Just Inkin'

I'm participating in an Amuse image swap on SCS and while I had the octopus and sentiment out to stamp to send off for the swap, I figured I'd take a few minutes to make a card with the images.

I haven't made one of these gel cards in a long time. They were one of the first WOW! cards I learned how to make. I had forgotten how fun they are to do.

I stamped the octopus in black ink and colored it with Copic markers. I paired the colored octopus image with a bold striped patterned paper from Prima. It ended up being an Orchid Opulence octopus--I'm not sure how true-to-life the color is, but it's fun!

I used a rectangle die to cut a window through the top two layers of paper. I used a scalloped rectangle die to create a frame to highlight the window. The gel-filled baggie was taped to the back of the layer of sturdy solid cardstock. I like the patterns of the Prima paper, but it's realy flimsy, so there was no way that I could attach the baggie directly to it. I used some pieces of foam tape (a little wider and sturdier than dimensionals) to attach the entire window piece to the cardfront, right over where I had attached the octopus image. I added the sentiment on a coordinating, ocean-like colored word window piece. Now that I'm done with the card, I guess I should get to stamping the images to share . . .

Materials Used:

Octopus and sentiment (Amuse); white cardstock (Georgia Pacific); Graphite Black ink (Brilliance); markers (Copic Ciao); patterned paper (Prima's Baby Boutique Collection pad); Aqua Mist and Lavender Moon cardstock, Lavender Moon dotted satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink); rectangle and scalloped rectangle dies (Nestabilities); Orchid Opulence cardstock, word window punch (Stampin' Up!); foam tape, plastic bag, hair gel, glitter

You're a Hoot

I got a bunch of these fun owl images and the matching sentiment in the mail recently through the SCS WISH-RAK forum. I couldn't resist trying them out on Beate's weekend sketch challenge. Birds are a big trend in stamping and paper crafting right now and the cute little owl image made a great focal point for the layout.

I used one of the circle Nestabilities dies to cut out the owl image and the mats for the image. I colored the owl with Copic markers and filled in around its eyes with a yellow Glaze pen for a shiny, glow in the dark look.

The cardfront is made from River Rock cardstock. I stamped it tone on tone with the Twill background stamp to give it a textured look--kinda like the bark of a tree. I used some coordinating paper scraps from the Fall Flowers paper package for the panels on the cardfront. The earthy color tones in this paper are a good match for the owl image.

I found the perfect size scrap of matching blue ribbon in my ribbon scrap jar. I love when that happens! My ribbon scrap jar is about to overflow, so that will need to happen more often . . .

Materials Used:

owl image and sentiment (Amuse); Twill background stamp, River Rock Classic ink, River Rock, Old Olive, Soft Sky, and Certainly Celery cardstock, Fall Flowers designer paper, mat pack and paper piercing tool, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); circle and scalloped circle dies (Nestabilities); yellow Glaze pen (Sakura); markers (Copic Ciao); copper brad (Making Memories); Soft Sky grosgrain ribbon (Michaels dollar bin)

I Like This One Berry Much

On the way home from work today, I stopped by the grocery store and strawberries were on sale, so I bought some and had a few for dessert tonight. They were a gorgeous bright red and so good, too. When I came downstairs to my craft area, the first stamp I saw on my table was the sentiment "I like you berry much!" I had bought it specifically to use with my new Tart & Tangy stamp set. Put all of that together, and you get this quick card that I made for Jen's sketch challenge.

I used markers to color the parts of the strawberry images and punched them out with 1 1/4" square and circle punches. I used the markers again on the sentiment and punched that out, too. I layered each of the shapes on a Rose Red mat and arranged the shapes on a Garden Green piece. I really like the Rose Red and Garden Green color combo for the berries.

I added a sparkly paper flower to the sentiment piece. I got a clear acrylic bucket full of them at Michaels in the bridal section. They're called "table confetti" and come in white and cream. They are a great deal, especially with a coupon. The flower was originally a shimmery white, but here it matches the strawberries. That's because I used a Copic marker to color it. It worked great--good coverage and the ink dried pretty much instantly. I added a red Dew Drop to the flower's center and attached it to the sentiment panel with a glue dot.

I'm off to have a few more of the strawberries for a snack now. . .

