Ingenious Inkling

Nautilus Mosaic Condolences

For this morning's SplitcoastStampers Inspiration Challenge at Brick House Fabrics, I was immediately drawn to the orange fabric group ... and then to the seashell designs.  I chose this Nautilus Seashell Fabric to inspire my design.

 

After smooshing ink earlier this week, I decided to try a variation on the technique.  I applied three colors of Distress Oxide Ink inspired by the colors of the fabric to my craft sheet and sprayed with Hero Arts Shimmer Mist.  I attached my Technique Junkies Nautilus Mosaic to the lid of my MISTI and pushed it into the inky palette and then stamped on Ivory Cardstock repeating multiple times until the entire image was covered with my inky mosaic.

 

Next I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch with the same three colors of cardstock to design my layout.

 

I chose a sympathy sentiment from Technique Junkies With Sympathy Set of 5 to finish my design.  So much fun to get inky first thing in the morning.  

Remember, 10% off your purchase if you use my Technique Junkies Discount Code.

Ink Smoosh Sympathy

The mini-challenge at the Unity Stamp Company Facebook Page is to do some Ink Smooshing.  I haven't smooshed in a long time ... and as always when I rediscover a technique, I wonder why.

 

I improvised and added some shimmery mist to my Distress Oxide ink before smooshing and it added a lovely all-over-sparkle.

 

After Smooshing, I stamped the butterfly from love. just love. regardless and the sentiment from {...heartfelt sympathy} in Blue Belle ink.  On of those cards that's always good to have made before you need it.

Stamping Friends Trifecta

The My Sweet Petunia Design Team is having fun creating with two of our dear friends ... Gina K. Designs and Picket Fence Studios.  Each company will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky blog commenter from all of the participant blogs.

 

I love Gina K.'s cardstock ... the colors are so vibrant and the card stock is the perfect sturdy weight.  I decided to stamp on three different colors of half sheets using the new Elegant Asters Stamp Set ... I thought it would be fun to have stamping on both the front and back of my folded card.  I used my Memory MISTI, so I could easily stamp off all the edges.

 

 

The first card used Gina K. Designs Sweet Mango Cardstock and the three flowers in the set.  I wanted a tone-on-tone look for each card, so I worked with a monochromatic design.

 

The Memory MISTI allowed me to stamp all three flowers at once, clean them with my Gina K. Designs Tidy Towel (love that thing) and then stamp again.

 

 

After filling my cardstock, I folded it in half and made my first card.  I stamped the large flower and two sets of leaves on Gina K. Designs Sea Glass cardstock and cut them out with the coordinating Dies.

 

 

I added some Eyelet Outlet Bling in the center of my bloom and some enamel dots before finishing with a sentiment from Picket Fence Studios Going to Be Okay.  I just love how her cardstock colors work together.

 

 

Next I decided to stamp with only the leaves in the set on Sea Glass Cardstock.

 

 

Aren't those leaves just beautiful.

 

 

Again I covered the entire half sheet and folded it to make my card.

 

 

I used more die cut leaves together with the Gina K. Designs Wishes Word Die cut from fun foam.  The sentiment is Picket Fence Studios Ways to Say Congrats paired with the tiny BEST Stamp from Gina. K. Designs Mini Wishes Stamp Set.  Love how it all works so well together.

For my final card, I combined the flowers and the leaves, which allowed me to stamp them all together using my Memory MISTI very quickly.  This time I used the yummy Jelly Bean Green Cardstock from Gina. K. Designs.

 

 

Stamping so many images at a time, my half sheet was filled in no time at all.

 

 

Next I stamped the butterfly from the Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters Stamp Set twice on Sea Glass Cardstock and die cut them.  Then I added some adhesive pearls.

 

 

I used more of my Fun Foam with the Gina. K. Designs Hello Word Die and perched my butterflies on several of the flowers ... this card just makes me happy.

I hope you had fun on my creative journey today ... if you don't have any of this yummy cardstock, you should really consider adding some to your stash.

Now it's time to HOP ... remember, three $50 gift certificates up for grabs chosen from commenters on the participant blogs.

Gina Krupsky

My Sweet Petunia

Picket Fence Studios

Karen Hightower

Ilina Crouse

Sheri Gilson

Jeanne Streiff

Cathy Tidwell

Lydia Fiedler

Donna Idlet

Susie Moore

Ceal Pritchett

Lisa Hetrick

Giovana Smith

Mindy Eggen

Stephanie Severin <<---- You Are Here

Rema DeLeeuw

Chris Dayton

Emily Loggans

Heather Ruwe

Arjita Singh

Karen Reategui

Melanie Muenchinger

Angela Bode

Beth Silaika

Jen Timko

Jana Millen

Lisa Henke

Anna Wight

Judy Rozema

Susan Wymer

Hannah Schroepfer

 

Cut-Align Product Focus

I was thrilled to be asked to join the Product Focus at SplitcoastStampers for the new My Sweet Petunia Cut-Align.  And to celebrate, My Sweet Petunia is offering 15% off the entire store (full disclosure, I design for My Sweet Petunia, so if you click through to buy using one of my links, I will receive a small commission).  The code is: SCSCUT19 - good through April 20th.

I will confess that in my many years of card-making, I have never effectively used a craft knife. I owned a few, but whenever I tried to use them, I could never cut straight. I always felt so out of control when I was cutting, that I was afraid I would slice my finger.  The Cut-Align has changed that for me.  I now confidently wield my craft knife to make precision 1/16" cuts.  

For my first project, I started with these Sentiment Strips from Simon Says Stamp.  I knew they would be the perfect test for my Cut-Align skills.

Using the Cut-Align makes it super-easy to cut these tiny sentiments.

 

 

And in just a few minutes, I was ready to create.

