City Thoughts

New York City has been on my mind a lot lately, for perhaps obvious reasons! I like using my Michelle Ward Exclusive New York themed products from The Ink Pad at any time, but they seem especially useful right now, to make a hopeful card. All of the stamps on this card come from Michelle Ward's Manhattan Map Stamp Set, and the star-centered stencil is from Michelle's Manhole Covers II Stencils and Masks set.

I made the pink butterfly wings and the creamy butterscotch "argyle" background using two of Sally Lynn MacDonald's Sweet Nature Shapes Gel Press Petite set. One of my favorite ways to use the Gel Press Petites is to stick them on an acrylic block, cover them with paint or ink, and "stamp" them. Sometimes I just stamp a few and cut them out... like the two layers of butterfly wings, stamped in Charming Pink VersaFine Clair ink. Other times I stamp them over and over to make a pattern, as for the argyle, which used Scattered Straw Distress Oxide. I used the fully inked diamond mini to make the dark areas of the pattern and stamped a second time with just the residual ink to get the lighter shade.

I stamped the Manhattan Map on a large manilla tag. On a fussy-cut manhole-stenciled gel print I added the Places in New York,  NY Postmark and Building, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black. I stamped the Building a second time, on the offcut of that manilla tag, and cut it out, so I could mount it on foam tape on top of the butterfly wings, and above the "shadow" building, after I assembled the little collage of items that make up the finished card. 

I hope you'll be inspired to make a card or journal page based on your favorite city, and if that town happens to be New York, Michelle Ward and The Ink Pad definitely have you covered!!! ♥

Tulips in Bloom

Arguably the best part of Spring is watching all the flowers bloom, and in a Spring where many things are different, thankfully, that is still true this year! I don't happen to have tulips in my yard, so I made some myself, with Hero Arts' Frame Cuts Tulip Dies. There's more step-by-step detail on The Ink Pad Blog today.

New York, New York

A city so nice, as the saying goes, they named it twice! Everyday Explorers Co. has only named this stamp set once, "Passport: New York" but it is equally fab and very useful for planners, travel journals, or (as in this case) cards! Oh and it's available at The Ink Pad of course! Read more about it on The Ink Pad Blog!

Same Gorgeous Ink; FAB New Pad!

Because YES! The Ink Pad is (finally!) officially moving from the Seventh Avenue store to brand new digs at 233 West 19th Street (betw 7th & 8th aves)! And since that's just six blocks further up town and half a block west, we know you'll still be able to find us when we re-open on February 29th! Obviously an event this momentous needed to be celebrated in card form, so here's one now:

Michelle Ward's Downtown NYC Map Stencil is a beautiful background for all sorts of occasions, but if you're actually moving from one downtown location to another, it's absolutely perfect, lol. I used it to make a bold but more or less solid color gel print and then added an envelope (with typed vintage label!) showing our new address, plus a labelmaker sentiment. The Taxi Cab from Michelle's Skyline Stamp Set, plus the Skyscraper and Postal Cancellation from her Manhattan Map Set add just enough local color on this fun A7 card.

We hope you'll mark your calendar for February 29th and plan to come visit us in the NEW STORE! Here is a map which shows 233 W. 19th Street just in case you need a visual! See you soon! ♥

Bring On the Bling!

It's no secret that I looooove Eyelet Outlet Bling... the fancier the better! But this is the first time I've used it to create a compound mandala shape. Pretty sure it will not be the last, however.

I started with an XL (2") Snowflake in the center of my 6" square pan pastel gelprint. At the end of each "arm" of the snowflake, I added one Heart Jewel Bling, facing outwards. Then I placed a smaller 1.5" Snowflake between each pair of hearts, to be like a second round of arms. Finally I added a clear Teardrop Gem at the top of each heart. Et voila!

Remember when I said I was pretty sure you'll see this idea revisited? Well I take it back. Because I'm no longer pretty sure... I'm positive! ♥

Hexed (& Possibly Vexed)

This week I had a blast doodling all over a rainbow ombre background I made with Michelle Ward's Large Hex Pattern Stencil and VersaFine Clair Inks but... what do you do with a card panel that is 8x10"?! The answer is on The Ink Pad Blog today! ;)

What's Going on in This Photo??

