Ingenious Inkling

Top 10 Favorites of 2022

Each year I like to go back and revisit all the art I made and choose my ten favorites from the group (You can see my Five Favorite Holiday Cards of 2022 here) ... here are my favorites in no particular order. 

1. My first card revisits a long-ago technique - Faux Cloisonné - which uses magazine pages and embossing.  This card used a page from my vintage collection of National Geographics.   I love being able to make old techniques new again (my first recorded use of it was with a Lands End Catalog page in 2006).

 

 

2.  I was sad to see the end of Reverse Confetti in 2022, but happy for Jen for following her heart.  This Valentine features some of my favorite Reverse Confetti stamps (perfect for Galentine Cards) and Confetti Cuts together with a favorite Gel Press Print.

 

 

3. I love the colors from this card made for an AlteNew Inspiration Challenge ... the dies can be a bit futzy to assemble, but I do love the end effect ... I also love how my Gel Press print incorporates into this design too.

 

 

4.  I miss Paper Smooches too, so it was fun to pull out lots of stamps in my collection for this Father's Day Card for Shopping Our Stash ... it was fun including so many elements that remind me of the recipient.  I have loved designing for SOS this year.

 

 

5.  I loved participating in Birgit's month-long Gel Printing Challenge.  My favorite was this cool print I made by stamping onto the plate with a lemon ... the creative magic of gel printing is still one of my favorite creative outlets.

 

 

6.  I had so much fun Guest Designing for the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  It was such a fun challenge to see how many elements from their store I could incorporate into my cards.  I loved exercising my mixed media muscles.

 

7.   I was so grateful that Lauren and I were able to resume our annual trip to NYC and for a few days of art camp.  We declared 2022 Collage Camp, and I had so much fun going through Lauren's pre-cut collage elements and putting together some cards.  This collage card coordinates perfectly with my Frida Khalo Inspired Monster that Lauren crocheted me for my birthday (she is on my desk at the office, so she can make me smile every day).

 

 

8.  This card that was inspired by a card made by my friend SkyPaperScissors who is an ink-blending aficionado.  It reminds me how grateful I am for long-distance friendships that have sustained me in 2022.  It also reminds me that I really want to spend more time ink blending in 2023.

 

 

9.  I had fun taking a Mixed Media Washi Tape Class with Donna Downey.  Years ago, attending Donna's first Inspired Event was a real game changer for me ... it was the first time I spent significant money to invest in growing my artistry (and first time I traveled to an event by myself).  It was a game changer, and the first time I really used the word artist to describe myself, so it was fun to revisit art with her and be able to thank her for the inspiration.  I had fun combining washi tape with other media.

 

 

10.  My final card was a winner at one of my favorite Challenge Blogs - the sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.  I first used Taylored Expressions Sarcasti-Chick at the first Junkiefest event, where I eventually met the members of my crafty crew.  It was such a relief to find others who I really "clicked with" in this paper crafting community.  And this card just makes me smile.

 

 

I always start down memory lane wondering if I will find 10 pieces I love enough to feature ... and then as usual, have narrow down the possibilities to get to just 10 creations.  I love the experience of revisiting my year of artsy creations.

Thanks for going on this artsy journey with me.

 

DAD Jokes

The new Challenge theme at Shopping our Stash is DAD Jokes - we're making humorous Father's Day Cards.

 

 

Usually when a stamp company goes out of business, I purge most of my stash.  But when Kim Hughes stopped making Paper Smooches, I just couldn't do it.  However, I will confess it's been a while since I used my large collection.  Today I broke out multiple stamp sets for my fun themed Father's Day card for the recipient (in my opinion, Father's Day isn't just for your own Dad, it's a time to recognize lots of great fathers in your life).

 

 

I've got a Coffee cup at the bottom and coffee beans at the top.  There's an album, music notes and a keyboard.  I finished with beer can tabs, glasses and a soccer ball.  And for my funniness, a sticker sentiment that speaks to the importance of an afternoon nap.  I love how it turned out in browns and black on kraft.