 

 

To create my card base, I stamped Joy Clair's Doodle Flower Background on a piece of patina designer paper.

 

 

I added some die cut branches from Simon Says Stamp Forget Me Not Flowers tucked under my sentiment, which I attached with a tiny strip of foam tape for dimension.

Next I thought, how could I create my own sheet of stamped sentiments to cut apart.  I had the Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Faith in my stash, so I used some temporary adhesive to attach the entire stamps set (left on the acrylic) to my MISTI.  I inked it with Brown ink and stamped the entire set at once onto white cardstock.

 

Next I followed the same process with my Cut-Align and saved all of the sentiments in an envelope with the stamp set, so in the future I can just grab-and-go.

 

I decided to pair the stamps with some of the Gel Press Prints in my stash from Art Camp with Lauren.I used the more solid portions of the Gel Press Prints for the back of my Tim Holtz Thinlets Detailed Butterflies and Black cardstock for the front.  I'm linking up at the Blossoms, Butterflies & Bugs Allsorts Challenge.

 

 

I like how the first one turned out so much, that I made a second.  You can never have too many sympathy / encouragement cards in your stash.

Next I used my Cut-Align to cut perfectly even strips of paper.  When I first saw the Doodled Rainbow Sccops stamp from Ink Blot Shop, it reminded me of Mermaid Scales.  I inked it in several shades of blue-greens for an ombre effect.  I used my Cut-Align to evenly cut away the white borders.

I'm linking all three of these cards to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge Die-ing For Creativity.

 

Next I cut my image into even horizontal strips.

 

I attached the strips to a blue card base and added several Mermaids and a sentiment (punched out with a flower Petal Punch) all from Ellen Hutson's Essentials by Ellen Mermaid's Tail Set.

 

I finished with a sprinkling of oceany sequins.

Next I saw a quilting design that inspired my final card.  Using the Cut-Align reminds me of using a Rotary Cutter on Fabric, so it lends itself to creating lots of quilt-like patterns and designs.

I started with cutting equal-width strip of a variety of orange papers from my scrap stash.  I just lined-up the edge of my ruler with the edge of the paper and cut a 12" piece of designer paper like buttah.

 

 

Next I assembled my strips back into a solid striped background.  Then I cut the strips diagonally using my Cut-Align and the 45 degree angle line on my cutting mat (sorry, the colors on this picture went a bit wonky on me).

 

 

Then I attached my striped strips to my card base.

 

I finished with a sentiment and image from Grouchy Grumplings from Taylored Expressions.

 

And of course I used my Cut-Align for my sentiment.

 

 

Click on over to SplitcoastStampers and click on the keyword CutAlignPF to see all of the great Product Focus Creations.

Wishing You Peace

The Monthly Mix Challenge at gina k. designs is to create a card that only features a sentiment.

 

I used the gina k. designs set Peace, Courage & Memories from Unity Stamp Company.  Sentiments were stamped in black on watercolor paper with my MISTI and clear embossed (my MISTI makes it easy to use the grid and line-up multiple sentiments).

 

Next I loosely painted on three colors (peach, pink & red) of Zig Pearlescent Watercolor Paints and then finished with a wrap of Alexandre Renke plaid washi tape before attaching to my black card base.

I'm also joining Make My Monday where the Challenge theme is Use Words or a Sentiment.

I Am A Thousand Winds

I needed to get a sympathy card in the mail, so I used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! for my design, flipping it to a vertical orientation.

 

I stamped my Hopi Prayer sentiment from Stampotique in Blueberry ink on ivory cardstock.  My background is one of my Gel Press Prints on with navy cardstock strips for the angled elements of the sketch.

 

Shines Down Upon Us

I use feedly blog reader to browse hundreds of blogs each week (which is how I discovery my link love that I share).  I have a folder where I save all of the card-making challenges I find, so I have a single place to go for inspiration ... and sometimes (like now) when I have a lot of challenge ideas saved, my brain tries to combine a bunch of them when I'm dreaming about potential ideas ... like it did with this card.

I started with the More Than Words Mini Challenge, which is to use the word SHINE in a design.

I went searching for stamps with SHINE and settled on a vintage wood-mounted stamp Inky Antics called Openings in Heaven that has one of my favorite Sympathy Sentiments (and one of my favorite fonts too). 

As I thought about the subject of *STARS* shining, I decided that the CASUAL Friday's Challenge to Use Shades of Gold & the TIME OUT Challenge to use Black & White and 1 Color (that one color being gold) would also inspire my design.

The TIME OUT Challenge also had a twist to do a single layer design, so I decided to use Gold Metallic Ink and my A Colorful Life Star Stencil  (remember code TJ10Stephanie gets you 10% off everything in the Technique Junkies store) with my sentiment ... only one problem ... I apparently put all my Metallic Inks together somewhere in my studio (for safe keeping ... who knows???) and I couldn't find a single ink pad.  I did however find a pot of Brea Reese Matte Metallic Gold Texture Paste, so I moved on to plan B.

 

I wanted the texture of the paste to really shine through, so I used my finger to apply it in a rough coat.  

I added a wrap of gold metallic thread to finish the design.

 

When There Are No Words

I used my last sympathy card today ... so I had to make some more.  Because we all know that when you need a sympathy card is not the time you want to be making one ... so I always make sure I have some in my stash.

I pulled out several Retro Wood Block favorites for tonight's cards.  The first is from Outlines Rubber Stamps and is good to have for so many occasions when you want to say something ... but there are no words.

I paired it with the bird from Unity Stamp Company's Sympathy & Sadness using this week's CAS(e) this Sketch!

 

The second one features Hero Arts In My Thoughts together with the Atlantic Hearts Sketch.

Papers are all from Authentique's Sea-Maiden Collection.

 

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.