A Little Recycling

Hello Crafty Friends!

With July coming to an end, it's Inspiration Roundup time over at STAMPlorations. My DT card involves a little bit of recycling and tidying up my desk. It is great when cards like that come together, have a look ...

The lily from the Smile set was one I made for another project, but didn't use. Instead I sprayed it with silver spritzing ink and attached it to my card base made from card Shery used as packaging. I had already stencilled some Leaf Prints with added spritzing on my base card. After attaching the lily, I simply added my sentiment using CUTplorations Word Die: Smile in combination with a stamped sentiment from the stamp set bearing the same name. I then finished off with white doodles and sequins.

Here is another look at my card....

For more inspiration, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog where you can also leave a comment for your entry to win a $10 gift certificate.

That's it from me for now, I shall be back soon with more projects. Until then, stay playful....

Have a lovely day!
Hugs
Monika xxx

Here is what I used:
Smile, CUTplorations Word Die: Smile, ARTplorations Stencils: Leaf Prints
  

Color Blooms Hugs

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration time over at STAMPlorations. I thought I'd do something a little different for my DT piece today ... a card without stamping! Now there was a challenge for me ....

For now I shall leave this as a little teaser given that I used a new product which Shery is going to introduce either later today or tomorrow.

All I can say for now is that I added some black spritzing, doodling, die-cut Hugs (CUTplorations Word Die: Hugs) and sequins.

If you want to find out how the rest was made and get a glimpse of other projects I made using the same mystery product, check back at 8pm BST (12 noon PDT) once the post here goes live.

For more card inspiration, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog. This is also where you can leave a comment for your entry to win a $10 gift certificate.

That's it from me for now. Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
CUTplorations Word Die: Hugs, Mystery Product

My Hero

Hi All,

It's Inspiration time over at STAMPlorations. I was playing around and decided to go grungy mixed media for my DT piece with a little bit of recycling thrown into the mix ...

Let's start with the recycling ... the card base is made from card Shery used as packaging and the bird is die cut from a piece of old cook book paper. I die cut the bird from a piece of mustard spritzed book paper and doodled the bird myself. The die itself is from the Birds Of Paradise Coordinating CUTplorations Die set. Once finished with the doodling, I added some shading using a matching Promarker. The background is made from a Gelli Plate print I created a while ago using the ARTplorations Bloom Factory Stencil. I sponged the edges with a Tangerine Tango ink and added some more detail to my print and the base card using stamps from the Mixed Media Elements and Hashtag Authentic sets. I attached the bird and added some doodles before finishing off with a sentiment from the It's All About You set.

Here is a last look at my finished card ...

For more inspiration, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog. Whilst there, leave a comment for your entry to win a $10 gift certificate. you might also want to browse their blog for challenges, inspiration and tutorials.

That's it from me for now. Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

Birds Of Paradise Coordinating CUTplorations Die set, It's All About You, Mixed Media Elements, Hashtag Authentic
   
Bloom Factory ARTplorations Stencil

A Rose I - My 2nd ATC

Happy Sunday, lovely Crafters!

Today is Stencil Sunday, and I want to take the opportunity to remind you of July's Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. As the title suggests I am currently getting my head around ATCs, and this is my second one .....

I sponged a piece of white card with pink in, spritzed it with water and using turquoise ink and ARTplorations Stencils: Bubble Dance stenciled a few bubbles down one side. On a piece of newsprint paper I created my rose using ARTplorations Stencils: Build Me A Rose, two shades of green pigment ink, clear embossing powder and cherry sparkle medium. Before stenciling the rose bud, I blended the background with turquoise and a little pink.
I decided on where exactly to put my rose panel, stamped my sentiment, Bold Sentiments: Explore, partially down one side and on newsprint and fuzzy cut where applicable. All that was left, was layering up, doodling some borders, adding a few squiggly details, pearls, gem and sequin.

I hope you feel inspired to create something different .... why not link it up with the Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. The theme is always Anything Mixed Media Goes except cards which means projects such as tags, ATCs, canvases, layouts, art journal pages etc,are perfect for entering, and you must have used at least one stencil (any brand) in your project. The challenge will close at the end of the month. You can find the full challenge details plus more Mixed Media inspiration here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

I am entering my ATC at:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Make your Mark, used marker for doodling

Moo-Mania - Anything Goes

Sisters Of Craft - Anything Goes

That's it from me for now. I shall leave you with one last look at my ATC ...

 

Have a lovely day!

hugs

Monika xxx

here is what I used:
ARTplorations Stencils: Build Me A Rose and Bubble Dance, Bold Sentiments Explore STAMPlorations stamp set
  

CASEplorations July Reminder

Hi All,

Over at CASEplorations we invited you to CASE this card by Elina Stromberg which can be found here on Elina's blog.

.... and I made this card as a little reminder ...

I went a little off piste and replaced the birds with the Butterfly Row and the large hearts in the background with the one from the Blossom Like A Butterfly set, the sentiment is from the Sentiment Builders: Happy. The background was simply created by spritzing some ink which was left on my craft mat with water and mopping it up with a piece of card, the rest is straight forward stamping.

