Ingenious Inkling

Birthday Blast

I loved the sketch so much, I wanted to make sure I made a card before The Paper Players Challenge ended.

 

 

I used papers and 3-D stickers from Simple Stories Birthday Blast Collection to re-stock some masculine birthday cards.

I made the first card on a light kraft card base.

 

 

For the second card I used the same papers with a gold card base ... amazing how different the two cards look and feel.  The gold just seems to make the colors pop.

 

 

Playing with paper was the perfect activity after filling my belly with our Thanksgiving Feast.  I am so grateful for a local restaurant Lightworks Cafe that cooked our meal for us.  It was fantastic, especially the Soy Lime Roasted Brussels Sprouts.  There are still Cranberry Tarts waiting for later.

 

Abracadabra

Lauren is the Queen of Snark this week at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where the theme is P is for Penguins.

 

 

I inked-up my Taylored Expressions If Penguins Could Talk Stamp for the occasion.  

 

I decided to also make a card for the November #TEMakerChallenge where the November Challenge is to use two or more mediums (Gel Press Print for the Penguin's Background, Stamping, and coloring with alcohol ink markers); patterned paper; and the color brown (both covered by Tim Holtz brown designer paper).

 

I used a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Big Grumpy Birthday and Mini Strips - Harvest.

 

I'm also joining Anything Goes at Seize the Birthday.

You da Best

Now that #gellinktober has passed, I want to turn all of my great inky gel press prints into cards. 

 

Today's card is made from the print I made by rolling-off the Alcohol Ink onto regular cardstock using some blending solution (a technique I definitely want to play more with).

 

I paired it with the layout from the CAS(e) this Sketch! Challenge using the CZ Design You da Best Die Cut from Simon Says Stamp together with a Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip.

 

 

I'm also joining the Just Us Girls Wildcard Challenge to use Word Dies.

 

Most Favorite Human

The current Seize the Birthday Challenge is to use your Scraps. 

 

 

I decided to combine it with the Color Hues Challenge and make my scraps Blue & Orange.

 

 

I created a paper pieced stripes background and then used scraps to die cut my sweet little Simon Says Stamps Large Gnome.

 

I finished with a Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strips.

Butterfly Birthday Tag

The October #TEMakerChallenge is to use Blue, Stencils and makes something that is not a card.

I started with a Navy Tag that I stenciled with Mosaic Leaves using Garden Party & White Pigment Ink.

 

 

I stamped & die cut the butterflies from the Social Butterflies Stamp set we received for the Friday Class at Stamp Joy.  I topped them with Drip Drops and finished with a sentiment from If Balloons Could Talk.

I finished by stapling on some fancy sheer ribbon at the top of my tag.

Love Bug

When I saw the inspiration photo at the TGIF Challenges, I couldn't resist using some of my favorite Vintage Rides Stickers from {a vintage girl} & her daughter ... remember my discount code SMILYNSTEF gets you 15% off your order.

 

Aren't these Vintage Rides perfect for the challenge.

 

 

I cut several circles from wood grain designer paper and added my cute little love bug.  My Aunt had a VW Bug when we were kids, and we loved riding in it with her.

 

The sentiments are from the oh-so-timely Quarantine - Social Distancing Quotes sticker set.

While I had my products out, I went ahead and made a second card.  I cut a slightly larger circle for the larger Love Bug.

 

 

This time I stamped sentiments from Taylored Expressions Little Bits of Birthday.

Stamp Joy 2020

Often this weekend of the year I am hanging out in Ames, Iowa with the Taylored Expression Crew at Stamp Joy, but this year we all had to hang-out virtually.  I was thrilled that Mona (aka @MyCraftyDreams was able to travel to Cedar Rapids, so we got to craft together with 900 of our closest crafty friends through Facebook Live classes (how did we not remember to take a picture of us together).

 

Friday's class was four cards using an adorable new stamp set Social Butterflies.  It included both a red rubber set & a coordinating clear set to stamp the color on the butterflies.

I think the first card we made was my favorite of the day ... I love the simple combination of masking with a bit of splatter.

 

I messed-up the next one a bit (what's new), so had to trim down my panel a bit to get it straight ... so I rescued it by putting it on a colored card base.