With my three music notes and three coffee beans, I'm linking-up at the Three of a Kind Challenge at the Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog.

 

 

And they're making Masculine Cards at Make the Cards Challenge.

Can't wait to see what fun you create.

Feline Dude

The current theme at Addicted to CAS is Feline.

 

 

I started with some fun cat Washi Tape from my stash and framed it with some vintage texty washi tape (text just seemed right since some of the cats are wearing reading glasses).

 

 

As I searched for just the right sentiments, I settled on Paper Smooches Slang Gang.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Animals Challenge at The Male Room.

 

 

And since one of my dapper cats is wearing a hat, I'm also linking-up at the CASology Hat Challenge.

Inspiration Rainbow

It's been a long time since I started my Saturday with the SplitcoastStampers Inspiration Challenge.  Today our inspiration is from Color Shot.  I was drawn to this painted Rainbow Doormat.

 

Since the theme at Paper Smooches Challenge is also Rainbows, I used the Paper Smooches Rainbow Die to cut the six colors from the Door Mat - three shades of blue & three shades of peachy pink.

 

I used the sketch from CAS on Sunday and cut two strips of designer paper in the blues and peachy pinks.  Since rainbows are often seen as a reminder that God is with us, I used this sentiment from the Paper Smooches Feel Better Sampler and finished with a pair of Eyelet Outlet Enamel Hearts.

 

 

 

And Just Us Girls are also doing the Rainbow Thing, so I'm linking-up there too.

 

Hope those of you in the US are getting to spend the holiday doing what you'd like ... I'd rather be with family, but I'm enjoying my plan B which is uninterrupted studio time.

Get in SHAPE for the Holidays

The official start of summer next week seems like the perfect time to "get in shape" but luckily there's no diet or exercise required, the Jingle Belles are just asking you to make a shaped card, by which we mean NOT a square or rectangle. Of course a fancy fold or some clever engineering (like an easel card, slider or pop-up) will also qualify.

I turned two die cut circles and dies from Paper Smooches Snowman Card Dies into this fun Snow Man card. 

 

I added two different sizes of googly eyes, a carrot nose cut from a scrap of orange water colored paper, some flair on the scarf, and my very own hand-cut stove pipe hat decorated with some eyelet outlet bling.

I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Paper Smooches.

 

Now the challenge will be making an envelope big enough to hold this round little guy.

We hope you'll break out your favorite holiday shapes and come join us ... did I mention there's a prize for one lucky participant?

 

 

Paper Smooches Love

I've been hanging out with Kim at Paper Smooches this morning ... of course she doesn't realize we were hanging out.  When she announced the closing of Paper Smooches this morning, I got a little emotional and spent the morning reminiscing about how much Kim's designs have influenced the arc of my own stamping development arc.

 

She also probably doesn't realize we've been hanging out together for the past 9 years.  I first fell in love with Kim's designs when she designed for Cornish Heritage Farms and this is the first card I uploaded with her designs in July 2011 for Kim's  Paper Smooches Paper Sparks Challenge that had 106 Cards linked-up (so clearly a lot of other people were hanging out with her too).

 

I always wanted to make "cute" cards, but I always struggled ... but for some reason Kim's characters spoke to me and made me comfortable embracing them.  I don't know if it was the wonky eyeballs, for the fun feet and hands ... or her love of monsters ... but they clicked with me, and for that I was grateful.   I also adored her hand-written fonts.

Kim's Snow Dudes line is one of my absolute favorites ... those snowmen have been a standard on my holiday cards for years.  

 

It combines Paper Smooches Snowman 2 Die Cut with a sentiment from Just a Note.

Her Die Cuts are so fun and unique ... and she has an Ear of Corn, so what more could an Iowan Want.

 

And her Animal Sets have gotten so much use.

