Cole Update & Thank You!!

Good Afternoon!

I hope you all have had a very nice week after Thanksgiving!

Didn't go broke shopping did you?

I wanted to give you all a little update on Cole and share some photos...

He has had a couple dr's appointments since he had his cast put on and each time they are amazed at how quickly he is healing. It's really something since he has osteogenesis imperfecta. I'm just so tickled...at the last appointment they found out that at his next appointment (in 3 weeks) the dr's. are going to take the cast off, xray it and if it all looks o.k. they might leave the cast off!!  That means he'll be able to walk and really enjoy Christmas (keeping my fingers crossed!!).

So excited :)

Anyway, we had our first card play date the other day and did we ever have fun!

(He is showing me a doggie sticker)

He was a bit shy about it to begin with but then it was Ohhh bama, what's in that one?

This is a card with one of those wobble devices.  OMGosh - I've never seen one in person before nor have I ever used one....  That is going to change.  Those things are so cool and they really work great.  Makes for a fun interactive card.  Cole loved 'em!

And a couple folks sent stamped images/digi stamp images that he could color.

Needless to say he had lots of fun as you can tell :)

I'm going to take over another batch in a couple days with more stickers that I pulled from my stash and we're going to do a bit more coloring!

Thanks so much to all of my inky friends out there 

that have helped make a little boy very happy!!!

((((((((HUGS)))))))

Roly Poly Jester

Today is the final day of the "CUTE" challenge over on the Lost Coast Designs blog and I've got one final card to inspire you...but don't wait too long or you might miss out on your chance to win a Gift Certificate from Lost Coast Designs!

This darling little jester is part of the Creepy Dolls collection by Carri but I don't think he's creepy at all...if anything he looks a bit melancholy which is why I added the "thinking of you" sentiment.  I also wanted to jazz him up a bit and added some glitter over the white parts of his costume.

Gingerbread Shaker

Hello Friends...

it's time to shake it up!

I have begun (yes I know...a bit late getting started) making my Christmas cards and I thought it would be fun to make a few shaker cards for some special people. They take a bit more time but sometimes it's worth it when it all comes together.

For this card I am using one of the new clear stamp sets by Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Gingerbread Wonderland.  All of the various elements were stamped using VersaFine Clair inks.  The background is a mix of Summer Sky and Bahama Blue Fireworks! Shimmer Ink Spray (wish you could see the lovely sparkle it has to it).  I applied a bit of On Point Glue to the roof and "snow" on the chimney then sprinkled on a bit of White Flitter Glitter for that extra little bit of sparkle.  You know you can never have too much sparkle in your life!

Finally I topped it off with snowflakes (MFT) that were cut from Rinea Silver/Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper and the sentiment is Rinea Ebony/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper.

If you haven't made a shaker recently (or ever) you really should...it's so much fun to see a bit of paper, foam tape and sequins turn into something magical!

Have a lovely day friends!!

Supplies:

Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Gingerbread Wonderland Clear Stamp Set

Imagine - VersaFine Clair Inks - Tulip Red, Green Oasis, Acorn, Nocturne, Morning Mist; Fireworks! Shimmery Craft Spray - Summer Sky, Bahama Blue; On Point Glue, Tear It! Tape
Rinea - Ebony/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Silver/Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper
MFT - Snowflake Dies
XCut - Sentiment Dies
Square Lacy Die - Unknown (has the number - DC0256 on a tab)
Cardstock, Shaker bits, Foam Tape

Ink Stains turns 11!!

WOW, how time flies...

it's been 11 years since I started Ink Stains with Roni and shared all sorts of projects, cards, tips, techniques and ideas with you.  Certainly doesn't seem like it's been that long but there's been 3757 posts (not including this one), and over 4.6 MILLION yes you read that right...MILLION page views in that time. That doesn't even count all the folks who subscribe by one of the numerous e-mail or other delivery systems.

I have met so many lovely people over the years, some come and go while others have become long time friends...A GIANT Thank You to everyone out there who visits, subscribes and enjoys Ink Stains...it seems so inadequate but remember...

