Things With Wings Blog Hop Final Reminder

Thanks for stopping by today for the final reminder of the Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party over at STAMPlorations to celebrate spring. The inspiration in the linky is absolutely amazing, thank you for everyone who has linked up. I'm honoured to join a bunch of the amazing DT ladies for the final inspiration and reminder post, you still have a few more days to link up, until April 30th to join us and also for your chance to win a bunch of great prizes. And if you aren't lucky enough to bag yourself some prizes this time round, you can always use my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA in the store for 20% off your order. 

For my card today I wanted to use the gorgeous Bloom Boldly stencil and the super fun Dragonfly Layering dies. I stated by inking Distress Inks through the stencil and die cut the tag using the Luggage Tags Nesting Dies. I'm happy I went for a slightly different colour combo from what I usually use, I think the bright colours have such a spring feel to them. I die cut the dragonfly and the thanks for the sentiment from a piece of green card I found in my UFO box which I created using Distress Paints way back when. Last, I die cut the solid dragonfly from vellum and another "thanks" from purple card to create a bit of contrast. Last, I mounted everything onto white card and added Ice Stickles to the sentiment and dragonfly wings.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

AAA Cards - Stencil 

CAS on Sunday - Stencil

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge - Blend

Card: 250 gsm white card, 250 gsm white hammered card, 300 gsm watercolour card, Dovecraft 110gsm premium vellum, scrap of purple card

Stencil: ARTplorations  Bloom Boldly stencil

Dies: CUTplorations Dragonfly Layering dies, Luggage Tags Nesting Dies, Thanks Word Die

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Wilted Violet, Distress Paints

Other: Ranger Ice Stickles

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!

April STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-Month Inspiration

Welcome to my little mid-month reminder for the April STAMPlorations CAS Challenge. Absolutely loving the beautiful pastel creations in the gallery! And the great news is that you still have a few more weeks to link up. Don't forget that if you combine our pastel colour CAS challenge with winged things, you can also link up with the Things With Wings Spring Hop. Why not double your chances of winning some great prizes.

This time I thought I would create a one layer card with the super-cute Hello You stamp set. I started by stamping the retro typewriter and coloured it with Gansai Tambi watercolours. I added the sentiment below the typewriter. I thought it all looked a bit bare so I added stamps from the fantastic Scribbly Splattery Grunge set in pastel colours to the background. I just love the grunge-y alphabet, I think it works so well with the typewriter theme. 

Card: 250 gsm white hammered card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Hello You, Scribbly Splattery Grunge

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up So Saffron, Soft Sky, Blushing Bride, Gansai Tambi watercolours

Things With Wings Blog Hop Reminder 2

It's been a full week since I've shown you some wings - so here we go! This is your second reminder that the STAMPlorations Things With Wings blog hop is still in full swing. I hope you have been enjoying the inspiration so far, we certainly have loved the gorgeous creations in the link-up.

For my third card, I decided to do a whole lot of stamping, masking and fun colouring. The awesome Trendy Butterflies 2 are perfect for colouring with all their beautiful, intricate patterns. I used pretty much all the colours of my Tim Holtz Distress markers when creating this card! Then I simply stamped one of the sentiments from the same stamp set in Versamark on black card and heat embossed in white for a high contrast sentiment. Sometimes it's nice to create something with nothing but one stamp set and some markers, no fancy techniques or tons of equipment. Just you and your markers. So even if you are just getting into crafting and haven't bought very much stuff yet, there are so many options out there. And of course, if you want to do some shopping you can use the discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout in the STAMPlorations store for 20% off your purchase!

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

Make My Monday - Embossing Heat or Dry 

The Card Concept - Fresh Flutters (style: clean and simple)

Time Out - Inspiration image

Card: 250 gsm white smooth card, scrap of black card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies 2

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Other: Papermania Seafoam White Embossing Powder

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!

Things With Wings Blog Hop Reminder

This is a reminder for the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop which is taking place to celebrate spring and is going on until the end of April. I'm honoured to join in with a bunch of the super-talented ladies from the STAMPlorations DT to show you our creations for this first reminder post for the hop. I hope you will join us by either commenting on the DT creations or link up your own cards to be in the draw to win one of the many prizes from the new spring STAMPlorations release.  

For my second card, I decided to continue with the rainbow colour theme in line with my first card last week. This time I created a rainbow using Brushos. I attached the Shower of Flutters stencil to watercolour paper, sprinkled over some Brushos and sprayed with my mini mister until the colours blended. After the Brushos dried, I stamped the butterflies from Trendy Butterflies which match perfectly with the stencil. I die cut the intricate butterfly and sentiment from glittery gold card - I used a shim  made of a folded piece of paper in my cutting sandwich for the butterfly to ensure the intricate small pieces of the lattice-work popped out of the die cut cleanly. All that was left to do was to add the die cuts to the card. I just love the look you get when you sprinkle Brushos and then mist - you can't plan what comes out and you can never get the same look twice, every card is totally unique.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

AAA cards - Shiny Spring

Shopping Our Stash - Use Punches or Dies

The Card Concept - Fresh Flutters

Card: 300 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour paper, gold glitter card

Ink and colouring: Brushos, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies

Stencil: ARTplorations Shower of Flutters

Dies: Flutter Zen 2 Layering Dies, Hello Sunshine Phrase 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!

