Ingenious Inkling

Leaf Me Alone

The current challenge at Shopping Our Stash is Leaf Me Alone - creating projects with Leaves.

 

 

I started with Hero Arts Autumn Leaves die cut from Gel Printed Tags.  I also stamped Hero Arts Bare Branched Tree in white pigment ink, clear embossed, and blended lots of autumn ink colors for the card background.

 

 

I finished with some gems, wraps of gold cord, and a sentiment from Hero Arts Birthday Messages.

 

 

With my Leaf Dies, I'm joining the Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero Die-Lightful Challenge.

 

 

I also took my leafy inspiration from Just Us Girls.  And I'm linking-up at the Emboss It challenge at Simon Says Stamp & the Make My Monday Autumn Flora and Fauna.

Rainbow Birthday

The theme at the Cut It Up! Challenge is Rainbow. 

 

 

It was the perfect opportunity to break out one of my rainbow Gel Press prints that I made with Dylusions Shimmer Paints and pair it with a bold Die-Versions Happy Birthday Die Cut and some enamel Dots.

Gel Printed Cards

This weekend's #abcprinting challenge included R is for Rainbow.  I used Dylusions Shimmer Paints to print the rainbow.

 

 

I paired it with the Spellbinders Kaleidoscope Die Cut in Black and white (for a drop shadow).

 

 

 

Stamped Sentiments are Unity Stamp Company Say It Big.

Next up is S is for Stencil (handmade).  I used this cool Bird Stencil that was handmade and gifted to me by my friend Bev. 

 

 

I stenciled in Blue and then went back in with Green (that didn't show through as much as I'd hoped).

 

 

I went back in with a Q-tip and paint on the bird to make it a bit more solid for my card.  I paired it with a vintage wood-mounted stamp (which clearly wasn't mounted straight at the end of the phrase).

 

Autumn Mica Sprays

I got my newest collection of Ranger Mica Sprays, so I combined them with a few existing ones to create lots of backgrounds on watercolor paper and kraft cardstock.

After they dried, I combined them with stamps from Impression Obsession and some wooden leaves I had in my stash to make a group of cards.

 

 

The first one is for the Addicted to Stamps Birthday Challenge using the Sunday Stamps Sketch.

 

I love the combination of the two backgrounds.  Sentiment is Impression Obsession Typewriter Slimline Shorts.

 

 

The next one is for the Can You Handle the Pressure? Challenge with a twist of fall.  I embossed the sprayed panel with a Darice Fall Leaf Background Embossing Folder and then inked the raised texture with orange ink.

 

 

The sentiment is from the same Impression Obsession Typepwriter Slimline Shorts stamp set (I love that slightly wonky typewriter font and the set has so many options).

The next one positioned the leaves on top of the Impression Obsession Burlap Die Cut from Kraft cardstock.

 

This sentiment is from Impression Obsession The Skinny.

I'm linking-up my next card at the Country View Challenge Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness.

 

Sentiment is Impression Obsession Watch the Leaves ... and I added a vintage button to ground my wooden leaves.

 

My final card features another vintage button together with a sentiment from Impression Obsession Maple Set.

Repetition Birthday

This week's Just Us Girls Challenge is all about Repetition.

 

I started with this repeating circles Gel Press Print that to me just screams that it need to be a birthday card.

 

 

I used this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday (or Not) Sketch and several vintage wood mounted stamps for a slimline design, so I could feature as much of those overlapping repeated circles as possible..

 

 

I paired my vintage Savvy Stamps Birthday Owl with a repeatedly stamped A Muse Happy Birthday sentiment for a second element of repetition.

 

 

It's perfect for a birthday party I'll be attending this weekend.

Party Time

I love stamping, but I also love great papers like the Party Collection from Authentique.

This fun retro paper design comes together for a quick card using the Happy B-Day Die Cut by CZ Design.

Here's the masculine version that I'm linking-up at the Crafting Happiness Challenge to Add a Sentiment.

 

 

And the feminine version with some fun polka dot words using another paper from the collection.

 

 

Happy Beer Day

It's been a while since I joined the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge, so I'm joining the fun today.

 

I love the Frosty Beer Mug Die-namics.  I die cut it from Vellum and then cut the Beer from a scrap of Gel Press print and the head of the beer from textured watercolor paper (which I due cut twice and layered for a bit more dimension)..

