Hello Awesome

The Wednesday Challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog is Anything Goes this week, and one of the companies they are focusing on is Lil' Inker Designs.  It just so happens that I recently ordered some dies and stamps from Lil' Inker, so I decided to play along.

I used three Lil' Inker products on this card: the Stitched Mats: Rounded Rectangles die, the Awesome Word die, and the little "Awesome" word stamp from their Notebook Doodle Stamps.  I cut the rectangle out and stamped the "awesome" background with embossing ink.  Since the stamp had some black ink left on it, it came out grey in some places.  I also stamped the "hello" with a Hampton Art stamp.  I cut out 6 "Awesome" words from glitter cardstock and stacked them to create depth, offsetting the top layer for a shadow effect.  A glitter cardstock background and some fun sequins finished it off.

This was my first experience with Lil' Inker products and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.  (Please note -- I have no affiliation with the company and don't get anything for reviewing their product.  I'm just a regular consumer who happens to like what she got.)  I have dies from a few manufacturers that I have to shim with multiple layers of paper or run through the machine multiple times to get a clean cut.  My Lil' Inker dies cut cleanly and perfectly on the first run without any shimming, even when cutting glittered cardstock.  The stamps also made a clean impression, with every detail coming out crisp.

I'm super busy trying to get my house ready to sell because we're moving to another state, so creative time is at an absolute minimum for me right now.  Taking this challenge and trying out my new goodies was a really fun way to get some art into my day.  I always feel inspired when I have something new to play with, and doing a challenge is a great way to focus on a specific design element.  This all makes for a much quicker creative process for me.  Usually I sit around for hours trying lots of different ideas and product combinations.  This time I knew what stamps and dies I wanted to use, I already had the glitter cardstock out from another project I'd just finished, and instead of going, "Hmm... what little embellishments should I add?" I decided on sequins and didn't even look at anything else.  I love how quickly it all came together, and now that I've had a little creative fix, I can face sorting through another kid's closet without losing my mind.  :)

Happy Crafting, everybody!

Materials Used: cardstock: DCWV and Crafter's Companion, dies: Lil' Inker Designs, stamps: Lil' Inker Designs and Hampton Art, sequins: Studio Calico, Adhesive: ATG and Art Glitter, ink: Ranger, other: card blank