Materials Used:

Tart & Tangy stamp set, Rose Red and Garden Green markers, Rose Red, Garden Green, and Whisper White cardstock, Cutie Pie designer paper, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches, dimensionals, Crystal Effects, glue dot (Stampin' Up!); sentiment (Amuse); Flame Dew Drop (Kitchen Sink Stamps); paper flower (Michaels)

Mix N' Match Snowbunnybella

I just got an enveloped in the mail stuffed full of Stamping Bella card kits from a card kit swap I participated in on SCS. For the swap, all of the participants created a kit that included a stamped Bella image, two coordinated patterned papers, and some matching embellishments. When I saw that today's technique challenge was to combine different patterned papers on a card, I decided to try it with one of the card kits.

This kit is actually one I made myself for the swap. For this kit, I used the Snowbunnybella image and sent two matching sentiments, a Stamping Bella one and the Amuse sentiment I used on this card. I colored the Bella image with Copic markers. I added some white Fun Flock to her jacket and hat. I also colored her skates with a clear Glaze pen to make them just-polished shiny and the blades with a silver gel pen.

I decided to make a kickstand card for the challenge as a way to use the two different patterned papers. I attached the colored Bella image to a panel made from one of the patterned papers and a piece of Basic Gray cardstock. I stamped the sentiment on a scrap circle of brushed silver cardstock and attached taht to the image panel. The snowflake embellishment attached to the sentiment is actually a tiny, sparkly Christmas ornament that I got on clearance. I cut off the silver cord and the loop for hanging it to use it on cards. I added a pearly Dew Drop to the center, too.

The cardstock on the front of the card is by American Crafts. I love their patterned papers! I tied a narrow piece of silver ribbon around the panel for embellishment, then attached it to the card.

My Bloglines account was funky for the past few days, so I haven't been able to make the rounds of my blogging friends. Now that it's back on line, I hope to get around to visit you! Between that and being sick for the last two weeks, I haven't been able to do as much of that as I would have liked or as I usually do--sorry about that . . .

Materials Used:

Snowbunnybella image (Stamping Bella); sentiment (Amuse); Basic Gray and Brushed Silver cardstock (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (American Crafts, Provocraft Holiday Slab); snowflake ornament, silver ribbon (Michaels); white Fun Flock (Stampendous); Dew Drops (Kitchen Sink Stamps); clear Glaze pen, silver gel pen (Sakura); markers (Copic Ciao); white cardstock (Georgia Pacific)

Snowbunnybella in Pink

I'm getting some Stamping Bella card kits ready for a swap I'm participating in and I had some of this fun, sparkly snow patterned pink paper left over from one of the kits. So, I had to use it for this week's sketch challenge from the SCS Stamping Bella forum. This sketch is perfect for the Bella images!

The paper is so pretty, I didn't want to cover it up with much else in the way of embellishments or other patterns. I stamped Stamping Bella's Snowbunnybella in black ink, then colored her with markers. I used some pink fun flock for the trim on her coat and boots (love that stuff!).

The sentiment is from Amuse. I stamped it in craft ink, then heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice to match the sparkly paper.

The piece around the front is a belly band closure. I used a magnetic snap to close the band ends at the front. The magnetic pieces are really thin, so they work well on cards. Lauren shared this idea on her blog a week or two ago and I've been wanting to give it a try--this sketch was a perfect fit.

I'm trying to keep this post quick tonight because my stamping area (downstairs) is absolutely freezing! I haven't been able to turn on my heat yet because the system needs to be cleaned before I turn it on. When it was turned on this summer to defrost my broken air conditioning, it had kind of a small fire/explosion, so until it's fully checked out, I'm not willing to risk attempting to heat my house. For the last few days, the temperature inside the house has been in the 50's. So, Cosmo and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the repair guy tomorrow morning. Hopefully, a good cleaning will keep the system running for a while longer . . .

Be sure to check back tomorrow to find out what this week's challenge was for the blogger challenge group I'm in . . .

Materials Used:
Snowbunnybella stamp (Stamping Bella); sentiment (Amuse); Pink Passion Craft ink, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink, and Whisper White cardstock, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, scalloped circle punch, 2-way glue pen, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Joyful Twinkle paper (KI Memories); magnetic snaps (Basic Grey); Fun Flock (Stampendous); markers

Cool Snowbunnybella

Be sure to check out this post for my blog candy giveaway celebrating 50,000 visits to Inking Aloud!

This fun Bella card uses the sketch Lauren posted here on her blog last Saturday. I really liked the pop-up belly band closure she had on her card, but I couldn't make it work with this image--it was just a little too big, so I did some adjusting.

