STAMPlorations Inspiration

Hello, how are you? Did you hop along with our big sixth birthday bash last week? It was quite a whirlwind, wasn't it? I'm starting to recover from the crafty overload but felt like a very clean and simple one layer card for this week's Inspiration Post.

I started by inking Distress Inks through one of my all-time favourite stencils, Retro Circles. I used all the colours of the rainbow to create a bright and fun background. Then I inked up the Quitting - Typografia Motivate stamp in Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black and stamped onto the background. That's it! I told you it was quick and simple :) 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Quitting - Typografia Motivate
Stencil: ARTplorations Retro Circles
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black

STAMPlorations Birthday - Birthday Cover Plate Dies

Happy Friday! It's been quite a week, I have had so much fun celebrating six years of STAMPlorations. Happy (slightly belated) birthday STAMPlorations, here's to many more! Congrats to Shery and David for making your business a success. Your products are the best, and I'm glad to see your hard work pay off and wish you all the best for the future. I'm so honoured to be part of your STAMPfamily. 

Today it's the last day of new festive product releases and I'm joining fellow design team members over on the STAMPlorations blog to showcase two new Zen Doodles birthday dies. And you still have plenty of time to celebrate with us to win great prizes. You can comment on the blog posts and the designer's blogs, you can link up to the Wishlist Linky Party or share your birthday- or celebration themed creations in the Birthday Linky Party. The linky parties are open until November 5th so you still have a few weeks to play along!

 

My first card is a Christmas card I created using Zen Doodled Birthday Gifts Cover Plate die. I die cut the plate three times - once in brown, once in red and once in green. I attached the brown outline onto white card, and paper pieced some of the areas in green, red and brown. I added a sentiment using the new Joy Christmas sentiment stamp set.

For my second card I went, as my dear sister put it, 'a bit psychedelic'. I die cut the plate twice, once in a shimmery grey card and once in a watercolour card. I watercoloured the latter before taking it apart, and paper pieced the whole card into the grey frame. Depending on your personality type, you will either find this completely infuriating or very mediative. I am, as you can guess, of the latter type. I die cut the sentiment using the Celebrate word die in black, attached it to a scrap of vellum and added stickles for that little bit of extra bling.

For my last card, I used a die cut of the plate as a stencil. I inked throuhg it using Distrss Oxides and added a sticker from Birthday Word Art for the sentiment. Last, I added some rainbow washi tape to frame the main image.

That's it, that's the end of the STAMPlorations Sixth Birthday Bash. I feel like it's the morning after the party - the kitchen is full of dirty dishes and various leftovers, and there are a few strange stains on the carpet. It's time to put the dishes in the washer, take out the stain remover and think back of all the fun while clearing out the mess. I need to take a breather for a few days, clear out my craft room and re-set my brain for new projects but there are already lots of fun ideas which are bubbling under the surface.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Joy

Dies: CUTplorations Zen Doodled Birthday Gifts Cover Plate die, Celebrate word die

Stickers: STAMPlorations Birthday Word Art Clear Stickers

STAMPlorations Birthday - Clear Stickers

Hi, how are you? Thanks for stopping by today! It's an extra special day today as we are sharing a lot of projects today with the new STAMPlorations Clear Stickers as part of our STAMPlorations 6th Birthday Celebration week. I had so much fun exploring the stickers and my fellow DT members have even more ideas over on the STAMPlorations blog. There are lots of great prizes up for grabs and many ways to win. You can comment on the blog posts and the designer's blogs, you can link up to the Wishlist Linky Party or share your birthday- or celebration themed creations in the Birthday Linky Party. 

For my first card I started by blending Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink onto white card and splattering with water. I left the centre of the card a bit lighter to show off the  Artsy Backgrounds sticker I added to the card. Then I heat embossed one of the deers from Yuletide Deer in copper on mahogany card. I stamped sentiments using Joy and finished the sentiment strips with attaching the same sticker from Artsy Backgrounds onto the sentiment strips.

