Ingenious Inkling

Hey Boo

The newest challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to create a Halloween Card or alternatively create a card featuring colors usually associated with Halloween - Orange, Black, Green, Lime and/or Purple.

 

 

I built my card around this Essentials by Ellen Hey Boo Die Cut Sentiment, which I positioned on two layers of vellum.  I added some Doodlebug Design Shape Sprinkles Eye Balls to the *o*s.

 

 

I positioned the die cut onto a piece of ghosty paper from DCWV Monster Movie paper and finished with a Doodlebug Design Monster Madness Shape Sprinkle.

I'm also linking-up at the Patterned Paper Challenge at Simon Says.

I can't wait to see how you get spooky.

Inner Mermaid

I love the Beach ... but living in the landlocked Midwest, I seldom get to see it.

 

 

However, I do have a few beach stamps including Ellen Hutson's Inner Mermaid.

 

 

I used Catherine Pooler Champagne Metallic ink to stamp my seashell and starfish, which some textured handmade paper for my sandy ocean bottom.

I'm also linking-up at the Crafting Happiness Hot Hot Hot Challenge and the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers S is for Summer.

 

 

I'm also taking my beachy inspiration from The Paper Craft Crew Inspiration Challenge.

 

Winter Wonderland

The newest challenge at Shopping Our Stash is Winter Wonderland - creating cards with a winter landscape or an all white card.

 

 

 

I die cut lots of white snowflakes from Essentials by Ellen Snowflakes and attached them to my white card base using foam tape for a few of them for dimension.  

 

 

I die cut the Lawn Fawn Giant Let It Snow sentiment from silver-white glitter paper.  

 

 

I'm also joining the Simon Says Instagram Challenge of White-on-White.

I hope you'll break out your favorite winter white and join us.

Just For You Bokeh

When I saw the Sketch at AAA Cards Challenge, I knew I wanted to have some Bokeh fun.  I inked-up my well-loved Essentials by Ellen Bokeh Dots using the colors from the Just Us Girls Challenge (translated to Concord & 9th inks in Midnight, Clover and Oceanside) ... oops, just realized I was too late to link-up for the colors ... oh well, love them anyway.

 

 

I had fun getting all dotty.

 

 

I chose my sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Pure Magic for the CAS on Sunday Just for You Challenge.

 

Top 10 Favorites of 2023

Each year I enjoy taking a walk down memory lane and picking my Top 10 Favorite Non-Holiday cards of the year (you can see my 2022 Picks Here & my Top Five Holiday cards here).

Here are the cards I've chosen this year in to no particular order.

1.  This Mother's Day Daisy Card was for a Lawn Fawn Marbled Paper Challenge.  I love that all of the elements except the white outline of the daisy were made with my Gel Press ... it's always so fun to be able to create my own papers.  I also love how the background die cut texture and all of the white spatter helped pull the design together.

 

2.  This card was for "the letter B" Challenge at Shopping Our Stash.  I love it for several reasons ... it uses Ellen Hutson products (Ellen retirement of her store and stamps were one of the saddest things for me in 2023, but I also look back with great fondness on getting to enjoy drinks and laughter with her at Junkiefest, as well as how much I enjoyed designer with her programs) and that this card was one of the stars of my first (and likely only) card display at an art gallery for Valentine's Day.  It was such a great honor and so fun to have so many friends come and enjoy my exhibit.  Also, it's been another great year designing for Shopping Our Stash.

 

 

3.  Another Shopping Our Stash / Ellen Hutson combo also made the list.  This one was to make a card inspired by Pajamas ... and it turns out, also inspired by one of my favorite foods.  I love the allover layered stamping that gives it the feeling of a childhood book illustration together with the punny sentiment.

 

 

4.  This was my first year doing the month-long Index Card a Day (ICAD) Challenge.  Lauren does it every year, so this year I thought I would join the fun.  This one was for the X is for Xylophone Challenge and I was quite thrilled how it turned out like the Xylophone toy of my youth as well as the fun stamping with individual alphabet stamps.  I absolutely loved playing that thing and ended-up playing a real one in Junior High Marchin Band (theme from Ice Castles anyone?).