The main image is the adorable Snowbunnybella image from Stamping Bella. I colored her with alcohol ink markers and added some white fun flock as detailing on her hood and the cuffs of her jacket and boots.

The fun patterned paper is from a package of Memory Box papers that are all combinations of cool shades of blues, greens, and purples. What a pretty combination they are! I actually used this paper as the inspiration for the colors of the card. I embossed the Bashful Blue panel with the Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder, then rubbed white ink over it to highlight the raised snowflakes.

The sentiment is from Amuse. I thought it was a perfect match for Snowbunnybella!

If you're still with me here (and are interested . . .), here's my mini review of last night's concert. The Police concert was amazing. They sang all of their classic songs and sounded fantastic. Their show is simple--no bells and whistles, smoke or flames, just straight music, which is just fine with me. They played for close to two hours. We had great seats to the side of the stage and had fun listening to and singing along with the band. The opening act, Fiction Plane, featured Sting's son as the lead singer. We got to the arena during Fiction Plane's set and it was almost eerie to hear how much he sounded like Sting. All in all, definitely worth the wait and the price of admission--and the temporary ringing in my ears.

Materials Used:

Snowbunnybella stamp (Stamping Bella); sentiment (Amuse); Bashful Blue Classic ink, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, and Whisper White cardstock, scalloped circle punch, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, 2 way glue pen, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Moonlight White pigment ink (Brilliance); patterned paper (Echo by Memory Box); Snowflake embossing folder (Cuttlebug); white flocking powder (Stampendous); alcohol ink markers; blue stitched grosgrain (Michaels)

Bella Challenge 1

This Bella card is for the very first Bella Challenge in the new SCS Stamping Bella Member Company forum. It's fun to have a place to "meet" with other Stamping Bella fans. This first challenge was a sketch challenge and I just couldn't resist trying it out.

I've had this Winobella stamp for a while and knew she was the perfect one for the first Bella challenge. I stamped the Bella on white cardstock, then stamped her again on patterned paper so I could cut out her dress and add it to the panel. I love the pattern and texture on the paper--so fun and perfect for paper piecing! It's from a K and Company Amy Butler mat pack. I used the colors from the paper to select the colors for the rest of the card. I don't know if I would have used the olive and pink together otherwise.

To match the dress, I used the Cuttlebug TinyBubbles embossing folder for the bright pink panel on the side of the card. I added a paper pierced (wow, paper pierced and paper pieced all in one post . . .) strip to the edge to pull in the green that I used to mat the main image.

The sentiment is also from Stamping Bella. I punched it out with an oval punch and added a ribbon scrap and a rhinestone brad.

I'm looking forward to participating in future challenges with the rest of the SCS Bella Sistahs!

Materials Used:

Winobella and sentiment (Stamping Bella); small skinny oval (Amuse Art Stamps); Old Olive, Pixie Pink, Gable Green, and Whisper White cardstock, Basic Black and Soft Sky inks, large oval punch, mat pack and paper piercing tool, Certainly Celery grosgrain, silver brad (Stampin' Up!); Prismacolor pencils; clear and black Glaze pens, Stardust gel pen (Sakura); rhinestone brad (Making Memories); Tiny Bubbles embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Amy Butler mat pack (K & Company)

Magical Witchybella

It was nice to come home after a long and stressful day at work (a last minute "informal" discussion that I was to participate in with a colleague turned out to be a pretty formal presentation/interview, one with lots of direct questions that required specific, detailed responses--ugh!) to relax with some stamping!

This card is for today's SCS sketch challenge. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the front panel of the card is actually about one inch less in width than the standard card size. When the card is open, you can see that the image panel hangs over the edge of the front panel just a little bit. Fun variation on the traditional card style . . .

The main image is Stamping Bella's Witchybella. I've had this stamp for a while, but this is the very first time I've used it. So cute! She's stamped with Brilliance ink in Graphite Black. I'm really liking this ink. It's a real black and once it's heat set, has held up well when I've colored in images. I colored her with Prismacolor pencils and added some glitter embellishments to her hat and some Glaze pen to the jack-o-lantern. I also added a trio of metal star brads to fill in the white space on the image panel.

The sentiment is from Amuse. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the perfect match for Witchybella! It doesn't show in the picture, but I traced over the word "magical" with some Stardust gel pen glitter.