For my second card, I started by stamping the gorgeous mandalas from Bloomdala in light brown before adding a sticker fro Artsy Backgrounds. I added a pink die cut using one of the dies from Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity and finished the card with a sentiment from Bloomdala.

For a quick and easy birthday card I used the Layered Cake Bake to stamp the cake and platter in Distress Oxides. I used a water brush to pull the colour from the outlines to colour the cake and the stand. I also splattered some yellow ink onto the card panel before adding a sticker from Birthday Word Art.

I used Layered Cake Bake and Birthday Word Art to create another quick and easy birthday card. I stamped the candles from Layered Cake Bake in a rainbow of Distress Oxides and added a sticker from Birthday Word Art. I used my Sharpies to colour the cake on the sticker, and my white Signo pen to add some highlights to the word "party" for a fun look.

There are so many fantastic stickers, so I had to create one more card. I started by attaching a sticker from Botanical Backgrounds to a white card panel. I stamped the cute little cacti from Succulently onto white card, coloured them with Copics and fussy cut them. Before attaching them to the card panel I splattered green watercolour for added texture. The sentiment is a sticker from Just Everyday Greetings which I attached to a strip of green card.

If you want to see more inspiration using the stickers, I have created a card kit using the Just Everyday Greetings stickers, you can find the post here.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer, Joy, Bloomdala, Layered Cake Bake, Succulently

Stickers: STAMPlorations  Artsy Backgrounds, Birthday Word Art, Botanical Backgrounds, Just Everyday Greetings

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity

PS: Check out the STAMPlorations store's CURRENT PROMOTIONS page for some awesome deals: October fall sale, new CUTplorations dies pre-order sale, coffee-themed sale, freebies with orders, and more!

STAMPlorations Birthday - New Stencils

Hi, I'm back again to continue celebrating six years of STAMPlorations as we are halfway through our birthday week full of new product launches. Today over on the STAMPlorations blog we are showcasing five new fabulous stencils from Sanna Lippert and I have created some projects with two of them. There are lots of great prizes up for grabs and many ways to win. You can comment on the blog posts and the designer's blogs, you can link up to the Wishlist Linky Party or share your birthday- or celebration themed creations in the Birthday Linky Party. 

For my first card I used Sanna's new stencil Peacock Feathers. First, I blended Wilted Violet and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks through the stencil. I stamped one of the feathers from Feathery, coloured it with Copics and fussy cut and added a sentiment from Just Everyday Greetings Clear Stickers which I simply attached to a sliver of purple card. These sentiment stickers are so fantastic!!

For my second card I left my CAS comfort zone a bit and went for a more romantic vibe. I started by attaching a sticker from Botanical Backgrounds Clear Stickers to a kraft card base. Then I inked Worn Lipstick Distress Ink through the Retro Hearts stencil on the diagonal. I also inked Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges of the card to give it a bit of an aged look. Then I stamped the In Bloom: Radiant Roses, coloured with Copics and fussy cut. The sentiment is a sticker from  Just Everyday Greetings Clear Stickers attached on a small scrap of vellum. 

I also created a tag using a mixed media background which was a bit of an experiment. The background was a piece of card I had created by blending Distress Inks and I die cut the card using Stitched Tags Nesting Dies. Then I used a white Signo pen to trace the outline of the Peacock Feathers stencil and added a bit of white watercolour to the feathers. I used a failed attempt at Gelli plate printing to die cut the bird using the Perched Bird die. Then I inked the edges of the tag, the bird and the sentiment strip through the Evolution stencil in Vintage Photo Distress Ink I also inked Vintage Photo around the outline of the bird of the tag. Finally, I attached a sticker from Just Everyday Greetings Clear Stickers to the sentiment strip to complete the tag.

