Important Bulletin - The Chicks Have Moved!

Due t0 Cathy's complete inability to sort out her computer's deep and traumatic response to Blogger these days, we have been forced to relocate! Please click on the following link to be re-directed to our new address:

http://www.chickswithinkpads.wordpress.com/

We have been busily importing all our previous posts and info to the new blog site and we hope you'll bear with us as we work out any inconsistencies that might crop up in the short term! Also, please remember to change your bookmarks, favourites, and/or subscriptions to our new address so that you won't miss out on anything!

See you in the new neighbourhood - we think you'll like it there!

The Chicks Inspiration Challenge: Week 4!

Here it is! Our week 4 inspiration pic! Doesn't it make you crave hot sunny days on the beach? I know it did for a couple of our guest designers - check out their samples below:

Donna MacDonald

Cathy Lewis

Margaret DeWitt

Janet Rossi

Emily Wundrock

Debbie Pamment

All right, now let's see yours! Simply link up your card using the Mr. Linky form below by midnight next Sunday and you might get the chance to be one of our guest designers too! If you are uploading to a public gallery, please enter CHIC4 in the keywords so that we can find you. Come and play under our Um Um Um Umberellas!

Chicks Challenge Week 3 Results!

Another week and another selection of beautiful card samples submitted to our inspiration challenge! Here's a little reminder of what the week 3 inspiration pic looked like:

And here are all the gorgeous cards that were linked up as a result:

Sue Berkley

Karine

Debbie Pamment

Margaret De Witt

Thanks ladies for sharing your cards with us! Once again, you are all invited to be Guest Designers for next weeks Challenge. If you would like to participate, simply email Cathy at inkycathy@gmail.com to get the inspiration photo a week in advance.....

The rest of you will have to wait, but don't worry - the week 4 challenge is coming right up!

SCS - Colour Challenge #214, 2 Sketches 4 You Challenge

I decided to make two cards for today's SCS Colour Challenge. The colours were Pink Pirouette, So Saffron and Bordering Blue.

For the above card, I used a Sunshine Designs stamp that I purchased when Cathy had The Ink Spot. You can pretty much do anything with this stamp. I stamped Black Stazon onto watercolour paper and used the challenge colours to watercolour it. I added stickles in coordinating colours around the rim and on the bottom portion of the cup. I layered that onto So Saffron (textured) and then onto a bigger Bordering Blue panel and tied 5/8" Pink Pirouette grosgrain ribbon. I used a Hero Arts sentiment. My card base is Gina K. 120 lb. card stock. I layered that with Pink Pirouette that I ran through the Script Cuttlebug. For my second card, I used the 2 Sketches 4 You Sketch Challenge. Bordering Blue as my card base. I stamped Seeing Spots in the challenge colours on a piece of Whisper White card stock and layered that on a Pink Pirouette panel then tied some Saffron ribbon from the retired Ribbon Originals (Sherbet). I punched out the thank you sentiment with the 1 1/4" punch and layered that on the Saffron 1 3/8" circle. I punched out the centre flower (stamped in Bordering Blue) with the 3/4" punch. I also punched out the scallop in Pink Pirouette. I punched a small hole through all layers and adhered a pink rhinestone brad in the centre. I used a rub-on from the Chit Chat package on the bottom right and that finished it off. I hadn't used the Seeing Spots set in a very long time so I'm glad I could make my own patterned paper out of it. Thanks for lookin'.

Corrosive Challenge #7

Did Christmas come early?

Nah! I just decided to do a Christmas card for Janet's Corrosive Challenge. Here's the image:I used the beautiful deer from The Magic of Christmas set (Rupa Shevde) by Gina K. Designs. I stamped it on watercolour paper in Timber Brown Stazon and used various shades of brown from S-U with my aquapainter. I cut it and layered it with my oval nesties. My card base is Blush Blossom and has a Kiwi Kiss panel on top of that. I layered some patterned paper with Chocolate Chip. I added some Old Olive brads and ribbon on the patterned paper panel. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set on the bottom right of the card. I hope you like it!

