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.

 

Guest Designer at Funkie Junkie Boutique

Since I won The Music of Life Challenge at the Funkie Junkie Boutique, I was invited to be the Guest Designer for their current challenge - to create using Three Stencils which runs through 11:55pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 (so come join the fun for a chance to win $25 for shopping).

I shopping my stash to find as many products from the Funkie Junkie Boutique to pull my designs together.  I started by applying clear gesso to a piece of designer paper from the 8"x8" Klimt Stamperia Collection.   My three stencils are  - Tim Holtz Ringer Layering Stencil, Tim Holtz Lace Layering Stencil and the Dylusions Small Martha's Most Massive Mat.

 

 

I used a paint brush and make-up sponge to apply Dylusions Shimmer Paints through the stencils.  I also dipped the stencil into paint and *stamped* with it to add more circles.

 

 

You can see one of my tricks for messy creating in the photo - I save all of the clear cellophane bags from stamp sets, stickers and papers and use them as disposable palettes - much easier than cleaning-up painty or sticky messes.  When I was done stenciling, I sprayed-on some Dina Wakley Media Gloss Sprays.

 

 

Once my paper dried, I cut it into two 4"x8" pieces to use as the bases for two slimline cards.  I started with a feminine design.  I created my dimensional rectangle by using the Tim Holtz Mini Mechanics embossing folder on a piece of watercolor paper.  After embossing I sprayed it with a mixture of the Media Glass Sprays.  When that dried, I used my finger and Black Marble Shimmer Paint to bring out the texture of the embossing.  I rescued a piece of the over-sprayed watercolor paper from the recycle to use on my card.

 

 

The Klimt & floral images were cut from other pieces of designer papers from the same Stamperia Collection.

 

 

The sentiments are from the Tim Holtz Metallic Sticker Book.  I sprayed the Prima Marketing Painted Flower lightly with more Gloss Spray to help tie it all together (which you can see more clearly in the close-up).

 

 

I finished with some Finnabair Art Extravagance Jewel Effect Texture Paste on the corners of the card front.

I used the other half of the 8"x8"x background for my masculine card.  In addition to more sentiments from the Tim Holtz Metallic Sticker Book, I added some of the black labels as well.  I also featured one of the Tim Holtz Baseboard Dolls as the focal image.

 

I finished with more of the Finnabair Texture Paste on the corners, some Dylusions Washi Tape and a few Japanese butterfly stickers from my stash.

 

 

I love the curled edge of the paper and how his boutonnière looks like the same flower as shown in the designer paper.

I had so much fun with these mixed media creations for the Funkie Junkie Boutique ... I hope you enjoyed them too.

Find Your Voice

The current Simon Says Stamp challenge is Wild and Wonderful ... to create a card featuring something Wild. 

I immediately thought of my Stamperia Arctic Antarctic Papers.  I went with the wild howling winter wolf.

 

 

I used the layout from Arctic Hearts Sketch with sentiments from Unity Stamp Company Empowered Words and an Eyelet Outlet Enamel Heart.

 

 

Getting Fit in 2022

Since the New Year often brings resolutions to eat less sugar and get fit, this week at Jingle Belles we're asking you to create cards using no-calorie paper sweets.  You might use cookies, candy, cake or any other favorite holiday sweet on your card.

I chose the lovely vintage holiday treats from the Stamperia Classic Christmas Collection to build my card.

 

 

I detail cut two circles and the sentiment, inked the edges, and attached them using the current Fusion Card Challenge Sketch.  The wonderful vintage sweets on the background of my Slimline card design reminded me of the vintage cookbooks in my Grandma's kitchen that I used to read like novels.

 

Since I had the other half of 8x8" paper left, I decided to make a second card using the same papers.

 

 

So much yumminess on this design.

We hope you'll break out all of your paper goodies and come join us.

Stamperia Calligraphy Collection

I love the gorgeous Stamperia Paper Pads at The Ink Pad.  Today's cards are made from the Calligraphy Collection by Stamperia.

One thing I love about the pads is that they are 8" x 8", so there's more landscape to make different cards sizes than just A2.  This square card allowed me to showcase the wonderful alphabet paper.

 

 

Another nice touch is that there are a few pages with elements that can be cut out for use on the card designs like the fountain pen and the tag sentiment.

The 8"x8" paper size is also perfect to make a slimline card layout.

 

I love the contrast of these different papers, especially with a wrap of ivory card and the sentiment cut from another piece of paper from the collection.

The quote on this card talks about how you can write letters to travel with your heart, so I'm linking-up at the Travel Challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz.

 

My final card features another detail cut fountain pen and ink well, together with another tag design and sentiment from the collection.  I just love the tones of sepia in the papers.

I'm linking this one up at the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

I hope I've given you some ideas about how fun it can be to just use some wonderful Stamperia Paper Collections for cardmaking.

 

It's 5 O'clock Somewhere

When I saw the theme at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge was Let's Be On Time, I started thinking about what sentiments in my stash talked about time.

I started with three clock stickers from three different sticker collections from {a vintage girl} & her daughter - Steampunk, Gold Steampunk and Wild West.  Remember using my discount code SMILYNSTEF gets you 15% off your sticker purchase.

 

 

The paper I used is from Stamperia Atelier Collection, because I thought the vintage feel of the paper design worked well with my clock collection.  The layout is from this week's Hand Stamped Sentiments. 

 

I finished with a pint glass of beer and sentiments from Cathy Zielske's Happy Hour Stamp Set for Simon Says Stamp.  It looks perfect paired with a local Italian-Style Pilsner.

 

I'm Dreaming of a PINK Christmas

It's our annual go-PINK-for-Christmas prompt at Jingle Belles, where Lauren & I both donate $2 per card to Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

 

 

I've been saving this gorgeous Stamperia Pink Christmas paper for this week's prompt ... with those beautiful designs, the card almost makes itself.

 

I used two of the paper for the base with this week's Sketch Saturday.  The wonderful Pink Santa image is also from the paper pad.  I finished with snowflake embellishments topped with glittery enamel dots.

 

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Time Out Challenge where theme is also Breast Cancer Awareness.

 

Got Snow?

We're still creating cards that feature SNOW this week at Jingle Belles.

This week I added some gorgeous new papers from The Funkie Junkie by a Hungarian company Stamperia ... this gorgeous collection is called Arctic Antarctic.  

 

I love the majesty of the white wolf in his snowy landscape home.  I paired one of the background papers from the collection with one of my tags from my Dina Wakley Focus on Gloss Class, that brought out the greens in the Northern Lights Sky. 

I finished with a vintage wood mounted sentiment from A Muse and some blue gems."