 

Needless to say, I could go on for days ... you can see all my Paper Smooches designs if you click this link.

So while I was "hanging out with Kim" I made a card for her current Paper Smooches Flower Challenge (I was super-thrilled to be one of the winners for her May Challenge).

 

 

I saw an awesome Ink-on-Vellum Technique at the Create a Smile Stamps Instagram Account this morning and wanted to give it a try (why have I never tried that??)  I thought it would be perfect with the Paper Smooches So Lovely Flower.  I stamped it in White Pigment Ink and Embossed with White Detail Embossing Powder on Vellum.  Here are the inks I used and how it looked on the back of the Vellum.

 

I wanted the ink to be completely dry before attaching it to my card base and found that using the heat gun melted the embossing powder on the front of the vellum (oops, do-over), so I used a fan to get it nice and dry.

 

I wrapped the vellum around the card base and attached it on the back.  The slight warping didn't bother me ... you could use more vellum adhesive on the front to hold it down if you wanted.  I used a sentiment from Paper Smooches Good Gab with this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! because I realized this week that I had no Anniversary Cards in my stash and this flower seemed perfect for that occasion.

 

Love this technique and I'm sure I'll be doing it again.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at Just add Ink where the theme is Just add "F" - F is for Flowers.

 

And this week's Global Design Project Theme is also Florals.

Thanks again Kim for the years of inspiration ... wish you only the best on your next adventures.

Must Try Mono-Printing - Round 2

I had so much fun Monoprinting with Acrylic Stamps this morning with the Spring Card Camp class this morning, I did a second round combining three more Distress Oxide Colors (Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord & Festive Berries), which produced a gorgeous raspberry like hue on my palette.

The color on my first Monoprint was deep and rich using the leaves from Paper Smooches Botanicals 3. 

Since the theme at the current Paper Smooches Challenge is Thank You cards, I used the Thanks from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler wrapped with some raspberry twine.

 

As anyone knows who does monoprinting, if there is any ink left on your pallet, you try to pull what is often referred to as a ghost print, which is what I did for my next card.

 

This one used the Sketch from The Paper Players.

 

And my final card was my stamped piece of cardstock from the ink that I picked-up off the plate during the monoprint creation process.

 

This one was the Sketch Saturday Layout.

 

Seriously ... so so much fun, I think I may go try it again to make some card's for Amy's Spring Coffee Hop.

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.

 

Totally Tiffany Happy Things

The current Paper Smooches Challenge is Happy Things ... on my Happy Things list has always been  having my own Vespa .. and the ones I usually dream about are Tiffany Blue.

 

 

I die cut my Paper Smooches Vespa from Tiffany Blue Glitter Cardstock (because if you're going for Happy Things, you might as well go BIG and go BLING).

 

Then then, since I'm dreaming wheels, I turned my Vespa Wheels into Sprinkle Donuts.  I used the steam die from the Coffee for the smoke behind my Vespa.

I used a sentiment from the retired Scooter Set (the pre-Vespa) and another from Paper Smooches Inhale Exchale.

 

I'm also joining the Totally Tiffany Challenge at the Rainbow Card Challenge.

 

 

Silliness Good Day

Sometimes cards are well planned and thought out ... and other times creativity is just for a general release and silliness.  Tonight is the latter.

This little PaperArtsy Zinski Mini (AN38) looked-up at me from a box of stamps I was trying to organize, and I knew he needed to see some ink.

 

I used the color challenge from The Paper Players.

 

I also incorporated the Clean & Simple Theme from the Always Fun Challenge.

I used the So Saffron ink and a Hexagon Stencil from Darkroom Door.  My Zinski Mini ZN38 was then stamped in Grey Granite.

Sentiment from PnkFresh Studio My Favorite Things to Say was stamped in Seaside Spray ... and then I finished with lots of dots from Paper Smooches Flutterby.

Yep ... a good day for pure Silliness.