Ingenious Inkling

Summer Camp Gel Printed Botanicals

I'm back for another Summer Camp Gel Printing Challenge with GelliArts ... and today's theme is Botanicals.  I used to love to pick all of the wildflowers (and quite a few weeds) in the summer and create my own bouquets and wreaths.  I was so proud when my Grandma hung one that I made on her wall.

 

I was looking for stencils, when I found this unopened sheet of adhesive stencils I picked-up from a Chalk Couture Vendor three years ago.  I cut one of the flowers out and then used a cheap make-up sponge to apply paint to my Gel Press plate until it was covered with blooms.

 

 

They weren't perfectly neat, but that's the joy of Gel Press Printing and Mixed Media art.

 

With my Cadmium Orange Blooms, I decided they were perfect for the Color Challenge at Sunday Stamps ... wish I had a dress in those colors.

 

 

I also used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches together with a cupcake & birthday sentiment sticker.

 

 

I'm having a lot of fun just working on a single print with a theme.

 

And who doesn't love the fun of summer camp without all of the bug bites and sunburn.

 

Retro Happy Birthday

I should be cleaning my studio, but instead I made a card with things I found on my studio table.  

I saw that the Seize the Birthday Challenge was to use an Embossing Folder (and re-stocking my masculine birthday cards is also on my To Do List), so I grabbed the Tim Holtz Retro Cirque Embossing Folder and embossed the piece of yellow cardstock from yesterday's card.

 

After Embossing, I grabbed some Crackling Campfire Distress Ink and a domed foam applicator to bring out the embossed texture.  Next I sprayed with Avery Elle Clear Shimmer Spray (which reacts subtly with the inked surface).

 

 

I grabbed scraps of cardstock and put my card together using the Sunday Stamp Sketch.  For my sentiment, I grabbed a scrap of designer paper outlined with my Fude Ball Pen (love these pens) and finished with some Simple Stories Birthday Blast Stickers.

 

 

I'm pretty sure I could make cards for days with just the items that need to be put away on my studio tables ... back to cleaning.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

The June #TEMakerChallenge has the following elements:

 

As I hunted through my various holiday stamps, I saw the repeating Joy stencil in the Holiday Stencil Strips and immediately started singing Happy Happy, Joy Joy in my best Ren & Stimpy voices, and I knew what my card was going to be ... I just needed to find a coordinating Happy. 

I did some stamp surgery on the Happy Valentine's Sentiment from the Flip the Lace Stamp Set (a 2x Holiday repurpose) and stamped it four times with my MISTI moving my paper 2 squares on the MISTI platform each time, and then I blended using the same Carnival Color Palette.

 

And for the Letter D, I went with the Dancing Birthday Cake from the Party Pals Stamp set and finished with the birthday sentiment from the same set.  I colored the cake with the same colors and added some fun googly eyes to finish my card.

Sock Monkey Birthday

This afternoon I had some Sock Monkey Sticker fun with images from {a vintage girl} & her daughter (discount code GNOMIES2021 gets you 20% off your order - mention my name in the comments).

 

 

With those party hats, they seemed perfect for a birthday card.  I realize it's a big of a stash, but I believe a sock monkey qualifies as a non-human companion, so I'm linking-up at Shopping Our Stash.

 

 

I started with some Honey Bee brown designer paper that reminded me of the stitched sock-monkey texture.  Next, I used the layout from the TGIF Challenges and added lots of cute little Sock Monkeys to the squares (the middle one is one of my Gel Press Prints with Metallic Paints).

 

 

I added some of the flowers from the sticker set (with enamel dot centers) and the uber-cute Sock Monkey Balloons before finishing with a birthday sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Thoughtful Flowers.

 

Shred the Cake Inspired

This weekend when I was hunting for one of several things I managed to misplace, I found sheets of vintage car illustrations that Lauren had gifted to me.  She has made so many fabulous paper-crafting projects featuring the cars (including this ICAD from 2019), but I have mostly hoarded mine, so I decided I would use one of the cars for the Wheels Challenge at Seize the Birthday.

 

 

Then when I saw the cool Shred the Cake image at the Inspired by Challenge I chose that for my inspiration, including a flipped variation on the Sketch.

 

 

I chose a black 1964 Apollo car inspired by the black & white photo on the wall.  I brought in some of the gold and teal from the second skateboard on the wall for my colors.

 

 

I added two different Washi Tapes ... some flames to bring in the speed and shred theme and some Eyelet Outlet Road Washi Tape for my speedy car (the text with the illustration indicates it could go 130 mph).

Next, I added a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strips and retired Stampin' Up punched balloons to bring in more of the color and the birthday theme, as well as the skateboarder "taking air".   I used Love from Lizi Peel-offs for the balloon strings.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Masculine Challenge.

