My Last Post as an "INK" Girl!

Happy Sunday everyone! Sundays have been my day to post for Artful INKables, and today will be my last one! My term as an INK girl has ended and I have one last project to share with you. I used one of the newest sets called Sexy & Sweet.
I've had this idea to make a mini notebook using this set. I covered the front of the notebook with paper that looks like notebook paper (I just bought it at my LSS, but I can't remember who makes it!). I colored only part of the sentiment with a red marker. The actual sentiment says "You're on My To Do List". I cut the image and mat using nesties, and added the ribbon and glitter dots. The back is covered with navy cardstock. I have one of these in my purse that I use as my inspiration notebook. How many times have you gone into a store and liked a color combo or the layout of a card at the card shop? I jot these things down in it to use later. This set has a lot of suggestive sentiments and other images that I wouldn't use, so I wanted to show how you can take this set and use it in other ways. I like that!

I'd like to thank Kristin, owner of AI, for asking me to be a member of her Design Team this term and the other INK girls on this team for a fun ride! And I'd like to congratulate and send best wishes to the new INK girls! Have fun!

Thanks for stopping by today! Love your comments!

Think INK Tuesday Challenge

Happy Monday everyone! My LEAST favorite day of the week., but I guess it's needed to get to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday right? :-)
I have my next to last post as an INK girl for you today. The Artful INKables Think INK Tuesday challenge this week is a sketch that Holly McMillen created. LOVE sketches and this is a great one!This image and sentiment are from the new set called Sexy and Sweet. I used two of my favorite spring colors to work with this image...green and purple. I picked up this Doodlebug Designs dp called Plum Blossoms from my LSS a couple of weeks ago, and it was just sitting on my table waiting to be used. I used certainly celery and lavendar lace card stock which matched up with it perfectly. The ribbon is also certainly celery.

I think the sentiment is a hoot! And it's so true! Have you been to the lingerie department lately? You can really spend an awful lot of money for that stuff!If you like sketches, stop by the AI blog and link up your card for a chance to win a grab bag of AI stamps! Thanks for peeking in at my blog today, and have a great week!
Recipe
Stamps: Sweet and Sexy (AI)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, lavender lace
Copic Markers: YG0000, 03, 11; BV02, 04
Accessories: Nesties, swiss dots folder, twill ribbon, bling, key tag punch, dimensionals

Just Because

***If you are looking for the Paper Makeup Stamps blog hop, please read this post then scroll down to the next post where you'll find the PMS post. Thanks! :-)***

I only have a few more posts to share with you before my DT spot on Artful INKables expires. I had an idea to make a cute little candy/mint box that you could give to someone "Just Because". Here's what I came up with using the new set Any Birdy Home?

In this set there are two flowers and one leaf to compliment the three beautiful birdhouses (see my posts using two of them here and here). Here is a way to use them individually. I just stamped three flowers and seven leaves, colored them, cut them out, and created this sort of swag on the top of the round tin container. I covered the clear lid with this dp from SU called Sweet Always. Since the lid is clear and I wanted the same dp to show on the inside (and not the other side of this piece), I put another piece on the inside of the lid as well. I took my colors from the dp to color the flowers. I like this combo! You can really see the star dust stickles on the flowers and leaves. The "Just Because" sentiment is from another new mini set called Fanciful Flowers.The sides of the tin were covered with SU ribbon in Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink grosgrain. I put some Cadbury Mini Eggs inside the tin. You could also put some mints in there. I'll be back maybe tomorrow or Tuesday with a Think INK Tuesday challenge. My favorite type of challenge....a sketch! Thanks for stopping in and have a great week!

Any Birdy Home?

Happy Sunday! It's snowing here in Buffalo, NY, but I'm thinking Spring today! I love birdhouses, so when Kristin from Artful INKables sent me this set to work with, I was delighted!This is from the February release and it's called Any Birdy Home? There are three lovely birdhouses in this set that are a nice size, two sentiments, two flowers and a leaf. They are a nice rubber and stamp very nicely.

