INKspirations!

  Greetings!     It's grey and snowy in the Midwest today, but I am feeling sunny!  I'm working on organizing projects ahead for this year and have a lot of papers, stamps and dies on my craft room floor.  Laying things together helps me visualize how they will work in projects.  I love giving themed gifts, and this year I am going to try to incorporate a set of gift cards with each gift basket or box.     I got on a roll with the theme of fruits, and pulled out lemon dies, berry stamps, and oranges!  I didn't realize how many I have accumulated.   As the year progresses, I will work these themes into gift baskets.  The berry set will make nice jam toppers, and tags.  A card set will also be included, nestled inside a berry or bushel basket.   The lemon set, can easily be used with lemon curd and a scone recipe, and the oranges can be used for a package with a juicer and fun tea towels.   You ...

  Greetings!   Since I have almost another year to work on Christmas cards, I have turned my attention to encouragement cards.  I recently made two cards for children, so if you'd like to see them, check them out on my blog.   This card is was designed with the male in mind, and is part of  The Male Room 's - #193 challenge.   I have had these cutting dies in my collection in awhile and I don't think I have used them.  Shame on me!  I did purchase them from Simon Says Stamp with the idea in mind I could easily change up the patterns or colors of these squares to make a ton of designs.   Today, I was inspired to make a card with sailing flags.  I used the SSS-Geometric Builder Squares and researched sailing flag patterns.  I loved the bold colors and clean lines of the flags, which caught my eye.  I cut a few different colors of the three chosen dies for the card in shades of blue, yellow, red, and black....

  Greetings!  I’m focused on making inspirational and motivational cards, and I decided to use a great stamp from Unity, and a sketch design challenge from  Tuesday Morning S ketches. (Challenge #787) I began with the layout design and used a small strip of decorative paper that was stored away for making jewelry.  I wanted a rich color to make the pattern stand out, so I wend with deep green piece of cardstock from Stampin up.   Next, I used a beautiful embossing folder from Altenew to add texture and dimension to the background.  Champagne shimmer ink was sponged directly over the textured design, and evening evergreen was used to distress the edges. The tag was cut from a die and the fish tail was added by adding a hexagon die to the end, and running through the big shot a second time to get a new shape.  I'm saving the left over piece for another project.  Once I finish, I'll post and show the final look! A small piece of navy ribbon with gold...

  Greetings!   I decided to go through some of my older stamps today and work on making some inspirational, and uplifting cards.  This super-girl is one of my favorites.  She is great for any hard working mom, nurse, college student, or someone who is recovering in the hospital.   That's where this little lady will be heading.  There is a great non-profit, charitable organization that accepts handmade cards for hospitalized kids.  I thought this might lift someone's spirits if they are staying at the hospital.  Cards for Hospitalized Kids is located in Chicago, IL and accepts cards for general, and holidays.  If you'd also like to send some cheer to a child in the hospital, the link is here: Cards for Hospitalized Kids I've made cards for both a girl or a boy.  So there is a Wonder-Woman, an astronaut, and two cards with different color palettes with a rocket.   Both the Astronaut and Super-girl, are from designer Bir...

 Hello!   My mom gifted me a HUGE box of cutting dies on Thanksgiving.  It's taken me a little while getting to them, but I found this great snowflake die!  I had cut the die over the weekend, so I could get a better idea of how it looked, and I loved it!   So, with  Addicted to CAS's Challenge #273 ,  I thought beautiful snowflake border was just perfect for code word: "Brr".  I decided to make a simple and elegant winter thank you note.   This card is a horizontal card measuring 5 1/2" x 4  1/4".  The die is is from Memory Box called Frosty Border.  Although this is an older die it is such a classic design.  I love the delicate swirls, and small snowflakes along the border.  To add a pop of color behind the snowflakes, I added a red foil strip, and then adhered he snow flake border over the top.  A few jewels accent the snowflakes.     Card Materials: Cardstock: Accent 120# white c...

  Greetings!   I've had SO much fun in the craft room today!  Paper was flying, glitter was everywhere.  It looks like either a party or a crime scene happened.  😂 Just kidding, but at the end of the Christmas cardmaking season, there are a LOT of scraps needing some love.  Simple card sketches are a great way of using scraps and left over elements that can be put to use into new cards!  Facebook's Tawnieowlpaperie group has a Top Sketch Challenge to play with.  There are are many, many great choices.  My goal is to see how many cards I can make up with these sketches. I was able to make a batch of six simple cards that can be changed up with different colored scraps and die shapes.   Here's my take: Card 1 "Be Joyful" Assembly:  I used a simple white card base and dry embossed with a texture folder to give a look like a stretched canvas.  The tree was cut from striped paper and anchored onto the center strip.  ...

Greetings!   I opened my box of unused die cuts and pulled out this Santa, the word joy, and the strip of left over patterned paper.  I had originally wanted to make a horizontal card with the word "JOY" resting on the strip, but Santa's balloon didn't fit. Instead, I rotated the card to a side folding 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", and all the elements fit nicely.  This stamp set from Amuse Stamps also comes with a small package, so-- I'll try my original idea and swap out the balloon for the gift, next time.  This card is part of  Word Power's Challenge #12 , using the sentiment as the main focal point of the card.   This is  side folding card measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.  I began this card with all left over scraps and elements from unused or left over projects.  Santa was colored in a red marker and the skin, beard and shadows were added with prisma-color pencils.  The balloon was colored with a crayola glitter pen, which is actually ...

