STAMPlorations Inspiration #349

 

Hello!  It's the last post of the year for STAMPlorations Inspiration.  I found this Blossom Sprays #6 image in my stash.  I'd stamped it onto card that had been smooshed with Distress Inks and a bit of Inka Gold. 

The image got a bit lost in all of the background colour, so I painted in some Prize Ribbon Distress Ink to define it a bit more.

You can see on this view how the Inka Gold catches the light.  And the pen is a great props - it's quite heavy so it holds the card down nicely.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more inspiration from the team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a $15 prize code to the store.  If you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you can get yourself 20% off in the store too!  Happy stamping :)

STAMPlorations Inspiration #348

Well, the Christmas cards are done, so it's time to move on to the tags.  I found these images in my stash, already coloured and cut out, but to be honest the colouring was a bit insipid, so I gave them an extra coat of colour and attached them to two tags (from Luggage Tags) that I'd stamped with words from Joy.  The stocking is from Joyful and the present is from Warm Hands, Warm Heart.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  And if you're doing some Christmas shopping there, you can get 20% off with my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping, and Happy Christmas!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #347

Hello, it's time for some more Tuesday Inspiration with STAMPlorations, and today I've made a door wreath card - they seem to be popping up all over blogland and Pinterest.

I used the frame from Blossom Overture to make the door panels, and added a wreath from Joyful, which I coloured with a couple of shades of green and added red Posca paint for the berries.

A nailhead gem was perfect for the door knob, and there you have a quick and easy card.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous creations from the team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a $15 prize code to the store.  You can always use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get 20% off while you're there.

Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #346

Hellooo!  It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and today I've got a snowman card for you using my set Layered Snowman.  I added some scenery using the trees from Houses Extras and snowflakes from Winter Mug.

I kept the colour scheme monochromatic by using Pumice Stone distress ink for shading.  I stamped the baby snowman's face so that it's looking up to the big snowman, but it looks like the head fell off and was replaced upside down :)

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 $15 prize code to use in the store.  When you're shopping in store you can use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get 20% off.

Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #345

It's time for some more STAMPlorations Inspiration, and this week I've got a Christmas card with a stencilled background for you.

I started by stamping the Christmas Baubles then sponging them with Distress inks.  They looked a little bleh, so I stencilled a Prim Pattern background using the same colours, and added more deeper colour and white highlights on the baubles.  I finished off the panel by doodling an outline in black pen and added a sentiment from Joy.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  You can get 20% discount by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY whenever you're shopping in the store.

Happy stamping!

Seize The Birthday - Hobbies and Pastimes

Hellooo! It's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and Lindsey has chosen Hobbies and Pastimes.

I went with gardening - or buying plants from garden centres, which isn't necessarily the same thing, is it? The image is from Stampingbella and the sentiment is from Altenew Birthday Greetings.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team, and our surprise party guest, Carol, then join in the fun!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #344

Hellooo!  Got some more STAMPlorations inspiration for you today, this time a Christmas card.  The stamped sleigh from Joyful was in my stash so I just coloured and fussy cut it.  Instead of diecutting the snow, I cut the sky using Stitched Snow Hills and adhered it to my card base and dotted some white Posca pen snow, then added the sleigh and a sentiment from Christmas Sentiments Phrase die set.

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 $15 prize code to spend in the store.  Whenever you're shopping in the store you could get 20% discount by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

Christmas In The Air Kit #3 - Take Three

Hellooo!  It's our final showcase of the Christmas In The Air Kit #3, and I've got a couple more cards for you.

For my first card I simply stamped the images onto kraft, added some white gel pen and stamped a red sentiment.  There's something about black, white and red on kraft that really appeals to me.

My second card uses the bell stencil from the kit, along with one of the ephemera tiles.  I coloured the "Joyful" to match the bell, and added some stars to echo the stars on the tile.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see more cards using Kit #3, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win.

Whenever you're shopping in the store, be sure to use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY for 20% off.  Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #343

Hellooo!  We've got some more Tuesday Inspiration for you at STAMPlorations.  I recently started following @sylvievlys on Instagram, and I love how she curates and collates pieces that she's stamped and coloured, and then arranges them beautifully and cohesively on a card.  This is my attempt to emulate that style.

