Lemon Zest

August 31, 2022August 29, 2022 Happy Ink Designs1 Comment

Hello crafty friends!! Please join me for a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. This week the challenge is

Stamp It

We are showcasing CZ Design Products this week. If you have any of these products, we’d love to see them used, but it’s certainly not a requirement to join the challenge.

As always, the generous folks at Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to one randomly selected winner to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store. You can enter 5 times which means you can make 5 different projects following this week’s prompt and have 5 chances to win a shopping spree!! Sounds like a win/win to me!! I’ve linked all of the supplies that I used at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

If this card doesn’t make you feel better overall, then I don’t know what will. It’s just so… happy and bright and cheerful. I love it. Fun fact, the lemon blossom is said to be “the happiest smell in the world”. I believe it!!

This was super easy and fast to make so let’s get to it. I started out with a piece of A2 sized Lemon Chiffon card stock and I ran it through my new favorite embossing folder which is Dibble Dot by Simon Says Stamp. I distressed the edges with Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber distress inks. I trimmed my panel down to 4″ x 5.25″ and set it aside.

I couldn’t wait to use this Lemon Zest die so I cut it out using Lemon Chiffon card stock, Green Apple card stock and Neenah Solar White 110 lb. card stock. I did the same thing to my lemon, I distressed the edges with Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber distress inks. For the leaves I used Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint.

I cut the lemon blossom and the stem from white card stock and used my copic markers to color them the color I wanted. I glued all the pieces together and I popped it up using foam squares to add dimension. With a background like that, how could I NOT add dimension?

For my sentiment I used the Feel Better Soon die by CZ Design. I cut the white layer out three times and glued them together for a little extra dimension.

I attached my card front to a black background and glued everything to a side folding card base. I added a few Champagne Pearls by Studio Katia and my card was complete!

So now it’s YOUR turn. Happy Crafting!!

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ? If so please add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too.

You have until Wed 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

Cardmaking · Challenges · Design Team · Handmade Greeting Cards · Simon Says Stamp · You Tube

Fishing You a Happy Birthday

August 10, 2022July 31, 2022 Happy Ink Designs1 Comment

Hello crafty friends!! Please join me for a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. This week the challenge is

Summertime Blues

We are showcasing My Favorite Things Products this week. If you have any of these products, we’d love to see them used, but it’s certainly not a requirement to join the challenge.

I definitely have the summertime blues. My son goes back to school next Wednesday and it feels like summer just started!! When I was in school, we didn’t go back until after Labor Day and I liked it that way. I know they get more week long breaks during the year so it does balance out, but it sure feels like I blinked and summer was over. Anyway, let’s get to it. I created the background first for this card because I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to like it or not and I knew it was going to have to be set aside to dry. I used several alcohol inks in blues and greens and aquas on Yupo paper. I’ve listed them all below in my products used list.

I set my background aside to dry and then I started coloring all of these adorable images from MFT’s Reel-y Great Day stamp set with my copic markers. I stamped them on X-Press It Copic Blending Card with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

I used Neenah Desert Storm 110 lb. card stock for the background and then I cut my alcohol inked background with an old Avery Elle die which is no longer available but a very close second is the border dies from Lawn Fawn’s Simple Stitched Hillside Borders die. I glued the yupo paper to the top of my desert storm card stock using my favorite Bearly Art Craft Glue.

I took a couple different brown copic markers and I peppered the desert storm card stock to try and make it resemble sand or gravel. Then I decide to take a little white gouache and a makeup sponge and try and make the waters edge look foamy. Like you’d see at the ocean’s edge. I like the way it turned out, I only wish I would’ve added another layer once it was dry. Next time. I popped a couple of my colored images up with adhesive squares (large and small) and then I started gluing everything in place.

For my sentiment I took another piece of desert storm card stock and I white heat embossed it. I cut it out using an old MFT fishtail banner die. I attached my card panel onto a top folding card base.

So now it’s YOUR turn. Happy Crafting!!

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ? If so please add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too.

You have until Wed 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Herd You Had a Birthday

January 14, 2018January 16, 2018 Happy Ink Designs6 Comments

Howdy partner(s)!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Are you ready for another super fun theme this week at Always Fun Challenges??? If you’d like to see what I created for last week’s theme, which was One Layer, click here. Now, for this weeks theme, this was totally out of my comfort zone, but I made it work. The theme is Down On The Farm.

I didn’t even get this one completed until Saturday afternoon. I had a heck of a time coming up with this one. I’m so glad I did it though. Like I said, this took me out of my little comfort bubble, but check out the result.

