Ingenious Inkling

Sparkle and Shine

The November Pinkfresh Studio Card Sketch Challenge is a fun Slimline Card design.

 

 

Lucky for me, I just got the new PinkFresh Studio Diamond Plaid Layering Stencils in the mail this week.  I ended-up blending four different Distress Oxide Inks to get the colors i wanted to coordinate with my PinkFresh Studio Christmas Wishes Rubber Charms sticker sentiments.

 

 

I used three of the sentiment stickers (I love the colors in that collection ... the red just pops), and since I didn't have a PinkFresh Studio stamp that I thought would work for the leaves element in the sketch, I used White Pearl Bling Flourishes to fill the space.

Pinkfresh World Cardmaking Fun Continues

I was blessed with another crafty call this afternoon that helped me finish cards for four more of the Pinkfresh Studio World Cardmaking Day Challenges.

I went back to Challenge #1 - Die Cutting - and used one of my favorite Pinkfresh die cuts - the Leafy Envelope Die.  I just used the outline of the Envelope (stacking two of them for a bit of dimension) and paired it with papers from Pinkfresh Studio Office Hours designer paper.

 

I added a sticker sentiment from one of the embellishment packs and a few enamel dots to finish the design.

Next I combined Challenge #8 - Sympathy Cards - with Challenge #9 - Clean & Simple Card Design.  I used this week's CAS(e) this Sketch! for my layout.

 

 

I used a black & white floral paper from Pinkfresh Studio A Case of the Blahs Collection together with a wrap of black ribbon.  The sentiment is from the Forever In Our Hearts Stamp Set.

 

 

And my final challenge of the afternoon was Challenge #12 - Florals.

 

I paired a floral die cut frame with another floral embellishment die cut and a floral chipboard sticker.  I finished with a sentiment from one of the embellishment collections and some enamel dots.

An awesome way to restock my stash and hang-out with friends ... love my hobby.

World Cardmaking Day with Friends & Pinkfresh Studio

I had a relaxing and productive crafty Zoom call this afternoon where I was able to finish 5 cards for the World Cardmaking Day Challenges at Pinkfresh Studio.

Since my Die-cutting machine was in another room (Challenge #1 is Die-cutting), I started with Challenge #2 to make a Thank You Card.  Quite a while ago I bought a Grab Bag of Pinkfresh Studio products and that is what I used for my cards today.  It included this lovely tea-cup paper called Full of Joy from the Everyday Musings collection.

 

I added puffy flower stickers to the tea cup that just had dots and stamped my grateful from Pinkfresh Studio Floral Cluster set directly on the paper using Navy ink.  The rest of the sentiment was stamped on white cardstock and mounted with foam tape.

Challenge #3 is to create a card using Stripes, which was the perfect opportunity to finally ink-up my Pop-Out Nested Chevron.  I stamped it using Catherine Pooler Stone Blue & Mint to Be, which coordinated with the embellishments from my stash.

 

I turned it into a Christmas card with two Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Vibes Chipboard stickers and finished with a scattering of gold nail-head embellishments.  I used a trick I learned from SkyPaperScissors and matted the round sticker with shimmery vellum to give it just a bit of separation from the tone-on-tone with the background.

Challenge #4 is to make a card with Monochromatic Colors.   I started with the blue paper from the Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Vibes Collection and then found several chipboard stickers that coordinated perfectly ... and I pulled that Vellum trick again.  

 

Woohoo ... another holiday card for the stash (I have gotten behind on making my extra card each week).

Challenge #5 is to make a Slimline card ... I was making slimline cards before they were cool (here is one from 10 years ago),  I chose the pattern from a gorgeous piece of Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Vibes paper which was sized perfectly for the 4" x 8" design.

 

I love how I was able to use sentiment stickers and embellishments to turn it into non-holiday card (love those versatile paper designs).

I'm also joining the Slimline Card Challenge at Shopping our Stash.

My final card this afternoon was for Challenge #6 to make a card with no stamping (pretty much the theme of my afternoon).

