STAMPlorations Spotlight

I'm over at STAMPlorations tonight with a fun, quick and easy card.  Here's a sneak peek ;)

STAMPlorations Inspiration #68

Time for some more STAMPlorations Inspiration for you.  Today's card uses a Gelli Plate print that's been in my stash for a while.  You can just make out the ARTplorations Tribal Triangles stencil top left.  The swirly marks were made with an icing tool through the paint on the Gelli Plate.

I stamped the Folk Flowers in Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, then moved the colour around with a wet paintbrush.  I added some bubblewrap stamping, some stencilling though punchinella, and some white paint dots and white pen dots.

For the focus of my card I stamped the bird from Shery's Trendy Birds and the sentiment from Deepti's Balloons and Banners.  I ran some wet glue down a piece of black thread, scrunched it up and fixed it above the sentiment to help link the two elements.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see more from the Design Team, and don't forget to leave a comment there for your chance to win a gift certificate in the monthly draw.

Seize The Birthday - Water

We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday, and this time our optional topping is Water.

'So, where's the water?', I hear you ask.  Well, rather than depict water, I decided to use water.  I bought this really cool handmade paper a while back.  It's full of collaged movie posters images so all I had to do was sprinkle on some Brusho powders, spritz with water then cut to size.  Added some Tim Holtz celluloid strip and a sentiment, and it's done.

Part of the paper includes a poster image of Titanic, which looked great spritzed with blue Brusho, but given the outcome, it's not really appropriate for the front of a card, is it?

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, including our two new teamies, Vicki Dutcher and Barbara Campbell, and the last project from our current Guest Designer, Jacquie Southas.

Don't forget, the topping is optional, so if you don't want to use the water theme, any birthday project is fine.

Ballet Lessons

Ever since the SmallBirds saw this pin on my Pinterest board, they've been pestering me to take ballet lessons.  Not one to stand in the way of their development, I made them some tutus from PartyDresses and gave them some legs to pirouette on.

I'm adding this to Kylie's surprise birthday hop for Kim of Cupcakes Cards and Kim.  Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Kim - and that you're still celebrating!

Here's one of the other SmallBirds en pointe (quick learners, aren't they?)

This one's headed for The Paper Players Clean and Simple challenge:

And, performing a grand jeté, we have this little birdie sending get well wishes.

I'm entering this card into Inkspirational where the challenge is Pink and Grey.

ETA: and The Card Concept:

STAMPlorations Inspiration #67

It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and we've got some fabulous cards for your delectation and delight.  Continuing on from my STAMPlorations Spotlight post last week, I made another similar card using the same technique.

Seeing as it's the Spring Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop, I thought I'd fill my coffee cup with spring flowers!

I'm also entering into the current Fusion challenge:

I've used the photo inspiration and transferred all the colours to my flowers.

And Inspired By All The Little Things (the flowers in a container).

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the rest of the DT have made, and leave a comment there for your chance to win a gift certificate in the monthly draw.

Male Card

I'm over at A Sprinkle of Imagination today with a masculine card.  Here's a peep:

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Are You Playing?

Are you playing along with The Mixed Media Card Challenge?  The theme is Trees with an option of birds.

I'm adding my card to Loll and Bonnie's CAS Mix Up challenge.  Watercolouring, stamping, and my choice - die cuts.

One Layer Christmas Card

Popping in with a quick one layer Christmas card.  Cornelia is the muse at Muse Christmas Visions with this fabulous card:

I masked the edges of my card, stamped the snow globe and masked that, then sponged the background.  If you look hard you'll see some Stickles on the snowflakes and the tops of the Christmas trees around the base of the globe.  Because the sentiment had stars at the end, I wasn't going to add a star at the top, but the card didn't look balanced, so I blotted a star through the ARTplorations Oh My Stars stencil.  All of the stamps are from a freebie set that came with a magazine last winter.

As it's a one layer Christmas card, I can also play along at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge, where it's Anything Goes.

STAMPlorations Spotlight Feature

I'm over on the STAMPlorations blog tonight with a step-by-step on how I made this card.  Pop on over and take a look!

