Ingenious Inkling

Fusion Funky Cactuses

When I saw the new Fusion Card Challenge, I thought it would be fun to play with the sketch and some Funky Cactuses Stickers from A Vintage Girl & her Daughter ... remember if you use my discount code SMILYNSTEF in the store, you'll get 15% off your order.

 

I started with the Mariachi Cactus and paired him with a sentiment from Fiesta Quotes.  I used scraps of cardstock for the sketch to coordinate with my Cactus Sticker.

 

It really makes me want a taco. 

While I had the paper out, I went ahead and made a second one with the Wrestler Funky Cactus, which reminded me of my brother and how much he loved watching Wrestling when he was a kid.

 

I love those red & gold flames.  I paired it with another sentiment from Fiesta Quotes. 

Here's the entire Funky Cactuses sticker sheet ... so many possibilities.

 

 

Breathe Leaves

Do you have a favorite kind of tree?  For me it will always be the hard maple tree. We had a very large one in our big backyard growing-up and I have so many wonderful memories of that tree ... climbing, swinging, hiding. 

It probably doesn't hurt that I grew-up in a town who's big event was The Maple Leaf Festival.  I just love all the variety of colors as the temperatures grew cooler ... the tree on the corner that always turned red early ... the later oranges and yellow ... just seeing those colors makes me happy.

 

 

So for the Autumn Colors Challenge at Impression Obsession I stamped those beautiful layering Maple Leaves from Dina Kowal's lovely Maple Set.

 

 

For my sentiment, I used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! and stamped Breathe from Kalani Allred's Kind Words on pearlescent vellum and attached it over my falling leaves.

 

Mushroom Miss You

I got this new Buzzworthy Collection Stamp Set from Fun Stampers Journey in the mail today & had to ink it up .... it was perfect for this week's Freshly Made Sketch.  I just love the blockprint style.

 

 

I used Turquoise & Navy for the new Color Hues Challenge and Die Cut my sentiment with Hexagon Stacklets Dies.

 

 

I finished with a sprinkling of Navy Gems from Eyelet Outlet.

 

Happy Beerthday to You

I found a new Waffle Flower Challenge in their Waffle Flower Garden Facebook Group ... the September theme is all about Falling for Fall.

 

 

One of the things that changes at our house as fall begins is the kinds of beers you will find in the Beer Refrigerator ... deeper, richer and darker.  I couldn't resist breaking out my Waffle Flower Prost Germany Stamps together with a sentiment from the Waffle Flower Home Brew Combo.

 

I used a favorite \fall color combo (Rust, Saffron & Fern Green) and did some rainbow stamping with my MISTI.  I added enamel dots in the same three colors.

I kept this one clean & simple because it needs to travel through the mail.

I'm also joining the Fun Card Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Modern Mosaic

I have been so inspired by the recent creations of Joan Bardee (aka @DearPaperlicious).  Today I decided to make my own versions of this lovely design by Joan.  When she told me she punched the circles from designer paper, I knew I had the perfect Stampin' Up Designer paper from several years to give it a try.

 

I started by punching lots of circles from a 12" piece of scrapbook paper that has oranges, pinks, purples and gold metallic abstract.  I attached the punched circles to a rectangle of white cardstock with small foam squares.  I used a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base for the first few designs.

 

 

I used a simple graphic sentiment from Essentials by Ellen It's All Good.

The next one I posititioned my panel more to the center, so I could stamp a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen That Thing You Did on top and bottom.

 

 

For my final design, I used a larger 5" x 6 1/4" card base and angled my circles like Joan did on her card.

 

 

I stamped the sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Pure Magic.

 

 

Making these cards was such a meditative process ... and I am thrilled with the end result.  Thanks so much Joan for the inspiration.

Explore

When I saw the Travel Theme at The Male Room Challenge, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to use some neglected Alterations Travel Dies.

 

It was also the perfect opportunity to do some recycling for The House that Stamps Built Challenge.  My lovely gold speckled background is packaging from a Gina Marie Designs Die that was just to lovely to throw away.

