So my dad's birthday was earlier this month, and I actually knew what stamp I wanted to use on his card, since Dad is a big fly-fisherman...I had been thinking about getting this Thomas Kinkade stamp for almost a year, and finally took the plunge and bought it. I meant to show a photo of all my messed up stamped images (just so you know things don't come out perfectly the first time, and I do waste a lot of paper), and I should have shown a photo of my inky fingers (I'm kind of messy), but not this time.
This is a beautiful stamp. It is also quite large. I inked it with a pad, then smoothed it with a brayer. I tried several times to stamp on to the paper, with the paper on my craft table, but couldn't get an even image, so I ended up inking the stamp, then placing my paper on top of that and finger-pressing the paper...like you do with backgrounders.
I played around with different ink colors, too, just for fun...
For Dad's card, I used Adirondack Espresso Ink on Ivory card stock. I tried to highlight the fisherman by sponging around him with Distress Inks.
Since I was hand-delivering this one, I could make it as big as I needed to, so I had room for an embellishment! I found these swivels in the fishing department at a store, and thought they'd work. Tied them on the card with some fishing line that was unknowingly donated by Peter from his fishing box.
Dad liked it!!!
SUPPLIES:
Stamps....It Doesn't Get Much Better (CHF)
Ink....Espresso (Adirondack); Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Distress Ink)
Paper...Dk Brown, Gold (DCWV); Natural White (Neenah)
Misc...Edge Distressor (MM), Fishing Line (Peter's fishing box), Brass Swivel (South Bend)
So then I decided to use up some of my extra images, and I made this one. It is standard size (4.25x5.5):
SUPPLIES:
Stamps....It Doesn't Get Much Better (CHF)
Inks....Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper...Black (Paper Accents), Mystic Medium (Prism); Solar White (Neenah)
I really like this stamp and am so glad I was able to make my Dad a card with it!
This month's challenge at Inchie INKlings is to create an inchie that uses a word (or words). Ellen created some lovely inchies with words that described different aspects of herself...
that kind of inspired me to find a word that I would use to describe someone: my oldest son, Ziggy, who is blind.
The one word that always comes in to my mind for him is "faith." He even has a shirt with this verse on it, which pretty much says what he feels:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)"
When Ziggy was younger, one of his favorite shapes was stars, so I thought I'd put them on his Inchie. He tells me his favorite color is blue, so I chose a dark blue, like a night sky, where the stars are placed.
We've talked about the sky and the stars and how, above all of that seemingly endless canopy of stars, is God. And He placed each star in its spot, and He made Ziggy exactly like He wanted, and He loves Ziggy...and Ziggy has faith in God. And it's not a faith like he needs something as a last resort to cling on to, or because there's nothing better out there to believe in...but faith because it's the truth, and he can depend on it, always...and I can't argue with that...
So I put the word "faith" in Braille on top of the Inchie, so Ziggy could see it first (now, I hate showing stuff that others can't produce themselves,
so I apologize for that, but if you ever need something brailled, let me know, and I'll see what I can do to get it to you).
I wanted the Braille to look like stars in the night sky, so I highlighted them with my stardust pen. Added a few stars, and the print word "faith." 
SUPPLIES:
Stamps.....Everyday Blessings (PTI), Special Occasions Mega Pack (Inkadinkado)
Ink....Noir (Palette), Night Sky (Versamagic chalk ink), Versamark
Paper...Inchie squares, Solid Indigo (DCWV)
Misc...stardust pen (Sakura), Braille writer, glue
So, it's kind of a simple Inchie, but that really is Ziggy: simple faith in the God who is above us all...Good night, my Sweet Prince...
