Magic Of Christmas

Hi Everyone,

I'm definitely getting on a roll making Christmas cards, and I am very much linking using non-Christmas stamps in them too. For today's card, my contribution to the Inspiration Feature over at the STAMPlorations Blog, I incorporated stamps from the Balloons and Banners set combined with stamps from Joyful, Blossom Overture and SB Christmas & New Year.

I started off with a white base card spritzed with Gold Artiste Ink on which I stamped my sentiment (made up of stamps from Balloons and Banners, Joyful, Blossom Overture and SB Christmas & New Year) and bows and string. I then added my stamped and coloured stars, the fuzzy cut star balloons, and doodled a partial border to finish.

The second project on the Inspiration Post is one I made for the Coffee Lovers Fall Blog Hop. You can read about it here.

Hope you feel inspired, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration, tutorials, challenges and simply commenting to win ...

I shall be back soon with more inspiration. Have a lovely week!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
stamps from STAMPlorations, links are in the above text
   

In The Frame

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. The weather here in the UK has turned into an enchanting Indian Summer. It was truly magical this morning waking up on a canal boat ... low lying mist over the water and adjacent fields ... the sun still low in the sky ... at the end of our weekend cruising on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Quarry Bank Mill went back to the Hire Company, and I am at home writing up this post. Sounds very mundane .... but there is still fun to be had as it is Inspiration Time over on the STAMPlorations Blog.

Here is my card ...

I thought it might be fun to create a framed scene and to have it spill out onto the card ... I decided to use stamps from the Frames and Flowers, Houses Extras, Pets and Graphic Squares sets, and here is how I made it ...

I started by stamping and masking the path, next I stamped my frame and, with a little bit of masking, the trees before colouring my scene using Twinkling H2Os. I stamped and coloured the post box, stamped my sentiment on a matching strip of card, stamped, coloured and fuzzy cut my cat and layered everything as seen before doodling a few birds to finish.

For more inspiration pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog, my teamies created some fabulous projects, and should you feel inspired to CASE any of our projects, feel free to link them up. The linky can be found at the end of each Inspiration Post on the STAMPlorations Blog.

That's it from me for today. I shall be back soon.
Have a lovely week!

hugs
Monika xxx

the sets I used from STAMPlorations, links are in the above text
   

Coffee Lovers Autumn Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

it's that time of year when the leaves shine in the most beautiful and amazing colours, it's also time for me to join the Coffee Lovers Fall Blog Hop. This is my project:

I sponged my background using Crushed Curry and Real Red Stampin'Up! inks, added some detail using the ARTplorations Dots and Dashes stencil with a touch of Real Red, stamped the leaves (Trendy Leaves by STAMPlorations) in Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip (Stampin'Up!) and added some stamped coffee beans (Latte Love) interest too. Next I stamped coloured and fussy cut my coffee cup (Latte Love by STAMPlorations), stamped my sentiment (Eat Drink Be Merry), layered as shown and finished off with a doodled border.

Pop over to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog and join the fun.

Have a lovely weekend!

hugs
Monika xxx

stamps and stencil used, links are in the above text
   

Building Up Momentum

Hi Everyone,

It's Inspiration Time over at the STAMPlorations Blog. Each month we invite you to CASE any of our projects and link them up at the Inspiration CASE Playground.

This little feature gave me the inspiration for my first two projects ... I decided to CASE Shirley's cards from her Spotlight Feature Inspired by Pinterest. These were her cards ...

 

... and this is what I made of them ...

As you can see, I am still in Christmas card mode. I used the die cut trees and their matching border and basically followed the steps outlined in Shirley's tutorial. The difference is that I used different colours and that I sprayed my card with Gold Artiste Spritzing Ink before starting, once it had dried of course. Apart from that I used the following sets: Holiday Sketches: Christmas Flower, Vignette: Christmas Block and Patchwork Frenzy: Graphic Squares.

TIP!: If you don't have a matching tree and frame die, you could try and draw the shape and add a doodled outline to finish.

My next card uses the Christmas Flower set again. This time I worked with the flower itself ...

I created a stencil for sponging the ornament and a mask for my poinsettia, which I stamped through my stencil before masking and sponging the bauble. I them watercoloured my flower using Festive Berries and Barn Door distress inks with a touch of Daffodil Delight for the center. To finish I stamped my sentiment, rounded some corners and added a bow and some sequins.

