STAMPlorations Inspiration

Hi crafters! For this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration post I'm doing some serious stash diving in my UFO box. I decided to create Christmas cards using as many different bits and bobs which I have already made for something else but didn't get used. It was a fun way to challenge myself and to give a new life to things. 

I started by selecting three tags I have created in the past using Distress Oxides and Inks and ARTplorations stencils. One of these already had the stag's head from Yuletide Deer heat embossed on it, so it was perfect to go as it was. I also found a stamped image of the Poinsettia Row which I had watercoloured and then abandoned, so I die cut the middle of the image into a fourth tag. I also found some stamped and heat embossed but not yet coloured images from Joyful which I watercoloured and fussy cut for the two other tags. Next, I used some leftover printouts from a friend's wedding invitation I made many years ago and used the reverse of those as the card backs (the kraft panels). To create some texture, I ran the panels through my die-cut machine using the Circles All Over Texture Cover Plate and inked some Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the edges. Last, I used a mix of sentiments I had pre-cut in the past and also die cut a few new sentiments using scrap pieces of coloured card to finish the cards. Not too bad for a pile of unfinished objects! Below you can see close-ups of the cards.

Stamps: STAMOplorations Joyful, Yuletide Deer, Poinsettia Row

Stencils: ARTplorations All Swirls Slimline Stencil, Flair Slimline Stencil, Tribal Triangles

Dies: CUTplorations Stitched Tag Nesting Dies, Circles All Over Texture Cover Plate, Christmas Sentiments Phrase Dies

Ink and colouring: All the 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 December CAS Challenge

 

It's December!?!?! This strange, unusual, weird, unexpected year is coming to an end. For most of us, the holidays will not be as they usually are, we may not be able to meet up with all our loved ones and stick to all our traditions. It will be strange but at the same time this too shall pass and signs are that next year our lives will slowly start returning towards what we consider normal. For me, this year has also brought a lot of good things - I have really enjoyed working from home, not having to spend all those hours and hours commuting, and rather use them for things I love, like knitting and crafting. 

Talking of crafting, today is the start of the STAMPlorations December CAS challenge. Probably not a surprise that I have created a Christmas card - this is quite a quick make, so it would work well for mass production if you, like me, find yourself at this time of the year in the situation where you don't have enough Christmas cards available. I started by heat embossing the deer from Yuletide Deer in copper, then inked red Distress ink though the All Swirls Stencil. Next, I used brown Distress ink to pain the deer, and splattered some brown ink across the card front. Last, I added a sentiment from Simple Christmas Clear Stickers on red card and attached it to the card. I really like the Clear Stickers, they are super quick to add a sentiment to your cards. I hope you will feel inspired to play along with our December challenge!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer

Stencil: ARTplorations All Swirls Stencil

Other: STAMPlorations Simple Christmas Clear Stickers

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Distress Ink

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

 

Welcome to this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration post. I have entered November with hardly any Christmas cards made (I can hear you gasping all the way here...). I'm proud to say I have finished most of my (mainly knitted or crocheted) Christmas presents but cards... not so much this year. Last year was the total opposite - lots of cards, but hardly any presents. Luckily I have made a few cards during the year, but I think from now until Christmas, all my Inspiration projects will be Christmas themed to bulk up the Christmas card stash. 

I thought I would do something a bit different from my usual Christmas card by creating a slimline card. I started by inking brown and red Distress Ink through the Flair Slimline Stencil, I really love this stencil, it's super versatile and will adapt to so many different designs depending on colours and other elements. Here I combined it with the wreath from Joyful and the deer from Yuletide Deer, both heat embossed in copper on kraft card and coloured with Distress ink. Last, I attached a sentiment from Simple Christmas Clear Stickers. I think it turned out quite nice with a rustic feel.

