Ingenious Inkling

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.

Kitty Hugs

The June Challenge at Poppy Stamps is all about Clean & Simple.

I die cut the cute little Poppy Stamps Peek a Boo Kitty three times from gold cardstock.  I lined them up on dark green cardstock and then added some gems to the kitty-in-the-middle.

 

I framed the kitties with pretty leaf paper from Memory Box Cottage Meadow papers.  I used my Poppy Stamps Tidings of Joy Sentiment (with a little stamp surgery) to finish my Clean & Simple design.

I'm also linking-up at Cute Card Thursday where the theme is Masculine.

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.

CASology Engine Father

When I saw this cool Schematic Engine, I knew it needed to come live with me ...

 

 

and I also knew it would be perfect for the CASology Father Challenge where I am thrilled to be the Guest Designer this week.

I stamped the Andy Skinner Schematic Engine from Creative Expressions in  Versafine Clair Pinecone Ink on Neenah Dessert Storm Cardstock. 

I added a Happy Father's Day sentiment under the Engine.

 

design defined: An intentional pop of color adds interest to a CAS design

 

As an homage to an internal joke with my brother, I added some bright pink to the piston on the engine for a pop of color to the CAS design.

 

Paper Smooches Love

I've been hanging out with Kim at Paper Smooches this morning ... of course she doesn't realize we were hanging out.  When she announced the closing of Paper Smooches this morning, I got a little emotional and spent the morning reminiscing about how much Kim's designs have influenced the arc of my own stamping development arc.

 

She also probably doesn't realize we've been hanging out together for the past 9 years.  I first fell in love with Kim's designs when she designed for Cornish Heritage Farms and this is the first card I uploaded with her designs in July 2011 for Kim's  Paper Smooches Paper Sparks Challenge that had 106 Cards linked-up (so clearly a lot of other people were hanging out with her too).

 

I always wanted to make "cute" cards, but I always struggled ... but for some reason Kim's characters spoke to me and made me comfortable embracing them.  I don't know if it was the wonky eyeballs, for the fun feet and hands ... or her love of monsters ... but they clicked with me, and for that I was grateful.   I also adored her hand-written fonts.

Kim's Snow Dudes line is one of my absolute favorites ... those snowmen have been a standard on my holiday cards for years.  

 

It combines Paper Smooches Snowman 2 Die Cut with a sentiment from Just a Note.

Her Die Cuts are so fun and unique ... and she has an Ear of Corn, so what more could an Iowan Want.

 

And her Animal Sets have gotten so much use.

 

Needless to say, I could go on for days ... you can see all my Paper Smooches designs if you click this link.

So while I was "hanging out with Kim" I made a card for her current Paper Smooches Flower Challenge (I was super-thrilled to be one of the winners for her May Challenge).

 

 

I saw an awesome Ink-on-Vellum Technique at the Create a Smile Stamps Instagram Account this morning and wanted to give it a try (why have I never tried that??)  I thought it would be perfect with the Paper Smooches So Lovely Flower.  I stamped it in White Pigment Ink and Embossed with White Detail Embossing Powder on Vellum.  Here are the inks I used and how it looked on the back of the Vellum.

 

I wanted the ink to be completely dry before attaching it to my card base and found that using the heat gun melted the embossing powder on the front of the vellum (oops, do-over), so I used a fan to get it nice and dry.

 

I wrapped the vellum around the card base and attached it on the back.  The slight warping didn't bother me ... you could use more vellum adhesive on the front to hold it down if you wanted.  I used a sentiment from Paper Smooches Good Gab with this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! because I realized this week that I had no Anniversary Cards in my stash and this flower seemed perfect for that occasion.

 

Love this technique and I'm sure I'll be doing it again.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at Just add Ink where the theme is Just add "F" - F is for Flowers.

 

And this week's Global Design Project Theme is also Florals.

Thanks again Kim for the years of inspiration ... wish you only the best on your next adventures.

We're All Pretty Bizarre

This week's CAS(E) This Sketch! is all about the sentiment, so I had to find a good one ... and that usually means I turn to Ink Road Stamps ... and a Pretty Bizarre Generation X Quote from the Breakfast Club, which seams to pretty much sum up a lot about the way I feel lately.

 

I used the colors from this week's Color Throwdown to stamp the four icons from the four characters ... I kept it clean and simple with just a single pearl in the center of the crown.

 

 

Coffee

I tried one more Monoprint experiment, but the background stamp I tried didn't have enough solid space to pick-up enough ink to work ... but the stamped-off image worked perfectly.  Oh well, you never know until you try.

I used the reject monoprint to mat my sentiment for a masculine Coffee Card for the Spring / Summer Coffee Lovers Card Hop.

 

The current Joy Clair Card Challenge is to make am Easy Stamped Masculine Card.

 

Background is Joy Clair Coffee to Go and sentiment is from Joy Clair Coffee Quotes.

Born to Stand Out.

When I see a cute set of children's flash cards, I can't resist buying them.  Flash cards hold fond memories for me ... one of my earliest memories is a plane trip with my Grandma to Texas and the two of us passing the time on the flight learning with flash cards.  She always helped me learn ... and she always made learning fun.

 

I always think they would be cute to use on cards ... and when I saw today's CAS(E) this Sketch!, I knew it would be perfect to feature a few ... I took my inspiration from cards that Chris Dayton has been sharing using vintage Winnie the Pooh stamps in the Stamp Junkies Group on Facebook (if you haven't joined, please do ... so much inspiration).

 

The strip of paper covered the learning word on the flash card and I used the sentiment from Ellen Hutson Pure Magic for the Circle Element on the Sketch Design.  

 

For Tigger, I used another Ellen Hutson Pure Magic Sentiment and a Butterfly embellishment for the circle element ... how do you not smile if that arrives in the mail for you.

These cards were so fun to make ... and brought back such happy memories.  Remember, there are products other than standard cardmaking supplies that can be used to make fun cards.

Abstract Background

Today's Spring Card Camp Class is all about Abstract Backgrounds. Yanna Smakula shared a video with an all-over inked background, but I was drawn to Seeka's partially inked designs, so that is what inspired my card.

When I was cleaning out some seldom-opened drawers this morning I found some dry mini ink pads that I had bought to ink myself.  I took inspiration from Yanna and created my own rainbow inkpad  using three colors of Catherine Pooler Blue re-inkers (Queen for a Day, It's a Boy and Stone Blue).  I swiped my ink pad twice down the side of a piece of white cardstock.

 

Stamps are from Simon Says Stamp Stronger Together.  Love how this one turned out.