 

Reverse Confetti Masculine Plaid Birthday

The creation of this card was a bit of a comedy of errors.  It started with a plan to make a masculine birthday card for the Reverse Confetti May Stock Your Stash Challenge.

 

 

I thought it would be fun to make a masculine plaid using the Plaid Lines Big Confetti Cut Die.  I used the colors from The Paper Players Color Challenge and cut it from grey & red cardstock only to realize that I needed the Plaid Lines Small Confetti Cut Die to produce a plaid background (which I do not have ... into the shopping cart it goes).

So after putzing around for a while, I realized if I rotated one of the pieces and trimmed it down to a square I could product a plaid-like effect, but it looked a bit plain.

So I got the bright idea to use the Edge Essentials Confetti Cuts to emboss some interest into the plaid ... not realizing they would cut all the way through.  Since I had cut off one side, I flipped them and cut off the other and ended-up with this sort of cool plaid rectangle.

 

 

I used a sentiment from Reverse Confetti Birthday Wishes and finished with a few black enamel dots.

 

 

I'm also joining the Global Design Project where this week's theme is Birthday.

 

A Little Sparkle

The new 100th Lawn Fawnatics Challenge is all about the Kids.

 

I chose images from Lawn Fawn A Little Sparkle (with Coordinating Dies ... so I'm also linking-up at the Dies R Us Anything Goes Challenge) together with the layout from the Global Design Project Challenge. 

My landscape is die cut with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders Die.

 

With my Unicorn's cute little Fairy Friend I'm linking-up at the Anything Goes with Wings Challenge at Creatalicious Challenges.

I also used two Lawn Fawn Designer Papers - Spiffy Speckles & Really Rainbow Scallops.

 

 

And I'm also linking-up at the Furry Animals Challenge at Seize the Birthday (because you know Unicorns have fur).

 

Pastel Birthday

When I saw the yummy pastel colors at the {Cupcake Inspirations Challenge}, I knew it was time to dust off my Distress Oxide Ink Sprays and have some fun.

 

 

I was really hoping the newest Distress Color was going to be a nice pale yellow (I love the beautiful patina hue too).  I used the closest I had and then die cut the wavy strip in the middle from pale yellow using the Vertical Sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge for my layout.

 

 

I stamped images from Your Next Stamp Celebrating You on a scrap of sprayed paper and finished with a scattering of gems.

 

 

And it's all About Occasions at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

 

NYC Taxi Cab Birthday

My Facebook Memories have been reminding me that this week in 2010 I took my first trip with Lauren to NYC.  At the time, I thought it would likely be my only trip, so we crammed so much into that experience.  It turns out we made it into an annual adventure, so we've had the thrill of sharing so much of the City Together.

When I saw the image at the Inkspirational Challenge it made me remember the few times our feet were just too tired to go any more, and we took a taxi (which is actually slower than our feet, but gave us the chance to have a rest).

 

 

I decided to combine the Inkspirational Image with the AAA Cards Challenge to create a card using only a 1" wide strip and use some Small Stamps as an Optional Twist.

 

 

I cut my 1" strip of cardstock and used a blending brush with Distress Oxide Weathered Wood to create the blue-grey rainy sky.  Next I added some street washi tape for the road, trimming some off the bottom to leave more room for my small sentiment stamps.

 

 

I stamped the taxi cab from Hero Arts City Adventure on gold cardstock with black ink and detail cut the vehicle.  Next I stamped sentiments from City Adventure & Hero Arts Wish Boo Peek-a-Boo Parts to turn it into a Birthday Card for the #staycraftywithhero Challenge.

 

 

I also used the colors for the current Color Hues Challenge - Yellow & Gray.

 

 

Here are some of my favorite photos from that trip 11 years ago.  We still talk about the Dalai Lama at Radio City Music Hall

 

 

And how magical it was to see the view from the Top of the Rock at night.

 

 

We also rod the Staten Island Ferry over and back, so I could see the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

But mostly extending a virtual friendship with card-making bestie Lauren into a real life one that enriches my life still today.   This was her getting to enjoy one of her favorite dishes Brandade at La Bonne Bistro.  Can't wait until we can see each other again.

 

Paris Pastel Birthday

The April #TEMakerChallenge is all about the pastel hues of the Taylored Expressions Color Combination Paris.

 

 

I used all four colors with the Taylored Expressions Gifted Background & Coordinating Stencil (I was able to quickly make 4 of these cards ... love that about these products).

 

 

Sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Simple Stripes - Birthday.  I'm also incorporated B is for Boxes & Birthday for the #TEMakerChallenge.

 

 

Since these products are from September 2019, I'm also joining the Retro Rubber Pastel? Yes Pastels! Color Challenge.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at The Paper Players Challenge for a Clean & Simple Birthday.