As always, don't forget that by commenting on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post you are entering into a monthly draw for a $15 prize code. And there are so many offers in the STAMPlorations store at the moment, check below for info, including a code which, in addition to a discount will also give you a freebie! 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer, Joyful

Stencil: ARTplorations Flair Slimline Stencil

Other: Simple Christmas Clear Stickers

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Inks Vintage Photo and Festive Berry, 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 :) 

This month there are oodles of discounts, for which you can find codes here, including 30% off word/phrase dies, 25% off square stencils and 40% off clear stickers. There is also a Christmas Special Sale and Coffee Lovers Sale.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

As we are coming to the end of July, we are also coming to an end of my Christmas in July Inspiration posts as part of our weekly STAMPlorations Inspiration Posts. Have you started working on your Christmas card stash yet? I haven't really, just the few cards I showcased the last few weeks. I should probably mass produce one of them to ensure I have some cars available when December sneaks up on me, I always think it's a good idea in theory to mass-produce a specific card design, but when I have done a few I always get bored!

This week for the STAMPlorations Inspiration Post I created a Christmas tag - well, in fact, two tags but I'm not 100% sure if I like the second one. I used one of my Distress Oxide backgrounds for my tags, die cut them with Stitched Tags Nesting Dies and inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I heat embossed the Christmas tree from Sketchy Yule Trees, deer from Yuletide Deer and Christmas bells from Jingle Bells in copper and watercoloured with Gansai Tambi watercolours before fussy cutting and adding to the tags. Last, I added die cut sentiments using Christmas Sentiments.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sketchy Yule Trees, Yuletide Deer and Jingle Bells

Dies: CUTplorations Christmas Sentiments, Stitched Tags Nesting Dies

Ink and colouring: Distress Oxides, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Tsukineko Versafine

Don't forget to use my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA for 20% off normal price products in the STAMPlorations store.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

How is your summer going? I'm enjoying the light and the sun when it's available and trying not to think about the evenings starting to get darker again. Our greenhouse is doing great and we are getting lots of cucumbers and the tomatoes are coming along too. We were also lucky to get some apricots this year, nothing like the massive crop we got a few years ago, - enough to eat but not enough for jam, unfortunately. And amongst all of that, it's time for another STAMPloratios Inspiration post, and as usual, if you comment on the post over on the STAMPlorations blog you enter into our monthly draw for a $15 gift code to the brand new and fabulous STAMPlorations store.

For my Inspiration project this week I continued with another Christmas card. I started by stamping the wreath from Joyful in Versafine and watercoloured with Gansai Tambi watercolours. I heat embossed one of the deer heads from Yuletide Deer in gold on kraft card and finished everything off with a few black splatters and a die cut a gold sentiment using Christmas Sentiments. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Joyful, Yuletide Deer

Dies: CUTplorations Christmas Sentiments 

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versafine, Versamark Onyx Black, Gansai Tambi watercolours

Don't forget the All Moved In sale in the STAMPlorations store! 

STAMPlorations Birthday - Clear Stickers

Hi, how are you? Thanks for stopping by today! It's an extra special day today as we are sharing a lot of projects today with the new STAMPlorations Clear Stickers as part of our STAMPlorations 6th Birthday Celebration week. I had so much fun exploring the stickers and my fellow DT members have even more ideas over on the STAMPlorations blog. 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 started by blending Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink onto white card and splattering with water. I left the centre of the card a bit lighter to show off the  Artsy Backgrounds sticker I added to the card. Then I heat embossed one of the deers from Yuletide Deer in copper on mahogany card. I stamped sentiments using Joy and finished the sentiment strips with attaching the same sticker from Artsy Backgrounds onto the sentiment strips.

For my second card, I started by stamping the gorgeous mandalas from Bloomdala in light brown before adding a sticker fro Artsy Backgrounds. I added a pink die cut using one of the dies from Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity and finished the card with a sentiment from Bloomdala.

For a quick and easy birthday card I used the Layered Cake Bake to stamp the cake and platter in Distress Oxides. I used a water brush to pull the colour from the outlines to colour the cake and the stand. I also splattered some yellow ink onto the card panel before adding a sticker from Birthday Word Art.

I used Layered Cake Bake and Birthday Word Art to create another quick and easy birthday card. I stamped the candles from Layered Cake Bake in a rainbow of Distress Oxides and added a sticker from Birthday Word Art. I used my Sharpies to colour the cake on the sticker, and my white Signo pen to add some highlights to the word "party" for a fun look.

There are so many fantastic stickers, so I had to create one more card. I started by attaching a sticker from Botanical Backgrounds to a white card panel. I stamped the cute little cacti from Succulently onto white card, coloured them with Copics and fussy cut them. Before attaching them to the card panel I splattered green watercolour for added texture. The sentiment is a sticker from Just Everyday Greetings which I attached to a strip of green card.