It's the last Stencil Sunday of 2019, which seemed to call for something a bit special. So I made a Manhole Mandala (yes, really!) using Michelle Ward's beautiful Manhole Cover Stencils and Stamps from plus a few basic circle and heart dies. All the details are on The Ink Pad Blog, as are the facts about the Big News. Because The Ink Pad is moving to a brand new location... SOON! Meanwhile there are sales galore at the current shop, you should probably check it out! ;)

Many Thanks!

These sweet Lawn Fawn birdies are the star of a card with many thanks on The Ink Pad Blog today. Because no matter what winter holiday you celebrate, this is most likely the week you will need the most thank you cards, lol! There's also some big BIG news from The Ink Pad, so you might want to pop over and check that out!

Happy Hanukkah!

The Festival of Lights begins at sundown and I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who is celebrating a very Happy Hanukkah from everyone at The Ink Pad! This timely card is on The Ink Pad Blog today, if you'd like to stop by and read a bit more about it.

TREE-mendous!

The holidays are approaching *FAST* so here's a super easy card idea to help things along! I used a bunch of Michelle Ward's exclusive Stamp and Stencil Designs to create trees with a distinctly NYC vibe. Of course they are all available at The Ink Pad Online. Meanwhile, the card and a bit about its creation are on The Ink Pad Blog today.

Stencil Sunday: Rainbow Skyline

I love New York. That is both a statement of fact and a reference to one of The Ink Pad's exclusive Michelle Ward stamps, which I've used to make a card as colorful as the city itself. Hop over to The Ink Pad Blog to see the whole card and hear the whole story!

I'll be doing some lettering at The Ink Pad's Seventh Avenue store today from 1-4pm, why not stop by try out the brand new Karin Metallic Markers... I guarantee you will looooooooove them as much as I do! ♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you the happiest of holidays: full of delicious food, great company and stress-free travel. In keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition of eating then shopping, make sure to keep an eye out for special sales at The Ink Pad's Greenwich Village shop from Friday through Tuesday so you can get your craft fix on! (& of course The Ink Pad Online is open all the time!)

Card by Lauren Bergold

Supplies used: Karin DecoBrush Metallic Pens, Pitt Artist Pens, Eyelet Outlet Brads 

and VersaFine Clair Inks; all available at The Ink Pad!

♥♥♥

Lots and Lots...

...of layers on today's card on The Ink Pad Blog. Old school round eyelets and grungy stenciled gel prints combined with Michelle Ward's Manhattan Map Stamp Set for perhaps my most New York-centric card yet? Hop over for all the details!

You'll Get a Kick...

...out of the card that's on The Ink Pad Blog today!

(Spoiler Alert: it features Michelle Ward's beautiful Dance Line Stamp Set, designed exclusively for The Ink Pad!)

I'll Take Manhattan

To paraphrase Sir Mix-a-Lot, "I like big cards, and I cannot lie"! Case in point the A9 that's featured on The Ink Pad Blog for Stencil Sunday. It features not one, not two, but three of Michelle Ward's beautiful New York City themed stencils made exclusively for The Ink Pad. Prefer stamps to stencils? She's designed some of them too. You should probably check it out! ♥

...Hello...

...it's Stencil Sunday on The Ink Pad Blog where I've got a very very layery card that features Michelle Ward's NYC Manhole Cover Stencils and Masks and Manhole Covers II. For the record, if you had asked me a couple of months ago, "Hey Lauren! Do you need Manhole Cover Stencils?" I might not have immediately answered YES, but as it turns out I use both of these All. The. Time. (They're available as stamps, too, btw; just sayin'...) ♥

It's Autumn in New York...

