Ingenious Inkling

Hexagon Hello

I'm once again channeling my inner Julie Ebersole by making a card inspired by her beautiful design at the CASE Study Challenge.

I loved the negative image, clean lines, scripty font and the placement of the elements, so that's what I incorporated in my design.

I used the colors from this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge and began by attaching Coral Washi tape to a scrap of white cardstock.  Next I overlaid my Hexagon Border die cut (love how the subtle pattern shows through) and finished with and elegant Memory Box Kaleidoscope Butterfly, all attached to the card base with foam tape for dimension.  

I wanted to do little dots of color, but some how that ended-up looking messy rather than artsy, so I went with a cluster of buttons from my stash instead ... and a scripty die cut sentiment from Savvy Stamps to complete the design.

From Our Roost

This week the designers from EAD Designs are joining the talented team at The Play Date Cafe for this week's color story.

I used stickers from EAD Designs' Just Chicken In together with this week's I Spy Sketch.

Believe In Yourself

This month's Hero Arts Challenge is to create a card that uses a seasonal/holiday stamp in a way other than its intended use.  I started with the Believe stamp from the new Believe set because in addition to believing in Santa Claus and the Christmas Spirit ... some people need to be reminded to believe in themselves.

I stamped it in cheerful flamingo pink for this week's Play Date Cafe.

Next I stamped the snowflake tag and tiny snowflake from the Smiling Snowman Set in the same flamingo pink and put them together with some coffee pearls & ribbon for my focal point.

I finished with some aweomse  designer paper from EP's Everyday Eclectic (included in the awesome Eclectic Slide FITkit put together by noneother than the talented Amy T at Paper Issues).  I finished with an encouraging sentiment from Find Joy.

Here's wishing we all believe in ourselves a little more tomorrow.

Live in the Moment

There was a Scramble in the Hero Arts Flickr Group this afternoon to create a card in under 90 minutes by mixing and matching two or more different sentiments to create a new one or using partial sentiments.

I combined a partial sentiment from Heyday Thoughts with another sentiment from the Cuckoo Set.  I also added a tiny flower from Cuckoo and the butterfly from Untitled Love.

I added several strips of Washi Tape for this week's Retro Sketch.

I finished with adhesive pearls, Christmas Red Stickles in the flower centers & some Geranium Glitter Dots for a bit more sparkle.  Colors and the inspiration for the stacked text come from this week's color story at The Play Date Cafe.  

I'm also joining the Freestyle Fun at A Blog Named Hero.

Wedding Love

Tonight I needed to make a wedding card, so I combined this week's Play Date Cafe colors (and wedding theme) with the Laura Bassan's fabulous card from CASE Study Challenge.

 

 

I stamped a vintage couple image from A Muse in charcoal (several have asked me if it's availble anywhere, and I am unable to find it) and added an EAD Designs rub-on sentiment.

The lacy paper is from the Sassafrass Mix and Mend Wee Bundle.

Winter Snow Grid

This month at Rogue Redhead Designs we're Getting Griddy ... creating cards using grids of images.  I love how Shar repeated one of the images from Snow Hugs in her card, so I did something similar with the cute little couple from Candy Kisses.

I pulled my colors from this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge using Echo Park's Season's Greetings papers & a sentiment Stickerz from EAD Designs.

 

And my inspiration from this cute little cake at the new Get Inspired Challenge.

The Sketch is this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch.

Link-up your Get Griddy Card by January 8, 2012 (you don't have to use Rogue Redhead stamps, but we love it when you do) for a chance to win a $15.00 US Voucher to the RRD Store.

Little Black Dress Free Spirit

The color story at the Play Date Cafe this week is Black & White with a splash of ... my favorite color ... orange.

I just got a new Basic Grey / Hero Arts Little Black Dress Cling Stamp from Ellen Hutson (seriously, some of the best selection & customer service out there), so I decided to ink it up.

I stamped the image twice, so I could spotlight a section with an orange frame.  The layout is this week's Card Sketch #2 from Let's Capture These Sketches.  The butterflies are a combination of Martha Stewart Punches & a Memory Box Butterfly Delights Die Cut.

I finished with a *Free Spirit* sticker from EAD Designs Random Words.

I also made a card using last week's Let's Capture these Sketches for this week's Jingle Belles Sticker Challenge, but missed the cut-off for uploading.  

 

It features Saint Nick Papers from Fancy Pants Designs together with Christmas Stamps & Deck the Halls Stickerz from EAD Designs.

Enjoy your Friday!

What's Black & White and Read All Over?

The CAS-ual Friday Challenge this week is What's Black & White and Read All Over? ... to make a card using black, white & red that is inspired by a book.  I chose this book and vintage book cover as my inspiration.

I loved the contrast of the bird against the solid background ... with a song bird theme.

A quick and easy card using Red Felt stickers, black gems, and a sentiment from Artistic Outpost's Songbirds stamped in Indigo Ink.

This color combination is also being celebrated at The Play Date Cafe this week.

Play Date Cafe Guest Designer

I'm thrilled to be the Guest Designer at the Play Date Cafe this week.  The sponsor of this week's Challenge is Stampendous, who provided the Design Team with stamps to use for our cards.  I received this gorgeous Swirly Bird Nest Cling Stamp.

Make sure you click on over to the Play Date Cafe and check out the prize & contest details.

Here is this week's Color Story ... I like the shabby distressed texture of the oars and the pepsi crates, so that's what I went with for my design.  I used this week's CardPatterns Sketch.

I started by stamping my image in grey ink on light grey cardstock and clear embossing.  Next I sponged on lots of Barn Door & Fired Brick Distress Ink with a bit of Stormy Sky around the edges.  Next I sprinked with quite a bit of water to add some more interest to the background.

I used a distressed navy designer paper from Bo Bunny's Liberty Collection for my card base & awning with more of the grey cardstock for my punchy background and sentiments trip.  My circle border was trimmed from the Marth Stewart Bangle Chain Trim punch and my pearls were colored with more Distress Ink.  I finished with a sentiment from Rogue Redhead Design's Floriculture Set.

Bring on the Happy

I needed a birthday card for my teenage nephew.  He enjoys playing in the band, so I wanted to incorporate some vintage sheet music into my design.  I decided to use the colors from this week's Play Date Cafe for a masculine birthday design.

Also, one of my favorite sketch sources, PageMaps is celebrating its 5th anniversary with a card contest.  They're asking you to create a Celebration-themed card using one of their sketches.  I chose this sketch from March 2011.

Papers are My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy True Blue and sentiment is from Hero Arts Live & Laugh.

I did quite a bit of sponging with Wild Honey distress ink to help tie everything together and give it more of a grunged masculine feel.  I finished with a bit of orange bling and a party hat ... bring on the happy.