Ingenious Inkling

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?

 

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).

 

Best Friends

The current Challenge Theme at Impression Obsession is Best Friends. 

The theme made me think back over my life and all the different best friends I have been blessed with over time.  Best friends make you laugh ... they lift you up ... but most importantly, they are there when you need them the most.

 

Stamps are Impression Obsession Cancer Sucks ... because it truly does.  Thinking back to one of my dearest friends that we lost way way too soon.  I paper pieced the scarf and added some light colored pencil shading to the image.

 

I'm also linking-up at Just Us Girls Challenge where the theme is Heal ... because nothing helps more in the healing process than friends who know what you need.

 

And Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist.  Also linking-up at the Simon Says Stamp Something Feminine Challenge.

Introverting

Have you ever read the book Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking?  In it, there is an introvert quiz.  My husband got a perfect score (all Introvert), and I am closer to the middle with stronger Introvert tendencies.  My Saturdays are usually spent alone in mostly total silence, recharging from a week of constant interaction from working in an open office environment. 

Today I did venture out to buy some Spring sandals - the new Keena Slide Sandal from L'Artiste, one of my favorite brands (it's 51 degrees outside, which has me itching to wear sandals), but otherwise it was just me and my studio. 

I spent the morning doing lots of food prep for the week, and the Beef Stew in the Crock-Pot is smelling quite yummy.

 

So when I picked my stamps for my Impression Obsession Tag You're It! Challenge Card, It's not surprising that I chose Impression Obsession Introverting by Dina Kowal.

 

 

I used the colors from CAS Colours & Sketches.

 

and the layout is from Tuesday Morning Sketches (flipped to work with my Impression Obsession Plaid Tag).

 

And with my embossed tag, I'm linking-up at the Embossing Challenge at The Male Room.