Deck the Halls

It's holiday season, and nothing says "Christmastime in the City" quite like The Ink Pad's exclusive NYC-themed stamps, used to decorate festive Distress Oxide Ombre baubles. Head on over to The Ink Pad Blog to read all about it!

How Many NYC Taxis...

...can you fit into one blog post? If the taxis are The Ink Pad's adorable Michelle Ward Taxi Stamp, the answer is SIX! The cards in question also use elements from Michelle's Skyline, Manhole Hex and Manhattan Map cling stamp sets; against a dramatic background of Distress Oxide Ink Blends.

TN + Stamps = JOY

This month on Instagram, The Ink Pad's friend and Journal Guru, Andy Evers (aka @storiedpages) is co-hosting a event called "You By Me" in which journalers are encouraged to try making a page in the style of a fellow enthusiast they admire. I chose Andy himself (of course!) and was pretty excited to find that since we both shop at The Ink Pad, we have quite a few products in common; which made my task fairly easy. All the details on this layout as well as my September montly spread on The Ink Pad Blog today!

MTA Tape? Yes, Please!

We're seriously crushing on these fun and stylish Manhattan Transit Authority products. They're perfect for journals and scrapbooks, of course; but they also make outstanding cards! We currently have four styles of MTA Tape and four different MTA Sticker Sets at The Ink Pad and these cards I've made using them are on The Ink Pad Blog today!

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!!! ♥

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! ♥

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.