Ingenious Inkling

More May Gel Printing

We're still having fun with the #birgitkoopsengelprintingchallenge.

The Stamp Challenge made me smile ... but the challenge to me was which stamp to use.  I decided on a vintage Three Ferns stamp from Hero Arts with two colors of Distress Oxide Ink.

 

 

Next up was Packaging Materials.  I sorted through things I had kept in my stash for future packing, and found this sheet of differently shaped bubble wrap that I tried.

 

 

 

You can barely see it on the second print on the left, but I loved that effect too.

Next was buttons.  I tried inserting the buttons in a rolled-out piece hand-exercise clay thinking I could stamp with that, but the buttons refused to stay embedded (I got it sort of done in the red print).  After that I used the individual buttons to stamp into the pink paint covered plate (and basically got my hands completely covered with both colors).

 

 

I was able to wash all of the paint off my buttons, so they can be used again.

Next Up was Feathers.  I decided to use my favorite Feather Stamp from Tyggereye (Gina).

 

 

I liked how they stamped off with the Acrylic Paint better than the prints itself, which was a reminder that I could cover the plate in medium and use it like a giant stamp pad (love thinking about different ways to use products I already have).  Still one of my favorite stamps.

Next up is using a Brush.  I used Dina Wakley's Media brush to apply the paint by swiping horizontally on the plate.

 

 

Love how the paint blended and the brush strokes (particularly in the second print).  The vibrant colors make me smile.

Shopping Our Stash - the Letter S

I am thrilled to be joining the Design Team at Shopping our Stash for 2022.  

 

 

The first Challenge of 2022 is to create a card using things that Start with the Letter S (which reminded me of the Letter of the Day at Sesame Street).  I literally Shopped my Stash for as many things that begin with the Letter S as possible to see if I could see a theme.

 

 

I started with a Gel Press Print that reminded me of the Sky.  Next I stamped Grungy Stars from Dina Wakley that had Stripes & Speckles using Midnight Blue STAZ-on Ink and cut the card base into a Mini-Slimline shape.

Then I built my card using Stickers of a Spaceship, a Satellite, Saturn, and a Spaceman and some Smiling Stars.  I also add some Sequins and Sticker Sentiments that say to Shine brightly.

 

I love how many S Things I was able to incorporate into my fun card design.

Please Shop Your Stash for all things S and come join me.

Serendipity RBG

This week's Wanderlust Art Journal theme starts a month of Serendipity.  It was more of a free form lesson using sprays, paints, paper and pencil together with a large face image.

I started with three colors of Dina Speed Wakley's Gloss Sprays - Lime, Turquoise & Sand.

 

 

Next I added my focal image together with strips from an Amtrak Train Schedule.  I finished with some Blue Pencil Marks.

 

 

Next I pained with new to me Dina Wakley Acrylic Paints that arrived this week.  Then while it was wet, I added some Cosmic Shimmer Pixie Powder, which produced a wonderful shimmer.

 

 

I sprayed some more spray on top to bring back in the lime.

 

 

I finished with stamped sentiments from Ink Road Stamps RBG and a bit more Dermatograph Pencil.

 

Arty Saturday

I had fun making lots of art today.  It started with my Wanderlust lesson, which was to focus on using just paper to create a collage.  Since the overarching theme was Ephemera, I just worked from my collage drawer.

 

Next I took a face drawing class with Dina Wakley on Facebook.  After my disastrous self-portrait experience, I figured I needed more help.  It's far from great, but I was personally thrilled that they looked like faces and didn't make me cringe.

 

 

After that class ended, I joined Lauren for a Blackout Poetry Class taught by our talented friend the Damsel of Distressed.  

 

 

I loved the process and will certainly try making more.

And lastly, one of my photos of a downtown Cedar Rapids mural (Little Mermaid) was included in the Cedar Rapids 2021 Tourism Guide (yay!)

 

Got Snow?

We're still creating cards that feature SNOW this week at Jingle Belles.

This week I added some gorgeous new papers from The Funkie Junkie by a Hungarian company Stamperia ... this gorgeous collection is called Arctic Antarctic.  

 

I love the majesty of the white wolf in his snowy landscape home.  I paired one of the background papers from the collection with one of my tags from my Dina Wakley Focus on Gloss Class, that brought out the greens in the Northern Lights Sky. 

I finished with a vintage wood mounted sentiment from A Muse and some blue gems."

Make Today Count

There are lots of different ways to be inspired by The Card Concept Fanciful Fall Picture.

 

 

I took two dies from My Favorite Things Geometric Greenery that reminded me of the shapes in the picture and die cut leaves from one of the pieces I would have called a "reject" from my Dina Wakley Focus on Gloss Class (oops got called out for not specifically saying this is a Mixed Media Design ... I guess I thought it was obvious).

I used a white paint pen to doodle on the leaves.

 

 

I folded the leaves for dimension and attached them to one of my gloss backgrounds positioning them off the sides like the inspiration picture.

I finished with a sticker sentiment.

Focus on Gloss

Today I had the joy of attending the Focus on Gloss Class by Dina Wakley.  I only had four colors of her Gloss Spray (Night, White, Lime & Fuchsia), but I made the best of them and had a lot of fun.

I used watercolor paper and mixed media paper ... but I think I had the most fun with some Ranger Kraft Tags. 

 

I used several stencils from A Colorful Life Designs, with my favorite being the Circles Make Circles ... I used both the stencil as well as printing from the negative from the paint on the top of the stencil which gave a punchinella effect.

 

I also tried spraying on top of my Karin Marker Backgrounds I made a few weeks ago, which also produced some fun effects ... I really love how opaque the sprays are.

 

After the class, I used several of my favorite tags to make sure cards.  The first one uses the Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at Paper Craft Crew Challenges - Masculine, Thank You Card & Twine.

 

I used new stamps I got this week from The Greetery ... this one is from Sentiment Suite: Thank You Stamp Set.  

 

 

I liked it so much, I decided to make a second feminine version with Stamps & Dies from The Greetery Destination Stamp Set.

 

This combination of colors is just dreamy.