Ingenious Inkling

Top 10 Cards of 2024

Each year I enjoy taking a walk down memory lane and picking my Top 10 Favorite Non-Holiday cards of the year (you can see my 2023 Picks Here & my Top Five Holiday cards here).

Here are the cards I've chosen this year in to no particular order.

1.  I love the bold graphic design feel of this striped card for the Time Out Challenge paired with the ombre sentiment.  I love this color combination too.

 

 

2.   This Unity Stamp Company card was one of a series that combined multiple things I loved ... stamping on designer paper and adding ink to bring the images to life.   I loved how changing the colors produced a completely different look.

 

 

3.  While I've always titled this post card, I really should change it to art, since I share non-card favorites. I had so much fun at the Whimsical Women Art Retreat in Florida with my friend Cyndie.  One of my favorite projects from the retreat was this fabric collaged tote bag.  We got to "shop" scraps of fabric for the project.  I built my design around a piece of fabric with color squares.  I detail cut out buttons and fish that I layered with star fish and other sea-themed fabrics that continue to remind me of the joy of creating at that event.

 

 

4.   I always love a good snarky card and this one I made for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers still makes me snicker.  I also love ice cream cones because they remind me of my Papa who would take us to the Dairy Mart, where he would let me get a double cone.  I love how I was able to make a waffle cone heart accent.

 

 

5.  I love this Life of the Party Saturday Sketch Card for many reasons.  The color combination is a favorite, particularly the strong orange-forward design and the bokeh background (and the reminder that I often think I'm making a challenge card until I go to post and realize I didn't read the instructions clearly).  It features coloring with alcohol markers that I don't do nearly enough.  And it features Dee, who was gifted to me by my crafty friend Bev (who graciously shares her home and fabulous swimming pool with me ... not to mention the wonderful company of her and her fabulous family.

 

 

6.  This was my participation in a community-wide Tiny Art public art show at the various libraries, that was then moved to the Art Museum.   I had fun creating a glue-as-I-go collage starting with a Gelliarts printed transparency from my stash.  I added two different vintage trading stamps, translucent blooms, butterflies, words, dots of gold, and gold hearts.   I was proud of myself for putting my art out there in the public space ... and even prouder when I went to pick it up, having the library employees tell me it had been their favorite.

 

 

7. I have been paper crafting friends with Erum who designs for AlteNew for over 20 years (which seems crazy as I think about it) and I am always in awe of her creating talent.  I want to create with AlteNew products, but I always feel like they require more time, effort and skills than I have to do them justice.  However, having said that, I loved how this AlteNew card turned out where I stamped on pink cardstock and added ink to add dimension.

 

 

8.  One of my favorite things about being a cardmaker, is being able to make cards that are specific to the recipient.  This collaged birthday card for a friend featured lots of his favorite things and even has his initials in Scrabble tiles (a favorite game).

 

 

9.  As you've seen in several examples above, I love creating my own papers.  This card features paper I made using Lindy's Gang powdered watercolor for both the background and the adorable Moose accessories.  It also features a Moose with eyeball stickers wearing glasses, which makes me smile.

 

 

10. And my final card of my 2024 list is a Mixed Media Collage using four different GelliArts prints together with rub-ons, trading stamps, and an image from Sande Poema's Cardmaking Community, which I've enjoyed participating in this year.

 

 

I hope you've had as much fun as I have walking down art making memory lane of 2024.  

Cardstock Christmas

This week at Jingle Belles we're celebrating a Cardstock Christmas - creating cards using only Cardstock (no Designer Paper allowed).

I decided to throw in another challenge and use the Colors from the current Color Hues Challenge - Lilac & Lime.  I used the Waffle Flower Skinny Stripes dies with each color, attached the strips to thin cardstock, and then trimmed to a rectangle.

 

 

I added a perfectly coordinated Lime Doodlebug Mini Doily and topped it with a Small Ornament Die Cut from Waffle Flower and a sentiment from Waffle Flower Classic Holiday Sentiments.  I finished with JJ's Rainbow Enamel Dots in Lime & Lilac.

 

 

I'm also linking-up at the Simon Says Challenge to use Die Cuts.  And I'm also joining the Inkspiration Challenge where the theme is Seasonal.

 

Striped Thank You

When I saw the Striped Challenge at the Time Out Challenge, it was just the push I need to use the Waffle Flower Skinny Stripes dies that had been sitting on my studio table for some time.

 

 

I grabbed four scraps of paper also on my studio table (yes, I need to clean-up, but then how would the serendipitous crafting happen) and cut two sets of strips.  I used a sheet of adhesive to attach them to a piece of white cardstock.  After attaching all of the stripes, I ran it back through my die cut machine to make sure everything was strongly adhered to the paper.

 

 

I thought the repeating Thank Yous from Waffle Flower Coffee Cup Sentiments worked well with the repeating stripes, particularly ombre inked with the two shades of turquoise from the panel colors.

I'm also joining the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says.

One more card (masculine and larger so there are room for multiple signatures) to re-stock my work Thank You card stash.

