Distress Oxide Watercoloured Flowers

When I saw the new STAMPlorations Blossom Sprays #1 stamp I knew it would be perfect for watercolouring. And with all the Distress Oxides out on my craft desk after a few days of very intensive crafting, I thought why not use those. Although the selection of colours so far is quite limited (but yes, I did see the big reveal of the new colours the other day and oooh me oh my, me wants them all!!) you can still get quite a few colours by mixing them up. My favourites were the mix of Fossilized Amber with Cracked Pistachio, and Worn Lipstick with Fossilized Amber. 

Anyhow,  I started by stamping the flower stamp in Antique Linen Distress Ink onto watercolour paper and then watercolouring with the Distress Inks. I die cut the flowers using the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle die. I added a strip of my new super-cute cherry blossom washi tape to a white card base, and added the watercoloured image to the card. Last, I added a few strips of the washi tape onto a scrap piece of white card and die cut the sentiment using the Hugs word die. I also cut the sentiment in black card and layered these for contrast. I just love the chalky look of the Distress Oxides when used to watercolour, and the way they layer or blend depending on whether you add more colour to a wet or semi-dry base. So much fun!

I'm linking up my card over at CAS on Friday where the theme is Flowers, The Challenge (inspiration words below, I went for Flowers, Bright and Watercolour), Make My Monday where the theme is Summer Brights and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes this week. 

Card: 300 gsm white card, 350 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour paper, scrap of black card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Blossom Sprays #1 Dee's Artsy Impressions
Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, Hugs Word Die
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Anique Linen, Distress Oxides Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick, Cracked Pistachio, Fired Brick, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet
Other: Washi tape from my stash

Don't forget today is the last day of the STAMPlorations 4th Birthday Hop and Wishlist Linky Party with lots of opportunities to win great prizes. Also, don't forget you can get 20% off when shopping at the STAMPlorations store by using the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. Together with the 15% birthday discount (which is applied automatically without any code) that adds up to a whopping 35% off your order!

Unicorn Watercolour Hugs

I have been amassing a serious mountain of NBUS and have made a bit of an effort to work my way through some of it. I was super-inspired by the Watercolour theme over at Lawn Fawnatics - the DT are amazing and there is always such amazing inspiration, but for some reason I haven't managed to play along all that often. I wanted to try out my new Starry Skies die and thought it would go great with a watercoloured night sky. And a unicorn. No starry sky scene is complete without a unicorn, right? I was also inspired by the colourful umbrellas (blue, green, pink and yellow) in the inspiration image over at Inspired By All The Little Things and last, but not least I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes. 

I started by painting a night sky and some grass using my Gansai Tambi watercolours and die cut the pieces using Stitched Rectangles, Stitched Hillside Borders and Grassy Border dies. Next I stamped the Winter Unicorn and the flowers from Gleeful Garden onto watercolour paper and coloured them with watercolours too, and die cut with the matching dies. Then I cut the sentiment using Scripty Hugs from pink and yellow card, and cut a piece of yellow Watercolour Wishes paper using the Scalloped Borders for the background. Lastly I assembled the card, using some 3D foam tape for the grass, unicorn and one of the flowers for some dimension before attaching everything onto a card base.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 350 gsm Daler&Rowney Watercolour card, scraps of pink and yellow card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Winter Unicorn, Gleeful Garden and matching dies
Dies: Lawn Fawn Scalloped Rectangles, Stitched Rectangles, Starry Skies, Stitched Hillside Border, Grassy Border, Scripty Hugs
Ink and Colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Gansai Tambi watercolours
Other: Lawn Fawn Watercolour Wishes paper

More Summer Coffee

I just received a new batch of STAMPlorations goodies, including the awesome It's a Brew-tiful Day phrase die. So with the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop still going, I couldn't help myself, I had to take the die for a spin. 

