Ingenious Inkling

UPCycle Butterflies

When I saw this week's CPS Sketch, I knew it was the perfect layout for the three remaining Jenni Bowlin butterflies that were on my studio table.

I combined them with Cosmo Cricket UPCycle polka dots, Core'dinations cardstock, a tiny sentiment from CatsLife Press, and a gorgeous Zva Creative Pearl Flourish.

The card was inspired by this wonderful Patchwork Tote from Think Fast Designs, this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge.

This will likely be one of the Mother's Day cards I send out this year ... I love sending lots of cards to the many wonderful mothers in my life.  Are there mothers in your life who would love to receive a card from you reminding them how special they are?

Secret Gate

This week's store at the Etsy Inspired Challenge is Fresh Metal Jewelry, a shop filled with fabulous statement necklaces.  I chose this Dahlia Fabric Flower Statement Bib Necklace in blacks and greys to inspire my card.

The necklace reminded me of the wonderful black flower ribbon I ran across the bottom of my card.  The streetscape image and sentiment are from a new set from Artistic Outpost called Windows & Doors.  To create my glowing moon, I punched a 1 1/4" circle and used it as a mask.  I sponged Yellow Citrus chalk ink for the base, and then added white & grey for shading.

Bloom Where You're Planted

It's been a while since I've played along with my friends at Etsy Inspired, so I thought I would check it out this week ... lots of fun purses, wallets and bags from Doll Birdies.

This fun little Pacifier Pyramid inspired by design. The fabric reminded me of the new Bo Bunny Ad Lib Collection.

I also used this week's Limelight Paper Sketch, which requires you to incorporate some green.

The floral design in the fabric patterns inspired me to use my Bloom & Grow stamps from Artistic Outpost.  I stamped the image on green DP and then again on yellow DP to paper piece my marigolds.  I also stamped a tiny worker bee and sentiment from the set.

I finished with a few wraps of chocolate twine tied in a bow and some Memory Box Daffodil Pearls.

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ LingGlass

I have had such an awesome time designing for the Etsy Inspired Challenge the last six months ... I am stepping down after this term to pursue some very exciting new adventures in 2011 (stay tuned for upcoming news).  

My final challenge as part of the design team comes from the gorgeous glass creations of LingGlass.  I chose this lovely yellow stained glass pendant to inspire my card.

I also used this week's Corrosive Challenge Blog Sketch together with Queen Bee papers from Pink Paislee and a Sympathy Sentiment from JustRite Designs.  I also added a Queen Bee clear borderlines sticker along the bottom & a few twinkle gems to the flower centers.

 

Our sponsor this week is Wilson Designs Stamps, which are high quality photopolymer clear stamps made in the USA.  Kim is offering $2.50 shipping if you mention you came from my blog in your purchase description.  She will refund the extra after you check out. 

It's another two prize week ... one luck winner will win the Snowy Wishes stamp set from Wilson Designs & another will get a $10 gift certificate for LingGlass.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team members and see their wonderful LingGlass inspired creations & use keyword EIC119 if you upload to any galleries.

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Laurel (December Guest Designer)

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ Tzaddi Shop

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge stores has been a favorite of mine for a long time ~ Tzaddi Shop (jewelry) and Tzaddi Home (coasters and wall-hangings).  

I own several of her necklaces, and every single time I wear one someone comments on how beautiful it is or asks where I bought it.  They have such amazing detail from the double-sided image to the accents added to the chain and clasp.  It is my go-to store when I want to buy a gift for someone special.

My first card was inspired by these gorgeous Tree of Life Decoupaged Coasters.  I loved the dark tree silhouette against the burning orange sky.

 I stamped a PSX tree (date on the stamp says 1999 ... I remember the day I bought it and still love it today) in India Ink on K&Company Que Sera Sera paper.  I stamped a Floral Flourish from Paper Inspirations to the four corners and finished with a block sentiment on the bottom right.

I scored the edges in 1/2" and rubbed on some Pumpkin Spice ink to bring out the scored lines.

The next card is inspired by these fabulous Vintage Paris Coasters in Parisian Pink.  I wanted to try to create a similar collage effect as seen in the one with the Eiffel Tower.

I started with my Eiffel Tower stamp from Artistic Outpost's Paris Exposition stamped in Maroon Chalk ink on pink snowflake paper from Webster's Pages.  Next I added the balloon from the same set instead of the birds in the sky.  The small trees on the left are from Artistic Outpost's Home Plate and the reedy grass on the right is from Artistic Outpost's Keeper set.

I finished by stamping the small floral image from Artistic Outpost's Birds of a Feather along the bottom to tie all of the different images together.  Both sentiments are from Paris Exposition.

