STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Tuesday, how are you on this fine day? I'm here to show you my card for this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration post. I thought some furry little friends are the perfect way to cheer us all up when we enter yet another strange week in this new reality which still seems like it's straight out of a science fiction novel. And at the same time other things are as normal as ever, there is way too much work and spring just keeps coming, the peonies are in full bloom in the garden. 

Today's card involved a bit of stamping, masking and no-line watercolouring. I absolutely love this stamp set and the adorable critters make such a cute card. I hope you feel inspired to create something today too!

Stamps: STAMPlorations Woodland Friends

Ink and colouring: Gansai Tambi watercolours, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Scattered Straw

STAMPlorations New Release Leafy

Welcome to day two of the STAMPlorations February 2020 release week! Did you get a chance to check out our release of Shirley's Layered Vase? Today we are showcasing Dee's new Leafy stamp set which contains pretty much every single leaf you could ever need. 

For my first card, I stamped the different leaves all around the edges of a card. I started by stamping the solid leaves in lighter green Distress Inks and then added some of the outlined leaves in darker colours. I finished by adding Typografia Motivate: Quitting in black Versafine ink.

For my second card, I started with an ombre background panel. I stamped one of the leaves multiple times in Versafine and heat embossed them in copper. I die cut the sentiment using Skinny Sentiments using copper card and some more of the ombre card I used for the card panel.

For a chance to win a $20 gift code or one of the new stamp sets, comment on the blog post over on the STAMPlorations blog and the participating designer's blogs. You don't have to comment on all blogs, but every comment will be entered in the random draw. Commenting is open until February 19th and the randomly drawn winners will be announced on February 21st. Also, the new stamps are 10% off automatically until February 19 in the STAMPlorations store and if you use my discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA you will get an extra 20% off.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Leafy, Typografia Motivate: Quitting

Dies: CUTplorations Skinny Sentiments

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

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy second Tuesday of the year! Are you getting into the habit of writing 2020 yet? I'm still struggling. Time flies so fast these days it seems like it's December before I get into the habit of writing the year correctly. Luckily crafting doesn't require adding any dates to anything! Anyhow, Tuesday means it's time for this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration post.

I created a card using the lovely Be A Rainbow Typografia Motivate sentiment and the beautiful horse from Deepti's Live Love Ride. I stamped everything in Versafine Onyx Black and coloured with Gansai Tambi Pearl colours for a rainbow with beautiful shimmery shine. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Be A Rainbow Typografia Motivate, Live Love Ride

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

Don't forget the STAMPlorations Winter Sale is still ongoing in the STAMPlorations Store should you feel like stocking up on your favourite crafty stash.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

It's time for our first STAMPlorations Inspiration Post of 2020. How has your year started? I always feel it takes a while to get going with the new year. I took a nice long break over the holidays so getting up before the crack of dawn takes a bit of getting used to again. But at least it's going to start getting lighter soon, and it will be spring before we know it.

I thought the new year could do with some sparkle, so I created a card using Sparkly and Leave a Little Sparkle Typografia Motivate. Just some quick stamping, colouring and lots and lots of Distress Stickles for that sparkle!

Stamps: STAMPlorations  Sparkly, Leave a Little Sparkle Typografia Motivate

Ink and Colouring: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Copics, Distress Stickles


Don't forget the Winter Sale in the STAMPlorations store in case you wanted to stock up on your STAMPlorations favourites.

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Happy Tuesday! Are you starting to feel autumn in the air? Actually, we have been enjoying a bit of Indian summer, the weekend was stunning. Hopefully, it will last a good while! Even better, it's also time for this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration projects. As always, the team have used STAMPlorations products they love to create amazing artworks to inspire you. Don't forget to leave a comment on the Inspiration projects post on the STAMPlorations blog as all commenters will be part of a draw to win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store. 

For today's project, I was inspired by the Faces: Lovely stencil. I used a foam applicator to add Distress Inks through the stencil creating a rainbow in her hair (side note - do you use those fancy new brushes everyone is using for inking these days? Do you like them? Should I try them? Do you need to clean them a lot between different colours?). I added a sentiment from Noteworthy 2 and splattered some diluted black ink over the card as a finishing touch. A true one layer quick card but that rainbow adds so much brightness to it, don't you think?

Anyhow, thanks for stopping by today, hope to see you soon again and I hope you are inspired to create something today.

