Inked Inspirations by SLMP

01 May 2023

Online Shop Closing

Hello Inky Admirer,
New adventures are beginning.  I’ve talked off and on about creating art in my little corner of the universe.  I’m venturing into a new commitment of developing an art practice.  I’ve had some false starts in this direction, but I feel like I’m finally ready to commit.  If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed a bit of a shift in card style. 

Through my exploration of abstract art, I’ve created several collections of cards using Yana Smakula’s one sheet dry brush technique.

Using this technique, I create several   9 x 12 or 11 x 14 inch sheets at a time.  Once my sheets are dry I cut them into panels to use for card creation similar to the one at the left.

Prints using a gelli plate are another magic way I’ve been exploring new card styles.  

The card at the right was created by applying acrylic paint to the plate and pulling the print with an old book page.  Once the print was dry, I used Archival Ink to stamp the butterfly over top.

Goal setting isn't in my nature, and one of my closest friends would tell you my inner rebel is the cause.  She might be right, but we won't tell her that.  So what do we call this if it's not a goal?  Let's call it an intention.  

My intention is to remember why I started and return to the joy of making, sending, and giving more of my art.  

In pursuing my art journey, the online card shop will be closing earlier than I originally planned.  The Inked Inspirations Online Shop will close May 31st.  Shop now to stock up on your favorites.  

This going to be an interesting journey and I hope you’re along for the ride.  Next month I’ll share more about my thoughts on the changes and new direction I have in mind.

21 February 2023

Hello Inky Admirer,

In my last post, I talked about making changes in the new year. If you're a newsletter subscriber, then you already have the inside scoop. My plan each month is to walk though my thoughts and decisions while sharing them with you. To get the news fist, become a subscriber. Stick around, you might be surprised where this journey takes us. I have new ideas brewing.

The toughest change isn't a decision I made lightly. I mulled this around for months and have finally settled on it.

In August of this year I will be closing the online shop. In an effort to be transparent about this decision, I'm going to wade into the weeds of it a bit. Don’t worry we won’t go to deep. It will just make more sense if I share some extra bits.

The online shop has never taken off like I hoped it would or honestly should for that matter. I have the traffic, but not the sales. Translation, there are a lot of window shoppers. The reality is that I can no longer justify the cost of platform I currently use.

Part two of this decision, if I'm brutally honest, creating listings for a shop that doesn't make money is soul sucking. It’s time to shutter the online shop and explore other ideas.

This change will ONLY AFFECT THE ONLINE SHOP.

Local shoppers will still be able to get their handmade card fix at Smiling Moose. New card designs are added frequently and often.

Those of you who aren't local shoppers, know that I value your business and will be exploring alternatives for you. If you are one of my annual holiday card orders I will still be here to fill those requests. When the holidays season begins, please reach out by email and we can discuss options.

Goal setting isn't in my nature, and one of my closest friends would tell you my inner rebel is the cause. She might be right, but we won't tell her that. So what do we call this if it's not a goal? Let's call it an intention.

This year, my intention is to remember why I started and return to the joy of making, sending, and giving more cards.

Why did I start Inked Inspirations? The deeply rooted reason? I wanted someone to receive the happy mail that I'd wished for in my own mailbox. Then I started selling my cards to help pay for my hobby and then I grew that focus with the intention of building a business. In the process of trying to build a business I lost sight of my why. It’s time to return to the joy and the why.

In returning to my why, I plan to focus on rebuilding my habit of sending happy mail, giving away packs of cards and donating cards to great causes. I make hundreds of cards a year, and when I sent my first donation to Cards for Kindness last month I was reminded of how much that fills my heart and feeds my soul. I want to inspire more of you to send more cards and fill more mailboxes with more happy mail.

This going to be an interesting journey and I hope you’re along for the ride. Next month I’ll share more about my thoughts on the changes and new direction I have in mind.

02 February 2023

Inked Inspirations Update - 2023

It's been a hot minute since I dropped a post here. Welcome to the land of life got in the way. Yesterday I released an update to my subscribers and felt that it would be good to share the info here as well. If you'd like to become a newsletter subscriber you can do so by visiting this link. Ok, let's get to the updates:

Hello Inky Admirer,

I thought I’d stop by your inbox and share an update. It’s been a fantastic New Year so far. I started a new job, which I’m loving! I’ve begun setting some new goals for the card business and exploring the ideas I have for changes in the New Year.

In January, I chose to start donating more of my handmade cards. I sent 96 cards to Cards for Kindness.

Cards for Kindness is part of the Creative Kindness Foundation. Once a donation is made, cards are distributed to the many organization that use them to spread kindness.

For more info you can check out their site - Cards for Kindness.

In October of 2022, my mom passed away. I chose to pay tribute to her by creating artwork and making her memorial cards for family and close friends. This project gave me new direction for my creativity. I’ve delved into learning the Procreate app on my iPad and will be utilizing it for future card designs.

At the end of December, I made the decision to discontinue custom designs. This was not a decision I took lightly, but I will no longer be accepting requests for custom designs. Custom cards are very time consuming, and honestly take some of the joy out of my creative process. I will still be taking card requests for occasions or matching multiples, but I will no longer be creating customized designs. Thank you for respecting this decision.

The online shop has been reopened after inventory. You'll find a few new designs, as well as a few changes to the categories under Shop by Occasion.

Last, but certainly not least. For my local shoppers, there are always new designs going into the rack at Smiling Moose. I’d also like to give you a big heartfelt thank for choosing to purchase my handmade cards.

