Ingenious Inkling

You Inspire Me to Be Better

Today I discovered that the PinkFresh Studio Facebook Group has a Sketch Challenge, so I decided to join the fun.

 

I used the PinkFresh Studio Floral Cluster set for my card.  I stamped the Floral Cluster image in Versafine Black ink on Watercolor paper.  Next I used a transparency sheet and three colors of Distress Ink (Speckled Egg, Evergreen Bough and Wilted Violet) to do some Watercolor Smooshing ... i just love, the messy free-form effect that you get.

 

I used my MISTI to curve the top sentiment and then hand-cut the large word and popped it up with foam tape, so it wouldn't cover-up too much of my beautiful watercolory blooms.

This card is so true of many people in my life ... but it's also true of my many artists in the paper crafting community who take time to share tutorials and videos that allow me to learn and grow my own artistic skills ... so very grateful that people are willing to do that.

Gina K. Designs Eye Shadow Blooms

Tonight I had fun trying to replicate the Eye Shadow Technique that Gina K. shared in this video.  My eyes are pretty much allergic to everything, so I have no eye make-up in my house, so I had to stop by the Dollar Tree and pick some up, so I could give it a try.  I grabbed the same one that Gina used and one with lots of purples.  The light colors work best on the darker cardstock colors to get the cool effect with Gina K. Designs Embossing ink.

 

 

I started with a dark green scrap of cardstock and blooms from Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters.

 

Next I tried red cardstock with flowers from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 10 ... this one was my favorite.

 

 

And my final one was Purple cardstock with the new Gina K. Designs Natural Silhouette Blooms.

 

Here are all three together.

 

I kept the cards really simple so the backgrounds could shine.  The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs Whimsical Wildflower Frame.

 

I used another sentiment from the same set for the red card.

Then for the purple card, for some reason, the eye shadow rubbed off and I got this sort of shadow effect.  Rather than fighting it, I embraced it.

 

 

I just burnished the eye shadow into the cardstock and stamped the same wildflower stamp directly onto the background.

 

 

The sentiment is from the same Gina K. Designs Natural Silhouette Set.

 

So if you've got some great 80's eye shadow in your stash (or you make a stop at the Dollar Tree) give this technique a try ... it was a lot of fun ... and looks super-shimmery-cool.

Gifted Birthday Cards

At Taylored Expressions Stamp Joy last year (did you see Stamp Joy 2020 is going to be virtual this year, so if you aren't able to travel to Iowa, you can finally attend), one of the favorite cards I made at the Make and Take Room was using the Gifted Background and Gifted Stencil.  When I was cleaning my studio this week, I found some of the leftover sentiments from the Make & Take, and decided to break out the set and make a few more quick cards to re-stock my Masculine Birthday Card Stash.

The concept behind these sets (Taylor has quite a few in her collection ... I ordered the Starry Background set and a few other things this week to get the very cool free-with-purchase stamp set this month) is a coordinating background stamp, stencil and die cut that offer all sorts of possibilities.

I started by stamping quite a few of the backgrounds in Versafine Ink on Bristol Cardstock with my MISTI.  Next I used the Magic Blender Brushes to apply different combinations of masculine ink colors (seriously, this is basically fool proof).  This one combined teals and greens.  I cut down the panel a bit to fit on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base with the leftover sentiments from Simple Strips Birthday.  Since I'm mailing my employee birthday cards now rather than hand-delivering them, mailability is more important.

 

 

I'm linking this one at the TGIF Challenge for Stamping Your Own Background Paper.

 

For the second one I used the coordinating Gifted Cutting Plate and cut a coordinating panel of card stock to place over the inked panel for a slightly different look.

 

 

And the final one used a more monochromatic ink combination.

 

I love how quick it is to put together a set of cards that is similar ... yet different.  This is truly one of my favorite sets in a long time and one I will continue to use over and over.

All The Feels

I wanted to make a card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches and started looking through my stamps to see if I had any splattery background images.  I decided I could make the several small images from Paper Smooches Positive Strokes Two work for the job.

 

I used several colors of teal inks on white cardstock to create my background.  And since the theme at the Paper Smooches Challenge is Anything Goes, I used a sentiment I've been wanting to ink-up from Paper Smooches Inhale Exhale.

 

Given the size of the sentiment, I felt if I stamped it on a strip of paper like the sketch shows, it would cover too much of my splatters, so instead I used my MISTI and Versafine ink to stamp it directly onto the white cardstock creating a single layer design.