You are why I do what I do!

Today to help celebrate I thought I'd share some of your favorites...
these are the places that folks visit most often.

Groovy Inks seems to be one of the most popular techniques I've ever posted...All you need are a few colors of alcohol inks, glossy cardstock and some pump style hairspray.

Inky Oils is another favorite - this time it's ink + baby oil!

Turns plain old paper into a lovely translucent vellum.

Sentiments and Quotes..paired with my vintage postcards....always a favorite.
Who doesn't need help with sentiments every now and then.

Wax Paper Resist Embossing - an oldie but a goodie!

Creative Medium Imagine Transfer

There are just so many to choose from, it's hard to narrow it down...

here are a few more...

Orange Oil Imagine Transfer 

and

Painting with Liquid Pearls

By the Sea Washer Charm and 

all of the Altered Charms and Jewelry

Altoid Tin Art Festival

Handmade Ornaments all seem to be a favorite.

As do ATC's

Hope you have fun taking a look back at some of your favorites and mine!

Thanks again for your friendship over the years!

Rosie the Hard Luck Pixie

You might recall that the current challenge for Lost Coast Designs is "CUTE".  Well today I want to share another of the Hard Luck Pixies - Rosie in all her glory!

Isn't she so cute? 

I love her scruffy socks and patched up heart.  

So very sweet...

Just perfect for the Cute Challenge!

Supplies:

Lost Coast Designs - Rosie HLP

Imagine - VersaFine Clair Ink, Memento Dual Tip Markers

Niji Waterbrush

Authentique - Pattern Paper

MFT - Scallop Stitched Rectangle

Sizzix - Word Dies

Cardstock

Upcycled Holiday Wreath

Welcome All!

Did you survive Black Friday unscathed?  I did...but I cheated and did all of my shopping from home ;)  LOL!!  I seem to do that more and more each year.  Great way to get the bargains without having to fight the crowds.

If you visit here very often you know I LOVE to upcycle goodies that others have discarded...well today I have a wreath I made using an old embroidery hoop that I bought in a box full of "stuff" from an auction over the summer.  

And here is my creation!  I had so much fun making this, I may make a couple more to give as gifts.  This month both Imagine and Rinea's design teams have joined forces to bring you inky, foiled goodness...I am lucky enough to be on BOTH teams so this was extra fun for me to combine products from both companies that I love.

I was able to incorporate VersaFine Clair Ink, Memento Inks, Fireworks! Sprays, Radiant Neon Amplify! medium from Imagine with the beautiful Jolly Foiled Paper Variety Pack from Rinea to create this fun wreath.  I also used the Noel stamp set from Rubber Stamp Tapestry, the Sizzix poinsettia die and a bit of rayon seam binding.  I love it when projects turn out just as you envisioned them.

If you would like to see the detailed instructions on how I created this wreath please check out:

Poinsettia Embroidery Hoop Wreath with Roni

Thanks for stopping by friends!

Do I Smell Cake?

Good Morning All....

I'm sure lots of you are out and about shopping your little hearts out...

Me, not so much, I don't like to fight the crowds!

I'll wait for Cyber Monday and shop in my jammies - LOL!!

I do however have a darling little critter to share with you today...

Isn't he cute as a button!
This is Bear #1 from the Creepy Dolls collection
Although I don't think he's very creepy...just a sweet little thing.

I choose to watercolor him with a variety of Memento Dye Inks for this card but I can think of so many fun color combos to color him.  He's going to be a fun stamp to play with!

I love the sentiment as well - just too funny, it fits him perfectly!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Hope all of my USA friends have a safe and 

very Happy Thanksgiving!!

JFF Turkey Stamp

and from my collection....

Paper Piecing Farmhouse Chicken

Today I wanted to share a fun card with you using this darling 

Folk Art Farmer Chicken stamp 

from Carmen's Veranda.