 

 

5.  I always love the artsy fun of building a collage, especially when I can incorporate lots of things that remind me of the recipient.  This one was also for one of my favorite challenges, the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers S is for Steampunk Challenge.  The gears were die cut from a rejected gelliprint, which helped me justify saving all of the "rejects" and the vintage Boy Scout book elements made me smile.

 

6. One of the highlights of 2023 was the opportunity to Guest Design for #staycraftychallenge with Hero Arts.  I had a lot of fun using die cuts & stamping to create this fun little village.  When I can find ways to stretch my stamps (in this case turning a flower into a shining sun) that always makes me happy.  I do miss all of my faraway friends & family.

 

 

7.  In 2023, I also had a ton of fun being the Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday.  This card was for the Fall Colors Challenge.  I die cut a large pile of leaves from my fall colored gelli prints and ended-up making quite a few of these clean & simple designs ... I just love when the perfection of CAS sings combined with the dimension of the gathered branches.  That kraft cardstock is a favorite, and I also love the tiny twine bow.

 

 

8.  This fun and snarky Miss Dee card reminds me of my wonderful trip to Alabama to finally meet my pen pal Beverly.  We had a fabulous time floating in her pool, creating fun inky backgrounds, coloring stamped images and even a little shopping (with a stop at my favorite Sonic).  I feel so blessed to have met so many wonderful people through this hobby of mine.  Also, how can you not love Miss Dee.

 

 

9.  I had fun making gift sets this year with this masculine abstract collage set that combined stamping, stencils and die cuts on my favorites list.

 

 

10.  My final card to round out the top 10 was a Color Hue Challenge Red & Gold.  I loved the effect of the tone-on-tone stamping in reds topped by glimmering gold including my favorite glimmer dots.

 

Coffee Blog Hop Lookback

Amy's hosting a Coffee Lover's Lookback Challenge, so I thought I would join the fun (oops, when I went to link-up I was too late).  Regardless, I had a lot of fun hunting for my cards and remembering making them.

 

This fun stenciled card was for the Fall 2016 Coffee Lover's Blog Hop with stamps from STAMPlorations.

 

 

Winter 2016 Blog Hop Card was also brought to you by STAMPlorations (and Eyelet Outlet).

 

 

The Spring 2017 Coffee Lover's Blog Hop was a study in Neon.

 

 

 

The Summer 2017 Coffee Lover's Blog Hop Card was bright and fun.

 

 

Looking back to the Fall 2017 Coffee Lover's Blog Hop, I look at this card and think about how I would do it different today (emboss that sentiment in gold to make it pop, but I was trying to stick with a color challenge).

 

 

 

Spring/Summer 2018 Blog Hop was this monochromatic design featuring images from STAMPlorations.

 

 

Spring/Summer 2019 Coffee Lover's Blog Hop is some gelliprint & STAMPlorations fun.

Fall/Winter 2019 Blog Hop used a favorite stamp from Technique Junkies that reminds me of my sister.

 

This one is the Spring/Summer Blog Hop in 2020 featuring stamps from Ellen Hutson and a recycled Coffee Box.

 

 

Another Spring/Summer 2020 Blog Hop Card was pure vintage goodness.

 

 

This one was from the Fall/Winter Blog Hop in 2020 using stickers from {a vintage girl} & her daughter.

 

 

I made a second card for the Fall/Winter 2020 Hop using the Coffee To Go Die Cut from Impression Obsession.

 

 

Spring/Summer 2021 Blog Hop featured a gelliprint & die cut from STAMPlorations.

 

I had a lot of fun for the Fall/Winter 2022 Blog Hop with Jaded Blossom.

 

 

Hot, Hot, Hot!

The newest Challenge at Shopping our Stash is Hot, Hot Hot! - you could make it weather related, grilling or even spicy food.  We just want you to shop your stash for what says HOT to you.

 

 

 

Since I just returned from a vacation to visit my crafty friend Bev to enjoy time floating in her pool in the Hot, Hot, Hot southern weather, that's what inspired by card.

