Ingenious Inkling

Pigeon Crapping on My Heart

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is offering up A is for Anti-Valentine as their theme this week.

 

I couldn't resist pulling out a few stamp sets from The Ink Road and stamping-up a few quick cards.

The first is from the fabulous Phoebe of Friends ... a polka dot card base with sentiment from Ink Road's The One With All The Stamps.  I used white paint pen to add a little pigeon poop to the puffy heart stickers.

 

 

The next one uses a sentiment from The Ink Road Zerofcks.

 

 

Probably not a card most people are seeking out for Valentine's day ... but you never know I suppose.

Screws Fall Out All the Time

When I saw this week's CAS(e) this Sketch! I wanted to go play with washi tape ... so many possibilities.

 

 

I thought I would do monochromatic, but then I saw one of the measuring tape washis ... and then a second ... and I thought, do I have four of these (because I clearly like measuring tape) and sure enough I did.

 

I thought the colors would work more with a black card base ... then the quest to find a sentiment.  I really wanted measure twice, cut once but somehow I don't have that in a stamp ... so instead I used this sentiment from The Ink Road Pretty Bizarre ... a quote from one of my favorite movies.

That came together so quickly, I may have to go through my washi tape and try another.

A Beary Happy Birthday

CAS cards should be the easiest to make ... after all, it's just paper and ink.  But for me, the fact that it's just paper and ink, can make it more challenging to get the end result want (because there's no trimming the panel smaller, covering with a sequin, etc.). 

In the case of this card, I kept managing to get the Twilight Versafine Clair on my fingers ... and then smudging it on the pristine white background.  I washed my hands multiple times ... and was finally happy with the 7th (yes 7th) iteration.  Remember, making cards isn't just what you see on the blog.

 

 

I wanted to join the Challenge at AAA Cards to make a CAS one-layer card with an optional twist of adding Polar Animals.

 

I used five stamps from two different Essentials by Ellen sets for my design - Arctic Pals & Bear Ware 2 ... love those cute little Polar Bear faces.  I also used the Less is More Challenge for my Off Center (or Off Centre) Layout Design.

 

 

And finally my Frosty little Polar Bears are joining the Frosty Challenge at Addicted to CAS.

 

 

 

Love You Like a Love Song Baby

The challenge theme at Impression Obsession is Have a Heart, which reminded me of the Bonnie Raitt song ... so I decided to make a card with one of my favorite Impression Obsession sets ... Love Songs 1 (which is on sale for half price).

 

I also decided to use what I thought was a rather challenging color combination at Just Us Girls Color Week.

 

I die cut my new Impression Obsession Large Frame die from Purple and again from White Cardstock.  I covered my card base with the pink and then used Red to stamp my sentiment.

 

 

I used a vintage Martha Stewart Punch for my embellishments punching several times from the same pink cardstock and a coordinating red.  Super easy .. and super-mailable.

I'm also joining my friend Sam's Use My Stuff Challenge where the theme is Love. #umschallengelove

And lastly, the Allsorts Challenge is to create a card that features more than a single word sentiment.

Pawsitively Special

This card resulted from too many challenge ideas floating around in my head.  Both Seize the Birthday and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge have a stencil theme ... and Paper Smooches Challenge is Anything Goes, so I knew I wanted to start with a Paper Smooches Stencil.

 

I thought it would be fun to see what it would look like if used the Paper Smooches Buffalo Check Stencil by first brushing on one ink and then off-setting the stencil slightly and inking with a second color ... I love the effect.  I used Rina K's Electro Pop Neon ink in Blaring Blue & Loud Lime.  Pixie Spray makes stenciling so much better.

 

Next I wandered off to find a sketch ... I chose the current CAS(E) this Sketch!, so I trimmed down my stenciled background to allow the card to have some more white space for a CAS design ... and then I added some paint splatters in a darker green.

 

 

I knew I wanted a birthday card, so I played around with several different sets before spotting the Paper Smooches Paws for a Cause Stamp Set in my stash ... those puppies are absolutely  perfect for Where the Red Fern Goes at The Library Challenge.  I used Gina K.'s Amalgam Ink to stamp my dogs on loud lime cardstock (that ink is the absolutely best for silhouettes) and then stamped a few bones to use in lieu of the flower embellishment in the sketch.

 

I finished with a sentiment from Paper Smooches Happy Birthday and mounted both the focal rectangle and sentiment on foam tape for dimension.

