Thinking Inking

Going Dotty

My first love in stamping is a vintage, shabby look, but I am gaining a great appreciation for clean design, and even, horror of horrors, retro!  (Hey, I was there.  It wasn't that great!)  Being a demo has helped stretch my tastes.  Believe it or not, I have some customers who will never like pink and brown no matter how much I do. I try to have one clean or cute design and one more serious design for each workshop.  This was one of the recent clean ones--nothing complicated or fussy. . . and NO sponging!  (Brown was banished to the other table.)

I love the new Cool Caribbean card stock and ink; I'm already dreading the day when it goes away and wondering if I could somehow bargain to keep CC and trade away its grandfather, Taken with Teal.  Something tells me that it won't happen.  While I'm digressing about colors, I'd like to beg, pretty please, for a paler pink--the perfect shade for baby cards--something a smidgen pinker than Blush Blossom but paler than Pretty in Pink.  I guess that I could threaten to buy that color in Bazzill. . . (Oh, yes, I bought two sheets. But I can't bear to cut them, because then I would not have two sheets!)  Back to Cool Caribbean: it's a cool color, and if you don't have it, you should get it. It looks great with Real Red too. Check out this card to see that combo. (If you right click on a hyperlink, you can choose to open it in a new window.)

Tools and supplies used
Card stock:  Whisper White, Cool Caribbean, Gable Green
Inks: Cool Caribbean (Gable Green on envelope also)
Tools: 1/8" hole punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1/3/8" circle punch, Mat Pack and paper piercing tool (to punch hole for mini brad)  Also, I punched a larger circle, 1 5/8" with my Sizzix.
Accessories: Bold Brights mini brad, white grosgrain, celery grosgrain (The celery isn't a perfect match for Gable Green, but it's not bad.  If perfection is your aim, then check out this cool ribbon dying tutorial on SCS by the talented Amy Rysavie!)
Stamps: Seeing Spots, Spot On jumbo wheel and handle

If you are among the wheel-challenged (if you typically get a dark image and and extra mark on one side of your wheeled pattern, but a light image on the other side), try standing up to wheel.  If you are using a jumbo wheel, try holding it with a finger pressing down on either side of the wheel (to exert even pressure).  On the jumbo wheel, you can even try a two-handed approach if your paper is adhered to your surface: hold the handle with both hands, and put a thumb on either side of the wheel to apply even pressure.  It looks odd, but it works!  SU has some excellent wheels out this year.  You don't want to miss out on the fun!

Bookmark Card

Several weeks ago I submitted a card to SU that was designed as a full card with a tear-off bookmark. I posted brief directions in a gallery then, but I thought I'd give a workshop version here in case you weren't at my workshop last Monday night. It is quite simple, and I have seen several versions since then.  Hope you enjoy this one! I am picturing the finished version first simply because it looks better at the top of my blog than a pile of paper would.  Pictured version is standing with card slightly open and bookmark part folded out. When you close the card, the face of the bookmark folds into the card.

First, cut an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of neutral card stock to 5 1/2" x 11".  Download Bkmarkcardtemplate.pdf    Save the 3" that you cut off to stamp your focal point on.  On the long direction, score at 4 1/4" and perforate at 8 1/2". If it is done correctly, your perforated part, 2 1/2" wide, should fold inside and the card should appear to be a normal A-2 sized card.  Next cut your layers: 1 sheet at 4" x 5 1/4" and the same color at 2 1/4" x 5 1/4".  Pick a stamp for your focal image and determine sizes of your focal image and its mat from that.  You may have to use a very narrow mat (like a 1/16") on the bookmark part of the card unless you have a narrow main image.

Stamp the main image twice, once for the card front and once for the bookmark.  Embellish as desired, remembering to keep the bookmark fairly flat.  (I used dimensionals to raise my flower center on the cover, but I left it flat on the bookmark.) Stamp a greeting inside card and on bookmark, and wheel envelope if desired. Your lucky recipient should be able to tear away the bookmark and still have an intact card. Simple! (If you would like to see a larger version of any picture, click on it to get the full sized file. For final version, see top photo.)

Tools and supplies used
Card stock:  Very Vanilla, Vintage Violet, Truly Thyme
Inks: Vintage Violet, Truly Thyme, Marigold Morning, Certainly Celery
Tools: SU Cutter kit (tool that scores, cuts, perforates, and distresses paper), Mat Pack and paper piercing tool, heat tool
Accessories: Eggplant Grosgrain, Moss Gingham, Signo Glo white gel pen, dimensional, glue dots, adhesive, white detail embossing powder
Stamps: Bud Basics, Basics Outline jumbo wheel, Curvy Verses, Friendship Flowers, Linen

Time to clean?

Tonight I think I spent as much time hunting for my tools as I did working. That means that it's almost time to clean my work space. In fact, I should do so just to set a good example since we made Benjamin clean his own room this morning. "It will probably take me fifteen years," he lamented last night when his sentence was pronounced.  I did go in a couple of times to assist, but he did the best job that he's ever done. I took him to the local DQ to celebrate with a Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard.  There's an idea. . .  I could get myself a Cappuccino Heath Blizzard if I clean my work space!  No, not worth it.  I was just sure that my son had absconded with my Crop-O-Dile since he was so enthralled by it--enthralled enough to draw Rick's attention to it even though he hadn't seen the UPS man deliver that particular box.  That's when you smile and say, "Well, you always say that you need the right tools for the job!" It's great to have a husband who appreciates  good tools. . .

Speaking of tools, I played with my Cricut tonight more than I actually stamped. I cut out a little gift bag, then cut a tag and flowers to layer on it.  It was large enough to hold the 3" x 3" note cards, so I made a set of three coordinating gift cards.  My vanilla 3" x 3" envelopes should be here Monday. I'll stamp them and have a sweet little gift set!  The paper that I used is from the SU summer mini catalog which expires at the end of this month.  (So if you want this paper, you'd better get it quickly!)  Washers are stamped with the level one hostess set Riveting. The tag on the gift bag is stamped with Little Hellos and Little Pieces, both in Chocolate Chip ink. Putting cards in bags is not a new idea, but the set that I saw recently that made me want to play with a bag of cards was here by atomicbutterfly on SCS.  She has a lovely gallery!  Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day.

Change is good, right?

Perhaps you have noticed that I have already changed my blog name.  I was trying to come up with a name at about 2 in the morning, and due in part to lack of caffeine, I made a poor choice.  I really did not intend to try to annoy a stamp company with a similar name.  Since they have had it for so much longer (and make some really cute stamps!), I figured that I'd just change my name.  So it's now officially Thinking Inking, at least until someone lets me know that that name is a problem, in which case I will choose something in Latin or Greek. . . or maybe even Yooper, eh?

My first card today is with the SU Close as a Memory set; I really like this set because it has the same watercolor-style as Heartfelt Thanks.  The background is stamped with Well-Worn Words in True Thyme Ink on Mellow Moss card stock.  The violet oval mat is cut from the new Vintage Violet and edged with a gold painty pen. I used a Coluzzle oval and oval companion to cut these ovals since my Marvy punches were too small.  I used A-Z Accents for the birthday tag.  For the main flower image, I inked my stamp with Vintage Violet and Old Olive, stamped off once, then spritzed with water before stamping again to get a pale image. I distressed the card stock edges in places with my cool new distressing tool, but the edges of your scissors will work too.

The next two cards are a stretch for me; I have long admired a clean, simple style; but as art imitates life, I tend to complicate matters.  I am making a conscious effort to try some simpler, cleaner, less "fussy" stamping.  (Now if I could only figure out how to do that with life. . .)  Images are stamped with the SU Happily Ever After set, colored with marker, and glittered with Dazzling Diamonds on the flowers and vines. On the cake note card, I stamped Linen in Cool Caribbean for the background.  Thanks for reading!

A beginning. . .

I have been assimilated by the Blog Borg. . . Resistance was futile! I will try blogging for a month; if I keep up with it better than I have my lamentable attempts at Webshots, I may just keep going. I will ramble about stamping or other hobbies for the most part. But I am quite sure that my adventures in home schooling will crop up occasionally as well. I have one more week before we begin school in earnest--just enough time (I hope) to organize my curriculum notebooks and get an overview of the material.  Until then, I have some stamping time!

It felt like Fall today. Naturally, I had to pull out the earthy colors and play!  Background is stamped with Paisley in the new True Thyme ink on True Thyme card stock. I used my Marvy Scalloped Giga Oval for the Pumpkin Pie oval to enhance the pumpkin from the new SU Give Thanks stamp set. The washer is from the level one hostess appreciation set Riveting, with the center punched out with a half inch circle punch to make way for the ribbon.  I painted the pumpkin with my watercolor crayons and then sponged the edges simply because I'm addicted to sponging. (Don't laugh--you probably are too!) 

The second card is also from a new Stampin' Up set, Flower Fest.  Background is stamped with Paisley in Pretty in Pink on Blush Blossom card stock. The partial circle is stamped with Canvas in Pretty in Pink on Pretty in Pink card stock. Flowers and leaves are stamped on Very Vanilla with brown outlines and pink, blush, saffron, and sage and mounted with dimensionals for depth. I freehanded some brown faux stitching around the circle because it needed something. In fact, it still seems to need something. One of these nights I'll figure out just what it is. . .

Next, I am including one card that is not stamped. I used SU designer paper and cut shapes using the wonderful new toy that I was blessed with, "Jiminy" Cricut (yes, it is spelled correctly). The H and B are cut with the Basecamp cartridge. I love clean fonts!  The flower is cut with the George cartridge.  For both, I cut several layers of card stock and glued them together to make faux chipboard, then cut the last layer from designer paper. Yes, this will definitely be a "needs extra postage card!  Brown sheer dotted ribbon is May Arts from Cindy Lyles, and celery grosgrain is SU.

Finally, a brief explanation of  my temporary blog title, Muse and Amuse: the "muse" part covers all of the times that I ramble about something thought-provoking or meaningful. The "amuse" covers the other 90% of the time. . . Thanks for reading!