I'm entering this into Inspired By All The Little Things:

Can't see the connection?  The purply flowers, the tulipy flowers, how they radiate out, the sentiment banner....

I'm also entering it into Loll and Bonnie's new challenge, CASE Mix Up.  Stamping, watercolouring and my choice - gesso!  Lots of it!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #66

I've got some STAMPlorations inspiration for a male card for you today, using the car from the mini set Enjoy The Ride.  I teamed it with a sentiment made from Sketchy Alphabet ('Happy') and Big Greetings ('birthday').

The background is part of a Gelli Plate masterboard I made a while ago.  I thought this portion looked suitably retro for the card.  The thing with Gelli Plate printing sessions is that you get a little carried away, and before you know it you have a huge Mt Gelli NBUS of prints, as Maria f has been finding out ;)  At least there's always a background or two to kickstart my creativity!

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, and don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning a gift certificate.

I've also got a CASEplorations reminder for you.  We're CASEing this card by Betsy Veldman:

I've used the colour scheme, and the floral theme, but my central focus is one large flower rather than the sentiment encircled by flowers.

If you fancy having a go at CASEing Betsy's card, click on over to the CASEplorations post for all the details.

Craft Stamper Take It Make It Reminder - Take a Stamp

It's reminder time at Craft Stamper Take It, Make It!  Are you playing along?  This month it's Take A Stamp, so as long as you've used a physical stamp on your project, you're in!

This month's challenge is being sponsored by Basement Studio online store, and one lucky random winner will receive a €20 (that's 20 Euros) gift certificate to the store.

The winner chosen by the Design Team will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper Magazine, a winner's profile, and a guest spot in a future challenge.  How's that?

Pop on over to the Craft Stamper blog for some fabulous reminder inspiration from the Design Team, then add your entry here.

Seize The Birthday - The Great Divide

It's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and our theme is 'The Great Divide' - divide your card and/or focal point in half/thirds/etc.

I sponged Distress Inks through a stencil, added torn washi strips and Distress Ink splatters, and a sentiment.  On a separate piece of card I sponged the same colours then stamped the butterflies from The Bee's Knees WingedThings, cut them out and popped them onto the card front.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration, and play along with us.  If you're not keen on the topping for this challenge, that's fine, you can enter anything as long as it's birthday-themed.

NBUS Birthday Ballerina

I'm playing along at Loll and Bonnie's new challenge, CAS Mix Up (Mixed Media cards, but keeping them clean and simple).  This first challenge is all about stamping and watercolouring, then adding mediums/techniques of your choice from the list.

Well, the stamping and watercolouring is self-evident.  The background is a 5x3 Gelli Plate panel using pink and purple acrylic inks with lace, and bubblewrap stamping with white acrylic ink.  I also doodled a border around the panel with purple gel pen before fussy cutting it, stamping the sentiment and adhering it to the card base.  Oh, and there's a touch of Stickles on the little ballerina's tiara.

I'm also playing along at Darnell's NBUS Challenge with the ballerina stamp (Crafter's Companion).  I've got some other new NBUS stamps, but I can't remember where I put them....

ETA:  Just realised it's eligible for Simon Says Monday challenge - Make Your Own Background.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #65 - Happy Together

It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations.  I've got a couple of lovebirds for you with this card which could either be a wedding card or an anniversary card.  The background is Distress Paints spritzed and dripped on mixed media card, with trees die-cut from kraft card, some patterned paper flowers and a little raffia bow.  The sentiment is from Sentiment Builders: Love.

Take a peek over on the STAMPlorations blog at some more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team, and don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning a gift certificate.  

This card is also perfect for The Mixed Media Card Challenge, where the theme is Trees with an option of Birds.  Pop on over and take a look!

A Sprinkle of Imagination Sneak Peek

I'm over at A Sprinkle of Imagination today with this card.  Pop on over and take a look!

Craft Stamper Take It, Make It - Take a Stamp

Hello, and welcome to another Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge!  This month, it's Take A Stamp - easy peasy.

I've used the Stampendous Ranunculus stamp on a smooshed background, then I painted over some of the flowers and leaves in the same Distress Inks to highlight them and make them pop from the background.    And, ooh look!  I've used the same colour scheme as our sponsor without realising!  How's that for spooky?

