STAMPlorations 8th Birthday

 

Welcome to the STAMPlorations 8th Birthday celebrations! And to celebrate, there are three new Birthday Bundles available in the STAMPlorations store. I created a bunch of projects using the products from Birthday Bundle #2 and Distress Inks.

For my first card, I stamped the florals from Birthday Bundle #2 in Versafine and watercoloured with Distress Inks, letting the colours bleed outside the lines of the image and splattering ink across the panel. Next, I die cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting dies. The sentiment is also from Birthday Bundle #2, stamped in Versafine on vellum.

For my second card I decided to create a colourful rainbow background using the border die from Birthday Bundle #2. I grabbed a rainbow coloured panel I created using Distress Oxides from my UFO box, and cut it multiple times using the die and then die cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting dies. I matted the panel onto black card to make sure the beautiful die-cut stips would show really well.  Next, I grabbed some cupcakes, stamped using Sweet Kindness and coloured with Distress inks. The sentiment was stamped using one of the sentiments from Birthday Bundle #2 onto a piece from a Watercolor ATC Journaling Card

My third project is a tag which I started by inking Distress Ink through the stencil included in Birthday Bundle #2. I die cut the tag using Stitched Tags Nesting Dies, stamped the florals from Birthday Bundle #2 and stamped the sentiment on matching scrap pieces of card.

My fourth card again uses the beautiful florals Birthday Bundle #2 (can you tell how much I love them?!?!) which I stamped in black and watercoloured with Distress Inks. I die cut a strip using the die from the set and stamped the sentiment on vellum. 

Don't worry, we are getting to the end now! I used the leftover inked panel from the tag above for one more card - I die cut the panel with the die included in Birthday Bundle #2. I then stamped the florals on one of the gorgeous Watercolor ATC Journaling Card, added a sentiment and finished everything off with a strip of watercolour washi tape.

And that's it for my birthday projects! Don't forget there are prizes for grabs over on the STAMPlorations blog in the 8th Birthday celebrations post including an amazing $75 prize code to the STAMPlorations store.

Note that I have received some of the stamps and other craft supplies for free as a member of the STAMPlorations Design Team, therefore this blog post has to be identified as an ad. I have been using STAMPlorations products for years before joining the Desing Team at which time I paid for all my STAMPlorations products and I love them as much today as I did then. 

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

STAMPlorations Inspiration

 

Happy Tuesday! Have you had a crafty week so far? If you are looking for inspiration, you should hop over to the STAMPlorations Inspiration post, as we are back again as we are every Tuesday, to share our crafts made with our stash of STAMPlorations goodies. Today. I used one of the gorgeous Watercolour Journaling ATC Cards as the focus on my cards, inking around it in Kitch Flamingo Distress Ink and stamping bloom silhouettes from Beautiful You. The background is die cut with the Wonky Stitched Grid Texture Cover Plate Die and inked around the edges with the same Distress Ink. The sentiment is stamped on a small scrap from my UFO pile which fit into the colour scheme, and the sentiment is from Bloomdala Bliss. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Beautiful You, Bloomdala Bliss
Dies: CUTplorations  Wonky Stitched Grid Texture Cover Plate Die
ATCs: STAMPlorations Watercolour Journaling ATC Cards

Note that I have received some of the stamps and other craft supplies for free as a member of the STAMPlorations Design Team, therefore this blog post has to be identified as an ad. I have been using STAMPlorations products for years before joining the Desing Team at which time I paid for all my STAMPlorations products and I love them as much today as I did then. 

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

May STAMPlorations CAS Challenge

 

Hi fellow crafters! Happy best month of the year, May is finally here!! I love May. It's spring, there are flowers, TWO bank holidays in a month (if you are in the UK), nature is back to life, it's warm(er), and of course it's my birthday month so I may be a bit biased.

Anyhow, the first day of the month means the STAMPlorations challenges turn over a new leaf. The STAMPlorations May CAS challenge has a really great colour combo which I feel really challenged me - yellow and copper. How gorgeous are those roses in the challenge inspiration pic above? So I definitely wanted to create something with yellow roses myself. I started by stamping In Bloom: Radiant Roses in Versamark and heat embossing in copper. I then watercoloured the roses in Distress Inks and splattered some watercolour on the card front for good measure. Last, I matted the card front on copper card, and die cut a sentiment in the same copper card using  Everyday Sentiments Dies.