 

Blue grid paper, a scrap of another 12x12" dotted paper, a journaling card and stickers ... Voila!  I was certainly having the time of my life this afternoon ... time just flies when I'm creating in my studio.

A huge thanks to Pinkfresh Studio for challenges to get my World Cardmaking Day creative juices flowing.

You Are Not a Mess

I have friends who are spectacular ink blenders (have you seen the blends from SkyPaperScissors??) ... me, not so much.  I need lots more practice and a lighter hand.  Today I tried it with the Domed Ink Blenders from Scrapbook.com and that seemed to help me get softer edges.  

 

I wanted to do an ink-blend for the current Butterfly Reflections Ink Mood Board Challenge ... I used Tattered Rose, Crackling Campfire & Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink.

 

 

After blending I did several spritzes of water.  To bring in the gold from the Mood Board, I die cut PinkFresh Studio Floral Square Dies from Gold Cardstock.  I chose two that reminded me of images in the mood board (I love that blue bloom).

 

 

The sentiment is from PinkFresh Studio My Favorite Things to Say ... and then I finished with a scattering of tiny gold gems.

Smooshed Floral Cluster

When I saw the September Sketch Challenge at PinkFresh Studio, I immediately thought about doing a spotlight with one of their beautiful floral stamps ... I chose Floral Cluster.

I stamped it twice in Archival Ink and then Ink Smooshed around the edges of one using Acetate with Shabby Shutters and Bundled Sage Distress Oxide Ink.  I stamped a second time smooshing the flowers in the center with Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber Distress ink ... then after it dried I added a bit more Fossilized Amber Distress ink for more pop of yellow.

 

 

I die cut a circle from the yellow image and mounted it in the center with foam tape.   I added a scattering of yellow pearls and finished with a sentiment from PinkFresh Studio My Favorite Things to Say.

 

 

Since the Floral Cluster is at least from June 2019, I'm also linking-up at the Yellow & Green Challenge at Retro Rubber.

 

 

I'm also joining the new Color Hues Color Challenge, who are also doing Yellow & Green.

 

Modern Layered Florals

I finally inked-up the lovely Modern Layered Floral Stamps from Pinkfresh Studio I decided to go with a minty green and coral color combination.

 

 

The first card uses the current Sketch Challenge in the Pinkfresh Studio Facebook Fan Group.

 

 

Since I made several attempts while I had the stamps inked-up, I made a second card (how perfect is this to mail to anyone).

 

 

I already have one in the mail.  Are you mailing cards this week?

PinkFresh Studio Ice Cream

PinkFresh Studio has a summer-themed challenge with some yummy summer colors.

 

 

I started with the colors and the Essentials: Inverted Stitched Scallop Circle Die Set inspired by all of the circles in the photos.

 

And nothing says summer quite like Ice Cream ... the Ice Cream Bars and sentiment are from PinkFresh Studio Surviving a Funk by Brandi Kincaid ... the stamps from this set feel like they will likely sum-up the entire 2020 summer, so I'm going to keep it handy.  Since that stamp set is from 2017, I am also linking-up at the Anything Goes Challenge at Retro Rubber.

 

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.

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.

Happy Mail - Happy Heart

The challenge theme at Just Us Girls is to create a card with Inlaid Die Cuts ... this is a technique I don't think I've really tried, so I figured now was the time to dive in.

 

I've had the PinkFresh Studio Leafy Envelope Die on my studio table for a while, so I thought it would be perfect (but clearly I didn't think long enough about all of those teeny tiny pieces).  I actually die cut the Envelope four times (five times if you count the final cut for a couple of teeny pieces I lost).  I used two Distress Oxide Sprayed pieces for the envelope & leaves, a Gel Press Print for the background, and white cardstock for the outline.

 

 

The sentiment is from Pinkfresh Studio Surviving a Funk with a tiny felt flower nestled among all those leaves.

 

I'm also linking-up at the Cut It Up Challenge, where the theme is to use your favorite color ... that limey green/blue is one of my favorite hues.