...and that's the theme of today's card, which features Eyelet Outlet Leaf Brads, a gorgeous Michelle Ward NYC Skyline Stencil and some not-so-gorgeous gel prints that I "recycled" as patterned paper! Hop over to the Ink Pad Blog to see the whole card and read all about it!

hold the peanut butter

because it's ALL GELLI around here, during the third week of 30 days of gel printing with birgit koopsen via instagram!

day 14: texture

birgit showed a really cool technique to make your own texture blocks using a variety of foam and cardboard shapes. coincidentally my aunt had just given me half a box of self adhesive foam letters in truly ugly neon colors, which i came very close to tossing away. as it turned out, they made the perfect tool for this!

day 15: fall

i used the "color within color" technique where you're essentially lifting off some paint thru the stencil, then replacing it with a different color, so it looks sort of like stained glass. this one is a testament to how different a print looks when you add just a teeny bit of pen doodles on top.

day 16: yarn 

(mandala monday)

yarn (like lace) is a surprisingly good mask! above are my yarn-centric prints, and below is the mandala i made by using circle and heart punches on the dry prints and building the shapes into a mandala. 

day 17: texture plates

the name refers to some very cool specialty tools, which are a bit like rubber stamps, but unmounted and made specifically for gel printing. alas, i don't have any, lol. so i tried some embossed foam sheets (which kinda worked) a flat plate for building lego's on (worked really well) and my little hand made foam letter tool thingie (worked pretty well). i was also testing some chalk-like acrylic paints which are sort of cool, though they dry quite a bit faster than ordinary ones.

(due to time constraints and a surprise party we threw for my mom this week, i skipped over day 18: vegetables and day 19: complementary colors; hope to double back and get to those next week; but honestly i'm slightly shocked to have kept up as well as this anyway!)

day 20: felt tip pens

another technique i would never have tried if i wasn't participating in this challenge and checking out birgit's post most days! basically, you just color on the plate with kid markers... in this case i had laid down a background of pigment ink and colored thru a stencil. this is easy and fun, but don't attempt anything super formal because you definitely see the pen marks on the plate.

Stencil Sunday: On the Town

This fancy vintage lady and I hope you'll join us on The Ink Pad Blog where we're wishing The Ink Pad a very Happy 21st STAMP-iversary this Stencil Sunday! ♥

gelli, gelli, gelli!

it's time for this week's round up of gelli printing goodness and ...in a few cases... frustration, actually. it was sort of a mixed week, lol!

day 7: trace

did you know you could use alcohol ink markers on the gel plate? nor did i! they work really well tho. posca paint pens work pretty well too, though they are more likely to stick to the plate. for this prompt we placed a magazine or coloring book image UNDER the gelli plate and traced around it with a copic or posca, then pulled the print with paint. i'll definitely come back to this one!

day 8: pastels or chalk

i'm lonnnnnnging to try this technique with pan pastels, but alas, all i had were some ancient chalks and the method still worked pretty well. i confess i did add some pen details at the end just because my colors were so very soft...

day 9: stencils

a bit of a cheat here, but it was mandala monday, so instead of making new prints i took some older ones (which were made with stencils) and assembled a mandala from punched circles and hearts.

day 10: pigment inks

if i was only going to choose ONE favorite technique for the week, i think this would be it! so much so that i'm going to just tell you to watch the birgit koopsen video because it shows you exactly how to do it -- you don't even need PAINT!

(ps: i didn't have texture plates like the ones birgit used in the vid, so i made my own by using embossing folders on scraps of sturdy cardstock!)

day 11: multiple layers

after several triumphant days of trying a new thing and having it turn out brilliantly, when i got to this one it just. did. not. want. to. work. the brief was to add design elements to the plate in several layers and then lift the whole thing in one swoop at the end. this just didn't happen for me. i made some absolutely beautiful plates that either didn't release at all or got too covered up with paint or... well, something. i was bizarrely comforted to hear (via instagram comments) that apparently a lot of folk struggled with this one. and i think i miiiiiight have an inkling of how to change my results now...

day 12: repeat patterns

ok, so, back to the pigment inks for instant gratification lol! i applied ink to my small diamond plate, "lifted" some ink with a beautiful ken oliver flower mandala, then stamped the diamonds repeatedly to make a harlequin pattern. 

day 13: mixed media

another one where i loved my compositions but failed repeatedly to actually lift them successfully off the plate. i think the problem might be that i'm using too heavy body of paint. i'm going to try this (and the multi layer prompt!) again with thinner, less pigmented craft paint and see how it goes!