Ingenious Inkling

The Best is Yet to Come

I opened my new Prize Ribbon Distress Oxide ink and made an attempt at some ink blending using Speckled Egg and Shaded Lilac (clearly I need to watch more tutorials because I never get the smooth blend my friends do). 

I decided to add the MB Makes Marks Marker Stencil over the top and spray with the Prize Ribbon Distress Oxide Spray.  I put another piece of paper on stop of the stencil to pick up the extra spray before pulling up the stencil to reveal the magic underneath. 

 

 

I decided to add some dragonflies from Cheryl's Flutterflies at the {a vintage girl} & her daughter together with some of their Typewriter Phrases sentiment stickers using this week's Freshly Made Sketch layout.  Remember discount code GNOMIES gets you 20% off your order in their shop.

 

I'm also linking-up again at the Quit Bugging Me! Challenge at Shopping Our Stash.  And I'm joining My Time to Craft Challenge Blog where the theme is no patterned paper.

 

Could you bee any sweeter?

So many new stamps ... so little time.  This afternoon I decided to ink-up some of my new Ellen Hutson stamps.  This little cutie is from a new Essentials by Ellen set called Love Notes.  

 

 

I stamped the sentiment and bee image close enough together that I could punch it out with a 1 3/4" circle punch for the current sketch at the Inspire.Create.Challenge.

 

The color inspiration is from the current Just Us Girls Challenge using two pieces of designer paper from my stash.  I die cut the Hexagons to bring in a honeycomb element to the design using the Essentials by Ellen Essential Hexagon Dies and sponged on a little Catherine Pooler Tiara ink to give them some contrast against the background.  I love how a single cut gets you the hexagon & the frame.

 

Watercolored Floral

The July Unity Stamp Company Challenge is all about Florals.

My sister-in-law gifted me with a set of watercolor paper card bases, so I decided to break them in with some Brutus Monroe Aqua Pigments (in Orchid & Dahlia) and the big drippy bloom from Unity Stamp Company Hello Beautiful.

 

 

I accidentally splattered when I was painting, so I went all-in with the splatters.  It felt like they worked with the drippy bloom.  I finished with a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Art & Possibility (by Donna Downey Studios).

I'm also joining the Florals Galore Challenge at Chocolate Baroque.

Hot Air Balloon Kitties

It's been a while since I joined the Inspiration Challenge at SplitcoastStampers, but when I saw Karen's Card and that it was inspired by Hot Air Balloons, I had to go take a gander.

I chose this Cat Balloon from the Plano Balloon Festival to inspire my design. 

 

I have been wanting to make a card with the Cute Cat Stickers from {a vintage girl} & her daughter (remember discount code GNOMIES gets you 20% off your order).

 

 

One of my favorite ways to use stickers is to cover my card front (sort of like creating your own designer paper).  I chose a blue background inspired by the blue sky in the inspiration photo and framed it in pink since that was the main color I saw when my background was complete.

 

I finished with two perfect stamped sentiments from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Meow.

I also want to share some new Yellow Submarine art I put up in my studio yesterday drawn & colored by my uber-talented friend Michele.  

 

 

The Fab Four are even swimming in the water in their St. Pepper colors.

 

Fusion Moons

When I saw the current Fusion Card Challenge, I thought about what round objects I had in my creative stash.

 

 

I decided to combine a Gel Press Print with round elements and the beautiful Aunt Yo's Moons stickers from {a vintage girl} & her daughter (remember, the discount code is GNOMIES for 20% off your order).

 

 

I layered them onto my background using the images from the photo as my inspiration.

 

 

And the perfect sentiment from Flora & Fauna Letterboard Set.

 

It Will Be Okay

When I join the Retro Rubber Challenge, I usually reach into my drawers of neglected wood mounted stamp. 

For today's card, I chose Bloop, a Robot from Starving Artistamps Urban Collection that I used on this card back in 2009.

 

The Retro Rubber Challenge is this great Sketch.