I used a never before used stamp set (AKA NBUS) called Lunar Animals by Mama Elephant. I used a NBUS paper pad and a NBUS die from MFT. Too bad Darnell wasn’t doing her NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge right now, this one would totally qualify!! It may not be going on now, but you should check out her blog for the NBUS challenge that she does a couple times a year. It’s a lot of fun.

This was another one that I completely winged it as I went. I had no idea how this was going to turn out. While this is not my normal style, I still think it turned out ok. I think it would be perfect for a kid’s Birthday. The inside reads, “Have a Moo-tiful Day!!”

Another out-of-my-element fun fact is that I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens to color these cute little farm animals. I’ve had these pens for awhile now, but I’ve been quite intimidated by them. I tried them when I first got them and I just didn’t like them. Or I should say I didn’t like my results. But the more videos I’ve seen of people using them, the less intimidating they seem so I decided to give them another try. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I really like them!! As long as I had a water brush right next to me at all times and a super fine paint brush, I felt comfortable. I felt like I could handle it without holding my breath the entire time.

Anyway, I hope you’ll join us over at Always Fun Challenges this week by clicking here and linking your “Down on the Farm” creation.

Zig Clean Color Real Brush

Horse: Mustard 67 (body), Oatmeal 64(mane), flesh color 71 (nose), mid brown 65 (hooves), pale pink 28 (ears)
Pig: pale pink 28
Cow: black 10, light gray 91 (horns), pale pink 28 (ears, nose)
Chicken: Lemon Yellow 51, bright yellow 52, wine red 24, light brown 61 (beak)
Sheep: Blue gray 92, light gray 91, gray 90 (hooves and nose) cheeks pale pink

(Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you)

Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

One Layer Card

January 7, 2018January 14, 2019 Happy Ink Designs6 Comments

Hi folks!! Hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year. I have a one layer card to share with you guys today. I chose to use some adorable images from Purple Onion Designs. They are one of my favorite stamp companies.

I chose Birch the Bunny because I had our rabbit, Thumper in mind when I made this card. Unfortunately we lost him on New Year’s Day. I’m still pretty heartbroken about it. He was such a cool creature. I had never had a rabbit before so it was definitely a learning experience for us, but he turned out to have such a cool personality and I fell in love with him. Our dog, Bentley was “playing” with Thumper and we don’t really know what happened. We thought he was in shock, I held him for about 10 minutes then was told to put him in his cage, where he’s familiar with the smell and put a blanket over it to darken it. We did that. I went to check on him about 30 minutes later. I sat there with him and watched his breathing and the way he was acting, something was off. Then his breathing started to slow way down. Then he just quit breathing. The boy’s were pretty devastated. I’m still pretty devastated. I feel awful for letting him down.

But enough with all this sadness. Let me move on before I can’t. I made this card in honor of my dear Thumper. The theme this week at Always Fun Challenges is One Layer card. I’ve made a process video, if you’d like to see how I made this.

To check out last week’s project, click here.

RIP lil buddy.

Copics Used:

Birch: E70, E71, E74, R20, R30 (belly) W0, W1

Hat: RV32, RV34

Ground: W1, W2, W3

House: E53, E55, Y00

Snow: B000

(Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you)

