INKspirations!

 Greetings!  Today’s card is inspired from the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, #756.  To join along, click the link  (HERE) Sometimes I make a card from a sketch, and then another idea or two will percolate into another card. I was organizing and grouping some of my fall stamps and I came upon this little fox in my bin.   I love critters, and you just can’t find very many foxes.   For this card, I began with embossing a piece of Crumbcake cardstock (SU) - with the Falling Leaves embossing folder.  Next, I used the Scalloped Contour Die SU, to cut the brown zig zag patterned paper and trimmed off the overhang. For the vertical stripe, I overlapped two pieces of fall themed washi tape.   The fox was colored into colored cardstock and colored with markers and prismacolor pencils. And my favorite part?  I LOVE paper piecing!  I stamped the coat from Unity’s- Wallpaper and Warmth and fussy cut with detail scissors.  The edges were color...

 Hi there!  School is just around the corner, and that means that summer is drawing to an end.   Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year.  The crisp weather, comforting soups and hoodies!  It looks like this little field mouse is getting a head start.   It is from Unity stamps called Mice and Cozy .  There are three adorable mice and three sentiments with this set.   For my card, I took a white panel that was about 2 1/2” x  5 1/4” and embossed with Leaf Fall from Stampin Up.  The mouse was stamped in Early Espresso ink (SU) and colored with a combination of markers and prismacolor pencils.  The colored panel was attached to a patterned piece of paper from Unity’s Fall Tones - paper pack.   The leaves were cut from a coordinating sheet from the same pack with old leaf dies.  A Wink of Stella was added to the muzzle of the nose.  Thanks for stopping by! - Valerie Kaye

 Hello! Hi there!  I finished up this cute A1 sized card for Creative Inspirations Challenge #36.   To play along, click the link  (HERE) For my card, I used the bird from Spellbinders Spring Smiles set.   The birdhouse came from Simon Says Stamp called Bitty Birdhouse. Three of the houses were stacked together for dimension.   The sentiment from the same Spellbinders set was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black Ink using a stamp platform. Thanks for stopping by!  Valerie Kaye

 Hello!  Today’s card is inspired from the current colors at the Color Dare Challenge #693.   To play along, click the link  (HERE) This is a side folding A2 - sized card.  I began stamping Unity’s - Unusual Day Poppy in Early Espresso in on Mixed Media Paper (Fabriano - Michael’s) With an aquapen I mixed shades of Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Raspberry Ripple on the petals (SU) - The leaves were painted with Pretty Peacock (SU). Using the Time Worn Type - EF from Stampin Up, I linked Smoky Slate ink across the raised areas, then ran it through to press the ink into the panel.  I used a rectangular frame and cut the panel.  The center was popped up with cardboard packaging, then trimmed a 1/4 inch smaller to create another border.  The finished frame was added to a black panel then added to the Dove - card base (Michael’s). Hello from Concord and 9th’s Lined with Love set was cut using Shiny Black Card stock from Tim Holtz.   Thanks for stopping...

 Hello! I was really excited to watercolor today!  This card is inspired from the mood board from Handstamped Sentiments - Challenge #483. To join in on the fun, click the challenge link  (HERE) The bottom center flowers remind me of a delicate flower in my garden called Flax.  It is very small, but so resilient.  I started it from seed, and always look forward to its reappearance in the warmer months. For this card, I chose the main floral image  Unity’s - Sending Hugs stamp set.  I cut a panel from Fabarano - Mixed Media paper and lightly wet the paper with an aquapen.   I stamped with Smoky Slate (SU).  I left the paper and stamp in place, and added Seaside Spray (SU) .  A Gumball Green (SU) marker was used for the stems and leaves. Keeping the paper and stamp in place, I used a yellow marker to ink the centers of the flowers and re-stamp over the same image.  I also re inked a little extra Smoky Slate to re-define edges. ...

 Hello!  Today’s card was inspired from the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches - #725.  To play along, click the link  (HERE) This is an A2-side folding card.  I began with an Orchid Oasis (SU) card stock base and a Seaside spray (SU) panel.  The Time Worn Type embossing folder (SU) was inked in a few places and pressed into the paper with Poppy Parade ink (SU). I was originally was thinking of using a piece of wide ribbon, but  it wasn’t the width I needed for the free form shape in the center.  So, I decided to look through some ephemera, and found a long printed tag.  The edge was cut with a notebook border die, and the top was torn. The flower came from the Magnolia Mood stamp and die set (SU).  It was cut from Orchid Oasis and popped up with mini foam squares (SSS). The sentiment is from Concord and 9th’s Lined with Love Stamp and die set.  I used to script hello with Tim Holtz Rose Gold Metallic Card stock.  Thanks f...

 Hello!  Today’s card is for Unity’s FB Show and Tell:  Tone and Tear Challenge.  This challenge runs from 2/19 - 3/5.  For my card, I sifted through my stamps and papers for ideas and decided on Pooh Just Knew.  I grabbed some similar shades of brown from Mushroom Meadows and A Little Tenderness paper packs.   I wanted to make Pooh and Piglet look like vintage characters, so I stamped on Canson Mixed Media Paper in Early Espresso ink (SU). I used an aquapen and dabbed the wet brush into Teracotta Tile ink (SU) with a wash of color.  For Piglet, I added a little more water and used Tip Top Taupe (SU). Pooh and Piglet were fussy-cut and set aside. The balloon was stamped onto the peach and white paper from A Little Tenderness and fussy cut also.   The panel was embossed with Time Worn Type - EF (SU). The patterned strips were trimmed, and torn along the edges.   A half circle die was used to cut a piece of vellum behind Pooh and Piglet. ...

 Hello!  I had a little extra time today, and I had the chance to watercolor this giraffe!   This card will be heading to Mrs. Dunning’s Pre-K class for  Hearts Around The World To make this card, I used the Giraffe and the “Hello” sentiment from Unity’s July Kit Of The Month - 2021 Assembly: To make this card, I knew I wanted to start with watercolors, so I found a scrap of Multi Media paper and stamped in Dusty Durango Ink - (SU), and layered with these other colors: I next decided on how I wanted layout the card.  I used Atlantic Hearts Sketch #663 with coordinating papers from a 12 x 12 paper pack. I used the recent sketch from Atlantic Hearts #663 as a starting point.  I wanted the giraffe leaning against something, so this layout worked perfectly. I chose to keep the right space of the giraffe open.  I added  stitched heart to layer over the giraffe, and just a simple heart to embellish.   I was originally going to trim the giraffe’s mo...