Ingenious Inkling

Manhole Cover Art

I'm thrilled to be Guest Designing for The Ink Pad NYC using the fabulous stencils by Michelle Ward available only at The Ink Pad in New York City.  I used Therm-o-Web Deco Foil Gel with the Michelle Ward Stencils.

The background for this card is the Michelle Ward Downtown NYC Map Stencil with Rainbow Foil.

 

 

Next I layered on the Michelle Ward Manhole Covers II with Silver Star Deco Foil.  I finished with letters cut with the Honey Bee Bee Bold Alphabet and a heart punch attached with foam tape.

The next card features more of that silver star foil with another Manhole Stencil from Michelle Ward Manhole Covers II.  The photo caught the cool iridescent effect of this foil and lets you see the stars a bit more on the bigger surface.

 

I added one of the smaller Michelle Ward Mini Manhole Stamps embossed with silver embossing powder and a great sentiment from Everyday Explorers Co Get It Girl stamp set.  I added a few tiny iridescent gems to finish.  The background paper is from Dress My Craft Dots 'n Stripes.

The next card features the other half of the Michelle Ward Downtown New York Map Stencil, this time foiled with Therm-o-Web Silver Shattered Glass Foil.

 

This Manhole Cover is from Michelle Ward NYC Manhole Cover Stencils foiled with Therm-o-Web Brutus Monroe Tide Pool foil.  I stamped another Michelle Ward Mini Manhole and embossed in silver matted the center with foam tape.  I finished with another great sentiment from the Everyday Explorers Co Get it Girl Stamp Set.

My final card is all about Rainbows.   the Michelle Ward NYC Manhole Cover was foiled with Therm-o-Web Decofoil Rainbow Foil and placed atop Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow paper.

 

The silver embossed Under Construction sentiment is from Michelle Ward's Mini Manhole Stamp Set.  The Stronger Together Sentiment is from Everyday Explorer Co Get It Girl Stamp Set.

Remember you can only get these Stencils from The Ink Pad ... and if you can't make it to New York to visit them in person at their new location, you can buy them in the online store (what are you waiting for ... go do some shopping).

Baby It's Gold Outside

We're still creating with GOLD (or other metals) at Jingle Belles this week.

I started with some foiled snowflakes from the Foil-a-palooza Lauren and I had in 2018.

 

 

I stamped, gold embossed & die cut a new Stampers Anonymous Swirly Snowflake that coordinated with the background perfectly.   

 

 

Then I topped it with the Big Snowflake Bling from Eyelet Outlet.

 

 

Using the Sketch Saturday Layout, I added some puffy gold leaves behind my sentiment and finished with some glittery enamel dots.

Golden Birthday Jubilee

When I saw the theme at Seize the Birthday was to add Gold, I knew I had to break out the laminator and do some foiling.

 

 

I used my Unity Stamp Company Toner Card Fronts with ... you guessed it ... gold foil.

 

 

Stamps are from Unity Stamp Company ... birthday jubilee.  I used the royal blue designer paper from yesterday's card to punch out some stars for my embellishments (using a sponge to ink the edges, so the white paper doesn't show).

 

Simple but fancy at the same time using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

 

 

And it's also Just Add Guys Week at Just Add Ink Challenge.

 

I Love the 80's

I am thrilled to be Guest Designing on the Jaded Blossom Blog again today featuring the August I Love the 80's release.

 

Today I chose to focus on the 80's Stencil with several different stenciling techniques.  The first is using Therm-o-Web Transfer Gel.  I usually apply the gel through my stencil before I go to bed, then it is nice and dry and ready to go by morning.  Otherwise it takes about an hour or so to dry, depending on how heavily you apply it.  I used watercolor paper as my base.

When it was dry, I ran it through my laminator using wonderful Therm-o-Web Rainbow Transfer Foil ... how cool is that fun design with the 80's Stencil.  I love that the design works from any direction.

 

 

For my layout I used this week's Paper Craft Crew Sketch.

 

I cut coordinating rainbow card strips and used the sentiment stamp from Love the 80's.  I added a touch of color to the stamp, and then cut out a second shooting star to use as the embellishment on the bottom left of the sentiment.  I added bright pink star gems to finish the design.

