Ingenious Inkling

Woodblock Wednesday

It's another Woodblock Wednesday with Amy Tsuruta.

 

 

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card, so I chose one of my oldest and most-used woodblock stamps from Hero Arts - Difficult Time from 2003 (wow 20 years).  I paired it with with Hero Arts Garden Silhouette, both stamped on one of my inked Gel Press Prints in Versafine Black Ink.

 

 

I framed the blooms in a tiny bit of black cardstock & attached it to a confetti cardstock base. 

 

 

I'm also linking-up at Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero Dance of the Flower Challenge.

 

 

 

 

With my 20 year old woodblock, I'm linking-up at Retro Rubber Challenge Anything Goes.

 

 

I'm also joining We Love Stamping In the Garden Challenge.

 

 

And my blooms are inspired by the Gladiolas at the Double D challenge, which remind me of my dear dear Grandma and her memory.

Rainbow Thinking of You

The May Challenge at Pinkfresh Studio is all about the Rainbow.

 

 

I thought the Pinkfresh Studio Geo Arch Stencils reminded me of rainbows, so I used four Pinkfresh Ink colors and overlapped to get all of the rainbow hues.

 

 

I decided to go simple with the card design, so the rainbow could shine through.  I used a sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio Foiled Sentiments 3 and some Pinkfresh Studio Sparkle & Shine Ombre Glitter Drops on a black card base keeping a thin white border around the stencil design.

 

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Simon Says Stencil It Challenge.

Sympathy Blooms

The May Unity Stamp Challenge is to create with Watercolors and Florals.  

I realized I don't have a lot of floral stamps because coloring and watercoloring aren't always something I enjoy doing.  I found the big blooms from the Unity Stamp Company Birthday Blooms set and stamped it in black on watercolor paper.  I pulled out my watercolors and started painting.

 

 

When I was about half way through painting my blooms, I smeared the paint.  I debated starting over, but instead I decided to just see what I could do with that smears and just embraced them as I finished painting my blooms ... a lot of why I make art is to help myself be willing to embrace imperfections of creativty.

I thought the smeared appearance of the bloom lent itself to a sympathy card, so I added a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company ... worth it all before attaching it to a Gel Printed card base.

Reverse Stenciled Sympathy

The April Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to use the Reverse Stenciling Technique.

 

 

I did a blend of Sea Glass & Ocean Mist Ink before applying black ink with the Gina K. Designs Ornamental Fans Stencil, using the colors from the Less is More Challenge.

 

After stenciling, I used the Gina K. Designs small Stitched Circle Die to cut out my reverse stenciled design and the larger Stitched Circle Die from black cardstock for a skinny frame.

 

 

I die cut one of the stems from Gina K. Designs Botanical Duo and a smaller one from Gina K. Designs Foliage Fillers out of white cardstock to attach on top of the stenciled circle.  I finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Spring Tulips attached with foam tape.

I’m also joining the Pattern Challenge at Stencil Fun. 

This Difficult Time

I need to re-stock my sympathy card stash, so this week's TGIF Challenge Sketch was the perfect starting-off point.

I pulled out papers from Alexandra Renke and a vintage 2003 Hero Arts Woodblock stamp Difficult Time.

 

 

I just love combining those gorgeous papers and stamping on top of the floral image.

 

Circle Leaves Sympathy

I needed a sympathy card, and somehow I let my stash get depleted.  It's the one card I least like to make when I need it, so I worked to restock my stash.

For some reason I tend to gravitate to greenery for sympathy cards, and for this one I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch together with the Simon Says Stamp Circle Leaves die cut from a scrap of Dylusions Purple Shimmer Painted Paper I had on my craft table (yes, sometimes I plan cards ... and sometimes I just use what is within reach and go with it).

 

 

I used stitched circle die to cut out the leafy circle, and then used the same circle die on a piece of mixed media paper to back it.   Here's what the purple looks like before I die cut it (I think it's time to make some more).

 

 

Next I used the stitched circle on a coordinating piece of chalk printed paper that I made here.

 

I finished with a navy stamped Taylored Expressions Simple Strips - Sympathy.

