Ingenious Inkling

Christmas Quartet

At Jingle Belles this week we're still creating with leftover wrapping paper and tags.

Since I started cardmaking, a key element in choose wrapping paper is answering the question ... could I make a card with that (because at our house we pride ourselves in collecting things that have more than one purpose).  When I saw these cute little framed critters, I knew this holiday wrapping paper made the cut.  I mean seriously ... how cute is that fox with the figgy pudding and the reindeer in a sweater.

 

 

The frames were a little wonky, so I hand-cut them to keep that feel.  I finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Seasonal Greetings and a double-wrap of twine.

 

 

Makeover Monday

I love the idea of the January Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs ... Let's Reflect.  The Challenge is to take a card you've made the last year and create a do-over.  I think this is an idea I may adopt for my blog this year.  I posted my first card online in November 2006, so I've got a ton of cards that would be eligible for Makeover treatment.

I started with this card from May 2019 using Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters, Mini Wishes Stamp set and the Wishes Die.

 

I wanted to keep the monochromatic palette, the all-over leaf stamping and the die cut from foam in my new design (I also kept the enamel dots and die cut leaves by the time I had finished).

I pulled out my Memory MISTI which makes it easier to stamp off all the edges of the 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of cardstock.  I stamped with Gina K. Designs Lucky Clover Ink (I treated myself to her entire Ink Collection during the holiday sales ... now to get all the cardstock).  I used all three leaf stamps from the set again, stamping them in groups of three to fill the cardstock.

I folded the card and stamped two more of the leaves to die cut for accents.  I also die cut the Wishes from Foam ... but this time I used Green Glitter Foam.

 

For this card I used coordinated enamel dots instead of the contrasting white I used in the first design.  I attached the second bunch of leaves with foam tape for dimension.

 

What a fun design exercise (not to mention the fun of having another version of a card I loved).

Brilliant Blue Snowflake

My crafty friends and I have been talking about how our rate of acquiring art supplies the past few months has well exceeded our rate of using them.  My friend Sam threw down a Use My stuff Challenge to use those products to make a some birthday cards, so you have them ready to send in the upcoming months.  

I also wanted to join the CAS Stencil Challenge to use a new Stencil. 

 

I picked up several new Gina K. Designs Stencils and new colors of Glitz Glitter Gel, so I wanted to break them out.  Seriously, how gorgeous is that Brilliant Blue Glitz Glitter Gel with the Stellar Snowflake Stencil.  I like to use watercolor paper as my base, because for me the sturdier paper works better for stenciling the gel.

 

Since it was a CAS challenge, I resisted the urge to add a big more bling and just let the snowflake shine.

I wanted a vertical sentiment and I didn't have a Gina K. Birthday sentiment that was thin enough to let the Snowflake be the star of the show ... so I used Winter Wishes from the Gina K. Designs Seasonal Greetings Set and I'll stamp the birthday sentiment on the inside (that way the recipient can display it for a longer time if they want to).

 

 

It's also Snowflakes at the Just Us Girls Challenge this week (and their graphic is even a similar blue).

 

Lastly, the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is also about Something New.

My 10 Favorites of 2019

Each year I like to go back and revisit all the art I made and choose my ten favorites from the group (You can see my Five Favorite Holiday Cards of 2019 here) ... here are my favorites in no particular order.  I found it a little challenging to narrow down the group this year, which I suppose is a good thing ... here's to another year of creating projects I love.

1. This card was for the January Blog Hop with My Sweet Petunia and My Favorite Things.  I loved designing for My Sweet Petunia ... and how the various blog hops often pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I also loved being able to incorporate my Gel Press prints into cards ... this one did both.  I want to do more smaller prints this year.

 

 

2.  I took a fused glass class in February from a new Instructor and really enjoyed the experience.  He held the class in his home studio in his basement, so I got more hands-on experience with things than I did in the professional studio.  I loved this cool dichroic glass bracelet, earrings and pendants that I made.   It was a bright light in the midst of our home flooding due to frozen pipes next door and the subsequent weeks of repair.

 

 

3. I love the texture and variety in this card for the SplitCoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge.  I love collecting vintage items ... but I love using them on my cards even more.

 

 

4. This card for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Ombre Challenge still makes me laugh ... so grateful for Ink Road Stamps ... and clean & simple monochromatic designs.

 

 

5.  I loved taking a class from Alexandra Renke at JunkieFest and getting to design with her gorgeous products this year.  I also love that I was able to incorporate my Gel Press prints into this design.

 

 

6. Grateful to have had another year designing for Technique Junkies ... I loved how this paper-pieced dogwood card with Shimmering Bliss Sprays turned out ... the Dogwood is the state tree of Missouri, so it always reminds me of the arrival of Spring during my childhood.

 

 

7. This card was for a Stamping Friends Trifecta with My Sweet Petunia, Gina K. Designs and Picket Fence Studios.  I was so grateful to have the opportunity to design for My Sweet Petunia and all of the other great companies that partnered with our team ... such a blessing (and I adore Gina K.'s cardstock and colors).

