Welcome to Ink N Scrap Habits!
I've created this blog to share my life & love of paper crafts with others. You will read bits and pieces of what goes on in my world and be able to see my paper craft creations! Please leave me a comment if you see something you like. I'd love to hear from you!
The deadline for DRS Designs Operation Write Home Card Drive is this week. Did you submit any cards for a chance to win some great prizes? I'm not elgible to win, but here's what I've made to submit. Now, I know it's not many--hey my time is limited ;-) but it's something. The most important part is that I enjoyed making them and I'm sure they will be well received by the soliders and their families especially!
Most of these cards use stamps from DRS Designs and you'll see them on my blog over the next few weeks. So, stay tuned for details. Big thanks to those of you who participated in this great event.
Until next time,
Smiles,
Jennifer
Yikes, it's October already! Definitely time for harvesting and I'm sure a harvest moon too! Speaking of a "Harvest Moon," that's the theme on the DRS Designs Blog this week. Show us a moon image for a chance to win a fun prize. Today's card is my challenge entry.
I started with white cardstock that was cut with the Top Note die. All of the coloring on the Fall Fence (176M) was done with Copic Markers. Then I sponged yellow ink for the area where the moon was shining down and the edges were inked with a darker blue ink to accent the evening sky. I then added the Shine On sentiment (470D) above the image. I matted the colored image with orange cardstock and added a leaf embossed orange panel to the top. It was wrapped and tied with Fall themed ribbon and it was all adhered to a dark brown cardstock base.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Smiles,
Jennifer
It won't be long now until DRS Designs finally wraps up the card drive they are holding for Operation Write Home. I've created several Birthday and general occasion cards to submit. Here's one of the birthday cards.
I created it with shades of olive green, so it would be perfect to send to either a man or a woman. Both the Single Birthday Candle (258B) and the Small Script Happy Birthday sentiment (159D) are by DRS Designs. The background was simply created my embossing white cardstock with the Birthday Embossing folder and sponging it with olive ink. After matting it with black cardstock, I wrapped the bottom with black raffia and then adhered the candle on the lower left side with foam tape. This was all added to an A2 cardstock base and then I added 3 square gems to the upper right side to finish it. I love this simple, elegant design and hope you do too!
DRS Designs is collecting A2 cards to send to the troops until October 10th. If you have some (with envelopes) that you'd like to donate, please see all of the details HERE.
Thanks for visiting here today. I hope you'll be back soon!
Smiles,
Jennifer
While hopping around blogland lately, I've seen alot of framing done lately. I really like the look, so I decided to give it a try. Here's my take on a framed card and another use for those awesome Butterfly Ribbon Slides (681D).
I started first by cutting my card front from peach colored card stock. I inked the edges with orange ink, used a decorative border punch for the left side and then a corner punch on the right 2 corners. I used Nestibility dies to create the hole in the center for my frame. I stamped "As Another Year Flies By" (489F) at the top of the card front and then ran it through the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I added some orange ribbon to the the left side and decorated the left side of the frame with Prima flowers and brads. I stamped the Butterfly ribbon slide twice, colored both with Copic Markers and fussy cut them out. I attached them by layering them and then adding 3 black brads to the body. All of this completed the frame card front.
The center of the frame was created by stamping a panel of peach cardstock with the Silhouette Butterfly Background (536H) using Versamark ink. Then I heat embossed it with black sparkle embossing powder and attached it to the center of a black cardstock base.
My final step was to attached the card front to the base using foam tape to create the frame depth. Wouldn't this be great for a Fall birthday? I guess I have my Aunt's October birthday card already finished! Yeah!
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll be back soon!
Smiles,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone! Hope your day is off to a fabulous start!
Can you believe it's almost October already!?!? It will be ghost and goblin time before we know it! The new blog challenge over at DRS Designs, "So Spooky it's Scary" and THIS CARD from Splitcoast Stampers inspired me to create this Spooky Halloween card. I'm really happy with how it turned out-actually it's better than I thought it would be. I think it really has an eerie, spooky feel!
The first thing I did was heat emboss the Spooky Tree with Moon (070L) on a white card front. Then, I taped a large circle Nestability die centered over the image and used it as a stencil. I sponged the moon area with yellow inks and the rest of the area with an eerie purple ink. I love how it really looks like the full moon is glowing in the darkness! Next, I stamped the Spooktacular Halloween Greeting (933F). I split it up so that the first half of the sentiment was stamped above the scene and the second half was stamped below it.