I'm linking up with a bunch of ATG challenges

Brown Sugar

Arty Divas

Through The Craftroom Door

Love to Craft

The Creative Crafters

A Bit More Time To Craft

A Perfect Time to Craft

Stamps: STAMPlorations Noteworthy 2
Stencils: ARTplorations Faces: Lovely

Currently, there are several great promotions in the STAMPlorations store, including a great offer if you want to pre-order the new dies which will be available in October. You can find all the promotions summarised on the Promotions Page. You can also find great discounts on dies and stamps.

Gin and Tonic

It's been a while since I have spent any time in the craft room (and it seems like this is how I start all of my blog posts these days). It's been a few weeks of beautiful summer which means the garden is growing way too much (why is it only the weeds that grow out of control but not the actual plants you want to grow?). Anyhow, today's rainy weather brought with it some mojo.

Inspired by the CASology challenge, where the theme is Citrus, I created this quick one layer CAS card. I love the fun STAMPlorations Layered Citrus stamp set which was perfect for the theme. I stamped the lemon outline in Distress Oxide and used the layering stamps to "colour" it using Distress Inks. Last, I stamped the sentiments and splattered some watered down Distress Ink for a grungy feel. I'm also linking up with Cupcake Inspirations where the theme is shades of yellow and Shopping Our Stash where the theme is One Layer Card. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Layered Citrus

Ink: Tim Holz Distress Oxide Fossilized Amber, Distress Ink Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

If you feel like doing some crafty shopping, don't forget to check out the 

STAMPlorations Summer Sale with over 300 products at 40% off for some great finds!

"It's A Girl Thing" Turner Syndrome Awareness Inaugural Blog Hop

Hello Blogging Friends!!

Welcome to my project for the "It's A Girl Thing" Turner Syndrome Awareness Inaugural Blog Hop! 

Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder where a female is born with only one X chromosome, instead of two, leaving her with life-long medical issues and learning disabilities. This condition occurs one in 2,500 female births worldwide, but is more common among pregnancies that do not survive to full term. That is why Turner Syndrome Females are considered MIRACLES! 

Nineteen caring Sponsors and eleven DT Members have partnered with us to bring Turner Syndrome Awareness to the Public. For details on how you might win any of these fabulous prizes, please see Lori's TS home page. Thanks for learning About Turner Syndrome. 

My TS related project uses a few colors from the TS official color board:

This blog hop is hosted by Lori Kobular and she shares the journey she and her family have been on after her oldest daughter Julie was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome in her own words here. I hope you take the time to read about her experiences and learn about Turner Syndrome. 

I work in the field of genetics research so raising awareness of genetic conditions is close to my heart. I often hear from the families who take part in our research about how difficult it can be to navigate the health care system when you end up knowing more about the condition than your doctor. I work with families affected by various rare medical conditions and I have learned from them how important it is to have a network of other families to share your experiences with. There is strength in numbers!

For my project, I created a card inspired by the colours in the Turner Syndrome Foundation logo and using the new STAMPlorations aptly named It's A Girl Thing stamps. I wanted to create a happy card with lots of flowers to celebrate all the ladies out there who in some way are connected with Turner Syndrome. 

Don't forget to visit the "It's A Girl Thing" Turner Syndrome Awareness Inaugural Blog Hop page to be eligible for the blog hop prizes. Here is some information on how you can win one of the prizes:

• Leave a comment on the TS Awareness Home Blog Post stating at least one thing you learned about Turner Syndrome. Our Tab titled About Turner Syndrome has a pictorial explanation of many of the symptoms or limitations faced by TS females.
• Leave a comment on one or more DT blog hop posts. 
• Prizes will be awarded randomly from the comments left on 19 of the DT blog hop posts + by 11 of the designers who are awarding prizes of their own. So the more posts you visit and comment on, the more likely you are to win a prize. Don't forget! You must also leave one comment on the Home Blog, too.
• We hope this will bring an awareness not only about Turner Syndrome in females, but that if any human being seems a bit out of the ordinary, there could be a health-related or genetic reason for it, and it would be nice to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in our daily lives.

Craft supplies used:

Stamps: STAMPlorations It's A Girl Thing: Kindness, It's A Girl Thing: Sunshine

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics

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.

Happy Bot Day

I love dedicating my Saturday mornings to crafting. I should be out running but sometimes I feel like it's more important to provide a work-out for my creative muscles. No comments about the fact that I still haven't managed to squeeze into most of my trousers after the Christmas binge. But crafting is cheaper than therapy and there is only so much a gal can take after a mad day at work on Friday. Why do all the big problems always creep out on a Friday evening right before you are supposed to go home?

Anyhow, this Saturday I started the day with a big stash of crafty goodness from STAMPlorations, a cup of hot coffee in my trusty Unicorn mug and haven't stopped since.

