Ingenious Inkling

A Very Colorful Christmas

The theme at Jingle Belles this week is ... Mission EMBOSSible ... so break out those stencils, embossing folders, embossing powders ... and have some fun. 

Ever since I discovered I could emboss with my plastic stencils, it's been my current favorite technique (video tutorial here).  I took my color inspiration from showCASe your style.

For this card, I embossed the Hero Arts Tile Works stencil to get the raised texture ... then I left the stencil in place and sponged on ink (if you look super-close you'll see my stencil actually slipped a bit giving sort of a shadow effect at the bottom right of each raised section).

I started with the orange/yellow on the left side of the inspiration piece and just kept grabbing different inks as I moved across the page to try to capture the color palette of the inspiration picture ... 12 different inks to be exact.

I matted my panel using teal cardstock and then added a bold sentiment from Hero Arts lower case greetings (inked with my three different purple inks and clear embossed to make it pop) together with a rainbow of sequins.

I'm also joining the CAS Sponging Challenge at Happy Little Stampers.  

 

And All Things Embossed at Virginia's View.

We hope you'll come EMBOSS with us at Jingle Belles.

Remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store … and the a2z Store has the 2015 Hero Arts release in stock.

Moroccan Mosque Muse

Today's Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge comes from the vast collection of art at Great Big Canvas.  I chose this piece that reflects the Interior Detail of Hassan Li Mosque to inspire my design.

Kelly Purkey's fun new designer papers for Hero Arts remind me of Moroccan tiles, so that is what I wanted to use to create my design.  When I saw Vicki's awesome card at the Muse Challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to create.

Here's Vicki's Muse:

I loved the combination of designer paper patterns ... the bold sentiment ... and of course, the sequins.

I used three different patterns and a Hero Arts Wooden Block sentiment from a stamp set called Happy Thoughts.  I finished with some coordinating sequins in different sizes.

Remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store … and the a2z Store has the 2015 Hero Arts release in stock.

Keep On Swimming

Click on over to the a2z Scrapbooking Blog where I'm featuring cards with lots of new Hero Arts Stamps.

Here's a peek-a-boo:

Remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store … and the a2z Store has the 2015 Hero Arts release in stock.

Bright Birthday

There's still time to join the Embossing Challenge at a2z scrapbooking to win $25 to spend on Hero Arts goodies (free money ... all you have to do is use at least one Hero Arts product ... what are you waiting for?).

I used both dry embossing and heat embossing for this vibrant birthday card for the ShowCASe Your Style Birthday Card Challenge.

I dry embossed with my Hero Arts Tile Works stencil on watercolor paper; then I left the stencil attached to the paper while I added two shades of orange watercolor paint.

I used a bit more of the darker orange to paint a scrap of watercolor paper.  After it dried (with a little help from my heat gun), I stamped my birthday sentiment.  I stamped the tiny flower from the same Messages with Flourish set and then finished with some sunshine pearls.

I hope you’ll join us for our Embossing Challenge this month … and remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store … and the a2z Store has all of the 2015 Hero Arts release in stock (I can’t wait to play with those fun stamps).

Peaceful Candle

We're still *a-WASHI-ing* at Jingle Belles.  This week I created another Washi Tape background, but this time I used a single tape ... Silver Foil Starry Night Tape from Little B.

After covering cardstock with washi tape, I die cut Memory Box Tall Taper Candle and three of the small snowlfakes from Die-Namics Let It Snowflakes

Next I die cut the candle from Silver Metallic Paper, Blue Glitter Cardstock, and Ivory Shimmer Paper and inlaid it into my washi tape cardstock.  I die cut three snowflakes from silver glitter paper and inlaid those as well.

I finished with a sentiment from Hero Arts Winter Wonders & Hero Arts Sea Gems in the snowflakes.

Remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store.

 

Caffeine Fix

I'm still having fun embossing with my plastic stencils (love when I find a new way to use my existing supplies) ... remember the a2z scrapbooking challenge for February is Embossing ... it's a chance to win $25 to spend on Hero Arts products in the a2z scrapbooking store ... like this Be Happy set you can pick-up for only $4.00 (there's just one left so hurry).