I matted the card front on yellow cardstock and then used foam tape to adhere it to a 4.25" x 5.25" purple cardstock base. An eerie card like this wouldn't be complete without a few bat punchies--I added eyes to them with a white gel pen and then adhered only their bodies so that I could fold up their wings to make them dimensional. Eeek! Does this card give you the creeps?
Smiles,
Jennifer
When you hear the term "googlie eyes," especially this time of year I bet you automatically think Halloween. I know I do, but when I heard the challenge over at DRS Designs this week is "Googlie Eyes," I decided to change things up a bit.
Instead of creating a fun Halloween card, I created this cute frog card using the adorable Frog Boy Cutie Pie Kid (428H) and the Frog in your Pants Greeting (1016K) from DRS Designs. Check out the picture of my Frog Boy below and see his googlie eyes. He almost looks the same, even though they are more defined! This is the first time I've ever used googlie eyes on a card and I'm glad this challenge enlightened me to do it. I'm sure I'll be adding them add to more of my stamped images soon!
As you can tell I used a very simple layout for this card.
The Frog Boy was colored with Copic Markers, fussy cut, and adhered in place next to the greeting. I used the Tiny Frog (420A) as an embellishment by also coloring it with Copics, matting it, and then adhering it with foam tape.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my "Googlie Eye" entry and that this greeting made you smile. Have a great day!
Smiles,
Jennifer
Here's another Christmas card I was able to whip up rather quickly, but only cause I cheated! *wink* I found this colored image of Santa and his Reindeer (016L) and the Polka Dot Background paper (688P) in a basket where I keep leftover colored images and backgrounds. I love it when half the work is already done for me!
I'm pretty certain the image was colored with Prisma Color Pencils and blended with Gamsol. It's been a long time since I've used that method of coloring! Then to bling it up a bit and add some hojiday sparkle, I added Stickles at the ground level and around the image for falling snow. I also added some white flock to the cotton parts of Santa's Hat and jacket as well as his beard to make him realistic.
The card base was embossed with the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder and each layer was matted with olive green cardstock. I love olive green and red together for Christmas cards! A red satin bow pulled everything together and I was done in a flash!
Did you know that Christmas is already less than 100 days away?!?!?!? It's time to get started on those Holiday cards and why not start with a challenge where you could win some free product from DRS Designs? Check out the Anything Goes Challenge this week over at Chocolate, Coffee, Cards and link up your card today!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Smiles,
Jennifer
...Candy Corn!
Would you have ever guessed it? I bet you were thinking broccoli or some other green vegetable. I know this was totally UNEXPECTED--that's because I created this for this week's DRS Designs Blog Challenge which is to create something UNEXPECTED!
This card was pretty quick to create. One of things that helped make this quick is the design of the Candy Corn Background. By stamping it in orange ink, half of the coloring is already done for you. All I did was color the bottom of each candy piece with a yellow Copic Marker and my background was finished --easy, peasy as they say! The background used on the top of the card front was made simply by stamping the Spatter Background with black ink. At times, I stamped it off as well so some of the spatter dots are a bit faded.
Well that's it for me today.
Until next time,
Smiles,
Jennifer
Hi Stampers! Hope you are all doing well!
Since today is Patriot Day in the United States, I'm showing off another Patriotic card and using this opportunity to remind all of you about DRS Designs Operation Write Home Card Drive. The object is to collect as many cards as you can make, but in doing so, there are some great prizes up for grabs too! (Check out the link above to see what you can win!)
Operation Write Home is in need of cards with the following themes:
Birthday
Love
Thank you
Missing you
Thinking of you
Blank (no sentiment)
Just a few things to remember for each card you send in:
Cards must only be 4.25" x 5.5"
**No Glitter**
No Store bought cards allowed
Please be sure to include an envelope for each card donated.
Send your cards to:
DRS Designs
217 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT 06801
So remember over the next few weeks when you sit down to stamp, make a few duplicate cards and send them in to support a great cause. We want you to be our top donator!
Here's the Partiotic card that I have to share with you today.
This design was simple and fun to make! I used the Interlocking Star Background (819H), the Starry Background (124H), and God Bless America (085D). I hope you like it!
Smiles,
Jennifer
DRS Designs is featuring their Christmas stamps this month and I'm showing off many of my Christmas creations with you. Here's one of my favorites so far.
I colored the Cardinal on Branch image (856M) with Copic Markers. I layered it on red and green cardstock as shown. Then I stamped the Small "Merry Christmas" (520D) in 1 line on a white cardstock banner with red ink. This was adhered to the bottom of the image.