 

I finished with a pair of tiny aqua hearts near to the bottom right corner of the sentiment.  I have certainly been feeling all the feels this weekend ... it's like all of my emotions are just right on the surface ready to spill out at any moment.  

And here is an out-take from tonight's card making experience ... this is what happens when you make a poor ink color choice for your splatters ... your card ends-up looking like it belongs on an episode of Dexter.  Of course it wasn't until I stepped back and looked at the finished product that I realized the error of my ways.  My husband said, "all the feels alright ... all the feels of a knife wound" ... yeah, not quite what I was going for.

 

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.

Gel Stick Blooms

I recently purchased a large set of Kingart Mixed Media Gel Sticks, and tonight I decided to do a quick play with them.  I chose four of the colors to apply to the large floral image from the Hero Arts 45th Anniversary You Make a Difference Stamp set with PinkFresh Studio (which is a great price right now).  I sprayed the watercolor paper with a few spritzes of water and then sprayed directly onto the stamp to get this ethereal look.

 

I wanted a little more definition, so I cleaned off my stamp and inked it with red ink to stamp a few more times.  I should have sprayed with a setting spray after that, so I didn't get quite as much smearing (learning for next time), but I just went with it and sprayed over the smear.

I added a sentiment from the set in black ink in the center and mounted on a red card base.  My card is for the Anything Goes Challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

 

Heartfelt Hugs

The current Memory Box Challenge is all about Friendship.

 

I started by die cutting my Memory Box Hugs Loving Heart Die 3 times (twice from raspberry cardstock and once from light pink).  I layered it a variety of ways before deciding on the final off-set outcome.  I attached it to a piece of vintage BasicGrey designer paper.  I used my blending brushes to add a bit of Victorian Velvet Distress Ink around the edges.

 

I finished with my MISTI and stamped sentiments from Memory Box Big and Little Words.

I prefer sending Galentines for the holiday ... because who in your life couldn't use a little hug.

Makeover Monday

I love the idea of the January Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs ... Let's Reflect.  The Challenge is to take a card you've made the last year and create a do-over.  I think this is an idea I may adopt for my blog this year.  I posted my first card online in November 2006, so I've got a ton of cards that would be eligible for Makeover treatment.

I started with this card from May 2019 using Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters, Mini Wishes Stamp set and the Wishes Die.

 

I wanted to keep the monochromatic palette, the all-over leaf stamping and the die cut from foam in my new design (I also kept the enamel dots and die cut leaves by the time I had finished).

I pulled out my Memory MISTI which makes it easier to stamp off all the edges of the 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of cardstock.  I stamped with Gina K. Designs Lucky Clover Ink (I treated myself to her entire Ink Collection during the holiday sales ... now to get all the cardstock).  I used all three leaf stamps from the set again, stamping them in groups of three to fill the cardstock.

I folded the card and stamped two more of the leaves to die cut for accents.  I also die cut the Wishes from Foam ... but this time I used Green Glitter Foam.

 

For this card I used coordinated enamel dots instead of the contrasting white I used in the first design.  I attached the second bunch of leaves with foam tape for dimension.

 

What a fun design exercise (not to mention the fun of having another version of a card I loved).

Thanks a Bunch

When I saw this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge, I immediately began imagining a literal interpretation ... but when I was going through my supplies and saw the MFT Snow Drifts Cover-Up Die-Namic, I thought I could be a bit more creative.

 

I die cut the Cover-Up in Brown & Red Cardstock, using the hues from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge.

 

I left two sections blank, so I could stamp sentiments on the left and right side like the Sketch Challenge.  I used the lid of my MISTI to curve and position the sentiments from MFT Bitty Thanks & Gratitude into the open spaces.

 

I finished with a few Puffy Heart stickers (I've been in the process of gathering together all of my various Valentine's Day-like supplies, so they were on my studio table ... and turned out to be the perfect finishing touch).

say it big Gel Press

The timely Mini-Challenge at Unity Stamp Company is to make Thank You Cards.  I'd been wanting to the try the big bold letters of Unity's ... say it big on my Gel Press prints.  I stamped it in black ink multiple times with my MISTI and then clear embossed ... this is one of the reason I made so many *solid* prints.  This one with less ink worked well because there was less surface texture.

 

I die cut it with a stitched rectangle die, framed it in dark coral with some dark coral enamel dots and then used the larger stitched frame for the background.  A set of these would make a nice and easy gift.