STAMPlorations Spring Fling 2020

Today is a special day over on the STAMPlorations blog as we are launching our annual Spring Fling Blog Hop and Linky Party! This year most of my DT colleagues are showcasing our new wonderful Bloomdalascopic stencils and new spring clear stickers. However, I thought we should also show some love to our old crafty stash and today I decided to squeeze some extra value out of my Bloomtangled Cover Plate die. It's a fun technique you can use with any cover plate die you have. You can join us for the blog hop and linky party to win some of our awesome prizes too!

I used the cover plate die to create a stencil by die cutting a piece of heavy card. I then inked various colours of Distress inks through the makeshift stencil. I splattered some water over the inked panel and splattered some gold watercolour too. Then I cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies and added a sentiment die cut with Skinny Sentiments. For the background panel, I stamped the florals from Softly in Hickory Smoke. 

If you join by commenting on the Spring Fling post on the main STAMPlorations blog and the designer's blogs, or by linking up your creations to the linky party you could win one of the following prizes:

• THREE (3) winners of $10 gift code drawn from comments left on the main blog and designers' blogs
• TWO (2) winners of her choice of STAMPlorations product with a value of up to $10 drawn from comments left on the main blog and designers' blogs
• TWO (2) winners of her choice of STAMPlorations product with a value of up to $15 drawn from entries in the linky party
• ONE (1) winner of $25 gift code drawn from entries in the linky party

You can comment and link up until Sunday, May 31, with winners announced on June 10 in the May winners post.

If you are inspired to do some shopping in the STAMPlorations store, all throughout May, products in the SPRING FLING section are 15% off instantly, and if you use my DT code STAMPGIRLKAROLA you can get up to 35% off.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Softly

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled Cover Plate die, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, Skinny Sentiments

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Inks Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick, Wilted Violet, Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron, Peeled Paint, Hickory Smoke

 

Products in the SPRING FLING section are 15% off instantly. Discount is applied automatically when you add qualifying items in your cart.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Tuesday! Have you been crafting lately? If not, we (that is me and the other ladies of the STAMPlorations design team, don't worry, I haven't started to refer to myself in the third person!) are here again to bring you some inspiration over at the STAMPloration weekly Inspiration Post. I hope our projects give you ideas to create something on your own!

I made a card a while back using the paper piecing technique and the gorgeous Bloomtangled 2 Cover Plate Die. You can see the project here. But after inking up the die cut with Distress Inks and using the inlaid pieces, I was still left with a beautiful die-cut which I didn't want to waste. So I simply added it to a white card base and added a heat embossed sentiment. You can use this same technique using any of the gorgeous cover plate dies, which you can find in the STAMPlorations store here. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations , Fond Expressions 2 

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled 2 Cover Plate Die

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine, Tim Holtz Distress Oxides

 

STENCILS and CLEAR STICKERS are

 

20% off instantly until February 29

 

No code needed! Simply add stencils and clear stickers to your cart and the discount is automatically applied.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Today is a special post for me, as I can reveal that I am now officially part of the STAMPlorations Inspiration team. I'm so excited to join the incredibly talented designers who have inspired me to start creating with STAMPlorations products many years ago and still blow my mind with every one of their gorgeous creations. I feel slightly out of place among them, but I'm so happy I get to share the projects I enjoy making using all the STAMPlorations products I have come to love so much over the years. On top of everything, all the ladies on the Inspiration team are super nice too!

For my first Inspiration project, I have used the Bloomtangled 2 Cover Plate Die. I find it so relaxing to assemble cards using the cover plate dies. I started by die cutting the cover plate in black to form the frame for the flowers. Then I die cut it a second time from watercolour paper and watercoloured that version using Distress Oxides. I then assembled them, piece by piece into the black frame. I find the process almost meditative. Just me, a cup of coffee, a good podcast and a pair of tweezers.

As always, you can win a gift certificate over on the STAMPlorations blog. If you comment on the Inspiration team blog posts, you are entering in a draw to win a $10 gift certificate.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Llama Tell You 

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled 2 Cover Plate Die, Happy Word die

Colouring: Distress Oxides

Currently, there are several great promotions in the STAMPlorations store, including a great offer if you want to pre-order the new dies which will be available in October. You can find all the promotions summarised on the Promotions Page. You can also find great discounts on dies and stamps.

May STAMPlorations TAG challenge - All About Mom

It's time to get your tags ready for the May TAGplorations challenge! This month the theme is All About Mom. There is also an optional twist of vellum, which I decided not to use this time.