  Greetings!   I'm adding this card to the end of the year Tawnie Owl Paperie: #topiiallthesketches2024 All Sketches challenge for 2024, card design.  The Challenge begins November 26th through December 30th.  Winners will be randomly chosen before midnight December 30th.   I chose Sketch 15:  I already had the cute little mice, and candy cane left over from an unfinished project.  I save all my unused die-cuts in a photo box for easy access.  This is a huge time saver!  I quickly grabbed the mice, the candy cane, and the small vellum circle.  I cut the patterned paper down to the 2 1/2" x 3" dimensions and added the foil banner measuring 1/2" x 3 inches.   Supplies Used: Stamps: Holiday Helpers Set, Sentiment: Scrapbook.com Handmade Essentials Cardstock: Recollections (Michael's) Kraft, Red foil, Stampin Up specialty Vellum Other: Tombow red Marker, Pink glitter acrylic paint pen, Aqua Brush Ink: Versafine - Onyx Bla...

  Paper Playful Monday Challenge #240 Splitcoaststampers (CAS824) Good Morning!  I was reading through the blogs yesterday I came across such a cute Christmas card.  Jane Oelfke posted her beautiful card on Facebook's Clean and Simple Cardmaking Group.  Jane's card features a simple manger die with a tiny heart and stars to accompany the manger.   Here is her beautiful card:  I just absolutely loved everything about this card.  The crisp white background with a perfectly framed manger on a square die cut.  Sadly, this die from Taylored Expressions is retired.  😕  I am still hopeful that someone out there might be willing to part with theirs someday though.    Until then, I dug through my stash and was thinking about what nativity dies I already have.  I really liked the small size of the manger in Jane's card.  So, I tried to find something that was on the smaller side to frame onto a card base.   What...

  This card is part of  Girlz Creative Christmas Challenge  #102, winter sports.  I love these skating bunnies from Pink Fresh Studios, so I designed a simple side folding card measuring 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" inches.  I used a stencil and blending sponge to ink a pond for the bunnies to skate on.  Each bunny was stamped in Versa Fine black ink and die cut.   Supplies Used:  Cardstock: Accent 120# white cardstock Stamps Pink Fresh Studios - Skating Bunnies Stamp and coordinating die set Ink: Stampin Up -Mint Macaroon, Versa Fine Black ink

  This card is part of the  AAA Card Challenge #280 .   This is a horizontal top folding card measuring 5 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches.  The snowflake die cut was attached to a piece of vellum and attached to the card base.  The peace sentiment was stamped, die cut and attached to the card.  Two opal embellishments were added to the center of  two snowflakes. Card details: Cardstock: Accent 120# white cardstock, Stampin' UP- Almost Amethyst, SU- Specialty vellum  Stamps: Simon Says Stamp - Clean line Christmas  Ink : Versa Fine Black Accents: Stampin' Up - Opal Rounds

  Hi!  This little snowman was just the perfect image for this month's layout over on Build Your Holiday Stash ( BYHS ). #byhshcsketchchallenge52 Here is this month's challenge layout.  The challenge lasts through the month of  December, so please join in on the fun!   I went through my stamps, and many were too large and over powered the center where the sentiment is placed in the middle.  I also had a great circular snowman stamp from Unity, however it is currently MIA in the craft room.  😖   I decided on using the snowman from Spellbinders Holiday Besties. This particular layout works very well for small images, because of the way the stamp is framed inside the sentiment.  The center stripe also brakes up the card image, where many small images could become overpowered on patterned paper.   The snowman was colored with a Tombow red marker and a water pen with the same ink to give flushed cheeks. I combined the image wi...

  Hello!  I felt like coloring today, and found the cutest digital image.  I was looking for a "Santa on Vacation", and came across  JansDigiStampShop , and came across a Santa sitting under a palm tree and sipping on a drink with an umbrella.  What's even better is that this cute image is currently 50% off!   I thought this would be perfect for my friend who loves all things tropical.  To start the coloring process, I usually add a body color to larger areas with pastel or water color paint, and then use pencils over.  This saves a lot of time and also saves wearing down my beloved Prisma Colors!  I grabbed Stampin up Real red and a watercolor brush and lightly added base color to the hat and coat.  Next, Delightful Daffodil ink was brushed in on the chair, and Certainly celery for the drink.  The sky had a little pool party mixed in, but I wasn't crazy about the brush marks. After the image dried.  I went back over and a...

 Greetings!    I'm enjoying this week by jumping in with another card making challenge.  This challenge is hosted by Weekly Christmas Card Making Challenge, Week 49.  The theme is using snowflakes in the background.   I began my card drawing inspiration from a card designed from Nina Trapani.  Her card is a beautiful tone on tone design with snowflakes and a die cut in the corner.   I loved the intense red on red coloring.  I used a sheet of Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I then dry embossed and distressed the edges using a sponge and Cherry Cobbler ink.  The sentiment was added to the upper corner and trimmed with a gold border.  A few gold foil cut snow flakes embellish the sentiment.  Opal accents were added to the foil snowflakes.  Gold acrylic paint was thinned with water and pattered over the finished card.   Thank you for stopping by! Supplies used: Stamps: Simon Says Stamps - Center cut snowfla...

  Greetings!     Today I'm joining in Peace On Earth Challenge #77 ( Peace On Earth ). This challenge is based of a mood board, where we   can draw ideas but keep the theme on Christmas.   I was undecided between two images.  I loved the cardinal and the holly.  I have a great embossing folder that I could watercolor.  However, I ultimately chose the deer with the cardinal.  I have an older stamp set from My Favorite Things called Reindeer Games that has cute reindeer and a cardinal included in the set.   The card is a top folding 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card.  The card base is a light blue cardstock cut to the same dimensions.  I attached the tree die cut onto the blue cardstock.  The deer and cardinal were stamped, colored and die cut.  I used a small round circle punch to accentuate the noses, and found my son's Crayola glitter marker to color the scarf. (I think I'm going to by myself a set of those...