I used several stamp sets and a die:

Scribbly Splattery Grunge

Kathryn's Big Wishes

BaaBaa

Woodland Friends

Trendy Leaves

Houses

Art Border Die

I hate that Blogger forces a line space on the Return key.

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 $15 prize code to spend in the store.  Whenever you're shopping, you can get 20% off by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

Seize The Birthday Challenge - Beverages

 

Hello, we've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - Beverages, chosen by Jules.

I rarely use my wood block stamps these days, but this one from Stamps Happen is of my all time favourites.  Not a bad way to get old, though, is it?

If you don't want to follow our prompt, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.  Pop along to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and from our surprise party guest, Carol, then join the party!!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #342

Hello, it's time for some Tuesday inspiration at STAMPlorations, and today I've used a card front from the Quick Cards #3 Spring Florals set. 

Now, for a very quick card, I could have just attached it to my card base and stamped my sentiment, but I decided to doodle some flower outlines over the images.  Then I added some black pen dots, and finally splattered some gold Gansai Tambi paint over the whole panel.  The sentiment is from my set Carved Flowers.

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 $15 prize code.  And whenever you're shopping at the store, you can get a 20% discount by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.  Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #341

 

Hellooo! It's time for some STAMPlorations Inspiration, and today I've turned a balloon image into a Christmas bauble.  

The image comes from Deepti's set, Kathryn's Big Wishes.  I stamped and masked the images, then coloured with Distress Oxides, adding black pen dots and white pen reflections.

The little stars are from my set, Christmas Reindeer, and the sentiment is from Joy.

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 $15 prize code.  Whenever you're shopping in the store, you can use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get 20% off your order.  Yay!!

Seize The Birthday - Make a Sunset Scene

 

Hello, we've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - Make a Sunset Scene, chosen by Colleen. 

 

For me, the best sunset scenes always include a cocktail ;)  The cocktail stamp is from STAMPlorations, and the sentiment is from MFT.  For the table I scored some card and smooshed Distress Ink along it, and the sunset is just a scrap of painted/smooshed paper that happened to fit the bill perfectly.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team and from our surprise party guest, Carol McFarland, and play along with us.  If our theme doesn't float your boat, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #340

 

It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and I've got another Christmas card for you using Layered Poinsettia.  I stamped the line image in black on a background of smooshed and spritzed paper (Distress inks and Distress Mica sprays), then sloshed the red petals with a No.8 round brush and Distress ink.  Seem to recall it was Crackling Campfire.  The diecut sentiment is from Christmas Sentiments Phrase Dies.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  If you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY when you're shopping, you'll get 20% off, yay!

Christmas In The Air Kit #3 - Round Two

Today is round two of our Christmas In The Air Kit #3 at STAMPlorations, which consists of my new stamp set, Winter Village, a bell stencil, a CUTplorations phrase die and a pack of ephemera tiles.

For my first card I've used the Winter Village stamp set to create a .... winter village :)

The second card used one of the ephemera tiles mounted onto gold card (I mounted a few at the same time so that I've got some ready for quick cards).  I stamped the images from Layered Holly to echo the holly pattern on the tile, fussy cut them and added them to a Distress Ink background.

You can find all the items in the store here, along with Kit #2.  Pop over to the blog to see the rest of the makes with Kit #2 and #3, and leave a comment for your chance to win the kit of your choice.

Whenever you're shopping in the store, don't forget to use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY for 20% off. Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #339

 

Hello!  It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and today I'm using another Watercolour ATC Journalling Card as my background for a quick and easy Christmas card.

I stamped a load of solid images from Layered Holly onto spare card then cut out the ones that I wanted to use.  I stamped the sentiment from Joy in the same ink as the holly leaves.  On the card base I stamped the line images in Versafine Smoky Grey, then assembled the card.  Another easy peasy card for my stash!

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 $15 prize code to spend in the store.  Whenever you're shopping, use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY for 20% off, yay!