I decided to use the Color Throwdown colors of brown, pink, and olive. My olive is SU's Kiwi Kiss. It matched my dp from Urban Garden. The pink is Pink Pirouette. I seem to be working with all retired colors! The sketch is from SCS. I just thought it looked interesting and I flipped it to accommodate my image. It's hard to see, but the white mat and the pink and green pieces are all sponged with Close to Cocoa ink. The background of the main image was also swirled with some Close to Cocoa ink while still in the die. I LOVE this ribbon. It's not wired, but it bends really nicely into any shape you want. It's from American Crafts and I got it a while ago probably from AC Moore. I finally used my Bow Easy to make the bow, too!

Well that's it for today. I'm at a baby shower for my dh's cousin's daughter, so no stamping for me this afternoon! :-(

The Think INK Tuesday challenge over on the AI blog is still going on until tomorrow. The challenge is to make something naughty or nice. Mine is obviously nice! You could win a grab bag of AI stamps for entering. Check it out here.

Thanks for stopping in today! Enjoy your Sunday, and have a great week!

Recipe
Stamps: Any Birdy Home? (AI)
Paper: Neenah white, chocolate chip, pink pirouette, Urban Garden dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, close to cocoa
Copic Markers: RV0000, 000, 10,21, 23; YG0000, 95, 97; E18, 37; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, tag die, diamond CB folder, ribbon, star dust stickles, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals

Artful INKables Think Ink Tuesday Challenge

It's time for another Think Ink Tuesday challenge from Artful INKables. They have an interesting challenge going on...make a naughty or nice card. We just had a release and one of the new sets is called Sexy and Sweet. So I decided to use that set and make somewhat of a naughty card.So what do you think? Naughty enough? I think this cat is pretty sexy! There are a bunch of suggestive sentiments that go along with this set, but they are a little too racey for me! LOL! I felt pretty comfortable with this one!

I saw Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch today and was very intrigued by it! I just had to use this sketch today. I figured out that all I had to use were five 1" strips of dp. I used SU's retired Autumn Vine (of which I have 3 packs!). These were mounted on a piece of chocolate chip cardstock and then tied with So Saffron grosgrain ribbon. This was then all mounted on a So Saffron card base.

If you'd like to enter our Naughty or Nice challenge, head on over to the Artful INKables blog to check out the details. You could win a grab bag of stamps from Artul INKables! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!

Recipe
Stamps: Sweet and Sexy (AI)
Paper: PTI white, chocolate chip, so saffron, Autumn Vine dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and rich cocoa, so saffron
Copic Markers: YR14, 23, 24; Y21; E99; B00; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, so saffron grosgrain ribbon, pearls, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Artful INKables Blog Hop and Release Day!

Hi everyone! Happy President's Day! Hope you are enjoying your day off (if you are lucky enough to have the day off)! I'm home for the whole week! I so need it!

Well, today is the Artful INKables release of three new sets and a new mini set, which is something new for AI. I'm the last stop on the hop, so you should have seen some great examples of the new sets! You should have come here from the super talented Sherry's blog. If not, head on over to the AI blog so you don't miss out on the entire hop!

I'm sharing a card using my favorite set of the new release called "Any Birdy Home?" I adore birdhouses, so when Kristin showed us the sets, I knew I had to have this one!

I couldn't decide which of the three birdhouses in this set to use because they are all so cute! I decided on this one because it fit the sketch I wanted to use! I started with this great Basic Grey paper, Marrakech, and paired it with SU's retired Good Morning Sunshine dp and Pacific Point cardstock. Such pretty colors, don't you think?

I hope you enjoyed our hop today! Now hop over to the AI store and take a look at the entire sets...it's quite a release. Something for everyone!

