Ingenious Inkling

Count Your Blessings

The current Impression Obsession Challenge is all about Giving Thanks.

 

 

I found the sentiment I wanted to use from Impression Obsession Holiday Words, and then decided to use the layout from the TGIF Challenges to create an Autumn Leaf Wreath with the Leaves Reverse die from Serendipity by Impression Obsession.

I die cut the leaves multiple times from multiple Gel Press Prints in my stash in a variety of Autumn hues.  I die cut my Oval and then started assembling my Fall Wreath.

 

 

 

I layered two more Gel Press Prints from #gellinktober and assembled my card.  When I got it put it together, it felt like it still needed a bit more, so I added a few falling leaves outside the wreath and some tiny bits of bronze bling.

 

 

I'm also still having fun with the Paper Anthology Anniversary Challenges - this one is for FALL into the Season.   Creatalicious Challenge is Anything Goes with optional Autumn/Thanksgiving.  And finally, Dies R Us are all about Happy Fall Y'all (with the Impression Obsession Leaves Reverse Die).

 

 

Despite how different 2020 has been, there are still so many Blessings to Count.

Hot Drinks for Cold Nights

Always fun to join Amy T for the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Fall/Winter Blog Hop.

 

 

I started with the Coffee To Go Die from Impression Obsession.

 

Then I took my inspiration from the Fusion Card Challenge Autumn Challenge (with a slight twist on the sketch since I wanted my strip of leaf paper to point upwards).  I added a tiny Doodlebug Heart sticker and a punch heart to decorate my coffee cup.

 

 

I love the colors from the Die Cut With a View Fall Gathering papers.  I'm also joining the Hot Drinks for Cold Night's Challenge at Shopping our Stash.

Penguin Joy Trio

We're still enjoying our annual Creature Feature at Jingle Belles ... this week I decided to feature a fun little trio of Penguins from Impression Obsession.  I stamped them in black and then used the wonderful detail nibs of my Graph' It Alcohol Markers to color their winter wear.

 

The sentiment is a simple die cut from Impression Obsession Christmas Simple Stitched Words.  I finished with a scattering of blue & purple sequins.

 

 

I'm also joining the You're a Hoot Challenge at Impression Obsession & the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Breathe Leaves

Do you have a favorite kind of tree?  For me it will always be the hard maple tree. We had a very large one in our big backyard growing-up and I have so many wonderful memories of that tree ... climbing, swinging, hiding. 

It probably doesn't hurt that I grew-up in a town who's big event was The Maple Leaf Festival.  I just love all the variety of colors as the temperatures grew cooler ... the tree on the corner that always turned red early ... the later oranges and yellow ... just seeing those colors makes me happy.

 

 

So for the Autumn Colors Challenge at Impression Obsession I stamped those beautiful layering Maple Leaves from Dina Kowal's lovely Maple Set.

 

 

For my sentiment, I used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! and stamped Breathe from Kalani Allred's Kind Words on pearlescent vellum and attached it over my falling leaves.

 

Funkie Junkie Birds

My friend Becca (aka the Damsel of Distressed and I crown her the Queen of Mixed Media) introduced me to the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I wanted to try to channel a little of my inner Becca tonight and join their September Mixed Media challenge, which has a theme of Birds.

I started with an unmounted Impression Obsession Wild Geese Tree & Moon Stamp in my bird drawer that I stamped in Potting Soil Ink on a page from a children's dictionary. We have lots of noisy geese near our home along the river ... they wander over to the railroad tracks by us to dine (and honk) whenever the train cars manage to spill some corn.

Next I sponged three colors of yellow and orange ink into the moon space and around the edges.  Next I mounted my page on a piece of cardstock to give it a bit more sturdiness.

 

I created my background by inking the My Favorite Things Balloon Strings background stamp with the same colors of ink and pressing the card front into the upside down stamp multiple times until I got the texture I wanted.  I crimped a piece of kraft cardstock and painted it with my new Crackling Campfire Distress Paint.  After I attached it to the card, I wrapped it with some textured twine.

I added a vintage bird stamp on top of my stamped image and then sponged on a bit more ink before attaching my vintage Amuse Sentiment Stamp.  I finished with a few pieces of bling to balance out the other corner of the image.

I know I have quite a ways to go to reach the Becca skill level of Mixed Media design, but I had fun trying ... and I know exactly who will be receiving this card.

Summer Fun

As I searched through my collection of Impression Obsession products for ideas for their current Summer Fun Challenge, I realized in art (as in life) I really am more of a fall and winter gal.

 

The only things I could find that were summer-like were the adorable Impression Obsession Crab Die and Sunglasses Dies ... so I thought, why not combine the two.

 

After creating my little scene, the final step was to choose a sentiment ... I picked one from Impression Obsession Dude, which seemed appropriate to describe this summer (and the lonely crab).

Impression Obsession Flowers

The theme at the Impression Obsession Challenge is Summer Flowers.

 

 

I spent my afternoon creating alcohol ink panels, so I decided to stamp some Impression Obsession Hollyhocks on one of my alcohol ink panels using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

 

The sentiment is from Impression Obsession There for You Set.

 

 

Here are a few of the other Alcohol Ink backgrounds from my play session ... I love the bubbles you can get on the Yupo paper.

 

On the Farm

The new Impression Obsession Challenge is On the Farm.

 

 

I made a single layer CAS card using one of my favorite farm images from Impression Obsession - Windmill stamped in Fresh Asparagus ink from Gina K. Designs on Neenah Desert Storm Cardstock.

 

I added two different colors of brown paint splatters and finished with some Gina Marie Designs Matte Enamel Dots.  Sentiment is from Impression Obsession Words for Art.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they theme is It's a Man Thing.

Iowa Sweet Corn

At Impression Obsession they are asking us to Play with Our Food.

 

This time of year in Iowa, it's all about Sweet Corn ... I had my first ear this weekend, and it was wonderful.  Once it starts showing-up at the market, I tend to eat it as a meal several times a week.

 

I used three colors of ink on this Impression Obsession Corn Stamp and paired it with the Happy Birthday Sentiment from Impression Obsession The Skinny.  The background is one of my hand-painted papers.  I love having a stash of these to use for my cards.

United. In Spirit.

The current challenge at Impression Obsession is to make a Funny Card.

 

My sister's cat Simon often makes me laugh, so I made a card inspired by him. The Cat from Impression Obsession Introverting was Stamped on the Grey Card base and highlighted with Colored Pencils.  

 

 

The sentiment is from Impression Obsession Introverting 2.  Who knew these stamp sets would turn out to be oh-so-true for so many of us.

Simon would claim that the entire Couch belongs to him (as noted by photos 1, 3 & 6 below) ... and you can find your own place to sit.

Which version of Quarantine Simon are you?