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17 November 2022

Creating Multiples - All You Need is Love & More Coffee

Do you create in singles or multiples? I do both. Multiples can be anything from two to six or more. When I create multiples I often create them with patterned paper. This is determined by how much of a specific pattern I have, it dictates how many of a card design I can create.

For today's cards, I had enough striped paper to create three cards. I let the paper dictate the color palette for the card designs. When I pulled these stripes from the basket I felt a coffee shop vibe, so coffee cards they became.

These stripes are bold and can carry a card on their own, so I needed a bold sentiment and a little embellishment to keep them clean and simple. I pulled a sentiment and coffee cup from the Technique Tuesday Perk Up stamp set. I used my favorite set of stitched rectangle dies to cut both the pattern paper and sentiment block.

I used my Copics to color my coffee cups to match the patterned paper. I don't usually buy matching dies. Not a fan of the white outline they create. I use my Scan and cut or I fussy cut the images. These cups are simple shapes so they were easy to fussy cut.

With all my pieces created it's time to build the cards. I opted for a lower third layout to pull the eye down the pattern to the focal point of the card. The sentiment was offset slightly from the center to make room for the coffee cup and balance the design. None of the elements were popped up, but you could totally opt to do that with a card this simple. I embellished my cup with a tiny heart this is a knockout from one of my many heart pattern dies. I save small knockouts for later embellishments like this.

That's it, three cards, clean and simple.

Shopping Notes:

Technique Tuesday Perk Up - retired

Shop the Supplies:

Copic Sketch Marker B02 ROBIN'S EGG BLUE Shop at: SSS \| Blick	Copic Sketch Marker BG01 AQUA BLUE Shop at: SSS \| Blick	Copic Sketch Marker E31 BRICK BEIGE Shop at: SSS \| Blick	Copic Sketch MARKER E43 DULL IVORY Shop at: SSS \| Blick
Simon Says Stamp HEART BREEZE Wafer Dies Shop at: SSS	Simon Says Stamp STITCHED RECTANGLES Wafer Dies Shop at: SSS	Gina K Designs OBSIDIAN Amalgam Cube Ink Mini Pad Shop at: SSS	Gina K Designs OBSIDIAN Amalgam Ink Pad Shop at: SSS
Tsukineko VersaFine Pigment Ink Pad - Onyx Black Shop at: SSS \| SBC \| AZ \| Blick	Spellbinders - Platinum 6 - Die Cutting and Embossing Machine Shop at: SSS \| SBC \| AZ	Spellbinders UNIVERSAL PLATE SYSTEM Shop at: SSS \| SBC	Neenah Bright White Paper 65lb. Cover Stock Shop at: AZ
Fiskars - Razor Edge Easy Action Shears Shop at: SSS \| SBC \| AZ	Small Precision Scissors - Stainless Steel - 4 inch Shop at: SBC	Technique Tuesday Stamps - Perk Up Shop at: SBC	Kokuyo Tape Glue Dot Liner Long tape, Refill cartridge 5 Pack, Shop at: AZ
Kokuyo Tape Glue Dot Liner Long-Blue Shop at: AZ	Tim Holtz - Ranger Collage Medium Shop at: AZ	EK Success Mini Scoring Board Shop at: SSS \| AZ	Lawn Fawn Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS
Sizzix - Sticky Grid Sheets - 6 x 8.5 - 5 Pack Shop at: SSS \| SBC \| AZ	Tonic Tim Holtz Stamp Platform Shop at: AZ	100 Clear A2+ Card Resealable Cello/Cellophane Bags (Fit One A2 Size Card w/Envelope) Shop at: AZ	250 Starbrite Opaque Select A2 Envelopes in White - Economy 24lb Bond Smooth Vellum Finish Shop at: AZ
Fiskars 6 Inch Photo Bypass Trimmer Shop at: AZ	Fiskars PREMIUM CUT LINE Paper Trimmer 12 Inches Shop at: SSS \| SBC \| AZ	Tim Holtz 12.25 Inch Maxi Guillotine Trimmer Shop at: SSS \| SBC	Fine-Tip - Ergonomic Reverse Grip - Craft Tweezers Shop at: SBC
Stainless Steel Tweezers Shop at: AZ

16 November 2022

Thanks Trio - Using Die Cutting Diva’s CC Sketch #56

Today’s trio of cards were created with pattern paper scraps and a few die-cuts from my stash. For a while, I subscribed to the theory that if I cut a bunch of die cuts at once I would have them ready to use. The problem with this is that I began storing them and never using them. As a general rule whatever I already had cut was the wrong color for the card I wanted it on. As a result, I would cut a new one and never use the ones I had pre-cut in my stash. Now I’m in use it up and quit storing mode.

For these cards, I began with Die Cutting Divia's CC Sketch #56 from January 2017 and collected a few strips of patterned paper from my scrap stash.

For each card, I selected patterns that worked well together and then found a solid color to fit the color palette for my card panel. I stamped the solid panel with the Prima Iron Orchard Texture stamp using VersaMark Ink for a tone-on-tone effect. Once stamped, the panel was added to a white card base.

I layered strips of patterned paper onto my tone-on-tone panel. Then I cut my squares from a patterned paper that reminded me of school notebook paper and stamped “for being part of my life” in the lower right corner. I layered three of the "thanks" dies for dimension and adhered it above the stamped sentiment, offsetting it slightly to hang off the square to add interest.

To complete each of the cards, I added a few enamel dots in the upper left corner of the square to complete a visual triangle.