I started by cutting a tag from kraft card using the Stitched Tags Nesting Dies. I also die cut a piece of scrap card using the Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die which I then used as a stencil. I coloured thought the makeshift stencil using Distress Crayons and used my fingers to smudge the colours. I then added some splatters by painting using gold watercolour through Dots All Over. I created the sentiment by die cutting using Thinking Of You Phrase Die from grey card, and fussy cut the "you" from that sentiment. I then stamped the LOVE from Trendy Butterflies onto a scrap of light blue card and doodled using a black marker. I added leftover blue and violet ribbon from my stash. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die, Stitched Tags Nesting Dies, Thinking Of You Phrase Die

Stencils: ARTplorations Dots All Over

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Crayons, Tsukineko Versamark Onyx Black, Gansai Tambi Starry Colours

Don't forget the Things With Wings sale in the STAMPlorations store, and my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA which will give you a 20% discount. Lots of good reasons to stock up on new crafty goodies for spring!

More Bloomtangled Cards

A while ago I did a lot of die cutting using the STAMPlorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate die to create a card for STAMPloration's 5th birthday. That left me with loads and loads of leftover die cuts. What a great excuse to do some more paper piecing!! Using the bits and bobs I put together three cards in the spirit of recycling and making use of those left over die cut pieces.

I was inspired by the floral image over at Just Us Girls, and I'm also linking up with the J is for Junk challenge over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers (although no snark this time, sorry!). I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes this week.

After the relaxing paper piecing, I die cut sentiments using STAMPlorations dies in gold mirri card, and added some sequins from my stash to the first card for the extra bling factor. 

Card: various coloured card from my stash, 200 gsm white card, gold mirri card

Dies: STAMPlorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate die, Thanks word die, Celebrate word die, Feel Better Soon Phrase die

Other: gold sequins from my stash

STAMPlorations 5th Birthday

I am so happy to be able to celebrate the success of STAMPlorations with you today with a post on the STAMPlorations main blog. As you may already have seen on the STAMPlorations blog, for the duration of June, the STAMPlorations DT are showcasing our favourite cards in honour of STAMPloration's 5th Birthday. I want to take this opportunity to wish Shery and David happy STAMPiversary and wishes of many more. 

The chance to be part of Shery's STAMPfamily is an honour and a privilege. She is the most creative lady out there, and in addition, she is the most generous and hardworking as well. I feel so happy to have been able to be a part of the STAMPlorations team for a few years now, and every time I am blown away by the gorgeous new products. I keep using the stamps, dies and stencils over and over again, still going back to the old ones as well as loving to explore the new releases, many of which I'm sure will become classics in their own right.

So today I have the honour of showcasing my favourite three cards I have created while designing for STAMPlorations. It's probably not a surprise that they are all rainbow coloured... It was not easy to narrow it down to three, it's like picking your favourite child. I have also created a new card to wish STAMPlorations Happy Birthday using  Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die, which you can see at the beginning of the post. I love, love, love paper piecing these dies. Nothing says bliss like an early morning big cup of coffee, a pair of tweezers, some glue and a gazillion die cut pieces!

CAS sweetness using Sugar Rush and Copics

Birthday party using Balloons and Banners and no-line
watercolouring with Distress Inks

A thing with wings using the gorgeous Flutter Zen 2 Layering dies,
Dots All Over Stencil, a sentiment from Noteworthy 2
and Ink blending with Distress Inks.

I also made another card inspired by my first one. The Bloomtangled Cover Plate dies are designs from the Bloomtangled Colouring Book so I thought I would take the same design from the colouring book. I covered the page in clear Gesso and then coloured it with Gansai Tambi watercolours. I die cut the page and used the large piece to create a panel for a card. I was also able to get two smaller die cuts from the leftover pieces of the page. I used one to make a tag with a sentiment from Noteworthy 2  heat embossed in white. I used the other tag for a hand lettered quote, which I ended up using in my Bullet Journal.

If you want to join in on the festivities you can CASE any of my designs - or any designs from my fellow DT teamies - and link up over on the main birthday blog post. Any type of project is eligible and there will be loads and loads of inspiration all through June so I'm sure you will find something to inspire you. You can also win prizes by playing along with the wishlist linky party. Between these two posts, you might be the lucky winner of one of the many prizes in honour of STAMPlorations 5th birthday!

If you are not familiar with the term CASE, it stands for "Copy and Share Everything" but in the crafting world you should take it to mean "be inspired by". So you could use any part of the projects above as inspiration for your cards, maybe the flower theme, maybe the colours or maybe something else that you get inspired by. I can't wait to see your inspirational projects in the linky on the main birthday blog post.

