Ingenious Inkling

Be Awesome Today

The Inspiration Photo at Just Us Girls is this basket of encouraging painted rocks.

 

 

I saw that one of the design team members used flair on her card, which made me realize it had been forever since I put some flair on my designs, so I had fun searching through for a combination inspired by the photo.  I found some encouraging words and a wonderful color combination of bright pink, blue & yellow.

 

 

I used an ombre gel press scrap for the base and punched a tag from a piece of Distress Oxide Ink Blended Cardstock that was on my table from my Beer Card.

I added a sentiment sticker and a scattering of glittery enamel dot inspired by the large number of rocks in the photo attaching it to a shimmery white polka dot card base in my stash using the Sketch from Paper Craft Crew.

 

Hoppy Birthday

When I saw the new Beer-themed dies and sentiments from My Favorite Things, I knew I needed to add them to my stash.  I used them for the current My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge.

I inked white cardstock with three colors of Distress Oxide Ink (Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge), and then die cut the My Favorite Things Frosty Beer Mug Die-namics.   After die cutting, I added a big more ink along the edges and at the bottom and then splattered with water to try to give the effect of the bubbles in the beer. 

I die cut the foam for the mug twice from textured watercolor paper and turned the one on the back upside down to give some more dimension to the foam (using a very thin foam tape between the layers).

 

 

I used this Bokeh designer paper from my stash and added some circles punched from Shimmer Vellum for the other two circle elements in this week's My Favorite Things Weekly Sketch Challenge and then I stamped the sentiment from My Favorite Things Here's to You in Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.  I paired it with some rusty designer paper from Crate Paper Metal Textures.

 

 

I took my color inspiration (and a drink as well) from the Just Add Ink Challenge.

 

 

I'm also joining the I spy Something beginning with "B"  from the Allsorts Challenge with my Beer & Bokeh.

Amazing not Perfect

I attended a Women's Leadership Conference this week where Elise Holtzman shared the dangers of Perfectionism in her talk titled Imperfect Impactful Leadership, and how we (particularly women) strive for perfectionism starting with behaviors encouraged by our parents and society at a very young age ... so those thoughts have been on my mind all week.  

I am grateful for art, where it seems easier for me to let my perfectionistic tendencies relax while I just lean into the creative experience.

Today's card is inspired by the delicious, juicy colors from the April Challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie.

 

 

I found those delicious colors in this wonderful Penny Black Pen & Ink Sticker for the Penny Black Anything Goes Challenge.

 

 

I used the Penny Black Stitches of Love Die to cut a frame from one of my Gel Press Prints.  I layered that on top of an embossed lavender card base. 

 

 

I finished with a scattering of gems and a sentiment from Penny Black Words of Encouragement, which is perfect for the thoughts circling in my head.

Oh Christmas Stencil, Oh Christmas Stencil

We're creating with Stencils at Jingle Belles this week. 

I chose the never-before-used Simon Says Stamp Christmas Foliage Stencils for my card.

 

 

I added a wrap of coordinating ribbon and finished with stamped & die cut sentiments from the STAMPtember set by CZ Design Coolest Yulest.

 

 

I took my inspiration from lots of winter foliage and bows on the wreaths in the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge.

 

Lawn Fawn Happy New Year

When I saw the current Atlantic Hearts Sketch, I knew I wanted to use my diamond punch on some paper scraps ... I just had to go looking for inspiration ... and I found it at the current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge.

 

 

I took the colors from the bottom right photo and punched out some Purple, Teal, Lime & Blues.  Next I added a woodgrain background from the bottom left photo.

 

 

I added some silver glitter enamel dots from Eyelet Outlet to bring in the glittery sparkle.  Now all I needed was a brass band to help us ring in the new year. 

The Fox, Bear and Little Note Sentiment are from Lawn Fawn Critter Concert.  I did some masking on a Lawn Fawn Simply Winter Sentiment for the Happy New Year.

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Party! Challenge.

 

 

Celebration is the theme at Global Design Project.

Day 1 - Christmas in a Coffee Shop

Today is Day 1 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson, which is a tag inspired by the holiday carol, Christmas in a Coffee Shop.

 

 

I started with Joy Clair Christmas Coffee, which I paired with a scrap of Gel Press Print for my tag.

 

 

I added snowflakes from Joy Clair Snow Fall and some gems to finish the design.  I took my color inspiration from the Joy Clair December Mood Board. #joyclairdesignsmoodboard

 

 

I am also linking-up at the Make the Cards Christmas Challenge.

 

Those Who Help Your Being

Tonight's card started with a desire to use the remainder of the Alcohol Ink Gel Press Printed leaves.  I picked the Global Design Project Card for my inspiration (swapping Autumn Leaves for Holly Leaves).

 

 

I wanted a little contrast to my colored cardstock, so I embossed with a wood grain embossing folder which somehow magically changed a bit orange with the embossed texture.  I decided to go with the Color Hues Challenge of Brown & Orange in my design.

 

 

I added some foam tape for dimension and created my pile of leaves.  When I looked for a sentiment I chose this wood mounted quote by Rumi from Prickley Pear.  Rather than go with a horizontal sentiment, I like the effect of the vertical piece among the leaves.

 

 

I tried to guess how old this stamp is, and found no evidence of it online anywhere.  I did find that I used it on a card back in February 2008, so it's at least 13+ years, so I'm linking-up at Fallin' for Autumn at the Retro Rubber Challenge.

 

 

I added gem clusters to embellish the design.  I'm linking-up at Just Us Girls Wild Card Leaves Challenge.

 

Savage but Sweet Kind of Vibe

Today I'm using some gorgeous papers from Prima Marketing called Diamond (affiliate link ... no cost to you, but I may make a referral fee if you purchase).

My first card is inspired by both the photo & sketch at the Inspired by Challenge.  I combined multiple papers from the collection together with a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Background.

 

 

I finished with a few gold peel-off stickers.  I just love those flowers.

 

 

I rotated the sketch to work with my papers.

 

 

Next I used another paper from the collection together with a couple of journaling cards from my stash inspired by the TGIF Challenge.

 

 

I framed my flowery pumpkin with more of the gold border stickers & some Love from Lizi Peel Off Stickers.

 

Oh Happy Day!

Tonight I made a quick paper-crafted card using the Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist Collection (affiliate link ... costs you nothing to click on through).

I took my inspiration from The Card Concept making a card in the Clean and Layered Style.

 

 

I took my inspiration from the gingham ribbon (swapping black for gold), a black and white background (swapping woodgrain for polka dots) and multiple big bold blooms.

 

 

I used tow papers from the collection, some foam stickers for the focal image and two other stickers for the sentiments.  

 

 

The layout is from Try Stampin (or Not) on Tuesday.

Christmas Cookie Snowmen

This week at Jingle Belles, we're still making cards inspired by these adorable Snow Globe Cookies from Missy's Sugar Shop.

 

Coming off my #CrushingOnCardstock classes last week, I decided to cut 1/2" paper strips in the four background colors of the cookies as my starting point.  Next I cut those into 3/4" strips and then staggered them on a black card base.

 

When I went hunting for the perfect holiday critter to feature on my card, I found a sheet of Doodlebug Winter Wonderland Enamel Sprinkles Stickers, which also included snowflakes that look like the snowflakes on the cookies.

For the sentiment I used Simon Says Stamp Reverse Holiday Sentiment Strips.

We hope you'll come join the fun with us.