 

 

I punched some vellum stars for the additional sketch elements and finished with a sentiment from My Favorite Things Here's to You on a coordinating beer colored glittery card base.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at Just Add ... Masculine Challenge at Just Add Ink Challenge.

Eat More Cake

Masculine birthday cards ... it seems like I always need more masculine birthday cards.

 

 

 

Color Hues Challenge is collaborating with Seize the Birthday with a perfect masculine color combination of Navy & Lime.

I stamped the bold grungy Eat More Cake Quote Stamp from Darkroom Door in Navy ink on some gridded white designer paper as the centerpiece of my design (like I ever need anyone to tell me to eat more cake LOL).

 

 

To go with my grungy sentiment, I used a piece of grungy navy designer paper from Craft Consortium's Grunge - Dark Tones as my background using the layout from Freshly Made Sketches.

 

I added strips of navy and lime green cardstock along the bottom.  

 

 

It's also all about B is for Birthday at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.

Unity Sketchy Birthday

The current challenge in the Unity Facebook group is a fun Sketch idea ... using 6'x6' paper pads with your Unity Stamps. 

Since once again my masculine birthday cards are depleted, I chose Echo Park Paper Co. Happy Birthday Boy papers for my layouts.

 

 

For card number 1, I chose an overall patterned birthday paper ... only one problem, I forgot to pay attention to which way the words were facing when I cut my 4" x 5 1/2" piece, so I had to flip the sketch horizontally.

 

I used a stamp from Unity Stamp Company Another Year Older.  It felt a little naked in the middle of all of that pattern, so I grounded it with a strip of designer paper scrap that was on my table.

Next I used the three squares that were left over from Sketch 1 and decided to use them for Sketch 4 ... only one problem, I needed one more square.

 

Lucky for me the stamp from Unity Stamp Company Another Year Older fit perfectly.  The bottom of that sketch felt a little naked too, so I added a row of candles cut from one of the designer papers & a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company ... birthday jubilee across two of the squares.

Since I had cut a strip of paper, I decided to cut four more (the paper in that collection is two sided, so I flipped each one to get four patterns) and went with Sketch Number 11 for my final card.

 

I put the strips on a bright yellow card base and then stamped one of the most used birthday stamps in my collection - Itty Bitty Unity Stamp Company Candles and Cake (wit & wisdom) and attached it with foam tape for a bit of dimension.

I loved being able to pull together three masculine birthday cards so quickly.  

Public Library Papercrafted Birthdays

The theme at Seize the Birthday is to create a Birthday card with no stamping.

 

 

One of my favorite ways to papercraft without stamping is to use paper and ephemera from a single paper collection.  Today's cards feature October Afternoon's Public Library Collection.  Since I reminisced on ice cream yesterday, today I'll reminisce on the public library.

Growing-up, our local Carnegie Public Library was one of my absolute favorite places to be.  The children's library was in the basement, with the stairway right inside the first set of doors (up a small flight of stairs, were the doors to the adult floor, which seemed like an off-limits sanctuary.  

I loved the children's librarian.  She would ask how I liked the books I was returning and would recommend others she thought I might like.  I had two book rules - nothing about animals or Indians.  I have no idea how I developed those rules, but I held pretty stead fast to them.

For my cards, I cut up a piece of Card Catalog paper for my card base.  I remember graduating to using the card catalog in 7th grade when I wrote my first term paper on Paris and its role in high fashion.  I loved the magic of those wonderful little drawers.

 

 

I added ephemera from the collection on top of the little drawers.  I added a yellow Happy Birthday sticker to this one and pulled in some yellow stars to tie it together.

I remember the joy of graduating to the adult library for my reading.  Our 8th grade Language Arts teacher Leota Phipps had her own paperback library in her room.  You could read any of the books on her list and take a quiz for extra credit.  It was an amazing collection, and I still remember many of them ... The Bell Jar, The Robe, Animal Farm, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

 

Same theme on card number two combining ephemera with the Happy Birthday sticker.

I would check out the allowed amount of books (6 or 7 I believe) and curl up in my blue bean bag beside my open window and read my summers away.

 

And one more card with the same combination.  These theme will help you pull lots of cards together quickly with this fun, quick collage style.