STAMPlorations Inspiration

Hi and welcome to this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration Post. I'm still inspired by the summer flowers in my garden. Today is also a sad day as one of my good friends will be moving far away. I wish her all the best in her new exciting adventures from the bottom of my heart, but I will also miss her. Luckily there is always a silver lining to every cloud, as she kindly gave me some plants from her garden which are now blooming in my garden! I once read that life will answer to the wishes you make. I have been wishing for more plants in large pots in my garden - and now I have been given a beautiful rose, hydrangea and two beautiful geraniums. How lucky am I?

But back to flowers of another kind - the paper kind. I started this card with a panel I made a while ago, adding strips of leftover card to create a rainbow which I die cut with Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. Next, I stamped the flowers from Softly on vellum, heat embossed in gold and fussy cut them and added to the rainbow panel. Last, I die cut the sentiment from vellum and black card using Skinny Sentiments. I added everything to a white card base which I decorated with cherry blossom washi tape.

Also, the brand new fabulous STAMPlorations store is now open for all your crafting needs - stamps, stencils, dies, digi stamps and the outlet store are now all in one place!  And you can get 30% off your first order in the new store if you use the code RELAUNCH30 at checkout. If you use my affiliate link above I get a small commission on any purchases you make without any additional cost to you so you help me keep my stamping addiction going! For any future shopping sprees in the new shop I can offer you a discount code to use at checkout if you use code STAMPGIRLKAROLA you will get 20% off your purchase of normal price products in the main and digi store (but not the outlet store as the prices are already heavily discounted)!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Softly

Dies: CUTplorations Skinny Sentiments, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Midsummer! Last weekend was Midsummer in Finland, and it's one of the biggest celebrations of the year. There is as much congestion on the roads as there is for Christmas. People travel to their summerhouses and the cities are as good as empty of people. Many people also start their four week summer holiday at Midsummer. According to folklore, if you pick 7 different flowers on Midsummer night and sleep with them under your pillow, you will dream about the person you are going to marry, so I was inspired by flowers for my card for this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration post.

I started by stamping the beautiful horse with his beautiful flower decorations from Deepti's Live, Love, Ride stamp set (note that this stamp set is currently out of stock and not visible anywhere while Shery is migrating the STAMPlorations store over to the new domain but I'm hoping it will be back in stock later as it's one of my favourites). I watercoloured the image using Distress Inks. Then, I masked the image and inked the same colours of Distress Ink through Sanna's Fairy Tale Forest stencil to create a magical floral background. Last, I stamped one of the sentiments from Live, Love, Ride.

Another important thing to note is that the new STAMPlorations store is now open for digi stamps as well as the outlet store. If you use my affiliate link above I get a small commission on any purchases you make without any additional cost to you so you help me keep my stamping addiction going! I can also offer you a discount code to use at checkout, if you use code STAMPGIRLKAROLA you will get 20% off your purchase of normal price products!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Live, Love, Ride

Stencil: ARTplorations Fairy Tale Forest

Ink and colouring: Distress Inks, Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black

Products in the BIRTHDAY MONTH SALE section are 40% off with code 7YEARS

***Code can be used up to 7 times per customer. Code cannot be combined with other codes. Expires 6/30.***

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Monday! It's time for another STAMPlorations Inspiration post. Every week we get together with ladies from the STAMPlorations Inspiration Team to showcase our favourite STAMPlorations products. By commenting on the Inspiration post on the STAMPlorations blog you will enter our random monthly draw for a $10 gift certificate.

This week I felt we all need a few sweets to cheer us up. Well at least to cheer me up! I have to admit I have been self-medicating my work-related stress with too many Candy Kittens. They donate some of the proceeds to the NHS, so eating sweets is a way to contribute, right? 

For my card, I started with the yummy cupcakes from Sweet Kindness which I stamped and watercoloured. I then created two background panels, one by smooshing Distress Oxides which I die cut with Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies and another one which I created using the yummy Sweet Backgrounds Clear Stickers. I layered everything onto a card base which I splattered with pink Distress Ink. Last, I added a sentiment from Sweet Kindness which I stamped onto a scrap piece of background I created using Distress Oxides. It's a bit more layered than I usually do, but it was fun to create something.