SCS - Sketch Challenge #195

Thank goodness I have lots of friends (or at least I think I do!!) - I've been making a lot of friendship cards lately. I actually have been giving a lot of my cards away to friends and my MIL was recently visiting for Easter and she went home with a bunch (boy was I happy - I've been a stamping machine lately and I'm glad she can make use of them). Here is my submission for sketch challenge 195 over at Splitcoast:

The card base is Whisper White. I used Blossoms Abound for my main image (it was collecting lots of dust in the cupboard) in Pale Plum and Perfect Plum. I used two kinds of stickles to make the grapes really pop (it is so glittery IRL - I love it). I used patterened paper for my other panels and layered them with card stock (kiwi kiss and perfect plum). I used the Oval All set for my sentiment and layered it with the Oval Scallop punch. I also added a little prima flower and rhinestone brad (there was a little gap in the DSP and I thought it needed a little something). Again, a pretty simple card, but I'm happy with it. Thanks for having a look!

SC193 - Glad we're friends

I was just catching up on a couple of older sketch challenges on SCS. This is my submission for challenge #193:

I realized I've been using this stamp a lot lately, but it is so lovely and can really be used for any occasion. My card base is Whisper White and I layered some DSP over that. I cut a strip of Chocolate Chip for the left side panel. My three horizontal panels are Kiwi Kiss and I've wrapped some Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon around them. I coloured the flower with Blender Pens using Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red & Kiwi Kiss inks. I layered that on a Pink Pirouette panel. I used the Best Yet set for my sentiment and punched it out with a 1 3/8" circle punch. I layered that with Chocolate Chip scallop circle punch. I finished the card off with a few dew drops. A pretty simple card, but it took me forever!

Three Clovers Thursday Color Challenge #8 and Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge

The color combo for the Three Clovers Thursday Color Challenge #8 is: Rose Red, So Saffron, Always Artichoke and this is the sketch for the Clean & Simple Challenge from last week:

The card base is Whisper White and I layered a piece of Saffron patterned paper on Always Artichoke. I stamped the flower from Echoes of Kindness with Black Stazon on watercolour paper and coloured it with Rose Red and Always Artichoke. The sentiment is a rub-on from S-U. I layered the main panel with Always Artichoke and So Saffron. I tied a Rose-y red satin ribbon with a little buckle around the patterned paper panel. This really is a clean & simple card - my favourite kind!

Mojo Monday Week 82

What a fantastic layout!

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use this DSP from Stampin' Up. It matches perfectly with the Dreams du Jour stamp set, and the Love You stamp was the right size for the square image. I toyed around with how I was going to layer it, but wanted to give it a little punch with black. I coloured the flower with Blender Pens using Baja Breeze ink. I cut out the square and mounted it on Baja Breeze and Basic Black. The square panel behing it is Whisper White and Baja Breeze. The card base is Baja Breeze too. I used the Eyelet Border punch on both layers. I used the sentiment from the Always set and punched it with the large oval punch. I sponged around it with Baja Breeze and used another layer in Black to tie in the black again. I used the beautiful Whisper White Satin ribbon to finish it off. Thanks for having a look.

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #63

Cathy is right - I have been blurfing a lot lately! I really love doing the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge and this is my second attempt at this one. I didn't like my first try at all, so am not going to post it. I think I did a better job with this one:

I haven't used this beautiful pear from Stampers' Anonymous for a long time. I decided to pull out my pastels too, which have also been collecting dust. I stamped the pear in Versamark and rubbed various colours of pastels over it. I sponged So Saffron around the edges. I added a the "hello" sentiment. I layered it with Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip panels. My card base is also Chocolate Chip and I used a Kiwi patterned paper over that. I wrapped some chocolate satin ribbon over a Saffron panel. I added a flower from the Flower Fusion kit and used a polka dot brad from the Dollar store.

Feeling a Breath of Spring...

Donna has been "blurfing" her little heart out, discovering all kinds of wonderful challenges for us to play. I really like this challege from Our Creative Corner. I knew immediately that I wanted to so something with a soft spring feel to match the sunny day outside my window today!

I've had this stamp from Club Scrap for a few years and I thought it would fit my vision perfectly!