Gel Printed Cards

This weekend's #abcprinting challenge included R is for Rainbow.  I used Dylusions Shimmer Paints to print the rainbow.

 

 

I paired it with the Spellbinders Kaleidoscope Die Cut in Black and white (for a drop shadow).

 

 

 

Stamped Sentiments are Unity Stamp Company Say It Big.

Next up is S is for Stencil (handmade).  I used this cool Bird Stencil that was handmade and gifted to me by my friend Bev. 

 

 

I stenciled in Blue and then went back in with Green (that didn't show through as much as I'd hoped).

 

 

I went back in with a Q-tip and paint on the bird to make it a bit more solid for my card.  I paired it with a vintage wood-mounted stamp (which clearly wasn't mounted straight at the end of the phrase).

 

Autumn Mica Sprays

I got my newest collection of Ranger Mica Sprays, so I combined them with a few existing ones to create lots of backgrounds on watercolor paper and kraft cardstock.

After they dried, I combined them with stamps from Impression Obsession and some wooden leaves I had in my stash to make a group of cards.

 

 

The first one is for the Addicted to Stamps Birthday Challenge using the Sunday Stamps Sketch.

 

I love the combination of the two backgrounds.  Sentiment is Impression Obsession Typewriter Slimline Shorts.

 

 

The next one is for the Can You Handle the Pressure? Challenge with a twist of fall.  I embossed the sprayed panel with a Darice Fall Leaf Background Embossing Folder and then inked the raised texture with orange ink.

 

 

The sentiment is from the same Impression Obsession Typepwriter Slimline Shorts stamp set (I love that slightly wonky typewriter font and the set has so many options).

The next one positioned the leaves on top of the Impression Obsession Burlap Die Cut from Kraft cardstock.

 

This sentiment is from Impression Obsession The Skinny.

I'm linking-up my next card at the Country View Challenge Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness.

 

Sentiment is Impression Obsession Watch the Leaves ... and I added a vintage button to ground my wooden leaves.

 

My final card features another vintage button together with a sentiment from Impression Obsession Maple Set.

Gel Printing Fun Continues

I'm still having fun with the September #abcprintingchallenge.

 

K is for Key - I used 3D Glue Dots and an acrylic block with my husband's key knife to do some prints.

 

 

L is for Layers.  I printed & rotated using the Pinwheel Brick Stencil by Lizzie Mayne from Stencil Girl and Catherine Pooler Inks.

 

 

M is for Markers.  I loved how these Zig Art & Graphic Twin Markers looked on the plate ... so vivid and fun.  One technique I'll surely do again.

 

 

N is for nature.  I meant to grab some grass or leaves, but it was dark outside, so I went with plan B and used Nature stamp from Unity Stamp Company ... hope is a beautiful thing stamp set.

 

 

Since Gel Printing is indeed one of my favorite techniques, it is perfect for this Month's Unity Stamp Challenge.

 

 

I added some Merlot Hexagons and a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company {...heartfelt sympathy} using the Sketch from Just Add Ink.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Daring Cardmakers Comfort & Hope Challenge.

 

 

Here's the sketch.

 

 

O is for Oval is next ... not one of my best results, but the joy is in the process.  I cut an oval mask out of printer paper and then printed through the mask.

 

 

Next up, P is for Pastels.  I used some vintage pastels that I picked-up at The Create Exchange on my plate.

 

 

The cool thing about pastels is how many prints you can pull.  The first was with white paint and the second was with gold.

And finally Q is for Q-Tip.  I used new Dylusions Shimmer paints and painted/drew a spiral design with a Q-Tip.

 

Hope you've enjoyed my Gel Printing as much as I have.

 

Shadow Stenciled Sympathy

The September Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to create a card with an offset or shadowed stencil design.

 

 

I created my background using Gina K. Designs Water Droplet Stencil with White Pigment Ink and Dark Spruce Ink on kraft cardstock.

 

 

I used the three shades of Gina K. Designs Spruce Ink with the Layered Eucalyptus stamp & die cut with the Double Stitched Oval Die Cut.

The Layered Eucalyptus sentiment was stamped in the Medium Spruce ink to finish the card.