Ingenious Inkling

Mondo Squishy Pastel Hugs

This week's theme at Shopping Our Stash is the Power of Pastels - create a card with a Pastel color palette.

 

 

I went shopping through my cardstock scraps and found a Pastel Rainbow.  Then I decided to create a card as an homage to the cardmaker who was the first to inspire me to join the cardmaking community that I think of now as my family - Julie Ebersole aka Paper Trufflez aka JulieHRR (and then she led me to Ellen Hutson, who is also one of the nicest people on the planet and my dealer (best store for crafty supplies) - see their story here).

I always felt like Julie spoke my language - both in her clean, simple and quirky card design and her literal use of words.  The Essentials by Ellen set Casual Greetings includes several of those phrases including the one I used today.

 

 

I die cut my pastel rainbow striped tag with the Essentials by Ellen Tag Trio Die (cutting a second time to shorten the tag a bit to work with my layout and where I wanted to position everything on the colors).  I also used a tip from another of my cardmaking muses Seeka - if you make a mistake (like I did several times trying to get my dies cut correctly), just stack another one on top (which worked perfectly to give necessary dimension too).

I tucked that cute little sunglasses critter behind the sentiment from the Summer of Stamping Soak It Up Combo by Avery Elle from Essentials by Ellen.

I finished with some lemon yellow twine and lavender pearls before attaching to my card base with my favorite 2" wide foam tape from Scrapbook.com.

Signs of Spring

The current Seize the Birthday Challenge is to create a card featuring the Signs of Spring.

If you live in Iowa, you know one of the long awaited Signs of Spring is the re-opening of the Ice Cream shops.  Many of them are just little walk-up/drive-through type stands, so they close for the winter months.  The first time you go and get your Spring Ice Cream is magical.  I think I might head to The Freeze and get an Apple Pie Freeze (made with locally made slices of pie).

 

 

I'm still using the Happy Cake Birthday! tags I found in my stash, this time with one of my Gel Press Prints and some coordinating sprinkle paper.  The sentiment is another Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip.  I finished with a Glitter Enamel Dot at the top of the tag.

 

 

 

I'm also joining the Make My Monday Challenge Birthday Challenge (where I was in the Top 3 for my Washi Tape card last week - Yay).

Happy Hooray!

Masculine Birthday Cards ... why am I always out of Masculine Birthday Cards.  This card is inspired by the Tag You're It! Challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz.

I stumbled across some Tag Paper from the Happy Cake Day! Paper Collection, which made it easy to pull this card together.

 

 

I used the layout from Sketch~N~Scrap with the horizontal sentiment across the tag cut from the label of the 12x12 paper.  I added an Eyelet Outlet Cupcake Brad and finished with a Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip.

 

Now I just need to make about ten more.

Denim Easter Bunny

When I saw the fun cloth bunnies at the Fusion Card Challenge, I had an idea to create my own cloth bunny using my piece of gel pressed denim from the #marchprintingchallenge with GelliArts.

 

 

I started with this Gel Pressed piece of Denim.

 

 

I stamped my bunny from Gina K. Designs Some Bunny using Versafine Claire Nocturne Ink.  Now the next question is do I have pinking shears (okay of course I have pinking shears) - so the real next question is can I find them.  Turns out they were in the Scissor Basket right where they belong (that's a crafting miracle). 

A little story - at the beginning of the pandemic when we starting working from home, my desk was positioned so that my studio was behind me.  During video calls, my boss kept asking questions about why I had so many pairs of scissors and what were they all for ... so, to solve that problem, I rotated my desk, so I had my art wall behind me instead LOL (a lady doesn't need to be questioned about the quantity of her art supplies).

I used the pinking shears to cut out my stamped bunny and then added an orange bow for his neck, inspired by the photograph.

 

 

The Gina K. Monthly Mix Challenge is to make a Tag, so onto a tag my cute little bunny went together with the stamped Happy Easter sentiment from the same Gina K. Designs Some Bunny stamp set.

I kept the card simple using a striped designer paper inspired by the striped bunnies and some blue ribbon at the top of my tag before attaching the tag to the card base with foam tape for dimension.

I'm also joining the Creatalicious Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes with the option of Easter.

With the texture of my denim fabric, I'm joining the Texture Challenge at Cardz 4 Guys.

Day 12 - Holly Jolly Christmas

Here we are at Day 12 of the 12 Tags of Christmas with Ellen Hutson - Holly Jolly Christmas.

 

 

I focused on the line "Have a Cup of Cheer" for my tag design with inspiration from these wonderful tags by Julie Ebersole and my winter manicure.

I used two of the Essentials by Ellen Tag Trio and dug back through the supply archives to find the perfect gold brad to attach them together.  I stamped the base tag in Red with the Essentials by Ellen Fa La La Background stamp ... I agree with Julie that the tone-on-tone is less distracting from the main images than stamping in black.

 

 

I finished with the Egg Nog that I've had in my refrigerator for some time now. I mix it half with skim milk for my "dessert in a glass" ... for me, it certainly is a Cup of Cheer.

Here's that manicure I mentioned ... I usually go much more subtle, but decided to go all out for the holidays.

 

Day 11 - Oh Christmas Tree

It's Day 11 of the 12 Tags of Christmas - Oh Christmas Tree.

I love using journaling cards in my paper crafting, so today I used one from Authentique's Colorful Christmas Collection for my tag.

 

 

I matted my card on a thin red cardstock frame and then used two sizes of red bling to decorate the tree.  I finished with a stapled piece of glittery ribbon and Eyelet Outlet Square Jewel at the top of the tree.

I took my decoration inspiration from the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge Inspiration Photo.

 

Day 10 - 12 Days of Christmas

Today is Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas - and the carol is the 12 Days of Christmas.

I have no turtle doves, no golden rings and no maids a milking ... but I do have some Drums (for the Drummers Drumming).

 

I die cut my tag from an Alcohol Inked Glitter Panel and topped it with my Die-Versions Whisper Drum Set Die Cut from black cardstock. 

I found some bottle cap sentiments that fit perfectly in the base drum and a few gold stickers for the center of the cymbals to finish the design.

Day 9 - Deck the Halls

Day 9 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson is - Deck the Halls ... the perfect opportunity to break out my new Fa La La Background from Essentials by Ellen, which I stamped on a scrap of designer paper and die cut with Essentials by Ellen Hexagon.

 

 

I added some stickers and coordinating ribbons to finish the design.

Day 8 - Sleigh Ride

Day 8 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson is Sleigh Ride. 

I seriously spent more than an hour hunting through my studio for a sleigh.  I found a couple of Santa in his Sleigh, but that's not really what this song is about.  Finally, I found a vintage photo of a sleigh ride in my Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas Ephemera Packet, so I built my tag around it.

I die cut my Tag using the largest Tag Stacklets 2 Die from Taylored Expressions from Wood Grain designer paper from Simple Stories Color Vibe Woods that I thought worked perfectly with the vintage image.  

 

 

I then used a very vintage doily from my stash along the edge before attaching my vintage image with foam tape.  I tucked a few tickets from the same ephemera pack behind.  Since the lyrics to the song encompass lots of the joyful things about winter, I used Be Joyful from the Tim Holtz Christmas Label Stickers. 

I used a tiny star punch at the top of my tag and finished with some waxed thread.

Since every single elements on my card falls into Never Been Used Schtuff, I'm also linking-up at Little Red Wagon.

Day 7 - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Day 7 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson is all about the man with the bag & the list - Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

 

 

I started by die cutting Essentials by Ellen Shipping Tags from white cardstock, and then I covered one of the tags with Erin Condren Poinsettia washi tape.

 

 

Next I stamped & die cut Santa & his List from Essentials by Ellen Santa's List.  I attached them with foam tape for dimension and finished with a sentiment from the same set & a stapled ribbon.