Ingenious Inkling

Blanket of Snow

The December Unity Stamp Company Challenge is All About Backgrounds.  I have an affinity for red rubber background stamps, so needless to say, there are a few in my stash that are un-inked.  This was the perfect opportunity to break one out and ink it up.

I inked the Unity Stamp Company Blanket of Snow Background with Faded Jeans Distress Archival Ink and used my MISTI to stamp it on a blue gel print background (reminder to self - make more solid gel print backgrounds).

 

I used a gold metallic gel press print to die cut the background of the Unity Stamp Company Say It Big Holiday Coordinating Die Set and cut the Christmas from Navy cardstock.  I finished by trimming the Peace - Love - Joy from the bottom of the Unity Stamp Company Itty Bitty A Beautiful Sight stamp.

Have you started your 2023 holiday cards?  If you want to make holiday cards all year long, the Jingle Belles will be back for our 13th year of holiday mayhem on January 1st.

Let It Snow

The December Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is - Let It Snow.

 

 

I stamped all of the snowflakes from Gina K. Designs Blizzard stamp set in Medium Lilac Ink on lilac cardstock using my MISTI and then trimmed it into a slimline card.

 

 

I added some enamel dots in the centers of some of the larger snowflakes and then finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Holiday Wreath Builder stamped on an ink-blended panel in my scrap stash in Dark Lilac Ink.

I'm also linking-up at the Simon Says Stamp Ice Cold Challenge.

Blue Christmas

We're channeling our inner Elvis at Jingle Belles this week and creating a BLUE Christmas.

I decided to shop my Gel Press drawer for my blues using a fabulous Sketch from Sketch~N~Scrap ... and of course some perfect blue inks from Catherine Pooler.

 

 

The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Company Holiday Joy Christmas Tree.  I finished with some vintage Martha Stewart glittery punched snowflakes and Pinkfresh Studio Bling in the centers.  

 

 

I just love that Gel Press background ... and the little shimmering inked piece I found hidden among the scraps that were too pretty not to keep.  I'm also linking-up at the Unity Stamp Company July Challenge to share your favorite stamps.  I love the Itty Bitty images that combine an image with a sentiment ... it makes cardmaking so much easier (and the frame is a bonus).

 

 

And it's an Any Occasion Challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

 

Ink Blended Peony Bouquet

The May Challenge at Poppy Stamps is Floral Fantasy.

 

 

I pulled out my Poppy Stamps Peony Bouquet and decided to revisit an inking technique from this inky card from two years ago.  I used my MISTI to stamp the Peony image with fade-out grey ink and then grabbed a combination of yellow and peach dye inks and my masking tape and went to work.

 

After adding the ink, I re-stamped in Jet Black Amalgam Ink (which is why the MISTI is so important).  I used the Happy Birthday sentiment from the same set, and then trimmed down my panel to mount with foam tape on a white card base.

Before I revisited the instructions (that reminded me to stamp in fade-out ink), I had already stamped the image with Jet Black Amalgam Ink, so I made a second floral fantasy design.

 

 

I cut the Easter Egg off the Poppy Stamps Decorated Egg Stitched Frame and attached it over my stamped Peony Bouquet with foam tape.  I used the same sentiment and finished with some Pink Fresh Studio bright pink jewels.

 

 

I'm also linking this card up at the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge & Springtime Challenge at Make My Monday.

Gina K. Designs an Inky Little Hello

The January Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to create a card that combines water with her water-reactive dye inks ... somehow I missed the memo (or forgot) that her inks reacted with water, so I had to immediately do some playing.

 

 

I started by stenciling Gina K. Designs Stencil Bundle - A Little Hello (links are affiliate links).  I thought I would spray the petals with water to get a water reactive effect.  Unfortunately, the reaction wasn't as visible as I hoped (I think the super-fine mist I used didn't give the contrast I hoped for), so I die cut the leaves and flowers and moved on to plan B.

I ink blended backgrounds and splattered them with water.  On the right I used bigger splatters and on the left I tried to be more controlled with the water drops.  I die cut them with the Gina K. Designs Stitched Square Die from the Master Layouts 3.

