CASEplorations April

Hi All,

Happy April! It is time for a new CASEplorations Challenge over at STAMPlorations. This month we are taking our inspiration from a card made by the amazing Donna Mikasa from Three Umbrellas. Here is Donna's card ...

... blogged about in her post here. So what's the inspiration we can take from Donna's card ... CAS design, watercolours, white on black sentiment, splatters, die-cuts, feathers ... to name the obvious. I think you'd be able to find lots more.

Here is what inspired me:

• bright colours
• white on black sentiment
• splatters
• focal colours above sentiment whilst overall focal element extends to below the sentiment
• 5 feathers became 5 roses

... and here is my card ...

I decided to work with the Rosebuds and Bloom Sketches sets. I stamped the single rose 5 times, added brightly coloured acetate circles using matching brads, spritzed some ink and finished off with a white on black embossed sentiment.

Hope this inspired you to create your own take on Donna's card. You can link up your makes here on the STAMPlorations Blog. This is also where you can find more inspiration on how to CASE Donna's card, courtesy of my teamies of course.

I would like to enter my card at:
Addicted to Stamps and More - Make your Mark

Here is another look at my card in a different light ...

This is it from me for today. Have a lovely weekend!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Rosebuds, Bloom Sketches
 

CASEplorations March

Hi All,

Over at STAMPlorations we are kicking off the month of March with an invitation to join us in the CASEplorations Playground. The Playground will be open for a whole month, the winner of the best CASE as voted for by the team gets a $15 gift certificate and two Top Picks will each receive a $5 gift certificate, full rules can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

What is the CASE inspiration for this month, you might be asking. Well, it is a card by the fabulous Betsy Veldman of Paper-Scissors-Superheros ...

Betsy posted about her card here on her blog. Tulips, Spring feel and colours are just a few things you could be inspired by. Here is what inspired me:

• Tulips
• turquoise-blue colours
• little blue flowers
• uplifting sentiment
• intricate fuzzy cutting

Here it is, my take on Betsy's card ...

I spritzed the background with blue Artiste Spritzing ink, stamped the little flowers, Frames and Flowers, using Not Quite Navy ink and generational stamping, stamped my sentiment from the Fond Expressions 2 set in black and added my bunch of tulips, Sketched: Tulips, to finish.

For more inspiration and to enter the CASEplorations challenge pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog. I shall be back soon ... off to work now.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here are the stamps I used:
Sketched: Tulips, Fond Expressions 2, Frames and Flowers
  

February CASEplorations

It's February already and over at STAMPlorations we are kicking the new month off with an invitation to join us in the CASEplorations Playground. The Playground will be open for a whole month, the winner of the best CASE as voted for by the team gets a $15 gift certificate and two Top Picks will each receive a $5 gift certificate, full rules can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

What is the CASE inspiration for this month, you might be asking. Well, it is a card by the fabulous Anita in France of My Papercraft World ...

Anita posted about her card here on her blog. There is lots of inspiration to take from her card, such as circles, hearts, rainbow colours, layers, bold sentiment, love theme ...

Here is what I picked:

• shaded colours down one side
• bold sentiment in two tones
• gem, which I turned into gems instead of hearts
• layers

Finally, here it is, my take on Anita's card ...

I used one of the Grunge Floral Strips and started stamping in Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie ... that's when I realized that I was using my stamp upside down ... I made the decision to have the shading the other way 'round and continued stamping in Melon Mambo and Pacific Point. I added the 'happy' sentiment, SB Happy, in black and embossed the 'birthday' in orange, layered on my mambo base card and added tiny gems to finish.

Pop over to the Playground to join the fun and to see what my teamies and Anita herself made as heir CASEs ... and of course to join our CASE challenge too.

That's it from me for today, back again tomorrow with more inspiration.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here are the sets I used in today's card, links are in the above text
 

CASEplorations Reminder

Hi All,

Today's project is a little reminder that it is still time to join us in the CASEplorations Playground. This year Shery has given it a proper challenge status, yay! This means the Playground will like in past be open for a whole month, the winner of the best CASE as voted for by the team gets a $15 gift certificate and two Top Picks will each receive a $5 gift certificate, full rules can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

What is the CASE inspiration for January 2016, you might be asking. Well, it is a card by the fabulous Laura Bassen of Doublestick Heaven ...

Laura posted a tutorial on how she made her card here on her blog. There is lots of inspiration to take from her card, such as using texture paste, colour scheme of pastel rainbow colours, the Leaf Prints ARTplorations stencil, the Hashtag Authentic stamp set, twine ...

Here is what I picked:

• texture without the paste, I used stamping through my stencil instead
• ARTplorations Leaf Print stencil
• multiple colours seamlessly blending into each other for which I used Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Pistachio Pudding
• fine strands of twine which I turned into a squiggly die-cut vellum heart as I am no good at looping twine and fixing it to a card
• subtle sparklies in the form of sequins

Finally, here it is, my reminder take on Laura's card ...

