Ingenious Inkling

Leaf Me Alone

The current challenge at Shopping Our Stash is Leaf Me Alone - creating projects with Leaves.

 

 

I started with Hero Arts Autumn Leaves die cut from Gel Printed Tags.  I also stamped Hero Arts Bare Branched Tree in white pigment ink, clear embossed, and blended lots of autumn ink colors for the card background.

 

 

I finished with some gems, wraps of gold cord, and a sentiment from Hero Arts Birthday Messages.

 

 

With my Leaf Dies, I'm joining the Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero Die-Lightful Challenge.

 

 

I also took my leafy inspiration from Just Us Girls.  And I'm linking-up at the Emboss It challenge at Simon Says Stamp & the Make My Monday Autumn Flora and Fauna.

Hey (h)Ombre Autumn

The newest Challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to create something with an ombre design.  

 

 

I decided to use Catherine Pooler Inks to create an Ombre background with Apricot, Ginger & Terracotta.

 

 

It took me several times to get one I loved, so I used the leftovers to die cut some leaves using Spellbinders Autumn Leaves & Mini Fall Blooms.  I'm also linking-up at the Simon Says Stamp Die Cuts Challenge.

 

 

I arranged them in reverse Ombre order falling down the side of the card.  I finished with coordinating enamel dots from AlteNew and a sticker sentiment.  

I do love Autumn.

I hope you'll Shop Your Stash for some Ombre designs and come join the fun.

Joe Cool

The newest Challenge at Shopping our Stash is Animal Antics - Create a card featuring Animals acting like Humans. 

 

 

I thought about this one for a long time before the perfect Animal finally came to me.

 

 

When I had a stamping getaway with Chris Dayton, she let me stamp off a bunch of images from her fabulous Snoopy Stamp Collection.  I decided Joe Cool was the perfect Animal for today's card.

I colored him with Alcohol Ink markers and then added sentiments (you know I had to include Cool for Joe Cool) from Cathy Zielske's Emphatic Stamp Set from Simon Says Stamp.

Back to the Books

The current theme at Shopping Our Stash is Back to the Books - make a card that has anything to do with school or books ... or use a book page on your design.

 

 

I decided to combine the book theme with a book page using Gina K. Designs Open Book Stamp set.  I stamped the book on a dictionary page that almost fit exactly inside the pages.  I attached it to cardstock for some stability, and then used scissors to cut out the book.

 

 

I highlighted one of the dictionary definitions and then found some Authentique Classique Beauty book page & patterned paper for my card base.  I attached the right side of the book and let the left side fold up slightly.

 

 

I finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Grow Positive Thoughts to pair with the definition.

We can wait to see what you find when you Shop Your Stash.

Go With the Flow

The next challenge theme at Shopping Our Stash is She Sells Seashells - to create a card featuring the beach, ocean, sea or seashells. 

 

 

While I love visiting the beach, I seldom buy any beach themed items since am making cards in the landlocked Midwest.  I had to do quite a bit of "shopping my stash" before I could find something to use for this week's Challenge.  I found a book of Lost Ocean postcards to color and send (by Johanna Basford).  No idea why I bought them or why they remained unopened, but I found two of them that I thought worked well together. 

The postcard paper was nice and sturdy, so with the shell background I sprayed three shades of Distress Oxide Spray - Mermaid Lagoon, Unchartered Mariner and Villainous Potion - and then blended with water.  I finished with sprays of Avery Elle Clear Shimmer Spray.

 

 

I trimmed the jelly fish from a second postcard and used ink smooshing with Distress Oxide inks to add color and then painted the jelly fish with Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Twinkles glitter gel.

I added a strip of a Gel Press print to frame the image and finished with a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Mermaid's Tail and some Pinkfresh Studio Iridescent Pearls.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at Just Add Ink's Just Add ... Under the Sea Challenge.

My Time to Craft Challenge is also Ocean/Sea beside or on or underwater (lots of *or* options)

WTHeck Embellishments

This week at Shopping Our Stash we're asking you to pull out those WTHeck Embellishments from your stash ... So...what do you have in your stash that you look at and shake your head and think... What in the heck?? Why did I buy these??  How long have I had these??  Where did they even come from?? Why do I have so many of them?? How can I use them??

 

 

As I was shopping my stash, I found these large random photo corner stickers.  My only guess is that they were part of some sort of grab bag or mystery box I purchased at some point (or that they coordinated with a paper collection I no longer have).  Regardless ... why???

 

 

I decided to figure out if there was a way I could form some sort of shape with them.  I settled on a straight line on Kraft Cardstock.

 

 

I had one extra, so I paired it with it's mate to form a square and then added a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips - Snarky using foam tape.  I finished with a few Doodlebug Heart Sprinkles Stickers pulling out three of the colors from the photo corners.

Ink Blended Timeless Poppies

The newest challenge at Shopping our Stash is Blending In - we're creating with Ink Blending.

 

 

I love ink blending, but it's also a technique that I know I could use a lot of practice to get better.  I went through several possible ideas and settled on ink blending Gina K. Designs large Timeless Poppies image.  I started by stamping it in white pigment ink on white cardstock and then I embossed with detail white embossing powder.

 

 

Next I blended Gina K. Designs' Red Hot and Red Velvet inks on the blooms and Blue Lagoon and Tranquil Teal on the leaves and out to the edges of the card.

 

 

When I have done similar techniques in the past, I used a baby wipe when I was done ink blending to brighten back the white embossed detail ... only one thing I forgot ... Gina's inks are reactive.   I ended up swiping up and down the entire surface with the  baby wipe to get an overall similar look across the entire surface (but it also lightened the inks a bit).  

I stamped the sentiment from Gina K. Designs Grand Greetings using both shades of red ink with the darker shade along the bottom and added some glittery enamel dots.

I'm also linking-up at the Color Hues Challenge where the shades are red & blue.

 

There's Gnome One Like You

The newest challenge at Shopping Our Stash is Gnomes.

 

 

I started with the fun little Gnome & House Stamps from Reverse Confetti Holiday Gnomes.  I paired them with scraps of paper from Reverse Confetti Winter Wonder (and a bit of blue Gel Press Print on a map index) using the Layout from Sketch Saturday.

 

 

The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti OMG for the Reverse Confetti June Stock Your Stash Challenge to create a Hello / Just Because Card. 

 

 

I added an enamel star to the top of my Gnomies hat and a few more enamel dots for accents.

 

 

Go Shop Your Stash for your Gnomes and come join the fun.

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.

More Pinkfresh Create & Connect

Our second class at Pinkfresh Create & Connect featured Peony Fantasy taught by Channin Pelletier.

I really love the dimension from stenciling the blooms, as well as the unique way of layering the detailed circle frame die cut.

 

 

She also had us splattered with watered down black ink which produced soft grey splatter.

She's heavy with her ink blending (like I am) and used some bold color combinations.  This time we did stenciled gold embossed images, which is perfect for this weeks Shopping Our Stash Challenge - Make Mine a Tall One - make a Slimline or Mini-Slimline Card

 

More embossing with the hot foil plate and layering the two slimline frames.  

I had so fun to making these two lovely cards.