Colouring With Stamps

Happy Monday! Hope this will turn out to be a good week for you. I suffer from an issue that is surely troubling many of you - my day job keeps getting in the way of crafting... Anyhow, I'm blogging over on the STAMPlorations blog today showcasing a few cards I made using the "colouring with stamps" technique which Shery, the creative and talented owner of STAMPlorations has perfected to an art form. I thought I would try my hand at it, and hopefully, you will be inspired to try it too. It works best on images which don't have too many tiny and delicate details, although I love the look when the colour splotches extend a bit beyond the stamped image. If you like stamping, you will love this technique as you get to stamp a lot! If you don't have any suitable "splotchy" stamps, you can use the reverse of some small round-ish stamps, that works well too.

For my first card, I stamped the Radiant Roses in black and used stamps from Art Marks to colour in the roses using Distress Oxides. I also stamped some ink spots in the bottom part of the card, before adding the sentiment from Bold Sentiments: Hashtag Authentic.

For my second card, I stamped the French Marigold Large, and this time I used Distress Inks to colour the flower. I added a sentiment from Noteworthy 3 and splattered some green ink on the card front for added interest.

For my third card, I decided to go with pastel colours. I stamped the Classic Calla Lilies along the long side of the card, before again using the splotch stamps from Art Marks to colour the florals with Distress Inks. The sentiment is from Noteworthy 3.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Radiant Roses, Art Marks, Bold Sentiments: Hashtag Authentic, French Marigold Large, Noteworthy 3, Classic Calla Lilies
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides and Inks

There are some fantastic offers in the STAMPlorations store in August. Don't forget to check them out if you are looking to extend your crafty stash.
Clear Stickers are 30% off with code CLEAR30 Coloring Books are 25% off with code COLOR25 Clear Stamps* are 25% off with code STAMP25
*Excludes newly released stamps. Codes may be used multiple times per customer throughout promotion period. All 3 codes may be used together in one order. BYOCS/Stamp club subscribers: use your personal coupon code with the codes for 50% to 70% off on qualifying items + your free shipping code on your order of at least $30.

May STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Lilac

Welcome May! May is my absolute favourite month of the year. It never disappoints! It's the time when beautiful spring turns to summer. I'm not going to lie, the fact that my birthday is in May probably has something to do with it too, but it's the combination of the garden starting to come around, evenings staying light for so much longer, and the weather turning sunny and beautiful. So much to do in the garden and perfect weather for weekend BBQs. 

A new month also means a new STAMPlorations CAS challenge where the optional colour twist this month is lilac. I wanted to celebrate the beautiful summer florals in my card so I used the beautiful French Marigold Large and watercoloured it with Gansai Tambi watercolours. I kept it very simple to let the flower shine and added a simple sentiment from  Noteworthy 4 and created a stitched border using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. I hope you are inspired to play along with us over on the STAMPlorations blog.

Stamps: STAMPlorations French Marigold Large, Noteworthy 4, 

Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

Ink and Colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Antique Linen, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Tsukineko Versafine Onxy Black

Don't forget the STAMPlorations Spring Fling event on the blog and sale in the STAMPlorations store. And 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.

Happy Birthday Shery!

Today some of the STAMPlorations DT are getting together to celebrate the birthday of our dear Shery. Happy Birthday Shery!! I hope you have a wonderful day and that your family will spoil you today. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend and leader of our STAMPteam! And there is a linky if you want to join us in wishing Shery the happiest of birthdays.

But before we get to the card, I have to confess something. This is soooo embarrassing.... I sent this card off to Shery without writing anything on it!! I took it to work yesterday morning, addressed the envelope and put a stamp on, and left the card next to the envelope to wait for my lunch break to write something on it. Then the day just got away with me, and a bit later I just saw the card there and popped it in the envelope and gave to a colleague who took it to the mailbox. It was only when I was driving home that I realised I never wrote anything on the card. Duuuuuh!!! So Shery, when you get a card without any text on it, just imagine it's wishing you happy birthday and all wonderful things for the year to come. I'm an idiot...

For my card I used some STAMPlorations stamps (of course!). I started by arranging the stamps - Marigold Large, a sentiment from Blossom Overture and Sketchy Alphabet and stamped them in black ink and heat embossed using clear powder. Then I used a watercolour brush to spread water onto the flower and the sentiment. Next, I picked yellow and orange Brushos as I know Shery likes yellow and orange, and sprinkled them all over the card so they could mix and just do their thing. I love the easy watercolour effect this creates. Shery I hope you like your card, unfortunately it won't make it's way to you on time but it's on it's way.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

Just Add Ink - Just Add S (S for Shery of course!)

Just Us Girls - Summer

Muse - I was inspired by the floral theme and the yellow/orange colour scheme

Card: 300 gms waterocolour card

Stamps: STAMPlorations French Marigold Large, Blossom Overture, Sketchy Alphabet

Ink and Colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Brushos (Lime, Yellow, Orange, Vermillion, Gamboge, Leaf Green)

Other: Ranger Clear Fine embossing powder