TzaddiShop & TzaddiHome are graciously offering 15% off at either store; just use TZContest15 when you check out & she will send you a revised invoice & refund you the difference (whichever you prefer).  And if you buy from both stores, the shipping on any jewelry is free.  She will also guaranty shipping for Christmas in the US if ordering from Tzaddishop through December 20th and TzaddiHome through December 18th.

And ... two lucky participants in this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge will also win a $35.00 gift certificate to TzaddiShop and a $25.00 gift certificate to TzaddiHome.

The sponsor of this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge is Scrap Guild & Scrapin' Covers.  Clare makes wonderful fabric covers for your Pazzles or Cricuit Machines & will award a $15 gift certificate to either of her shops to one lucky Challenge participant.

There are some seriously awesome prizes up for grabs this week ... can't wait to see what you create.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team members and see their wonderful TzaddiShop inspired creations & use keyword EIC118 if you upload to any galleries.

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Laurel (December Guest Designer)

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ Paper Seeds

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge comes from a fun store called Paper Seeds.  Stacey loves creating and has made lots of wonderful items to inspire you (you can check out her blog here).

I chose several items to inspire me this week.  I loved the wonderful shades of blue found in this Blue and Green Paper Design called Grooves of Change.

I was also inspired by the hints of text showing through in this Upcycled Red Bottle Vase.

This week's Challenge is Sponsored by Digis With Attitude and the design team got to create with this wintry version of Grumpy Gretchen called Santa's Helper.  My sketch is for the current PageMaps Sketch Contest.  I expanded it to an 8"x4" design to accommodate my digital image.

Gretchen was printed on Basic Grey Basic's Manila Paper and colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  I layered her with some texty Basic Grey Blizzard paper from the Jovial collection (the snowflake row across the top is the reverse side of the same paper) and  rows of layered paper tape using turquoise and Tim Holtz Tidings Tissue Tape on top (for a bit more contrast than I was getting by applying the snowflake tape directly to the paper.

I finished with some metallic silver cord, a vellum punched snowflake embellished with a turquoise pearl, and a sentiment from CatsLife Press that seemed perfect for the look on Gretchen's face.

Digi's with Attitude is also hosting a very fun Blog Hop with the designers from Drunken Stampers Challenge Blog to make a card with Office Party as the theme or make a card for someone at your office (I can think of a few people at work who will appreciate a little Fa La La La La La ... and they have a fun Free Image you can use too.  This card is also for the Stamp Something Challenge to use a favorite holiday color combo ... love turquoise and silver.

If you join the Etsy Inspired Challenge fun this week, you'll have a chance to win an Upcycled Brown & Orange Butterfly Bud Vase with Wish Flowers from Paper Seeds or a $10 Gift Voucher to add some of the fun Digis With Attitude to your stamp collection.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team Member blogs to check out their inspired creations & use keyword EIC117 if you upload to a gallery:

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Laurel (December Guest Designer)

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ Heartsong

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge comes from Heartsong Fine Art, which features art created by physican turned artist, Laura Koniver.  Laura's passion is creating art that reconnects you to well-being.  She also offers on-line Health e-courses that do the same thing ... remind your spirit of its innate connection to health and healing (you can see Course Descriptions here & Blog here).  Laura believes that health and well-being are available to us at all times.   She's also offering a 20% discount in the store for Etsy Inspired followers ... just use the coupon code INSPIRED at checkout

I chose her beautiful bottle garland kit to inspire my design.  

This week's sponsor is Karber Digital Designs and they gave the team this wonderful Butterflies image to work with this week.

I used clipping masks to digitally paper piece my image and background and then added highlights with colored pencils after printing. I stamped the sentiment and little bird (which is also paper pieced with yellow DP) from Kim Hughes' Forest Friendzy to complete my design.

One lucky winner for this week's challenge will win two free digital images of your choice from Karber Digital Designs.  Another will win this lovely box of Fine Art Notecards from Heartsong.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team Member blogs to check out their inspired creations & use keyword EIC116 if you upload to a gallery:

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Angie (November Guest Designer)

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ Queen of Arts Cakes

The two sponsors for this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge are a match made in "square" heaven.  Queen of Arts Cakes makes amazing cakes & lots of fun "square" cookies & edible wafer paper to decorate "square" cookies.  Inchie Arts makes fabulous artist-grade matte-board "squares" (in 3 sizes and 7 colors) that are also perfect for decorating & they shared some with our Etsy Inspired Design Team, so we could try them out (and I'll warn you ahead of time, I went a little Inchie-crazy ... love these).  

We are challenging you to use squares in your Etsy Inspired design this week.

My first few cards were inspired by these fun little 1" square vintage holiday wafer images.

I had some fun cut-outs & a sentiment sticker from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage that work so perfectly with the Inchie squares.  The first card uses this great Inchie Sketch from Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom together ivory Inchies & Memory Box Holiday papers.  This card is also for the We Three ... Challenge at Daring Cardmakers to use three of something in your design and for the Something Completely Different Challenge to use numbers in your design.