I hope you feel inspired to join the challenge, and as usual, there are great prizes to be won, a $20 prize code to the winner and three $7 prize codes to randomly picked entries.

Stamps: STAMPlorations In Bloom: Radiant Roses

Dies: CUTplorations Everyday Sentiments Dies

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks

Note that I have received some of the stamps and other craft supplies for free as a member of the STAMPlorations Design Team, therefore this blog post has to be identified as an ad. I have been using STAMPlorations products for years before joining the Desing Team at which time I paid for all my STAMPlorations products and I love them as much today as I did then. 

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

STAMPlorations Inspiration

It's time for the STAMPlorations Inspiration post for April 2021. I'm once again creating four Christmas cards to celebrate the end of the month, and to build up my Christmas card stash as last year things didn't quite go to plan on the Christmas card front. Don't forget that by leaving a comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post you are entered into a monthly draw for a $15 prize code to the STAMPlorations store.

This time I used one of my most used STAMPlorations Christmas stamp sets, Joyful and very conveniently it has four beautiful stamps so perfect for today's set of cards. I have used these stamps so so much, and although the colour of the rubber has changed a bit over the years, they still stamp as great as they did at the beginning. 

I started by picking a range of Distress Inks and masking off random slivers of card fronts, inking to create geometric shapes with three different colours blended together. Next, I left the ink to dry for a while and then used an anti-static tool to make sure the heat embossing powder wouldn't randomly stick all over the inked regions. I stamped the images in Versafine and heat embossed in a gunmetal powder. Last, I sprinkled some Distress Ink I diluted with water across the card front and added a sentiment I created from leftover coloured card and Simple Christmas Clear Stickers. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Joyful

Stickers: STAMPlorations Simple Christmas Clear Stickers

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine, Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Ink

Note that I have received some of the stamps and other craft supplies for free as a member of the STAMPlorations Design Team, therefore this blog post has to be identified as an ad. I have been using STAMPlorations products for years before joining the Desing Team at which time I paid for all my STAMPlorations products and I love them as much today as I did then. 

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party

Hi all, and welcome to the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party. If you have been following STAMPlorations for a few years you know this is an annual event where we celebrate all things with wings and get a chance to show off our butterflies, birds, dragonflies and more. 

And the great thing about this event is that you will have plenty of chances to play along for some great prizes - 3 winners of a $10 prize code randomly drawn from comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and designers' blogs. There will also be a linky where you can join by creating your own creations with things with wings and there will be 3 winners of their choice of STAMPlorations product (up to $15 value) and1 winner of a $25 prize code. And there may be some extra prizes too which are drawn from the STAMPlorations social media accounts to win some suprise prizes. The hop and linky are open until May 7 and winners will be announced on May 10 in the April winners post.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to go for a muted colour scheme or a bright rainbow and realised I don't have to choose so I made one of each :) For my white, bright and rainbow coloured card I started with three colours of Distress Ink - Squeezed Lemonade, Speckled Egg and Kitch Flamingo and blended them using foam applicators throught the Senecio 1 Stencil creating a mix of gorgeus colours where the inks blended. I stamped the butterfly from It's a Girl Thing: Kindness, coloured with Copics, fussy cut and attacehd to the card base. Last, I stamped the very apt Think Positive sentiment and little border from the same stamp set, splattering some black ink across the card. I am absolutely stunned by the lovely colours that came out where the inks blended, such a lovely pastel rainbow.

For the muted colour scheme I decided to make a tag, using a few different hues of orange and brown Distress Inks for the stencil work. I die cut the tag base using Stitched Tags Nesting Dies and used the same stamps as for my card, but the colour scheme gave the tag a very different and more natural look compared to the card. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations It's a Girl Thing: Kindness

Stencil: ARTplorations Senecio 1 Stencil 

Dies: CUTplorations Stitched Tags Nesting Dies

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Copics, 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 code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

STAMPlorations Inspiration

 It's Tuesday and more than that it's the last Tuesday of the month and I'm still sticking to the challenge I set myself at the beginning of the year to create four Christmas cards for the last STAMPlorations Inspirations post of the month. I'm quite proud I have managed to stick to this for a full quarter of a year!  As I have been playing with kraft card this month, I decided to do this for my Christmas cards too, just to stick with the theme!

