Ingenious Inkling

Caffeinated Christmas with Hearts

I'm thrilled to be Guest Designing for the February Caffeinated Christmas Challenge, which is all about Hearts.

 

 

I used the fun little Honey Bee Stamps Heart Hugs Honey Cuts Dies.  I added some googly eyes and in addition to the heart, a cup of coffee from Honey Bee Penny the Platypus.  I decorated the Cup with the tiny heart stamp from Honey Bee Stamps Let it Snow.

 

 

I finished with a bit of stamp surgery combining the Merry from Let it Snow and Christmas from Honey Bee Stamps Gnome Place Like Home.

And you know I needed a Coffee Sentiment, and I found one in Honey Bee Stamps Blah, Blah, Blah.

Top 10 Cards of 2024

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 2023 Picks Here & my Top Five Holiday cards here).

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

1.  I love the bold graphic design feel of this striped card for the Time Out Challenge paired with the ombre sentiment.  I love this color combination too.

 

 

2.   This Unity Stamp Company card was one of a series that combined multiple things I loved ... stamping on designer paper and adding ink to bring the images to life.   I loved how changing the colors produced a completely different look.

 

 

3.  While I've always titled this post card, I really should change it to art, since I share non-card favorites. I had so much fun at the Whimsical Women Art Retreat in Florida with my friend Cyndie.  One of my favorite projects from the retreat was this fabric collaged tote bag.  We got to "shop" scraps of fabric for the project.  I built my design around a piece of fabric with color squares.  I detail cut out buttons and fish that I layered with star fish and other sea-themed fabrics that continue to remind me of the joy of creating at that event.

 

 

4.   I always love a good snarky card and this one I made for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers still makes me snicker.  I also love ice cream cones because they remind me of my Papa who would take us to the Dairy Mart, where he would let me get a double cone.  I love how I was able to make a waffle cone heart accent.

 

 

5.  I love this Life of the Party Saturday Sketch Card for many reasons.  The color combination is a favorite, particularly the strong orange-forward design and the bokeh background (and the reminder that I often think I'm making a challenge card until I go to post and realize I didn't read the instructions clearly).  It features coloring with alcohol markers that I don't do nearly enough.  And it features Dee, who was gifted to me by my crafty friend Bev (who graciously shares her home and fabulous swimming pool with me ... not to mention the wonderful company of her and her fabulous family.

 

 

6.  This was my participation in a community-wide Tiny Art public art show at the various libraries, that was then moved to the Art Museum.   I had fun creating a glue-as-I-go collage starting with a Gelliarts printed transparency from my stash.  I added two different vintage trading stamps, translucent blooms, butterflies, words, dots of gold, and gold hearts.   I was proud of myself for putting my art out there in the public space ... and even prouder when I went to pick it up, having the library employees tell me it had been their favorite.

 

 

7. I have been paper crafting friends with Erum who designs for AlteNew for over 20 years (which seems crazy as I think about it) and I am always in awe of her creating talent.  I want to create with AlteNew products, but I always feel like they require more time, effort and skills than I have to do them justice.  However, having said that, I loved how this AlteNew card turned out where I stamped on pink cardstock and added ink to add dimension.

 

 

8.  One of my favorite things about being a cardmaker, is being able to make cards that are specific to the recipient.  This collaged birthday card for a friend featured lots of his favorite things and even has his initials in Scrabble tiles (a favorite game).

 

 

9.  As you've seen in several examples above, I love creating my own papers.  This card features paper I made using Lindy's Gang powdered watercolor for both the background and the adorable Moose accessories.  It also features a Moose with eyeball stickers wearing glasses, which makes me smile.

 

 

10. And my final card of my 2024 list is a Mixed Media Collage using four different GelliArts prints together with rub-ons, trading stamps, and an image from Sande Poema's Cardmaking Community, which I've enjoyed participating in this year.

 

 

I hope you've had as much fun as I have walking down art making memory lane of 2024.  

Holiday Thanks

I made another Thank You card with holiday paper strips, this time covering the entire card front with Scrapbook.com Merry Papers and adding the Honey Bee Large Thanks Die Cut.

 

 

I'm linking-up at Crafting Happiness where the theme is Candy Canes.  If you look closely, you'll see that two of the papers I used have actual candy canes on them (dark pink & the red) as well as candy cane stripes on several other papers.

 

 

I also took inspiration from the photo at the Inspired by Challenge with the combination of Red & Pink and the fun candy cane stripes.

Nature Sympathy

I wanted to use the Addicted to CAS Code Word Nature Challenge for a Sympathy Card.

