STAMPlorations Inspiration

And so it's Tuesday again! Welcome to this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration Post. This time I wanted to create a quick wedding card and my favourite stamp set for that is Funny Kinda Love. It's so quick to heat emboss the stamp and it took me less than two minutes to add some stylized watercolour - all you need to do is add a little bit of colour but don't be too particular about getting an even coverage of the colour. Just a few brush strokes give a lovely, artsy look. I simply love this stamp, you can just adjust the colour scheme to match your favourite couple. I added a die-cut sentiment using Everyday Sentiments in copper card to match the copper heat embossing. 

Stamps: STAMPlorationsbFunny Kinda Love

Dies: CUTplorations Everyday Sentiments

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Gansai Tambi watercolours

If you want to do some crafty shopping, head over to the STAMPlorations store to enjoy discounts such as:

 

Products in the LOVE/SPRING section are

 

20% off instantly from January 22 to February 10

 

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

February STAMPlorations challenges - Mid-Month Reminder

Hi, how are you? Can you believe we have already made it halfway through February? This is your official and only reminder that you have less than two weeks to play along with our STAMPlorations February challenges (that's the difficulty with the shortest month of the year, less time to play along with challenges. 

My first card is for the February CAS challenge where the colour twist is Cerulean Blue. I used Deepti's stunning stamp set Live, Love, Ride. I coloured the gorgeous horse with Gansai Tambi blue water colours, and had a lot of fun splattering the colours and making a mess in general. I added a sentiment using Bold Sentiments: Hashtag Authentic and die cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies.

My second project is for our February TAGploratoins challenge where the theme is love. I used  the gorgeous stamp from Becca's Funny Kinda Love, the background is created by painting Gansai Tabi pearl pink watercolour through the ARTplorations Hearts All Over Mini stencil and the tag was cut using Stitched Tags Nesting Dies. 

I made a prototype for the blue horse card, but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted it. However, it helped me get to the card at the top, so it wasn't a complete waste of time after all.

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.

February STAMPlorations Challenge - Paint It Red

 

You might have noticed that there are some temporary changes to the challenges over on the STAMPlorations blog while Shery is taking a Winter break to enjoy being a new Mummy to her second adorable daughter, aptly named Winter. 

But keep calm and keep crafting as there is still a challenge for you! The individual challenges (CAS, mixed media, CUTplorations and Theme&Sketch) have been combined into one big super-challenge and will run that way for February, March and April. 

This month our super theme is Paint It Red which runs until the end of the month. We would love to see any love themed or red (or both) projects in our gallery. Go wild and create anything your heart desires - cards, ATCs, mixed media... or anything else you can think of - in any style you prefer! I decided to stick to CAS as that's what I know and love. You can use any products you like, but if you have any STAMPlorations crafty stash, we would love to see you use it!

I decided to go for both red and love (it is February after all...). I used watercolour pencils in pink, red and grey through the Zen Hearts stencil and then used a fine watercolour brush on the coloured parts. Colouring through a stencil is so easy, even if you wouldn't be very good at colouring, you can't fail this way. Then I simply added the hilarious sentiment from Funny Kinda Love and added a few adhesive pearls from my stash. Quick, easy and perfect for V-day. 

While you are busy creating, don't forget to keep checking in over at STAMPlorations as there will be some awesome new products coming there soon. Llama tell you, you might want to check in on Wednesday. Llama so excited already! That's all Llama say for now...

I'm also linking up over at these super-inspiring challenges:

House Of Cards - pink colours and Valentine's theme

Just Add Ink - Just Add Romance

Just Us Girls - Love

Card: 250 gsm white card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Funny Kinda Love

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils

Stencil: ARTplorations Zen Hearts

Other: Adhesive pearls 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.

January STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Anything Goes With Silver or Grey

I'm so excited that I can continue to be part of the STAMPlorations CAS challenge in 2017. I am always looking forward to the first Thursday of the month to show you what I have been inspired to create and more importantly to be inspired by the work of the rest of the DT and by all the wonderful creations you submit to each challenge. I'm also excited to remind you that you can get 20% off your STAMPlorations order by using my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout (more info at the end of the post).

This year the CAS challenge continues very much along the same lines as last year - each month there will be a main challenge post on the first Thursday of the month, and an additional inspiration post two weeks later. The challenge will run until the end of the month. 

Each month there will be an optional colour twist, and this month it's silver or grey. You don't have to use STAMPlorations products but if you have any we would love to see you use them. However, the main thing is that you create something Clean and Simple, link back to the challenge so others can play along and that you remember to display the below challenge graphic. You can submit up to 3 creations for each challenge. And then the most important thing, prizes! The DT favourite will be rewarded by a $10 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store, and the runners up will receive a $5 gift card. 

For my first CAS card of the year, I used the gorgeous wedding couple from Becca's Funny Kinda Love stamp set. I usually find it really hard to create wedding cards, but I absolutely love this image. Which is actually strange, as I never like any stamps with images of people. You can check it - just scroll back though my blog, and you will hardly find any cards with images of people. Flowers yes, cute creatures yes, but no people. However, this image is so gorgeous that I couldn't resist it. I stamped the image in Versamark and heat embossed in a sparkly silver before colouring with Gansai Tambi watercolours. Last, I die cut the sentiment using the Celebrate Word Die from sparkly silver card and stamped, heat embossed and watercoloured the heart. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show it very well, but I coloured the space around the couple with a glittery colour to give it a very subtle glow. You will have to trust me when I say it's quite enchanting.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

AAA Cards - Silver

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Start Afresh (new stamps!)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Something New (new stamps!)

Card: 300 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour card, sparkly silver card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Funny Kinda Love

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark and Gansai Tambi watercolours

Dies: CUTplorations Celebrate Word Die

Other: Papermania Silver Tinsel 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. If you have any questions or problems, just let me know!