 

 

I used the hues from the Color Throwdown Challenge with one of my Alcohol Ink Gel Press Print for my golden yellow background.  I added some White Enamel Hearts from Eyelet Outlet and used a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Fresh Bloom Sentiment Strips.

 

 

Indigo Vines Wreath

The July Challenge at Pinkfresh Studio is all about butterflies ... only one problem, after a full search through all of my Pinkfresh Studio products no butterflies were found. 

 

Since I had everything out, I decided to create a card anyway.  I bought the lovely Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Vines Washi Tape and coordinating Dies, but hadn't used them yet.  I attached the tape to white cardstock and quickly cut out the wreath and leaves.  Super-duper easy.

I attached the wreath to white cardstock and then used foam tape with the smaller die cut leaves to add dimension to the design.

 

 

I framed it with gold mirror cardstock and attached that to a navy card base.  The sentiment is a Gold Foiled Wood Sticker from the Indigo Hills 2 Collection. 

As I looked at my lovely wreath, I decided two tiny butterflies punched from the gold mirror cardstock would be the perfect finishing touch.

My tiny Butterflies are also joining the Anything Airborne Challenge.

Friends to the End!

This week my Facebook Memories have been filled with Junkiefest 2019 where I had one of the best crafty experiences of my lifetime. 

Little did I know that experience would also be what got me through the last year and a half.  Those friendships sustained me.  The group chats, the video calls, and the surprise gifts from across the miles (like when I couldn't find my favorite cereal or a soup I needed for a recipe).  I am so, so grateful for those friendships.

So tonight's card is to celebrate those experiences and those friends.  I pulled out the Sarcasti-Chick from Taylored Expressions, which I got at Junkiefest 2018, for my card with the face from Sarcasti-Chicklets.

 

 

Sisterhood of Snarky Stamps is all about Watercolor, so I pulled out one of the Shaving Cream Backgrounds that I created a few weeks ago with Mona (one of my Junkiefest crew) using Pineapple and Blue Raspberry Liquid Watercolor from Taylored Expressions.

 

 

The layout is the Sketch from Fab Friday Challenge.

 

Remember to cherish those people who make you feel better ... and do better.

Alcohol Ink Congrats

I had so much fun using Alcohol Inks on my Gel Press a few weeks ago. 

Here was the first print I pulled, together with the roll-offs from cleaning my brayer.

 

 

I was going to use that print for the Color Throwdown, but I went with my second one since I thought the shade of green was closer to the palette.

 

 

If you look around my studio, you will see those color speak to me.  I pulled the print with Golden Iridescent Silver paint, which is my new favorite for pulling prints.

 

I used Say It Loud stamps and Coordinating Dies from a new-to-me company Maker's Movement using the layout from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

 

 

I'm also joining the Just Us Girls Challenge where it is to use Script, so my scripty sentiment fits the bill.

 

Happy Saturday!

Clean & Simple Critters

Somehow I managed to lose my entire container of Brayers somewhere in my studio.  I packed them up a week before vacation, so I would have them to take along, and then subsequently lost them.  This loss has led to a massive scavenger hunt through my studio, which has led to the discovery my many things (like the adorable Doodlebug Fall Friends Critter Stickers I used on my card), but so far still no Brayers.

I wanted to use some of the cool gel press prints and roll-offs that I made last weekend in my card, so I chose the AAA Cards Critter + Sketch Challenge to inspire my design.

 

 

I used one of my Alcohol Ink Prints from last weekend along the top and one of my alcohol ink roll-off papers for the grass landscape inside my circles (cleaning my alcohol ink covered brayer using blending solution and rolling it onto paper produces the coolest effect).

 

 

I created my little Critter scene using mushrooms, a ladybug, a birdie and two little bees from Doodlebug Fall Friends stickers.

I finished with an Graphic 45 Birdwatcher Border Sticker and a typed sentiment from Taylored Expressions Sketchbook Florals.