This sweet little chicken was stamped 3 times, once in black, once in brown and a third time in blue.  Each section was then colored cut up and reassembled on the image stamped with black ink.  I love paper-piecing images like this because it adds so much depth of color IRL. I only wish that I could capture this in the photos.

Have you tried your hand at paper piecing an image lately?

Did it turn out like you envisioned?

It's a Rubber Stamp Tapestry Christmas

WOW...

have you seen the new Christmas stamps 

at Rubber Stamp Tapestry?

This is one of the cards I made using just a few of their new release....

Christmas Traditions
Hello Mistletoe
Shady Pine

Christmastime

These are their 4 new sets of peg stamps...don't ya just love all the fun designs?

And....

Let It Snow
Fireside Christmas

Gingerbread Wonderland
Trinkets & Wishes

They now have 4 new sets of clear acrylic stamps too!!

These offer larger images to build a whole scene.

The card at the top of the post as well as the one below were created using the new Fireside Christmas set with help from a couple of the other new sets.

So much fun in such small packages!

I'll be sharing more ideas for using these cards in the coming days.

Be sure to stay tuned!

Foiled Stamped Star Ornaments

Welcome friends! 

Today I want to share a fun ornament
that's great as a gift topper as well as a tree ornament...  

Foiled Stamped Star Ornaments!

This month at Imagine we are teaming up with Rinea 

to highlight both companies wonderful products.  

Imagine's Color of the Month is Gingerbread - 

Rinea has a beautiful Mocha foiled paper 

so I thought it would be the perfect combination to being with...

Complete directions for making the ornament can be found on the Imagine blog here - 

How to Create Foil Paper Christmas Ornaments

A few highlights - the paper part of the cone was stamped using Rubber Stamp Tapestry Christmas peg stamps...snowflakes, ornaments and other little bits.  

I used Rinea Mocha Starstruck Foiled Paper for a bit of extra shimmer and texture.

It's a "CUTE" Challenge!!

Oh my...CUTE!?!?!  

Yep, you read that correctly we're going for the cute factor with this fortnight's challenge over on the Lost Coast/Carmen's Veranda Blog.  

And here's a card to start you off with!  Isn't that stamp just darling?  It's part of the new Hard Luck Pixie collection and this is Pixikin!  Such a sweet little critter, I think this definitely falls into the cute category.

I started off by stamping the pixikin with Shady Lane VersaFine Clair ink.  She was then water colored using a variety of Memento Dye Inks.  After she had dried I added a bit of glitter for sparkle...after all, she is a pixie!

The background was stamped with the swirl stamp and Verdant VFC ink.  It was all matted on a pea green card base.

Have you made a cute card lately?  

Maybe it's time you do!

Artsy Call Out....

Hello my artsy friends!

I hope you're all doing well.

I have a favor to ask...but first let me explain a bit about the situation.

My 3 year old grandson has the brittle bone disease osteogenesis imperfecta. This is a life long disease with no cure. Up until now he's been fine but he took a spill this past weekend when he slipped on a patch of ice and broke his leg.  Let me tell you I freaked out a bit when I found out but that's a whole other story.  Anyway, Monday he went and had a full leg cast put on which he has to be in it for 6-8 weeks :(   Way no fun for a toddler let me tell you.  The first day he did o.k....you know just kickin' back watching tv....  Well that's no fun anymore and he's done with just sittin' around.

Since he's so little there's not many things to keep him occupied for long periods of time because he likes to go and do.  He was always on the go so I've been trying to think of things that he might enjoy.  I happen to think he might enjoy opening happy mail...I mean don't we all. 

So this is where my favor comes in....

Would like to help cheer up a little boy who's in for a long haul? Since we all love to make cards I was hoping that maybe some of you might like to send him a bright fun card suitable for a toddler.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy or over the top....just a simple card to make him smile.  His name is Cole and his favorite color is blue and he loves all sorts of animals but cat's and dog's most.  I'm hoping that this might be a fun activity (opening the cards together) that he might enjoy and even look forward to.

