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
  

Happy Reminder

Hi All,

We are half way through February already and over at STAMPlorations the CASEplorations challenge is in full swing hence a reminder of our 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:

• bold sentiment
• shaded colours
• movement using flowers instead of circles
• gems instead of hearts

Here is may reminder take of Anita's card ...

Using a flower from the VIGNETTE Eclectic Florals set and dye inks, I inked my flower up and stamped it in the different colours. With a damp brush I drew some of the outline colour into the petals which gives a very subtle colouring. Next I stamped the 'happy' in black and orange embossed the word 'be', both from the Sentiment Builders:Happy, layered on a yellow base card and finished off by adding some more movement through the addition of gems.

Pop over to the original Playground post or the reminder post 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 is what I used in today's project:
Vignette Eclectic Florals and Sentiment Builders: Happy
 
Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo and Pacific Point inks - Stampin'Up!
Tuxedo Black Memento, tangerine Kerpowder! embossing powder, gems and yellow card from stash

Most Loved

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

What better way to add to the Valentine's celebration than having some Cupcake Inspiration!
STAMPlorations are sponsoring their challenge  no 347, and we girls from the STAMPlorations Design Teams have been invited to play along. Inspiration is to be taken from the following photo ...

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

As you can see, I went for hearts, love theme, cupcakes, glitter, arrow and a touch of gold working with the following stamp sets and ARTplorations Stencil by STAMPlorations: Sketched Cupcake, Vignette Chevron and Arrows, Vignette Eclectic Florals, Sentiment Builders Love, It's All About You and Hearts All Over.

I started off stamping, colouring and masking my center cupcake before sponging my background using Smoky Slate, Crisp Cantaloupe and Strawberry Slush ink. Next I used the Hearts All Over Stencil and added some hearts in Cantaloupe and Strawberry. With my mask still on I added two further cupcakes in Slate. The arrow is made up of the stem from the Eclectic Florals set with the heart from the SB Love, and the chevrons from the Chevron & Arrows sets. A piece of ribbon and sentiment from the All About You set finished the card off,

If you feel inspired by Cupcake Inspiration and want to play along pop over ti their blog and look out for challenge 347. Good Luck!

This is it from me for today, I shall be back with more cards tomorrow and more cupcakes on Tuesday!

Anjoy your day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Sketched Cupcake, Chevron & Arrows, Eclectic Florals, It's All About You, SB Love
    

ARTplorations Stencil Hearts All Over


Smoky Slate, Crisp Cantaloupe and Strawberry Slush inks - Stampin'Up!
ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons
red and gold embossing powders, red glitter, kraft card, Spectrum Noir markers, Promarkers, gold gel pen, black Memento, white card from stash

Floral Fantasie

Hi All,

just a quick post for Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. Today we are featuring some of their older sets. It is always nice to go back and see them in a different light. As you can see I am treating you to another tall and skinny one ...

My card had to be quick. Earlier this week I went to a Chiropractor and ended up being no good for anything for two whole days!!! Feeling much better now, and my energy levels have improved a lot. My joints are less sore, and I am feeling a lot more flexible too.

Back to my card now ... I had the idea of creating a curtain of flowers and stamped my blooms from the Eclectic Florals set in Regal Rose with the view to create chains of flowers. I then added the lines using a matching marker and my sentiment from the Blossom Overture set before finishing off with a flower sequin.

Just a quick reminder, there is still time to join the blog hop and Linky Party ...

.... using the following links: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3

If you like CASEing pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog and check out the Inspiration Projects for October and all the other fun stuff that is going on over there.

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

hugs
Monika xxx

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

Regal Rose ink and Stamp'n'write Marker - Stampin'Up!

In Love With Cupcakes

Hi Everyone,

It is Inspiration time again over at the STAMPlorations Blog. Today I'm sharing a cupcake lover's birthday card. I used a base card which I had embossed with flowers and square a while ago, and I felt it was about time that I used it. I had in mind that I didn't want to add too much, hence I clustered some cupcakes from the Party Mates set and my leafy flourish to create my focal point as you can see below ...

