Ingenious Inkling

Change the Voices in Your Head

When I saw the current Fusion Card Challenge, I knew I wanted to play with Ink Sprays.

 

 

I used a variety of sprays on watercolor paper in purples, pinks and blues.  I couldn't quickly find a flourish in my stamps, so instead I stamped Hero Arts Three Ferns ... since it is a woodblock stamp, I had to go with the look of a single inking on the textured watercolor paper.

 

I added a wrap of blue ribbon and finished with one of my Pink Lyric Stickers which was inspired by the quote in the Inspiration photo.

The Bunny Trail

Even though I've already mailed the Easter cards I've made (I like to get them there early, so people have a bit of time prior to the holiday to enjoy or display them), I couldn't resist making another for the Impression Obsession Easter Fun! Challenge.

 

I die cut my three little Impression Obsession Bunnies from the cardstock colors from the Just Add Ink Challenge ... I added pearl bunny tails and tiny black gem eyes.

 

The layout and inspiration are from the current Fusion Card Challenge ... the adorable picture also inspired the bit of polka dot washi banner along the top.

 

I finished with a sticker sentiment (don't really have many Easter sentiment stamps in my stash).

 

Fusion Flowers

It's been a while since I broke out my Alexandra Renke drawer of goodies, so I decided to use them for the current Fusion Card Challenge.

 

I cut one inch strips of one of the Alexandra Renke Designer papers and framed them in Olive Cardstock using the Fusion Sketch.

 

I added three Alexandra Renke Flowers die cut from the same Olive Cardstock and finished with a sticker sentiment and some golden gems to pull in the gold from the inspiration cake.

It's also Repeat Impressions Anything Goes at the House that Stamps Built.

Heart Connection

The February theme at the Memory Box Outside the Box Challenge is Hearts ... so I started designing my card around the Memory Box Heart Connection Die Cut.

 

I took my inspiration from the Fusion Card Challenge, which also features open hearts.

 

Instead of black and red, I decided to use Maroon and navy ... but while I was looking for navy, I found a scrap of Navy & Green Gel Press Print, and decided to go with that instead.  I die cut the Memory Box Honeycomb Collage from white cardstock as an overlay.

 

I finished with a sentiment from Memory Box Big and Little Words and a few glittery enamel dots (because in the thousands of pieces of bling in my stash, there was no maroon).

 

Also joining Anything Goes with Dies at Happy Little Stampers.

Happy OWLidays

Tonight I wanted to combine the sketch from the Fusion Critter Challenge with the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge For the Birds Challenge (because birds are critters too).

 

And, to make it a little more fun, I'm using three of the colors from the Just Add Ink Challenge ... I used Bermuda Bay, Lovely Lipstick & Call Me Clover.

 

I found a piece of Christmas designer paper that has those three colors, so that's where my design started ... and one of the cool things about Art, is that your reality can be any color you want, so why not have a Bermuda Bay Christmas Owl created from Lawn Fawn Winter Owl ... with a coordinating paper-pieced scarf (of course).

 

Sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Simply Winter Sentiments.

 

One more holiday card ready to go.

Never Doubt Your Instinct

For some reason when I saw the forest of trees in the Fusion Winter Inspiration Photo, it reminded me of some Suminagasi - Japanese black and white hand-marbled paper I made several years ago.

 

I cut the half-circle from my marbled paper and attached it to a white card base.  I used a darker grey for the vertical piece in the sketch.

 

Next I wandered through my stamps looking for some trees ... but instead I found a Simon Says Stamp Picture Book Hippo Die that had never been opened.  Hippos are grey ... so I thought he would work perfectly.  I tried to get the contrast I wanted with different solid papers, but it wasn't working ... so instead, I die cut him from two colors of glitter paper.

 

Since he looked so wise, I thought the sentiment should be some bit of advice he might give ... and settled on this sticker sentiment.  I love where this card ended-up (and that I got to use some of my hand-made paper on a card).

I'm also linking-up at the Simon Says Stamp Lotsa Love Flickr Challenge ... because this is truly advice I would give to every one I love ... trust your instinct (aka your heart).

Pumpkin Inspired Wedding

For some reason, when I saw the current Fusion Card Challenge I thought WEDDING (could be because all of my Halloween Cards are already done & in the mail).

 

Black and white make an elegant wedding card.  I started with the wedding cake sticker and built my card around it.

 

I used some Echo Park Wedding Bliss paper, some texty Prima Flowers and a vintage wood block A Muse Sentiment.  I attached my texty paper to my 6 1/2" black card base intending to cut off the black edges, but ended-up liking how they framed the design.

Coffee ... Priceless

A sneak peak of the card I'm sharing at the Technique Junkies Blog today for the Fusion Card Challenge.

 

 

Remember, you can get 10% off your Technique Junkies order with my discount code TJ10Stephanie.

 

Falling Leaves

Growing-up, we had a huge Maple Tree in our back yard with a tire swing.  I would spend hours looking at all of the different color variations when the leaves starting turning in the fall. 

Our City was the home of the annual Maple Leaf Festival every October, so needless to say, I had the chance to examine lots of Maple Leaves throughout my life.  They are my favorite leaf in the fall, because they turn the entire range of colors depending on the tree and the weather conditions (I once wrote a paper for my college technical writing class on how leaves change color).

The current challenge theme at Impression Obsession is Falling Leaves.

 

As I searched through my stamped, I found this gorgeous Never-Been-Inked Layering Maple Leaf Set by Dina Kowal ... for my card is used the solid and the two bottom layers in Pineapple, Orange Blossom & Vermillion inks.

I started with my paper bag light kraft paper on my table and used my MISTI to layer the leaves.

 

I wanted to use some of my new goodies from my recent Impression Obsession win, so I die cut the Plaid Tag from a Sunflower designer paper and coordinating gold cardstock.

 

Next I stamped three sentiments from my new There For You Set (isn't that a great set of sentiments) using the same three colors of inks from my leaf layering and attached them using foam tape for dimension.

 

This card will be going across the miles to my new Chemo Angel Patient ... I'm so grateful to be able to make cards that hopefully brighten a day and provide encouragement during a challenging time.

 

I'm also joining the Autumn Challenge at Fusion Card Challenge with a loose variation of the sketch and all of those falling leaves.

Nature is also the theme at the Dies R Us Challenge.

Happiness Today & Always

The current Stock Your Stash Challenge at Reverse Confetti is all about Weddings ... but no obvious wedding cards in my stamp stash, so I had to get creative.

 

 

I pulled out several stamp sets and decided to combine the floral spray from Something Wonderful with one of the stamps from Circle Wishes.  I also used some pink designer paper from Reverse Confetti's Pattern Play Collection.

 

I stamped the flowers multiple times using my MISTI in London Fog ink on a piece of pink cardstock that was flecked with grey.  The sketch is from the current Fusion Card Challenge where the theme was family (perfect for a wedding card design).

 

I finished with lots of tiny bling to add some elegance to the design.