Feeling inspired to CASE? ... pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to enter your creation.

That's it from me for now.
Have a lovely weekend!

hugs
Monika xxx

Here is what I used:
Artsy Borders: Butterfly Row, Blossom Like A Butterfly, Sentiment Builders: Happy
  

Monochromatic Door Sign The Reverse

Hi All,
I am back with the Spotlight Team at STAMPlorations, and today's project will make you laugh. I think every Crafter needs one!
This is a sort of a follow on from Monday's Mixed Media Tutorial for STAMPlorations. I simply created another panel for the reverse side of Nick's door sign. Here it is:

I am keeping this short given that the full tutorial can be found over at STAMPlorations. Why noyt pop over and have a look.

This is what the front of the sign looks like, you can find the tutorial here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

... and a last look at the reverse from today's tutorial ...

Just imagine, the possibilities are endless, now I have to add a reverse to my sign too. Might have to be 'Monika's Creative Heaven'. Looking forward to seeing what you will make.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

For today's project, I was working with:
Gone Postal, Trendy Birds 2 and Mixed Media Elements stamps.

  

ARTplorations Stencils: Art Splatters, Weathered Wood and Leaf Bliss Large

  

Birdsong

Hi All,

it's Inspiration time over st STAMPlorations and I've gone for a little vintage-y distressed card working with the Trendy Birds 2 and Mixed Media Elements set. It is a card inspired by our garden ... it is just soooo full of birds, and they seem to be incredibly tame too ...

I started off by stamping the bird in Early Espresso and colouring it with Promarkers before giving it a coat of Mod Podge which adds a little texture and gives it a hand painted feel too. It also acts as a form of resist that you can blend over lightly which I did using Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake inks before stamping the script in Sahara Sand, distressing the edges and adding a little spritzing and highlights with a white gel pen. To finish I attached a die cut and button with twine.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration and to leave a comment for your entry into their prize draw.

That's it from me, I shall be back tomorrow.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Trendy Birds 2, Mixed Media Elements
 

Monochromatc Door Sign

Hi All,

Just a brief teaser post today. I am due my first tutorial for the Mixed Media Team over at STAMPlorations ...

I was working with:

ARTplorations Stencils: Some Birds, Weathered Wood and Leaf Bliss Large plus

  

Trendy Birds 2 and Mixed Media Elements stamps.

 

You can find the full tutorial plus a video here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

That's it from me for now.
Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

CUTplorations Die Release Hop Day 3

... and overall Blog Hop DAY 7 ...

Hi All! It's PARTY TIME!!!!! STAMPlorations is turning 3 and they are celebrating BIG! It's Blog Hop Time!

..... and Shery is releasing a new product too ... CUTplorations thin metal dies ... this is day 3 of their release ...

First up is my DT contribution to DAY 7 of the blog hop. Today I was working with two of the CUTplorations word dies, hugs and smile ....

... in combination with CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, ARTplorations Stencils: Leaf Prints and Kathryn's Big Wishes stamp set.

The first card is super easy to make ... cut a Crazy Double Running Stitch rectangle, spritz with ink, cut out the word hugs, layer on a contrasting base card, attach a leaf using decoupage gel glue (it helps to keep the shape) and finish off with a couple of clear gems. You can see how I made the leaf in my short Easy Leaves video here.

For my second card, I stamped, masked and coloured to build up my image and stamped sentiment before cutting the word smile into it keeping all the elements even the little fill in bits one normally would discard as they were due to become part of my sentiment base layer. I also cut the word smile twice more from white card to build up my sentiment for a 3D effect. Have a close look ...

Now back to the blog hop ... as with every blog hop there will be prizes for commenting on participating blogs. You can find all the links for DAY 7 here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

The prizes for commenting are:

Prizes for commenting on the STAMPlorations blog and STAMPlorations designers blogs:

• THREE (3) winners of $25 gift certificate
• SEVEN (7) winners (1 per day) of $10 gift certificate

All prizes will be randomly drawn using Random.org

.... hold on, that's not all ... there is also a Linky Party you can join to help us celebrate

How does this work:

• there is a mood board below for you to draw inspiraiton from
• create your project (No back linking, projects must be new, but you can use any brand of product. We would be tickled pink if you were to use STAMPlorations products, but it is not necessary.)
• display the mood board in your post
• link to any of the 7 blog hop posts
• the linky will be open until 5th July, it will close lateron  today

Here is the mood board, remember it needs to be displayed in your blog post to qualify ...

Here are the Linky Party prizes:

• one winner of Kathryn's Big Wishes
• one winner of three CUTplorations word dies, winner's choice

All winners will be drawn by Random.org.

This is me finished, one last look at my cards ....

 

I shall be back soon. Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

link to DAY 1, DAY 2, DAY 3, DAY 4, DAY 5, DAY 6, DAY 7 of the Blog Hop

here is what I used:
CUTplorations thin metal dies Words: hugs and smile, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
  
ARTplorations Stencils: Leaf Prints, Kathryn's Big Wishes