Now this is #thelife : #saturday #morning, my trusty #unicorn mug, #coffee and the most amazing #craftystash from the awesome @stamplorations . If you visit their store just to daydream of everything you want, you may recognize a lot of the stuff, but there are also a few sneak peaks of new stuff you will see soon. I can’t wait to share!!

A post shared by InvisiblePinkUni (@invisiblepinkuni) on Jan 27, 2018 at 12:28am PST

The first stamps out to play from the new stash are these super adorable Little Robots from the amazing Shery of STAMPlorations. I was inspired by the colours over at Color Throwdown, although I always feel like I'm really pushing the envelope when limiting my colour palette (I had to create a rainbow card after finishing this to recover, I'll show you that one another day...). I was also inspired by the "Use markers or pencils" theme over at CAS on Friday and Masked Magic theme over at Daring Cardmakers. Last but not least I'm linking up over at Shopping Our Stash where the theme is Birthday.

I started by stamping the two robots, masking the first before stamping the one behind it. Then I masked the other robot as well and masked a rectangle in the middle of the card. I inked Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide through the ARTplorations Dots All Over stencil. I coloured the robots with Faber Castell watercolour pencils. Last, I combined sentiments from a few stamp sets, stamping them in Hickory Smoke Distress Ink (I really have to buy the Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide as it I prefer Oxides to Inks for stamping...), I had to use a grey marker to fill in the sentiment as it didn't stamp as well as I wanted. 

Card: White 250 gsm card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Little Robots, Noteworthy 2, Bloomin' Spring Coffee Basket 
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Spice Marmalade, Distress Ink Hickory Smoke, Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
Stencil: ARTplorations Dots All Over

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.

November STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-Month Inspiration

Weeks are just flying by, I can't believe we are already in mid-November. Have you been playing along with our brown challenge this month? If not, you still have a few weeks to join in on the fun.  If you need some inspiration to get your mojo going, pop over to the see the mid-month reminder for the STAMPlorations November CAS challenge.

For my card, I decided to go for a one layer card with a coffee theme. I used markers in three shades of brown to colour up stamps from What's Brewing and Scribbly Splattery Grunge to create an ombre look. 

Card: 300 gsm white card

Stamps: STAMPlorations What's Brewing, Scribbly Splattery Grunge

Ink and colouring: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso

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.

Mojo Warm-Up Blooms

Do you sometimes feel like you need a quick and easy project to get your mojo going? Kind of like warming up for when you do exercise? I've been struggling to get into the craft room lately (and also to the gym, but that's another story), not sure why but it just felt overwhelming and I tried to start a few cards but they were all just horrible.

Then I saw an amazing card on Instagram, which of course I can't find again... it was a gorgeous flower stamp on a blue background, coloured probably with watercolour markers. I tried to find it again - you know how Instagram always brings up those same donuts over and over again... but I just can't find that card again. Anyhow, long story short I was going to CASE that card as I happened to see that the challenge over at AAA Cards and Less Is More is One Layer with a coloured card base. But then it warped into something different when I had a dig around my huge stash of unused card and I found some rainbow coloured card which looks awesome as a A4 sized sheet but really doesn't work very well when cut down in size... But I thought it would work for this design. I was planning to colour in the gorgeous STAMPlorations Blossom Sprays #1 stamp. After I stamped and heat embossed it I decided to take a minimalist approach instead and just leave it as it is. All it needed was a bold sentiment from Noteworthy 2 and a fashion photo shoot together with my gorgeous hydrangea. If you come back tomorrow I'll show you the card I made after I had flexed my crafty muscles with these "warm up" cards. 

Card: Rainbow coloured card (it doesn't say what brand/make it is, I bought it on eBay...)
Stamps: STAMPlorations Blossom Sprays #1, Noteworthy 2
Ink: Tsukineko Versafine
Other: Papermania Seafoam White 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. 

June STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Anything Goes With Masculine Colours

Summer is here!! Hope you are enjoying good weather and summer fun wherever you are. This will also be the last STAMPlorations CAS challenge before we go off on a break over summer. This month we challenge you to create something with masculine colours. But fear not, there will be plenty of exciting stuff going on over at the STAMPlorations blog. And don't forget that you can get a 20% discount if you want to go on a shopping spree in the STAMPlorations store by using the discount code STAMPGIRLKAROLA.

For my card I chose to create a one layer card using the gorgeous Born to Roam stamps. I stamped the globe, masked it and stamped the luggage. Then I coloured the images with Copics. Last, I stamped one of the sentiments from the stamp set using Vintage Photo Distress ink. Last, I masked the image and stamped some splatters from the Art Marks stamp set.