 

There are so many 80's friends that I could send this one too.

When you foil a background you are left with the negative of the design.  Since I could bear to let it go to waste, I applied 6" double stock tape to the back and attached it to white cardstock.  When I pulled away the clear overlay, it pulled away tiny bits of the foil, but I still loved the effect.  Since the open areas were now stick with the adhesive from the back, I sprinkled on clear glitter to fill them.

I used my diamond punch to punch out as many diamonds as I could from the 6" piece keeping them all facing the same direction.  Next I used adhesive to position my diamonds on a white card base hanging them slightly over the edges.

 

 

I added my favorite sentiment from Pump Up the Jam stamped no white cardstock and adhered with foam tape for dimension against the busy background.  I'm linking this card up at the Little Red Wagon Use a Stencil Challenge.

 

I finished with trios of rainbow gems.  I love how the "leftovers" turned out.

I hope these projects gave you some ideas about how you can try different techniques with the 80's Stencil from the "I Love the 80's" release ... and if you didn't catch my projects that I made for the release, you can find them at my blog Ingenious Inkling or my Instagram account.

 

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.

Rock On

Yesterday I read this article about Generation X and Quarantine, and most of it rang pretty true ... seriously, I used to read encyclopedias to entertain myself.

But the one thing that brought back the biggest flood of memories was the making of the perfect Mix Tape.  How I would hold my cassette tape player next to my bedside clock radio and try to hit record at the exact perfect moment when the DJ announced one of my favorite songs was going to play (and hope that my brother didn't come running through the room making noise) ... or setting the needle down on the record player and rushing to hit record before the song began. 

And how after high school, the perfect mix tape was one that lasted me through my drive to night classes at college and back (48 minutes each way) after a full day at the office ... and it was a bonus if it was something I could sing along with on that drive back home and keep myself awake.

So it was those memories that inspired today's card.  The Cardz 4 Guys Challenge is to use a Stencil (my foiled strip used a Stencil and Therm-o-Web Transfer Gel before applying Gina K. Designs Jelly Bean Green Foil) and the All Sorts Challenge is all about Men and Boys.

 

 

The stamp set is Mama Elephant's Rewind (it looks like it is discontinued, but they released a portion of the images under a new Mix Tape Set).

Addicted to CAS is code word Texture ... you can see the wonderful texture of the foiled Transfer Gel where the light is reflecting on the left.

 

 

And lastly, Simon Says Stamp is Anything Goes.

Are you mailing your cards?  This one is going in the mail along with others. Make sure you're taking this opportunity to send some positive vibes across the miles.

Studio Leftovers

I've been making myself clean my studio today ... I will feel much better when I can see the table tops and everything is relatively returned to its place.  I took a little break and decided to make a card with some of the bits, bobs and scraps that needed to be put away.

 

The February theme at the CAS Stencil Challenge is foil, so I used my new AlteNew Rounded Rectangle dies and cut the largest rectangle from a scrap of Spring Green Foiled stenciled leaves done with Decofoil Transfer Gel and a Leaf Stencil that was in my stash on my studio table from Foil-a-Palooza 2018.

 

Next I decided to use a small scrap of Alexandra Renke Rose Flower Arrangement paper for my focal image, so I incorporated the Fab Friday Sketch for my layout keeping lots of white space for a CAS design.  I used a clear sticker for my sentiment.

 

Now, time to get back to cleaning.

Makeover Monday - Happy Heart

For this week's Makover Monday I went back to October 2015 for this fun Taylored Expressions Card featuring Halloween Papers and Coffee using the Sketch & Inspiration from her now retired Share Joy Challenge.

 

Since the February #TEMaker Challenge at Taylored Expressions included a Heart (as well as Foiling & the color Red), it was the perfect Makeover subject.

I started by Die Cutting a Heart from some red foiled paper in my stash (it was done using a stencil of a Manhole Cover, Decofoil Stencil Gel and Red Foil from Foil-a-Palooza 2018 ... you can see it in the bottom middle).

