STAMPlorations Spring Release - Day 5

Welcome to the final day of STAMPlorations Spring Release.  Hope you're enjoying all these animals!  We've got some more for you with this set from Shery, Woodland Friends:

I masked off the edges of my card and stencilled Distress Inks through ARTplorations Bloom Boldly Stencil, stamped the sentiment, then stamped the fox image, fussy cut and balanced him on the sentiment.

Fancy your chances at winning in our blog hop?  Here's how:

Commenting is open from 26 March until 2 April.
Comment on all the stamp release posts on the STAMPlorations blog and on the designers' blogs to qualify for the prizes -
ONE winner of a $25 gift certificate
ONE winner of the entire release (all five stamp sets)

The stamps are now available to buy in the STAMPlorations store at 10% discount (as are all stamps except retiring sets - no code needed).  Use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% off.

Hop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the other girls have done, you'll love it!  And thanks for hopping along!

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Seize The Birthday - Birds

We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - Birds.

I've had these little red rubber stamps (Crafty Individuals) for a while now, and I thought it was high time I used them.  I stamped them on white card, coloured and fussy cut them, then layered them onto a piece of patterned paper,  and a diecut frame (STAMPlorations), added a Tim Holtz die cut, a sentiment from my new set Baa Baa.  Added some grunge stamping in Pickled Raspberry and Squeezed Lemonade on the base card to mimic the patterned paper and called it done.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some fab inspiration from the team, and our surprise birthday guest, Kim, and play along with us.  If birds aren't your thing, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.  See you in the gallery!

STAMPlorations Spring Release - Day 4

Its' Day 4 of the Spring Release at STAMPlorations, and we're featuring Shery's Purrfectly Pawsome set.

If you're a cat person, then this set's for you.  Loads of great sentiments in eye-catching fonts, and cute cats too!  I used the Dots All Over stencil to make a monoprint on my card base, stamped the cat on spare card and fussy cut, stamped the sentiment on another piece of card, then matted everything up.

Fancy your chances at winning in our blog hop?  Here's how:

Commenting is open from 26 March until 2 April.
Comment on all the stamp release posts on the STAMPlorations blog and on the designers' blogs to qualify for the prizes -
ONE winner of a $25 gift certificate
ONE winner of the entire release (all five stamp sets)

The stamps are now available to buy in the STAMPlorations store at 10% discount (as are all stamps except retiring sets - no code needed).  Use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% off.

Hop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the other girls have done, you'll love it!

See you tomorrow with another set from Shery.

STAMPlorations Spring Release - Day 3

It's Day 3 of the STAMPlorations Spring Release, and we're featuring my second set, Hashtag Walkies.  Well, it is the Year of the Dog.  When DS1 and his partner relocated from Australia to the UK last year, they brought their whippet with them (well, not literally, the whippet flew separately with a stopover in Dubai).  And that was the inspiration for this set.

At that time we still had our border collie, Florence, but we had to say goodbye to her last March.  We weren't going to get another dog for a couple of years, but look what happened last month:

Meet Toffee, the four-month-old whippet.  She's actually related, albeit distantly, to this year's Crufts Supreme Champion, but every dog is a champion in their owner's eyes.

So, on to the cards.  For my first card, I stamped the image then coloured it in with a black Fuseball pen, leaving some white alongside the outlines for definition.  I made a little mask out of strips of card for buildings and sponged with grey, then scored above and below the image and added the icons.

The inspiration for this one was some artwork on Pinterest.  I pencilled in the zebra crossing and buildings, then scribbled them in with a 0.2 fineliner, rubbed out the pencil then added a colour wash of Fossilised Amber.

Whippets feel the cold, so I had to include a coat in the set ;)

Fancy your chances at winning in our blog hop?  Here's how:

Commenting is open from 26 March until 2 April.
Comment on all the stamp release posts on the STAMPlorations blog and on the designers' blogs to qualify for the prizes -
ONE winner of a $25 gift certificate
ONE winner of the entire release (all five stamp sets)

The stamps are now available to buy in the STAMPlorations store at 10% discount (as are all stamps except retiring sets - no code needed).  Use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% off.

Hop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the other girls have done, you'll love it!

See you tomorrow with one of Shery's new sets.

STAMPlorations Spring Release Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the STAMPlorations Spring Release.  Today we're featuring one of my sets, Baa Baa.

The inspiration for my first card cam from something I saw on Pinterest.  I stamped the images on kraft card, then used a snowball from Layered Snowman in Antique Linen, Pickled Raspberry and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxides for the fleece, then echoed that on the background.

The next card was also inspired by some artwork I saw on Pinterest.  I stamped the images in Antique Linen Distress Ink then watercoloured with Distress Inks.  I added the pupils with black pen.

After I'd stamped, coloured and stencilled this panel, I stamped the sentiment, and part of it was sightly blurred, so I re-stamped it in yellow to create a shadow, which makes all of it look blurred, ha!