This time I embossed the Hero Arts BasicGrey Two Way Arrows stencil again, but this time on Kraft Cardstock.  I used StazOn Spiced Chai Ink direct to paper over the textured embossing (which seemed perfect, since Spiced Chai is my go-to choice of hot drink).

used three different images from the Hero Arts Caffeine Fix Digital Stamp set to create my image (a2z is the exclusive distributor of Hero Arts Digital designs)

I combined the coffee cup (or tea cup in my case) with the steam and the sentiment using my word processing software, which allows me to re-size, flip (I wanted my mug handle on the right) and position the images, so they are perfect for my card design, and then printed it on Natural White Cardstock.

The layout is this week’s Sweet Sunday Sketch (flipped on its side to work with my vertical image).

Embossing with stencils is such a fun and easy way to add texture to your design. I hope you’ll join us for our Embossing Challenge this month … and remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store.

Star Light ... Star Bright

The theme at Simon Says Stamp is Bright & Beautiful ... and what is more bright and beautiful than a sky full of stars.

I started with the color palette from Pals Paper Arts by stamping the Hero Arts Constellation Background in Grey ink on pink cardstock.

I adaded Rose Red Hexagons and a sentiment from Hero Arts Digital Kit The Firmament.  I added a wrap of grey ribbon and some gorgeous iridescent grey sequins.

The layout is this week's Just Add Ink Sketch.  Since my card features the stars in the sky, I'm also joining the Nature Challenge at Hero Arts.

As always, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store ... and there are lots of great bargains in the store like Hero Arts Le Jardin clear stamps for only $4.00.

Bravo!

The Challenge Theme at a2z scrapbooking for February is Embossing.  I love embossing ... it's like paper magic.  

I searched the internet to see if it was possible to emboss with plastic stencils ... and turns out it is very possible thanks to this great video tutorial (I used the Hero Arts Basic Grey Two Way Arrows Stencil on White Cardstock (for my Cuttlebug sandwich I used 2 B plates, 4 pieces of cardstock, and a foam mat).

After embossing, I applied Barn Door Distress Ink with a foam applicator … I covered the entire piece to bring out the wonderful texture of the embossing.  I went back and applied a second round of ink to darken certain areas.

I used the same Barn Door Distress Ink together with Weathered Wood Distress Ink to ink my Hero Arts Heart Flag.  After cutting out the hearts, I rolled the edges on the surface of the ink pad to give them a bit more definition before attaching to a strip of white cardstock.

I finished with a sentiment from Hero Arts Yay! attached with foam pads for dimension.

As always, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store.

I hope you’ll get creative with your supplies and join our Embossing Challenge … i’d especially love to see if you emboss with your plastic stencils.

Firmament

I had fun creating these cards using the Hero Arts Digital Stamp Set - The Firmament.  

I created my card design using two of the stamps from the set – Distressed Stars & Scattered Stars.  I re-sized, rotated, and positioned them using PhotoShop Elements, so that stars would stream across my card base.

For the first card, I printed my image on a piece of Pink Paislee Designer paper. The sentiment from the same stamp set was printed on white cardstock.

I added gold sequins over all of the *circles* in the digital elements for a bit of shimmery sparkle.

For my second card, I printed the same digital image on a piece of Heidi Swapp Designer Paper.  After printer, I rotated the image vertically for a different look with the same digital stamps.

This time I used silver sequins for a bit more contrast and another sentiment from the same set.  I finished with a silver glitter star.

I love that I can print these stamps out over-and-over and change-up the look each time.

As always, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store.

Love Love Love

Hero Arts Words of Love Digital stamps make Valentines easy.

For this card I used two digital stamps from Hero Arts together with heart die cuts and punches and the Hero Arts Basic Grey Tiny Stars Background stamped in Charcoal.  The tiny stamped heart is from Hero Arts Messages with Flourishes.

I'm joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  

And there's still time to link-up at our *new to you* challenge at a2z scrapbooking (just make sure you include at least one Hero Arts stamp).

There are all sorts of new Hero Arts Stamps in the a2z Scrapbooking Store, including the new monogram collection (love the *S*) ... go check them out.  And remember, you can use Coupon Code STEPH15 for 15% off your order of $25.00 or more (before tax and shipping) in the a2z Store.