Tuesday 31 May 2016

Flying Swallows

Hi All,

Hope you're enjoying the lovely sunshine. Here in the UK, we had a sunny Bank Holiday weekend. Makes a great chance as it normally tends to rain on public holidays.

I shall keep it brief today as I am still without broadband connection and can't get tethering to work hence I'm doing this on my phone. Thankfully, I had uploaded my photograph before the move which incidentally went well, just still lots to unpack. I shall give you a little tour of my new creative space once it's finished.

It's Inspiration time over at STAMPlorations. For my DT project, I used one of the swallos from the Trendy Birds set and combined it with a sentiment from Strong Women.


I stamped my swallow in Strawberry Slush and pulled some of the colour into the shape using a damp brush. I then added some very subtle shading with Twinkling H2O, so subtle that it is invisible in the photo. ... I finished off with my sentiment, some sequins and a doodled border.

That's it from me for now, I shall update the formatting, links and photos once I figured out this tethering or get access to WIFI.

Have a lovely week!

Hugs
Monika xxx


Tuesday 24 May 2016

On My Mind

Hi All,

Its Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. My DT piece is inspired by a feathery head dress, somehow I couldn't get past it hence it had to be tried ....


I inked my feather up with clear and coloured pigment inks and clear embossed the three. I then added a light blue wash around them and highlighted my feathers further with a touch of yellow ink blending. I added some splatters, stamped my sentiment and created a head band from lace, ribbon and twine.

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

That's it from me for now, back soon with more inspiration.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Trendy Feathers 2
preview-SheryRuss_BigTrendyFeathers

Tuesday 17 May 2016

What If You Fly ...

Hi All,

as promised one my scheduled posts keeping you inspired whilst I am packing up the house in readiness for next weeks move. So here we are with my DT contribution to this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration Post.

I thought that this sentiment from the Strong Women set was a good match for the sunrise from the New Beginning set .... what do you think?


I stamped the sunrise in black Archival and coloured it with sweeping brush strokes and Tinkling H2Os before stamping the birds and black embossing my sentiment. To finish, I simply layered my panel on kraft card. Here is another look ...


For more inspiration pop over to the STAMPloration Blog, and whilst there leave a comment for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate. Also have a look around and check out their challenges and tutorials.

I shall be back soon with another scheduled post. Have a lovely week!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Strong Women, New Beginning
preview-BeccaCruger_StrongWomen preview-DeesArtsyImpressions-NewBeginning

Monday 16 May 2016

Happy Birthday, Sandie!

Hi All,

Sandie from London Days, the Queen of CAS, is celebrating BIG today. Kylie is hosting a Linky Party for Sandie. If you fancy joining, you can find the details here.



I simply want to wish Sandie all the best. Hope you're celebrating well.


I am also linking up with the special celebrations over at Time Out, where the theme is CAS with optional twist of purple. Well, I didn't go for the optional twist, but I happen to know that Sandie likes UNIKO and STAMPlorations stamps plus I added some twinkle courtesy of Happy Little Stampers.

Sandie, have a fantastic time! Looking forward to seeing you in July.
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
STAMPlorations - Sentiment Builders: Happy
stmp1051.jpeg

Clear Stamps

Happy Little Stampers - Enamel Glitter Dots: Gold
Enamel Glitter Dots - Gold

Sunday 15 May 2016

CASEplorations Reminder

Hi All,

As you might remember this month over at the CASEplorations Challenge, we are taking inspiration from ....


... no other than SHERY RUSS herself. Her original post for this card can be found here.

For my CASE I went with:

  • one layer
  • use of stencil
  • Subway Art Builder sentiment



My background using the matching stamp and stencil, Vignette Eclectic Florals and ARTplorations Stencils Floral Mania, turned out a little bolder than intended. After stamping me sentiment, I simply doodled a border and added some grey highlights with a Promarker to help it stand out. To finish I added a few floral sequins.

If you love CASEing and feel inspired pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to join us at CASEplorations. As for my part I am off packing up more of my craft room in readiness for our move.

I shall be back soon with some scheduled posts.

Have a lovely Sunday!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Vignette Eclectic Florals, ARTplorations Stencils Floral Mania, Subway Art Builders: Dare
stmp1038.jpeg preview-web-stencil-034-floralmania stmp1048.jpeg

Tuesday 10 May 2016

More Twinkling H2Os

Hi All,

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. As my DT project I made another card using Twinkling H2Os on black working with the Smile and Blossom Overture sets.


I heat embossed the Calla Lily and my sentiment using Gunmetal Kerpowder, coloured my lily with H2Os and finished off with a couple of sequins. The card has a nice subtle shimmer which can be best seen in the photograph below ...


Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration. Whilst there, leave a comment for your entry to win a $10 gift certificate redeemable in their store. You might also want o have a look around as there are always some challenge to enter, tutorials to learn from or just simply lots of other projects to take inspiration from.

That's it from me for today, I shall be back soon with more projects ....

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
preview-DeeptiMalik_Smile StampClub-BlossomOverture-preview.jpeg


Tuesday 3 May 2016

Strong Women

Hi All,

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. Working with the Groovy Shoes and Strong Women sets was such a pleasure the other day that I had to make several cards. This is one of them ...


The background is a sort of accidental ... a print I took from applying inks to my craft mat. spritzing with a little water and dipping a piece of card into it to take the print. I die-cut the bottom bit off to use for another card and the resulting piece and pattern fitted the groovy heels very well. I simply dry embossed my base card with a matching floral pattern, added my sentiment and layered up before finishing off with some floral sequins.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for the fabulous pieces my very creative teamies have made. Whilst there leave a comment for your entry to win a $10 gift certificate plus check out all the other challenges and tutorials for some extra fun!

That's it from me for now.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Groovy Shoes, Strong Women
preview-ShirleyBampton_GroovyShoes preview-BeccaCruger_StrongWomen

Sunday 1 May 2016

CASEplorations May

Hi All,

May is here, and that means the start of a new CASEplorations Challenge over at STAMPlorations. This month we are taking our inspiration from no other than Shery Russ herself ...


Shery made this card a while ago, that's before she changed her blog to The One Layer Mixed Media Girl, hence her original card and post can be found here.

What inspiration can we take from Shery's card ...


  • stencil
  • watercolouring
  • pink and yellow colour combination
  • one-layer
  • black splatters
  • Mother's Day
I went with one-layer and stencil. Instead of watercolouring, I used ink blending and spritzing of the stencil before taking the print. Given that I've made quite a few pink and yellow cards recently, I decided to team my pink (Strawberry Slush) with Coastal Cabana instead. The black was replaced with Elegant Eggplant. Here is my take on Shery's card ...



I was working with the ARTplorations Stencils: Floral Mania of which I took a print before sponging with Coastal Cabana. I then added my sentiment from the Strong Women set, a wonky stitched line from the Patchwork Frenzy: Graphic Squares set and a few sequins to finish.

Here is another look ...


Are you feeling inspired to CASE? ... the current CASEplorations Challenge remains open for the whole month of May. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to join ... and for more inspirationon how to CASE of course.

That's it from me for today.

Have a lovely week!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
ARTplorations Stencil: Floral ManiaStrong Women, Patchwork Frenzy: Graphic Squares
preview-web-stencil-034-floralmania preview-BeccaCruger_StrongWomen stmp1041.jpeg