Hope you feel inspired to CASE any of my or my teamies cards. You can link them up at the Inspiration CASE Playground. You find the Linky at the end of each Inspiration Post on the STAMPlorations Blog ... hope to see you there.

Have a lovely weekend!

Hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used:

from STAMPlorations, links to the sets are in the above text
  

Pine Trio background and outline dies - Memory Box
Gold Artiste Spritzing Ink - docrafts
Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight inks - Stampin'Up
Festive Berries, Barn Door distress inks, Jet Black and Sepia Archival inks - Ranger
Onyx Black Versafine ink - Tsukineko
ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons

Die Cut Beauties

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was taken up by going to the newly opened Range, having a boat trip on a canal and trying to work ahead as I am going to be a little busy next month.

As you've probably already noticed, I tend to mainly stamp my cards. Nevertheless I do own a few dies too, and they decided they wanted some playtime this weekend.

First up is a card I made using the cover gift from Quick Cards Made Easy ...

... and next is one I made using my Xcut snowflake die ...

As you can see I used my favourite spritzing inks, combined them with the die cuts. a little stamping and doodling. These cards are super easy to make and won't need an explanation.

I shall be back soon. Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used:

1st card: heart die - Quick Cards Made Easy; label die - Spellbinders; gold Artiste Spritzing Ink - docrafts; twine - The Ribbon Girl; red gel pen and peel-off from stash

2nd card: Xcut snowflake die - docrafts; sentiment stamp - Crafter's Companion; Mustard and Pink Spritzing Inks - Heidi Swapp; black Versafine ink and gems from stash

Multi Colour Embossing Take 1

Hi Everyone
Today I'm back with another Spotlight Feature from the STAMPlorations Blog. I felt inspired by the array of coloured embossing powders in my stash and wondered how I could colour stamped images using them. I was working with the helenium from their current Stamp Club set Floral Bliss.

My first card uses the image from the technique video below which I combined with stamps from their Fond Expressions 2 and Distressed Floral Swirls sets.

I stamped the helenium using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Next I applied clear Versamark ink from a pen to the different parts of my flower, one at the time, applied and heat set my embossing powder one colour at the time as you can see in the short video tutorial.

TIP!: It doesn't matter which colour you start with as long as it is one at the time. This avoids getting the powders stuck to your pen and mixing them up.

I used the following powders: Gumball Green for the stem and WOW powders Coconut Ice and Primary Marshmallow for the blossom. Next I sponged some Crushed Curry on my white Centura Pearl base card, attached my tag stamped some distressed swirls in Sahara Sand and Crushed Curry, stamped my sentiment in black, spritzed with a little Sahara Sand and added a sequin to finish.

TIP!: This technique works best with powders that have a translucent finish as they allow for image details to show through.

Next Up is my 'trial' card, it is the one I made first to try out how it all might work.

When I started off I wasn't really sure which ink to use for stamping my image and decided that I would have a go using Ranger Jet Black Archival ink which ended up giving me a really interesting effect. What I hadn't realized at the time was that Archival ink reacts with Versamark hence I ended up with lovely shading. I started off with the petals and my Marshmallow powder, the rest is just clear embossed. I then added my two tone sentiment, embossed my pink base card using the ARTplorations Foiled Again stencil, attached an eyelet to my tag, layered on my base card, doodled a black line, spritzed with a little pink and rounded a corner to finish.

Here is the little video tutorial, explaining how I coloured my flower using the embossing powders.

That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more tutorials where you can also leave a comment for your chance to win a prize.

Have a lovely weekend!

hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used:

stamp sets and stencil from STAMPlorations, links are in the above text.
    

Sahara Sand, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate inks; regal rose card; Sahara Sand and Pretty in Pink Stamp'n'write Markers and Gumball Green embossing powder - Stampin'Up!
Coconut Ice and Primary Marshmallow WOW powders - local craft shop
tag die - Sizzix originals, one of the first dies I ever bought and long since retired
white Centura Pearl card - Crafter's Companion

Playing Around

Hi Everyone,

It is Inspiration Time again over at STAMPlorations. My project came about when I was playing with some dies in preparation for making some much needed Christmas cards. Well, what can I say ... the first one ended up being a birthday card instead ...

I die cut the star border from cream Centura Pearl card and combined it with stamps from the Balloons and Banners set. I stamped coloured and fuzzy cut my balloon, stamped my sentiment in black Memento and the little stars in Pumpkin Pie before layering up as shown.

