STAMPlorations Colour Blooms Blog Hop and Linky Party

We're having a blog hop and linky party at STAMPlorations to celebrate the launch of Shery's new Colour Blooms colouring book for mixed media and cardmaking.  It's available here and it's filled with pages of blooms for you to colour and then add to your projects.

The page that I chose to work on is divided into four sections.  I used Distress Inks as watercolours (well, what else did you expect from me?) then cut out the section to use on my card.

Having adhered the panel to my card, I stencilled some Cosmic Shimmer Gold Pearl texture paste through the ARTplorations Dots All Over stencil, and once that was dry I drew around the edge of the panel with a Neocolour II crayon, diluting it with a wet paintbrush.

To finish my card, I added a dragonfly from The Bee's Knees Winged Things that had been stamped onto spare inked card.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the team, leave comments and play along for loads of chances to win (there'll be a downloadable sampler on the STAMPlorations page so you can participate).

• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from our Facebook page will win a $10 gift certificate for herself and a $10 gift certificate for one friend she tags in her comment
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from all comments left on the STAMP blog and designers' blogs will win a $10 gift certificate
• ONE (1) participant randomly drawn from the linky party entries will win a copy of Color Blooms and a $15 gift certificate

STAMPlorations Inspiration #93

It's time for some more inspiration over at STAMPlorations, and today I've used Deepti's gorgeous Tweet Love set with matching CUTplorations dies to make a baby welcome card (Ariana is the baby's name).

I used Distress Inks (Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar) to colour the giraffe and elephant, then stamped the flourish from Mixed Media Grunge down the side with Memento Angel Pink.  A strip of DP grounds the animals.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, and don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning a $10 gift certificate.

I'm adding this to Simon Says Monday Challenge - It's A Stitch Up.

Seize The Birthday - Tags

It's time for Seize The Birthday, and for this challenge, our optional topping is Tags - large or small, on a card or on their own.

I've created a tag using one of the techniques from Tim Holtz' Creative Chemistry 103, and added a double-layered butterfly (Tim Holtz) and sentiment (Neat & Tangled).  I coloured some tape using the  same colours I'd used on the tag and butterfly.  It looks a bit dull and grungy on the photo, but it's prettier in real life.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration, and play along.  If you don't want to use a tag, you can still join in as long as it's a birthday project.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #92

It's Tuesday so it's Inspiration day over a STAMPlorations.  I've been playing with my newest obsession, PaperArtsy Infusions, which are very similar to Brusho powders, except that they also contain walnut stain crystals that dissolve at a slower rate than the colours.

I ended up with several sheets, so I diecut one of them using the CUTplorations Crazy Stitched Rectangles, stamped and fussy cut a dragonfly from The Bee's Knees Winged Things, from another sheet, and mounted them onto two-tone card which is blue with a gold sheen, difficult to capture on camera.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a $10 gift voucher.

I'm entering my card into CAS Mix Up where this month's theme is Stamping + Sprays + Your Choice (die cuts).

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Reminder

Are you playing along in our Rainbows challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge?  Our optional element this month is Dragonflies.

My newest obsession is PaperArtsy Infusions, a mix of dye colour particles and walnut crystals.  I was only going to buy two or three colours, but I couldn't make my mind up, so I bought the set of 12 :)

I wet a strip of the mixed media paper and sprinkled the crystals on, spritzing and dripping, then wet another strip and moved on to the next colour, until I'd made the grungiest rainbow ever!

The dragonflies, from The Bee's Knees Winged Things, were stamped on another sheet of Infusions-filled paper and fussy cut.  I splattered some gold mica sparkle on the background, and added Wink of Stella to the main dragonfly and Stickles to the two smaller dragonflies.  I just stuck the dragonflies down by their bodies, and lifted the wings for dimension.

You've still got time to join us - bring your rainbow with you!

I'm adding this to CAS Mix Up where the theme is Stamping + Sprays + Your Choice (Fussy Cutting).

Creative Chemistry 103 and a couple of sneak peeks

I've finally finished my Creative Chemistry 3 homework for Day 5, which was all about Alcohol Inks and Yupo.

Another day full of new and old techniques.

Painting stamped images (sssshhh, don't tell Tim - that's not one of his stamps, but the gallery is already closed so these are just for me and you to look at); blasting with an air duster; and a great video from Kristina Werner for her technique.  Again, if you're wavering about this course, just go for it, it's incredible value for all the techniques and tutorials that you get.