I started by stamping the Poinsettia Row in Vintage photo onto kraft card. For two of the cards, I stamped the Poinsettia Row along the long edge of the card, and for the other two, I stamped it twice horizontally instead. Next, I splattered some Vintage photo across the panels and lightly sponged some ink around the edges. Then I heat embossed the poinsettia from Framed Christmas on white card in black embossing powder, watercoloured with Distress Inks and added to the cards. I finished by adding a black die cut sentiment from Christmas Sentiments Phrase Dies, matted the panels onto black card and attached to kraft card bases. Below is a closer look at the cards.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Framed Christmas, Poinsettia Row (I have these as actual stamps but they are discontinued - still available as digi stamps though if you want to use them) 
Dies: CUTplorations Christmas Sentiments Phrase Dies
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

New Release Life is Sweeter

 

Happy Tuesday fellow crafters! Today we have replaced the usual STAMPlorations Inspiration post with something extra special. We continue the new release introduction, which we began yesterday with Shirley's fun Super Hero (check it out here if you missed it). And today we are showing you Deepti's new stamp set Life is Sweeter - hop over to the STAMPlorations blog to see all the gorgeous projects the DT has created using this set. This is such a lovely stamp set to use if you want to send some love to friends and family who seem to be so very far away right now. Just a little note to cheer them up, and with the lovely stamps, it's really easy to create quick and easy cards, like the ones I have created here today.

For my first card, I used Distress Markers to colour directly on the stamps. Before stamping onto watercolour card, I spritzed the coloured stamp with a bit of water. I started by stamping the peach, masked it, stamped the pear, masked it too and then stamped the pineapple. Last, I added a sentiment and splattered some of the inks I used to colour the stamps.  

For my second card, I started by masking my card front using the Rectangles Flexi-Template and inked Cracked Pistachio and Spun Sugar Distress Ink in the bottom right and top left corners, fading as I went along. Next, I used Tim Holtz Distress Markes to colour the stamps, spritzed them wiht water and stamped then onto my card. I added a sentiment from the same set as a finishing touch. 

And of course, it wouldn't be a new stamp release without a chance to win some great prizes. Winners will be randomly drawn from all comments left on the STAMPlorationa blog and designers' blogs (including mine!). One randomly drawn commenter will win a $25 prize code to the STAMPlorations store, and one randomly drawn commenter will win a stamp set of their choice from the new release. You have until March 17th to leave a comment, and the winners will be announced on March 19th.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Life is Sweeter 

Stencils: ARTplorations Rectangles Flexi-Template

Ink and colouring: Distress Inks, Distress Markers, 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 code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

Women's Day Blog Hop

 

Hello lovely crafters, and particularly all you wonderful women! I'm popping in today with a creation for the Women's Day Insta Hop, Blog Hop & Linky Party. STAMPlorations is one of the many wonderful sponsors for this hop and you should definitely check out the post over on the STAMPlorations blog as many of my fellow DT members have created projects to celebrate women. I feel very blessed to be part of this beautiful community of crafters, filled with wonderful people - so many of them women - who are supportive and leave comments filled with kindness and encouragement to each other all over social media. If you are a woman, I hope someone will spoil you today, and if you are not a woman, I hope you will consider spoiling the woman/women in your life :) 

 

I created a card inspired by the blog hop motto "Be your own kind of beautiful". I started by inking Distress ink through the Faces: Lovely stencil, blending as I went along. Then I stamped the sentiments from Woodland Friends and heat embossed them in white on black card. I fussy cut the sentiments and added them to the card. I hope you will join the hop and linky party and you can read all about the wonderful prizes of the hop over on Women's Day Insta Hop, Blog Hop & Linky Party and don't forget to pop over to the STAMPlorations blog to see all the lovely projects from the DT. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Woodland Friends

Stencil: ARTplorations Faces: Lovely

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Tsukineko Versamark

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

STAMPlorations Inspiration

 

It's spring! The start of March surely must count as spring, right? We have snowdrops and daffodils in bloom already, it seems like spring is quite early this year. We are so close to April and May which are my favourite time of year, and I'm excited that there are green shoots in the garden and the sun is starting to feel warm again. 

