InKollage

Brandywine Owl

Brandywine, Mango, Cantaloupe and  Berry on a pumpkin-colored Jack o' Lantern notecard...the supply list for this card sounds like a recipe for an antioxidant smoothie!

Artsy Owl is back - and he's about to announce some great news about another BIG InKollage contest. We're still working on the details - but here's some advance info - we'll be featuring the Sparkly Bird Bonanza stamps in our MAY Memory Box Bucks design contest.  The contest will be announced here on InKollage the first week of May - so be sure your Retailer has these great stamps ready for you.

Wouldn't you love to win the next $100 Memory Box Bucks contest and have your prize shipped to your favorite store?

Read more...

A Bird with Bling

A very serious Crested Bird from the Sparkly Bird Collection acquires a bit of bling on this colorful card.

He's been Smooched - in shades of Siren, Gold Lame and Moonlight. Then, for the final touch, the delicate leaves are Smooched with Green Apple, our new favorite green.  Smooches are vibrant, concentrated pearlescent inks that make it super-easy for anyone (even me!) to create a smooth, blended layer of color - and extra highlights, just where you want them. 

We'll play with Smooches in my "In Other Words" classes at Impress and Stampin' in the Rain.   We'll make four basic cards, then alter them slightly and use different wordstamps to create a total of eight cards.  It'll be a fun, fast-paced class.

There are also Paper Style classes scheduled at Impress this weekend - with a little origami dress, sassy shoes, purses - and of course, Memory Box Jewels, Pearls and papers.  

Read more...

May Penguin Calendar

The festive Fiesta Penguin gets ready to celebrate Cinco de Mayo here.  He'd also be great on a Bon Voyage card for someone heading south for a sunny vacation - or on a birthday card for someone who loves Mexican food.

The Glitterati 6x6 Set is featured here, for his outfit and the sun.  He's even wearing a bolo tie with a Deep Lagoon Jewel Sticker "clasp."  Cutting two tiny ovals for the maracas was not on my agenda - but a Fiskars oval punch made it quick and easy.  

Read more...

  

Meet Tweet

Here's Tweet - one of the new birds in the Sparkly Bird Bonanza.  Like Artsy Owl, he's robust, clean-lined and easy to enhance with Memory Box prints, Smooches, Copic Markers, color pencils, watercolors or chalk.  If you're wondering what Smooches are...they are accent inks from Clearsnap, in a cool, skinny bottle - like nailpolish bottles with attached applicators.  We'll use them again on future cards - but for now, here's a cheery paper-pieced Tweet on a Mango Notecard.

Read more...

Nightly News

Meet our newest owl...Artsy Owl, from the Sparkly Bird Bonanza Collection.  He's big - about 2-5/8" tall - and super-easy to cut or color with Copic Markers, Smooches, color pencils, watercolors or chalk.  Or, combine our printed papers and a color medium for a quick, easy owl.

He - and his companions Tweet Bird, Chickadee and Crested Bird join the growing group of Memory Box flying creatures. He makes his InKollage debut here - on a Brandywine Collection tree -  surrounded by Canary Yellow Jewel Stickers. The stickers are hard to see here - but they're there, all 15 of them, sparkling like little treelights around him.

InKollage.Idea #7 - Create word bubbles with wordstamps, punches and a skinny triangle to connect the bubble and the "speaker."  Circles, scalloped shapes, triangles, rectangles and squares are also great for this technique.  Or, just hand-cut your own shape if the words don't fit on a punched piece. Edging both the stamped piece and the skinny triangle ties everything together and makes the message seem even more important.    

Read more...

Where's the Party?

Cantaloupe, Mango, Cherry...the supply list for this card sounds like we're dicing up a fruit salad.  Then - for dessert - Chocolate and Biscotti!

Okay enough about food - back to work now...here's another card from Dave's Memory Box Pandas display. It's a great birthday card - but it would fun for other celebrations too.  Like the-day-after-taxes, retirements, promotions, sold the house, got my tax return, First Puppy Bo found a new home, and oh-look-the-perennials-are-coming-back. 

Happy Days, indeed!

Read more...

Here's a beautiful Woodland Springtime card by Nita Mortensen - another finalist in the InKollage contest.  Nita chose the Sweetbay 6x6 print for her background, inviting Nutty Squirrel and his stash of acorns to create a storybook border across the bottom of the card.

Her seasonal theme reminds us that spring really is here - although that's sometimes hard to believe. Nita's card features a soft background and a striking focal point in rich browns.  It's the perfect layout for any occasion - and a design that would be great with many of the characters in the Woodland Springtime Collection. Starting with a good layout - as Nita did here - lets you mix and match stamps and papers to create an assortment of great cards.

Thanks for sharing your creativity with us Nita!

Another Great Card

Here's another great card by a finalist in the InKollage contest - Judy Nilsen...

Judy perched  Owlette on the Bare Oak for this clever entry in the InKollage contest.  She carefully mixed four prints from the Butterfield Collection  with a dotted ribbon for a balanced, well-coordinated mixture of prints and colors.  An excellent combination of patterns! 

Set against the rolling hills in the background, this would be a great "guy-card"  because of the strong colors and striking prints Judy selected.  It would be great card for a golfer - the challenging terrain in the background, and the Owlette observing every move.

Thanks for entering the contest Judy.   Your design will inspire others to mix and match Memory Box prints and stamps to create a perfect card layout.

Top Picks

Here's a great card by Jan Korn, one of the finalists in the InKollage contest...

Jan paired the Garden Bunny and Flutter Chick on a beautiful Aquamarine gatefold card.  Soft colors and sparkly Petal Pink Jewel Stickers create the perfect Woodland Springtime storybook scene to welcome the new season.

Inside the card, seasonal variations of the Eclipse Tree are  highlighted by Petal Pink and Cherry Red Jewel Stickers.  Punched scalloped circles from the Butterfield 6x6 Set become treetops for the left and right trees.  A Jumbo Dauber and layers of Pearlescent Thyme create a dark green top for the center tree.

I also love how Jan rounded just the top corners of her card and papers.  This subtle technique complements the round top/squared off bottom shape of the Eclipse Trees.

Super job, Jan!  Thanks for entering our contest - your card is a great combination of the Woodland Springtime stamps and the Butterfield papers.

  

The Winner!

Congratulations to MELANIE BROWN of Matthews, North Carolina!  Here's Melanie's great card - featuring Owlette and Eclipse Tree from the Woodland Springtime Collection on our new Bayou Notecard.  Vibrant colors and a good combination of Fernbrae and Glitterati 6x6 Sets created a striking backdrop for our little nightowl.

Melanie  - please email Dave at memoryboxco@comcast.net   and he'll get your shipping info and help you place your order for $100 of Memory Box products through your Retailer.  It would be great if you'd also post a comment telling us the name of your favorite Memory Box Retailer - and some of the items you're ordering.  We wish you many, happy hours of inspired creativity using your prizes!

Thank you - everyone - for all of your wonderful cards.  I wish there could be more than one winner, but this was just our first BIG contest - there will be many more chances for you to be a winner. 

I narrowed the selection down to my four favorites - the other three top picks were from Jan Korn, Judy Nilsen, and Nita Mortensen.  Then -  Dave, Laura, Cate, Patter and I voted for the winner. Extra-special thanks to Jan, Judy and Nita - I'll be posting your great designs too. They are too good not to share!