A couple of sneak peeks:

I'm over at A Sprinkle of Imagination with a couple of Scribbly Birds,

and I'm over at STAMPlorations with Artsy Tribal Doodles.

Pop on over to take a look :)

STAMPlorations Inspiration #91

It's Tuesday so that means it's inspiration time over at STAMPlorations.  Today I've paired the butterflies from Becca's new set, Buttercups and Butterflies, with some images from my set, Winged Things.

I started by stamping the solid butterflies in Versamark and embossing them in white, then I sponged several colours of Distress inks over the panel and flicked water over.  Once all that was dry, I stamped the Winged Things images in Versafine Onyx Black, and the text from Mixed Media Elements in Versafine Smoky Grey.

A bit of sponging through ARTplorations Dots All Over finished off the panel, then I added three more butterflies, and the CUTplorations Happy die cut.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Inspiration Team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a gift certificate.

STAMPlorations Release Week Hop

It's wrap-up day for the STAMPlorations release week, and today the Inspiration Team get the chance to show you what we've created with each set in the release.

Monday saw the release of my new set, Birds of Paradise with matching dies (all of the new sets are being released with matching dies).  Here's another card for your delectation and delight :)

On Tuesday, Shery's set Bloom Happy was in the spotlight.  Here's my card:

On Wednesday the spotlight was on Becca's set, Buttercups and Butterflies.  I've used the buttercups, but I can't wait to create with those butterflies ;)

Yesterday saw the spotlight on Deepti's new set, Tweet Love.  Those gorgeous blanket-stitched images!

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog - after you've left me a comment ;) - for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team and your chance to win prizes on the hop.

Craft Stamper Reminder - Stencils and Masks

Are you playing along at Craft Stamper Take It, Make It?  This month it's Take a Technique, and we want you to use stencils and/or masks along with your stamping.

Our sponsor is GioGio from GioGio Crafts and one lucky random winner will get these four stencils from GioGio's range:

The winner chosen by the design team will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper magazine, a feature post in the magazine, and a future guest design spot. Pop on over to the blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the design team, then join in to win!

I've used my new Birds of Paradise set, and ARTplorations Tribal Triangles stencil with clear embossing paste.

Pop on over to the Craft Stamper blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, and join in for your chance to win!

Seize The Birthday - Anything Goes

Time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and this week it's Anything Goes.

I love it when you can get a positive and negative out of a die, and this particular die is brilliant for getting two equally visual cards for the price of one.  I cut the die out of a watercoloured panel, and also got this card, which you can read about in this post.  Here's a look at both cards side by side:

 

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for more fabulous inspiration from the team, and join in with us!

Creative Chemistry 3 Power Session

I've been powering through my Creative Chemistry 3 lessons, and doing my homework like a good little girl ;)  

The course has been choc-full of lessons and techniques, and is incredible value for money at $25.  If you've already done Creative Chemistry 101 and 102, and were wavering about taking the 103, I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

So, here's Day 2, which was all about Distress Paint and Sprays:

Day 3, which was Distress collage mediums and textures:

and Day 4, Distress Crayons:

I've still got Days 5 and 6 to go yet!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #90

It's Inspiration Tuesday on the STAMPlorations blog, and I'm using stamps from two new sets being released this week:  The sentiment comes from Shery's set, Bloom Happy, which you'll be seeing on the STAMPlorations blog later today, and the flowers are from Becca's new set, Buttercups and Butterflies, which you'll be seeing on Wednesday.

You've got lots of opportunities to win prizes:

Comment on today's STAMPlorations inspiration post here for a chance to win a gift certificate.
Comment on each of the designers' posts during the Release this week, and the STAMPlorations posts every day for your chance to win a gift certificate or the stamp/die set of your choice.

The Bee's Knees New Release - Birds of Paradise

I'm so excited to be kicking off the STAMPlorations release week with my new stamp set, Birds of Paradise!

And that's not all - there are matching dies.

The bird of paradise flower really does remind me of a funky punky bird, so I thought I'd create some bird images based on the flower, and a few sentiments to go with the set.  This photo taken in Lake Garda last year was my inspiration.