I coloured and fuzzy cut my cupcakes, added the flourish and layered everything as seen adding some doodles and tiny fruit embellishments as I went along. To finish I stamped my sentiment from the Party Time set ... or so I thought ... before I got carried away adding some more doodles, a stamped flower from the Eclectic Florals set and butterfly from the Trendy Butterflies set to end up with the card below ...

The moral of the story: You never know what you end up with once you stat doodling!

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration. This is also where you can find and link up with any other current challenges or simply comment to win draws. Each month we invite you to CASE any of our cards featured in the Inpiration Post and link them up for your chance to win a prize. By the way you can use any type of stamps you like to CASE our projects, and we'd be over the moon if you were to use STAMPlorations stamps, but you don't have to. Hope to see you in the Inspiration Case Playground to have fun and enjoy!

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Stamp sets by STAMPlorations, links are in the text
   

flourish die - Britannia Dies
embossed background- sizzix texturz plates two combined

Grow Your Wings

... and learn to fly

Hi Everyone! Today I am sharing a little canvas I made for the Spotlight Feature over at the STAMPlorations Blog. I worked with The Bee's Knees' Party Girl, Shery Russ Designs' Eclectic Florals and ARTplorations Stencils Retro Circles and Old Rose Prints. It is the type of project I have been wanting to do for a while now,but never really dared getting even started. One could say that this canvas was inspired by the collective work of our Mixed Media Girls. They inspired me to finally taking up the challenge which, once started, was not that difficult after all.

I recently discovered the joys of using Mod Podge hence I wanted to try using it as a glue and sealant in my project. I think I'm becoming seriously hooked as I've already got a few more canvas projects started ...

... back to today's project, here is how I made it:

Allowing for plenty of drying time between the steps, I begun by sticking some pretty paper on a small canvas using Mod Podge.

TIP!: I used some off-cuts as I was pretty sure that one wouldn't see the join in the end, but it might have been a little easier using a purpose cut piece instead.

Next I created a wash using pink, green and gold acrylic paints...

... before stenciling the Old Rose Prints using gold acrylic paint and a make up sponge.

Next I heat embossed the Retro Circles using Rainbow Crystal embossing powder, which is basically clear embossing powder with glitter.

I then stamped, coloured and fuzzy cut Party Girl, gave her some sliver skeleton leaves as wings and added some die cuts and ribbon. Next I blended some melon mambo ink on a piece of white card before stamping and fuzzy cutting one of the small flowers from the Eclectic Florals set, printed and fuzzy cut my computer generated phrase before adhering and sealing it all into place using Mod Podge.

TIP!: Use the smallest brush you can get away with. The one I used was a little too large for the size of my project and I ended up with a thicker coat of Mod Podge than I would ideally have liked.

Once dry, I finished off with some pearls and doodles in gold (Uni Ball Signo) and clear star (Sakura Gelli Roll) adding some subtle shading, detail and borders. Yes, it's fab! You really can doddle on Mod Podge and it won't wipe off.

Here is another look at the finished project.

I would like to enter my canvas at:
Sisters of Craft - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes, optional twist add moon or stars. Well, I didn't go for the twist, but when it comes to the Apollo theme ... she's got wings to fly

Feel free to pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog and leave a comment on my post for your chance to win one of their amazing prizes.

That's it from me for today. Hope you feel inspired to make something different, something you always wanted to try.

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

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

gold acrylic paint - Poundland
canvas, rose ribbon, green and pink acrylic paint - The Works
leaf flourish die - Britannia Dies
grass die - Clearly Besotted
ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons
gel pens - craft shop at Burleydam Garden Center
DSP, Mod Podge, gems, Promarkers, Spectrum Noir Markers, silver skeleton leaves and embossing powder from stash