If you want to see more inspiration using the stickers, I have created a card kit using the Just Everyday Greetings stickers, you can find the post here.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer, Joy, Bloomdala, Layered Cake Bake, Succulently

Stickers: STAMPlorations  Artsy Backgrounds, Birthday Word Art, Botanical Backgrounds, Just Everyday Greetings

Dies: CUTplorations Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity

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!

STAMPlorations Christmas in July

I'm very excited to be here today for the kick-off of our Christmas in July sale and giveaway over at STAMPlorations. And, to be honest, it's the kick-off for Christmas crafting for me this year. I really love to see all the Christmas inspiration all over blogland this time of year as it finally got me inspired to start with my Christmas crafting. The inspiration and talent in the crafting community never cease to amaze me. If I ever feel like I'm in a creative slump, all I need to do is go on Pinterest or Instagram and I'm showered with the most amazing art, so thank you all for that!

For my first card, I used the Sketchy Yule Trees, stamping directly onto white card and colouring the trees with Distress Markers. Next, I stamped the Merry Little Christmas typografia stamp in Versamark onto vellum, and heat embossed in gold (currently this stamp is out of stock, but there are plenty of other Christmas typografia stamps in stock in the STAMPlorations store). I added a few drops of glue on the vellum under the sentiment to attach it to the card panel. If you want more inspiration for these stamp sets, check out here, here, and here.

I used the same layout for my next card, this time using the super cute snowman from Winter Chill for the background and the  Build A Snowman Typografia Christmas. I stamped the sentiment in black onto vellum and heat embossed in holographic embossing powder which gives it a great shimmer. For other ideas using these stamps, see here and here.

I created one more card using a Christmas typografia stamp, this time I combined the Jingle All the Way typografia stamp with the cute bells from Jingle Bells. I started by stamping the bells in Versamark, then I sprinkled gold and copper embossing powder to create a two-tone effect which you can see in the close-up image. I inked up the sentiment using Distress Markers, spritzed very lightly with water and stamped onto vellum. As I often manage to smudge ink when stamping on vellum, I quickly heat embossed the sentiment in clear powder, before cutting the vellum with the smallest die from Crazy Double Running Stitch Nested dies. 

For my last two cards, I was inspired by the beautifully geometric Yuletide Deer stamp set. I restricted my colour palette to bright red, black and grey against crisp white card. I started by stamping the deers in Tim Holtz Festive Berries. Then I used a black watercolour marker to colour only the word Christmas from Merry Little Christmas (although you may want to make your life a bit easier and just use a stamp which you can ink up the normal way). I then used the "merry" stamp from Joyful to complete the sentiment, inking it up once with black ink and stamping three times without inking it up in between. I then used a stamp from Mixed Media Elements to create some interest around the edge. I completed the grungy look by splattering some diluted black ink on the card front before matting it onto red or grey card and attaching to a white card base.

A few links to some other cards made using the same stamp set here and here.

I hope you have been inspired to create some Christmas cards of your own. If you want to add to your Christmas crafty stash, you can find Christmas stamps reduced over in the STAMPlorations store and there is even a giveaway!

I'm linking up my first deer card over at Crafty Card Challenge, Tales from the Craft Room, Shopping Our Stash (Happy 400th challenge!!) and Crafty Gals Corner. All of the challenges have a Christmas in July theme.  

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sketchy Yule Trees, Merry Little Christmas Typografia Christmas, Build A Snowman Typografia Christmas, Winter Chill, Jingle All the Way Typografia Christmas, Jingle Bells, Yuletide Deer, Mixed Media Elements 
Dies: Crazy Double Running Stitch Nested dies
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks and markers

Rainbow Yuletide Deer

I created a card a few days ago using STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer and Distress Inks. I just finished sending off my Christmas cards back home and realised that depleted me completely of cards. As I still need quite a few (and to be fair, I have already cheated a bit and used some store bought cards...). I decided to create a batch of cards in different colours.

I'm linking up over at AAA Cards where the theme is Three of Something, CAS on Friday where the theme is Make a Christmas Card, Make My Monday where the theme is CAS Christmas, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Christmas and Shopping Our Stash where the theme is Tis the Season

Card: 200 gsm white card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Tsukineko Versamark 
Other: Papermania Copper Embossing Powder

Bright Red

I've seen a bunch of bright red gorgeous Christmas cards around the Blogosphere and the Instagrams so of course, I had to create my own version. I used Distress Inks and STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer. Sometimes it's nice to create cards with minimal supplies. When I first started crafting and didn't have a big stash of crafting supplies (I still don't have enough... well at least I don't have enough space to store everything these days...) I was always on the lookout for ideas for cards that could be created using a small number of stash. For this design, all you need are a few shades of ink in your preferred colour, a festive stamp set and some embossing powder. And it's easy to create multiples of the card quite quickly.

I created the red background by applying Distress Inks in Abandoned Coral, Festive Berries, Barn Door and Fired Brick using a foam applicator and splattered with water. I then used an antistatic tool to ensure the embossing powder would only stick to the images (don't ask why I am so particular about this, but it could involve numerous bad experiences in my crafting past). I stamped the deer in Versamark and heat embossed in copper and gold. Last, I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set.

I'm linking up with ABC Christmas Challenges where the theme is Zero Embellishments, Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is B is for (in my case bold and bright), Inspire.Create. where Anything Goes and Double D Challenges where the theme is Run Run Rudolph.

Card: 200 gsm white card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer
Ink: Distress Ink Abandoned Coral, Festive Berries, Barn Door and Fired Brick, Tsukineko Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black
Other: Copper and gold embossing powder from my stash

Silver Stag

I have spent the whole day trying to sort out the mess that is my digital photo library. Nothing like a new computer to find the motivation to try and sort things out and only move relevant bits and bobs over to the new computer. But boy oh boy is it hard work!! My new year's resolution for next year will be to do a monthly photo cleanout instead of having to go through thousands of photos. If you have any good tips on how you manage your photos, please share!!

About today's card - it's quite quick and easy, perfect for December crafting really. It's inspired by the colours over at Color Throwdown and the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. I'm also linking up over at Make My Monday where the theme is Non-Traditional Christmas Colours and Christmas Crafts All Year Round where Anything Goes.

Card: White 200 gsm, Stampin' Up patterned paper from my stash

Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer, Mixed Media Grunge

Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies 

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Disterss Ink Smoky Slate

Other: Papermania Silver embossing powder, small adhesive rhinestones from my stash

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at theSTAMPlorations 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.

STAMPlorations Christmas Release - Yuletide Deer

I hope you enjoyed all the delicious cookie creations yesterday. Welcome to day two of the big STAMPlorations Christmas Release! Today we are spreading some Yuletide Deer using Deepti's new fabulous stamp set. I absolutely love these gorgeous deer, perfect for heat embossing (and of course many other things as well). I hope you enjoy all the fantastic inspiration from the DT and leave a few comments on your way for a chance to win some of the fun Christmas sets or dies.

For my card, I created a watercolour background using a mix of Distress Inks and Oxides on watercolour paper. Then I stamped the deer and some grungy background stamps from Scribbly Splattery Grunge in Versamark and heat embossed in copper. I die cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles and attached it to a red card base. For the sentiment, I die cut the Merry using CUTplorations Merry Christmas Phrase Die in copper card and heat embossed the word Christmas from Homespun Christmas (which you will see more of in just a few day's time!) in copper onto a strip of red card. 

For my tag, I die cut the tag using Luggage Tags Nesting Dies and heat embossed another deer from Yuletide Deer, this time in gold. I coloured the deer and the tag using Copics (I couldn't resist a bit of rainbow...) and added the sentiment as I did to the card. I added some gold ribbon from my stash as a finishing touch.

Card: Daler&Rowney 300 gsm watercolour paper, red card stock, 250 gsm white card, scrap of gold mirri card and copper card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Yuletide Deer, Scribbly Splattery Grunge, Homespun Christmas
Dies: Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles, Merry Christmas Phrase Die, Luggage Tags Nesting Dies
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Aged Mahogany, Festive Berries, Barn Door, Distress Oxide Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick, Copics
Other: gold and copper embossing powder from my stash, gold ribbon

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.