Ingenious Inkling

Laugh Till You Leak

I was feeling like a little CAS cardmaking this morning, so I decided to start with the CAS Mix Up Challenge to use a Stencil and Pastes or Gels.  I was thrilled that when I opened my jar of Fern Green Picket Fence Studios Paper Glaze, it was just as mixable as when it was new. 

 

 

I paired it with a Dina Wakley Dot Stencil for the Addicted to CAS Dots Challenge.

 

 

I stuck with Dina adding the Essentials Silhouette image.  I paired it with a sentiment from Dylusions Quote bubbles for a card that makes me snicker.  Taylored Expressions Cilantro Ink paired nicely with the Fern Green Glaze on a kraft cardstock base..

 

 

I'm also joining the Creatalicious Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes with an Option of using a Stencil.

Hope you laugh till you leak this week.

Christmas Cheer

The current theme at Jingle Belles is The Man with the Bag - creating cards that feature Old Saint Nick.

My background is some Santa Claus designer paper from Echo Park Jingle All the Way building on the Sketch from Try Stampin' (or Not) on Tuesday.

 

 

I used papers from the Carta Bella Christmas Cheer collection to build the rest of the Sketch Layout including some Plaid for the Double Trouble Challenge for my Masculine holiday card design.

 

 

I added some enamel dots and Carta Bella Christmas Cheer Stickers to finish my design.    I went with a Hot Cocoa theme since the Caffeinated Christmas Chard Challenge is also a Masculine theme.

 

 

I decided the card needed a bit more to tie in the kraft color, so I added a wrap of kraft twine around the left border element of the sketch.

 

 

We hope you'll break out your favorite Santa products and come join us at Jingle Belles.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland shenanigans:

• Cherry Hand Pies you can cook in your Air Fryer
• Productivity Tips
• Red, White & Blue Poke Cake
• Italian Green Bean Salad
• my Grandma always had Drop Leaf Tables
• homemade Ice Cream Cones ... yum
• fun DIY Bird Bath
• Summer Corn & Cucumber Salad (I've already started taking an ear of corn to work for lunch ... everyone in the kitchen is jealous when they smell it).
• Online Sound Generation
• Frozen Mojito looks refreshing
• Aesthetically Pleasing Movies (one of my favorites shown)

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Foiled String Lights

The current Challenge at Seize the Birthday is to use your favorite technique.  Seriously, how can I possibly pick just one ... so I went with my current favorite technique that I'm enjoying and trying to master - hot foiling.  

 

 

I foiled the Spellbinders Tis the Season String Lights background (I didn't even realize this was supposed to be a Christmas design ... I think it looks like lights or banners at any fun birthday party) with gold foil on navy cardstock ... I absolutely love the effect of foiling on colored cardstock.

 

I added a strip of gold glitter paper along the top and bottom and then attached my panel with foam tape.  I combined a Taylored Expressions Simple Strips sentiment in navy ink with a sticker sentiment at the bottom.

Be You, Bravely

I broke out my patriotic paper collection for this week's color challenge at The Paper Players.

 

 

I loved these fun little inchies from the Doodlebug Land that I Love Collection, so I mounted them with foam tape on silver metallic cardstock for contrast with the background paper from the same collection.

 

 

I finished with a sticker sentiment that was perfect for the recipient.

Gone Fishing

I decided to try Mixed Media with some Collage for The Card Concept Make It Masculine Challenge.

 

 

I started with a kraft card base and added some new Lindy's Shimmer Magicals in Cattail Copper Brown and then sprayed with water and dried with a heat gun.  Next I cut a measure stick sticker into three pieces and positioned it on the card base.  

 

 

Next I added the 3-D Gone Fishing sticker and then positioned my school of fish all over the card.  The final media I used were some gold on black sentiment stickers.

Foiled Summer Sweets

The current Unity Stamp Company Challenge is Summer Sweets.  I went through my entire Unity Stamp Company collection, and the only summer sweet I could find was cake (which if you know me, is no big surprise). 

I went with a never-been-inked Cupcake from Unity's January 2014 Kit of the Month Be Your OWN Kind of Beautiful.  I decided to pair it with one of the Unity Stamp Company Circles a Plenty Decofoil Toner Card Front with Rainbow Shattered Glass Decofoil with lime, teal & fuchsia.

 

 

 

I used those same colors to color the cupcake with my Graph'IT Markers finishing with a Karin DécoBrush Gold Metallic Marker for the Crown ... another photo angle to try to show you how cool that rainbow foiled background looks.

 

 

 

I used the Sketch from the current Fusion Card Challenge, because I loved how the circles worked with the circles on the background.

 

 

The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Company Itty Bitty 3 Tiered Birthday by Lisa Arana.

 

 

Black & Yellow Birthday

Black and Gold (aka Yellow) are the colors of the nearby University of Iowa, so I tend to purchase paper collections that feature those colors for graduation or birthday cards.  So needless to say, when I saw those were the colors at the Color Hues Challenge, I had to join the fun.

 

 

I pulled out Authentique's Classique Beauty Collection and managed to use scraps of the designer papers (that I store inside the paper pad) together with a rough rotated interpretation of the Sketch at the TGIF Challenges to pull together a Masculine Birthday Card.

 

 

I used a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Itty Bitty Whimsical Birthday by Angie Blom (which I see is currently on sale for almost half-price).  I framed it with a stitched die cut circle and finished with some enamel dots.

 

Ombré Pine Bough Christmas

We're still creating with an Ombré Wonderland at Jingle Belles this week. 

I used watercolor paper and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Spray to create my own Ombré painted background.

I die cut The Greetery BotaniCuts Pine Bough from coordinating cardstock and then inked the boughs with Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink for more Ombré effect and contrast with the background.

 

 

The branch and pine cones were cut from brown cardstock and inked with some darker brown ink.  I finished by stamping the two-part sentiment from The Greetery Snowflake Soirée in Brown & Peacock Feathers.

Playing with the Distress Oxide Spray makes me want to create some more Ombre painterly backgrounds ... love the effect.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland fun:

• How to Cut a Mango
• Chewy Oatmeal Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Strawberry Pretzel Pie
• Best Zoos in the Midwest
• Taco Pasta Salad
• ideas for Outdoor Summer Activities
• No-Churn Rocky Road Ice Cream
• Embroidery Samplers to help you learn stitches
• I'm fascinated by Visible Mending
• Asparagus and Chicken Casserole
• I love Hash Browns from Waffle House
• 99 Mindful Conversation Starters
• Upgraded S'Mores (shown)
• Mexican Street Corn Salad

Have a tremendous Thursday!