If you'd like to send a card, please e-mail me (roni j j (at) g mail (dot) com) and I'll give you my addy. (I don't feel comfortable giving out my son's address)  I will gather then and take some over for him to open up from time to time to break up the monotony of being an un-willing couch potato.

Thanks to you all for listening and helping if you can.

Let's Do a Bit of Weaving!

This month Rinea and Imagine have partnered together for an awesome month full of fun projects using products from both great companies!  Today I wanted to share a card that I made with a bit of weaving involved!

For complete instructions on how I made this card please see:

Woven Thanks by Roni

Supplies:

Rinea Autumn Foiled Paper Collection

Imagine VersaFine Clair Ink - Nocturne, Acorn, Belle Blue
Memento Dual-Tip Markers
irRESISTible Pico Embellisher - Shimmer
Tear It! Tape
Sponge Dauber

Carmen's Veranda - Pumpkin Doll
Carta Bella - Gather Together Stamp Set
Authentique - Pleasant Six
Dark Chocolate Card Blank

Lost Coast Designs Mayan Blog Hop - Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of our

Lost Coast Designs - Mayan Blog Hop!

Today I have a card which is golden....

I wanted to really go with the Mayan gold theme so I stamped and embossed the main image with gold and added touches of deep rich colors.  The image was die-cut and mounted on a sheet of gold sparklie vellum to really make it pop.

I hope if you have time you'll visit the Lost Coast Designs Blog to check out the other projects our designers have created for your viewing pleasure.

Lost Coast Designs Mayan Blog Hop - Day 1

Welcome everyone to the 

Lost Coast Designs Mayan Blog Hop Day 1

We are all so excited about the new Mayan themed stamps we thought we'd show 'em off a bit.

I used the Mayan Stele image for the background then stamped the main image on watercolor paper using Imagine's VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink.  I then used a variety of Memento Dual Tip markers to color in all his fancy bits and bobs.  I used Fabrico Peach marker for his skin tone.  The ground was watercolored with a Niji waterbrush and Memento Dye inks.

Be sure to stop by the Lost Coast Designs Blog 

for links to all of the lovely creations by our team.

Day of The Dead Challenge

Hello Friends - 

Welcome to November!

Did you know that the new challenge over at 

Lost Coast Designs & Carmen's Veranda was Day of the Dead?

It is and here is what I created!

I used two of the three skulls from the "Three Small Skulls Set" which happen to be the perfect size for ATC cards as well.  The background was created by stamping the "Sketchy Flower" with various colors from Imagine's Radiant Neon Ink line.  These inks were also used to color the fun and funky designs on the skulls with the assistance of Fantastix also from Imagine.

These sugar skulls are so much fun to color...you can let your imagination go wild :)

Hope you take a minute to pop on over to the LCD/CV Blog and check out all the cool projects from the team and join in the fun if you're able!

Autumn Card Full of Blessings

Hello Friends!

So excited to share a fun card project today that brings together two of my favorite companies...Imagine and Rinea Foiled Papers.  The Imagine Artists and Rinea design teams will be sharing creations made using items from both companies.  Loads of lovely inspiration to come in the month ahead!

As you can see I had lots of fun with this card using stamps from Honey Bee - 

this darling pick up truck is just too cute and can be used for many occasions!  

StazOn inks are perfect for stamping on the foiled papers.  

The images come out crisp and clean!

And don't worry about using StazOn ink on your acrylic stamps, they may have a bit of staining but it won't damage the stamp.

I loaded up my truck with pumpkins...

And sent it on it's way to deliver...

Autumn Blessings!

I hope you are inspired to try a bit of stamping on some foiled paper...

I know you won't be disappointed!!

Imagine:

VersaFine Clair – Nocturne, Acorn

StazOn – Jet Black

Craft Mat

Other:

Rinea Foiled Paper – Autumn Variety Pack; Emerald/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Silver/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper

Honey Bee Stamps – Sending You Sentiments; Little Pick Up Stamps; Little Pick Up Dies

White Cardstock

Dark Brown Card Blank

Adhesive