STAMPlorations Inspiration

Hi, how are you? No, really, how ARE you? I hope you are holding it together somehow. I'm definitely not the person who has cleaned the whole house, learned a new language and studied the ancient philosophers with all this "extra time". I'm working more hours than I have in a long time, and the rest of the time I feel completely overwhelmed. So if you are one of the former, good for you, what's your secret? If you are one of the latter - welcome to the club, you are not alone! 

Anyhow, the calendar says it's Tuesday and that means a new STAMPlorations Inspiration post over on the STAMPlorations blog. I made a card using a stencil monoprint I had hanging around that I made with Sanna's Evolution Stencil and Distress Inks. I die cut the monoprint with Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies and added the Just Be Better - Typografia Motivate. Does eating 3 biscuits today mean I"m better than I was yesterday when I only ate 2?

Stamps: STAMPlorations Just Be Better - Typografia Motivate

Stencil: ARTplorations Evolution Stencil

Dies: CUTploratons Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Don't forget there are daily offers and great prizes to be won on the STAMPlorations blog for the 21 days of Spring (new post every day) as well as the big Spring Clearance Sale in the STAMPlorations Store.

Stamps in the SPRING CLEARANCE section are 50% off

Use code SPRING50 on checkout.

Code cannot  be combined with other codes. Code is good for one-time use per customer/shipping address. Code expires 4/30.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Tuesday crafty peeps! I hope you are ready for some crafting inspiration, as we are back with the ladies from the STAMPlorations DT over on the STAMPlorations blog for this week's Inspiration post. Comment to win - you know the drill by now, right? And don't forget our short winter break from the STAMPlorations challenges is almost over and we'll be back with the March instalment the day after tomorrow, all refreshed and rested!

For today's card, I combined one of my all-time favourite stencils, Sanna's gorgeous Evolution with my favourite cute critter set Woodland Friends. I used Distress Inks on the stencil, die-cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies and inked Vintage Photo around the edges. I stamped the fox on white card, coloured him with Copics and fussy cut him. I attached him onto a panel of vellum I die cut using the smallest one of the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. I heat embossed the sentiment in copper using Bold Sentiments: Fabulous and die cut the word fabulous from copper card using Fabulous Word die. Last, I added some Ice Stickles to the sentiment for that extra little bling! 

Don't forget, if you want to do some crafty shopping, you can use my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout for 20% off normal priced products in the STAMPloration store. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Woodland Friends, Bold Sentiments: Fabulous

Stencil: ARTplorations Evolution

Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, Fabulous Word die

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

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!

January STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-Month Inspiration

 

Just a quick post with some mid-month inspiration for our STAMPlorations January CAS Challenge with the optional colour twist of silver. I have loved seeing the gorgeous creations in the gallery, thank you for sharing those. There are still a few more weeks to play along. 

After Christmas, there is always a great need for thank you cards, so after making one for the January Challenge, I thought I would make another one for the mid-month inspiration post. Again, I used the fabulous new Evolution stencil. I inked through the stencil with  Distress Inks. I then inked Versamark through the Dots All Over stencil and heat embossed in silver.  Last, I die cut the sentiment using the Thanks word die from silver glitter paper. 

I'm linking up over at CASology where the theme is Glimmer, Shopping Our Stash where the theme is Getting Sentimental (focus on a sentiment) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is to Add a sentiment. 

Card: 250 gsm white card, silver glitter card

Stencils: Sanna Lippert designs Evolution, ARTplorations Dots All Over

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

Dies: CUTplorations Thanks word die

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.