Ingenious Inkling

Gina K. Designs Eye Shadow Blooms

Tonight I had fun trying to replicate the Eye Shadow Technique that Gina K. shared in this video.  My eyes are pretty much allergic to everything, so I have no eye make-up in my house, so I had to stop by the Dollar Tree and pick some up, so I could give it a try.  I grabbed the same one that Gina used and one with lots of purples.  The light colors work best on the darker cardstock colors to get the cool effect with Gina K. Designs Embossing ink.

 

 

I started with a dark green scrap of cardstock and blooms from Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters.

 

Next I tried red cardstock with flowers from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 10 ... this one was my favorite.

 

 

And my final one was Purple cardstock with the new Gina K. Designs Natural Silhouette Blooms.

 

Here are all three together.

 

I kept the cards really simple so the backgrounds could shine.  The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs Whimsical Wildflower Frame.

 

I used another sentiment from the same set for the red card.

Then for the purple card, for some reason, the eye shadow rubbed off and I got this sort of shadow effect.  Rather than fighting it, I embraced it.

 

 

I just burnished the eye shadow into the cardstock and stamped the same wildflower stamp directly onto the background.

 

 

The sentiment is from the same Gina K. Designs Natural Silhouette Set.

 

So if you've got some great 80's eye shadow in your stash (or you make a stop at the Dollar Tree) give this technique a try ... it was a lot of fun ... and looks super-shimmery-cool.

Sketches, Stickers, and Scraps ... Oh My

Last night, rather than doing a Makeover Monday card, I challenged myself to make cards using this week's Sunday Stamps Sketch, Orphan Stickers in my overflowing Sticker Bin and Scraps from my Paper Bin.

 

 

The sketch just seems perfect for playing with stickers and papers.  It reminded me of when I used to have a big box of things I'd cut from magazines to make collages that I would hang around my room.

I started with this cork typewriter sticker.  The background paper is something I know I stamped more than 10 years ago using acrylic blocks that I had wrapped with rubber bands (which turned out to be today's Try a New Technique Challenge at SplitCoastStampers - making the old new again and stamping with what we have on hand) ... makes me want to try that technique on a Gel Press Plate.

 

I cut two 3" circles in from coordinating cardstock scraps and then added more smaller stickers to finish the design before mounting it all on a kraft card base.

For the next card I started with that adorable orange monster.  This time I cut slightly smaller circles from two designer paper scraps to coordinate with the polka dot background.  The dimensions seem a bit more balanced in this one, especially with him grounded on the longer sentiment.  

 

I couldn't resist adding the stack of books and his own little potted plant.

Then when I had the final pink monster and scrap of pink Eiffel Tower designer paper ... I sort of fell into an 8th Grade-cover-my-binder-with-stickers creative craziness.  I have no idea who I'll give this card to (who am I kidding, I'll mail it to Lauren at some point ... probably not on her birthday) ... I had a ton of fun making it.

 

Sometimes it's fun to remember why I started this hobby ... as a creative outlet for play.   And I still like stickers as much as I did in the 8th grade (hint hint ... big sticker news coming soon).

Harry Potter Birthday

Tonight's request was a Harry Potter Birthday Card.  I decided to go with a single layer card using stamps from two sets from The Ink Road.

 

I used The Ink Road Mari Party & Expecto Stampo with Versafine Clair Warm Breeze Ink on Kraft Cardstock.

 

 

I accented with a few gem clusters.

It's Anything Goes at Simon Says Stamp.

 

Makeover Monday - Designer Paper

I did a major clean-out of my studio last week (there's a giveaway on Instagram if you want to check it out) and boxed-up a bunch of paper to take to the local craft exchange store.  I still have a large box of designer paper scraps I need to go through, but for my Makeover Monday card, I wanted to find a design that used a lot of paper scraps ... I chose this Valentine's Day card from February 2011.

 

This card used papers from a single paper collection ... I challenged myself to find papers from my scrap bin that would work together.  I started with a scrap of birthday paper and then found other scraps that would work with it (I made sure they had one or two of the colors and were the same shades of the color family ... in this case the teal and yellow unify across the palette). 

I cut them all into 3/4" strips and then managed to put together three card with the scraps it cut on kraft card bases.

 

 

For the first one, I discovered the first one was the perfect size for these Tim Holtz Snarky Big Talk Stickers.  It was also the perfect opportunity to use some leftover stickers from my stash as embellishments.

 

 

For the next two, I used a large wood mount Happy Birthday sentiment from Stampotique Originals (I just love that size & font) and more leftover stickers (these were from an Easter set).  These cards are just so fun and easy to put together.

 

 

And yep, more stickers.  When I assemble my cards, I line of the paper at the bottom and just let it hang over the top of the card.  Then when I"m all done, I just take my scissors and trim along the fold.  That makes it super easy to assemble.

I hope these cards gave you some ideas for digging through your paper scraps.

Gifted Birthday Cards

At Taylored Expressions Stamp Joy last year (did you see Stamp Joy 2020 is going to be virtual this year, so if you aren't able to travel to Iowa, you can finally attend), one of the favorite cards I made at the Make and Take Room was using the Gifted Background and Gifted Stencil.  When I was cleaning my studio this week, I found some of the leftover sentiments from the Make & Take, and decided to break out the set and make a few more quick cards to re-stock my Masculine Birthday Card Stash.