The running bird image tickles me every time I look at it.  I've used it with the coordinating die and sentiments, and matted the images onto a panel made using the largest  Crazy Stitched Rectangle Die.

The small standing bird die will work for either image.  The background on this card is Dylusions Bubblegum Pink paint sponged onto mixed media card.  I mixed the sentiment with words from my Groovy Shoes set.

This last card uses the largest image and die.  The sentiment 'you'll be flying again soon' can be used directly under the 'chirrup' as in my CASEplorations card last week or as the inside message.  The leaves are from Shery's Trendy Leaves set.

The stamps are available in the shop at 10% off until 15 August.  Leave me a comment here, and leave one on the STAMPlorations blog for a chance to win a prize.  Shery, Becca and Deepti will all be showcasing their new stamp and die sets this week, and Friday will see a big bonanza post with all the Inspiration team.  Leave comments on the respective blogs every day to increase your chances of winning :)

Creative Chemistry 103 and Darnell's Royal Visit

Well, Creative Chemistry 103 is drawing to a close, and I'm only halfway through watching Day 2 lessons.  But I'm really enjoying it, exploring the new products, and using new techniques with old products.

I did manage to finish Day 1 homework, so at least I've got one thing to add to the gallery.

It's almost two weeks since I met up with Darnell on her Royal Visit, but haven't had a chance to blog about it until now.

Having met at Darnell's hotel in Knutsford on the Tuesday morning, we set off for Port Sunlight.  Darnell's face was a picture when I handed her a printout of the driving directions and asked her how her navigating skills were ;)  I don't have SatNav and I'd never been that route before, so it wasn't an entirely flippant remark!  With only one unscheduled detour we managed to find our way through the country lanes and on to the motorway towards Port Sunlight.  I thought it would be nice for Darnell to see (a) a village built by a philanthropic 19th century employer for his workers, and (b) where the twice-yearly stamp festival is held at Hulme Hall.  We were met by another bloggie friend, Em Louise Fairley, who had thoughtfully put together an information and photo pack for us.

L-R Darnell, me, Monika, Ros, Em Louise

After a quick whizz round we were on the train into Liverpool to meet up with Ros Crawford and Monika Skinner for lunch.  Ros's husband Ian had to battle two flat tyres before he could take us on a guided tour of the city.  Ian is extremely knowledgeable about the city and we all learned plenty.  One of the places Darnell didn't get to see was the gents' toilets in the Philharmonic pub ;)  Actually, if you Google 'Philharmonic pub toilets', you'll be able to see them without needing a peg on your nose.

Look who joined us for lunch!

I stayed over on the Tuesday night, and on Wednesday Darnell had arranged lunch with several bloggers from around the north west, details on Darnell's blog here.  Before the lunch I had time to nip to the garden centre next door which had a very good choice of greetings cards, some of which I may or may not have photographed.  Bought a couple of presents while I was in there, so I felt justified in taking piccies.

It was so lovely to be part of Darnell's Royal Visit, and I'm looking forward to reading about her escapades at the retreat and in London - and I see her post has just come through, so I may be gone a while...

CASEplorations with Shalu

Look at this fabby card we've got for you for the August CASEplorations challenge!  Its creator is Shalu of All By Heart Creations, and you can find her original post here.

There's plenty to go at here: those big bold stripes, colourful central image, bling, sentiment panel, shiny vertical strip.

What did I do?  Well, for starters I loved those broad stripes, so they were definitely in.  And the hit of orange.  And the sentiment panel.  Here's what happened:

The stripes were made by swooshing Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint across a card panel.  The bird of paradise (from my new set called, er, Birds of Paradise which you'll be seeing more of next week.  And it has coordinating dies.) was watercoloured with a mix of Distress Inks.

Looks like this guy is trying his best to get airborne again!

Pop on over to the CASEplorations post for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and join in for a chance to win.

Craft Stamper Take It Make It - Stencils and Masks

Hello, and welcome to a new Craft Stamper Take It, Make It challenge!  This month, it's all about using stencils and masks, and our sponsor is the lovely GioGio of GioGio Crafts.  One lucky random winner will get these four stencils from GioGio's range:

The winner chosen by the design team will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper magazine, a feature post in the magazine, and a future guest design spot.  Pop on over to the blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the design team, then join in to win!

My card uses a mask from Simon Says Stamp, Brushos and a sentiment from Stamps Away.