Seize The Birthday - Use a Stencil

 

Hello, I'm here with my Seize The Birthday card, a little late.  Our theme for this challenge, chosen by Cathy, is to use a stencil.

I found this background in my gel printing stash.  I'd used a zigzag stencil and also leave mask/stencils, and there's another stencil in the top right corner.  The funky girl is from Chilled Chicas by Elena Guzinska of Zinski Art for Funky Fossil.  I coloured her to coordinate with the background.  The sentiment is from Altenew.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see what the rest of the team and our surprise party guest, Carol McFarland, have made, and join in the fun.  If stencils aren't your thing, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #338

Hello, it's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and today I've gone monochromatic with the design, adding a splash of colour with the diecut Merry Christmas sentiment.

I stamped the images from Layered Holly in Versafine Smoky Grey, then sloshed a bit of Pumice Stone Distress Ink watercolour on them.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the store.  Whenever you're shopping in the store, you can get 20% off if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.  Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #337

Hello, it's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and today I'm using one of the Watercolour ATC Journalling Cards as my background for a quick and easy Christmas card.  Having chosen which card I wanted, all I had to do was stamp the Poinsettia image from Layered Poinsettias, layer it onto a black panel and add a stamped greeting from Layered Holly.  Easy peasy!

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and don't forget to comment for your chance to win a $15 prize code to the store.  Whenever you're shopping in the store, if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get 20% off - yay!  Happy stamping!

Seize The Birthday - Cakes

 

Hello, it's my turn to choose the topping at Seize The Birthday, and seeing as toppings are involved, I thought I'd go for cakes.  Cupcakes, fairy cakes, layer cakes, gateaux, you choose.

I just love these Big and Bold cupcakes, and I love getting two for one out of these ginormous designs.  This one is Citrus Berry Cupcake.  I couldn't decide whether it should be berry coloured or citrus coloured, so I coloured one of each.

I just sloshed some Distress Inks on, leaving plenty of white space, then added splattering.  I like the effect of the sentiment stamped and diecut on orange card, it's rather eye-catching. Must do it more often.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some fabulous inspiration from the team and from our surprise party guest, Jenny, and play along with us.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #336

Hello, it's STAMPlorations Inspiration day, and I've got a quick and easy card made from bits and bobs.  The background panel is a Distress Ink mop-up piece, and I found this Stitched Winter Landscape diecut in my stash.  Stuck one on top of the other, mounted onto mirri card, then onto my card base, and it was done!

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see more fabulous inspiration from the team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a $15 prize code to the store.  You can get 20% off your order by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY when you check out.

Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #335

 

It's Inspiration Tuesday at STAMPlorations, and today Im using my newest stamp set, Winter Village (again!).

I stamped rows of houses, coloured the rows alternately with red and green, and added the sentiment from Joyful.  A great production-line card with not too much colouring.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  Whenever you're shopping in the store you could get 20% off by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

Seize The Birthday - Use Faux or Real Stitching

Hello!  We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - use faux or real stitching.  I chose real stitching.

 

The stamps and die are from STAMPlorations, the technique is from Stacy Hutchinson of Tatterednestdesigns.com.  I think this technique would work wonderfully with Christmas stamps, especially poinsettias!

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see what our surprise party guest, Jenny and the rest of the design team have created, and play along with us.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #334

Hello peeps!  It's Inspiration Tuesday over at STAMPlorations, and I've got another card using my newest set, Winter Village, which is currently part of the Christmas In The Air Kit #3 bundle.  But this time, I've used it for a new home card.  See, not just for Christmas ;)

I used pastel colours to give it a nice happy seaside village feel, and added the sentiment from Carved Houses then mounted it onto coordinating card.  Quick and easy.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  Whenever you are shopping in the store you can get 20% off by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

Christmas In The Air Kit #3

Christmas is in the air at STAMPlorations, and I've got a new stamp set out, called Winter Village, to go with Kit #3.  Also in the kit is a bell stencil, a CUTplorations phrase die and a pack of ephemera tiles.  

For my first card I stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black, then watercoloured with Distress Inks and added snow with a white Posca pen.

For the second card I used the stencil and CUTplorations phrase die.