Next, I focused on the card base. I created a note card that measures 3.5" x 5" from dark green cardstock. I added texture to it by stamping the Large Original Plaid Stamp (641P) in both directions using Versamark ink. The image was adhered to the center of the card base and then I added a red and white plaid bow underneath the sentiment. I just love how well all of the colors on this card coordinated!
Have you given any thoughts to what your Christmas cards will be this year?
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Jennifer
Wow! What a chilly start to the day today. It was only 48 degrees when I got out of bed, but the sun was out too, shinning brightly! I know the official start to Fall is still a couple weeks away, but with temps like this I say, "Happy Fall Y'all!"
While browsing challenge blogs the other day, I was inspired to play along with CASology's "Apple" challenge. It's perfect for this time of year and I knew DRS Designs had a perfect Apple Trio image (350G) to go with it. On a side note, I'm really trying to make cards that are more of the Clean and Simple look, so I took the plunge and went for the challenge.
I colored the apples with Copic Markers and carefully fussy cut them out. I put them aside while I worked on my card front. I started with khaki cardstock and stamped "Happy Fall Y'all!" (635B) near the top. Then, I embossed it with the Swiss Dots folder and matted it with red cardstock. I tied a simple red bow with twine and wrapped it around the top, under the sentiment. Next, I added the apple image near the bottom using foam tape for some dimension. The card front was adhered to a dark brown A2 cardstock base and my card was complete!
I'm ready for apple pie, cider and donuts! Are you?
Smiles,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone! Hope today finds you well!
There's a new challenge posted over on the DRS Designs Blog today. The theme is "It's BRIGHT in Here!" We are asked to use bright or neon colors on our challenge cards this week.
I was inspired by this challenge to create a Halloween card. I love using bright green and black for Halloween cards and I think this combo was perfect for my Who's Your Mummy card!
Isn't that Mummy (943H) adorable? (It will be available for purchase from DRS Designs very soon!) It was simply colored with a gray Copic Marker to add shading to his bandages. Then I masked him and the edges of the cardstock and sponged green ink around him. I love the eerie feel this creates! After matting it on a black rectangle, I dressed it up with some spider web punchies to 2 of the corners.
So, are you going to join us in this Bright and Neon colored challenge? I can't wait to see all the fun cards that will enter this one!
Until next time...
Smiles,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone!
Hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend! I'm finding this a bit bittersweet--sad that this means Summer is almost over, yet excited that Fall and the holidays are just around the corner! So, today I'm posting a Candy Cane card to sweeten things up a bit!!
I love candy canes around the holidays. However, I'm not a fan of the peppermint ones. I like the Jelly Belly flavored ones. We even decorate our Christmas tree with them. Do you have a favorite kind of cane?
I love all the design elements on this card. I think it all came together nicely! I started by coloring the Candy Canes (552H) with Copic Markers. I used the Open Plaid Stamp (631P) to create my own pattern paper. Then I matted it with green cardstock and a decorative red border, and added a few green brads to help bring out the green in the candy canes. The top was embossed with the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder and I added a red decorative border to that as well. Finally, the bottom of the card base was stamped with the Super Sweet Christmas Greeting (140E) and my card was complete!
This was created for the Plaid Challenge on the DRS Designs blog. You can check out the challenge HERE and enter to win some great DRS freebies too!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll be back soon!
Smiles,
Jennifer
The Christmas edition will be underway at DRS Designs very soon. You'll soon be able to check out their website and their blog for all your Christmas card ideas. Here's one to get your creative juices flowing. I created this card for the Plaid challenge that can be found on their blog this week.
The image I used as my focal point is the Christmas Pine Oval (279L). I colored it with Copic Markers. The fun plaid paper you see was created using the Open Plaid (631P) stamp. I stamped it first diagonally and then again in the opposite direction to create the plaid design. I dressed it up by adding a white decorative border to both the top and bottom sides of the plaid. Simply embellished with some sheer red ribbon and 3 red rhinestones, this one tops my list of Christmas favorites for this year!
Run over to the DRS Designs Plaid Challenge Post and enter yourself to win a great prize. Any plaid will do, even plaid designer papers! Go Check it out and have a great day!
Smiles,
Jennifer
I'm here today with a bittersweet post to share with you. Over the weekend I stamped this sympathy card for a dear friend of mine whose Mother passed away. She was 84, full of life and a strong fighter at the same time.
When I first started making cards, I NEVER made sympathy cards. I always thought that since handmade cards were supposed to be kept, who would want to keep a sympathy card to remember the pain and loss they felt when they received that card. However, now I feel differently --I think a handmade sympathy card is extra special and it lets the recipient know you really care. I make sympathy cards often now, and I always make sure to have a few on hand so that I have one ready to go whenever I need one. How do you feel about making Sympathy cards?