I'm linking up my card with this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where Anything Goes.

Card: 250 gsm white card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Born to Roam, Art Marks

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Distress Ink Vintage Photo

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!

April STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-Month Inspiration

Welcome to my little mid-month reminder for the April STAMPlorations CAS Challenge. Absolutely loving the beautiful pastel creations in the gallery! And the great news is that you still have a few more weeks to link up. Don't forget that if you combine our pastel colour CAS challenge with winged things, you can also link up with the Things With Wings Spring Hop. Why not double your chances of winning some great prizes.

This time I thought I would create a one layer card with the super-cute Hello You stamp set. I started by stamping the retro typewriter and coloured it with Gansai Tambi watercolours. I added the sentiment below the typewriter. I thought it all looked a bit bare so I added stamps from the fantastic Scribbly Splattery Grunge set in pastel colours to the background. I just love the grunge-y alphabet, I think it works so well with the typewriter theme. 

Card: 250 gsm white hammered card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Hello You, Scribbly Splattery Grunge

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up So Saffron, Soft Sky, Blushing Bride, Gansai Tambi watercolours

One Layer Sympathy card

Greetings from a very bright craft room. When I came into the craft room this morning the beautiful morning sun really highlighted how disgustingly dirty my windows were. And I say *were* as instead of doing what I have been doing for so many mornings previously I didn't ignore them this time, but grabbed a microfibre cloth and bucket and actually cleaned them. Inside and out. So now I'm confused by the bright light.

I did manage a bit of CAS crafting despite almost being blinded by daylight. I used the ARTplorations Christmas Reindeer stencil and inked Distress Ink through the stencil inspired by the red, orange and yellow theme over at One Layer Simplicity Challenge. I was also inspired by the masking theme over at AAA Cards and the Support theme over at CASology. I stamped a treeline at the bottom of the masked image and spritzed some water for a more distressed look. Last, I stamped the beautiful sentiment from Lotus Love as I thought I would make this a non-Christmas card.

Card: 300 gsm white hammered card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Lotus Love, Vignette Tree Silhouettes

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries

Other: ARTplorations Christmas Reindeer

Flying high for my 500th post

It's been a totally insane few days with so much work that I don't know what to do with it all. But I also got to enjoy great food with good friends, and there's plenty more of that to come as I'm enjoying a week of annual leave with the plan to spend quality time with family and friends and hopefully enjoy some sun (responsibly while fully covered up and drenched in sunscreen after my recent mishap which left me with skin peeling off my shoulders).
Also, in all this excitement I almost missed the fact that this is my 500th post! If I had realised a bit sooner I would have planned a bit of a bash or something but as with so many other things in life it just sneaks up on you and you just have to roll with it.

Today's card was inspired by the gorgeous colours over at ColourQ. I was also inspired by the Things With Wings challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and I'm linking up with The Crafter's Cafe where the theme is CAS and Creative With Stamps where the theme is Ink Splatters.

I started by stamping the gorgeous swallowtail in Versamark and heat embossed in gold. Then I coloured the butterfly with Gansai Tambi watercolours and splattered some colour all over the card after masking the swallowtail. Last I stamped a sentiment fromnSTAMPlorations in Versamark and embossed in gold powder.

Card: 300 gsm watercolour paper
Stamps: STAMPlorations Art Mark s, Stampin' Up Swallowtail
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Kuretaki Gansai Tambi watercolours
Other: Gold embossing powder

Posted with Blogsy

July STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-month inspiration

Welcome to our STAMPlorations CAS challenge mid-month inspiration. For our July CAS challenge we have an optional colour twist of orange. Thank you to everyone who has already linked up, so many fabulous projects! You still have a few more weeks to participate and to have a chance of winning a gift card to the fabulous STAMPlorations shop.

For my card I decided to play with Brushos to create a background. I cut a rectangular opening from a sheet of scrap paper, layered this onto watercolour paper and spritzed with water using a mini mister. Then I sprinkled on some Brusho crystals in yellow and orange. I love it that you never know what the Brushos will do and every card you create with them is completely unique. After the Brushos dried, I stamped the elegant feathers and the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink. Such a quick and easy way to create a beautiful and unique card.

Card: 300 gsm watercolour paper

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Brushos

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Feathers 

Disclaimer: I have received some STAMPlorations products for free in exchange for creating cards for the challenge. All opinions however are completely my own. As you can see by browsing my blog, I have been using STAMPlorations products (which I bought myself) way before my time on the DT and I wouldn't recommend them unless I absolutely loved them myself.