You can find all the items in the store, along with Kit #2.  Pop over to the blog to see the rest of the makes with Kit #2 and #3, and leave a comment for your chance to win the kit of your choice.

Whenever you're shopping in the store, don't forget to use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY for 20% off.  Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #333

 

Hello, for today's STAMPlorations Inspiration post, I've got another watercolour card inspired by Stacy Hutchinson of Tatterednestdesigns.com.

Today's card uses the floral image from Deepti's Best Mom Ever, and it works a treat!  The sentiment is made up from the Happy die and 'birthday' from Everyday Sentiments.

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 $15 prize code.  Whenever you're shopping in the store you can get 20% off using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

Seize The Birthday - Pastel Colours Only

Hello!  We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - Use Pastel Colours Only, chosen by JoAnn.  (Don't tell on me, but these are actually vivid colours, but because I've only sponged very lightly they look pastel.  Well, that's my excuse anyway!)

If you're not into pastel colours you can still play along with our Anything Goes birthday theme.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more gorgeous pastel creations from the team, and from our surprise party guest Jenny Martin of My Paper Epiphany, then play along with us!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #332

Hellooo!  It's time for some fresh inspiration over at STAMPlorations, and today I'm trying out a watercolouring technique I saw by Stacy Hutchinson of Tatterednestdesigns.com (sorry, can't get a link to work, you'll have to search), and I can tell you I'm addicted!

Basically, smoosh ink pads onto a craft mat, and that becomes your inkpad.  Easy peasy lemon squeeze.  Draw in some colour from the outlines with a wet brush or pick up some colour from the craft mat and paint in.

I used Shery's Cup of Blooms 1 but any similar image will work, as you will see in future posts ;)  For the Happy Birthday sentiment I smooshed some card onto the inked craft mat then once it had dried I die-cut the words.

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 $15 prize code.  Whenever you're shopping at the store you can get 20% off by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #331

 

Hello, we've got some more inspiration for you over on the STAMPlorations blog today.  

I'm going through a colour-blocking phase.  For this card I picked two sets of complementary colours: blue/orange and yellow/purple.  I coloured the the top-left image yellow with a purple background, then reversed the colours for the top-right image.  Then for the lower images I used the blue/orange combo and reversed the pairings so that the orange background was opposite the yellow background, and the blue background was opposite the purple background, to give it some balance.  For the text panel I put the blue above the orange and the purple below the yellow to keep the balance.

The images are from Groovy Shoes and the sentiment is from A Girl And Her Shoes.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  Whenever you're shopping at the store, you can use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get 20% off. 

Happy stamping!

Seize The Birthday - By The Sea

Hello, it's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and our theme is By The Sea, chosen by Nancy.

My girl is thinking twice before taking the plunge :)  The image and sentiment are from Acid Drops and Whatnots, and I used a Tim Holtz woodgrain stencil to get the ripples in the sea.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fun and fabulous takes on By The Sea from the rest of the design team and our Surprise Party Guest, Jenny of My Paper Epiphany.  If our theme doesn't float your boat, you can still play along with Anything Goes as long as it's a birthday project.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #330

Hello, its time for some more STAMPlorations inspiration!  Today's background was inspired by the many pieces that Susanne Rose has been creating and posting on her instagram, where she paints adjoining circles of colour and lets them bleed into each other while wet, then adds painted or stamped images.  Mine didn't quite bleed, on account of I wasn't using watercolour paper, and my brush wasn't overloaded with Distress Ink (because I wasn't using watercolour paper...).  I added some images and a sentiment from Always Tea Time.

If you're not into colouring, this is a great way of adding colour to your cards because you don't have to be precise, it doesn't really matter what images you use, and you can go CAS, grungy or any style you like.

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 $15 prize code to the store.  When you are spending in the store you can get 20% off by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #329

Hello peeps!  Remember last week's cake?  Well here's just a slice of it :)

I used exactly the same stamps and techniques as last time, added the icing topping and hand-wrote the sentiment.

Here's a reminder of the whole cake before cutting ;)

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 $15 prize code to the store.  Whenever you're shopping in the store you can get 20% off by using my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Carved Flowers

 

Layered Cake Bake