 

 

I put together two cards using the inked squares and stenciled flowers & leaves.  The first uses a sentiment from Gina K. Designs It's All You - Mini Stamp Set in Obsidian Amalgam Ink.  You can see a bit of the water splatter ink reaction on the flower.

 

 

The second one uses the same flower & leaf combination with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Peaceful Roses.

 

 

I will certainly be playing with Gina's inks and water again.

Circle Birthday

I had several possible ideas for the 30th #staycraftywithhero Hero Arts Circle Challenge, but I knew it needed to be a birthday card for a very special friend.

 

 

When I went searching through my Hero Arts crafty inventory, I found this never-been-inked Circle Background from the August My Monthly Hero Arts Kit.  I stamped it on a scrap of snowflake and texty designer paper from my scrap bin.

 

 

I filled the circles with message from Hero Greetings Mini Messages (can you find what happens when I stamp tiny messages without my reading glasses?)

All of these phrases describe my friend, so they are perfect.

I finished with an Eyelet Outlet Flower Bling in the center.

Day 3 - Feliz Navidad

Day 3 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson is Feliz Navidad.  I never realized the song only has only 2 lines sung over and over again.

 

 

So in keeping with that theme, I used my MISTI and two colors of Versafine Clair Ink to stamp the Feliz Navidad sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Love and Light.  Then I used Black Ink to add one of the tiny sentiments from the same set.  I die cut it into a tag shape.

 

 

I finished with some glitter tape at the top of the tag and punched several hearts from the tape to bring in the bottom of my heart lyric from the song.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

The June #TEMakerChallenge has the following elements:

 

As I hunted through my various holiday stamps, I saw the repeating Joy stencil in the Holiday Stencil Strips and immediately started singing Happy Happy, Joy Joy in my best Ren & Stimpy voices, and I knew what my card was going to be ... I just needed to find a coordinating Happy. 

I did some stamp surgery on the Happy Valentine's Sentiment from the Flip the Lace Stamp Set (a 2x Holiday repurpose) and stamped it four times with my MISTI moving my paper 2 squares on the MISTI platform each time, and then I blended using the same Carnival Color Palette.

 

And for the Letter D, I went with the Dancing Birthday Cake from the Party Pals Stamp set and finished with the birthday sentiment from the same set.  I colored the cake with the same colors and added some fun googly eyes to finish my card.

You Are Beautiful

I was thrilled to get some of the 2021 early Hero Arts Stamp Shop Box releases from The Ink Pad (which are so super-cool they sold out but are now back in stock).  I am also thrilled to be Guest Designing at the Ink Pad Blog to share my first card.

 

 

I had lots of fun playing with the new Cut & Color Layering Flower Power Set.  There are actually 8 different layering stamps in the set.  I used them all, but you can certainly use different combinations to create lots of possibilities.

 

 

Some things I learned in my stamp layering process were to use the centers of the flowers to help you align the hair layers ... and use the eyes to help align the face.  

I also re-inked the lips on that stamp with a slightly darker color for more contrast (yay for the MISTI).

I paired her gorgeous face with a background created with Karin Markers and another Gel Press Print cut with Hero Arts Nesting Dies.

 

 

I love how there was a separate stamp for the iris of the eye, so I could match them to the colors in her hair.  

To finish the design, I couldn't resist adding tiny bits of purple bling in her hair.

Who in your life needs to hear that they are beautiful?  What better way to tell them than a card they can treasure.

Holiday-Palooza Mittens

The current Waffle Flower Challenge is a Holiday-Palooza.

 

I inked-up the new-to-me Waffle Flower Warm Hands layering stamps that I got in my recent grab bag purchase in the hues from the Color Throwdown Challenge.  I added some nubby twine to keep the mittens from getting lost and white epoxy dots in the center of the Mitten design.

 

 

I used this week's Global Design Project Layout flipped on its side place punched snowflakes behind the oval and using a sentiment from Waffle Flower Classic Holiday Sentiments.

 

The marbled background designer paper is from Waffle Flower Modern Neutrals Paper Pad.