difference You've Made in my Life - we're making cards for Moms, Grandmas, or any other special person in your life who has made a difference.

 

 

I am very blessed to have a number of amazing mothers in my life, so I always send a lots of Mother's Day (or not the Mother's Day) cards out to let them all know how much they mean to me.

I started my card with some yellow woodgrain cardstock and added some floral ephemera and a butterfly.

 

 

I finished with some enamel dots and a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp CZ Design Simple Sentiments No. 01.

We can't wait to see your cards for those special people in your life.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Time Out Challenges with my card inspired by Spring.

Find Your Voice

The current Simon Says Stamp challenge is Wild and Wonderful ... to create a card featuring something Wild. 

I immediately thought of my Stamperia Arctic Antarctic Papers.  I went with the wild howling winter wolf.

 

 

I used the layout from Arctic Hearts Sketch with sentiments from Unity Stamp Company Empowered Words and an Eyelet Outlet Enamel Heart.

 

 

Signs of Spring

The current Seize the Birthday Challenge is to create a card featuring the Signs of Spring.

If you live in Iowa, you know one of the long awaited Signs of Spring is the re-opening of the Ice Cream shops.  Many of them are just little walk-up/drive-through type stands, so they close for the winter months.  The first time you go and get your Spring Ice Cream is magical.  I think I might head to The Freeze and get an Apple Pie Freeze (made with locally made slices of pie).

 

 

I'm still using the Happy Cake Birthday! tags I found in my stash, this time with one of my Gel Press Prints and some coordinating sprinkle paper.  The sentiment is another Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip.  I finished with a Glitter Enamel Dot at the top of the tag.

 

 

 

I'm also joining the Make My Monday Challenge Birthday Challenge (where I was in the Top 3 for my Washi Tape card last week - Yay).

Happy Hooray!

Masculine Birthday Cards ... why am I always out of Masculine Birthday Cards.  This card is inspired by the Tag You're It! Challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz.

I stumbled across some Tag Paper from the Happy Cake Day! Paper Collection, which made it easy to pull this card together.

 

 

I used the layout from Sketch~N~Scrap with the horizontal sentiment across the tag cut from the label of the 12x12 paper.  I added an Eyelet Outlet Cupcake Brad and finished with a Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip.

 

Now I just need to make about ten more.

Be Awesome Today

The Inspiration Photo at Just Us Girls is this basket of encouraging painted rocks.

 

 

I saw that one of the design team members used flair on her card, which made me realize it had been forever since I put some flair on my designs, so I had fun searching through for a combination inspired by the photo.  I found some encouraging words and a wonderful color combination of bright pink, blue & yellow.

 

 

I used an ombre gel press scrap for the base and punched a tag from a piece of Distress Oxide Ink Blended Cardstock that was on my table from my Beer Card.

I added a sentiment sticker and a scattering of glittery enamel dot inspired by the large number of rocks in the photo attaching it to a shimmery white polka dot card base in my stash using the Sketch from Paper Craft Crew.