Cute Bird Wedding Card

I was recently asked by a colleague whether I would be willing to make a wedding card for someone. Would I ever! I think it's always great to get asked to make cards, although people seem to think it's an inconvenience. No, no, no!! It's the only way I can justify my "investments" in my inflated crafty stash. So I got out my Lawn Fawn Happy Wedding stamp set and set off to have some fun!

I started by inking up a piece of hammered white card with three shades of purple Distress Ink and splattered some water onto the background to create a slightly distressed look. I stamped the super cute birds, the cake and glasses of champagne on white card, coloured with Copics and die cut with the matching dies. I also die cut a banner from a scrap of purple card and the sentiment from silver mirri card.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
The Card Concept - Purple Haze (inspired by the glass bottles to make the purple background with the splatters)
CASology - Icing
Just Add Ink  - Inspiration Image (inspired by colour combo of purple and yellow)

Card: White hammered 250 gsm card, Neenah Solar white smooth card, scrap of light violet card and silver mirri card
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Black, Distress Inks Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet and Dusty Concord, Copics, Wink of Stella
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Happy Wedding and matching dies
Dies: Lawn Cuts Banner dies, Scripty Congrats die

April STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Anything Goes With Pastel

New month - new CAS challenge! Welcome to April and to our "Any Pastel Colour" STAMPlorations CAS challenge. As usual the colour twist is an option, if you don't want to go with the colour twist you can still link up as long as your card is CAS. 

For my card this time, I started by creating a subtle background by sponging pastel Distress Inks through the ARTplorations Dots All Over stencil. I die cut the butterfly using CUTplorations Flutter Zen 2 Layering Dies from a piece of watercolour card that I created by watercolouring pastel Distress Inks. Then I die cut the intricate top for the butterfly from white card. After adding the butterfly to the card I stamped the sentiment from STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies 2. Sometimes all you need are a few dots and a really intricate butterfly!

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

Curtain Call - Speckled

Happy Little Stampers CAS - Blend

Card: 250 gsm white card, 300 gsm watercolour paper

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine Tuxedo Black

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies 2

Stencils: ARTplorations Dots All Over

Dies: CUTplorations Flutter Zen 2 Layering Dies

STAMPlorations Things With Wings Spring Blog Hop & Linky Party

I'm so glad you stopped by my blog as I'm thrilled to be part of the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop & Linky Party which starts today. We are celebrating spring! Isn't it wonderful when the flowers come out and the sun is warm enough so you can enjoy being outside. I love spring. It's my favourite season, I love it more than summer. I love watching the garden come to life, the beautiful spring greens and the daffodils which are then slowly making room for other colours in the flower beds. I love watching the buds turn to blooms on the fruit trees and the seeds starting to germinate in the greenhouse. The simple pleasures in life!

As usual Shery is generously giving out lots of prizes to all of you who want to play along with us to celebrate spring. You can play along by commenting on the main blog post and on the designer's posts. You can also link up your wing-themed art projects to our gallery, you don't have to use STAMPlorations products but we would love to see you use them if you have any. Both commenting and linking will be open until April 30th. You can see all the wonderful prizes on the main blog post. You can find all the gorgeous new spring themed STAMPlorations products under the New Release category in the STAMPshop. And you can get a 20% discount by using the discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout!

For my wing-themed card I used the new Dragonfly Layering Dies. This is a set of dies I was looking at and thinking I don't really know how to use this, and maybe I don't really like it. How wrong was I!! After playing around for a bit I just totally fell in love with this die. The dragonflies are so gorgeous and you can play around with so many different looks. White borders on colourful dragonflies, vellum dragonflies with colourful borders, white against black, any combination really! I chose to go with rainbow colours, because as you know, rainbow is my favourite colour. I used a piece of watercolour card I had created previously using Brushos to die cut the dragonflies an a piece of sparkly white card for the top border to accentuate the colours. I created a rainbow coloured background using the ARTplorations Bubble Dance stencil by blending Tim Holtz Distress inks using foam applicators. Finally, I die cut the sentiment using the new Be Kind Phrase Die. All the bright colours on this card make me smile, I hope it will inspire you to also create something spring and wing themed for the linky party. Don't forget to hop around to see what my incredibly talented DT colleagues have created for the hop as well.

I'm linking up with the following challenges: 

AAA cards - Shiny Spring

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Make a Rainbow

Time Out - Be inspired by the phrase "When it rains look for rainbows, when it's dark look for stars"

Card: 250 gsm white card, 160 gsm watercolour paper, white and grey glitter card

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Brushos

Stencils: ARTplorations Bubble Dance 

Dies: CUTplorations Dragonfly Layering Dies, Be Kind Phrase Die