It's been a while since I indulged my love of Asian images and I really enjoyed making this card. The image is stamped with Black Dye Ink, but I used a red marker to pick out the Japanese characters. I coloured the whole lightly with art pencils and used a bit of gamsol to blend just the background. Although you can't really see it in the picture, I used several shades of Art Institute Glitter to highlight the bird, the flowers, and the top edge of the largest leaves. It really added a pretty shimmer to the card!

I cut the circle with my nesties then embossed it with my favourite Cuttlebug floral embossing folder for texture. A prima flower, a pearlized brad and a sentiment panel and it was done! I particularly like this colour combo - you might see it again (and again) from me!

Just in Time for Easter!

Hi everyone! I am still experiencing problems with my computer, so at the moment I can only post if I visit Donna and use hers! So until I find another solution, my posts might be a little sporadic! Today's card is in response to Taylor's Cupcake Challenge. The sketch looks like this:

But I had to flip it and fiddle it a bit in order use these images for a fun Easter card!

I used a branch from a Pink Paislee Clear Stamp Set "Autumn" and the eggs and bunny are from the SU set, "An egg-cellent Easter." I initially stamped the branch with dye inks but it didn't look so hot and I ended up filling it in and adding some shading with my Copic markers. I masked the branch and stamped the egg three times, also colouring these with Copics. The lines are drawn with a gold gel pen and then I added some dimension with brads and ribbon. I felt like the white background was a bit flat so I stippled it with some pale blue dye ink.

The rest of the card us just some layering with cardstock and some fun flocked sky paper from Heidi Grace. I didn't have room for the embellishment as placed in the sample, so I trimmed out the bunny, coloured with Copics and slipped it behind the main panel up top I thought it turned out pretty cute!

SCS - Sketch Challenge #199

Here is the birthday card I'll give my sister tomorrow. I think this Golden Oldies set from Stampin' Up is so adorable! I am sure I'll get lots of use out of it. I used an old sketch challenge from SCS for my layout. I stamped the old lady (sorry Sharon!) on watercolour paper with Black Stazon. I used aquapainters and various inks (bashful blue, baja blue, kiwi kiss, gray, brown, blush) to colour her. I layered her on Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss panels. I added flower photo corners on two sides. The card base is Whisper White and I layered a flower patterned paper on Baja Breeze to the left side of the card. The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps and is called "Old". I layerd that on Baja Breeze. The lady is popped up with dimensionals. Thanks for having a look!

Chicks Inspiration Challenge: Week 3!

Here it is! Week 3 of The Chicks' Inspiration Challenge! As with last week, there are no rules! Just look at the picture and make any project it leads you to! You have until Sunday, April 11th at midnight EST to link up using the Mr. Linky form at the bottom of this post. If you need help with any part of this process, simply click on the lable "Tutorials" in the right sidebar for step by step instructions. If you are uploading to a public gallery like Splitcoast Stampers, please enter CHIC3 in the keywords so that we can see all your lovely samples in one place!

Start by checking out the samples our guest designers made this week!

Cathy Lewis

Donna MacDonald

Janet Rossi

Emily Wundrock

Shelley Weaver

Cat Spicer # 1

Cat Spicer # 2!

Thank you ladies for these gorgeous examples to get us started! Cat actually made 4 samples for us but I had some technical difficulties with two of them. (Sorry - Cat, send me your blog address and I'll link everybody up so they can see them)!

Chicks Challenge: Week 2 Top Five!

Thanks to all of you who participated in last week's Chicks' Inspiration Challenge. We had five gorgous entries and once again we'd like to share all of them with you! We'd also like to invite all five to be our guest designers for the week 4 challenge. If you are one of the entries listed below, please email Cathy at inkycathy@gmail.com to let me know if you'd like to participate and I will get the week 4 challenge out to you right away!

Here's a little reminder of last week's challenge:

And all of our beautiful entries!

Debbie Pamment

Janet Rossi

Margaret De Witt

Emily Wundrock

Shelley Weaver

Thanks again for playing ladies - we are in awe of your talents!