Stamps: STAMPloratinos Sweet Kindness

Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

Stickers: Sweet Backgrounds Clear Stickers

Ink and colouring: Distress Oxides, Distress Inks, Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black

If you want to take advantage of the 40% Birthday June Sale you can do so by using the code 7YEARS at checkout in the STAMPloratios Store. And if you want 20% off non-discounted products, you can use my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout.

 

Products in the BIRTHDAY MONTH SALE section are 40% off with code 7YEARS

 

***Code can be used up to 7 times per customer. Code cannot be combined with other codes. Expires 6/30.***

STAMPlorations June CAS Challenge - Reminder

Hi, how are you? Thanks for popping by today! So many things are different this summer compared to other summers, but one thing stays the same. It's going past way too quickly. How can we already be in the middle of June? However it happened, today I get to share my card for the STAMPlorations June CAS Challenge Reminder. 

For my card, I created a purple watercolour background using Distress Inks. Then I stamped the beautiful Layered Vase and heat embossed it in gold. Last, I added a lilac die cut sentiment using one of the dies from Everyday Sentiments. This is a very quick and easy way to create a beautiful card, and you can literally do it in a few minutes.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Layered Vase
Dies: CUTplorations Everyday Sentiments
Ink and colouring: Distress Inks, Tsukineko Versamark

Don't forget the STAMPlorations Birthday Sale as some products are 40$ off with the code 7YEARS. And if you want to shop for products which are not in the Birthday selection, you can get 20% off by using my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout.

 

Products in the BIRTHDAY MONTH SALE section are 40% off with code 7YEARS

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Tuesday, aka STAMPlorations Inspiration Post day! Today I have a really sweet project to share with you. Don't forget, if you comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration Post and the designer's blogs (including mine!!) you can win a $10 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store.

I started by picking out a bright pink and cheery Distress Oxide background from my stash. I die cut it using one of the Stitched Tags Nesting Dies. Then I stamped and heat embossed the sweet cupcakes from Shery's new Sweet Kindness stamp set in gold, watercoloured with Distress Inks and fussy cut the image. I created a sentiment by die cutting Happy Birthday using Everyday Sentiments dies in gold mirri card. This turned out to be a really bright and fun project, and a great way to use up some of those backgrounds you made but didn't quite know what they should be used for. I know you have them stashed away somewhere :) 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sweet Kindness
Dies: CUTplorations Everyday Sentiments,  Stitched Tags Nesting Dies
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Distress Oxides, Distress Inks

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Thanks for checking in on my STAMPlorations Inspiration post this week - the first Inspiration post for June. June!! It's summer - the garden is beautiful, although we could do with a bit of rain. Preferably during the night so we can still enjoy the gorgeous sunshine during the day. I had a little picnic in the garden with a cold drink and my crochet yarns yesterday, in the shade of our apple tree and it was lovely. 

My card is inspired by the blooms and the colours in the garden. I used Shery's new Bloomin' Coffee and You. I stamped the floral tag multiple times and coloured with Distress Oxides.  I then used a similar colour scheme but in softer pastel Distress Inks to ink through the Rubber Bands stencil, added the tags and finished with a sentiment from the stamp set. Don't forget, if you comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post and the designer's blogs, you are in the draw to win a $10 gift certificate for the STAMPlorations store.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Bloomin' Coffee and You

Stencil: ARTplorations Rubber Bands

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Ink, Distress Oxide

STAMPlorations June CAS Challenge

It's summer! I know it's probably going to be slightly different than most other summers, but I am fully intent on enjoying all the things I can this summer. I'll have picnics in the garden, have more time for my hobbies and we'll try to go out more for cycle rides and walks where we live instead of travelling somewhere further away. It will be more environmentally friendly and challenge our imagination in different ways, and I'm excitedly looking forward to what this summer will bring. 

A new month also means it's time for a new STAMPlorations CAS Challenge. This will be our last challenge for this season, and we will take a summer break and be back again in October. But there will be plenty going on over on the STAMPlorations blog over the summer, so don't fear you will still find regular inspiration and ways to play along and win prizes. 

For my card, I stamped the gorgeous blooms from Sweetly and watercoloured them with Distress Inks. I splattered purple across the background and added a sentiment which I die cut in shimmering purple card using Everyday Sentiments. I really like the muted colour scheme used for this card.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sweetly

Dies: CUTplorations Everyday Sentiments

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks Dusty Concord, Hickory Smoke, Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet