STAMPlorations Inspiration

 

Happy STAMPlorations Inspiration Post day! Have you been crafting this week? I have to admit I haven't yet but it's only Tuesday so there is still plenty of time! 

I'm showing you two super quick birthday cards I created the other week. Sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you may have inadvertently managed to get very close to someone's birthday and then all of a sudden remember you needed to create them a card. These cards will only take you about 10 minutes or so to create.

Let's start with the card at the top of this post. I started by stamping the Layered Cake Bake cake slice in black and coloured ink, which took about 30 seconds. I then grabbed the  Oh My Stars! Mini Stencil and randomly inked some yellows and oranges with a sponge through the stencil. Next, I stamped the numbers using Sketchy Alphabet onto a scrap piece of paper. Fussy cutting them is what took the longest on this card, several minutes. If you are in a super hurry, you could always stamp directly onto the card rather than faffing around with fussy cutting. I then inked up the flames and stamped them on top of the letters so they look like candles. Last, I splattered some brown ink for added texture to the background, and die cut the sentiment using Everyday Sentiments Dies. Again, glueing the die cuts could be skipped by just quickly stamping a sentiment, or even using one of the fab Clear Stickers, which would take you half a second!

For my second card, I started by stamping the numbers from Sketchy Alphabet all over the card background. I then stamped the yummy cake slice from Sweet Cravings onto some leftover white card, quickly coloured with Copics and fussy cut. The sentiment is super quick to die cut using the fun Skinny Sentiments Dies, again if you really need to save time, stamp a sentiment or use Clear Stickers to take out those extra few minutes, as needed. 

I hope you feel inspired to create and don't forget that if you comment on the Inspiration Post you are in a draw to win a monthly $15 gift code to the STAMPlortions store. And, have you seen the big October $50 giveaway in the STAMPlorations store?!? Not to be missed :) 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sketchy Alphabet, Sweet Cravings, Layered Cake Bake

Dies: CUTplorations Skinny Sentiments Dies, Everyday Sentiments Dies

Stencil: ARTplorations Oh My Stars! Mini Stencil

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

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. This excludes some of the promotions, which specifically mention that additional discounts are not applicable.

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 Post - New Coffee Stamp Release

Today we have a special STAMPlorations Inspiration post as we get to share two new stamp sets with you. These new stamp sets, Bloomin' Coffee and You and Sweet Kindness, are designed by the wonderfully talented Shery. If you love flowers, coffee, cupcakes and lovely sentiments, these stamp sets are for you. And my fellow design team members have loads more inspiration over on the STAMPlorations blog. 

For my first card, I was inspired to showcase the tasty cupcakes from Sweet Kindness. I heat embossed the image in copper, watercoloured it with Distress Inks and fussy cut the image. To create the background, I used Spun Sugar and Vintage Photo inks through the  Oh My Stars! Mini stencil, and after attaching the cupcakes, added the final touch with the sweet sentiment.

For my second card I used the delicate floral frame from Bloomin' Coffee and You. I started with a Distress Oxide blended background. Then I stamped the floral frame and a sentiment from Bloomin' Coffee and You in gold on vellum. For that extra touch, I added a strip of patterned paper (it also helps attach the vellum) and three adhesive pearls. 

I hope you enjoyed this showcase of the new stamp sets!

  
Bloomin' Coffee and You | Sweet Kindness

I also used the Oh My Stars! Mini stencil for my cards in addition to the new stamp sets.  

There are two great sales going on in the STAMPlorations store and for normal priced products you can use my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA for 20% off.

Products in the COFFEE/TEA LOVERS section are 40% off with code COFFEE40.

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

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Hello crafters! How are you? I'm so happy days are finally starting to feel longer, there is a sliver of light in the mornings when I leave home, and even some in the evening as I drive home. As I drive east in the mornings and west in the evenings, I often see the most stunning sunrises and sunsets.

Anyhow, enough about sunsets as we are here to see some crafting, right? As it's Tuesday, it's time for another STAMPlorations Inspiration post. For today's card, I used the super cute Tweet Love stamp set, stamping the adorable little Ellie Elephant and coloured her in Copics before fussy cutting her. I created a background using the Oh My Stars! Mini stencil and yellow Distress Ink. Last, I added a sweet sentiment from Tweet Love.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Tweet Love

Stencil: ARTplorations Oh My Stars! Mini

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Onyx Black, Copics, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Squeezed Lemonade

If you feel like doing a bit of shopping, you may want to check out the STAMPlorations Springtime Sale in the STAMPlorations store!