Fancy your chances at winning in our blog hop?  Here's how:

Commenting is open from 26 March until 2 April.
Comment on all the stamp release posts on the STAMPlorations blog and on the designers' blogs to qualify for the prizes -
ONE winner of a $25 gift certificate
ONE winner of the entire release (all five stamp sets)

The stamps are now available to buy in the STAMPlorations store at 10% discount (as are all stamps except retiring sets - no code needed).  Use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% off.

Hop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the other girls have done, you'll love it!

See you tomorrow with my other new set.

STAMPlorations Spring Release - Day 1

Welcome to a week of STAMPlorations stamp releases!  As you can see from the banner, there's a bit of an animal theme!  We're starting the week with this gorgeous set from Deepti, Live Love Ride.

I found this distressed weatherboard panel in my stash, and I thought it would make a great fence for some horses to look over.

I stamped, masked and watercoloured the horse image, added the fence, trimmed the panel and mounted it onto copper-coloured card.

Fancy your chances at winning in our blog hop?  Here's how:

Commenting is open from 26 March until 2 April.
Comment on all the stamp release posts on the STAMPlorations blog and on the designers' blogs to qualify for the prizes -
ONE winner of a $25 gift certificate
ONE winner of the entire release (all five stamp sets)

The stamps are now available to buy in the STAMPlorations store at 10% discount (as are all stamps except retiring sets - no code needed).  Use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% off.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the other girls have done, you'll love it!

See you tomorrow with one of my new sets.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #168

Hi Peeps!  Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and this week we're featuring Deepti's line of stamps, Dee's Artsy Impressions.  Through till April, all stamps (except retiring sets), stencils and dies are 10% off, no coupon needed.  But if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get an extra 20% off, so get to it!

I've used the sweet little bird and balloons from Tweet Love.  They're floating along on a Distress Ink sky cut from one of the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Dies.  The sentiment is from Heaven Sent.

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

Seize The Birthday - Teal and White

We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday, and this time it's Teal and White, but if that's not your favourite colour, you can still play along with our Anything Goes, as long as it's birthday-themed.

Our Surprise Party Guest this month is Kim Lackenbach from Kims' Cards and Crafts.  Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see what Kim and the regular team have created, and play along with us.

For my card I've used Apple Blossom Soda Bottle Fizz! Pop! Party! stamps and and coordinating Soda Bottle die. I used Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers, but couldn't resist adding a little Dusty Concord and Twisted Citrus.  I found some altered bottle caps in my stash, great for photo props!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #167

It's Inspiration Tuesday over at STAMPlorations, and this week we're focusing on Becca's line of stamps, Big Grins by Becca Cruger.  From February to April all stamps (except retiring sets), stencils and dies are 10% off, no coupon needed.  And if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get an extra 20% off -yay!

I've sloshed some Distress Inks onto the cupcake from A Snarky Birthday To You, added some Stickles, fussy cut the image then matted it onto some patterned paper from my stash.  That handy little sentiment is also from A Snarky Birthday To You.

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

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STAMPlorations Inspiration #166

It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and we're highlighting my line of stamps, The Bee's Knees.  From February to April, all stamps (except retiring stamps), dies and stencils are 10% off, no code needed.

Following on from Maria's lead in using up leftovers, I found these two stamped and cut images in my Bee's Knees stash bag.  I grabbed a white panel and lightly stencilled Iced Spruce distress ink through the Flourishes ARTplorations stencil, then matted that onto silver card, then onto 5x7 card. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set (Newlyweds) and matted that onto silver.

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

Merry and Bright

It's March - another month closer to Christmas!  Have you finished your Christmas cards yet?  Me neither, but here's one to add to the slow-growing pile.

I'm playing along with Muse: Christmas Visions, inspiration provided by Lindsey:

My card is a collection of scraps and leftover diecuts.  The house is from Houses, the trees from Houses Extras and the hill is from Stitched Snow Hills.  I added some Stickles to the house, trees and hill and a sentiment (from Christmas Elf).

I'm also playing along with Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

And, a first for me, Watercooler Wednesday - All About Christmas

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Craft Stamper Take It, Make It

It's the first Friday of the month, and it's time for a new challenge at Craft Stamper Take It, Make It.  As long as you use real rubber/polymer stamps in your creation, you're in!  Of course, I had to use this month's Craft Stamper magazine cover stamp, because I designed it!

The stamp coordinates with another of my stamp sets, Fowl Play (which is where the sentiment comes from).  I've added some STAMPlorations grunge stamps for the background.

This month we're sponsored by our very own Donna Gray who is providing these two stamp sets (via That's Crafty) to two lucky random winners:

The winner chosen by the design team will have their winning entry published in Craft Stamper magazine, a profile post on the blog, and a guest design spot in a future challenge.

Pop along to the Craft Stamper blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and play along for your chance to win.  Don't forget to check the eligibility rules for the prizes!
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Seize The Birthday - No Topping

It's a new challenge at Seize The Birthday!  This time it's No Topping so, as long as it's a birthday project, you're good to play along.

I stamped and coloured the flower then added some stencilling, watercolour wash and second-generation grunge stamping to the panel, tied some twine around it then mounted it onto my card base.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team and play along!