I attached my Leaf Prints stencil to a piece of Centura Pearl card, sponged my background, picked up my honeycomb stamp from the Mixed Media Grunge set and stamped it through the stencil using Crushed Curry ink. Here is a little close-up where you can see the subtle flecks of yellow on the leaves ...

Next I stamped my sentiment from the Big Greetings set, coloured it using Tinge Alcohol Markers, die cut the vellum heart and layered as seen before finishing off with a few sequins.

I am entering my card at:
Time Out Challenges - Birthday with optional twist of sponging, sponged background on mine
Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes

That's it from me for today. There is still time to join STAMPlorations January Stamp Release Blog Hop. Commenting closes 19th January.

As for the CASEplorations Playground, it is open until the end of the month with a new challenge starting in February. So there is still plenty of time to get your creative juices going.

That's it from me for today.

Have a lovey weekend!
hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used in today's project, links are in the above text:

  

heart die from Tim Holtz Scribbles and Splat - Sizzix

Happy New Year and January CASEplorations

Happy New Year, Everypone! May 2016 bring you lots of joy and crafting time!

Over at STAMPlorations we are kicking the new year off with an invitation to join us in the CASEplorations Playground. This year Shery has given it a proper challenge status, yay! This means the Playground will like in past be open for a whole month, the winner of the best CASE as voted for by the team gets a $15 gift certificate and two Top Picks will each receive a $5 gift certificate, full rules can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

What is the CASE inspiration for this month, you might be asking. Well, it is a card by the fabulous Laura Bassen of Doublestick Heaven which you might recognize as her project when she joined us last January for the STAMPlorations January Release Blog Hop ...

Laura posted a tutorial on how she made her card here on her blog. There is lots of inspiration to take from her card, such as using texture paste, colour scheme of pastel rainbow colours, the Leaf Prints ARTplorations stencil, the Hashtag Authentic stamp set, twine ...

Here is what I picked:

• texture without the paste, I used Fran-tage Powders instead
• ARTplorations Leaf Print stencil
• white embossing on black card, I used my Shabby White Fran-tage Powder
• sentiment in two different banner pieces which I turned into one embossed and one die-cut
• multiple colours seamlessly blending into each other which I emulated using three different colours of Fran-tage powders, Shabby White, Shabby Pink and Aged Gold
• fine strands of twine which I turned into a squiggly die-cut as I am no good at looping twine and fixing it to a card
• subtle sparklies, in my CASE not so subtle

Finally, here it is, my take on Laura's card ...

I rather like the almost Art Deco feel, the leaves look a little bit like the stylized pineapples that were so fashionable at the time; it must be all the gold in the Fran-tage powders ... It was not a look I had in mind when I started off, it came about when the Aged Gold powder turned out to look rather more black than gold. The larger golden bits of the powder didn't attach well to the pigment ink, maybe I hadn't inked well enough through my stencil.

It is actually an easy card to make. I attached a piece of white card to the Leaf Print Stencil and applied clear pigment ink through it before removing the stencil and sprinkling with my powders, one at the time, starting at one end and moving across to the other. Once embossed I added my golden scribble, my embossed sentiment from the Sentiment Builder Christmas & New Year, my die-cut sentiment (layered x 3) and sparklies to finish.

Pop over to the Playground to join the fun and to see what my teamies and Laura herself made as heir CASEs.

Wishing you a

hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used, links to STAMPlorations Products are in the above text
 

Shabby White, Shabby Pink and Aged Gold Fran-tage Powders - Stampendous
Tim Holtz Scribbles and Splat dies - Sizzix
'happy' word die - Clearly Besotted

December CASEplorations

Hi All,
It's time for another month of CASEplorations over at STAMPlorations where CASEing means 'taking inspiration from'.
As it is December and here in the northern hemisphere that means anything from freezing to cool and damp, what better way to warm up than looking at having a hot drink ... hence this month's inspiration comes from the following card by Amy Tsuruta:

It has a brilliantly frosty colour scheme combined with the warmth of a hot cuppa. You can find Amy's original post here.

Well, winters where I live hardly ever are crisp and frosty, and Shirley had already used the Gluehwein punchline (bang went the Christmas Market idea :-/) ... I had to think on my feet and came up with this watery, rainy look ...

I liked the colour combo of the grey and cool blue and decided to use my splodge mat for creating the background. Ink and water react differently and you get a drier print than with a normal brown craft mat. I applied some Soft Sky ink to my splodge mat and spritzed with water before lapping it up with a piece of linen effect card. I used the left over ink from my mat to slightly blend the edges.
I stamped the mug, hearts (both from Sketchy Coffee Cups) and stitching (Graphic Squares) using Basic Grey ink and added my sentiment using Lost Lagoon. Initially I thought that I would add some shading to the cup and hearts, but decided against it. I rather liked the pastel look.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more CASE Inspiration and to link up your CASEd creation(s).

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

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

Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon and Basic Grey inks - Stampin'Up!

