Thinking Inking

Christmas Blessings

 
Good morning!  I hope that most of you don't feel as behind as I do right now!  Today we got our Christmas tree decorated and made some goodies too.  I've been stamping here and there, but most of it is for the next PaperTrey Ink release. 

Still, I've got a card to share; one of my goals this year has been to use my cool materials before they become dated. I'm tired of hoarding my favorite pieces of paper and chipboard, only to have something new come along and replace them in my affections. They deserve to be used! The holly chipboard in Cosmo Cricket's Jolly by Golly collection is high on my favorites list. Here I've paired it with Merry Berry and Smitten Mitten papers, and a sweet sentiment from Dawn McVey's Signature Christmas set. I stamped the sentiment in Pure Poppy ink and cut it with a Spellbinders Labels die. Ribbon is PaperTrey's Aqua Mist grosgrain, and the bottom edge is cut with a Spellbinders Fancy Scalloped Edge die. 

Stay warm, and thanks for visiting!

Merry and Bright

 I'll keep the chatter short tonight since I'm expecting to lose our internet in the snow that's coming down outside. Tomorrow should be lovely to wake up to anyway!

I chose Heather's Holiday Tree set, paired with Polka Dot Basics II for the background pattern. Inks that I used were Scarlet Jewel, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise (All PaperTrey Ink), and Gingerbread Versamagic (for the tree trunk). Cardstock was Pure Poppy, Spring Moss, and Stamper's Select White. I dotted some Christmas Red Stickles and one of the clear Stickles on the stamped image and edged it with Chamomile Distress ink--simple.

Thank you for visiting!

Joy to the World: CPS 145

How about a CPS sketch card today? I've had a little CPS vacation, but I'm happy to be back in the saddle again! For CPS145, Tami gave us a square shape with a large  focal image in the center, along with a band through the center. It looked like a perfect sketch to use with some chipboard from my stash, so I chose Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy chipboard (Buck Naked Ornaments) and papers (Yuletide and Frosty).

The tag, cut with a Spellbinders Double-Ended Tag die and trimmed to length, is a sentiment from PaperTrey Ink's Holiday Button Bits. Buttons are PTI Vintage Buttons (Pure Poppy and New Leaf). Ribbon is also PaperTrey, Sheer Gold Metallic.

It's a great sketch for using some of the large, fun chipboard shapes in your arsenal--we'd love to have you play along! The CPS sketch for this week is posted here, and we have some fabulous new designers joining us as well--you can read about them and welcome them here. Thanks for stopping by.

Vintage Love with All the Trimmings

 A week or so ago I was playing with PaperTrey Ink's Communique Curves set and had posted some cards with it; I wanted to use one of the same sentiments but pair it with the ornament trio from the Holiday Button Bits set and some vintage papers, Cosmo Cricket Frosty paper from the Oh Joy collection.

Cardstock is Vintage Cream and Scarlet Jewel. The sentiment is inked in both Scarlet Jewel and Pure Poppy--that's what I do when I need a vintage red, darker than Pure Poppy but warmer than Scarlet Jewel.  Buttons are Pure Poppy Vintage Buttons. (I picked though them to chose the darker ones.)  For the little strings and bows, I inked my stamp in PaperTrey's True Black, then stamped off once before stamping my cardstock. It gave me a lighter gray than the Smokey Shadow ink was giving me. Finally, I aged the edges with the Vintage Chamomile Distress cube. I use that cube almost every day--love it!

Have a wonderful day!

Soldered Tree Ornaments Posted on the CLASSroom Blog today

Have you been following the Tim Holtz Twelve Tags of Christmas? Well how about the Twelve Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist over on the CLASSroom blog? Lisa Strahl and Becky Olsen have been churning out some gorgeous tags this week--must see work!

I have a post on the CLASSroom blog today as well, one involving three soldered Christmas ornaments. I hope you get a chance to visit the CLASSroom and browse today; there's a wealth of inspiration to be found!

Joy and Peace

A couple of days ago I received a beautiful card in the mail, along with the stamp I used here, the Whiff of Joy Wee and Reindeer stamp. I love the whimsical style of this stamp and immediately wanted to sit down and start coloring! 

