Ingenious Inkling

Birdie Love

The newest challenge at The Paper Players is creating Clean & Simple with birdies.

 

 

I've had these vintage little collage images from Red Lead Paper Works in my stash for more years than I can remember.  Today they finally get to send some papercrafting love.

 

 

I paired this cutie with a doily, a coordinating color card base and a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Valentine Vibes.

 

 

 

This little cutie gets paired with a strip of alcohol ink gel press print (I knew there was a reason I saved that tiny bit) and another Essentials by Ellen Valentine Vibes Sentiment. 

 

 

With a cup and saucer of Tea & Flowers on her bonnet (and a hat to protect her from the rain) I'm joining the Just Us Girls Moodboard Challenge ... sometimes even a little birdie needs a cup of tea to get her day started.

How Do You Spell Love?

The January Unity Stamp Company Challenge is all about Cozy Winter Colors.

 

 

When I saw the gold & the pink, I thought one of my new Winnie the Pooh stamps would be perfect.  I chose Unity Stamp Company Winnie the Pooh How do you spell love?, which I stamped & colored with my Spectrum Noir markers.

 

 

I used this week's Vertical Sketch from the Paper Craft Crew for my layout. 

 

 

The card felt a bit flat with all of the solid cardstock, so I embossed the light grey card base with Gina K. Designs Tapestry Embossing Folder for some texture.

Jingle All the Way

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

I started with salted and painted paper for the card base & a stitched die cut circle.

 

I die cut the Cottage Cut Bells from Lawn Fawn's Iridescent Silver Cardstock and layered it with one cut from white cardstock for dimension.

I finished with a Remnant Rub Rub-on Sentiment.

I am the luckiest.

Tonight's card features one of my favorite song lyrics by Ben Folds from Impression Obsession Love Songs 1.

I created my background using a combination of red & pink Dina Wakley Media Gloss Sprays.

 

 

I attached it to a card base covered in iridescent silver cardstock and finished with a scattering of silver hearts.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of skipping through blogland:

• Have you done a Personal Annual Report?
• Raspberry Drop Scones 
• How about 100 Tips for a Better Life
• I've been craving Texas Sheet Cake
• 25 Places to Donate Books (I take mine to our neighborhood Little Library, but there are several possibilities on the list I'm going to consider).
• Crock-pot Cheeseburger Soup or maybe Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham & Potatoes
• Celebrity Bathrooms (I'll take Jennifer Aniston's)
• Would you try Kool-Aid Pickles?
• a Guide to Chinese Noodles
• How to make your own Ice Luminarias (shown)

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Collage Fun

When I visited Lauren in the fall, we decided to have what we called Collage Camp.  She worked on amazing mini-books, and I had fun shopping her stash to make some cards.  What it reminded me is that I should spend more time cutting things out, so I can then have fun playing and combining images.

This one was one of my favorites.  I started with a Gel Press print and then built the elements.  The top back piece reminded me of a Ruth Bader Ginsburg collar.  

I'm not a collage planner.  I find a piece I like and I glue it down ... I'm committed.  I just keep adding layers until it makes my heart happy.  Lauren told me that style of college is something that is recommended you try to learn to trust your artistic voice ... love that.

 

I added the Buddha, a sea shell, a lotus and lastly an image that reminded me of The Electric Company (a happy memory).  I figured the Buddha would be listening to some relaxing meditative tunes.

I finished with a tissue sentiment from Dina Wakley Media Collage Words.

Here's one more that was a lot of fun.  This one starts with some very subtle design paper as the base with a cool inky print on top.

 

 

Next cam layers of burlap, a patterned piece of wood from a magazine, an Asian print page stenciled with Pinwheel Bricks stenciled on top and the final layer is a Wax Seal on a doily.  Playing with your artsy besties leftovers is so fun ...  I love how they all work together.

I finished with another Dina Wakley Media Collage Words.

Love Snow

There's a new Challenge today at Shopping Our Stash - Winter Fun!  

 

I chose to scan & print vintage sledding image from a Winter Ideals Magazine. (I scanned so I could remove the poem that made the photo impossible to trim the image to card size).  I went in with Distress Oxide Ink to add a bit more aging to the paper color and to highlight the sledders.

 

 

I went in with pastel pencils to add color to my sledders.  Look look reminded me of some pictures of me when I was very young that appeared to be printed in black and white with coloring added after (pre-Photoshop LOL).  I finished with a vintage Northwoods Rubber Stamp sentiment (that I've been using since at least 2007).

 

 

I'm linking-up at the Winter Fun Challenge at Cupcake Inspiration.

With my sledding, I'm also linking-up at the Creatalicious Challenge where the theme is Winter Sports.  Additionally, I'm joining the Little Red Wagon Baby It's Cold Outside Challenge.

What's your favorite way to have some Winter Fun?  Come share it with us.

Overdue for Hugs & Kisses

I have always loved libraries.  Growing-up they were one of the places I felt most at ease.  I loved the magic of being able to look at, touch, and take home almost anything I wanted.  

So needless to say, I had to have the new Essentials by Ellen Treat Yo'Shelf Set and the coordinating Library Card Pocket Die cut.  I always loved looking at the library card to see who else in town had read the book and when the last time was that someone had taken it home (and sometimes checking out a book because it felt like it had been too long, and I didn't want the book to feel neglected).

I started by die cutting the Library Card Pocket several times from two coordinating Gel Press prints (I needed the second to line the inside of the pocket).

 

 

Next I stamped the library card and Overdue sentiment on ivory cardstock.  I then added multiple stamped sentiments to the card itself.

I created my card base from a Rainbow Gel Press Print and attached the pocket.  I'm linking-up at the Crafter's Café Colours of the Rainbow Challenge.

White Colored Pencil Resist Valentine

The January Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to watch a video of Gina K. making a card using White Colored Pencil Resist technique and then make one of your own.   

When I first started stamping, I was utterly fascinated by techniques.  I had so much fun following tutorials and then creating the magic myself (I remember actually doing a few happy dances in the privacy of my studio).  Gina is the Queen of taking those possibly forgotten techniques and making them new & cool again (and I love her for that ... actually I love her for so many more things than that ... she's truly da' bomb).

 

 

I have the same butterflies that Gina used in her video, but I decided to mix-it-up and use the Love Sentiment from Gina K. Designs Sweet stamp set (because why not use a bit open space that makes it more critical that you get your coloring very solid) and turn the design into a Valentine.   I used BubbleGum Pink ink in the middle of my panel with Red Hot ink on the top and bottom before tearing and inking the edges with black ink.

 

 

I used foam tape to pop up my resist panel for a bit more dimension.  The stamped sentiment is from the same Gina K. Designs Sweet Set with a Heart from Gina K. Designs Lovely Words with ombré inking with the same red & pink inks.  The finishing touch was a few clusters of pink gems.

Since I gifted myself Gina K.'s Sweet Set for Christmas (she had some great sale bundles ... how could I resist), I'm linking-up at the Daring Cardmakers New Year - New Crafty Things Challenge.

Heart Love

It's the time of year for Heart Cards, and that's the Challenge theme at Just Us Girls.

I started by playing with some new Japanese Sakura Shimmery Pastels that I found at my local Create/Exchange yesterday to create a scribbled and blended background ... absolutely gorgeous color and shimmer.

 

As the packaging noted, they are harder than any Pastel I've ever used with less dust ... I had to use much less to get the color saturation I was wanting and they blended effortlessly.

 

 

Next I attached gorgeous wide Pink Peony Washi Tape from The Ton to white cardstock and die cut a Spellbinders heart.   The washi has gorgeous copper metallic elements, so I die cut Simon Says Stamp Etched Berry Branch from Copper Metallic Cardstock to adorn my heart.  I used the same copper metallic cardstock to frame my card.

 

I finished with some enamel dots on the berries to bring out another color in the washi tape and a tiny love sentiment from Catslife Press stamped inside another Spellbinders Die Cut Heart.  With my little Wood Block Stamp, I'm linking-up again at Amy T's #woodblockwednesday challenge.

 

I'm also linking-up at the Anything Goes Cut It Up! Challenge.