I definitely think I'll try this layout again. It's just a little bit out of the ordinary, but not too hard to pull off.

Materials Used:
Lovely Lilac Classic ink, Only Orange, Green Galore, Lovely Lilac, and Whisper White cardstock, black grosgrain, slit punch, corner rounder (Stampin' Up!); Brilliance Graphite Black ink (Tsukineko); Witchybella stamp (Stamping Bella); sentiment (Amuse); striped paper (Colorbox pack from Joann); dotted paper (DCWV's Fall Mat Stack); Stardust Stickles (Ranger); Stardust Pen, orange Glaze pen (Sakura); star brads (Making Memories); Prismacolor pencils

Sweet

Today's featured stamper for the SCS featured stamper challenge is Anna/sweetmissdaisy. She is such a talented artist! Another gallery that it was hard to choose from . . .

I ended up selecting one of the cards that Anna recently showcased on her blog, Sweet and Sassy. You can see the card here in her SCS gallery. She did a few cards with the same layout and it was a quick and easy one to work with. I kept the layout the same, with the exception of changing the shape of the image panel to an oval instead of a rectangle.

Her card used Amuse stamps and since they are the perfect size for this layout, I did the same. I used the Seattle Girl and the coordinating "under the weather?" sentiment for my card. It's kind of funny that I'm doing a card with a rainy day image on it since it seems like weeks and weeks since we've had any rain here . . .

In addition to changing the Amuse images used, I changed the colors from the original card. My color choices were inspired by Paper Salon's Soho patterned papers. I colored the girl with Prismacolor pencils and added details to the umbrella and raincoat with gel pens. The sentiment is stamped with coordinating craft ink. The pink button is just a shade or two darker than the pink cardstock, but I think it's close enough. I tied a little knot through the buttonholes with some white twine to add some interest to the button. I think these colors make for a cheery get well card, don't you?

Materials Used:

Soft Sky Classic ink, Regal Rose Craft ink, Cool Caribbean and Whisper White cardstock, white gel pen, glue dot (Stampin' Up!); Seattle Girl, under the weather, and small skinny oval (Amuse); Brilliance Graphite Black ink (Tsukineko); giga scalloped oval and mega oval punches (Marvy Uchida); pink button, white twine (Walmart); green brads (Joann); silver gel pen (?); Prismacolor pencils; Soho paper (Paper Salon)

Chocolate? No Thanks.

To follow up the" four tidbits about me" post yesterday, here's another interesting (or maybe not so interesting) tidbit about me. I don't like chocolate. I think this stems back to when I was in elementary school and my mom and some of her friends ran a chocolate making business. They created lots of fun shaped chocolate lollipops and treats. The chocolate would arrive at our house, straight from Nestle, in these huge 25 pound blocks. I think the constant exposure to chocolate resulted in my loss of interest in pretty much all things chocolate . . .

So, for me, this stamp set isn't so appropriate--but it is really cute! It's a new stamp set from My Favorite Things called How Sweet It Is. On this card, I colored the main image using Prismacolor pencils. I added a "rug" using the small skinny oval stamp by Amuse. I masked the large image so the rug would appear to be under the chair and ottoman.

The strip of paper on the left side of the card is flocked paper that I got at Target a while ago. The rich look and feel made me think of a rich piece of chocolate. The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! Sell-A-Bration set, So Very. It's hard to see in the photo, but I randomly stamped the large flower from Vases in Vogue on the cardfront. The flower was similar in shape to the one on the chair in the main image, so I thought it would be a fun, subtle detail.

Materials Used:

Vases in Vogue and So Very stamp sets, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, and Basic Black Classic inks, Real Red, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White cardstock, wide Chocolate Chip grosgrain, 1" circle punch, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); How Sweet It Is stamp set (My Favorite Things Stamps); small skinny oval (Amuse Art Stamps); flocked paper (Target); 1 1/8" circle punch (EK Success); red brad (Making Memories); Prismacolor pencils

Retro Bella

After I finished my homework for class tomorrow night, I rewarded myself by trying out today's Technique Lovers Challenge on SCS. The technique is called grout-free tiling. To me, "faux" home improvement techniques are much more fun than the real ones (such as the never-ending bi-fold closet door project that consumed my weekend yet again). I knew right away I wanted to use some of this Basic Grey Phoebe paper for a retro look for the tiles, along with my Cosmobella stamp. The paper also looked great with some of SU!'s new In Colors--a bonus!

