gettin' inky?

...moi??! as you know, i tend to be pretty lazy about stamping. i'm not sure why that's the case, because as soon as i get pushed into it i remember that i actually do like to stamp, but i generally need to be pushed. fortunately this week's challenge (#187) at shopping our stash is called "gettin' inky" and we want to see you use your oldest ink. you don't necessarily have to stamp with it, but since my oldest ink is embossing ink, i did have to stamp... and emboss!!! which actually turned out pretty cool, if i do say so myself. i really should stamp more! :) :) :)

mandala stamp: crafter's companion "taste of india"; clear embossing ink and white embossing powder: psx; distress inks and blender tool + sponges: tim holtz; patterned paper: basic grey; vinyl thickers: american crafts; black glossy cardstock: paper accents; black chalk ink: colorbox; superfine point black permanent pen for outlining: faber castell pitt; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, sewing machine

i stamped the gorgeous crafter's companion mandala a bunch of times in embossing ink on glossy white cardstock, then embossed with white powder. i blended a few different shades of distress ink on top until i had a fun colorful background. i wanted the shape of the stamp to stand out a little more, though, so i did a bit of outlining with a fine point permanent pen. i tried to make one of my usual lumpy bumpy blingy layery creations, but somehow the mandala panel resisted all my efforts, so eventually i succumbed to its wish to become a fairly flat card which could be mailed with just one stamp! (this is not something that happens to me very often, so i like to savor the moment, lol!)

speaking of savoring, there are some fairly luscious inky creations over at SOS, made by my design team sisters... why not hop over and check them out? you can thank me later! ♥