 

 

8.  Love this card made with the Inspiration Colors from Butterfly Reflections Ink ... and great stamps from Avery Elle ... this card still make me happy.

 

 

9. This card was created as a Guest Designer for the Feeling Sketchy Challenge Blog and combined digital images with the coloring techniques that I learned from Kathy Racoosin at JunkieFest ... loved how combining coloring with markers and pencils turned out.

 

10.  This card was made for a Guest Designer as Die Cuts With a View Sketch Challenge ... I love how all of the papers and stamps work together in this design.

 

 

Here's to another year of fun in the studio.

Five Favorite Christmas Cards - 2019

Since Lauren & I started Jingle Belles in 2010, I've been recapping my five favorite Christmas cards of the year (you can find 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, & 2018 here) ... I always enjoy revisiting my creations for the year.

Here they are in no particular order:

1.  This card is from May 2019 for our Jingle Belles Very Vintage Christmas Prompt ... I really love how all the vintage elements work together, especially the four different kinds of vintage trading stamps and a dictionary page.  I collect way more vintage stuff than I use ... so it was fun to get a lot of favorites together on a card.

 

 

2.  This card features Pantone's Color of the Year - Coral fpr gina k. designs Monthly Mix Challenge.  It reminds me that despite being flooded out of my home ... and creating in borrowed space (thanks Laura), I could still make beautiful things (which is pretty much how I kept it all together).  Love Gina K.  Love her stamps.

 

3. I have a bit of a *thing* for Yetis ... they always make me smile and they are scattered throughout my house.  I fell more in love with Hello Bluebird stamps this year and this Yeti or Not set was a favorite ... love all of the fun little accessories (including the tiny snowflake which is perfect to help hide any boo boos).

 

4. This vintage car die cut makes me smile ... and the fact that multiple elements are recycled also makes me smile ... this card reminds me of picking out the Christmas Tree each year.

 

 

5. This card was inspired by the gorgeous blog banner that Lauren made for us at Jingle Belles.  This will be our 10th Year making Christmas Cards together ... and it's just as fun today (maybe even more fun).  I am so grateful that this hobby gave me one of my best friends, and that I continue to have the pleasure of being inspired by her ... channeling my inner Lauren often results in cards I love (so clearly I should do it more often).

 

As always, hard to pick favorites, but also fun re-visiting all the holiday cards I made (and gave) this year.  Remember, if you'd like to have lots of holiday cards ready when December rolls around, you can join us for our 10th year of Jingle Belles Mayhem beginning January 1st

Let It Snow

Today's Christmas Carol at Day 8 of the 12 Days of Christmas Tags is Let it Snow. 

I love living in an area where we have snow ... I don't always love navigating through it, but it's so pretty when it falls.  I chose Ardyth's snowy tag as my inspiration ... she used ebony for contrast and I chose navy. 

I love the Essentials by Ellen Shipping Tags.

 

 

I had this sparkly felt snowflake in my stash and it paired perfect with this sticker sentiment I trimmed into two pieces.  I topped the snowflake with some Eyelet Outlet Bumpy Bling.

 

I paired it with some Gina K. Designs Blizzard paper for a quick card design (we're making cards for the nursing homes at a work outing this week, so I'm getting a head start with these easy little tag cards).

 

Monthly Mix Christmas Tag

The Gina K. Designs Monthly Mix Challenge is to make a Tag ... so I knew I wanted to use Gina's stamps to make a card for Day 2 of the Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas Challenge.  I chose Sandy Allnock's lovely tag for the song Joy to the World as my inspiration.  She chose traditional Christmas greenery to inspire her design.

 

Instead of Holly, I chose to create with Gina K. Designs' Clear Mini Stamps - Winter Flower.  I stamped the poinsettia on red cardstock with black ink and clear embossed to help it pop a bit.  Then I added golden yellow gems to the flower center.

 

 

I used the two leaves stamped in dark green cardstock on my die cut Shipping Tag to create the tag base.  I finished with two coordinating holiday ribbons.

 

It's also Anything Goes! at Just Us Girls.

25 Days of Christmas Tags - Take 1

I must have been sleeping under a rock, but somehow I did not know about Tracy's 25 Days of Christmas Tags ... but I'm not missing out this year.

I started with Day 1 and made a tag inspired by this Tag by Laurie Willison.

 

I started with a Tag cut using the Shipping Tags Dies from Essentials by Ellen on Watercolor cardstock.  Then I used the same Stamping Village Holiday Seals Stamp Set, but used the Circle Sentiment by Gina K. Designs

 

Since my tag was smaller, I only used one row of washi tape ... I liked the combination of pink and deep red.   I was also inspired by flipping the sketch at the TGIF Challenges.

 

 

I added a single piece of pink bling to the center of my Christmas bloom and finished with my favorite pink ribbon.

 

And since we don't really give or wrap Christmas gifts, I turned the sweet little tag into a Christmas Card that can send love across the miles.  The floral embossing folder reminded me of the pattern of the flower on the tag.

MISTI Masked Stencils

I'm sharing a Masked Stencil Technique at the My Sweet Petunia Blog today using both ink & Gina K. Designs Glitz Glittery Gel ... come visit me.

 

 

 

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