CASEplorations November

Hi Everyone!
It's November which means the start of a new CASEplorations Challenge over at the STAMPlorations Blog. This month we take inspiration from a card by Suchi  from Suchi's Cardstock. Suchi's original post can be found here and here is Suchi's card:

... and this is what my take on it looks like ...

At STAMPlorations we interpret CASEing as taking inspiration from, and as you can see I went with the bold black sentiment and the pop of colours. Instead of adding colour highlights to the sentiments, I opted for a little spritzing in green to balance my colours.
I used stamps from the Party Time and the Dogwood Large sets.

If you fancy joining the challenge, follow the link here to the STAMPlorations Blog where you can also see what my teamies made of Suchi's card and how Suchi herself interpreted CASEing. To join the fun you can use stamps from other companies, nevertheless we would be thrilled if you used STAMPlorations stamps too. You can CASE any project from November's Inspiration Posts. The linky will be open until 5th December.

Have fun and a lovely weekend!
hugs
Monika xxx

the sets I used, links are in the above text
 

CASEplorations October

Hi Everyone,

another month has passed and it's already October. Where has the time gone??? Well the upside is that another month of fun and CASEing has started over on the STAMPlorations Blog.

This month's inspiration come from Greta Hess of GG Creations who enchanted us with this stunning B&W make. You can find the details on how Greta made this beauty here.

I decided to combine this month's CASEplorations project with entering THE HOP TO STOP which requires the use of the colour purple, hence my take turned into a purple monochromatic one ...

It's a pretty straight forward one ... liking the striking border of Greta's card, I used stamps from the Grahpic Squares set to stamp mine. Next I stamped, embossed and watercoloured the rose (Blossom Overture), stamped my sentiment (Subway Art Builders: Dare), edged my pieces with dark purple, layered as shown and finished off by adding a tiny heart.

About The Hop To Stop:

Anyone is eligible for a Super Sponsor prize if they link up a *newly created* papercraft project, no back-linking please. Random.org is used to draw for winners.

In order to be eligible you MUST:
>>Comment on the three entries before your linkup in order to be eligible for a prize (be a good bloggy neighbor!) (unless it's a site that requires a login)
>>Display the sponsor graphic!
>>Provide a direct link back to the hop

Now back to CASEplorations ... Check out how my Teamies cased Great's card and join us in the Inspiration CASE Playground over on the STAMPlorations Blog. You can either CASE Great's card or any of the Inspiration Projects we'll post during October. A winner will be picked randomly from all the entries. Good Luck!

That's it from me for today. Have a lovely week!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
stamps from STAMPlorations, links are in the above text
  
elegant eggplant ink and card - Stampin'Up!
shaded lilac and dusty concord distress inks - Ranger

CASEplorations July

Hi Everyone,

It's time to explore CASEing again in the STAMPlorations Inspiration CASE Playground. This month we are taking inspirations from a card  made by Tenia Nelson, who is part of the STAMPlorations Challenge Design Team. She made this funky new home card:

You can find her original post here on her blog Jazzy Paper Designs. Well I had a go at making two cards this month. First up is a card I made for Katie, a friend's daughter. She and her partner have just bought and moved into their first home!!!! ... a real achievement given that they are still in their mid twenties! When I looked through my sentiments deciding which one to use, it really tickled me thinking that Katie rather than buying lots of shoes would buy a house ...

... and I hunted through my stash to find these paint brush and paint pot papers, added a few stamped splashes using a stamp from the Holiday Artsy set and layered them on my chevron embossed base card (core-dinations). I stamped my house from the Houses set, fuzzy cut, layered and fuzzy cut again for the shadow, added the die-cut SOLD, a piece of Washi and my altered sentiment from the A Girl And Her Shoes set. As you can see I roughly kept the same layout, the one chevron became the chevron embossed base card. Here is another look ...

Next up is a card I made in advance for Nick's sister who is in the process of selling her house and buying a new one. It has a different slightly more patchwork like feel to it ...

... probably because I used rose patterned paper and stamped stitching from the Graphic Pentagons set on the Washi. I did pick the papers to reflect her mature age and the card reminds me of a mood board of her style. Instead of the chevron I used the heart from the Sentiment Builders: Love set. I kept with the stenciled YAY (ARTplorations Hello and Company stencil) and added A New Home which I made up from another two of STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders Christmas & New Year and Happy. This time I kept three of the rounded corners and a couple of sequins finished my card off perfectly.

If you enjoy CASEing or want to give it a go even if you've never done it before, pop over to the Playground to join the fun. There are also lots of other things going on over at the STAMPlorations Blog, currently you'll find the Birthday Blog Hop, the never ending Anything Goes Challenge for projects using STAMPlorations goodies, commenting to win on the Inspiration and Spotlight Posts plus the new monthly and sketch challenges will start soon too. Links to each of these as always are found at the top of the home page.

I shall be back in a little while with my third installment for the Birthday Blog Hop and Linky Party.
Until then....

hugs
Monika xxx

stamps and stencils used, links as always in the text...