Prairie Paper and Ink Sketch Challenge #56

Happy Easter! This is a new challenge for me this week. I made this card for my boys to give to their Auntie Sharon for her birthday on Tuesday. I'll make another card for her using a different sketch challenge that I'll make and post later today. I stamped the cupcake from Crazy for Cupcakes in Black Stazon on watercolour paper. I paper pieced the cupcake wrapper with some DSP and coloured the icing with chocolate chip ink using an aqua painter. The candle was watercoloured with YoYo Yello and Regal Rose. I layered the main image with Chocolate Chip and rounded the corners on both panels. I added stickles for a little bling (after the card was put together). I used Gina K. 120 lb. card stock as my card base. I layered a Regal Rose panel that I ran through the Birthday Cuttlebug folder. I added some S-U DSP and wrapped Regal Rose 5/8" ribbon around the card. I added a few buttons. Thanks for having a look.

K Werner Color Challenge 46, Kerin Sylvester Sketch Challenge #8

During my recent "blurfing", I came across a number of new challenges that I am really interested in participating in. Although this is absolutely wonderful, there are not enough hours in the day for me to create a card for every one of them unless I combine the challenges when possible. Most of the challenges I have flagged are sketch challenges, but I know I'll find other colour and inspiration challenges out there to help me along! I combined the K Werner Color Inspiration Challenge #49 with Kerin Sylvester's Sketch Challenge #8. I used Hero Arts Asian Frames for my main image and used blender pens to pick up ink and colour in the image. I layered it with Basic Black and Kiwi Kiss. I added Rose Red brads to the corners. I used various S-U DSP's and one non S-U patterned paper behind the main image. My card base is Basic Black and I layered it with Whisper White. I inked part of a sentiment with a black marker and punched it out with oval punches. I used Pacific Point around the sentiment. That's it! Thanks for having a look.

Truly Scrumptious Sketch Challenge #4

Here is my submission for the Truly Scrumptious Sketch Challenge #4. This is another sketch that is quite out-of-the-box for me. I don't usually make square cards, but I've just purchased some envelopes that will fit these puppies, so I'm all set! I inked the Inspired by Nature flowers with my S-U markers in Barely Banana, So Saffron and More Mustard and used Close to Cocoa and Black on the top. I used Certainly Celery and Old Olive on the stem & leaves. I misted the stamp with a little water and stamped it on Whisper White card stock. I cut it out and layered it with my oval nesties. I used circle nesties for the two side panels in More Mustart & Old Olive. The card base is Basic Black and I used some DSP over that. I used some retired "Jersey" S-U ribbon across the centre. The sentiment is a rub-on from S-U. I used a few of Baba's buttons (are you sick of hearing that yet?) to finish it all off. Thanks for having a look.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 12 (even though it's Thursday)

I found a few more sketch challenges yesterday and created a few cards last night. You know this hobby is becoming an obsession when it's midnight and you know you have to go to bed in order to get up in time to get the kids off to school. Maybe I didn't want to go to bed to listen to my DH snore his head off! See, he's put a few pounds on over the past few months and this leads to what I call the "snore build-up". He starts off breathing normally, but within a minute, his breathing turns into a light snore and progresses until he's in full-blown snore mode. Now, I'm a really light sleeper - always have been - and I just can't ignore this. I have to LISTEN for the "snore build-up" and then I just get mad. He tells me he isn't sleeping, so how can he be snoring? Huh?? I decided last night that to save my sanity and maybe get some sleep, I'd just sleep in the spare room. Of course, because I wasn't in my own bed next to my warm hubby, I couldn't sleep! Why bother? I'd rather be stamping anyway!
Ok - onto the card. This sketch comes from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. It's a simple layout, but I think those can be the most challenging. I used Gina K. 120 lb. card stock for my base card and layered Blush Blossom over that. In retrospect, I think I should have used an embossing folder on that layer to give it a little more visual interest. The middle panel uses Sage Shadow and the patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie line called "Beauty" Floral. The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps and is called "Souls in this World". I used S-U markers in Close to Cocoa and Mellow Moss (I messed up - I thought I pulled out Sage Shadow!). I popped it with dimensionals. I added some of Baba's buttons and voila!