Thanks for stopping in and hopping with us! Have a great day!
Recipe
Stamps: Any Birdy Home? (AI)
Paper: PTI white, pacific point, Marrakech (BG) and Good Morning Sunshine (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, sahara sand
Copic Markers: YG95, 97; Y17, 18, 38; B0000, 12, 16, 24; E18, 31, 35, 37, 39; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, oval punches, scallop border punch, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Artful INKables Think Ink Tuesday Challenge #13

I have another sketch challenge for you today. This one is from Artful INKables. Kristin came up with this great sketch.I used this sketch to do another Valentine's Card. I don't think I've ever made as many Valentine cards as I have this year! I'll have enough for next year! Here's my card.I used Love Ya Lots again. I really like this set. I used SU's Bella Rose and punched the bottom with a Martha Stewart heart punch. The image was colored with copic markers. I added a heart charm from Artful INKables on the Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon. The edges of the images were sponged with Pink Pirouette ink. I also used deckle decorative scissors for the pink pice instead of tearing. I haven't used those in a really long time. Perfect for this sketch. Pretty simple card, but it took a long time to get it right for some reason!

You can find the challenge on the Artful INKables blog. Link your direct post to Mr. Linky to possibly win a grab bag of stamps from AI. Thanks for stopping in today! Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Fairy Whimsey Color Throwdown #77

Happy Sunday everyone! I have changed my Artful INKables posting day to Sunday. My previous posting day of Thursday just wasn't happening for me lately. I have more time on the weekends to do my cards. So Sunday it is!

I decided to use the current Color Throwdown colors. Great combo and it really helped get the creative juices flowing for me today!
Our Artful INKables DT memeber, Jen Pahoulis, did this tile tutorial on the AI blog recently, and I decided to use it. I had done this once before and really liked the outcome. It's nice to come back to a technique you haven't done in a while. Here's what I came up with. I used an AI set called Fairy Whimsey. There is a fairy in the set, but I chose to use the flower and the butterflies. I have to confess that I accidentally grabbed Bravo Burgundy paper and matched my copics to it to color the flower and butterflies. I realized my error and had to restamp and color the flower. I just colored over the butterflies because the parts were so small. I tried that with the flower, but just got a dark, muddy color! It just never goes smoothly!

To get the tiles, I just loosely measured the flower and butterfly stamps and then cut my 5" x 3 3/4" piece of white card stock accordingly to fit those two stamps. Then I cut the remaining pieces randomly. Each piece was sponged with Baja Breeze to get the "grout" look. I secured them to the eggplant piece and then onto my celery base. I used the Martha Stewart butterfly trio punch to get the butterflies...one in each color. There are green crystals adhered to the middle of each one. I bent them to get some dimension. I also added stardust stickles to the butterflies and the flower for some sparkle.

I hope you enjoyed today's post. I really appreciate your comments! Please join me on Tuesday when I'll be participating in the Paper Makeup Stamps Birthday Bash blog hop. PMS turns 2 on February 2, and there will be some partying going on. See the announcement on the top left side of my blog. Click on it and it will take you to the PMS forum, which is where the party will be happening Tuesday night! See you then!
Recipe
Stamps: Fairy Whimsey (AI)
Paper: PTI white, certainly celery, elegant eggplant, baja breeze
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, baja breeze
Copic Markers: BV08, 17; B52, 95; YG03; G40; W-3
Accessories: MS butterfly trio punch, crystals, stardust stickles, sponge dauber

Think Ink Tuesday Challenge

Today is Thursday (for two more hours!), and it's my day for an Artful INKables post! With Monday being a holiday for me, I got my days mixed up and thought today was Wednesday! So I'm almost late, but not quite!This week's Think Ink Tuesday challenge is to THINK SPRING!! To me that means light and pretty colors.I haven't used this set called Birthday Best from AI yet (gasp!), so I pulled it out and paper pieced this large cupcake. I used SU's Sweet Always dp which has pinks and oranges in it. I have a sweet friend that I am delinquent in sending a birthday card to, so I used the belated birthday sentiment on the front. I kept the layout really simple. The pearls are from AC Moore...there are 60 pearls on the sheet for $1! What a find! I bought them in every color!

If you want to play this challenge, head over to the Artful INKables blog and enter your card. You may win a grab bag of AI stamps! Thanks for stopping in today! I'll be back on Saturday with a sneak of something really cool! See you then!

A Charming Hop with Artful INKables!

We hope you are enjoying our Artful INKables Charming Hop! If you've come from Deb's blog, you are on the right track. If not, start at the Artful INKables blog to get the details and follow this "Charming Hop"! The premise of this hop is to showcase the variety of beautiful charms Artful INKables has and to reacquaint you with some of the wonderful stamps in the AI inventory.

I have chosen Greek Gardens to share with you today. I can honestly say that I really like this set. I puchased it a while back and just love the images and sentiments in it. I especially like this sentiment. I wish the photo would show how much green I put on the vase. It is so washed out on it here in the picture. I also put star dust stickles on the water. I paired this image with a beautiful butterfly charm. Here is a closeup of the charm.I love the detail on this pretty charm! I just put a jump ring on it and attached it to the ribbon with embroidery floss. The sketch is from this week's Card Positioning System sketch (CPS).


So, to continue on this Charming Hop, please head on over to Michelle's blog. She always has something amazing to share! There will be a prize giveaway at the end of the hop, but you need to leave a comment on the blogs along the way in order to be entered into the random.org drawing. So, don't forget to leave some nice comments for the AI DT.

Thanks for stopping in today! I hope you enjoyed your Charming Hop!

Just Us Girls Challenge - Sew Easy!

Hello again! It's Saturday! Time for another Just Us Girls challenge! Today, Mona has a challenge that is "sew" easy! That's right...the challenge is to sew on your card. Now Mona is the queen of this technique, if you've ever seen any of her beautiful cards! You can use any kind of sewing for this challenge too. Machine sewing, hand sewing, and even faux stitching!If you don't know what faux stitching is, you can get instructions on SCS with this tutorial. It's very easy and I really like that technique. (You can also see how I used it on this card.) However, I recenly purchased a cheap Pixie Craft Sewing Machine by Singer at Walmart before Christmas. It was on sale for about $35, so I thought I'd give it a try. Let me tell you it works like a charm! Look what I did with it.I've had this jeans pocket stamp (yes that's a stamp, not real jeans!) from my LSS one day while I was standing in line. It just called to me to pick it up...and I did and this is the first time I'm using it! The stamp is from Judi Kins and I inked it with Faded Jeans Distress Ink from Ranger/Tim Holtz. It really is the color of faded jeans...amazing! When I took my sewing machine out of the box, it was already threaded with yellow thread. Perfect, since jeans usually have yellow stitching. So I went to work following the stitch lines on the pocket. Here's a closeup of it. I really like the way it came out...it looks so real! The dp is Basic Grey's Bittersweet, and I paired it with Regal Rose. I sewed the dp to the cardstock with one of the three zig-zag stitches on the machine. I ran the white mat through the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is from Artful INKables newest set called Love Ya Lots. Love that sentiment! Those hearts coming out of the pocket is something I picked up at Target's dollar spot probably 3 years ago! They were connected together, but when I took them out of the box, they all came apart. So I had to manipulate them into the pocket and I added a tiny piece of ribbon to match the bow on top. Those little hearts on the sentiment tag are from the Martha Stewart heart border punch. It's the little confetti that is left after punching.

I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. It was just what I imagined when I was thinking all day about what I was going to do, which rarely happens, right?

The JUGs team would like to see what you do with your sewing project. We know lots of you like this technique because we see it a lot out there. But if you are new to this technique, try it...you'll love it! The faux stitching is great too. So please stop by the JUGs blog and see what the other DT members have done with this technique. You can also go to their personal blogs to read about how they created their cards to get more inspiration.

Kristin Bueter
Pam Imholz
Alicia Weiman
Dana Gustafson
Maria Levine
Mona Pendleton
Tracey Cuccia

Thanks for stopping in today and enjoy your weekend!

What's Moo?

It's Thursday, so it's time for my Artful INKables post! Today I'm using Down on the Farm on a template. I've had this idea running around in my head for a while, but I just couldn't figure out how to pull it off. It came to me yesterday (thank goodness, just in time!). Let me explain what I was thinking when I made this. When I thought of "What's Moo?", I thought of keeping someone far away up-to-date. What better way to do that than with pictures? Well, it seems no one sends "real" pictures these days, they are always digital. So I made a CD cover with this My Timeless Template called Music Makeover to insert a CD in it that contains digital pictures.