The concept behind these sets (Taylor has quite a few in her collection ... I ordered the Starry Background set and a few other things this week to get the very cool free-with-purchase stamp set this month) is a coordinating background stamp, stencil and die cut that offer all sorts of possibilities.

I started by stamping quite a few of the backgrounds in Versafine Ink on Bristol Cardstock with my MISTI.  Next I used the Magic Blender Brushes to apply different combinations of masculine ink colors (seriously, this is basically fool proof).  This one combined teals and greens.  I cut down the panel a bit to fit on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base with the leftover sentiments from Simple Strips Birthday.  Since I'm mailing my employee birthday cards now rather than hand-delivering them, mailability is more important.

 

 

I'm linking this one at the TGIF Challenge for Stamping Your Own Background Paper.

 

For the second one I used the coordinating Gifted Cutting Plate and cut a coordinating panel of card stock to place over the inked panel for a slightly different look.

 

 

And the final one used a more monochromatic ink combination.

 

I love how quick it is to put together a set of cards that is similar ... yet different.  This is truly one of my favorite sets in a long time and one I will continue to use over and over.

New York State of Mind

All of the pictures in my memories keep reminding me that this is the time of year I'm usually traveling ... I'm usually on a beach with my sister ... or in New York City with Lauren. 

This card is an homage to both of them.  I miss them both ... and mostly I miss seeing new things with them both ... having new experiences and eating great food. 

Just this week my sister and I were talking about how the next time we're together we're going to find a great big Pretzel to share ... so the Pretzels are for her.

 

The central focus point is a Michelle Ward Exclusive NYC Manhole Cover Stencil from The Ink Pad done with Decofoil Transfer Gel and cool Opalescent Decofoil which was perfect for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!  With my cool metallic foil, I'm joining the Something Metallic Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

 

 

The Pretzels and the sentiment are from a Hero Arts mini set called Kelly's New York.

Birthday Bouquet

The June Challenge at Memory Box is all about Birthdays.

 

I decided to finally ink up the gorgeous exclusive Memory Box / Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Fresh Bouquet Set in Versafine Clair Ink on Bristol White Cardstock.  Then I revisited an old technique of using a transparency and Distress Inks for some selective ink smooshing to color in the image.  I dabbed away the color a bit with a cloth after each inking to keep the colors soft and pale.

 

I matted my panel on a black cardstock base and finished with the typed happy birthday sentiment from the same stamp set.

 

Seize the Birthday is all about Summer ... and nothing says summer quite like a bouquet of fresh blooms.

On the Farm

The new Impression Obsession Challenge is On the Farm.

 

 

I made a single layer CAS card using one of my favorite farm images from Impression Obsession - Windmill stamped in Fresh Asparagus ink from Gina K. Designs on Neenah Desert Storm Cardstock.

 

I added two different colors of brown paint splatters and finished with some Gina Marie Designs Matte Enamel Dots.  Sentiment is from Impression Obsession Words for Art.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they theme is It's a Man Thing.

Summer Time Stars Birthday

I decided to play around with the Water Stamping Technique with Stencils using Distress Oxide Ink that Mendy Eggen shared using Chipped Sapphire and Pine Needles Distress Oxide Ink ... however I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the end result. 

Then I remembered what my friend Becca the Damsel of Distressed taught me recently ... a Distressed Background is never really done until you've applied at least three different distress products/techniques, so just kept playing.  I added some Distress Oxide Sprays, some Distress Inks, and some Dina Wakley Media Gloss Sprays.  Then I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.

I decided that I have a ton of Sizzix die cuts that are pretty much neglected now that all of the stamping companies make their own die cuts, so I browsed through that box and found this cool Stars Background by Stephanie Bernard that had never been used ... and voila.  Look how cool it looks with all of those splatters and sprays ... the pine needles color in the middle of the panel almost glows.  I die cut the Stars a second time from red cardstock to add some pop of color highlights.

 

Since the theme at Retro Rubber is Summer Time, I thought the Red, White & Blue of the Fourth of July was perfection. I added a Hero Arts Happy Birthday Sentiment from 2007.

 

 

I'm also joining the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

 

 

Stamps & Confetti Birthday

The theme of the STAMPlorations June Theme & Photo Challenge is Stamps & Confetti and this Photo.

 

After I finished these alcohol ink cards, I had the leftover frames on my studio table.  I just glued them to card bases and laid them to the side.  I thought the green & gold one looked perfect for this photo, so that is where I started.  It has the green, gold & black and flecks of gold foil that reminded me of the confetti.  Since I need more masculine birthday cards for June, I chose that for my theme.

 

I pulled in the two shades of green from the photo by stamping STAMPlorations Gift Row in Versafine Clair Gift Row ink on lime green cardstock and then detail cut the packages.  I used a gold marker to spotlight the ribbons on several of the presents.

The sentiment is STAMPlorations Big Greetings which is currently out of stock.  I finished with some big gold bling which was inspired by the big bling on the mask in the photo.