Stencils: ARTplorations Peacock Feathers, Retro Hearts, Evolution

Stamps: STAMPlorations Feathery, In Bloom: Radiant Roses

Stickers: STAMPlorations Just Everyday Greetings Clear Stickers, Botanical Backgrounds Clear Stickers

Dies: CUTplorations Stitched Tags Nesting Dies, Perched Bird 

PS: Check out the STAMPlorations store's CURRENT PROMOTIONS page for some awesome deals: October fall sale, new CUTplorations dies pre-order sale, coffee-themed sale, freebies with orders, and more!

STAMPlorations Birthday - Layered Cake Bake

Happy Monday! I'm so excited to be part of the STAMPlorations Belated 6th Birthday Celebrations and we will be partying all week! We have five days of new fabulous STAMPlorations product releases and there are several ways for you to play along too. Today over on the STAMPlorations blog I'm so happy to take part in the release of Shirley's gorgeous new Layered Cake Bake stamp set. There are lots of great prizes up for grabs and many ways to win. You can comment on the blog posts and the designer's blogs, you can link up to the Wishlist Linky Party or share your birthday- or celebration themed creations in the Birthday Linky Party. 

This is such a fun and versatile stamp set and it will work for so many different celebrations, or combine it with one of the many coffee stamp sets for a coffee and cake vibe! For my first card, I filled in the delicious slice of cake with a galaxy. I started by stamping the outline of the cake in black and heat embossing with clear powder. I then used my Gansai Tambi watercolours to create a galaxy and splattered some white gouache paint on the cake and some black watercolour on the background. I used the candles from the stamp set to create a black and white background, die cut the main image using the Crazy Double Running Stitch Nesting Rectangle Dies and heat embossed one of the fun sentiments from the set in white onto black card. 

For my second card, I stamped the cake and stand in embossing ink and heat embossed in clear powder. I then watercoloured a rainbow background for the cake. I used a grungy stamp set to add some black dots and heat embossed a sentiment from Sweet Cravings in white on black card.

For my third card I stamped many layers of cake and the cake stand in a rainbow of Distress Oxides. I then used a wet watercolour brush to pull the colour from the outline of the cake slices to colour the inside to give it a pretty pastel colour. I finished the card by adding one of the clear stickers from Birthday Word Art. Quick and easy but super fun!

Last but not least I created a super easy and quick tag. I started by attaching a sticker from Sweet Backgrounds Clear Stickers onto white card and die cut with Stitched Tags Nesting Dies. All I had to do was stamp the sentiment from Layered Cake Bake in permanent black ink and add a ribbon.

I hope you hop over to the STAMPlorations blog to see all the beautiful cards created by the other designers and I hope you are inspired to join us in celebrating six wonderful years of STAMPlorations!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Layered Cake Bake, Sweet Cravings
Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Nesting Rectangle Dies, Stitched Tags Nesting Dies
Stickers: STAMPlorations Birthday Word Art, Sweet Backgrounds Clear Stickers

PS: Check out the STAMPlorations store's CURRENT PROMOTIONS page for some awesome deals: October fall sale, new CUTplorations dies pre-order sale, coffee-themed sale, freebies with orders, and more!

STAMPlorations Inspiration

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for a new STAMPlorations Inspiration Post. Every Tuesday the STAMPlorations Inspiration team get to showcase our latest creations with our favourite STAMPloratons products. Over the years I have amassed quite a bit of these, and although I love them all, I have to admit some of them have become things I reach for over and over again. The Succulently stamp set is definitely one of my favourites, as I love house plants and succulents and cacti in particular (as they have a much better chance of surviving in my care than some of their more high maintenance cousins).

I started by stamping all of the sentiments from Succulently on kraft card in a matching ink for a subtle background. Then I stamped a few of the plants, coloured them with Copics and fussy cut them to create the focal image. Last, I die cut the sentiment using another workhorse of my crafty stash, the Hugs word die in brown card and added a few accents with my gel pen. 