Stacey Yacula Studio – Birch (winter… [ PRP ]	Stacey Yacula Studio – Snow Cabin on… [ PRP ]	Wplus9 BUBBLE TALK SET Clear Stamp… [ SSS ]
Wplus9 BUBBLE TALK Clear Stamps CL-WP9BT [ SSS ]	Memento TUXEDO BLACK INK PAD Full… [ SSS ]	Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH… [ SSS ]
Simon Says Stamp Sequins ASSORTED… [ SSS ]	Simon Says Stamp MASKING PAPER Label… [ SSS ]	Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And… [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]
Sizzix Big Shot Kick STANDARD CUTTING… [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	Sizzix MAGNETIC PLATFORM Big Shot… [ SSS \| SBC ]	Simon Says Stamp LARGE GRID PAPER… [ SSS ]
Crafter’s Companion CLEAR OVERLAY… [ SSS \| BLT ]	Tonic MOONSTONE Nuvo Glimmer Paste 953N [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad… [ SSS \| BLT ]
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad… [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad… [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad… [ SSS \| BLT ]
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad… [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	Tim Holtz Tonic Craft STAMP PLATFORM… [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	Simon Says Stamp NESTED CIRCLES Wafer… [ SSS ]
Tonic DELUXE ADHESIVE Nuvo Glue 200N [ SSS \| SBC \| BLT ]	EK Success CRAFT TWEEZERS Precision… [ SSS \| BLT \| SBC ]	EK Success HONEY BEE Non-Stick… [ SSS \| BLT ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring… [ SSS ]	3M 2 INCH WIDE POST-IT TAPE 36 Yards… [ SSS \| AMZUS ]	Tim Holtz Tonic GUILLOTINE COMFORT… [ SSS ]
Claritystamp STENCIL BRUSHES Set of 4… [ SSS ]	Classic Crest Cover Solar White… [ AMZUS ]	Tsukineko Sponge Dauber, 25-Pack [ AMZUS ]
ROSENICE Finger Sponge Dauber for… [ AMZUS ]	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad WORN… [ SSS \| BLT \| SBC ]	Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel WHITE UM-153 [ SSS \| BLT ]
We R Memory Keepers Cropadile CORNER… [ SSS \| BLT \| SBC ]	Copic Sketch Marker E70 ASH ROSE… [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker E71 CHAMPAGNE Taupe [ SSS \| BLT ]
Copic Sketch Marker E74 COCOA BROWN… [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker R20 BLUSH Pink… [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker R30 PALE… [ SSS \| BLT ]
Copic Sketch Marker E53 RAW SILK Cream [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker E55 LIGHT CAMEL Tan [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker Y00 BARIUM YELLOW… [ SSS \| BLT ]
Copic Sketch Marker RV32 SHADOW PINK… [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker RV34 DARK PINK [ SSS \| BLT ]	Copic Sketch Marker B000 PALE… [ SSS \| BLT ]
Copic Markers W1-Sketch, Warm Gray [ AMZUS ]	Copic Marker with Replaceable Nib,… [ AMZUS ]	Copic Sketch W3, Warm Gray 3 by Copic [ AMZUS ]
Copic Sketch W1, Warm Gray 1 by Copic [ AMZUS ]	Copic BLENDING CARD X-Press It Paper… [ SSS ]

https://linkdeli.com/widget.js?1547205749476

Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Hello 2018 Shaker Card

December 31, 2017January 1, 2018 Happy Ink Designs2 Comments

Happy New Year friends!! I hope everyone is as excited about a New Year as I am!! I don’t necessarily do New Year’s Resolutions, but I do have some goals set up for 2018. How about you guys?

Our elves have gone back to the North Pole, the bomb that went off in our living room that we lovingly call “Christmas Morning” is also gone. No signs of it ever happening. I’m taking our Christmas decorations down this weekend and the boys go back to school on Tuesday! Looks like things will be back to normal in no time. I like to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving so that I can enjoy my lights and decorations for a full month. I love how everything looks when I first put it all out. But by about now, I’m ready to have my house back, my living room, my normally lowered electric bill back… It’s time. I’m ready to move right on into 2018!!

I decided to do a “Hello 2018” card because I’m excited about this new year. The theme this week at Always Fun Challenges is…. Something New. (To see my card for the last challenge, A Christmas Carol, click here.) Something New, New Year, I went with an easy choice, but I’m just really looking forward to moving on into a brand new year, with new expectations, fresh starts, you know what I mean? Anyway, here’s what I came up with:

I thought I had made something similar to this, but I wasn’t even close. I’ll add a pic down below of what I thought was similar when I was making this. I have a HORRIBLE memory…

I love a good shaker card!! I knew I wanted to do something kind of tlike shiny and sparkly and the best way to achieve that is with a shaker. I thought about going gold, but the card I had in mind, the one I thought was similar to this one, was in gold so I went with silver.

It sure is sparkly and shiny, isn’t it?? Below is the card that I had in mind while making this, that I thought was very similar to the one I was making. Click here to see my post featuring this card. I was a little worried I was making the same thing over again and just didn’t fully realize it. It definitely is similar, but not quite the same. I made a few of these for a custom order from my Etsy store

I really like the Happy New Year card above, but I LOVE the not so traditional Hello 2018. I just think it’s different. I like that about it. And I just HAD to use these adorable WISH trees as props before I packed them up for the year. My dear friend got them for me from a local store and I can’t stop staring at them. They are gorgeous!!

I hope everyone has/had a fabulous New Year’s and I’ll see y’all again next week!! If you’d like to add your project(s) for this week’s theme over at the Always Fun Challenges blog, click here to be redirected.

If you’d like to see my process, just click on the video below.

