Stag

Masculine cards are the bane of the card-making world, do you agree?
There was a fabulous inspiration picture over at the Cupcake Inspirations Blog (Challenge 392) for featuring antlers and plaid, and I interpreted the items into a masculine card.

I started with a speckled vanilla card base and inked some forest green ink onto the upper half and added some splatters. I then arranged a series of patterned paper banners on the bottom portion, stamped a fantastic masculine based sentiment from Lil' Inker Designs Clean Lines: For the Guys and die cut a stag from Newton's Nook Splendid Stags Die (twice in black cardstock, and the top layer in woodgrain.) I finished with some black Nuvo Drops.

Hello, Friend

One single email can boost your confidence tenfold, and that happened when I was asked to guest design for My Favorite Things for their Card Challenges. I love participating in these challenges, so this was just up my alley!

I used Snuggle Bunnies and Happy Hedgehogs to help me out with this week's sketch, Sketch 318. The critters were stamped and colored with zigs, die cut and then rested onto a stump and log. The three green leaves represent the dots in the sketch. I created my own patterned paper strip by repeatedly stamping a leaf image from Happy Hedgehogs.

What an exciting opportunity to be a guest designer for My Favorite Things for their Card Challenges, I hope you will be able to join along and showcase your amazing projects! I would be tickled pink if you wanted to follow my blog, like my facebook page (link on the right) or instagram feed!

Little One

Nothing like a last minute entry for Reverse Confetti's January 2017 Sketch For You To Try!

A wonderful lady in our office recently had a baby, so as the resident card maker, I created this one for everyone to sign. The giraffe was stamped lightly and colored with colored pencils, in an attempt at no line coloring. A bit of inked background, patterned paper, burlap string and Nuvo Drops finished off the card. I used a mix of stamps from Reverse Confetti's Lift Me Up, Toucan of Friendship, and Bear Hugs. 

New Year Blooms

Always fun to try new color combos when crafting, and the January 2017 Altenew Inspiration Challenge fit the bill with the mustard, brown and vanilla tones.

 

I stamped a series of blooms from Beautiful Day, along with some foliage in brown ink onto kraft cardstock. They were colored with Prismacolors and then I splattered white paint across the panel. I finished with a greeting from the Tulip Stamp Set.

Peony Birthday

For my birthday, I was gifted some of beautiful The Ton stamps, and I was excited to play along in The Ton Challenge Blog: Celebrate.

I stamped some peonies from Loose Peonies onto white paper with black ink and fussy cut them out. They were adhered to a custom bokeh background made with distress inks, white pigment ink and Bokeh Burst-Round. The sentiment and die are from MFT, as I didn't have any celebration based sentiment stamps from The Ton.

Unicorn Sky

Unicorn Sky. That has a ring to it, sounds like it should be made into a song or musical... I had fun making this card inspired by the image and colors for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 390 and the design was based off of the MFT Sketch Challenge #316-I turned it upside down.

I used MFT's Magical Unicorns and Starry Sky Die-namics, and created my own patterned paper with Copics. 

Hello Lovely

I was the lucky recipient of some beautiful stamps for the holidays, and as mentioned in my last post, was also lucky to spend a day this past week just creating.

I am playing along with Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #5: Try Something New. This is the first time that the Concord & 9th stamp set Hello Lovely was inked up. I started with a stone card base, inked the large image twice in Vintage Photo Distress Ink and colored freely and lightly with copics the main pieces. Then the images were outlined with a gray marker. Such a pretty set!

Feel Better Soon

I had yesterday off so I took some time to make some cards just for fun, what a wonderful way to spend the day!

I pulled out one of my favorite sets, Neat & Tangled's Better Together and played along with the Little Tangle's Challenge #76: Anything Goes and made a sweet get well card. I did a bit of coloring and paper piecing, as well as stuffed animal surgery (making the bear into a puppy). The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

Cardinal

If I look outside, I would see piles and piles of snow and fields of white...and if by chance, I would see a bright spot of red in the tree. A cardinal. They are breathtaking in my winter's snowy backyard.

I received Hero Art's Layering Cardinal Stamp and Die Set as a Christmas Gift and decided that A Blog Named Hero's New To Me Challenge was the perfect reason to get it inky. It is a beautiful set! I paired it with some patterned paper and a sentiment from Right at Home's Script Greeting Stamp Set.

LID:: January 2017 Release:: Day 3

Welcome to the third and final day of the Lil' Inker Designs January 2017 Release Showcase...full of innovative, fun and beautiful items perfect for Valentine's Day and beyond! Weren't all the projects showcased on this fabulous hop featuring new stamps and dies just amazing?! If you are following the hop, you should have arrived from the ever so talented Jessica's Blog!(Visit the Lil' Inker Design's Blog for the full link up.)

I have one last project for you, and I think it is stinkin' cute! I created a tag featuring the brand new Kitty Hugger Stamp and Die Bundle. This kitten is a perfect follow-up companion to the Bunny Hugger and Batty Hugger Stamp and Die Sets previously released. 

I die cut and stamped the kitten and added a bit of doodling for the markings and chalk for the cheeks and ears. He was mounted onto a tag, and then I die cut the word Hugs from Brush Script Valentine's Day Words out of foam and cardstock, and glued them to the kitten's hands. To finish the tag, I stamped a sentiment from the bundle and added some black ribbon. I just love the dimension on this tag!

Here's a look at the new release products showcased in my project today:

It is with pleasure that I get to send you to the talented Lisa Henke's Blog as the next stop along the hop. I hope you get a chance to visit the Lil' Inker Design Store now as all the NEW JANUARY 2017 RELEASE products are already up at the store!

Don't forget to leave a unique comment along the each of the stops on the hop! Laura, the amazing owner, has decided to up the ante and graciously giveaway the ENTIRE release to one lucky commenter! (Details are in the image).