I really like how this note card turned out because I think the blue and brown together are peaceful and calming. Both stamps I used are from DRS Designs. I used the No Words Sympathy Greeting (068G) for my focal point and used the Cross In A Cross (1022B) as an embellishment. Both of them were cut out using Nestability dies and I sponged them with brown ink before removing them from the dies. The Swiss Dots embossing folder added texture to the background and a simple brown ribbon and bow made this card complete. Finished card size measures 5" x 3.5".
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Jennifer
Welcome back to Thursday! The weekend is almost here! Yeah! We're going camping this weekend with about 20 other family members so I'm eager for Friday to get here. However, since it's Thursday I have to share the new blog challenge from DRS Designs first.
This week is all about "No Layers." This is definitely a challenge for me--I love the layered look! I started with a plain white cardstock base. I stamped the Simplify Christmas sentiment (553D) near the top and the Three Wisemen Peace (504K) at the bottom. Then I used dies cuts as stencils to sponge the blue areas. The bottom of the image was sponged with brown ink to represent the desert sand. I embellished the sentiment with a blue button that was threaded with twine and tied in a cute little bow. Finally, I added Stickles to the big star to make it really stand out.
So, are you up for the "No Layer" challenge? Show us your work on the "No Layer" blog post and enter to win a great prize from DRS Designs.
Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!
Smiles,
Jennifer
It's that time of year again for DRS Designs annual Operation Write Home card drive. For those of you who are not familiar with this organization, OWH supplies our military members with hand stamped cards to send home to their families and loved ones. DRS Designs collected over 2000 cards last year for our soldiers!
Start creating stamped cards today to help support our Troops! All donors will receive a Thank You prize from DRS Designs. The donor who sends in the most donated cards will win a $50 DRS Designs Gift Certificate and the next 2 generous donors will receive a $25 DRS Designs Gift Certificate. Deadline for all donations is Oct 10, 2013.
Just a few things to remember for each card you send in:
Cards must only be 4.25" x 5.5"
**No Glitter**
No Store bought cards allowed
Please be sure to include an envelope for each card donated.
You've already seen me post one or two Christmas cards recently so I guess it's ok to post a Halloween card then, right? We've had very un-Summer-like temperatures over the last 2 weeks and I can't help but get excited that Fall is just around the corner. With that in mind, this is what I created for the Decorative Edge Challenge this week on the DRS Designs blog.
I started with an A2 orange cardstock base. I cut the bottom of the card front about .25" and added black trim that was decorated with a border punch so that my card had one decorative edge. This fun layout shows off the Spooktacular Halloween Greeting (933F) that I used for the focal point on my card and I dressed up the sentiment banner a little by adding a punched spider web on the left side.
I enjoyed making my own background for this card by simply stamping the Spooky Eyes Background (647H) and then stamping some of the Accent Bats (517A) into the spaces between the eyes. Before matting it with black cardstock, I inked the edges with orange ink.
Once I adhered the background panel to the card front and had the sentiment banner in place, it was time for some texture. I added 5 bat punch outs, making sure to only put adhesive on their bodies. This allowed me to fold up their wings to make them look like they were flying on the card front!! Then, with a white gel pen I added eyes to each bat.
Watch out, All those eyes are watching you!!!
Smiles,
Jennifer
Hi Stampers!
Today I have a few quick and easy birthday cards to share with you. When I am in the mood to mass produce a card design I like, I try to experiment with color like I did on these birthday cards.
I made the purple version first. It all started by first stamping the Medium Daisy Bloom (668H) repeatedly with different cool colors like blues, greens, and purples. I used black Versafine to stamp the Brush Happy Birthday (761H) in the center of the card front. I added 3 purple pearls just above the sentiment and tied the bottom with grograin ribbon in a knot.
I liked the purple one so much, that I created the same card but with warm colors instead--pinks, yellows, and oranges.
Which one do you like better?
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Jennifer
The background was layered quite a bit, but I made 2 of the lavender quarter panels stand out by stamping them with the Birthday Sheet Music (763P). For the focal point I used the Funky Birthday image (494D) and popped it up on foam tape for dimension.
Of course to coorperate with the challenge I had to add a bit of lace. I added a bit of lavender to the lace by threading it with purple twine and then adhering it along te bottom side of the Funky Birthday image as shown. I added a dark purple bow to the center and then added a purple brad to each corner of the card front before adhering it to a dark purple cardstock base.
Hope you like it!
Smiles,
Jennifer
