Mojo Monday 400 Contest and Designer Search!

Mojo Monday is celebrating it's 400th sketch challenge this week! Whoo Hoo! Congratulations Julee!!! I have a special fondness in my heart for Mojo Monday. It was the very first challenge I entered when I started making cards 4 years ago (ok, I put a link to that first card, but be gentle with any comments; I was brand new at cardmaking). A few months later, I kicked off my own blog with another Mojo Monday challenge entry. So, while I haven't been with Mojo Monday since it's beginning, Mojo Monday has been with me since mine!

To celebrate this Mojo milestone, Julee is doing two things: using her very first sketch for this week's challenge, and offering two participants a spot on the Mojo Monday DT! Exciting!!! I had a blast creating my own embossed background paper for this card, using the Verve Bloom & Grow stamps, probably my most used Verve set. 

I love how the background turned out, and it was so easy to make. I just spritzed a piece of white cardstock with water, then used Dylusions Ink Sprays to add color. After drying it completely, I stamped the leaves from the Bloom & Grow set in Versamark ink and heat embossed them with copper embossing powder. To give the ink sprays a softer look, I sprayed water over the entire sheet one more time after embossing, then let the paper air dry in a book press so it would dry flat. The sentiment, heat embossed in copper, is from the On Occasion stamp set

The inside of the card has a simple message, from a Penny Black stamp set, which might seem odd for a Father's Day card, but it is perfect for my husband. Our sweet, sweet daughter is with us today because eleven years ago my husband was willing to trade in his long-anticipated, quiet, peaceful, golf-filled retirement days for my tiny, newborn granddaughter. And, he didn't just agree to adopt her, he insisted on it, and I am grateful for that selfless act every single day (even when I'm ticked off and want to lock him outside of the house!) ;)

I hope that the next time I post a Mojo Monday card it's as a member of the DT, but even if I'm not one of the lucky winners of a DT spot, I'll continue to enjoy Julee's sketches and challenges, both at Mojo Monday and Viva la Verve. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Mojo-filled day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Mojo Monday 400
Simon Says Wednesday: Make it Masculine
613 Avenue Create #126: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs SPD16: Hey Dude!
Corrosive Challenge Blog #225: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Happy "Bee" Day

I had so much fun making this little project today! You're probably thinking this is for a birthday, and it could be, but it's not. A friend's son is in a spelling bee next week, so I made a tag for her to use on a bee-themed gift package that she put together for him.

I embossed a Honeycomb background stamp with Distress embossing powder, then spritzed with several colors of Dylusions Ink Spray. After drying the ink with my heat gun, I spritzed gold Perfect Pearls Mist over it so it would glisten like honey. "Happy" was stamped with the Inside & Out Happy stamp set from Flourishes, using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed with black ep, and the letters in "day" are die cuts. The bee was made by punching out yellow and black circles, folding them in half, and gluing them together. The bee face (stamped on cs and colored with a Copic marker) and wings (stamped on vellum and coated with Diamond Stickles) were stamped with a Recollections stamp set called Don't Bug Me, and fussy cut. A strip of Washi tape and some ribbons and jute finished it off. (I thought about adding more, but since it's for a boy, I figured less IS more!) I didn't take a pic of the back, but it is white with the honeycomb bg stamped in Scattered Straw Distress Ink. My friend has plenty of room to personalize it.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

I'm entering this tag in the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Emboss It

613 Avenue Create Challenge #54: Anything goes

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Messy Valentine Cards

Hi Friends! I know I said I had made my last Valentine card, but I have two quick ones that I hadn't intended to put on my blog until I saw the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge to Make Something Messy. I saw some really cute cards on someone's blog, I think, and she used Dylusions Ink Sprays to create beautiful little cards. I used that idea here. (If you are the person I'm CASing, let me know so I can give you credit, 'k?) These card were fun and fairly quick to make, but they were crazy messy. I love Dylusions Ink Sprays...they are beautiful, and I walk around with stained hands for days and feel like a real artist. ;)

Both these cards are for my daughter to give to two of her friends--a brother and sister. This first one is obviously for the brother. To make it, I first spritzed a square of white cardstock with water, then used several colors of Dylusions Ink Sprays to color it. I dried it with my heat gun, but didn't blot it dry at all, and it left it looking a bit grungy--perfect for a boy. I then used a cotton swab to apply bleach to a big lace heart stamp (I sure hope it didn't ruin it, I love that stamp), then I stamped it over the dried Dylusions. I walked away to wash my stamp and was gone maybe a minute or two. When I returned, all the detail of the stamp was gone and I was left with a large white space where the bleach completely ate away the ink. So, I spritzed a turquoise color spray over the white spot, dried it again, then stamped the heart stamp again over that using white pigment ink. The "You Rock" sentiment was wet embossed with black embossing powder. I wrapped twine a couple of times around the square, sponged the edges of the card base front and the edges of the colored square with blue Distress Ink, then adhered the square to the base. Inside it simply says Happy Valentine's Day. The Blue paper under the card is actually the envelope I made for it.

To make this stamp for the sister, I went through the same process, except I did blot the ink off the cardstock before drying it with my heat gun. That gave it a softer look. Then I stamped butterflies in white pigment ink, and little hearts in red ink. I sponged pink ink along the edges, wrapped the twine, and adhered the square to the card. The card is sitting on top of the envelope I made for it.

And, that's all there was to it...easy peasy. Now I just need to check up on how to use bleach safely in the craft room.

Hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day! Thanks for stopping by!!!

