Ingenious Inkling

Winnie & Walter Word Card Making Day

I wanted to join in the Winnie & Walter World Card Making Day Challenges (you can see my CRAFTIE photo here) ... only one slight problem ... I only have 3 stamp sets from Winnie & Walter & 2 of them are sentiment sets (they do make amazing sentiment sets).  So clearly, I need to win this challenge, so I can add to my stash.

I started with inspiration from today's Featured Stamper at SplitcoastStampers ... the talented Jennifer Jackson.  I took my inspiration from her lovely stenciled design.

Unfortunately, most of my stencils have been mailed to New Jersey for the Gel Press Extravaganza that Lauren & I have planned for this week, so no pumpkins or leaves ... but I did have this lovely Classic Harlequin Stencil from Technique Junkies by A Colorful Life.  Remember, there's a World Card Making Day sale going on at Technique Junkies.

I pulled out my MISTI because it's not only a helpful tool for stamping ... I also use it for Stenciling.  I positioned my water color paper and held it in place with my long magnet.  Next, I placed  my stencil in the corner of my MISTI, so it stays in place in place and then I only have to add a single piece of tape at the top (rather than taping down multiple sides).

Iliana is having a great WCMD Sale Too.

I used my make-up brushes (life changing) to Ink Blend three colors of Distress Ink for the Winnie & Walter Ink Blending Challenge with Lea.

I started with the lightest shade and moved to the darkest, going back with some Mustard Seed at the end.  That is one of the make-up (aka Stencil) brushes from this Set of 6.

Another great thing about using this MISTI Technique for Stenciling, is it's easy to lift up your Stencil and see how things look, and then put it right back in place to add more ink ... look at that gorgeous blending of color.

 

For my finished card, I used inspiration from Jennifer to mat my card with gold (I normally would have reached for a darker brown) and added a wrap of twine, as well as some glittery autumn leaves.  Rather than stamp my sentiment on a strip of paper (I felt like it covered-up too much of that gorgeous ink-blending) I used Acorn Versafine Clair ink to stamp the Sentiment from Winnie & Walter The Big, The Bold, and Comfort on top of my blended Distress Ink.  I also used Jennifer's inspiration for a combination of a bigger & smaller word for my sentiment.

I'm also linking-up at the Trees & Leaves Challenge at The Paper Players.

AND remember ... Stop by and leave a comment on my Birthday Giveaway for a chance to win a Medium Size Flat Rate Box stuffed full of stamps & coordinating dies.

World Card Making Day Sympathy

I'm going to try to join in as many challenges I can today (because like I said in my previous post ... prizes).

The 2nd Challenge at the My Favorite Things Blog is to make a CAS Design.  I have a large pile of un-used MFT products, so this is the perfect opportunity to break them out.

I die cut the MFT Grand Greenery from scraps of paper in the three colors at the Color Throwdown Challenge (love when a card is entirely composed of scraps) and then stamped a sentiment from Brushstroke Expressions in Green Grass Ink.  Do you hold your papers up to your computer monitor to try to figure out if you have the right color (or is that just me)?

I just love that room ... I would live there.

Since I had more greenery ... I made a second card ... because you never feel like making a sympathy card when you really need one (so I always make sure there are plenty in my stash).

Sympathy is also the word at the Just Us Girls Challenge.

Make sure you stop by my Birthday Giveaway Post.

Technique Junkies April Blog Hop

It's time for new stamp releases at Technique Junkies. 

Remember, all April New Release Stamps are 15% off through the April 8th ... and if you  use my code TJ10Stephanie you get 10% off all other products.

One of my favorites this month is the Peony Collage ... I love when a stamp pretty much just makes the card for you.  I tried stamping it in three different colors.  I really loved the exquisite detail I got with the Versafine Clair Inks and my MISTI.

All I did to finish my designs was add a single sentiment.   I trimmed the Happy Birthday from Happy Birthday Advice and mounted on an Ivory Cardstock Base.

For the second one I used the sentiment from Stop and Smell the Flowers.

My final one is a sympathy card with a sentiment from With Sympathy.  This time I framed my collage in black.

I also had fun creating with the new Butterfly Woman.  I trimmed off one of the butterflies, so I could also use it to stamp individually.  The sentiment is another new stamp called Soul to Dance.

Butterfly Woman also pairs beautifully with the new sentiment Began to Fly.

I painted my watercolor paper background using Ken Oliver's Color Burst and then stamped on top.  I added some highlights to my stamp using more color burst paint and some gold metallic paint for her hair.