The STAMPlorations products I used for my new cards:

Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die

Happy Word die

Bloomtangled Colouring Book

Thanks word die

Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

Noteworthy 2

Manila Tags Nesting Dies

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.

Spring Splatters

Watching the rain pour outside has left me with only one way of spending today. In the craft room. I will clean the kitchen tomorrow. Or maybe on Monday, as I will be busy eating my chocolate bunny tomorrow. Hmm...  I sense a touch of procrastination. Who has time for housework anyhow, right?

Today's card is inspired by the images over at The Card Concept and Time Out. I was also inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and the Use Only 1/3 of the Card theme over at AAA Cards. I continued to play with my new favourite die, the STAMPlorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die. I inked up scrap pieces of card using Distress Oxides, splattered them with water and did some therapeutic paper piecing and followed up with some creative watercolour splattering.

 

 

Card: 200 gsm white shimmer card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die, Hello word die

Ink: Distress Oxides

Other: Adhesive pearls from my stash

Pastel Spring Florals

I decided that for once I'll take out some overtime and enjoy an even longer weekend. So far I have not done anything useful yet, I had a cinnamon bun for breakfast, and the rest of the day so far has been spent in the craft room. No useful but extremely relaxing! And I haven't been able to put down the new Bloomtangled Cover Plate dies. There are so many ways of using them, and this time I went for a quick and easy design.

I started with a watercolour panel I had in my UFO box which I initially created for something else, can't even remember what it was. I then die cut the panel with the Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die. I die cut the sentiment using the Hello Sunshine Phrase Die using another leftover piece of watercolour card. Three sequins from my stash finish off this super quick card.

I'm linking up over at Sunday Stamps with their colour challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes. I'm also linking up over at Happy Little Stampers where Anything Goes With Dies.

Card: White shimmer card, watercolour card

Colouring: Gansai Tambi watercolours

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die, Hello Sunshine Phrase Die

Other: Sequins from my stash

Happy International Women's Day!!

Today's card is dedicated to all the wonderful women in my life. My mum, my sister, my closest colleagues who all happen to be women, my best friend, my wonderful boss and all the amazingly inspirational ladies all over the blogsphere inspiring us all with their beautiful artsy creations. And all the other women, too numerous to mention. One more amazing woman I want to give a special shout-out to is Shery of STAMPlorations, for giving me the opportunity to be part of her design team. And for designing these wonderful plate dies. I was so inspired by the cards Shery created using her new Bloomtangled dies that I wanted to CASE one of them (we did the big reveal of these amazing dies yesterday in case you missed it).

Today, I'm celebrating International Women's Day by listening to The Guilty Feminist Podcast, which is absolutely amazing. If you are looking for a new podcast to add to your list, this one is absolutely hilarious and fantastically interesting at the same time. I didn't use to be a feminist when I was younger as I used to think things were pretty good for women these days. Then I got older and realised that was just a reflection of my privilege. Anyhow, the International Women's Day episode of The Guilty Feminist was even better than usual, I listened to it on my way back from work and for once I didn't mind being stuck in traffic as I was just laughing so hard I was crying. And I also downloaded both The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace for my Kindle app (nothing like a bit of patriarchal dystopia to make my day...). I'm home alone this weekend as the Culinary Consultant is off to Slovenia for a long weekend with the boys so I will spend this weekend snuggled on the sofa with a book (ok, well my phone), a cup of coffee and lots of chocolate. I binge-watched Alias Grace on Netflix, it's fabulous, can't recommend it enough. I haven't watched The Handmaid's Tale yet, I want to read the book first and then see if I think I can deal with watching it.

My card was inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. I was also inspired by the Ombre challenge over at AAA Cards, the Girl Power theme at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Bold theme over at Timeout Challenges.

Card: White shimmer card, rainbow card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Bold Sentiments: Hashtag Authentic
Dies: CUTplorations Bloomtangled #1 Cover Plate Die, Fabulous Word die
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

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.

New STAMPlorations Bloomtangled dies

I'm very excited to show you today's projects. They are part of the latest release over at STAMPlorations which consists of some absolutely fabulous dies. You may have seen Shery's Bloomtangled colouring book last year. I had so much fun colouring the gorgeous flowers and created several layouts in last year's Bullet Journal using the images. Today, I'm so happy to show you three projects created with plate dies Shery created using her gorgeous flowery doodles - and there are so many ways of using these dies. You can see more inspiration from the other ladies of the DT over on the STAMPlorations blog.  In addition to to the gorgeous plate dies Shery is also releasing new sentiment dies so you can die cut to your heart's content!!

For my first card, I cut white card using the Bloomtangled plate die and removed all the pieces. Then I used foam applicators to ink the die cut in various colours, blending as I went along. Then I sprinkled water onto the inked die cut to oxidise the inks. Then I adhered the die cut to some black card, added Ice Stickles to some of the flower petals. I die cut the sentiment from gold glitter card and added a few super cute heart shaped sequins as a finishing touch. 

My two other cards are mirror images of each other. First a word of warning, you should only undertake paper piecing using intricate die cuts if you find fiddly things relaxing. I absolutely loved putting these cards together but it took many hours and lots of dexterity with my beautiful pink craft tweezers (you absolutely need them to handle the tiny little pieces). If chasing tiny, lost pieces of card is not your idea of a relaxing craft sesh, you may want to look into other ways of using these dies. I started by die cutting the "frame" for the image once in white and once in black. I adhered the white frame to black card, and the black frame to white card. Then I die cut the plate twice, once using a purple and pink ombre card and another time in a blue/green ombre card. I really carefully slid both the coloured die cuts only scrap pieces of paper, trying to keep as many of the die cut pieces in their place as possible. Then it was just a case of starting to adhere the die cut pieces to the frames I had created, varying the colours. You need to be quite careful not to have an open window, a fan, sneeze or even breathe heavily close to the die cut pieces as I don't think you really would be able to find the right places for the pieces if they got severely scrambled. I absolutely love the look of these cards and they gave me several hours of great craft therapy time! I decided to leave the cards really plain to let the fun piecing be the star of the show and I only added the shimmery sentiments with no other embellishments.

You can win a gift card to the STAMPlorations shop by commenting on the main blog post and the designer's posts. And if you want another chance at winning, link up any project you have with a spring or faith theme to the March Challenge - All about Spring and Faith.

Card: white shimmer card, black card, various rainbow coloured card for paper piecing, purple, turquoise and gold glitter card from my stash
Ink and colouring: Distress Oxides
Dies: STAMPlorations Bloomtangled plate dies, Feel Better Soon phrase die, Thinking of You phrase die, Celebrate word die
Other: Ranger Ice Stickles, Heart sequins from my stash

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.

Floral Birthday Wishes

I've been busy crafting lately, but most of my efforts have gone into my new Bujo, which is going to be full of rainbow colours and unicorns (Hello, my name is Karola and I have a substance abuse issue when it comes to rainbow colours....). Last year I tried to have a dignified and mostly black and white design and I didn't like it, in fact, I disliked it so much that towards the end of the year I really struggled to even write in it at all. Therefore I'm going overboard with colours this year, and bought a bunch of unicorn and rainbow washi tape. I've already created some weekly spreads and reflected over my goals for 2018. If you follow my Instagram you may have seen the first page of my Bujo. The image is from the lovely "Keep Calm and Colour Unicorns" colouring book my other half got me for Christmas, and I can tell you I've been colouring a lot of unicorns lately. I just love the image! Oh, and you can find me as @invisiblepinkuni on Instagram in case you want to see what I'm up to.

#newyear new #bujo. This years theme is #unicorns and #rainbow ! #bulletjournal #welcome2018 #watercolour #colouring #colouringbook #cheaperthantherapy

A post shared by InvisiblePinkUni (@invisiblepinkuni) on Jan 2, 2018 at 12:03pm PST

Anyhow, on to today's main topic, which is a birthday card I made for my grandma who is turning a respectable 93 years old in a few week's time. I was inspired by the beautiful bright colours over at House Of Cards and the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. I'm also joining in with the Birthday theme over at CAS Watercolour and Anything Goes over at Seize the Birthday. I stamped the gorgeous STAMPlorations Bloomtangled ATC#2 stamp in Versamark and heat embossed in silver. Then I watercoloured the image with Distress Inks. I splattered some left-over ink on some white shimmer card (the shimmer is so subtle you can't see it in the image but it has a very light shimmer in real life). Last, I added the pink strip of card as per the sketch, and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in silver. 

Card: White shimmer card, Daler&Rowney 250 gsm watercolour paper, scrap of pink card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Bloomtangled ATC#2, sentiment stamp is a really old one I have bought in a stamp shop back home in Finland many, many years ago...

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mustard Seed, Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters

Other: Papermania Silver 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.