Products in the SPRINGTIME section are

20% off instantly until March 31

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

January STAMPlorations TAG challenge - Winter

Happy New Year! I hope 2019 will be a very crafty year for you. Last year was full of things which kept me from my craft room. I hope 2019 will bring me more time to continue to develop my crafting skills and to simply enjoy creativity. 

On the first day of the year, we also launch of first STAMPlorations challenge of the year - January TAGplorations challenge. The theme is Winter, and there is an optional twist of using texture paste, which I didn't take this time. I wanted to create a wintery scene using the adorable fuzzies from Woodland Friends. I hope you are inspired by this wintery scene and share your creations with us!

I die cut my tag using Stitched Tags Nesting Dies and used the Oh My Stars Mini stencil with Distress Inks to create a monoprint to create the night sky. I then inked in yellow inks through the stencil to create the stars. I used a white gel pen to create the snowfall. I die cut the snowy landscape using Stitched Tags Nesting Dies and Stitched Winter Landscape. I stamped the cute critters from Woodland Friends, coloured with Copics and fussy cut. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Woodland Friends,
Dies: Stitched Snow Hills, Stitched Tags Nesting Dies, Stitched Winter Landscape,
Stencils: Oh My Stars Mini stencil

Bliss Under Starry Skies

Just a super quick post today as I've been busy setting up my new laptop. Yes, after 9 years my trusty old Macbook Pro, which I bought when I first moved to the UK, now gets to retire. I decided that as I'm getting older, I no longer can lug around such a big and heavy brick. So it's basically health and safety to get a new computer, right? To be fair, the old brick has served me well and after 9 years of use, it's actually brilliant value for money. But the new one definitely has its benefits, like that it's about a third of the weight and all sleek and slim.

But on to more interesting things - today's card was inspired by the Starry Skies theme over at Daring Cardmakers. First I inked up the ARTplorations Oh My Stars! stencil with blue Distress Oxides and created a monoprint onto watercolour card to create the sky. After the ink had dried I inked Mustard Seed Distress Oxide through the stencil, and while the ink was still wet, added sparkly clear embossing powder to give the stars a pretty sparkle.

I smooshed green and brown Distress Oxides to create the ground, and die cut with Stitched Snow Hills. I stamped the cute critters from Woodland Friends, coloured with Copics and fussy cut. I drew a branch for the owl to sit on, and last I heat embossed a sentiment from Noteworthy 3 on a piece of dark blue card. 

I'm also linking up the card over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes this week.

Card: Daler Rowney 300 gsm watercolour paper, Neenah Solar white card, scrap of dark blue card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Woodland Friends, Noteworthy 3
Dies: CUTplorations Stitched Snow Hills, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
Stencil: ARTplorations Oh My Stars! 
Ink: Tsukinko Versamark, Memento, Distress Oxides
Other: White and shimmer clear embossing powder 

Don't forget there is still a few days left to use my code STAMPGIRLKAROLA to get 20% off products in the NEW RELEASE and 5x7 STAMP CLUB categories and to get a free metal die with your order from theSTAMPlorations store.

If the Shoe Fits

Just a quick post today to play along with this week's challenge over at Shopping Our Stash where the theme is "If the Shoe Fits". I just had to play along as I love shoes - although sadly getting old doesn't really seem to go with high heels - and I also love the stamp set A Girl and Her Shoes from the super talented Shery of STAMPlorations. And I really love Distress Inks too, so I inked up a really colourful background and splattered with water through the Oh My Stars! stencil, and then just for fun I splattered some more all over. I stamped the gorgeous shoes and coloured them using Copics to look exactly like my dream shoes. After fussy cutting, I covered them in Glossy Accents for that patent leather shine. Last, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from the stamp set.

Card: 300 gsm white card, Neenah Solar White card
Stamps: STAMPlorations A Girl and Her Shoes
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral, Festive Berries, Aged Mahogany, Copics, Signo White Gel pen
Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Glossy Accents, ARTplorations Oh My Stars! stencil