I couldn’t capture it in a photo, but the white paper I used for my card front was really interesting looking. It was part of a glitter paper pad from Michaels, but while all the other colors were super sparkly, this one almost looked like a matte sparkle. It sounds contradicting, I know but it really did look that way! I don’t know how else to describe it. I couldn’t find a few of the items I used to include in my products list below, including the matte glitter paper, so I’ve added them separately with a picture and a link. I just googled these items and included what I found below.

This is the paper I used for the card front. You can find it here.

This is the paper I used for the black and silver glitter. You can find it here.

The number dies that I used I couldn’t add because it’s a Stampin Up item so if you want it, just ask your Stampin Up demonstrator about the Large Number Framelits that coordinate with the Number of Years stamp set. I’m sure they can lead you right to it.

Everything else is listed below.

OH!! I almost forgot to mention this, but Simon Says Stamp is having a HUGE year end sale right now. Hurry over before it’s too late. Click Come see our new arrivals at Simon Says Stamp!” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>here to check it out!! Heidi is STILL adding items as we speak so don’t miss out!!

(Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you)

Cardmaking · Haul Goodies

Happy Thanksgiving Goodies

November 23, 2017November 23, 2017 Happy Ink DesignsLeave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope you are enjoying your day with those that you love the most!! Here’s a little shop therapy for ya. Click here to see the first part of my haul video. This is part II. Simon Says Stamp is having an AWESOME sale today. 30% off of all SSS products and a FREE gift with your order of $100 or more. I’ll be back with a health update and a card video very soon!!

SSS Thanksgiving Code for 30% off SSS Products: TODAY ONLY!!! THKS985

Cardmaking · Handmade Greeting Cards · Haul Goodies · Life

Simon Says Stamp Haul Video

November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 Happy Ink Designs7 Comments

Hi guys!! It has been 10 months since I’ve done a haul video!! Can you believe that?!? Wow.. I’ve been a good girl for quite a while now. But it was my Birthday on October 2nd and I decided to treat myself a little. Actually, I needed to restock a few things after a fairly large card order that I recently did so that’s my excuse for placing this order. At least that’s what I’m telling myself (and my hubs) anyways.

I also wanted to let you guys know that I won’t be blogging or posting videos for a couple of weeks. I’m going in for yet another major surgery on November 13th and I’m planning on spending a week in the hospital down in San Francisco. I hate being so far away from home when I have these surgeries. That’s one of the hardest parts.

I think this will be my 21st abdominal surgery that I’ve had in the last 10 + years. Hopefully it will be my last. But I’ve said that many times before too… Just to give you a little background on me, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when I was 25 and a year later, I had to have my large intestine removed. I was so sick at the time, what should have been a 3-5 day hospital stay (because it was a laparoscopic surgery), turned into a 3 week hospital stay. Every complication that I could’ve had, I did. This was before I met my hubby and had Jayden though. I had a few medical errors made on me that led to many more complications. They really snowballed after I had Jayden though. When he was 6 months old, I ended up with a perforated bowel and came pretty darn close to leaving Jayden without his Mama. My local hospital wouldn’t fly me out because they didn’t think I would survive the flight to S.F. so one of my surgeries were performed locally. All the rest have been in San Francisco. Over the years, it’s been one thing or another. I was flown out once because I had adhesions wrapped around my small intestine and my ovaries and basically cutting off circulation. Another surgery I had to have because my small intestine kept kinking in one area, causing me to have one small bowel obstruction after another until they finally operated and put a stint in. Now because of all these surgeries, I have a 6 inch cyst on one ovary and another 6 inch cyst on the other… They don’t think it’s cancer, but they’re so big, they are now causing me to have small bowel obstructions so it’s time for them to go. That’s why I was in the hospital back in May, it was another bowel obstruction. Nobody wants to operate on me though!! It’s crazy!! They will try to save my ovaries, but I’m preparing to have them both removed.

So I have to head down for a few more tests before surgery and I’m still having iron infusions once a week so between that and trying to wrap up our football season, I’ve decided to just take a little break from card making and blogging. I’m trying to tie up a few loose ends before I go in and spend as much time as I can with my boys. But as soon as I’m feeling up to it, I’ll be back on here, sharing my weekly projects!!

I’ll leave you with this oh so fun haul video and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks!!

Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Happy Halloween!!

