Thinking Inking

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

The Sweetest Season: Cocoa Gift Card

Tonight I have a little cocoa packet gift box card for you. (I've shared this template before on this post.) I started with the 2-3/8" wood stamper and a couple of borders and centers from the JustRite Stampers Something Sweet Borders and Centers set, paired with some Cosmo Cricket Merry Berry paper from the Jolly by Golly collection. Download DOlson_CocoaPackTempl

I stamped the center and border for the front of the card in both PaperTrey Ink's Ocean Tides ink and Pure Poppy ink. On the Ocean Tides layer, I used two Spellbinders Plain Circle Nestabilities to trim a holly ring. Next I used a red gel pen to dot on the berries, and I used some Chamomile Distress ink to age the edges of that ring.

For the outer scalloped layer, stamped in red, I cut with a Classic Scalloped circle die and then embossed with both that scalloped die and a plain circle die , leaving the dies in place while I airbrushed with a BG72 Copic marker and Copic airbrush system as shown above and below.

On the inside, I did not cut out a window as I did on the template; you can do it either way that works for you.

 

I left the ribbon and medallion on the front unattached so that it could be slid off to get the cocoa packet out of the box, and then put back on to look nice again.

 

Finished closed size of this card is 3-1/4" x 6-1/2" x 1/2" thick. If you need a small gift, this is a pretty simple little gift card--enjoy!

Cuppie Snowman

 Hello! Today I have a little cuppie snowman card to share with you. While I was playing with Taylor's Home Sweet Home set for the Perfect Package Blog hop last week, I knew I wanted to get back to this set and color the cuppie snowman. 

I paired him with some My Mind's Eye Be Merry papers; these are from last year, and I'm down to my last few scraps of this cute paper! I colored Cuppie with the Copic markers shown on the left, and then used a Spellbinders Plain Circle Nestability to cut, emboss, and airbrush the sky in with a B02 Copic marker. I added a few dots of Icicle Stickles to simulate some snow on Cuppie. 

Buttons are PaperTrey Ink New Leaf Vintage Buttons, and ribbon is May Arts pink silk ribbon. I hope you had a fabulous weekend--thanks for stopping by!

Peppermint Wreath Card posted on the CLASSroom Blog

Good morning!  I have a Lockhart Candy Wreath card posted here on the CLASSroom blog today, complete with instructions and a full product list. Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly Mini Deck papers were a perfect fit for this Lockhart Candy Wreath image.

As a reminder, Ellen Hutson, LLC still has a sale going on through Monday, November 30. I saw a number of items from 10% to 40% off here. 

Have a lovely day!

Taylor's Perfect Package Blog Hop

 

Today I'm happy to participate in my friend Taylor's Perfect Package Blog Hop!  To decorate my Perfect Package, I chose the Taylored Expressions Home Sweet Home set; I've been wanting to color that gingerbread house with my Copic markers ever since I saw this set online for the first time. I used the Copic markers pictured below. (The one Ciao marker is a G00.)

 

Of course, when I saw all of that candy on the house, I needed to pair it with my Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly papers, Merry Berry and Smitten Mitten.  I thought I'd do a bit of baking to fill this special box; I filled it with some homemade Cranberry Pecan Biscotti. (Here is a link to biscotti recipes, in case you are looking for some; I made so many substitutions in the recipe that I used that you'd probably be better off trying one of these anyway.) 

 

I cut and embossed my two label sentiments using Spellbinders Ribbon Tag Trio set and Double Ended Tag set. Ribbon and buttons are from PaperTrey Ink.

Below is a list of the rest of the Perfect Package Blog Hop group; this was a very simple box to cover, and I'm sure that I'll try another in the near future. Thanks for visiting!

Alex Maldonado: http://fairyblossoms.typepad.com/
Amy Rohl: http://inkaboutme.blogspot.com/
Beate Johns: http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Bev Gerard: http://savorthejourney.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Charmaine Ikach: http://oodabugalley.blogspot.com/
Cindy Haffner: http://cindyhaffnerscorner.blogspot.com/
Donna Baker: http://www.serenityinstamping.com/
Jami Sibley: http://jami.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Jen del Muro: http://iheart2stamp.com/
Jen Tapler: http://jentapler.blogspot.com/
Jenn Balcer: http://jbalcer.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Jennifer Buck: http://thebuckstampshere.blogspot.com/
Jessica Diedrich: http://thewhimsicalbutterfly.blogspot.com/
Joan Ervin: http://stampingwithapassion.blogspot.com/
Joanne Basile: http://www.stampedbyhand.blogspot.com/
Linda Duke: http://www.lindaduke.typepad.com/
Lori Craig: http://loricraig.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Rose Anne Reynolds: http://paperdelightz.blogspot.com/
Sankari Wegman: http://sunnysankari.blogspot.com/
Sharon Harnist: http://paperfections.typepad.com/
Sherry Cheever: http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Taylor VanBruggen: http://www.tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/

After you have seen all of the eye candy in the list above, it might interest you to know that the code TEBlackFriday will get you 15% off of everything in the Taylored Expressions store. In addition to all of the regular cool stuff, there are some darling new aprons that I'm loving. Happy shopping!

  

Snowman Greetings

Welcome! Today I'm enjoying Thanksgiving with family, but I have a post pre-scheduled--just telling you that so you don't think I'm that dedicated to blogging! ;-D I adore this little snowman from the Just Rite Old Fashioned Christmas set. I stamped the snowman and border three times: once on white cardstock with Memento Black, once on a pale cream cardstock with a couple of red inks mixed (PTI's Pure Poppy and Scarlet Jewel), and once on Ripe Avocado cardstock with PTI's Ripe Avocado ink.

I had chosen some papers that were in my last year's Christmas stash, Snowy Jo Cup o' Cheer from Imaginisce. While I knew I wanted to color the snowman with Copic markers, I had a bit of a challenge in finding just the right reds that were muted enough to coordinate with the patterned paper. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to show you how to use gray markers to tweak and tone down intense colors. Some of you may wonder why I didn't just stamp him on cream cardstock, which I often do. I wanted to have a pure white for contrast in parts of his face, even though I intended to use creamier tones elsewhere.

I first colored the stamped snowman with the Copic markers shown underneath him. (Click to see a larger image and read marker names.) He's pretty with these colors, but he's too intense to coordinate with the papers.

Next I colored over him with several different values of warm gray markers. Copic Coloring Tip: To choose the best gray marker to tone down an intense color, you will usually want the marker ending in the same number that the original marker ended in. So if I'm toning down an R24, I will usually chose a W4, C4, T4, or N4--make sense? You don't want to change the value--just the intensity. (Simply put, value is basically lightness or darkness. Intensity has to do more with the saturation or dullness of a given color.)

These pictures are taken at slightly different angles, but you can still see the difference before the warm grays were added and after--especially in the reds. The "after" version works much better with the patterned paper that I chose.  [In some colors, I could simple chose a higher first number in my original marker and do away with this step (such as using a YG91 instead of a YG 11). In the reds, however, you will see that the R80's tend to to be cooler reds, leaning toward mauve and burgundy. I needed a true red, but a muted true red.]

After a bit of experimentation, I decided to trim around the snowman and mount him with foam tape on an ivory background. I used my Spellbinders Plain and Petite Scalloped Circle dies to create the Ripe Avocado frame around my snowman. You might have noticed that I also added a bit of pale pink blush to his cheeks to help him coordinate better with the snowmen on the printed paper. 

Why did I want to post this today? I wanted to let you know about JustRite's Black Friday Sale that begins today and will continue through November 30! I hope you have some fabulous family time this weekend, and I hope you find some great deals as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Love with All the Trimmings

Today I have two cards to share with you, both using the same sentiment and layout, but with a different "feel" to each. The first one is somewhat shabby, and the second is clean and graphic. I used the Communique Curves set on both cards, as well as PaperTrey Ink cardstock (Ocean Depths, Scarlet Jewel, and Vintage Cream on card one, and Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, and Vintage Cream on card two).  

On the first card, my red rhinestones weren't quite dark enough to coordinate well with the Scarlet Jewel cardstock, so I deepened the color with an R89 Copic marker from the Scarlet Jewel Collection. The background is embossed with Spellbinders Snowflakes Impressabilities and then distressed with PaperTrey's Vintage Cream ink.

On the second card, everything is pretty much self-explanatory except for perhaps the dot-strings by which the ornaments hang. Smokey Shadow ink was a bit darker than I wanted, so I used True Black ink, stamped off once on a piece of scratch paper before inking the cardstock. The green rhinestones at the tops of the ornaments on the second card are moss rhinestones. 

I am absolutely loving the different looks that you can get with Communique Curves; it's a winner, especially when paired with the alternate Communique Sentiments set for double duty! Have a great weekend, and thanks for visiting.

Home for the Holidays

I've enjoyed playing with some of my new PaperTrey Ink November release sets over the past couple of days and thought I'd share a Christmas card that uses several different stamp sets. The sentiment is from Alli's Communiqué Curves set. Of course, with a sentiment like that, I wanted to work in the new Home Made set, using it for the window image (stamped in Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, and New Leaf). That little greenery bough across the bottom of the window came from last year's Home for the Holidays set, stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento ink and colored with Copic markers.

Patterned paper in the background is Wrapping Paper from Cosmo Cricket's Oh Joy Collection. Ribbon is PaperTrey's New Leaf Satin ribbon, and the wreath in the center of the "O" is from HOme for the Holidays. This card is about 3-1/2" x 5", fitting one of PaperTrey's A-1 envelopes. This was a fun little card to make!

Good Friends: Hip To Be Square JustRite Blog Hop

If it's "hip to be square," just where is my square? Relax--my card base is square! Besides the new square frames, we could also use Christmas stamps for the JustRite Hip To Be Square Blog Hop. Since I'm always adding to the stash, I chose a stamp from the Old Fashioned Christmas set, along with the 3-1/4" round wooden stamper. 

I used the Copic markers shown on the left to color the snowmen image, stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink on Natural White cardstock. (Click on the image to enlarge, if you need to see the marker caps better.) I also added some Star Dust Stickles for shimmery snow here and there. Pink patterned paper is Play Day from the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly Collection, and the snow pattern is from the Jolly by Golly Mini Deck. Spellbinders dies that I used were the Plain Circle and the Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities.

There is a lot of inspiration in this list--enjoy!

Start off at the JustRite Blog, and then:

Barb Schram   
Heidi Blankenship
Kathy Jones
Kellie Fortin
Angela Barkhouse
Lauren Meader
Lisa Somerville
Michele Kovack
Michelle Wooderson
Sharon Harnist
Sharon Johnson

Communique Curves Inspirations

For the November 15 PaperTrey Ink release, Alli Miles has created a fabulous graphic word and shape set that has almost endless possibilities. In this post, I'm sharing two cards that use the same graphic elements, but one is a Christmas card, and the other a birthday card.

I used the wreath of leaves as my graphic and sewed little red French knots as my berries. The wreath is stamped in Ripe Avocado ink, and the sentiment is stamped in Pure Poppy ink. I used a Spellbinders Fancy Scalloped Border die to enhance the lower edge of the card. Patterned papers are from PTI's Rustic Snowflakes collection.

My second card uses the very same leafy wreath, again stamped in Ripe Avocado. The sentiment is stamped in Melon Berry ink, and the patterned papers are from the Autumn Abundance collection. I made the French knots in this one coordinate with Melon Berry--same layout, different occasion. The best part is that this add-on set is only $5--quite the value!

Be sure to check out what the other PaperTrey Ink girls have done with this fabulous set! 

Betsy Veldman

Dawn McVey

Becky Oehlers 

Geny Cassady

Heather Nichols

Lauren Meader

Lisa Johnson

Nichole Heady

Melissa Phillips

Michelle Wooderson

Niki Estes

(If you are looking for the Copic giveaway post, it is the post directly below this one. HTH!)