Books & Birthdays

This afternoon, I had fun creating a card inspired by the Tray in the Inspired By Challenge ... can you spot all of the ways I was inspired.

 

 

I started by gathering a collection of grey designer papers from my stash.  The background is inspired by the tray itself.   The vertical panel was inspired by the ombre of the vase.  The horizontal paper was inspired by the clock.  The smaller vertical print was inspired by the greenery & flowers.

 

 

Next I can to incorporate the books.  I stamped the larger pile of books from Waffle Flower Books and Coffee, and then I stamped the smaller pile of books on top with the little chick and her coffee cup, inspired by both the books and the glass in the tray.  I brought in the green from the leaves and the peachy-pink from the glasses and accents in the tray with my coloring.

I finished with some grey Pinkfresh Studio Essentials Crystals and a sentiment from Waffle Flower Classic Sentiments.

 

The sketch layout is from The Paper Players.

You Are Amazing Bouquet

This week at Shopping Our Stash we're getting Sketchy.  

 

 

I started by looking for a theme for my sketch and settled on the Just Us Girls Trend Week to use Foil on your Alcohol Ink. 

 

I remembered I had the scraps left from these fun Rainbow Alcohol Ink cards, so I pieced the scraps together & die cut them for my background.  Here's a view of what the full original pieces looked like.

 

 

I decided to pair the rainbow background with lots of white and a fun Just Because Doodle-Pop Bouquet that also has some foil in the flowers.

 

 

I used the Waffle Flower A2 Layers Die Cut for my Alcohol Ink Strip background (and then rounded the corners) and the Taylored Expressions Stitched Stacklet Circle Die, so I'm joining the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies.

The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Simply Thank You ... I love that bold font.   This is going into the stash of Mother's Day cards that I mail to the other women who have had an influence in my life.

Rudolph & his Cocoa

The November Waffle Flower Challenge is to create a Masculine Holiday card. 

 

 

I die cut the Waffle Flower Be a Reindeer from two shades of brown cardstock & red glitter cardstock for the nose.  Next I die cut the Waffle Flower largest Nesting Stitched Squares Die from Waffle Flower Half and Half Dots Christmas Paper.

 

 

I assembled my Reindeer with some googly eyes and looked for something for him to hold in his paws ... I decided on this Santa Hot Chocolate Sticker I had in my stash (which pulls in a third red element to balance out the design).  

Next I die cut the Waffle Flower Holiday Lights from a scrap of silver mirror cardstock in my stash.  I die cut the bulbs from the same red glitter cardstock as Rudolph's nose and then wove the lights through his antlers.

I looked for a Christmas Sentiment that would work with my layout and ultimately decided to just leave it sentiment-free ... I'm pretty sure it is clear it is a Christmas card without one.

Ombre Food Adventure

This week's Waffle Flower Challenge is Travel Around the World.

 

 

For me travel is almost always (at least in part) about the food, so I chose three images from the Waffle Flower Food Adventure Set that are foods my Sister and I love to share when we travel (because even though I recently spent a week with her, I miss her already).

 

 

I added a sentiment from Waffle Flower Sisterhood and stamped them both in ombre shades of yellow/gold for the Addicted to CAS Ombre Challenge.

 

 

Sisters ... nothing better than food-loving sisters.

 

 

hey sistah!

The Waffle Flower Weekly Challenge theme is Color Crush - create a card with your favorite color.

 

 

I have several favorites, but somehow Orange is the color that usually rises to the top, so that's what I went with using this week's hues from the Color Throwdown Challenge (I would totally  have those pillows in my house).

 

 

I chose inks in all four hues and applied them direct-to-paper in Diagonal Stripes on a piece of white cardstock.

 

 

I stamped one of the blooms from the Waffle Flower Bouquet Builder and die cut with the coordinating die cut.

The sentiments are from Waffle Flower Sisterhood.

 

 

Pastel Thank You

I just discovered that Waffle Flower has a weekly Challenge on Instagram, so I decided to join in.  This week's theme is Pastel.

 

 

Amy T is the Queen of Pastels, but it is so hard for me.  I recently ordered a few more pastel inks, but my selection is limited.  I decided to use the pastel color palette from the Global Design Project.

 

 

I started with cloud paper from the Waffle Flower Special Deliver Collection for the background & the two circles cut with Waffle Flower Classic Frames Die.  I used the layout from The Sketchy Challenge.

 

 

The sentiments are from Coffee Cup Sentiments and Essential Sentiments.  The finishing touch are some Waffleflower Clearly Enough Enamel Dots.

 

Holiday-Palooza Mittens

The current Waffle Flower Challenge is a Holiday-Palooza.

 

I inked-up the new-to-me Waffle Flower Warm Hands layering stamps that I got in my recent grab bag purchase in the hues from the Color Throwdown Challenge.  I added some nubby twine to keep the mittens from getting lost and white epoxy dots in the center of the Mitten design.

 

 

I used this week's Global Design Project Layout flipped on its side place punched snowflakes behind the oval and using a sentiment from Waffle Flower Classic Holiday Sentiments.

 

The marbled background designer paper is from Waffle Flower Modern Neutrals Paper Pad.