Next I decided to swap the Coffee Cup & Sentiment for a Die Cut & sentiment from Taylored Expression Quick Critters (still one of my favorite sets after all these years).

 

 

Rather then insert the tiny die cut heart in the critter, I covered the opening with a larger puffy heart.  And of course, I had to also add some googly eyes (because somehow any critter card is always infinitely better with googly eyes).  I found a piece of designer paper with love across the bottom, so I built the rest of the card around that.

 

 

This little cutie will be going in the mail for another fun Galentine.

I'm also joining the Creatalicious Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes with Optional Hearts.

 

And the TGIF Challenge is all about Valentine's Day.

Therm-o-Web Rainbow

Therm-o-Web is having a Rainbow Challenge for World Card Making Day ... I'd love to win their entire collection of transfer sheets.

I took a page from the Jennifer Maguire Playbook and made a rainbow with scraps I had in my stash from Foil-a-palooza 2018.

 

Since I needed a card for Mail-it-Monday, I chose a favorite sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays Supercalifragilistic (and it's on sale) for their World Card Making Day Challenge.  Hopefully the rainbow of colors will brighten her day.

 

 

Trifecta of Fun!

The teams at Therm*O*Web, My Picket Fence, and My Sweet Petunia are all joining together today for a Trifecta of Fun.  

 

 

I started with a card that combines products from both companies ... the cool new Therm*O*Web Flock Transfer Sheets in Sunshine Yellow and A Sunny Day from Picket Fence Studios with the coordinating Die.

 

 

To make the background, I used Therm*O*Web Decofoil Transfer Gel with A Colorful Life Designs Rough Edge Circlezz Stencil.  I attached the stencil to my watercolor paper using the fabulous Pixie Spray (this stuff is magic) and then applied a thin layer of the transfer gel.

 

 

After about an hour, when the transfer gel is clear and dry, I placed the Sunshine Yellow Flock Sheet (cut slightly larger than the stenciled area) soft side down on top of the gel and then ran it through my laminator two times ... and voila.

 

 

The cool surprise was that I loved the remaining piece of the Flock Sheet almost more than the flocked water color paper, so I used them both for my card ... BONUS!

 

I used my MISTI to stamp Picket Fence Studios A Sunny Day in Gina K. Designs Black Amalgam Ink, so I could channel my inner Kathy Racoosin and color her with Spectrum Noir Markers and my new Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.  I finished with a sticker sentiment.

For my next cards, I used Picket Fence Stamps and some backgrounds I made playing with some Alcohol Pearl Inks ... love those color combinations.

 

 

My first card features Picket Fence Beautiful Girls - Isabella.  I used my MISTI to stamp her in vivid blue and then added a tiny paper flower to her hat.

 

 

For the bright hues, I used a fun set from Picket Fence called Sympathetic Unicorn (don't we all need more sympathetic unicorns in our lives).

 

I added a little pink sparkle to her horn & heart.

For Therm*O*Web I got to use some fun Designer Toner Sheets from Brutus Monroe called CrossHatch ... I paired it with Gina K. Designs gorgeous Glittering Green Fancy Foil ... will you look at how cool that looks in the light.  

 

I paired it with Cathy Zelske's Happy Hour stamps, because the gorgeous green reminded me of Margaritas.  And I used my My Sweet Petunia Cut-Align for that perfectly trimmed sentiment.

 

I just love all of that green goodness.

 

I'm also thinking about relaxing with my girlfriends and enjoying that Margarita, so I'm linking up at the Relaxation Challenge at TIME OUT Challenges (love how there's even a margarita on the challenge badge).

 

The pattern of the DecoFoil Sheet sort of minded me of a road, so my second card uses a fun running shoe sentiment ... so true for running and for so many other things in life.

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing all of the fun products from our Trifecta of Companies - Therm*O*Web, My Picket Fence, and My Sweet Petunia.  All three companies are giving away a $25.00 shopping spree, so make sure you leave comments on the design team blogs to join the fun.

Thermoweb Design Team

Jeanne Streiff

Giovana Smith

Stephanie Severin

Ilina Crouse

Kia Gibson-Clapper

Ceal Pritchett

Susan Wymer

My Sweet Petunia Design Team