 

 

Have fun hopping and checking out all of the new stamps.

• Technique Junkies Blog
• Giovana Smith 
• Ceal Pritchett 
• Jeanne Streiff
• Lee Ann Barrett
• Cheri Weston
• Stephanie Severin <--- YOU ARE HERE
• Janelle Stollfus 
• Ro Donner
• Judy Jackson 
• Beth Norman 
• Lynda Pleckan 
• Pat Huntoon 

Holding You in My Heart

I discovered a new challenge this morning ... The Library Challenge ... and you know I had to join the fun.  The idea is to create a card inspired by a Library Book ... it could be inspired by the book cover (I won't lie ... I'm all about the covers when I choose books at the Library), the title, or the Story.

The first book is Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice.

I was immediately drawn to the overall pattern of the background and those gorgeous colors ... they reminded me of the gorgeous piece of oriental paper I had on my studio table (thank you Linda Brun for wrapping my gift in something so gorgeous).  It is so think, it almost feels like fabric.

I trimmed my card size narrower, so it was more like the dimensions of a paperback book.  I used the Wednesday Sketch Challenge from My Favorite Things and incorporated a dictionary page that was in my paper pile.  I used a sentiment from MFT Deepest Sympathy (awesome sympathy sentiment set) stamped in Kelly Green on a scrap of water color paper on my desk (noticing a theme ... love when card making & cleaning-up my studio table go together).

If you haven't watched Kim Van Der Sanden's Ted Talk (the owner of My Favorite Things), it's a good one.

I also joined the Card Making Olympics at MFT ... Event #4 Speed Cardmaking.  It's amazing how fast cardmaking goes when all of the leftovers are on your studio table.

 

Loss of Your Faithful Friend

Tonight's card is for a co-worker who lost his faithful friend this week.

I used some gorgeous paper that Linda Brun used to wrap my gift to cover my card base. 

Stamps are Paper Smooches Paws for a Cause ... layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketch (I made the card base 4" wide, so the extended paper will still fit in a standard envelope).

Rustic Botanticals Sympathy

I finally had a little time to stamp tonight.  I created a card for the current Mix-It-Up Challenge at Essentials by Ellen with My Favorite Things.

I combined a leaf/feather from Essentials by Ellen Rustic Botanicals with a sentiment from My Favorite Things Deepest Sympathy.

The background was created using my MISTI, Gel Press, and Distress Oxide Inks.

#DontLoseFaith

When I saw the Birds of a Feather Challenge at Falliday Fest, I knew I wanted to use my hand carved feather stamp (by the talented Gina Cunningham) ... I just wasn't sure how.

Then I saw the sketch at CAS Colours & Sketches and the card came together quickly.

I used three colors of Distress Oxide on Ivory cardstock & hand-cut my feathers.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp You Got This.

I'm also joining the That's Sketchy Challenge at Shopping Our Stash.

Autumn Sympathy

It always feels so good to be back in my studio after a vacation break (but also a little rusty).  I created a card for the Unity Stamp Company Warm & Cozy Fall Color Challenge.

I used a Sympathy Sentiment from Unity Everything Stronger together with some Felt Leaves for the Textures of All The Feels Felt Challenge at Falliday Fest.

I used this week's Sunday Stamps Sketch and instead of paper on the kraft card base, I used Butterfly Washi Tape from Eyelet Outlet and finished with a wrap of green cord.

 

Memories

The next Falliday Fest Challenge for me was trying the Stamping with Gelatos Technique.  I can't believe I had never done it ... and I also couldn't remember the last time I used my Gelatos (and that I knew where they actually were in my studio).

I updated the technique by using my MISTI.  I was able to ink each portion of the stamp using a single color.  Then I could stamp ... spray ... and ink again.  It allowed me to get a beautiful rainbow effect with my Hero Arts Starry Night Brushstroke Bold Prints background.

 

After my background dried, I added a sentiment from Hero Arts Remember using this week's Just Add Ink Sketch.

I finished with some felt leaves to bring out the red & orange in the background.

Find the Right Words

The theme at Unity Stamp Company's Be Inspired Challenge this month is to create with florals.

I created a simple card using my MISTI together with a flower & sentiment from ... worth it all, the January 2016 Unity Sentiment Kit.

I used cardstock with flecks of color for my base and originally inked my stamps in Sunflower Ink and then using my MISTI, I stamped again by partially inking with Candy Corn to give it an ombre effect.  I attached my slightly smaller piece of cardstock to a standard kraft card base leaving a kraft edge along the bottom.