October 29, 2017October 29, 2017 Happy Ink Designs6 Comments

Happy (early) Halloween!! I’m so excited to announce this weeks’ theme for the Always Fun Challenges blog. Have you figured it out yet?? It’s HALLOWEEN!!! I LOVE Halloween!! I’ve been working all month on getting our road closed to traffic on Halloween. Which, I’ve learned, requires an encroachment permit. That means I had to get signatures from every house on our entire street!! The good news is, the City has agreed to close it!! WOOHOO!! The population of Fort Bragg is a little less than 7,300 and we handed out candy to a little less than 1,300 kids last year… That’s just crazy!! No one knows why the entire town comes to this street for Halloween, but they do. And we LOVE IT!! It was just getting too dangerous to have vehicles driving up and down with that many kids. At some points while I was handing out candy last year, I looked up and the line was out into the middle of the street!! I wish I would have taken pictures, but we’re always soooo busy!! They start coming at about 4pm!! Here are a couple pix that I did manage to get from last year.

Speaking of Halloween, let’s talk about this card I made.

If you can’t tell by looking at this, I was greatly inspired by Vicky Papaioannou’s “Glowing Moon Technique” card. She does this background MUCH better than I, but I still had a lot of fun making this one. The card came together pretty easy. First I made the distress oxide background, and then I created the moon and placed my Silhouette witch (design ID #65963) over the top and lastly I added my sentiment. As you know, if you’ve read any of my posts or watched any of my videos lately, quick and easy are about all I have time for these days.

I added some Shimmer Spray to top it off. Can you see it? It looks really cool in person. Pictures just don’t show the cool details sometimes.

If you’d like to join us this week, just make something Halloween related and click here to add it to our challenge or go to the Always Fun Challenges blog and add it there. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope everyone has a Spooktacular Halloween!!!

Amazon, Simon Says Stamp, Scrapbook.com, Blitsy Disclaimer:

These are affiliate links. What that means is at no cost to you, I will receive a small commission if you purchase something from the links I’ve provided. That small commission will help me maintain my blog and youtube channel while still providing the links to all the products that I use. Any time you use an affiliate link, I greatly appreciate it. And if you have any questions on any of these products, please feel free to ask!! I’ll always give you my honest opinion.

Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Hello Friend

October 22, 2017October 25, 2017 Happy Ink Designs4 Comments

Hi guys!! I’m back with another card and a new theme for this week over at Always Fun Challenges. The theme this week is Black and White. How fun is that? You can do just about anything with B & W!! I started off thinking I was going to be making a Halloween card, since Halloween is right around the corner, but at the last minute, I decided to go with a ‘Friend’ card. If you’d like to see what I made for last week’s challenge, click here.

You can never have too many of these kinds of cards and I really wanted to use this embossing folder again, so this is what I came up with.

I had a little bit of a rocky go with the background, which you can see in my video below, but in the end, I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. And I LOVE the little flower die that was included in last month’s card kit for Simon Says Stamp. It was the perfect addition.

Well, it’s family night at the Elam Residence so I’ll leave you with a video and a list of all the products I used. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see y’all next week!!

Amazon, Simon Says Stamp, Scrapbook.com, Blitsy Disclaimer:

These are affiliate links. What that means is at no cost to you, I will receive a small commission if you purchase something from the links I’ve provided. That small commission will help me maintain my blog and youtube channel while still providing the links to all the products that I use. Any time you use an affiliate link, I greatly appreciate it. And if you have any questions on any of these products, please feel free to ask!! I’ll always give you my honest opinion.

Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Lots of Layers Featuring SSS Feb. Card Kit

October 8, 2017October 7, 2017 Happy Ink Designs3 Comments

Hi guys!! Happy Belated World Cardmaking Day!!! It was October 7th, for those that may not have known. I just found out about 4 days ago, but unfortunately we were at an out of town football game so I didn’t get to craft at all. That’s ok, I’ll make up for it this coming week. The theme this week at Always Fun Challenges is Lots of Layers. This is why I love being on this design team. It makes me try things I normally wouldn’t try. I don’t work with many layers very often so this was a little out of my league, but I did the best I could.

I mainly used everything from the February 2017 Simon Says Stamp card kit. All the papers and sentiment are from that kit. I wasn’t sure where to even start so I used a sketch to help get me going. As you can see, this card was very easy to put together. Here is the sketch I used.

Once I had this, the rest was a piece of cake!!

For the circles, the smallest circle I used was 1 3/4″. The next one up was 2 1/8″ (craft cardstock). The bigger set of circles start at a little over 2 1/2″ and the biggest circle I used is 3″. The strip of pink card stock is 2″ wide.

The banners: Smallest is 1/2″ x 2″

Biggest: 1/2″ x 2 3/8″

Thank you so much for stopping by!!