Ink It Up with Leigh Penner: Moon Blast

This year is just flying by.  How are we already into October?  It was downright cold outside this morning when my daughter left for the bus.  The trees are starting to show their autumn colors.  It's my favorite time of year!  My son Benjamin received his mission call two weeks ago and we are getting him prepared to leave.  He reports to the MTC (missionary training center) on Nov 9th and will be serving in the Utah Salt Lake City East mission.  Change is in the air.

It's also time for the newest Ink It Up post with Leigh Penner.  We share a project on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month using uninked stamps.  When cleaning out my scrap drawer recently, I found this piece of metallic star paper already cut to size.  I simply adhered it to a white card base.  There it sat for a couple of days until the Half Pint Heroes set by Waltzingmouse caught my attention.  Sadly, that company is out of business now.  I saw the fun rocket ship and decided to re-create a card design I made several years ago. (found here)

Waltzingmouse made such wonderful stamps!  Thankfully, several of Claire's designs are now available through Gina K Designs.  Not the Half Pint series at this point, but you never know what will come in the future.  I stamped the rocket ship on a piece of white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers.  I added Wink of Stella on the flames and Glossy Accents over the boy's head.  Hopefully you can see it in these close-up photos.

I used the Mini Bubbles embossing folder by Paper Studio on a gray cardstock circle, shading it with Soft Stone ink, and then spritzing it with Perfect Pearl Mist.  And there you have it - a moon.  I love the shimmer!  It's almost otherworldly.  I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and cut it apart into words.  The rocket ship is hand-cut and popped up for dimension.

This card was fun to make.  It's about time I got these darling stamps inked!  Once I got an idea, it came together very quickly.  Make sure you pop over to Leigh's blog, To the Full, to see her Ink It Up card!

Stamps:  Half Pint Heroes (Waltzingmouse)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Rockstar Stack dsp (DCWV)
Copic: 0, C1, C3, C5, E00, E30, E42, R05, R20, R24, R29, BG72, BG75, BG78, BG99
Misc:  Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders); Mini Bubbles embossing folder (Paper Studio); Perfect Pearl Mist, Glossy Accents (Ranger); clear Wink of Stella; ink sponging tool

Snowman Love

I made a card this afternoon for the current MFT sketch challenge.  (found here)  I've had the sketch on my desk since last Wednesday.  For once, I got it done before the deadline!  :)  I have oodles of printed MFT sketches that I have yet to use.  lol  Once I had an idea of what to use, it came together fairly quickly.

I have four sheets of Christmas Cocoa paper in my new-to-me stash.  (Can I say how much fun I'm having using all this paper?)  I used several pieces of it for this masculine card.  Each piece was matted with Soft Suede cardstock and assembled according to the sketch.  Because I added metallic brads to the upper strip, I backed it with Soft Suede cardstock for strength.  I did the same for the lower narrow strip so they looked the same.

For the snowman, I stamped the image on a white circle and then colored the scarf to match the striped paper.  I cut the hat and heart out of cardstock for paper piecing, using Soft Suede and Real Red respectively.  Finally, I stamped the word "love" on the heart.

I love this card (pun intended) and it's perfect to give to a guy for any love occasion, be it Valentine's Day or anniversary.  My husband likes it anyway!  He told me that before I even asked.  :)

Stamps:  Happy Heart Snowman (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Soft Suede, Real Red, Christmas Cocoa dp (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Soft Suede (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Standard Circles dies (Spellbinders); Metallic Basics brads (Making Memories); Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Real Red markers (Stampin' Up)

Cheers to You

I wasn't too productive in the studio this week.  I worked on this particular card on and off one day while doing other chores.  I'd get stuck, go do something else, come back to make some headway, and then repeat the whole process.  Just one of those days!

I used a color combo from the ColourQ #133 challenge this week.  (picture linked)  I thought the colors would make a great masculine card.  Drawing inspiration from the geometric diamond shapes, I used my markers to stamp a More Mustard and Basic Gray background on the white panel, and then my Basic Gray inkpad to stamp a smaller diamond pattern on the Dusty Durango panel.  It looks simple, but it took all day playing around with layers before I finally settled on this design.  I'd change a few small things if I were to do it again, but it's still a fun masculine birthday card!

Stamps:  Print Pattern, Lots of Thoughts (Stampin' Up); Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Dusty Durango, More Mustard, Basic Gray, Basic Black (Stampin' Up); White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Dusty Durango, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up)
Markers:  More Mustard, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Labels 18 dies (Spellbinders)