 

Oh how I miss my travel this time of year ... and miss seeing my friends and family as we explore new things ... I miss you all.

Golden Birthday Jubilee

When I saw the theme at Seize the Birthday was to add Gold, I knew I had to break out the laminator and do some foiling.

 

 

I used my Unity Stamp Company Toner Card Fronts with ... you guessed it ... gold foil.

 

 

Stamps are from Unity Stamp Company ... birthday jubilee.  I used the royal blue designer paper from yesterday's card to punch out some stars for my embellishments (using a sponge to ink the edges, so the white paper doesn't show).

 

Simple but fancy at the same time using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

 

 

And it's also Just Add Guys Week at Just Add Ink Challenge.

 

We All Deserve an Alcoholiday

I'm finally back in the studio today after almost two weeks of Derecho Storm disruption.  There are still a number of people without power, but when I drove this morning, all of the traffic lights were working, which was a major improvement.  The damages to our geo-thermal system on the roof of our condominium have been repaired ... the next thing will be removing all of the fallen trees (so many large oaks damaged on our property).

I decided some Punny cards for the Inspired by Challenge using my Stickers from A Vintage Girl & Her Daughter ... remember use my Discount Code SMILYNSTEF at checkout for 15% off your order.

 

I decided to make a set of cards featuring some Eyelet Outlet Beer Brads and Bingo Cards from Simple Stories Summer Fresh.

I started with We All Deserve an Alcoholiday from the Happy Hour Sticker Sheet.    An it a bit of punny brilliance, I paired it with Eat Drink & Be Merry from Christmas Quotes 1 (because Alcoholidays aren't just for Christmas)

 

 

Here are all the sentiments from the Happy Hour Quotes.

 

 

I used the sketch from this week's Try Stampin - or Not - on Tuesday Challenge (using only the sketch, although an Alcoholiday could certainly involve a ticket to the tropics).

 

 

I finished with some Beer Brads from Eyelet Outlet.

 

 

My next card focuses on Tequila from the Fiesta Quotes Sticker Set.  I used three stickers from the set to make  a "BINGO" on the Carefree Card.

 

 

I added a little bling to fill out my card for a BLACKOUT.

My final card features more stickers from Happy Hour Quotes.  I used more Beer Brads together with some Beer Washi Tape for a Clean & Simple Design for the My Time to Craft Challenge.

 

 

This one features more PUNNY goodness from the set.

 

 

Glad to be back in the studio ... and hope you've enjoyed my Punny cards today.

Hoping to See You Soon

The theme at the Poppy Stamps Challenge for August is Heat Wave ... to use colors, techniques or images that bring to mind heat.

 

I chose to use "hot" colors together with some sunshine on my tropical row of houses using the Poppy Stamps Baylan House Dies.

 

 

My Sun is a circle punch and I added a sentiment from Memory Box Holiday Greenery (not just for the holidays).  There are so many people I'd love to see soon.

Close Knit Friend

In my recent crafty purchases, I picked-up this fun Hand Knitted Stamp Set from Darkroom Door.  Then today I saw a post where they have an Instagram Challenge each month, so I had to join the fun.  Here's the inspiration picture.

 

I felt rusty after not stamping a week, so I decided to go with a CAS single layer design using the three colors & inspiration from the photo.

I was inspired by the red lines in the road to stamp a red frame using the Knitting Needle Stamp on my kraft card base.

 

My black yarn basket is inspired by the night time image ... and used my colored pencils to add a pop of red with the knitting needles, inspired by the red criss-cross lighting framing the sign on the left.  

The sentiment is perfect for sending to those special friends I haven't been able to see like I would have in prior years.

I'm also linking-up at Simon Says Stamp Challenge to use your favorite Tool - I used two of my absolute favorite tools on this card - my MISTI and my Tidy Towel.  Can't stamp without them.

And I'm joining the Clean & Simple Challenge at Make My Monday.