I cut the paper into 1" squares, being careful to keep the paper pieces lined up so I didn't end up with a puzzle when trying to match the patterned images up. I covered the paper with Versamark, then with Glassy Glaze. It took two coats of the heavy embossing powder to get this look. Unfortunately, when I started to use my heat tool, grains of the glaze kind of splattered all over my work area, so when I finish this, I'll be busy peeling it off the table and other stuff . . .

I stamped Cosmobella on white cardstock and colored her with Prismacolor pencils. Her shirt is made with paper piecing. I stamped the Bella image on a scrap of patterned cardstock and *carefully* cut around the shirt, then used it to fill in the shirt of my stamped Bella. I added some Crystal Effects to Bella's drink for extra shine and to match the shiny look of the tiled background.

Materials Used:

From Stampin' Up!: Basic Black, Bayou Blue, and River Rock Classic inks; Versamark; Bayou Blue, River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, and Whisper White cardstock; large oval punch; Crystal Effects; Glassy Glaze; dimensionals

Other: Cosmobella and Cheers stamps (Stamping Bella); small oval stamp (Amuse Art Stamps); Prismacolor pencils; Phoebe patterned paper (Basic Grey); green jeweled brad (Making Memories)

Hoppy!

The sketch for this card came from Lauren's Saturday Sketch. I changed the dimensions of the card to a regular 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" card, so the proportions are a little different than in the original sketch. It still worked okay, or at least I think it did . . .

I used the frog stamp from the Very Punny set for the main image on the card. I stamped the Amuse scalloped line in gray ink as a jumping "path" for the froggy. The image on the right side of the stamped panel is blurry on purpose--really! In her card, Lauren showed a technique called "the Donna." It's used to imply motion of a stamped image and is done by stamping the image repeatedly, without reinking the stamp, each time at a slightly different spot. I practiced a bunch of times on scrap paper, but Lauren's take on the technique is still much more effective than mine. One frog is raised with a dimensional to look like he's hopping off the card.

The sentiment is stamped with Snap Stamps. It's the same sentiment as the one in the SU! set, but on a larger scale. I love the idea behind these stamps! You can spell out a word and because the letters attach securely together, you're (almost) guaranteed that your sentiment will be straight and have even spaces between the letters.

My summer graduate school class started this evening after work. I'll be at class two nights a week for the next six weeks, learning about how to deliver professional development to teachers to support their use of technology, so it's likely that the combo of actually attending class and doing the required work will cut in to my stamping time. Just a warning that you may not hear from me as much as usual over the next few weeks . . .

Materials Used:
From Stampin' Up!: Very Punny stamp set; Going Gray and Old Olive Classic inks; Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Pink Passion, and Whisper White cardstock; Watercolor Wonder Crayons; aquapainter; dimensional; sponge
Other: Noir Black Palette Hybrid ink (Stewart Superior); small casual Snap Stamps (Karen Foster); scalloped line (Amuse Art Stamps); Amy Butler Belle Mat Pad patterned paper (K & Company); silver brads (Joann); pink and green stitched grosgrain (AC Moore)

Amuse-a-palooza Again!

This week's Amuse-a-palooza challenge was to use a punched shape on your card, along with Amuse stamp images, of course. I think this one will cover all the bases.

The Vespa girl image on this card is so cute and the sentiment matches her perfectly. I colored her with Prismacolor pencils and added Sakura glaze pen accents to the headlight and tires for dimension and shine. She's centered on a mega size oval punch (the pink one) and layered on top of a scalloped edged oval (giga size--the purple one). The patterned paper is from a big package of 6x6 papers I picked up a while ago at AC Moore. I stamped the sentiment right on the patterned paper, using Real Red Craft ink. I covered the ink with Crystal Clear embossing powder and heat embossed it to add some texture. I think my little Vespa girl is ready to hit the road!

Materials Used:

From Stampin' Up!: Whisper White, Brocade Blue, and Real Red cardstock; Real Red Craft ink; Crystal Clear embossing powder; mat pack and paper piercing tool; dimensionals

Other: Vespa girl and Road to Friend stamps (Amuse Artstamps); patterned paper (Scrapbook Wizard's Scrap Pack Mini #1); red dotted organdy ribbon (Michaels); giga scalloped oval punch and mega oval punch (Marvy Uchida); red brads (Joann); Prismacolor pencils; black and yellow Glaze pens (Sakura)