 

 

The next one involved fussy cutting and masking with Heather Nichols signature neutral color palette.

 

 

The final one for the day included textured embossing with ink blending.

 

 

Saturday's classes started at 9am and we were able to complete 10 cards through 7 different Facebook Live Classes.  It was a full day of paper and ink.

We received this Full of Flowers red rubber stamp set together with coordinating clear set & stencil to use throughout the day.  I loved this color combination (so much so that I had to add that Peaches 'n Cream ink to my collection).

I added some clear bling to the finished card.

The next card included three things I usually avoid - dogs, glitter & a shaker design - but I embraced all through and it actually came together with no mess due to Taylor's assembly tips, which was a miracle to me.

 

 

I added some red peel-off stirps and silver bling to finish my design.

Card #3 was our mass produced card.  Taylor provided enough to make 4, but I pulled a bit extra from my own stash and was able to complete 6 cards, which was an awesome way to stock my holiday card stash.

 

 

The inking of the embossing folder was a long-forgotten technique that produced such a cool look with the snowflakes ... and I also love Taylor's Drip Drop Embellishments.

We got this fabulous color blocking stencil in our class supplies that produced this stunning ink-blending effect ... and miracle-of-miracles, my white gel pen actually worked.

 

I didn't really like the font for the sentiment chosen for the next card, so I used one of the other stamps that was in our set.

Next we created with rainbows and had some fun with foiling using 1/8" score-tape.

 

 

How do you not love googly eyes.

I have the Life of the Party set that we used for our next card, so I may have to make some other variations using the different animals.

 

 

I did not have Taylor's Dotted Stencil, so I used a similar one from my stash.  I also put the sentiment on white cardstock rather than stamping right on top of the dots for a bit more contrast.

And the final card featured water coloring with Taylor's intensely colored liquid watercolors.  I went over the top with some shimmery watercolors from my stash for a bit of sparkle.

 

 

I swapped out the sentiment again because I needed more Birthday Cards for my stash.  I loved how we trimmed the water colored panel for a inset sentiment.

IT was a super-fun weekend and creating ... and even more fun by getting to create with person with a crafty friend.  I'm already looking forward to next year.

Gell(i)nktober Let's Par-TEE

Today I tried one of Birgit's techniques using Distress Oxide Ink and Stencils.  The first print is made by putting the Carabelle Studios Circle of Stars stencil down on the inked plate and doing the first print.  Then there is a second print after picking-up the stencil.

 

 

I used my first print for a masculine birthday card inspired by the Sports theme at the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge.

 

 

I chose the golf ball to inspire my design with Golf papers from Authentique.

 

 

The Happy Birthday sentiment is a clear sticker mounted on white cardstock.

Just Another Mojo Monday

I just love Julee's Mojo Monday Sketches ... the perfect amount of layers (and she even includes measurements if you want precision) ... me, I'm more of a cut-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of crafter.

Since I still had Amy Tangerine's Oh Happy Life Collection on my studio table, those are the papers I used.  I also had a die cut white tag from the collection that I cut to make the square piece of the sketch.

 

That color combination is just dreamy ... I finished with a Daffodil Sticker (from The Dollar Tree I believe ... aren't those flower centers the perfect color) and another sticker sentiment.  

 

 

I decided to forgo any more embellishments since this birthday card needs to go through the mail and shouldn't require extra postage without any bumps and lumps.

Enjoy Today

I do love a good layered sketch, and the one at The Paper Players this week is a keeper.

 

 

I love the artistic meditative process of playing with patterns and colors of paper.  I started with my new Soccer Paper Pad from Authentique.  It had a perfect little vintage Soccer image for the focal point.

 

I did add some gold cardstock for a bit more contrast of colors, but the remainder are all papers from the collection.  The sticker sentiment seemed perfect for the theme.

I'm also linking-up at the SPORTS Challenge at Use Your Stuff.

I was having so much fun, I pulled out Amy Tangerine's Oh Happy Life for another happy card.

 

I used the same scrap of gold cardstock in this design and added a few stickers from the collection for a bit more fun ... love the happy play of all those patterns.   Another sticker sentiment completed the design.