As it's Tuesday, it's also time for another weekly instalment of the STAMPlorations Inspiration post. This month I'm inspired to create various different blooms on kraft card. I was inspired to do so by a beautiful card I saw on Instagram by @kampakreations. Today's card is a direct CASE of that card and for the remaining Tuesdays this month you will see other ways I have been inspired by kraft.

I started by creating all the different sized layers for this card in kraft and black using my paper trimmer. The top layer is actually some left-over from wedding invites I created for my Bestie three years ago. How time flies! But I digress... Next, I stamped the florals from Shery's beautiful Sweetly set in Versamark and heat embossed them in gold. I inked shades of brown Distress Ink around the edges and splattered brown ink on the card. Last, I added heat embossed sentiments from the same stamp set. I hope my card will inspire you to create something using kraft card. And don't forget to leave a comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post for a chance to win a $15 prize code to the  STAMPlorations store.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sweetly

Ink and colouring: Versafine, Tim Holtz Distress Inks

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

March STAMPlorations CAS Challenge

March?!?! It's March?!?! March 13th (which incidentally last year happened to be Friday the 13th...) marks one year of working from home for me. I feel so very grateful that I have a job to go to every day but more than that, a job I can safely do from home. And if I'm totally honest, working from home has improved my quality of life a lot as I have a relatively long commute, so I'm saving loads of time and money. We have been told that we will not be expected to return to the office until September, so I will enjoy this spring and summer and the flexibility that working from home gives me for a little while longer. But I'm sure you didn't pop in to hear me talking about work but to see what is going on with the STAMPlorations CAS challenge, and I'm so glad you did.

The optional colour twist for the March CAS challenge is dark green and mint green. I decided to stamp some spring inspired leaves on my card using Deepti's beautiful Leafy stamp set. Sometimes I think it's nice to work with just one stamp set, and also if I'm thinking of buying a stamp set I like seeing examples of that stamp set used on its own to give me ideas of what I can do with it without having a ton of other stash at hand too. So I used two pieces of scrap paper to mask off a strip of my card front and lightly inked it with Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink. Then I stamped the leaves in Lucky Clover Distress Oxide and added a sentiment from the same stamp set. If that isn't CAS, I don't know what is :) 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Leafy

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Cracked Pistachio, Distress Oxide Lucky Clover, 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 code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

STAMPlorations Inspiration

 

Hello fellow crafters! It's Tuesday, which of course means it's STAMPlorations Inspiration Post day, but what's more is that it's the last Tuesday of the month and I'm sticking to my 'New Year's resolution' of creating four Christmas cards for my stash to help future me be better prepared for Christmas than I was last year (although I think any failures to do absolutely anything in 2020 should just be automatically forgiven due to you-know-what reasons :). As always don't forget that by leaving a comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration Post you automatically get entered into a monthly draw of a $15 prize code to the  STAMPlorations store

Today I decided to play with colours and do some layered stamping using Shirley's fun Layered Holly stamp set using non-traditional Christmas colours. I picked my colour combos for every card stamping the solid images in a lighter colour and the outlines in a darker shade of the same-ish general colour (for example the yellow-red combo is Mustard Seed for the solid leaves, Fossilized Amber for the leaf outline, Festive Berries for the solid berries and Aged Mahogany for the outline, and the purple-green combo is Twisted Citron for the solid leaves, Peeled Paint for the leaf outlines, Wilted Violet for the solid berries and Seedless Preserves for the outlines). I added a sentiment from the same set on a matching coloured piece of scrap card (excellent way to use up those little pieces you keep hold of because you can't throw away any scrap pieces. I'm not the only one doing that, surely?). Last, for some added interest I added the fun barcode-like strip at the bottom in a matching colour. It's from Mixed Media Grunge and a super fun way to add that final finishing touch to the edges of cards.

Here is another look at the cards in a bit more detail:

Stamps: STAMPlorations Layered Holly, Mixed Media Grunge

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Inks, 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 code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :)