Ingenious Inkling

Pawsitively Special

This card resulted from too many challenge ideas floating around in my head.  Both Seize the Birthday and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge have a stencil theme ... and Paper Smooches Challenge is Anything Goes, so I knew I wanted to start with a Paper Smooches Stencil.

 

I thought it would be fun to see what it would look like if used the Paper Smooches Buffalo Check Stencil by first brushing on one ink and then off-setting the stencil slightly and inking with a second color ... I love the effect.  I used Rina K's Electro Pop Neon ink in Blaring Blue & Loud Lime.  Pixie Spray makes stenciling so much better.

 

Next I wandered off to find a sketch ... I chose the current CAS(E) this Sketch!, so I trimmed down my stenciled background to allow the card to have some more white space for a CAS design ... and then I added some paint splatters in a darker green.

 

 

I knew I wanted a birthday card, so I played around with several different sets before spotting the Paper Smooches Paws for a Cause Stamp Set in my stash ... those puppies are absolutely  perfect for Where the Red Fern Goes at The Library Challenge.  I used Gina K.'s Amalgam Ink to stamp my dogs on loud lime cardstock (that ink is the absolutely best for silhouettes) and then stamped a few bones to use in lieu of the flower embellishment in the sketch.

 

I finished with a sentiment from Paper Smooches Happy Birthday and mounted both the focal rectangle and sentiment on foam tape for dimension.

 

Gel Stick Blooms

I recently purchased a large set of Kingart Mixed Media Gel Sticks, and tonight I decided to do a quick play with them.  I chose four of the colors to apply to the large floral image from the Hero Arts 45th Anniversary You Make a Difference Stamp set with PinkFresh Studio (which is a great price right now).  I sprayed the watercolor paper with a few spritzes of water and then sprayed directly onto the stamp to get this ethereal look.

 

I wanted a little more definition, so I cleaned off my stamp and inked it with red ink to stamp a few more times.  I should have sprayed with a setting spray after that, so I didn't get quite as much smearing (learning for next time), but I just went with it and sprayed over the smear.

I added a sentiment from the set in black ink in the center and mounted on a red card base.  My card is for the Anything Goes Challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

 

Gifted Birthday

I love that Taylor changed up the #TEMaker Challenge for 2020.  The challenge is to use one of the elements to make a card ... but as a perennial over-achiever, I had to find a way to use all three.

When I was at Stamp Joy, I bought the products to replicate my favorite card ... so that was the plan for the morning ... only one problem ... it really didn't seem to fit with any of the challenge elements.  I wasn't going to let that stop me ... I pushed through to figure out a solution.

I started by die cutting an oval and masking the center of the Taylored Expressions Gifted Background Stamp (I originally tried Taylored Expressions Oval Mask, but the plastic was too thick to get a good stamped image around.  I switched to cardstock (but should have switched to typing paper to get the mask even thinner ... learning for next time).

I left the oval in place and positioned the Taylored expressions Gifted Stencil over the stamped image.  I finally used my Taylored Expression Blender Brushes with a masculine trio of hues - Lime Zest, Pineapple and Gumball.

 

I used the same die cut and the slightly larger size to cut a frame for my masked oval (which helped cover some of the issues from using the cardstock vs. typing paper) and then stamped a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Big Bold Birthday using the Grey Ink for the Challenge theme.  I trimmed down my stenciled piece and placed it on a grey card base.

I have been in search for micro gems, so I asked my friends at Stamp Junkies the other night, and they directed me to a few new stores.  These lovely blue gems are Craft Buddy D.I.Y. Self Adhesive Crystals ... I love that each sheet of gems has four different small sizes.

I'm also linking-up at the Seize the Birthday Layer It Challenge since I've got three layers to my design.

 

And it's Anything Goes at The Male Room.

Alcohol Ink Play

As I often do this time of year, I've been looking back at what I experienced in 2019 ... and thinking about the experiences I want to have in 2020.  What I realized this morning is that I really love my Art Camp with Lauren each year ... just creating for the sake of creating with no end project in mind.  I don't do that enough the rest of the year ... so on to the list of 2020 experiences that goes ... more playing with art supplies just for the sake of experimenting and creating.

 

When I saw the sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge, that background immediately reminded me of how long it had been since I played with alcohol inks.  I grabbed several colors and a piece of shiny paper from my stash (I honestly don't know what kind of paper it is, only that it had a resistant surface).  I just started dropping inks (even different brands, which had different concentrations of pigment) and watching what they did.  Then I added some blending solution to check out that effect ... then I mixed it up with a little yellow.  It was so meditative and fun.

 

I decided to trim it down to a 4" x whatever" long card (there was a poll on Facebook this week about what you call this card size ... I usually call it an #10 for the envelope size).  I didn't have two oval sizes that worked for the sketch, so I trimmed down my inside oval to work with the sentiment from Supercalifragalistic by CAS-ual Fridays (one of my favorite stamp sets).

 

For the snowflake embellishment I used a 3-D butterfly sticker and then added several colors and sizes of sequins.  I really love how this one turned out ... which is evidence that more play is certainly needed in 2020.

Glittery Hope

Anyone who creates with me knows that I hate glitter.   I don't mind Glitter Glitz Gel or Glittery Paper that doesn't shed, but I hate having sparkles all over my studio that last for days.  So when I saw the Unity Stamp Company Mini Challenge was All That Sparkles, I almost just walked on by.  

Then I remembered that I had found a random container of Jewel Glitter Ritz micro glitter when I was cleaning my studio table (I must have seen someone do something cool with it ... thought I needed it ... and then realized how much I hate glitter).  It had never been opened.  When I searched for the glitter (I wasn't even sure what to do with it), I found a tutorial from 2011 showing using it with two-sided adhesive.  It looks like they don't even make this particular glitter any more (the link takes you here, so I wonder if this glitter is similar).

Of course, then I couldn't find my sheets of two-sided adhesive ... but I realized my widest roll of Be Creative Sookwang Tape (2.5"} would work with the Unity Stamp Company Layers of Life Magical and Hopeful (05/18) Stamp, so I was off and running.  I stamped the image in Warm Breeze Versafine Clair on a Lime Green Cardstock, applied the tape, and then sprinkled on the glitter.  I tried to contain it ... but I've got sparkles everywhere.

 

Another thing I hate about glittery ... you end-up with a gorgeous card, but photographing it to capture that gorgeousness is nearly impossible.  Trust me ... this guy is super-sparkly.

For the background I used Unity's Burst of Flakes (Border Background) in the same ink on the same green cardstock ... as a border, I'm not sure you would even guess it was snowflakes).  I mounted the entire piece on a deep purple card base.

 

Now I'll be off to try to contain as much of the stray glitter as possible ... but likely will still have some on my face tomorrow.

Jingle Bells

One more Tag tonight for the 12 Days of Christmas Tags since I'm on a roll ... I really like working on the smaller shipping tag size. 

This is for Day 5 - Jingle Bells - pretty directly inspired by Lisa Spangler's Tag.

 

I used the same Sentiment Stamp from Essentials by Ellen Retro Holiday Greetings stamped in White Pigment Ink and embossed with Alabaster Embossing Powder.  I wanted to play with the water effect like she did, so I used two different colors of Catherine Pooler ink - Aquatini & Mint to Be.

 

I was a bit heavy-handed with the water splatters, but I still love the effect (I can't wait to play with this some more).  Since I didn't have any Jingle Bells in my stash to tie on my card, I die cut some from Gold Glitter Cardstock using Taylored Expressions Little Bits Jingle Bells (I sure do miss Ellen's Mix-It-Up Challenge ... I love combining products from different companies).  I finished with some metallic holiday cord.

Friend as Wonderful as Me

The current Challenge at Unity Stamp Company is Grounding with Supplies ... using your supplies to ground a floating image.

I stamped the lady from Unity's Damn Girl in grey ink on ivory cardstock and used a variety of Washi Tape (and one piece of cardstock to provide the opaque layer I needed right under her body) to ground her.

 

One of the Washi Tapes had a thin row of Pink, so I colored her hat the same color using markers.  I finished with a banner sentiment from the same set.  Fun card to make ... now who to send it to???

 

Brayering Paint Direct to Paper

I watched this video by PaperArtsy on making brayered chalk paint backgrounds, and I knew I wanted to try it.  I didn't however want to ship all of my chalk paints to New Jersey, so I tried it with regular acrylic paints instead.

 

I was really happy with my first attempt ... these will make some great card backgrounds.  After doing the first batch on white cardstock, Lauren suggested we try it on some DCWV Bright Stack Cardstock instead.  This added two components to the design ... the background color itself and the wonderful light texture of the paper.

 

I really loved these too ... can you see the dark coral cardstock peeking through onthe top right?  The rusty orange/teal/yellow is my favorite I think.

Now that I'm back in my own studio, I'll be breakout out my chalk paints and giving this another try.  I just love getting painty.  Here is another video I found, so I'll probably take a few of these and add some painty stamping techniques.

Gel Print Tag Fun

Lauren and I have spent the weekend Gel Printing pretty much anything we could get our hands on.  I thought one of my prints would be perfectg for the Make Your Own Background Challenge at the AllSorts Challenge Blog.  I made this background from a single pull using a 5x7 Gelli Plate (sometimes you get lucky like that).

 

The background was made with the cool Texture Plate from Carabelle Studios called Jamboree.

 

 

I put a tag together for the TGIF Project Challenge - Make a Tag and added it to my card using the Sketch from Try Stampin' - or Not - on Tuesday.

I did some *shopping* in Lauren's stash and found some stickers to create my tag (always fun to look through someone else's studio) ... and a quick card was done.  Simple Ordinary Moments pretty much summed up the joy of being able to craft in person with your crafty besty.

 

 

Grounded to Space

The newest Mini-Challenge at Unity Stamp Company is called Grounded to Space ... using an inky background to ground something that isn't on the ground (i.e. air or sea).  I don't remember every consciously doing this technique before, so I had to give it a try.

 

The only Unity Stamp I could find in my stash that fit the theme was this Airplane from For the Guys.  I decided to "ground" it by using white pigment ink on blue cloud stock to create a cloudy sky ... I used a triangle of sponge and a hand-cut curvy edge to create my sky.

When I stamped the plane on top of the clouds, the ink was lighter where it stamped over the pigment, making it look like it was trying flying through the clouds ... happy accident.