Don't forget to leave a comment on the  Inspiration Post and the designer's blogs for a chance to win prizes every month!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Succulently
Dies: CUTplorations Hugs word die
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Copics, Signo white gel pen

Check out the CURRENT PROMOTIONS page in the STAMPlorations store for some awesome deals: October fall sale, new CUTplorations dies pre-order sale, coffee-themed sale, freebies with orders, and more!

STAMPlorations October CAS Challenge - Reminder

We are halfway through the month and depending on whether you are a glass half full or a glass half empty person it means that you still have half of October to play along with us, or that you only have half of the month left to play along with us for our October challenges. So if you have already played along, thank you for sharing your wonderful creations, and please feel free to join again as our challenges allow multiple contributions (but check the rules for each challenge for the exact number of times you are allowed to link up). If you haven't had time to play along yet, you still have plenty of time and all the ladies of all the challenge DTs have teamed up with plenty of additional inspiration today over on the STAMPblog. 

I have created a new card for the October CAS challenge where the optional colour twist is Orange. I used the super-fun Layered Citrus with Distress Inks and Oxides to create this clean and simple one layer monochrome card for your inspiration. Now I'm off to go make myself a cocktail!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Layered Citrus

Ink and Colouring: Tsukineko Memento Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink and Oxide Spiced Marmalade

Check out the STAMPlorations store CURRENT PROMOTIONS page for some awesome deals: October fall sale, new CUTplorations dies pre-order sale, coffee-themed sale, freebies with orders, and more!

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Tuesday and happy STAMPlorations Inspiration Post day. It's time for the weekly dose of STAMPlorations Inspiration. This time I created a baby card using Deepti's adorable stamp set Tweet Love. I started by creating a background using Distress Inks and splattered it with water. Then I stamped the cute little critters, coloured them with Copics and die-cut them with the matching dies. Quick and easy. I decided to use neutral colours as I don't know if it will go to a boy or a girl.

I'm linking up over at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies and Cute Card Thursday. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Tweet Love and coordinating dies
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink, Copics

Check out the CURRENT PROMOTIONS in the STAMPlorations store for some awesome deals: October fall sale, new CUTplorations dies pre-order sale, coffee-themed sale, freebies with orders, and more!

STAMPlorations Inspiration

It's Tuesday and that means another instalment of the STAMPlorations Inspiration Post. It's starting to look a lot like autumn out there, so this week I was inspired by all the leaves which are starting to turn into those warm autumn colours. 

I used Distress markers in various hues of yellows, oranges, reds and browns to colour the beautiful leaves from Trendy Leaves, spritzed them with water and stamped around the edges of a watercolour paper card front. I also diluted a bit of ink with water and splattered on the card. I created the sentiment by colouring a scrap of watercolour paper with the markers and blended with water before die cutting using the Hello word die.

I'm linking up over at Make My Monday where the theme is Autumn and Crafty Gals Corner where the theme is Fall Colours.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves

Dies: CUTplorations Hello word die

Ink and colouring: Distress markers

STAMPlorations October CAS Challenge - Orange

Welcome back to the STAMPlorations CAS challenge! We had a long break but are now brimming with pent-up CAS inspiration. I hope you will enjoy playing along, and can't wait to see what you create. And of course, you will have plenty of chances to win amazing STAMPlorations prizes too.

Our first optional colour twist this season is Any Shade of Orange. I was inspired to create a big flower using the lovely Peony Number Two stencil so I inked Distress Inks in yellow and orange through the stencil using a foam applicator. I finished my one layer CAS card with a sentiment from Noteworthy 2 and splattered some water for added interest.

Now it's your turn to create a CAS card, either with or without orange. You are free to use any products you want, but if you have any STAMPlorations crafty goodies, we would love to see what you create with them. Don't forget to display our challenge graphic in your post and link back to the CAS challenge post on the STAMPlorations blog to be eligible for our prizes.

I'm linking up this card over at AAA Cards where the theme is One Layer and the optional twist is autumn.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Noteworthy 2

Stencil: ARTplorations Peony Number Two

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Abandoned Coral