Although this is a Christmas gnome, I spied that hat and wanted to give this image a Scandinavian color scheme. I looked for some blue patterned papers and found them in the Imaginisce Polar Expressions line (Twinkle Toes and Sugar Sprinkles). 

I colored the image with the Copic markers shown on the left--yes, every single one of them! I don't usually use this many markers on one image, but I got carried away in coloring La-La Land. . . 

For the sentiment, I chose a JustRite Stampers Holiday Demi Phrases Round 2" set; however, I mounted it on a smaller round block, the  1-5/8" round. Since the Demi Phrases are only half rounds, they are simple to mount on blocks both slightly larger and slightly smaller than the block for which they are designed.

Now I have to share a quick funny from my nine-year old. He walked past my desk and saw Katharina's card sitting on it. Suddenly he stopped and said, "Mom, I think that's one of the prettiest cards you've ever made! I love that little charm!" (Hers had a darling little silver Christmas tree charm hanging on a chain.) Hmmmmmm. . . I hated to have to disillusion him about not being the one who made it, but I did. I guess Katharina has a fan at my house! ;-) 

Thanks for stopping by!

Thinking of You

 

Tonight I needed a masculine card suitable for a serious illness. I chose PaperTrey Ink's Turning a New Leaf and Vintage Picnic Sentiments stamp sets, paired with the new Turning a New Leaf patterned papers.  The subdued colors and versatile patterns in this paper make it one that I'm sure I'll use again and again.

It's a simple card; I just layered a few of the papers and sewed a couple of decorative seams for the background, then matted it with Spring Moss cardstock. I stamped the sentiment in Dark Chocolate ink and cut and embossed it with a Spellbinders Ribbon Tags Trio die. The leaves are stamped in Spring Moss ink and then trimmed closely and mounted with foam tape. Twill is Dark Chocolate, and buttons are Ripe Avocado Vintage Buttons.

Thank you for visiting!

Last Minute Gift Idea Blog Hop

Welcome to a stop on the JustRite Last Minute Gift Idea Blog Hop! I've been baking and frosting sugar cookies to be ready for this hop, and so far my husband and son are the only lucky recipients. I haven't heard any complaints yet. ;-)

I started with a couple of different JustRite sets, the Something Sweet set for my gift card, and the Christmas Treasures Borders and Centers set for the top of my cookie can. I knew that I wanted to use the cookies image from Something Sweet, and thinking that traditional Christmas colors would work well with it, I chose some Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly papers, Sweater Weather and Smitten Mitten. I also used some Jolly by Golly Ready Set Chipboard.

I love this little cookie image! I stamped it twice, once in Memento Black, and once in PaperTrey Ink's Pure Poppy. I colored the cookies stamped in black with Copic markers (E50 and E53 for the cookie base, R22 and R29 for the red frosting, YG41  and W2 for the green frosting, and W2 and W00 for the shadows). I used white Liquid Appliqué to accent the frosting on both cookies. The sentiment image and it's red border are both cut with Spellbinders dies, Plain Circle Nestability and Classic Scalloped Circle Nestability.

For the clear paint can,  I stamped the sentiment image for the lid in Pure Poppy Ink and trimmed it by hand, matting it with a Pure Poppy scalloped layer. 

The cookies are Paula's Snowflake Cookies from last year's Food Network Twelve Days of Cookies. I used her edible paint icing recipe at the bottom of the cookie recipe for this batch, but I used a plain butter cream frosting for my second batch. (The hard, royal-type icing is prettier, but my husband really prefers buttercream frosting.) Take your pick!

Don't forget to stop by and see many more last minute gift ideas; thanks for visiting!

JustRite Blog 
Angela Barkhouse 
Barb Schram 
Becca Feeken  
Heidi Blankenship 
Kathy Jones 
Kellie Fortin 
Lauren Meader 
Lisa Somerville 
Michele Kovack 
Michelle Wooderson 
Sharon Harnist 
Sharon Johnson
Terre Fry