 

I chose a gelliprint from my stash that reminded me of the beautiful blues of a swimming pool.  Then I used an oval die on kraft cardstock to die cut my pool.

 

I found a scrap of alcohol ink paper in my stash and used it to stamp images from a Never Been Used Stamp Set (NBUS) from Ellen Hutson Essentials by Ellen - Everything's Beachy. 

 

 

 

 

I stamped my lady on white cardstock and used coordinating colored pencils to bring her to life.

 

 

 

I finished by attaching all of the pieces to my card base and adding a stamped sentiment on the pool bottom from Ellen Hutson's Essential by Ellen Summer of Stamping Soak it Up Combo by Avery Elle.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Summer Challenge at Inspire. Create. Stamping Challenge.

#dyicad Week 8

Here we are at week 8 of daisy yellow #icad challenge.

 

 

Day 50 was a Note to Self.  I found some affirmation-like sticker quotes and attached them to one of my discarded gelliprinted index cards.

 

 

Day 51 was Topiary, but I wasn't feeling that, so I did an off-topic clean-up collage with scraps of gelliprints on a printed background.  I loved the contrast of orange & blue.

 

 

Day 52 was a weathervane.  I created my own with stickers & thought about the stupid-hot weather we've had this week.

 

 

Day 53 I did another off-topic card ... a trash collage.  I literally created a collage with things I pulled from my studio trash cans ... I loved the challenge of the experience.

 

 

Day 54 is Yahtzee ... a game we played a lot as kids.  I found a printable Yahtzee scorecard that I shrunk to fit on my index card.  I added some stickers from Simple Stories Family Fun Collection.

 

 

Day 55 Lemon or Lime (or in my case Lemon & Lime) was my favorite card of the week featuring Essentials by Ellen Squeeze the Day on a peachy orange library card.

 

 

Day 56 is winter.  I found a wintry feeling gelliprint and covered it with snowflakes punched from white cardstock.

 

 

Just a few more days to go and I will have completed 2 months of #icad2023.

Celebrating by the Numbers

It's our 500th Challenge at Shopping Our Stash (Wowza!) so we're Celebrating by the Numbers - make a celebration card that includes a number ... it might be a birthday, anniversary, or whatever you want to celebrate.

 

I decided to use the numbers on the new First Class Stamps from Essentials by Ellen.  I stamped four of them on a panel, and then I embellished with a number of stickers & added a little pink to the blooms.

 

 

The card base is a gelliprint topped by a strip of Alcohol ink paper.  It turned out a bit "busy" (probably should have skipped the cancles) but aren't all celebrations filled with lots of fun & details.

 

It's also Number Crunching at Seize the Birthday.

Please come join us & help celebrate this momentous achievement.

April Showers

April Showers is the current Challenge theme at Shopping Our Stash - Create a card that features a *Shower* element ... rain, umbrella, rainbow, clouds, puddles or a Baby Shower or Wedding Shower card.

 

 

I truly shopped my entire stash trying to find an umbrella.  Turns out, it's apparently not something that attracts me when I buy stamps.  I finally found one in Essentials by Ellen Bear Wear, so I continued to shop my Essentials by Ellen stash to build a little scene.

I started it by die cutting the Essentials by Ellen Birch Trees Cover Plate from a copper gelli print and attaching it to a scrap of blue designer paper from my scrap stash.    Since I built my card without really thinking where it was going to end-up, I realized after attaching the trees to the paper that I needed some raindrops to go with my Umbrella, so I used a stamp from Essentials by Ellen Organic Elements with some light blue ink.

 

 

I stamped & die cut the Bear from Essentials by Ellen All Inside together with his cute little chickie friend from Essentials by Ellen Sweet Spring Stamp & Die Combo.

I added some early spring blooms from Essentials by Ellen Nature Walk Stamp & Die Combo.  I finished with a rose foiled sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Way with Words and a few cut clouds before attaching to a yellow card base.

 

 

I'm also joining the Crafting Happiness Rainy Weather Challenge.

 

 

And the Double D Challenge is celebrating all things related to April Showers.