 

 

I found a few postage stamps in my collection with some butterflies, one of my favorite things to experience in nature.  I paired them with the layout at Sketch ~N~ Scrap adding some CAS spatter with Winterberry Distress Mica Stain,

 

 

Sympathy sentiment is from Honey Bee Stamps Inside Stamps: Comfort.  I finished with a couple of gems (keeping embellishments to a minimum to qualify as CAS).

 

Stenciled Sympathy

I needed to restock some sympathy cards, so I started with one of the brick stenciled backgrounds I believe I made last year during my Alabama crafty getaway using pigment powders and sprayed water my stencil.

I die cut it with the Dare 2B Artzy Rectangle Slimline Die Cut, so I could get two panels from my stenciled piece.  I then cut them a second time to shorten the panels for an A2 card size.

For the first one I paired it with some 49 and Market Color Swatch Blossom Acetate Leaves and an acetate butterfly.

 

I die cut the sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps Inside Sentiments Comfort, so I could nestle it into the panel.

 

 

I'm linking-up at the Simon Says: Anything Goes Challenge and the Inkspirational Use Stencils Challenge.

For the second card, I die cut the Memory Box Pretty Blossom Stem from Sage Cardstock and then a second time from Light Pink Cardstock for the blooms.

 

 

I added some white pearls to the flower sentiments and finished with a sentiment from Memory Box Best Life Typewriter Sentiments using the same die cutting process to add it to the stenciled panel.

 

 

I'm linking-up at the Just Us Girls Anything Goes Stencil Challenge and the Creatalicious Anything Goes Challenge with an Optional theme of Pastels.

Ice Cream Snark

It's been a while since I joined the fine Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, so after the week I've had, I decided today was the perfect day for a little Snark & Ice Cream with some D is for Die Cuts.

 

 

I also took my inspiration from the TGIF Challenges Sweet Treat theme and image.

 

 

I die cut three scoops of ice cream using the Honey Bee Lovely Layers Cupcakes & More Honey Cuts and three of the four flavors from the inspiration image.  I added a bit of ink to each to bring out the dimension.  

I also die cut the ice cream cone twice (a second time to punch the heart) and I used two of the birthday candle die cuts to create the rolled wafer stuck into one of the ice cream scoops as well as the chips of chocolate.

 

 

I finished with a snarky sentiment that also reflects how I feel like I ate today and positioned it on fun rainbow paper from Simple Stories Oh Happy Day.

With all of the layers on this card, I'm also linking-up at the Layer It Up! Challenge at Little Red Wagon.

Serenity Thank You

I started today's card with inspiration from the TGIF Gratitude Inspiration Challenge.

 

 

I used kraft inspired by the woodgrain and Vintage Artistry Serenity Washi Tape from 49 and Market for the flowers.

 

 

I added a sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps set for the Crop & Create Delivered Spring 2023 event.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Thanks/Thanksgiving Challenge.

Feather Sympathy

The November Challenge at The Male Room is Feathers.

 

 

For some reason, I always associate feathers with sympathy.  I used a feather sticker with a sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps Inside Sentiment: Comfort (that I chose to use on the outside) on a light yellow textured card base.

 

 

I always like to have a stash of sympathy cards on hand because i never feel like making one when I need it.

Welcome

Today I had an request to make a masculine welcome card to give to a new employee.  I searched through my stamps to find one that said "welcome" ... but found none (other than a few "welcome little one" stamps for baby cards).

So what's a person to do ... Honey Bee Stamps Bee Bold Alphabet Honey Cuts to the rescue.

 

I die cut the letters from black cardstock & combined them with some masculine designer paper for a slimline card.  

 

 

I'm linking-up at the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

STAMPlorations Snark

I just returned from a long crafting weekend with friends (post to follow once I get the group photo), and I tried to plan better than I did last time (bringing fewer things I didn't use and focusing on things I can do while visiting).

I chose to use markers and watercolor paints to create some backgrounds.  I also used my watercolors to paint some ATC sized prints from STAMPlorations.  I paired them with the coordinating sentiments by Chris Dring for STAMPlorations.

For the first one, I'm linking-up at Make My Monday which is P is for ... in this case, P is for Paradise & Painting.

 

The second card is another painted ATC and sentiment pairing ... she needs to apply a bit more sunscreen I believe.  I added a few PinkFresh Studio Ombre Glitter Drops.  

 

 

The final one is the same painted card & sentiment combination.  I added some Honeybee Dogwood Blooms Embossing to the card base for texture.

 

 

I was happy to get all of these done during my creative escape.