My next card combines this week's CPS Sketch with another Heartwarming Vintage sticker on an Ivory Twinchie (2") square.  I love how the Twinchies square adds wonderful dimension to the design.  The corners are stamped with a Flower Scroll Corner from Inkadadinkado & accented with Martha Stewart Pearls.  The red paper is My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly.  This card is also uses circles in the design for this week's Crazy 4 Challenges.

My next card was inspired by these amazing Vintage Bird Printed Cookies.

I used this week's Sketch from Twisted Sketches together with Butterflies & Birds from Inkadinkado, more yummy Memory Box holiday papers, and a white sticker sentiment from SRM Stickers.  I love how these squares take the chalk ink ... such perfect coverage and deep color.

This bird-inspired card features a grey Inchie which is perfect for another small postage-stamp image from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage and ... you got it ... more Memory Box papers & an SRM Sticker sentiment (when you're as behind on holiday card making as I am, I say if it ain't broke don't fix it).  I added a border punch and wrap of grey Scrapper's Floss & use this Sketch from Inchie Inklings.  This card is inspired by the red, green & gold color scheme; holly leaves; and Christmas design of this week's Cupcake Inspiration.

My final Inchie creation was inspired by these wonderful Victorian Christmas Wafer Papers.

I used the same Inchie Sketch, but this time on Ivory cardstock with an Ivory Inchie and these sweet little holiday angels.  Paper is Memory Box and sentiment stamp is from A Muse.

Be sure to check out the All In An Inch Blog for all sorts of Inchie Inspiration.

If you decide to join us for some "square"-fun at the Etsy Inspired Challenge this week, there are two fabulous prizes up for grabs.  Queen of Arts Cakes will be giving away free holiday edible images on wafer paper for home bakers to make their own Christmas cookies at home using one dozen unique images.  She will also include a written tutorial on how to apply to sugar cookies that the winner can make at home, along with a recommended sugar cookie recipe and royal icing recipe.

Inchie Arts will be providing a fabulous prize package valued at $25.00.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team Member blogs to check out their inspired creations & use keyword EIC115 if you upload to a gallery:

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Angie (November Guest Designer)

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ Happy Day Designs

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge comes from the fabulous jewelry store of Happy Day Designs.  Elina's jewelry comes from her passion for colors and all the beautiful compositions they can make together.  

I used the vibrant blues, reds, and browns from this beautiful Carnival Bracelet to inspire my design.  It also works for Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge to create a holiday card with non-traditional holiday colors.

I started by stamping Hero Arts Holly Flourish in chocolate on light blue cardstock (because for me, one of the best things about the holidays are the chocolates).  I rounded the corners and attached it to the red card base.

Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly paper was die cut with the Sizzix Ornate Frame Back #3 before adding a Jolly by Golly journaling card that was stamped with the {merry everything} sentiment from CatsLife Press.  This card also works for the Anything Goes Challenge at Cute Card Thursday.

This week's challenge sponsor is Whiff of Joy Stamps.  And they don't just make stamps ... I also love their awesome die cuts, especially these elegant snowflakes.  I love Cardinals and this Winter Buddies stamp is just too cute.  One winner of this week's challenge will get to pick out a stamp of their choice.

Another winner will receive this beautiful Kiwi Jade Necklace on a sterling silver chain from Happy Day Designs.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team Member blogs to check out their inspired creations & use keyword EIC114 if you upload to a gallery:

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Angie (November Guest Designer)

 

Etsy Inspired Challenge ~ PutuPrincess Escapes

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge comes from the fabulous t-shirt designs of PutuPrincess Escapes, which is named after Putu , an adorable dog rescued from a miserable life of abuse and neglect. Her escape and enduring good nature are the inspiration for PutuPrincess Escapes.

I chose this Wise Little Owl stenciled t-shirt as my inspiration using a cute Owlie Digital Image from this week's Challenge Sponsor Some Odd Girl.

I started by using digital paper-piecing on the owl with papers from Designer Digitals.  I added a frame from Spencer Nugent's Sketchy Elements Vol. 1.  After printing the image, I used colored pencils on the frame's flowers and leaves.

I finished with a stamped sentiment from Hero Arts.

As always, there are some awesome prizes up for grabs if you join us for this week's challenge. One winner will get an in-stock t-shirt of their choice from PutuPrincess Escapes.  Another will win thee digital images of their choice from Some Odd Girl ... make sure you check out their very fun Creatures.

Make sure you stop by the other Design Team Member blogs to check out their inspired creations & use keyword EIC113 if you upload to a gallery:

Ashley

De

Emily B

Emily N

Joy

Kerry

Savannah

Virginia

Angie (November Guest Designer)