I'll be entering these cards in the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: Something Messy

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Blue Skies, Sweet Treats (Verve); Valentine Sayings (Hero Arts); Lace Heart (Inkadinkadoo)

Paper: White card stock for cards; Colorbok for envelopes
Ink: Dylusions Ink Sprays; Distress Ink
Accessories: Embossing powders--pink and black; twine (The Twinery) bleach; Corner Chompers
Size: 4" square

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

TMS #165: Trust Your Crazy Ideas

Hello Friends! I am so excited to share the project I made for today's Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge! As with the mini album I made a couple of weeks ago, I took a simple idea and went crazy with it.



My DT buddy, Theresa, came up with this fab sketch--an oval, two ribbon banners, and four stars, or other embellies. It's a well-balanced design, that, just as it is, would result in a fantastic card. I love that the oval is large enough to be able to accommodate just about any image you'd want to use, too.

That said, however, I don't seem to be able to stick with the plan these days! :)

See what I mean! I altered an inexpensive composition notebook, and all the basic elements are there...but so are LOTS of others!!! Of course, I have a great excuse--I just had to use some of the new goodies I picked up at the stamp convention. ;) Don't you just love that sentiment? Seemed perfect for an art journal.

The dragonfly stamp is from a Stampers Anonymous set called, Classics #1. Beautiful. But, as nice as that is, what I really want to show you is the background. I picked up some Dylusions Ink Sprays, and they are amazing. The colors are SO vivid! It's going to take some practice to get good at combining different colors, but I was pretty pleased with how this one turned out (after 3 previous tries went into the trash). :) Oh, and see that white diamond pattern on the left side? I used a stencil and sponged white ink there. As with most everything I do, I had no idea what it would look like when I did it, but I love the depth it added--it almost looks like a reflection on glass. I just love all the fun surprises I get when I'm crafting!

The "Faith" label, is new, too. It's from a Spellbinders die set called, Girlie Grunge Labels by Donna Salazar. I got lucky--it was in a sale bin for just $10! I've used several of the labels on this project. I cut and embossed them on white cs, and inked the letters while still in the die. I then used a different Distress Ink to color the bg of each one. After gluing the labels to the project, I added Glossy Accents to give them some dimension.

The dragonfly die cut is one I already had, but had never used. I inked it while in the die, but wasn't pleased at all with how it looked, so I spritzed it with Perfect Pearls Mist, and that fixed it right up. It's hard to tell here, but the dragonfly is raised in the center with a foam dot, and the wings are curved up slightly.

I think I'm hooked on stencils! The texts here are all from the same stencil, called Funky Words. I stenciled them, then doodled on them a little bit, with Stickles, a while gel pen, and Sharpie markers. You can also see more of the Girlie Grunge Labels, as well as a couple of the buttons I added. I used waxed linen thread in the buttons, and after attaching them to the front of the project, I separated the strands of the tails to give them a softer look.

I bought several MFT Die-namic Rolled Flower dies awhile back, and now I have some of their felt, too, thanks to Melissa, who visited their brick and mortar store and picked up a few colors for me. 8~D OMGosh, MFT felt cuts beautifully! I had been using some felt from Joann that doesn't have any wool in it, and it was almost impossible to get it to cut cleanly. The two blue flowers were cut out of Joann felt, the other two are from MFT felt. The edges of the MFT felt are noticeably crisp, while the Joann felt is fuzzy on the edges. I definitely need more MFT felt!

In this photo, you can also see a little bit of the spine of the book. Notice the crisp edge--no fraying? From my bookbinding days, I learned to use Heat n Bond on my fabric before applying glue. The Heat n Bond helps prevent fraying and also keeps the glue from seeping through the fabric.

I covered the back of the notebook, too. The paper is so pretty, I decided to let it do most of the work, and just added the one sentiment stamp--another convention find!

Here's one more look at the front, at an angle, so you can see all the dimension.

Now, it's your turn! Head on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge, see what the rest of the DT has to inspire you, then get creative! The prize this week comes from our awesome sponsor, There She Goes Stamps, which has everything from elegant to playful--both stamps and dies! Wouldn't it be great if you won? Well, you can't if you don't play, so get busy!!!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a wonderful, crafty week!

I'd like to enter this project in the following challenges:
Creative Craft Challenges 2: Anything Goes
Fab & Funky Challenge #139: Things With Wings
Digi Doodle Shop Final Challenge #125: Anything Goes
Do You Stack Up #90: Flags
Fat Pages & Cards With Attitude #23: Anything Goes
Simply Create Too #22: Anything Goes
Stampin' For the Weekend #18: Feeling Floral
Whimsy Inspirations Challenge #51: Anything Goes
MilkCoffee Challenge: At Least 2 Different Shapes
Crafting For All Seasons Challenge #36: Things With Wings
Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: For the Love of Sparkle

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Classics #1, Admit One (Stampers Anonymous); The Right Words (Dylusions)
Paper: Abrianna (K&Co)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento; Colorbox; white gel pen; Sharpie markers; Dylusions Ink Spray
Dies: Labels Three, Floral Ovals, Marvelous Squares, Girlie Grunge Labels: Donna Salazar, Flying Beauties (Spellbinders); Circle Border (Memory Box); Rolled Daisy, Rolled Mum, Mini Royal Roses, Royal Leaves, Loopy Blooms (My Favorite Things Die-namics Dies)
Accessories: Mini Harlequin stencil (TCW); Funky Words stencil (Wendy Vecchi-Studio 490); Fabric; Heat n Bond; felt (MFT Stamps & Joann); sanding block; Mod Podge; waxed linen thread; Mini Round Gems (Recollections); buttons; foam dots; Glossy Accents; Stickles; Pearl Pen; Perfect Pearls Mist; composition book; Scor-Tape
Size: 7.5" x 9.75" 

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.