INKspirations!

  Hello!  It’s hotter than blazes outside, so it was the perfect day to sit down and color for awhile. This card is designed from this month’s sketch from Build Your Holiday Stash Challenge#71. The stamp is from Honey Bee Stamps called - St. Nick, and this is a combination of colored pencils, a marker, white acrylic paint and wink of stella. For my card, I turned the sketch vertically.  I used patterned paper from Unity Stamps called - A Dash of Christmas.   The Santa was stamped on a scrap piece of Neenah Desert Storm, and colored with Prisma color pencils.  For the trim, I used a small flat paint brush and acrylic white paint, and dry brushed.  Less paint and a little pouncing give a fuzzy effect.  A little wink of stella was used as an accent, and a dark brown water based marker were used to add a little stipple dots in the fur for shading. Santa was fussy cut and I used the same dark brown marker to color the edge before attaching to the card base....

 Hello!  Today was a great day to relax and play in the craft room!  I have been playing Taxi service for my two boys jobs/activites this week, so I looked forward to the break!  For my card, I used some paper with a reindeer pattern from a Stampin Up Sale a Bration bonus.  Using the Deer Builder (SU), I layered over the plaid banner. The sentiment and die are from Concord and 9th’s - Season’s Greetings Banner Set, in Real Red ink (SU). A snow flake was cut from the coordinating CC&9 set with red foil cardstock, and a red rhinestone for an accent. The card base was also trimmed in a red foil border.  Thanks for stopping by! - Valerie Kaye

 Hello!  I just love the simplicity of this card! It was inspired from this month’s current sketch at Build Your Stash Holiday Card - FB group, and SSS- Wednesday challenge: Four Legged Friends. Join the challenge ( HERE) From the sketch, I used a polar bear and snowflake for my two overlapping elements.  I already had some left over pieces of Designer Series Paper called Peaceful Cabinet, from Stampin Up. The thin strip came from SSS-Strip dies in iridescent white cardstock. 3-bears from SSS-Flourish Bear die were cut and stacked together.  A snowflake was cut from silver foil card stock (Recollections).   The sentiment from SSS- Angel Wings Everything Nice det was also cut from Silver cardstock.  Thanks for stopping by! - Valerie Kaye

 Hello!  Today’s card is inspired by Jane’s design at AAA Card Challenges. To join the fun, click the link  (HERE) Here is Jane’s design This card is also added to the Spring into Christmas Linky Party for - Build Your Holiday Card Stash  To play along, click the link  (HERE) I mixed things up a bit, and went in a holiday vibe.  I used a strip of plaid paper, and trimmed it down to 1 1/2 inches x 5 1/4 inches.  I used the stamp and coordinating die from Concord and 9th called Stocking and Stitch set. I stamped in Real Red Ink - (SU), and then used the dies to add felt details. Thanks for stopping by! - Valerie Kaye

 Hello!  Today’s card is inspired from this month’s challenge at Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers - Facebook Group. Each month, Crystal changes up the sketch layout and you can get a head start on next year’s cards!    For this card, I pulled out my skunk stamp from Unity called “Whiff of Christmas Cheer”  Shop ( HERE ) This is a side folding A2 sized card on craft cardstock (Recollections)  I had a scrap from Unity’s “Love is in the Air” Paper Pack, and used a partial circle die to cut the patterned paper.  (SHOP HERE) On a piece of mixed media paper, I stamped this sweet little skunk in Versa Fine - Onyx Black ink.   I added a little shading around the eyes and ears, and candy cane and ears were colored in also.   The sentiment was stamped on a strip using a stamp platform, and a small heart was punched to anchor into place.   A small bow was added in red and white baker’s twine to the candy cane. Thanks for stopping by! -  Val...

 Good Morning!  I finally had time to play with a new stamp from Unity called “All is Merry,” and thought I would share it for the Build Your Holiday Stash Link Party.   Link Here   I love the simplicity of this set.  There are seven small images and one large sentiment.   For today, I used the ornament stamp and the greenery.   This is a one-layer, horizontal top folding card.  I made a very light pencil line with a ruler and stamped the three ornaments first.  Then I went up to the pencil line and rotated the greenery.   A ruler was used to connect the ornaments to the branches.   The ornaments were colored in with markers, and three red rhinestones were added to embellish.   The “Be Merry” sentiment used comes from Unity’s Winter Shake Up set.  I stamped in Versa Fine Onyx Black Ink.  It kind has a Dr. Suess feel to it!  I keep waiting for a character to peek out from around the corner!  lol.  😆 Sup...

 Hello!  I made three cards today!  (Woo-hoo!!!). Fridays are a nice day to take a little extra time in the craft room and play.  Wouldn’t you agree?  😉  These cards are for Week 62 - {BYHSC}, and Splitcoast Stampers F4A815. I absolutely love this sketch that Crystal designed.  When I began cutting paper, I realized I could make two cards with scenery paper!   These beautiful papers are from Stampin Up - Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer 6 x 6 paper.  Here’s a great link showing many of the beautiful prints and coordinating colors. Stampin With Brian - Feels Like Frost Close Up This paper worked well with Misty Moonlight and Almost Amethyst.  Those were the colors used for these two sketch cards.   To make these cards, I followed the measurements given below: I chose a nice sentiment from Penny Black Winter Wonders (30-087).  Using a stamp platform, I stamped in Misti Monlight Ink directly onto the card panel and added iride...

 Hello! Today’s card is inspired by the BYSHC #61.   To begin, I started with a white card base trimmed in gold.  (Accent 120# white cardstock, Recollections- Gold )  I used a strip of  DSP- From Stampin Up called Silver and Gold Specialty Paper, measuring 5 1/4 x 2.   The next layer was the 4 1/2 x 1 1/4 strip.  I used scrap of gold foil and embossed with a SU- texture EF. The tree came from Concord and 9th/Kristina Werner collaboration called Holiday assortment.  I heat embossed the tree in Cosmic Wow-Brilliant Sparkle Forest and die cut.  The tree was embellished with a small gold foil star and metallic gold stickles in the tree.   The sentiment was placed on a stamp platform, stamped in Versafine ink, and then anchored to the tree. Thanks for stopping by! - Valerie Kaye

 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...

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...