So I started with this new digital paper from My Time Made Easy called Flutters and Flowers. I printed this black and white gingham print directly on my white card stock, then put it right back in the printer and printed the template on the back. I then cut, scored, and assembled the template. I also used the script pattern from the same digital paper pack for the accent piece. I trimmed the edges with a Martha Stewart border punch. The buttons, floss to keep it closed and tag were added. Love the black, white and pop of red! There is a new challenge going on at the Artful INKables blog, too. It's a monochromatic challenge. I sort of got that going on here...except for that punch of red! I hope I'm forgiven! You can check out that challenge here to see all the details. You actually have until Monday, January 18 to complete the challenge to be in the running for a grab bag of stamps from AI!

The Artful INKables design team is going to have an interesting blog hop on the 15th (next week Friday), so be sure to stay tuned for that!

Thanks for stopping in today! Have a great day!

Artful INKables Think Ink Tuesday Challenge

Hi everyone! I hope you made it through the holidays in one piece! I spent yesterday napping and watching TV all day long! I think it finally caught up with me. I even napped at my in-laws house on Christmas Day! It really felt good!

Well, in all the hustle and bustle, I forgot to post this card for the Artful INKables Think Ink Tuesday challenge! So sorry! I was supposed to have it post on Christmas Eve, but forgot to do the post! I worked so hard to get the card done by then too! Oh well!

Now let me tell you about the Think Ink Challenge that DT member Michelle came up with. She wanted us to make a card that signifies what our New Year's Resolution will be. That was a tough one for me at first. I have many resolutions, but I thought of a stamping one that I really need to stick to. I recently reorganized my stamping area and found that I have TONS of decorative paper. So much that it will take me until the next decade to use up! So I decided that I really need to focus on using all that old dp. So, here is the card I did with one of the newest releases called Creature Comforts from AI and some old dp from SU called Cerise.Cute, huh? This image is just so sweet! I can imagine it on kids' Valentine's greetings. And I love red and brown together, so I used two pieces of the Cerise with the chocolate chip which was run through the hearts embossing folder. I put star dust stickles all over the images as well as the web. Love that stuff!

So why not display your New Year's Resolution in the form of a card? We'd love to see it! You can find all the details on the Artful INKables blog. Happy New Year everyone! Enjoy the last week of the decade!
Recipe
Stamps: Creature Comforts (AI)
Paper: Very vanilla, vintage cream, chocolate chip, Cerise dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Copic markers: R27, 29, 32, 59; E27, 31, 33, 35, 77; B32, W-7
Accessories: Nesties, heart folder, star dust stickles, PTI ribbon, dimensionals

Candy Cane Beaver

I have another Christmas card to share with you today. I've had this image from an Artful INKables set called Holiday Treats and Tails colored for a while and decided it needed to be made into a card.I used SU's retired Ski Slope dp and the Mojo Monday sketch from this week. I'm busily finishing my Christmas cards (I know...last minute) and other handmade gifts. I also have to finish my shopping this weekend! So much to do, so little time! At least I'll have some time off over the holidays to recover! I hope you have a great weekend an finish all your holiday projects, too! Thanks for stopping in today!
Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Treats and Tails (AI)
Paper: Neenah white, real red
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, real red
Copic Markers: didn't write them down!
Accessories: Nesties, SU ribbon, crystal effects, oval punch, dimensionals

Happy Birthday Kristin!

Today is Kristin Soboloski's birthday! She is the owner and designer of Artful INKables stamps. I found about this really late yesterday, so I did not have time to make a card, so I am posting a card I did earlier in the year.This was one of the first sets Kristin sent me as a DT member. It's called South of the Border. It has some really cute images in it. You can read more about this in my original post here.

If you have time, why not leave her some birthday wishes on the AI blog...I'm sure she'd love it!

Happy Birthday, Kristin!