INKspirations!

  Hello!      Thanksgiving has passed.  I had a great time with the family, but the visit always seems too short!  Today time was spent catching up on household tasks.  The decorations are slowly making their way out, (Yay!)  and the tree will go up next week.   In preparation for the holidays, I was inspired to make this beautiful angel card.  I saw last week's Color Dare Challenge #628, and instantly thought of the Northern Lights.   To make this card, I used Unity Stamps Guided by Grace.  This angel is stunning.  I stamped in Versamark Black and then heat set clear embossing powder over the image.  This way I could ink away, and the image would resist.  I found a picture of the Northern lights for reference and concentrated the brighter colors towards the center.  The corners I used the darkest color of ink to look like a twilight sky.   Try the technique!  Video Tutorial her...

 Good Morning! I'm making one last card before the family arrives today. 😜 The craft room had to be temporarily picked up to accommodate guests, so I will be missing in action for a few days.  Today's card is part of Try a Sketch on Tuesday's challenge.  ( TSOS #659 ) Today's challenge is based off of this layout to use as a starting point for your card.  I chose a Christmas theme instead of the Fall theme, but kept the design pretty close to the original.  I used Christmas designer paper from Stampin Up and, then die cut a few strips in the center.  I modified the center strip to be a little thinner to allow a little white space to show through.  The square is composed of two dies, the white frame is from Stampin up, and the Joyful word die is from Simon Says Stamps.  A small left over sprig from the Stampin Up Christmas Banners Stamp and Die set was tucked under the corner of the design.   Thanks for stopping by! Supplies Used: Design...

  Good morning! I joined in on the Simply Clean and Simple Christmas challenge today with the theme being "Christmas Is Coming". There's a few days left in the challenge, so if you'd like to join in on the fun, check out their blog here: Simply Clean & Simple    I wanted to use an ornament hanging.  I decided to use a pretty swirl instead of a pine branch and I liked how the ornament hangs down from the swirl motif. I chose bold colors of red, pink and black for the color palette. The monochromatic ornament was stamped in shades of pink and red with a single red jewel to the center.  Thanks for stopping by! Supplies Used: Stamps: Stampin Up - Everything Eleanor, Altenew Brilliant Baubles Sentiment: Simon Says Stamp - Festive Flower Ink : Stampin Up - Polished Pink, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler Embellishments: Amuse Stamps - Red Rhinestone Other - Sakura - White Jelly Roll Pen

Hello!  Just relaxing over the weekend.  I was looking through some of the blogs last night and came across a stunning card by Leslie Miller.  She blogs on Running With Scissors and made the most stunning Clean and Simple Christmas card using digital stamps from Power Poppy.  You can find her blog here ( Running With Scissors ). After I read the blog I went over to Power Poppy stamps to check out their digital creations.   I found a partridge in a pear tree and instantly recognized it.  You guys, I had bought this digital stamp awhile back and completely forgot about it!  😆 So, I fell down the rabbit hole of trying to find that image.   As luck would have it, I did retrieve the image on my phone.  After a slight tangle with the printer, I got an image printed out.  It seems my printer is very fussy and does not like anything over 80lbs.  I initially thought using colored pencils on a colored background would be pretty, bu...

  Howdy!   Thanksgiving is quickly approaching.  My family will be in by mid week, the grocery shopping has begun, and the cleaning of the house will commence!  It will be great seeing everybody, but it's a lot of preparation.   And so after much preparation, it was time for a break down into the craft room.😏  lol.  This month's challenge at  ( The Card Concept#TCC211 ) is based off of an inspiration board. The color palette contains all the rich fall colors of gold, browns, black and white.  I decided I wanted a cleaner looking card, so I designed a card with a lot white space with a slim black border along the edge.  Along the card fold, overlapping leaves have been stamped in fall colors of golds, reds, greens, and browns.  A bold Thank You sentiment was cut from gold cardstock and overlapping the leaves.  A few accents of metallic gold accents were added around the leaves. Supplies Used: Stamps: Gina K. - Autumn ...

  Valerie Kaye Hello! I just finished up this little digital dog stamp from All Dressed Up on Etsy.  There is lots of cute stuff.  I highly encourage your to check them out.  The them for this week's C.R.A.F.T challenge is Christmas.  To join in on the fun, go to their blog here:  C.R.A.F.T Challenge   I do not have a ton of dog stamps, and this little guy with the scarf and sled reminded me of my dog, Vinnie.   It has been awhile since I have worked with digital images and stamps, but I remembered a shortcut.  Save your digital stamp to a file.   Go to Avery.com labels.   Select which ever template you like.   There are many square labels and notecards available to choose from.  Upload your image, and the template will automatically size to the label.  (Easy peasy!) I also had the best luck printing 80lb. cardstock.  Anything heavier, and my printer eats it. I found a great piece of plaid pa...

This week's theme on Weekly Christmas Card challenge is using a church as the main focal point.  I actually have an oldie but a goodie stamp from Stampin' Up that my mother gifted me years ago.   The card base is a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch square.  The Church was stamped in distress ink and used a watercolor brush to soften some lines and add a little more ink to the shadows.  Yellow distress ink to light the windows.  To accent the snow, stickles was added to the edge of the snow and the roofline.  Supplies Used:  Stamp:  Stampin' Up - 2005 Silent Night, God's Peace Card Stock: Stampin' Up - Night of Navy Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Faded Jeans, Fossilized Amber Dies: Simon Says Stamps- Strips 1 Wafer Dies  Have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Valerie Kaye Hello!  The weather took a dive today, and we are expecting 3 1/2 inches of snow!  It’s probably time to take my little ghosty off the front porch.  😆 That’s okay, making Christmas cards is actually so therapeutic.   Today’s challenge hosted by Just Us Girls is inspired by a mood board.   Just Us Girls #754 I was inspired by the center grey stone with the gold pine cone.  I also loved the circular gold confetti plate.  These were the elements for inspiration. I focused on grey and gold for the color palette and used an embossing folder for the pine branches.  The ornament was heat embossed in gold, and then finished using nesting frames.  The gold confetti was incorporated by using the frame die.  This was such a fun challenge!  Supplies Used: Stamp: Stampin Up-Ornamental Pine Sentiment: Unity-Winter Blessings Dies: Stampin Up-Ornate Garden  Ink: Ranger Archival Ink-Watering can Cardstock: Stampin Up Very Vanilla...