This month's sponsor is Basement Studio, an online store based in Luxembourg, run by the lovely Jaine Drake, one of the Craft Stamper Magazine Design Team.  One randomly chosen winner will get a €20 voucher (that's 20 Euros) to spend in the online store.  We've all been having fun finding out how to get the € symbol out of our keyboards ;)

The winner chosen by the Design Team will have their entry published in the magazine, their profile published, and a guest design spot in a future challenge.

Please remember to check the challenge rules before entering your gorgeous creation - we'd hate for you not to be eligible for either fab prize!

Guest Designing at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge!

This is my fourth post today!  Click on the links for my earlier posts:

CASEplorations
The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Trees
STAMPlorations Inspiration #64

I'm thrilled to be guest designing at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge today!  Not least because it means I'm one more Christmas card towards this year's total :)

It's an Anything Goes challenge, so I used this gorgeous stamp from Stampington, masked the edges of my card, then sponged Distress Inks over.  I flicked some water over, then when that dried, I splattered some diluted white paint over, and highlighted some of the leaves and berries with a white gel pen.

Pop on over to the OLCC blog for some fabulous inspiration from the Design Team - thanks for having me, girls!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #64 - Hot Pink Blooms

I've got four posts going out today - click on the links for these posts:
CASEplorations
The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Trees

One Layer Christmas Card Challenge - Guest Designer (later today)

It's Inspiration Day on the STAMPlorations blog, and today I'm using stamps from The Bee's Knees Folk Flowers set.

I dragged some Distress Paints over a piece of mixed media card, then once they were dry I stamped the flowers, stalks and leaves.  I found some snippets of dotty paper and stamped the flowers, leaves and centres, fussy cut them and stuck them onto my card.  A bit of stitching across the top, and a strip of washi paper at the bottom, and it's done!

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for more fabulous inspiration, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate.

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Trees

I've got four posts going out today - click on the links for these posts:
CASEplorations
STAMPlorations Inspiration #64
One Layer Christmas Card Challenge - Guest Designer (later on today)

So, welcome to The Mixed Media Card Challenge, where this month's theme is Trees with an option of Birds.

I *had* to have these forest archway dies by Memory Box early last year.  I've used the Grand Forest Archway and Medium Forest Archway on this card.  And this is the only time I've used them, so far.  I've also got the Small Forest Archway (which doesn't have a frame around it, and hasn't been out of its packet yet).

It seems to be quite the trend (especially in warmer climes) to get married outdoors, so I thought I'd make a card on that theme.

I cut the frames out of white card then coloured them with Distress Inks and adhered them on top of each other, then on to the background, which was made with Brusho powders.  I die-cut some tiny flowers, stuck them onto the trees for blossom, then added Liquid Pearls to the centres.  I stamped the happy couple from The Bee's Knees Newlyweds, and just added a touch of shading with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, fussy cut the image, then placed the happy couple underneath the arch.  The whole panel was then adhered to the card base.

Pop on over to the Mixed Media Card Challenge to see some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team, and add your Tree card to the gallery!

CASEplorations with Betsy Veldman

I've got four posts going out today - click on the links for these posts:
The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Trees
STAMPlorations Inspiration #64

One Layer Christmas Card Challenge - Guest Designer (later on today)

We've got a new challenge for you at CASEplorations - we're CASEing this beautiful card from none other than Betsy Veldman.  You can view Betsy's original post here.

There's plenty of inspiration here.  You could go with the Easter theme, the gorgeous smooshy watercolour background, the yellow flowers, a wreath, a large central sentiment, diecuts, the blue/yellow colour scheme - or any combination of the above!

I was still in smoosh mode, so I created my blue and yellow background on a card panel, then stamped Deepti's watering can filled with flowers from the Friends and Flowers set, colouring it with Distress Inks and a paintbrush.  I fussy-cut the image then stamped the chevron stripe (Mixed Media Grunge) as a base for the watering can, which was attached with foam dots, then the whole panel was attached to the card base.

Fancy playing along and CASEing Betsy's card?  Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team, then join in for the chance to win a STAMPlorations gift voucher.