As I quite liked the green - orange combo, I decided to finally venture into making a Christmas card.

Using stamps from the Joyful and Sentiment Builders: Christmas and New Year to make up my sentiment, I simply stamped my sentiment and added some tiny die cut stars. A very quick and easy card to make.

Should you wish to CASE any of my or my teamies cards, please link them up at the Inspiration CASE Playground. You find the Linky at the end of each Inspiration Post on the STAMPlorations Blog ... hope to see you there.

Just in case you missed it, here is another look at my card from yesterday's post ...

That's it from me for today. I shall be back soon.

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
stamps from STAMPlorations, links are in the above text
  
Twinkle Twinkle Die'sire Edge'ables and green core-dinations card (was a lucky dip colour) - Crafter's Companion
Pumpkin Pie and Gumball Green inks - Stampin'Up!
Tinge Alcohol Markers for colouring balloon - The Works

A Little Warm Up

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend. It is that time of year when, finally, I am warming up to make my seventy odd cards to send around Christmas time.

Today I made a quick one layer card using mainly non-Christmas stamps ...

I cut a mask using a Spellbinders ornament die, stamped the leaf (Dee's Artsy Impressions 'Frames and Flowers') in lime and dark green Papermania Pigment ink and blended with a little lime green. Next I stamped my sentiment (Christmas Flower by Shery Russ Designs) using Onyx Black Versafine ink and added the stars (Dee's Artsy Impressions 'Balloons and Banners') in Canary Versa Color to finish.

I am entering my card at:

Less Is More - one layer with theme 'wishing'
Addicted To Stamps And More - Anything Goes
Addicted To CAS - Leaves
Freshly Made Sketches -  their sketch inspired my layout

Here is another look at my finished card ...

I shall be back soon. Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx


here are the sets I used, link as always in the above text

  

Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments
Sorry, can't name the exact colours of my Papermania inks as they are not on the ink pad casing

That Time Of Year

Hi Everyone,

It's Inspiration Time again over at the STAMPlorations Blog ... and I thought my project could also double up as a reminder for the Mini Release Blog Hop where you could win the stamp set featuring these incredibly cut critters. It is called PETS and designed by Shirley aka The Bee's Knees. Commenting on the hop closes 11.55pm Pacific today (7.55 am GMT Saturday 12th September). If you fancy giving it a go, click here.

Now back to today's project ...
It's that time of year again when some of us are starting to dread the Ch....... word. Hence I thought it might be an idea to bounce some lovely gift ideas about. I recently acquired some 2016 calendar tabs and was waiting for an opportunity to use them ... and given that we all love PETS, in my case cats, what better idea than combine the two ....

... into a lovely desk top calendar! I stamped, coloured (watercolour pencils) and fuzzy cut my two cats from the PETS set. Next I stamped my background in Sahara Sand using stamps from the Pets and Sentiment Builders: Christmas & New Year. I then added a little Washi Tape, stamped the stitching from the Patchwork Frenzy: Graphic Squares set, slightly blended the edges with Sahara Sand and attached it to my base. I then used Gloss Mode Podge to attach the cads and calendar base before lightly coating it all with my Mod Podge. To finish I attached my calendar, added some rub-on swirls and flowers plus a sequin.

Having never used rub-ons before, I decided some weeks ago that I ought to give them a try and duly ordered a job lot of them from eBay ... and the there they were sitting ... and sitting ... until today/yesterday when I felt I needed something else to add to my calendar after sealing it all with Mod Podge. Well, that's when I discovered something new ... rub-ons are actually very easy to use ... what was I worried about?! lol

Here is another look at my finished project. If you want to make one yourself, you can find instructions on how I made the base here and in my video here.

I am entering my calendar at:
Craft Stamper - Anything Goes
Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
House of Cards - Stitch it up, the calendar can quite easily be sent as a card
Darnell's NBUS challenge - Anything Goes as long as there is some 'never before used schtuff included, mine were the calendar tab, rub-ons and the smaller one of the cat stamps

That's it from me for today. For more inspiration, fun and to check out the Inspiration CASE Playground, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog. I shall be back soon with more projects to share.

Have a lovely weekend!

hugs
Monika

Here are the STAMPlorations sets I used, links are in the above text
  

Sahara Sand Ink - Stampin'Up!
Calendar Tab - Printable Heaven
Washi Tape - Fantastic Ribbons