I started by stamping the Framed Coffee to Go in Versamark and heat embossed in copper. Then I used the small dies from the Trendy Spring Blooms Dies set on some scrap pieces of rainbow card I created using Distress Oxides for another project. I cut the flowers to fit the coffee cup. I used the same scrap rainbow pieces to cut out the sentiment. I created a rainbow background by inking with Distress Oxides through the Dots All Over stencil. 

I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is Stencil It and Make My Monday where the theme is Summer Brights. 

Card: 300 gsm white card, 350 gsm Daler & Rowney watercolour card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Framed Coffee to Go

Dies: CUTplorations Trendy Spring Blooms Dies, It's a Brew-tiful Day phrase die

Stencil: ARTplorations Dots All Over

Inks: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Oxides 

Other: Papermania Copper embossing powder

Don't forget the STAMPlorations 4th Birthday Hop and Wishlist Linky Party is in full swing with lots of opportunities to win great prizes. Also, don't forget you can get 20% off when shopping at the STAMPlorations store by using the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. Together with the 15% birthday discount (which is applied automatically without any code) that adds up to a whopping 35% off your order!

Rainbow Congrats

I've been making up for lost time in the craft room lately. And as I made a few cards over the last few days which were not rainbow coloured, of course I had to make up that too, inspired by the image over at Just Us Girls. I also wanted to play along with Time Out where the theme is Celebrations with the Optional Twist of One Layer. I'm assuming inlaid die cutting counts as one layer! Last, but not least I was also inspired by the Words Have Power theme over at AAA Cards. 

The inlaid die cut technique is an easy and quick way of creating fun designs. Here, I started by stamping the gorgeous new Blossom Sprays #1 stamp from STAMPlorations in Versafine. Then, I die cut the sentiment using Congrats Word Die and sponged Distress Ink onto the die cut. The only thing you need to be careful about is to make sure you don't lose the tiny little bits from the die cut so you can glue them all back into the correct places. I added a few colourful rhinestones as a finishing touch. This would be a great design if you needed to mass produce cards, you could do a whole set with different flower stamps and different sentiments. 

Card: 250 gsm white card, Neenah Solar White Card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Blossom Sprays #1
Dies: CUTplorations Congrats Word Die
Ink: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick, Wilted Violet, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron
Other: Adhesive gems from my stash

Don't forget the STAMPlorations 4th Birthday Hop and Wishlist Linky Party is in full swing with lots of opportunities to win great prizes. Also, don't forget you can get 20% off when shopping at the STAMPlorations store by using the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. Together with the 15% birthday discount (which is applied automatically without any code) that adds up to a whopping 35% off your order!

STAMPlorations 4th Birthday Blog Hop

I'm super excited to be part of the STAMPlorations 4th Birthday Blog Hop which is starting today and will go on for a whole week! Happy Birthday STAMPlorations and thank you Shery and David for the hard work you do to bring these wonderful inspirational products to all us crafters. There is a huge bunch of amazing new products available in the STAMPlorations store. All stamps are -15% off until July 7, and don't forget you can combine that with my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA to get an additional 20% off. And of course Shery has lot of great prizes for you to win, check out the main post here, and see what my super-talented DT sisters have created using the great new release!

I wanted to create some colourful birthday cards using the new Cupcake and Gift builder dies. I love layering dies, so much fun to play with! I created a pink and red background for the delicious cupcakes using Distress Oxides and a rainbow background for my colourful gift using Brushos and the ARTplorations Retro Circles die. If you want to shop for these great new dies (or anything else) in the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA for a 20% discount at checkout (this will be on top of the 15% automatic birthday discount)!

Card: 250 gsm white card, Daler&Rowney 350 gsm watercolour paper, scraps of coloured card, gold and white glitter card, Scrap of Stampin' Up rainbow striped patterned paper
Ink: Distress Oxides Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick, Tsukineko Versamark, Brushos
Stamps: STAMPlorations Sugar Rush
Dies: CUTplorations Cupcake builder 1, Cupcake builder 2, Celebrate Word Die, Gift Builder 1, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle
Stencil: ARTplorations Retro Circles
Other: Papermania Seafoam White Embossing Powder, white gel pen

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. If you have any questions or problems, just let me know!

Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Well I have to admit I haven't had such a slow blogging month in all the years I have blogged. But it's summer, work is crazy, and I just went away for a few days. To Barcelona! And not for work, but just for fun!! Tapas, warm nights, Sangria, architecture, churros, sea food and a bike tour (yes, it was mostly focused on food, less on sight seeing. Priorities, you know...). Sooo much fun. And now I'm back and trying to make up for lost time in the crafty room. So many challenges I missed while I've been busy with all the other stuff. 

I came back to realise the 2017 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is going on. Can't miss that one!! So I used the delicious Bloomin' Spring Coffee Basket stamp and coloured it with my Gansai Tambi watercolours, inspired by the colour palette over at Sunday Stamps and the Think Pink theme over at Shopping Our Stash. I splattered some watercolours on the backing card, and die cut the image using the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies using the CAS(E) This Sketch for inspiration.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 350 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour paper, scrap of black card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Bloomin' Spring Coffee Basket 
Inks: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
Other: Ranger clear fine embossing powder, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder

Don't forget the STAMPlorations Wishlist Linky Party is going on here, you can link up a wish list of your favourite products and win. The 4th Birthday celebrations will begin tomorrow, so make sure to come back both here and to the STAMPlorations blog tomorrow to get the week long party started! Also, don't forget you can get 20% off when shopping at the STAMPlorations store by using the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. Together with the 15% birthday discount (which is applied automatically without any code) that adds up to a whopping 35% off your order!

June STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-Month Inspiration

Welcome to the mid-month inspiration post for the June STAMPlorations challenge. You still have two more weeks to play along with our Masculine Colours theme. There are some amazing projects already linked up in the gallery, thank you for all the inspiration. Keep it coming! Don't forget that this is our last CAS challenge for a while, we'll take a break over summer but there will be lots of fun things going on over at the STAMPlorations blog so make sure to check in over the summer. 

I created a Father's Day card for my father-in-law using the cheeky monkeys from the Chikoo Goes Bananas stamp set by Dee's Artsy Impressions. I thought he might enjoy the fun little monkeys as he is the adoptive father of Gordon, a very handsome orangutan living in Monkey World. I used Distress Oxides to create a jungle-like background and then stamped and coloured the monkeys using Copics. The sentiment was die cut from a scrap piece of card I created ages ago using Distress Paints. Last, I stamped the second part of the sentiment using a Lawn Fawn stamp set - the only one I have which says 'father's day'. 

Card: 350 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour paper, scrap of yellow card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Chikoo Goes Bananas, Lawn Fawn Happy Everything
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Vintage Photo, Cracked Pistachio, Fossilized Amber, Copics
Dies: CUTplorations Happy Word Die 

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. If you have any questions or problems, just let me know!

June STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Anything Goes With Masculine Colours

Summer is here!! Hope you are enjoying good weather and summer fun wherever you are. This will also be the last STAMPlorations CAS challenge before we go off on a break over summer. This month we challenge you to create something with masculine colours. But fear not, there will be plenty of exciting stuff going on over at the STAMPlorations blog. And don't forget that you can get a 20% discount if you want to go on a shopping spree in the STAMPlorations store by using the discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA.

For my card I chose to create a one layer card using the gorgeous Born to Roam stamps. I stamped the globe, masked it and stamped the luggage. Then I coloured the images with Copics. Last, I stamped one of the sentiments from the stamp set using Vintage Photo Distress ink. Last, I masked the image and stamped some splatters from the Art Marks stamp set.

I'm linking up my card with this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where Anything Goes.

Card: 250 gsm white card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Born to Roam, Art Marks

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Distress Ink Vintage Photo

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. If you have any questions or problems, just let me know!