 

Hoppy Father's Day

The Creative Confetti Challenge at the Power Poppy Blog is to make a Small & Sassy Card (smaller than A4).

 

 

I love the gorgeous stamps in the Power Poppy O Hoppy Day Stamp Set.  I stamped it in green on ivory cardstock and then cut it with a wonky stitched square.

 

I added a layer of green before attaching to 4 1/4" square card base.  The Hoppy Father's Day sentiment is from the same set.  I finished with some metallic bling to accent the sentiment.

Retro Winter Adventure

When I saw the theme at the Retro Rubber Challenge was Winter, I knew it was time to pull out what I believe is likely the oldest stamp in my stash ... the Large Snowboarder from Stampington & Company circa 1997 (yes, 23 years old).

 

I bought this stamp because it reminded me of my brother and the joy he has told me about from his snowboarding adventures.  I've made several cards for him over the years featuring this image (here's one from 2018 and another from 2016).  This time I stamped it in Versafine Clair Twilight and added some monochromatic color with Spectrum Noir markers ... where I'm linking-up for the Spectrum Noir January Winter Challenge.

 

I used textured white cardstock to attach my snowy mountain and then die cut it with a hexagon die.  The layout is this week's CAS Colours & Sketch layout.  I kept it CAS, but had to add a few iridescent sequins to cover a little ink smudge (aka an embellishment opportunity).  I finished with what I thought was the perfect sticker sentiment.

 

Bobalicious

When I saw Amy T's adorable Boba Card this morning, I knew I had to break-out my new Paper Smooches stamps and have some Boba fun too. 

 

The January Paper Smooches Challenge is Anything Cold ... and I always like my Boba Tea frozen.

My sister's favorite flavor of Boba Tea is Taro, which is usually sort of a purple color, so that was my inspiration (my flavor was Mango).

 

I stamped my Boba Tea on Watercolor paper and then stamped it a second time on a scrap of paper that I had previously sprayed with Purple Shimmering Bliss Spray.  I added the fun glasses that are also from the Paper Smooches Caffeinated Stamp Set.  Next I punched out some Boba bubbles and added some white paint pen highlights.  I finished by coloring my paper straw and adding a little blush to his cheeks and a tiny bit of bling.

 

I used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! with a scrap of watercolor designer paper and sentiments from Paper Smooches Fun & Flirty and Caffeinated Two.

 

This card just makes me happy ... it also makes me wish I had a big glass of bubble tea.

 

I'm also joining the New Stash Challenge at My Time to Craft ... so happy for time to ink-up these stamps today.  It's also Something New at the Tuesday Throwdown.

Brilliant Blue Snowflake

My crafty friends and I have been talking about how our rate of acquiring art supplies the past few months has well exceeded our rate of using them.  My friend Sam threw down a Use My stuff Challenge to use those products to make a some birthday cards, so you have them ready to send in the upcoming months.  

I also wanted to join the CAS Stencil Challenge to use a new Stencil. 

 

I picked up several new Gina K. Designs Stencils and new colors of Glitz Glitter Gel, so I wanted to break them out.  Seriously, how gorgeous is that Brilliant Blue Glitz Glitter Gel with the Stellar Snowflake Stencil.  I like to use watercolor paper as my base, because for me the sturdier paper works better for stenciling the gel.

 

Since it was a CAS challenge, I resisted the urge to add a big more bling and just let the snowflake shine.

I wanted a vertical sentiment and I didn't have a Gina K. Birthday sentiment that was thin enough to let the Snowflake be the star of the show ... so I used Winter Wishes from the Gina K. Designs Seasonal Greetings Set and I'll stamp the birthday sentiment on the inside (that way the recipient can display it for a longer time if they want to).

 

 

It's also Snowflakes at the Just Us Girls Challenge this week (and their graphic is even a similar blue).

 

Lastly, the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is also about Something New.

Laurel Burch Thank You

I finally linked-up some of the prize I won from White Rose Crafts in the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  I have always loved Laurel Burch's Cats and have one of her stand-alone stamps sitting as a piece of art on my window sill that I first say when I attended Creativation several years ago.  This stamp set from Stampendous is called Feline Blooms.

 

Since her cats are often colored in vibrant hues, I thought that trio of cats would be fun to stamp on one of my Gel Press Prints using this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

 

I love how the lighter spots of the print ended-up around their eyes.  I used a sentiment from the same Stamp Set (love that curly-Q *K*).