May STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-month inspiration

Welcome back to our mid-month reminder of the STAMPlorations CAS challenge. Our optional colour twist this month is one of my favourites, magenta. You don't have to use the colour twist if you don't want to and you don't have to use STAMPlorations products but if you have them we always love to see what you do with them. All we ask is that you create a CAS card, add the below challenge graphic to your post and link up to our challenge over on the STAMPlorations blog. You can link up three times, and there is still two weeks to join us to win prizes, get inspired and inspire others.

Today's card is a perfect example of how one stamp set, a few inks and some white card is more than enough to create gorgeous cards which are really easy to customise for any occasion. Seeing all the immensely talented designers out in the blogosphere can sometimes be really intimidating, but it's all about finding the right no-fail techniques. I know I'm cheating slightly as I used sentiments from another set, but the Tree Sihouettes set also has some lovely sentiments. Further, sentiments are easy to print if you don't have the right stamps, or you can even write them if your handwriting is less atrocious than mine! For this card, I started by masking off the right and left sides with some masking paper (I use any leftover papers, old envelopes, anything I can find to avoid having to use "clean" paper) and washi tape. Then I picked a few pretty colours of Distress Ink and sponged it with a foam pad (you can also use small make-up sponges which are super cheap, they work just as well!). Then I took watercolour brush and splashed some water onto the ink to create the water splotches. Then I stamped the gorgeous tree silhouettes and the sentiment in Onyx Black which is the blackest of black. Last, I picked up some purple Distress Ink on my watercolour brush with lots of water and tapped the brush with a pen to create the fine splatters for a bit of added interest. Really simple and easy, and you can use any inks you have and any stamps and sentiments you like! 

Card: 300 gsm textured card
Stamps: STAMPloratios Vignette: Tree Silhouettes, Blossom Overture
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks Abandoned Coral, Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Worn Lipstick

Disclaimer: I have received some STAMPlorations products for free in exchange for creating cards for the challenge. All opinions however are completely my own. As you can see by browsing my blog, I have been using STAMPlorations products (which I bought myself) way before my time on the DT and I wouldn't recommend them unless I absolutely loved them myself.