Ingenious Inkling

Vintage Winter Owl

I intended to take a different approach for this week's Vintage Holiday card for Jingle Belles, but ended-up going down pretty much the same path as last week.

I started with the leftover half doily that was still on my studio table ... and then topped it with page from a perfectly sized falling-apart hymnal I found while thrifting with my sister last summer.

Since the stamps were also still on my table, I thought the lovely blue owl worked perfectly with the dark purple background ... and then I kept adding stamps. 

I finished with a strip of Champagne Jewels, which always seem vintagy to me.

I hope you'll break out the vintage (or vintage-looking) goodies in your stash and join our fun.

Vintage Christmas

This week at Jingle Belles we're going Vintage - that may mean using actual vintage products on your card ... or creating in a vintage style with current products ... or like I did, a little of both.

I started by gathering a selection of vintage products from my stash ... a Doily (underneath), seam binding, a hymnal page, a dictionary page, a receipt book page, a card from a card game, an Ecktachrome Slide (of a cat on a floral couch I believe) and some trading stamps.  Later I found my collection of vintage stamps and used them too.

 

I like the three blue items, so that is what I centered my design around.  I didn't end-up using all the items, but having them together helps me think through my design.  I started by trimming and gluing the doily and then I just kept layering until I got a look I was happy with.

 

 

I kept with the elk / deer theme with my vintage stamps and then added some modern but vintage style sticker sentiments to complete the design.  It's a bit busy, but it makes me smile.

Since there are a lot of torn edges on those papers, I'm also linking-up at the Torn Paper Challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge.

Growing in Unity - Day 5 - Background Stamps

Welcome to Day Five, the final day of my Unity Stamp Company Growing in Unity week.  I've been sharing projects all week that feature Unity's high quality, red rubber stamps. I'm so sorry my week is coming to an end.

If this is the first day you've joined me please go back and visit  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Day 4.  If you are a returning visitor, thank you, and welcome back.  Be sure to leave a comment on each Growing in Unity Blog Post this week blog post to be entered for a chance to win one of two fabulous prize packs from Unity Stamp Company.  Winners will be announced on this blog and on the Unity Stamp Company Growing in Unity Facebook page.

Today's post is focused on Unity Stamp Company's awesome background stamps with Distress Oxide sprayed papers..  Backgrounds have always been one of my favorite stamps ... and in my opinion, red rubber stamps the best for large background images.

I'm starting with my card for our Jingle Belles prompt this week.  My crafty besty Lauren and I are in our 10th year of taking back December one holiday card at a time as the Jingle Belles.  It's so fun to use your holiday stamps all year long ... and have all your holiday cards ready to mail at the end of November.

 

 

The theme at Jingle Belles this week is Fa-La-La-La-La where we're celebrating one of our favorite things at jingle belles ... Christmas Music. We're asking you to create a card (or gift card holder, or whatever else you'll be needing for the holidays) that incorporates music, a musical instrument, or a holiday song title or lyrics.

I love pairing unexpected (okay usually a bit snarky) sentiments with elegant cards.  I sprayed my watercolor paper with Mermaid Lagoon and Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide Ink.  After it had dried, I used my MISTI to stamp the Unity Stamp Company Burst of Flakes Border Background using Blue Belle Versafine Clair Ink.

 

 

Next I added the reindeer from the awesome October 2016 Unity Sentiment Kit ... a joyous season (such a great set) ... does he look guilty?

 

 

The Song Title Sentiment is from Unity Stamp Company Naughty is the New Nice, which is an awesome group of Holiday Sentiments stamped in the same Blue Belle ink on White Cardstock and attached with foam tape.  I finished with a few cardstock layers and several sizes of light blue epoxy dots.

 

 

The next card features another favorite border background from Unity Stamp Company ... Up, UP & Away.  The floral balloons are especially lovely.  

 

 

This background was made by swiping my watercolor paper through all of the leftover colors of Distress Oxide Ink on my craft sheet ... blues and greens with a bit of purple.  The Up, Up & Away {border background} is stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink.

 

 

The sentiment from Unity Stamp Company ...hope is a beautiful thing February 2020 Sentiment Kit is stamped on a scrap of the same sprayed watercolor paper, trimmed and edged with black ink.  There is a tiny heart under Hope, but I wanted to use this card for co-workers, so I covered the heart with some tiny gems.

 

 

The next Unity Stamp Company background is a partnership with Brutus Monroe called Freshly Cut.  We always used to go cut down a Christmas Tree when I was a child, and I can still remember that smell.  As I mentioned, I stamped each background multiple times with my MISTI to get solid coverage on the Distress Oxide Sprayed background paper.  This background combined multiple green sprays and stamped with Versafine Clair Rain Forest green ink.

 

 

I die cut the background, wrapped it with a chartreuse ribbon, and attached it to a dark green card base.

 

 

I found a scrap with more of the lighter green color and stamped a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Naughty is the new nice which was die cut and attached with foam tape.

And that my friends is the conclusion of my Growing in Unity Week ... it's been so very fun sharing my love for Unity Stamp Company (seriously some of the nicest people in the industry).  Make sure you check my blog and the Growing in Unity Facebook group to see if you're a lucky winner.

Fa-la-la-la-la

We're making music at Jingle Belles ... okay, we're not making music ... we're creating music themed cards (which just happens to be one of our favorite things).  We're asking you to create a card (or gift card holder, or whatever else you'll be needing for the holidays) that incorporates music, a musical instrument, or a holiday song title or lyrics.

When I stumble upon an Estate Sale, I always go hunting for vintage paper (cookbooks, photo albums, post cards, music, books).  Friends also know I collect things like that for card making, so sometimes I get lucky with some gifts as well.  As I was going through my stash for this week's card, I saw some that had my Great Aunt Mary's handwriting, and it made me smile (and miss her).

I started with a page of vintage sheet music ... love the torn edges and beautiful aged color ... noo need to sponge on any inks around the edges.  Using this week's Sunday Stamps Sketch, I added the Alexandra-Renke bookmark and some of her thin star tape..

 

Instead of a rectangle, I used an Alexandra-Renke Circular Die cut from neutral paper ... and instead of a bow, I used a Lawn Fawn Wooden Snowflake. 

 

I finished with several stickers from my stash inspired by all the Christmas Carols that sing about Snow or Peace.

Dreaming of a Yeti Christmas

At Jingle Belles, we're still having fun creating with STICKERS.  I tend to hoard the adorable DoodlePop 3-D stickers from Doodlebug, so I decided to use one of those cuties this week. 

 

I paired this adorable Yeti with coordinating Yeti Paper from the Doodlebug Winter Wonderland Collection ... there's a 3-D sticker snowflake and a sticker sentiment too.

Stuck on You

The prompt theme at Jingle Belles this week is STICKERS ... they were one of the very first art supplies I collected when I started making cards (still miss the fabulous stickers from EAD Designs).

I have a big book of small Christmas stickers I picked-up on after-holiday clearance, but I've struggled to really figure out how to use them.  For this card, I used a page and a half of tiny ornament stickers to create my own background paper, and I love how it turned out. 

 

 

Then I used a larger ornament sticker as my focal point with a sticker sentiment to complete the design.

It's Anything Goes Christmas at The Holly and Ivy Challenge.

Christmas in RED

We're still creating with RED at Jingle Belles.

I was searching through my large bin of holiday papers and found a piece with these sentiment squares ... I knew they would be perfect for the Sketch at Crazy 4 Challenges.

This is all made from 2 pieces of 6" designer paper ... and a wooden heart.  Sometimes it is just all about the paper.

 

 

I'm also joining the Christmas KickStart Challenge where the theme is also RED for February.

Merry, Bright & RED

The current prompt at Jingle Belles is to create a card that is predominantly RED.

I started with this week's Sunday Stamps Tag You're It Sketch and a cute little North Pole Tag in my stash.

I added a red designer paper card base, a Doodlebugs Santa Doodlepop in his recliner and a sentiment from Hero Arts Stylized Christmas Trees stamped in Red Ink ... and the grand finale, some sparkly red ribbon.

 

 

And the Krafty Chicks Challenge is all about Christmas.

We hope you'll break out the RED and come join us.

We Three Snowmen

The theme at Jingle Belles is still We Three Kings this week ... creating cards that feature THREE of something.  I'm a sucker for stickers ... I like them as much now as I did when I was 8.  I found a big un-opened book of Christmas Stickers that I picked-up at the after-holidays sale, so I used it to make this week's card.

 

I started with snowflake paper and die cut my landscape using Lawn Fawn Lawn Cuts Stitched Hillside Borders.  I positioned three slightly different snowmen in the snow and then added lots of sticker snowflakes and bling.  I finished with a sticker sentiment from the same book.

We Three Beers

The theme at Jingle Belles is We Three Kings ... make a card that features THREE of something.  For my card, I chose the fabulous Reinbeer from Your Next Stamp.

 

It's a loose interpretation of the Sketch at The Paper Players (inspired by Designer Laurie Schmidt's Gnome Card) ... the googly eyes are the top three ... and the Christmas Trees are the bottom three.

 

I'm also linking-up at the Share the Love Challenge at Your Next Stamp ... I realize that too is a bit of a stretch, but hear me out.  My husband's love language is Beer ... each week I go on the hunt for the perfect beer for him to have with the meals I'm making.   I also love to find ways to use Beer in my cooking as well.  I don't drink it ... but he says I'm the Best Beer Buyer because I always buy beers he wouldn't choose for himself ... but that he loves.  So for us, Reinbeer Time is Sharing the Love.

 

And it's Anything Christmas at The Holly and Ivy Challenge.

We hope you'll share your trio with us at Jingle Belles.